Asserting that today we are building a new Mandavi Bridge in the Education sector Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant said in villages, students who are not able to complete direct Courses will be provided with an opportunity to pursue education and complete their courses in online mode on Mandavi Channel. Dr Sawant was speaking at a launching ceremony of “MANDAVI” (Mentoring and Nurturing Digital and Virtual Initiatives) flagship program initiated by the Directorate of Higher Education in the City.

          Speaking further he said the high quality education will be made available to everyone who is willing to learn and not for a small group of privileged students. I have set a target to make Goa as self-reliant State in every sector, be it agriculture, industries and also in education sector and such an unique initiative like MANDAVI (Mentoring and Nurturing Digital and Virtual Initiatives) I am confident that our State will achieve excellence and become the role model for other States, he added. All the youths should make best use of such an initiative to upgrade their knowledge and education, he urged.

             CM also appreciated the efforts of DHE for taking the major digital initiatives like IAIMS, DISHTAVO and MOOC to implement new education policy in Goa.

         The MANDAVI(Mentoring and Nurturing Digital and Virtual Initiatives) is an initiative of DHE for development of MOOCs to provide high quality courses to thousands and millions of learners across the globe. MOOC is a mode of learning where students can virtually attend digital higher education courses.

        The MOOC courses currently under development at DHE are based on university Grants Commission(UGC) curriculum and choice based Credit System and are proposed to be offered in credit transfer mode on the Study Webs of  Active Learning for Young Aspiring Minds ( SWAYAM) platform – a programme initiated by Government of India   to offer the various courses which students can pursue online.

         The unique characteristic of this model is to carry out all MOOC development activities in collaboration mode by the faculty and other human resources from higher education institutions along with experts from industry and research institutions. The production basis training and recording of video content of the course have been done with the creative directors and experts from the film industry to produce high quality education content. Eminent scientists and practitioners from research institutions and industries have been involved at various stages of the MOOC development process.

       The Director of Higher Education and Consortium for Education Communication signed a MoU on the occasion and as part of the MoU DHE handed over two Massive Open Online Courses one in Music and the other in Analytical Chemistry to CEC.

       CM also distributed the Certificates to MOOC teams on the occasion

           Present on the occasion were Director of CEC Prof. Jagat Bhushan Nadda; Chief Secretary, Shri. Puneet Kumar Goel, IAS; Secretary (Education), Shri. Ravi Dhawan, IAS; Director, Higher Education, Shri. Prasad Lolayekar, IAS, MOOC Nodal officer Dr. Kavita Asnani and other dignitaries.

With an aim to boost Tourism activity in a big way,  showcase the monumental progress and development made by Goa across all  segments and take Goa to greater heights in all aspects of human endeavor, the planned Road Show Goa@60 got underway to a grand start at Varanasi, the holy city in Uttar Pradesh today.

          Shri.Deepak Bandekar, Director, Department, Information and publicity inaugurated the event. The inaugural Ceremony was also attended by Shri. Nikhil Desai,  IAS,Director, Department of Tourism and MD, GTDC,Shri Kirtiman Shrivastava, Information Officer of Uttar Pradesh  Tourism,Shri. Prakash S. Naik, Information Officer, DIP, Shri Laxmikant Vaigankar, General Manager,Gtdc Shri. Milind Chodankar, Assistant Tourism Officer and Shri. Pravinkumar Faldessai, Marketing Manager. GTDC.

          Speaking on the occasion, Shri Deepak Bandekar said that Goa is celebrating 60 year of its liberation from the Portuguese regime. He said as part of this commemoration, the state government had conducted various programs and activities across Goa as planned by the Government for which the Department of Information and Publicity has been designated as the nodal Department. As planned these events  themed Goa@60 are now being held in different parts of the country to showcase the spectacular progress and the big strides achieved by the state government in various sectors, he added.

          The series of planned road shows to be held in six cities of India had started from Ahmedabad, followed by Udaipur, Rajasthan and now in Varanasi.

          Through this three day event to be  held from September 23, 2022 an attempt is being made to enlighten the people about the immense contribution of freedom fighters and martyrs who came to Goa from different parts of the country to participate in the freedom struggle movement of Goa and liberate Goa from the Colonial rule. The highlight of the event is the live performances by Goan artistes to enable people especially from  Varanasi to witness and experience Goa’s rich cultural traditions, cuisine, hospitality, heritage and other areas.

          It may be noted that after spectacular celebrations in Goa, the State Government has taken initiative to take the celebrations themed Goa @ 60in other parts of the country to showcase the multifold achievements of Goa since liberation of the State, besides the tremendous growth in various spheres ranging from good governance to sports, art and culture, tourism, education, health care, attract more tourists and investors alike to accord impetus to infrastructure and many other areas to improve quality of life in Goa and to put Goa on the global map.

Directorate of Tribal Welfare has informed that the title for forest land under occupation under the Forest Rights Act, 2006 will be distributed on September 24, 2022 at 11.00 a.m. onwards in Hall No. 407 of Mathany Saldanha Complex, South Goa Collectorate, Margao-Goa, at the hands of Chief Minister, Dr. Pramod Sawant to the beneficiaries of 4 taluka’s i.e. Dharbandora, Sanguem, Quepem and Canacona of the South Goa District, as informed by the Department of Information and Publicity.

 Water Resources Department Minister, Shri. Subhash Shirodkar on Friday assured to undertake the work of various projects worth 5 to 10 crores in next two years in Mayem Constituency. He said WRD is very closely associated with the agriculture sector and assured all required assistance to farmers, including modern machinery, to revive agriculture in the State.

          He was speaking at an interactive session with Sarpanchas and Panch members of seven Panchayats of Mayem Constituency.

        Urging people to cultivate their fields without keeping the land idle he said that keeping agricultural land fallow is a crime. The land should be cultivated by next season and highlighted various central and State Government sponsored schemes which can boost the State’s agriculture production. He further urged people to start cultivation of Black rice.

    Directing all Sarpanchas to promote agriculture activities he informed that he will visit at Mayem Constituency on November 18 and interact and review various projects with Sanpanchas, Panch members, ZP members and Panchayat secretary. He further directed to prepare reports on the required projects and other requirements to carry out agriculture and extended his full support to carry out various projects to boost agriculture in Mayem Constituency.

       Present on the occasion were MLA of Mayem Constituency Shri Premendra Shet, Chief Engineer, WRD Shri Pramod Badami, and other dignitaries.