Panaji: October 15, 2017 …The Parliamentary committee of Ministry for Health and Family Welfare (MHFW), New Delhi headed by Minister of State in the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Smt. Anupriya Patel visited the Goa Medical College, Bambolim (GMC) on saturday.

The team consisted of Members of Parliament (MPs) from Lok Sabha Ms. Bhawana Gawali (Patil), Shri. Ch. Malla Reddy, Shri. Dharmendra Kumar, Shri. Suresh Kodikunnil, Smt. P.K. Sreemathi Teacher, Dr. Ponnusamy Venugopal, Dr. (Prof) Prasanna K. Patasani, Dr. Ratna De (Nag), Shri. Vinod Kumar Boianapalli and MPs from Rajya Sabha Shri. Gopal Narayan Singh and Shri. Javed Ali Khan. Shri Sanjeeva Kumar, Additional Secretary (Health), MHFW, Govt. of India and Shri. Sunil Sharma, Joint Secretary was also present on the occasion.

The committee visit is a part of the agenda under the Pradhan Mantri Swasthya Surakha Yojana (PMSSY) wherein GMC has been approved for up gradation under Phase III of PMSSY. Under this scheme the central Government will incur an expenditure of Rs. 386.20 crores out of which Rs. 120 crores to be borne by the Central Government, remaining will be borne by the state Government. HSCC (I) Ltd. has been appointed as Executing Agency for civil work. The committee has selected 73 GMCs in the country for up gradation out of which 13 are up-graded in Phase-I of PMSSY.

Health Secretary Shri. B.R. Singh  IAS, Dean- Dr. Pradeep Naik, Medical Superintendent Dr. Shivanand Bandekar along with HoDs of various departments and senior doctors welcomed the committee members. The committee toured the Casualty Block, Cardiovascular and Thoracic Super Specialty Unit, Urology and Nephrology Unit and took a record of various facilities available to the patients. The doctors from concerned departments along with Dean Dr. Pradeep Naik accompanied the committee members and answered their queries.

The committee was briefed by Dr. Bandekar in which he put light on the current scenario of GMC and how the up gradation under PMSSY would help it to be one of the best Medical Colleges in India. “GMC being the oldest medical college in Asia caters to people not only from Goa but also from its neighboring states. The up gradation will provide additional bed strength to the existing super specialty departments so that their need for providing optimal patient care for the next two decade will be met. New super specialty departments like Medical and Surgical Gastroenterology can be started along with additional Operation Theaters, Liver and Cardiac Transplant Super Specialty Unit and 100 ICU related beds for General, POICU, Renal and Liver Transplant. A 500 bedded Super Specialty Block can be built to accommodate all the medical and surgical Super Specialty departments under one roof for optimal Super Specialty care,” he said.  

Panaji, October 14, 2017 … World Food India (WFI) will be held at S-Hexagon Park, India Gate, New Delhi for exhibition and Vigyan Bhavan, New Delhi for Conferences from November 3 to 5, 2017. All the entrepreneurs and other stake holders related to food processing and retail industry may visit the exhibition.

 For further details/registration and participation call Confederation of India Industry at (CII) 0832-2422790, 2422790, 2232255.

 Panaji: October 14, 2017 … A memorandum of understanding to develop green corridor with model plantation and beautification on the National Highway stretch passing through Goa was signed today in the presence of Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways & Shipping, Shri Nitin Gadkari and Chief Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar.

 The relevant documents were exchanged between Managing Director of GSIDC, Shri Srinet Kothwale and Ministry of Road Transport Shri Singh.

 The project costing Rs 100 Crores will be funded by Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and GSIDC will execute & maintain the same. GSIDC will involve local expertise and consult interested Goans to make Goa highways green by planting native fruit / flower bearing plants.

 Other present on the occasion were Minister for Public Works Shri Ramkrishna Dhavlikar, GSIDC Chairman Shri Deepak Pauskar and Vice Chairman Shri Sidharth Kuncolienkar and state and Officers attached to Union Government.

Panaji, October 14, 2017 …   The Department of Fisheries, is implementing various schemes wherein financial assistance is provided to the beneficiary.

The  schemes are  Financial Assistance for the purchase of Auto rickshaw with Icebox, Safety of Fishermen at Sea (Safety kit will consist of GPS, communication equipment, echo-sounder, lifejackets, lifebuoys, life-saving appliances, VHF radiotelephones, fish finder, backup battery, search & rescue beacon, etc.)

Development of Post Harvest infrastructure like Ice plant, Cold storages and Ice plants-cum- Cold storages. Construction of Fish Markets, Renovation at Panchayat/ Municipality/ Village.  Financial Assistance to take up Value Addition to Seafood Financial Assistance for Construction/Renovation of unit and Financial Assistance for Purchase of Equipments

Applicants interested in these schemes are requested to kindly visit to the Directorate of Fisheries, Panaji or contact on (0832) 2425263/2224838 or mail on e-mail id: dir-fish.goa@nic.in for further enquiries and information.

Applications towards these schemes will be available at all Fisheries jetties, respective blocks i.e. Block Development Office, Head office i.e. Directorate of Fisheries, Panaji. The application will be considered on first cum first service basis preference will be given to Individual/Society/Self Help Groups who has not availed any other scheme under Blue Revolution and the subsidy will be issued depending on availability of fund and continuation of scheme.

Panaji, October 14, 2017 … A one-day conference to discuss issues of accessibility within the Smart City Panaji Mission was recently organised in Panaji, by the State Commissioner of Persons with Disabilities, Government of Goa, in collaboration with National Centre for Promotion of Employment of Persons with Disabilities (NCPEDP).

The focus of the conference was discussing the requirements and parameters for smart cities to become truly inclusive and accessible to the differently-abled and exploring ways to draw the convergence between the Smart Cities Mission and Accessible India Campaign for which Panaji has been selected. 

Anuradha Joshi, the State Commissioner for persons with disabilities emphasised on the importance of inclusive planning as she welcomed the gathering. The conference was attended by key decision-makers and departments.

Commissioner, Corporation of the City, Panaji, Shri Ajit Roy said that it was time to sit and derive solutions with regards to issues affecting accessibility. He said that stakeholders and authorities should have clearly defined roles and efforts should be coordinated.

Chief Town Planner, Town and Country Planning, Dr S T Puttaraju said that disabilities are not just those inabilities that one has from birth. It can arise at different stages in a person’s life. He spoke of how the definition can sometimes be broadened to include the elderly population as well.

He spoke of how cities that have already been planned without considering issues of accessibility should be required to have a retrofitting for accessibility. He said that we should not just concentrate on smart cities for accessibility but other cities as well. He said that even if agencies and authorities work on policies that are implemented for the benefit of making spaces accessible, the success of the whole endeavour also depends on how people receive it and at times that could require some amount of educating people on this need in order to effect a change in mindsets.

Experts from the field of planning highlighted the importance and parameters of a barrier free city. Shri Ravi Koulag of CISCO spoke on smart city focus areas for accessibility, citizen engagement, urban mobility and safety, smart parking solutions, bringing government services closer to citizens, among other points. He said that most urban services are getting enabled by technology and the data which is collated helps to enable agencies and administration in their decisions towards addressing issues around accessibility.

Representatives from government departments, Shri  Avelino D’ Sa, the president of the Disabilities Rights Association of Goa (DRAG), and Shri Lokesh Lohiya of CISCO among others were those present on the occasion.

Panaji, October 13, 2017 …. District Magistrate, South has ordered the owners and management of all hotels, lodging and boarding, private guest houses, paying guest accommodation, temporary residential accommodation of all religious bodies to prohibit any visitors/guest to check in without providing any photo identity proof such as Election card, Driving License, Smart Card, Employment card, Adhar card or any other duly issued by Government.

No land lords, tenants, owners, person of any house or property will rent out any accommodation to any person unless he/she has furnished the particulars of the tenants to the police in charge of the concern area.  

          Any person contravening this order shall be punishable under section 188 of the Indian Penal Code.

Panaji, October 13, 2017 … The Leprosy Case Detection Campaign (LCDC) campaign will be conducted in the state from November 6 -19,2017 by State Health Society(leprosy), Directorate of Health Services, Panaji.

The LCDC campaign is a unique initiative under National Leprosy Eradication Programe (NLEP) to detect case of leprosy early in the community. It is a committed move to strengthen the services and facilities to leprosy affected persons in India.