Panaji, January 28, 2019 …The newly Upgraded existing Cottage Hospital  at Chicalim Vasco, which is now called as Chicalim-Sub District Hospital, was   inaugurated  by Shri. Mauvin Godinho, Minister for Panchayat in the presence of Minister for Health, Shri Vishwajit Rane recently.

  Those  who present on the occasion were Minister for Urban Development Shri Milind Naik,  Chairman, GSIDC and MLA ,Shri Deepak Prabhu Pauskar, Chairman, K.T.C.L and MLA, Shri Carlos Almeida, Chairperson, Goa Rehabilitation Board and MLA, Smt.Alina Saldanha, Chairperson Mormugao Muncipal Council, Shri Kritesh Naik Gaonkar, Deputy Chairperson Mormugao Muncipal Council, Shri Shashikant  Parab, Sarpanch V.P. Chicalim, Shri Sebastiao B. Pereira, Deputy Sarpanch V.P. Chicalim, Shri Kamla P. Yadav,Parish Priest of St Andrew’s Church Fr Gabriel Coutinho and others.

Shri Godinho while addressing the gathering expressed his happiness over   up gradation and extension of existing Cottage hospital at Chicalim Vasco and for naming the same as Chicalim-Sub District Hospital, in the interest of  the people of Mormugao Taluka. Shri Godinho  further speaking appealed to the people about its maintenance and cleanliness. Shri Gudhino further briefed about various upcoming projects and said Government aims and strives to take  up similar other projects for which  urged support of the people. .

Health Minister Shri Vishwajit Rane speaking on the occasion, assured to provide other necessary  amenities in the hospital  as early as possible.

, Shri Sanjeev Dalvi Director Health Services, welcomed the gathering and Deputy Sarpanch V.P. Chicalim, Shri Kamla P. Yadav proposed the vote of thanks.

Panaji: Jan. 28, 2019 …Health Minister Shri Vishwajit Rane inaugurated extension of RMO Hostel at Goa Medical College Bambolim today. This is the project of Goa Medical College and the work of the same has been monitored by Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd.

The salient features of the project are the existing Resident Medical Officers Hostel has been extended with connecting corridor at first floor. The work of extension carried in areas like office, Wardens room, Library, Gym, Dining, and kitchen. The hostel has a provision of 80 single rooms and 24 double rooms, with attached bath rooms and toilets.  Apart from this, Separate washrooms have also provided in the hostel.

          Shri Rane speaking on the occasion said the existing Public Health Act is out dated and need to be amended. More power needs to be given to Medical Officer to keep cheque on eateries. Illegal eateries like restaurant , small hotels, canteens requires strict check he added.Shri Rane also said that while amending Public Health Act the stakeholders from Hotel Industry would be taken into consideration.

Dr.Pradeep Naik, Dean of GMC, Shri D’ Cruz, Manager GSIDC, Dr. Prathamesh Naik, GARD President were also present on the occasion.

Dr. Jude Rodrigues, Associate Professor, Department of Surgery/ RMO Warden GMC proposed the vote of thanks.

Panaji: Jan. 27, 2019 …The newly constructed Indias third largest cable stay bridge, built across   river Mandovi,  is named as Atal  Setu, named after the name  of former Prime Minister of India Late Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee is inaugurated by the Chief Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar in the distinguish presence of Union Minister for Road Transport & Highways  Shri Nitin Gadkari at a function organized by Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd on the  bridge in the city today.

Shri Parrikar while addressing the gathering mentioned the quote of former President of America MrJohn F Kennedy who said that America is rich because roads in America  are good through which he impressed upon the fact of the importance of roads in the development . He said the aforesaid quote imprinted on his mind which led to the idea of this mega project.

Shri Parrikar informed that this bridge went through many hurdles, obstacles to become a reality.  He said the negative attitude of the people towards the development is not a good sign. The Government he said equally committed   to protect ecology and environ of the state. Therefore he advised the people to have positive attitude towards development. He expressed his happiness over the completion of this mega project within the expected time period. He thanked Union Minster Shri Nitin Gadkari for his generosity  for providing whole hearted  financial support in  infrastructural development of the state and other stakeholders of the project.

The Union Minister of Road Transport & Highways Shri Nitin Gadkari who was the chief guest of thee function said that the state of art bridge will add to the beauty of Goa. The Central Government he said has sanctioned developmental work for Goa to the tune of rupees fifteen thousand crore rupees. He appreciated  Shri Parrikar and said that he has played vital role in the development of Goa.  Another work of  project  is in progress  He said Goa has a potential in developing water transport  and sky bus project for tourism He said for having Water Resource portfolio he would extend all sort of cooperation for the same.

Shri Gadkari further speaking said that Chief Minister is sensitive towards the development of the state Therefore he has rigorously followed up to get the project collated.  He said those development works which are assure would completed he assured.

The Union Minister of State for AYUSH ( Independent Charge ) Shri Shripad  Naik said that the state of art bridge will play important role in growth and progress of Goa.. This bridge  he said will provide solace to the people from traffic congestion faced by the people long back.

The PWD Minister Shri Ramkrishna Dhavalikar in his address said that State has taken rapid strides in field of infrastructural Development. He said there are many projects of bridge, road development , construction of buildings for schools Government offices is in progress and  will be completed soon  The Usgao Khandepar bridge, Dhavali Ponda bypass,  widening and improvement of Patradevi to  Pollem, Ponda to Banastari and 8kmts road at Mopa will be taken up soon.. So also many developmental works which are  taken  up would completed soon. he He thanked  Shri Gadkari for his whole hearted  support  for the development of the state.

Shri Vishwajit Rane, Health Minister, Dr. Pramod Sawant, Speaker of Goa Legislative Assembly,Shri Michael Lobo, Deputy Speaker,  Shri Mauvin Godinho, Panchayat Min ister, Shri Manohar ( Babu ) Ajgaonkar, Tourism Minister, Shri Nilesh Cabral, Power Minister, Shri \jayesh Salgaonkar, Rural Development Minister, Shri Rohan Khaunte, Revenue Minister, Shri Vinod Palyenkar, WRD Minister, Shri Govind Gaude, Art & Culture Minister, Shri Vijay Sardesai TCP Minister,   Shri Laxmikant Parsekar Ex-Chief Minister, Shri Narendra Savoikar, MP South Goa, Shru Vinay Tendulkar, Member of Rajyasabha, Shri Levinson Martins, Collector of North Goa.other Ex- Ministers, MLAs Ex-MLAs Dr. Muktesh Chander, DGP-Goa, Shri Jaspal Singh,( IPS ) DIG-Goa, Shri Paramaditya, (IPS ) IGP-Goa, Secretaries to the Government,  HODs of Various Government Departments , Staff  & Engineers of L&T Company, and others attended the function.

          The Mandovi River Cable Stay Bridge was an important project proposed by GSIDC (Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation) and designed by L & T Infrastructure Ltd; constructed by L&T heavy Civil Infrastructure

          This 4-lane Cable stayed bridge in the State of Goa across the river Mandovi in between the two existing bridges will support and sustain burgeoning traffic and will be an aesthetically pleasing landmark for tourism development in the State of Goa.

          To streamline  the Mumbai bound traffic incoming from Bangalore via Ponda route and Old Goa i.e. Madgaon and even from Panaji can be collectively sent towards NH-17 through an elevated bridge, bypassing the main Panjim City. The Cable Stay Bridge also adds an architectural beauty to the capital of Goa, Panaji. Total Bridge Length of the Bridge is 5.1(km including approaches.

Shri Dipak  Pauskar, Chaiman GSIDC welcomed the guests. While Shri SSiddharth Kuncalienkar, EDC Chairman proposed the vote of thanks.

Panaji, January 27, 2019 … …“National Voters Day is a very significant occasion as a democratic nation is imperfect without its voters. Not casting vote is a criminal offense as per our conscience as a voter and as a citizen of this country. Young voters must realize the importance of vote as participating in this democratic process makes you a true citizen of India,” stated Smt. Nila Mohanan IAS, Secretary for Revenue while speaking as a Chief Guest at the District Level National Voters Day program held in Panaji recently.

While addressing the new voters she further added that the first vote is an occasion to celebrate like a birthday or an anniversary. “The Election Commission tries to make each election a celebration of democracy and we must proudly be a part it. Exercise the right to vote efficiently and meaningfully. Use your independent judgment to decide who to vote and encourage your peers to enroll in the process too,” she said.

            North Goa District Collector Shri. Levinson Martins, Addn Collector Shri. Gopal Parsekar, Election Icon and Information Officer Shri. John Aguiar, Shri. Brahmanand Shankhwalkar and Shri. Mukesh Ghatwal were present on the occasion.

            Earlier, the function began by lighting the traditional lamp. Shri. Martins welcomed the gathering. The dignitaries then distributed the EPIC cards to the new voters and released a video made by BLOs of Taleigao Constituency on the process of voting. Jt. Mamlatdar Tiswadi Smt. Varsha Parab administered the Voter’s pledge to the gathering.

Kum. Afreen Khan compered the function while Mamlatdar Tiswadi Smt. Sapna Bandodkar proposed the vote of thanks.

Panaji. January 27, 2019 ….The Government will soon form cluster of 100 Anganwadi  said Minister for Health Shri Vishwajit Rane. He was speaking after inaugurating State Institute of Health and Family Welfare and college of Physiotherapy at Restored Old Asilo Hospital at Mapusa recently.

 Also present on the occasion were Deputy Speaker Shri Michael Lobo, Shri Deepak Pauskar, Chairman GSIDC, Shri Ryan Braganza Chairperson Mapusa Municipal Council, Ms Merlyn D’souza Vice chairperson, MMC Shri Deepak Desai, Director Women and Child Development Dr Pradeep Naik Dean Goa Medical College, Dr Sanjeev Dalvi, Director of Health Services ,Dr Shivanand Bandekar and councilors.

Speaking further Shri Rane said that parents from underprivileged background as well as affluent background will be proud to send their children in these Anganwadi which will be better than play school. Appreciating efforts of the anganwadi worker Shri Rane said all the programmes of health sector are doing well due to Anganwadi workers who publicize the schemes and create awareness among the people.

Also Swawlamban Scheme was re launched on the occasion and handed over Cheques of Rs 30,000/-  each to 100 Self Help Group.

  Shri Rane further said that Swawlamban scheme will provide ₹30,000 to every Mahila Mandal and self help group, a financial assistance on yearly basis. The Self-Help Group can avail activities like Bag making, Tailoring, Art & Craft, cooking, etc. This will not only empower women but also encourage them to take up economic activities. With the help of this scheme, several groups of women can come together and create a corpus to move forward in different sectors. We want to empower women and properly utilize the funds being allocated he added.

Shri Rane also said that the  old Asilo Hospital has a great history to it; we have kept all the heritage related interiors in mind and renovated it for a state of art College of Physiotherapy and Training centre.

Shri Michael Lobo said that Government should allocate at least one shop to the self help group so that they can sell their product. ‘Swawlambhan’ scheme will help to empower women he added.

Shri Deepak Pauskar briefed about the salient features of State Institute of Health and Family Welfare and college of Physiotherapy and said that the renovated building is divided in to 3 parts. The main building consists of seminar room, auditorium, principal office etc while the south block consists of kitchen, guests room etc. Other facilities such as up-gradation of pump house, open courtyard are kept in mind too.Total cost of the work is Rs 10.56 crs he informed.

Dr Sanjeev Dalvi welcomed the gathering, Shri Umesh Kholkar compered the function while Shri Adolf Pacheco proposed the vote of thanks.

Panaji. January 26, 2019 …The newly constructed third cable stayed  bridge across Mandovi bridge will be inaugurated tomorrow on January 27, 2019.

 The Mandovi River Cable Stay Bridge was an important project proposed by GSIDC (Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation) and designed by L & T Infrastructure Ltd; constructed by L&T heavy Civil Infrastructure.

 In order to overcome the bottlenecks caused at Panaji KTC Circle, and Panaji Entrance as same route was used by local traffic as well as NH-17 Highway bound traffic, this project was proposed. It is reported that about 66,000 vehicles use this route every day. The congestion of traffic for hours led to a huge mess ad nuisance, especially during the peak tourist season in Goa.

          This 4-lane Cable stayed bridge in the State of Goa across the river Mandovi in between the two existing bridges will support and sustain burgeoning traffic and will be an aesthetically pleasing landmark for tourism development in the State of Goa.

          To be precise, the Mumbai bound traffic incoming from Bangalore via Ponda route and Old Goa i.e. Madgaon and even from Panaji can be collectively sent towards NH-17 through an elevated bridge, bypassing the main Panjim City. The Cable Stay Bridge also adds an architectural beauty to the capital of Goa, Panaji. Total Bridge Length of the Bridge is 5.1(km including approaches).

          The bridge is made of 1,00,000 m³ of High Strength, High Performance  Concrete(enough to fill 40 Olympic size swimming pools), 13,000 MT of Corrosion resistant Reinforcement Steel, 32000 square meter of Structural Steel Plates, 1800 km of High Tensile Pre-stressing strands, 265 Nos of MSM^® Spherical Bridge Beaings, 88 High Tensile Strength Cables in State-of-the-art Single Place Harp type Cable Stay System equipped with real-time Force Monitoring technology (DYNA Force ^® ) and toal weight of the bridge  2,50,000 tons(weight of 570 Boeing-747 jumbo jets).

Panaji, January 26, 2019 …  … The 70^th Republic Day of the country was celebrated with great enthusiasm and patriotic fervor in the State today. The State-level function was held at the SAG Ground, Campal where Governor of Goa Smt. Mridula Sinha unfurled the National Tri-color and inspected the Guard of Honour.

Addressing the gathering, the Governor said that on this day in 1950 the people of India resolved to make India a sovereign, secular and democratic republic and to treat everyone with equality and respect. We are the biggest Democratic nation which includes people from different religion, culture, caste and region. It is an occasion to introspect our values and unite for the betterment of our country, the Governor said.

The Governor gave a detailed summary of various projects, quoting the 3^rd Mandovi Bridge and the Eight lane cable Zuari bridge as milestones of the Government. “The state Government works hard in order to strengthen the society and to provide the best facilities to the public. The law and order in the state have always been in control. The Government via its schemes in Education, Women Empowerment, Agriculture and Fisheries have achieved tremendous growth in the social sector. With upcoming District Hospitals and Super Speciality Blocks, our state will soon be a hub for Health Care,” the Governor said.

Applauding the progress made in the Industrial and Tourism sector Smt. Sinha said that the state has made a commendable job in the ‘Swachh Bharat Mission’. She also informed that ‘Gaanv aur hum’, a unique program wherein she visits remote villages in the state, is gaining popularity and has helped the state Government to take its schemes and programs to the rural people.

 On the occasion, the Governor later presented ‘Krishiratna’ award to Shri. Shrihari Kurade for his distinguished work in the field of agriculture. Similarly, Shri. Uday Prabhudessai, Shri. Dalgerio Santan Fernandes was given with ‘Krishi Vibhushan and Krishi Bhushan’ awards respectively. Shri. Rajesh Molu Gaonkar was presented with Fr. Inacio Alemida Special Award.

Prominent among those who attended the Republic Day ceremony included senior political leader Shri. L.K.Adwani, Speaker Shri. Pramod Sawant,   Chief Secretary Shri Parimal Rai IAS, Secretaries to the Government, senior officers and freedom fighters. The function was compered by Dr. Dayanand Rao.

Earlier, contingents from Defence, Police force and School children performed March past. The program ended with cultural programs presented by children from various local schools.

Panaji. January 26, 2019 ….  ..The Directorate of Transport has compiled their monthly report of number of accidents that occurred and number of Challans issued for the month of November 2018.

As per the report there were 309 road accidents of which 22 Fatal Accidents (North Goa – 11 and South Goa – 11), 21 Grievous Accidents (North Goa – 11 and South Goa – 10), 62 Minor Accidents (North Goa – 23 and South Goa – 39) and 204 Non – Injury Accidents (North Goa – 126 and South Goa – 78) took place.

The total number of people who lost their lives in road accidents were 22 (North Goa – 11 and South Goa – 11). 9 riders, 7 P/Riders and  6 Pedestrian lost their lives in these accidents.

24 people were Grievously Injured (North – 13 and South – 11) while 92 persons suffered Minor Injuries (North – 31, South – 61).

A total 8820 Challans were issued by Transport authorities in the month of November 2018.

Panaji. January 26, 2019 … Prayog Saanj will be held on January 25, 2019 at 6.30 p.m. at Sanskruti Bhavan, Patto, Panaji in which ‘Let Me Be Me’ a theatrical presentation will be presented by Ms. Anagha Saish Deshpande.

The play has been written Ms. Florina Frazilla Fernandes and directed by Mrs. Anagha Saish Deshpande and will be performed be the students of Nirmala Institute of Education, Altinho, Panaji.

The main objective of ‘Prayog Saanj’ is to provide a platform to the new groups and budding artistes in the field of Drama. The Directorate of Art and Culture provides its Multipurpose Hall free of cost for the performance of the play. The groups interested to perform in ‘Prayog Saanj’may kindly contact Directorate of Art and Culture for further details.

   This programme is open for all the artists and theatre lovers.

Panaji: Jan. 25, 2019 … On the occasion of Republic Day, I convey my hearty greetings and best wishes to everyone. Today, we reaffirm our dedication towards our Constitution and repose faith in the ideals enshrined in our Constitution. Let us all work together to take our country on the path of progress. This Republic Day let us resolve to strengthen our nation by dedicating ourselves towards building a progressive and prosperous India.