District Magistrate, North Goa has notified stretch of roads as “One Way” from Deepak Cafe (prior to Tar Bastora) upto M/s Laxmi Indira Foods (for the vehicles proceeding from Aldona-Bastora side to Mapusa city) and the stretch of road from Shree Sakhaleshwar Ghumti (near end of Tar Bridge) upto Mapusa Nagarpalika Swachch Souchalaya/(for the vehicles to proceed towards Gaunsawaddo, Mapusa after crossing Tar-Bastora Bridge) as “No Entry” for the movement of all types of vehicular traffic within the jurisdiction of Mapusa Municipal Council, Mapusa and Village Panchayat Bastora, Bardez-Goa.
NORTH GOA DISTRICT MAGISTRATE NOTIFIES ONE-WAY ROADS IN MAPUSA
MAHAPARINIRVAN DIWAS OF DR. BABASAHEB ON DECEMBER 06, 2021
Panjim 04/12/2021 ::: Department of Social Welfare will commemorate Mahaparinirvan Diwas of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar on December 06, 2021 at 10.00 a.m.
On the occasion Minister for Social Welfare will be garlanding the statue of Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar at Dr. Ambedkar Pard, Nr. KTC Bus Stand, Panaji at 10.00 a.m.
EDUCATION IS THE MANIFESTATION OF PERFECTION – GOVERNOR
Panjim 4/12/2021 ::: The Governor Shri P. S. Sreedharan Pillai today said that Information Technology (IT) is considered to be the best capital and leaders attached to four or five main IT institutions / Establishment are from arts subject although this subject is nothing to do with Information Technology. He mentioned that the setup in present era are multi faces intelligence which is the latest innovation with respect to Intelegencia in our country.The Governor was addressing the participants of the National Seminar on Skills on the theme “Samarthan” and Annual General body meeting being organised by Skills for Progress ( SKIP) at pillar, in Tiswadi Taluka.
The Governor further said, he is of the opinion that specialisation may not be confined to any particular subject. In this context he said in India’s National Education Policy 2020, theory of multiple intelligence is introduced which envisage theory about humans having the potential for multiple intelligences and need to use various approaches to any subject for effective teaching.
Quoting Swami Vivekanand, Give me 100 energetic young faces and I Shall transform India, the Governor said this indicates that education is the Manifestation of perfection within a human being. He said India is known as traditionally cultured united country through which we are able to convey and spread the message of love and affection among other countries.
The Governor while highlighting the importance of SKIP said that, it was started in 1969, however the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship was established after Shri Narendra Modi became Prime Minister of India. He informed that, the youth of India, constitutes 35% of the population in the age group of 18-35 years in the Country, which will be huge human resources in next decades. Youth he said has huge potential for skilling and therefore their involvement in promoting skills is of utmost importance
The SKIP has been playing a very significant role in shaping life and livelihood of the deserving youth through skill training.
Saying that the Central and State Government has given maximum importance to our new National Education policy 2020, the Governor urged the participant of the seminar to go through it so as to create skilled manpower.
He said, the Government of India in association with Ministry of Skill Development and entrepreneurship, National Skill Development Corporation and Indian Institution Association Federation have been contributing immensely for imparting quality education al training. The National Education policy 2020 has integrated vocational education into main stream education. Skilling he said is herculean task which cannot be done by the Government alone and therefore the cooperation of the private sector is vital and crucial to promote skilling he asserted.
The two days seminar is attended by the delegates from various institution and representative of various governing bodies.
Other dignitaries who present on the occasion were former Chief Secretary and Cabinet Minister, Karnataka State Shri J. Alexander (IAS), Chairman , SKIP Director & Principal of Boys town group of Institutions, Hyderabad Shri Thomas CA, General Secretary and Executive Director for SKIP, Dr. Joseph Stanley and Dr. Prem Sagar.
Shri J. Alexander (IAS) also expressed his views on the occasion.
Smt. Vimala Fernandez compered the function, Shri Thomas welcomed the guest while Dr. Prem proposed vote of thanks.
SAWANT EXTENDS GREETINGS ON ST. FRANCIS XAVIER FEAST
Panjim, December 3, 2021 :: Chief Minister Dr. Pramod Sawant has extended his wishes to the people of Goa on the occasion of the feast of St. Francis Xavier.
The Feast of St. Francis Xavier is one of Goa’s biggest religious congregations. The feast is held every year on December 3rd.
In his message, the CM said, feast of St. Francis Xavier is celebrated by people of all faiths, spreading the message of oneness, strengthening the society and displaying communal harmony.
Extending his greetings to devotees on this occasion, CM said, “May the feast of St. Francis Xavier continue to be a glorious example of peace, communal harmony and spiritual bliss. May the Almighty Lord bless all the Goans with his choicest blessings”
GOVERNOR HOSTS CHILDREN LIVING WITH HIV AT RAJ BHAVAN
Panaji, December 02, 21 :: Governor of Goa Shri. P. S. Shreedharan Pillai on the occasion of the world AIDS Day hosted a group of children and adolescents living with the virus, along with the team from the Human Touch Foundation at Raj Bhavan yesterday.
Governor Shri. Pillai speaking on the occasion assured to extend support towards betterment of HIV affected people and fight against HIV AIDS. He expressed satisfaction as children with HIV visited Raj Bhavan and gave patient ear to presentations made by the children.
Founder of Human Touch Foundation Shri. Peter F. Borges spoke on the occasion. A musical act on HIV related stigma and discrimination, raising issues and concerns about living with HIV was presented. This was followed by a brave young person sharing an eye opening and heartfelt testimony about the trials of living and aging with HIV. Human Touch Foundation also submitted a memorandum to the governor seeking support in the fight against HIV AIDS, stating that more policies and programmes need to be initiated if Goa must achieve the UN target to end AIDS.
The event was concluded with the cutting of a red ribbon shaped cake which symbolized celebration of resilience of those living with HIV and pinning of the symbolic red ribbon.
FISHING VESSELS IMPOUNDED FOR ILLEGAL FISHING
Panaji, December 02, 21 ::; The officials of Directorate of Fisheries, Panaji through Departments patrol Vessel “Ave Maria 14” bearing reg. no. IND-GA-01-MM-2367 along with the assistance of Coastal Police, Panaji has impounded 04 nos. of fishing vessels hailing from neighboring states for doing illegal fishing in the territorial waters of Goa.
One fishing trawler from Karnataka bearing reg. no. IND-KA-02-MM-2806 was caught off Vasco Bay and three fishing trawlers IND-MH-04-MM-4251, IND-MH-04-MM-3852 and IND-MH-04-MM-1445 from Ratnagiri, Maharashtra were caught at Aguada Bay on November 29, 2021. The vessels are presently impounded at Fisheries jetty, Panaji and the seized fishes has been auctioned amounting to Rs. 7650/-.
Also one Karnataka fishing vessel bearing reg. no. IND-KA-02-MM-4424 was cought at Talpona, Canacona by the officials of Directorate of Fisheries, panaji on November 30, 2021 along with the support of Coastal Police, Betul. The vessel is presently impounded at Cutbona jetty. The seized fish has been auctioned amounting to Rs. 83,288/-. The cases are filed in the Court of Adjudicating Officer.
Also, a letter has been sent to the Director of Directorate of Fisheries Karnataka requesting to kindly take appropriate action in this matter and sensitize the fishermen to refrain from doing high speed fishing activities in territorial waters of Goa.
Virender Sehwag’s brand, ‘VS by Sehwag’, bats big on e-commerce to score 5 million customers
Panjim: 23rd August, 2021: Cricketing legend, VirenderSehwag’sactivewear and sportswear brand, ‘VS by Sehwag’, announces its foray into online & e-commerce, to acquire five million customers by 2026. The new online store houses the brand’s range of athleisure and cricket equipment products, making it just a click away for millions of Viru fans and fitness enthusiasts across Bharat, to have the products delivered home.
VS, an acronym for VirenderSehwag and also the brand of the same name, was launched in 2020, to offer an affordable line-up in athleisure, while matching or even exceeding the quality and comfort of established global brands. It derives its tenets from the batting maestro’s philosophy and attitude of #uncompromise, thus enabling consumers ‘uncompromise’ on either quality or price and demonstrates that high quality merchandise can be delivered at a fraction of the perceived cost.
In keeping with Sehwag’s legacy, VS wear and gear will be an active player in the ‘mass’ segment, delivering uncompromising quality, performance and style at great value, while striving to swing for the fences and be fearless in its pursuits.
The online launch coincides with the opening up of 30+ products across VS Wear- a collection of Tracks, T-Shirts, Jackets and Shorts and VS Gear- a range of Cricket Bats, Gloves and Pads. The entire collection of the merchandise will only be in solid colours, in line with the simplicity of the brand’s founder. Each style has been launched in 6 colours and made with rich compact cotton, giving a soft touch and strength to the garment and made available at a price range of Rupees 499 to Rupees 1099.
With retail strongly inclined towards digital and e-commerce in the present times, especially across tier 2 and 3 cities, towns and villages, digital presence offers the brand, wider reach and accessibility to a majority of its target customers. The brand is currently present on mobile web and desktop (www.vsshop.in) and has integrated with various payment platforms, including credit/debit cards, wallets and UPI. To provide channel benefit to the customer, It will also integrate with leading e-commerce platforms in the next 3 months.
The brand’s first store was launched in March 2020 in Ahmedabad and has added two more stores in the same city subsequently. It has upcoming stores in Vadodara (Gujarat), Kolhapur (Maharashtra) and Sultanpur (Uttar Pradesh) and has also appointed distributors in Delhi, Faridabad, Bophal, Indore, Sri Ganganagar and Kanpur. With the integration of online to the existing brick and mortar retail, brand ‘VS by Sehwag’ has incorporated an Omni-channel model through technology to serve its customers better. The brand was unveiled under the aegis of Viru Retail Pvt. Ltd., a joint-venture between Sehwag owned World of ViruPvt. Ltd. and Stitched Textiles Pvt. Ltd.
VS has also rolled out its comprehensive loyalty program for its unswerving fans, called UPR-CUT- derived from the ace hitter’s popular game-changing shot. It is a free, open for all program that rewards points right from the start on creating an account, with points for wishlisting, amplification on social media and more.Points accrued by members can be redeemed against cash vouchers that are named with cricket terminologies, such as ‘Free Hit’- for redeeming any amount of points for a cash voucher, or ‘Half Century’- allowing a Rs 50 voucher, etc. Other perks include, signed merchandise, mini cricket ball, bat or T-shirt, at no extra cost and a Rs 500 cash voucher on birthdays which can be used against any product on the catalogue.
Based on insights the brand has obtained from Sehwag’s fan base, it will initially focus strongly on the HSM (Hindi Speaking Markets) across the country, enabling greater product discovery for online shoppers looking for active/athleisure wear and cricket gear.
Speaking on the launch and online foray of his brand, cricketing icon, VirenderSehwag stated, “VS has been conceived to cater to the fitness and sporting needs of millions of young people across India who need the right material, quality, fit and design in athleisure to go about their regimens, but end up compromising either on quality or price, owing to a gap in the segment. It was either a big brand with quality products and too steep a price or a lesser brand at a lower price band, with subnormal quality- in either case shoppers had to compromise on one factor or the other.
This is where ‘VS by Sehwag’ comes into the picture, offering best quality products at honest and best prices. We have been able to achieve this by not passing on costs that add no value to the customer, on to the customer. The PAN-India launch of ‘VS by Sehwag’ today, through online channels is a significant milestone in the brand’s journey so far and I am extremely proud and elated to have been closely associated with it, carefully inspecting the design and durability of each product till a piece of fabric or kit did not feel ‘3D ready’ to me.”
Added, Mr. Jaimin Gupta, Founder & Managing Director, M/s Stitched Textiles Pvt Ltd and CEO, Viru Retail Pvt Ltd, “I have had the privilege of working closely with Mr. VirenderSehwag since the time we came together to develop the brand as we shared similar beliefs and ideas regarding an ideal athleisure brand for Bharat. We have a winner on hand with ‘VS by Sehwag’, from a product perspective and need to deliver this to the nation and hence the foray online on our own platform as well as in partnership with e-commerce platforms. We are on our path to achieving 100 crores in revenue over the next 3 years.”
Mr. Manoj Kumar, Omni-Channel Vetran at VS said, “We are providing Omni-channel shopping experience to our customers to provide them convenience to buy from any channel or location across the country that they prefer. We have developed the framework for a strong Omni- presence in the country to deliver the ‘VS by Sehwag’ proposition to every possible pin code in the country.”
Pearl Academy launches ‘PearlxStudio’; offers fast-track courses in Fashion, Media and Performing Arts
August 23, 2021: India’s leading institution in design, fashion and media, Pearl Academy, today announced the launch of PearlxStudio that will offer fast-track creative courses to learners of all age groups. PearlxStudio will offer 40courses in Media, Fashion and Performing Arts such as ‘fashion design-womenswear’, ‘styling for interior’, ‘personal styling and image consultancy’, ‘fashion and celebrity make-up’, ‘performing arts’, ‘digital film making’, ‘professional photography’, ‘social media influencer’, ‘advertising & graphics’, ‘professional events & experience management’. Delivered in hybrid- online/offline mode, an individual can pursue a course for 3 months and get a certification or can combine four courses of 12 months duration along with capstone project (industry internship) to receive a diploma.
These fast-track courses are designed to take individuals from learning the basics to advanced level in just three months. Pearl XStudio has collaborated with industry leaders to teach these courses as per the requirements of the professional world.
Speaking on the launch of PearlxStudio, Aditi Srivastava, President, Pearl Academy said,“With PearlXStudio, we are expanding Pearl Academy’s rich legacy of preparing creative professionals for tomorrow. There is no dearth of talent and ambition in this country across all age groups and with the right education support these individuals can live their dreams and feel empowered. With so many industry leaders collaborating with PearlXStudio to co-create, co-deliver and co-certify these courses, it’s a testimony that there is a massive requirement for talented and skilled creative workforce and our endeavor is to bridge that demand-supply gap”.
The launch of PearlxStudio witnessed a panel discussion on “Making lucrative creative careers accessible to all” by some of industry’s eminent names including acclaimed directorAshutoshGowarikar, producer and director Ketan Desai and fashion designer Anju Modi. They were joined bySharadMehra, CEO – Asia Pacific, Global University Systems, Aditi Srivastava, President, Pearl Academy, ViveckVaswani, Dean- School of Contemporary Media and Antonio Maurizio Grioli, Dean of School of Fashion. They deliberated on the importance of professional education in creative fields, future of skill-based work opportunities and which among talent and qualification is more important.
With admissions open round the year to ensure flexibility, PearlxStudioofficially starts its first batch in October 2021. Besides getting access to international faculty, professional experts and industry experience, the ‘capstone’ is a unique feature of PearlXStudio courses. Through ‘capstone’ the enrolled individuals will be mentored by an industry legend for completing a 2-week industry project. They will receive a special ‘capstone certification’ from the mentor along with the PearlXStudio diploma.
PearlxStudio aims to enable individuals to follow their passion and help them unleash their creativity and drive their potential in the right direction.
IndiaFirst Life & Bank of Baroda strengthen their Bancassurance Capabilities in Western Region
India, 2021:IndiaFirst Life Insurance Company Limited (IndiaFirst Life) and Bank of Baroda (BoB) further strengthened their association by announcing growth plansforMaharashtra & Goa. As a testament to the robust relationship, the partners have reaffirmed their commitment of achieving a healthy growth rate of 20%in FY22 across the western region.
A combined team strength of over 5100 employees has helped IndiaFirst Life and Bank of Baroda to improve their customer outreach in the western region. There has been a significant business growth in regions like Nagpur, Pune, Jalgaon, Kolhapur,Solapur, and Panaji. In spite of being one of the most affected regionsin the pandemic, Maharashtra showed a 7% APE growth in FY21 and a 70% growth in Q1-FY22. The partnership emphasizes in keeping the business buoyant.
Sunanda Roy, Country Head, IndiaFirst Life Insurance Company Limited for Bank of Barodasaid, “In line with our #CustomerFirst ideology, we continue to deliver through our domain expertise, customer knowledge, and product innovations. Weendeavor to service the last mile customers not only across Maharashtra and Goa but across the country, toward making “Insurance for All” a reality. The two states accounted for approx. 8% of our overall business in FY21, and we plan to increase this share to 15% in FY22. Fuelled by Bancassurance and our multi-channel distribution capabilities, we have been growing at an average CAGR of 32% in retail new business APE over the last five years.”
Manish Kaura, General Manager, Pune Zone said, “IndiaFirst Life is one of our strongest partners that continues to contribute to the overall business growth of the bank. Through our extensive customer reach coupled with IndiaFirst Life’s efficiently serviced products, we continue to focus on the development of innovative solutions to serve customer’s varied financial needs and further strengthen our position in Maharashtra& Goa. Together, we look forward to expanding our leadership position among customers in thesekey markets.”
IndiaFirst Life and Bank of Baroda continue to maintain operational synergies to ensure best practices tosupport and prepare ourcustomers for certainties in life. In the western region, IndiaFirst Life along with Bank of Baroda has a network strength of over 530 branch offices spread across 37 districts.
IndiaFirst Life is today present in over 98% of pin-codes across the country.Having launched its operations on November 16, 2009, the company has successfully differentiated itself through simple, easy-to-understand products that are well-priced and efficiently serviced.
Article on Abrogation of 370 and 35A By Sandesh C Sadhale, Media Cell Convener, Goa BJP
The date, 5th August has a very special significance for the people of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh. On this date, exactly two years ago, the Parliament of India abrogated Articles 370 and 35(A) of the Indian Constitution thereby making all the provisions of the constitution applicable to the Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh. With the historic move of abrogating the temporary provisions of articles 370 and 35(A), the present Indian Government brought the people of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh into the mainstream and opened new vistas for economic and cultural prosperity for the region.
The political dispensation which ruled the country till now dithered to abolish the provisions of the two articles which kept the people of these regions devoid of not only the benefits of the constitutional rights enshrined in the Indian constitution and but also the various developmental programs initiated by the central government to uplift the economic status of the people. This had a reverse effect on their prosperity and wellbeing.
Abolition of these articles have brought enthusiasm in the hitherto overlooked sections of the society like the Dogras, Valmikis, refugees from western Pakistan, gorkhas, Kashmiri Pandits, etc. They were treated as less deserving and would only find jobs at lower rungs of the systems. They have now been bestowed equal status and shall enjoy the fruits of their labour as per their talents and hard work. The people of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh will now enjoy all the constitutional privileges and enjoy true democracy as envisaged by our founding fathers.
The other benefits that have unfolded are the devolution of grants to the grass root institutions and proper use of these grants. Arbitrariness is junked and transparency is the new norm. The use of the Right to Information act shall empower the people to demand the proper utilization of funds and effective deployment of schemes and check corruption. This will definitely lead to urban and rural empowerment. Tourism, education, medical, hospitality shall witness growth to extent that will attract industrialists from across India to invest in these sectors. The landowners willing to part with their land for developmental projects in these sectors will see better unlocking of the fair rates of land. The unleashing of the above sustainable projects will bring financial independence for the people of the regions. New avenues for upliftment will also be available to the people of SC and ST communities as provided in the constitution. Abrogation of these articles helped Kashmiri women to enjoy equal rights as that of men, by bringing in transparency
The abrogation of articles 370 and 35(A) has now unchained various provisions of the constitution and has opened up all opportunities for the two new Union territories . It has led to the perfect amalgamation of various efforts of the central and the local government for realizing the aspirations of the people of these regions. On the completion of one year since the historic move, we are sure that the fruits of righteousness and democracy will unfold and bring unbridled happiness and prosperity to the people of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.
