Panaji, December 11, 2019 …At a meeting held with the Chief Minister, Dr Pramod Sawant in Panaji, today, the Chief Engineer, Water Resource Department (WRD), Shri Shrikant Patil, and other officials informed the Chief Minister that there was no shortage of water in the State.

The officials informed Dr Sawant that currently, the water from Tillari Canal from Maharashtra has been stopped because of landslides due to the recent rains in August and September and that the cleaning of the landslide work has been undertaken up by Government of Maharashtra and are likely to be completed by the second week of December. They further informed that this work is being monitored by Executive Engineers of Goa in-charge of the canal on a daily basis and project authorities in Maharashtra have assured that they will release the required quantity of water for irrigation and drinking water purpose in Goa by the second week of December.

The WRD officials further stated that the Tillari Dam is full to its capacity indicating that they was no shortage of water. Shri Patil informed that because of the work of clearing the landslide in the canal in Maharashtra, as a temporary arrangement, the Goa authorities are pumping water from Sal Bandhara and bringing to Amthane Dam which in turns supplies water to the Assonora Water Treatment Plant. The officials further informed that the Amthane Dam has got a minimum of 20 days stock of water and there is no shortage of water in Goa.

The Tillari Irrigation Project is a joint venture of the Governments of Goa and Maharashtra. The canal network begins in Maharashtra and enters Goa at Dodamarg. The Tillari Irrigation Project supplies water to the Assonora Water Treatment Plant directly from the canal and the water from here is supplied to Bardez taluka.

Panaji, December 10, 2019 …The ongoing works of augmentation and laying of new pipelines will solve all the water woes of Quepem Constituency permanently said Deputy Chief Minister, Shri Chandrakant Kavlekar.

Shri Kavlekar was speaking after commissioning 150 mm DI drinking water pipeline from Quitol to Pirwada and Pirwada to parts of Quitol Village laid at a cost of Rs. 70 lakhs recently. The water pressure problems too will be solved with the laying of the new pipeline.

Stating that the developmental works in varied sectors in the constituency are carried out with a vision and taking the requirements of years ahead, Shri Kavlekar said some of these works are near completion while process on others is going on said. Keeping in mind the needs for the coming 25 years all round development in terms of infrastructure, health, education, water supply is being undertaken said Shri Kavlekar adding that no stone will be left unturned for the Development.

Speaking further Shri Kavlekar said, work of laying new water line, worth Rs. 8.00 crores from Ambaulim is underway. Drinking water system work under JICA project at a cost of Rs. 29 crores in Quepem Municipality jurisdiction is accorded approval by Government he added. Unity of the people is very much important for progress and development of the village, he remarked.

Khola Zilla Panchayat Member, Shri Shanu Velip said Government is working tirelessly for the overall development of the last citizen of the State. People should keep aside their differences and work unitedly for the welfare of the people he added. He also lauded the efforts of Shri Kavlekar for undertaking various Developmental works in Quepem constituency.

Sarpanch, Village Panchayat Betul, Shri Tato Parwar thanked Shri Kavlekar for solving the various problems faced by the villagers.

Deputy Sarpanch, Smt Akanksha Naik, panch members, Assistant Engineer, Water Supply, Quepem, Shri Vasuraj Karmalkar, Curchorem – Smt Harsha Kakodkar and others were also present on the occasion.  Executive Engineer, Water Supply, Quepem, Shri Shrikant Gaonkar welcomed while Technical Assistant, Smt Jyoti Velip proposed the vote of thanks.

Shri Kavlekar also laid foundation for a Club House at Gavliwada Betul, construction of which will be taken on a land donated by Kavlekar family under Panchayat Golden Jubilee Fund. Gymnasium for Club House costing Rs. 25 lakhs will also be made available under Rajya Sabha Member of Parliament Fund. Four Gymnasiums total costing Rs. 1 crore are sanctioned for Betul, Morpirla, Khola and Barcem villages under MP Fund, he informed.

Panaji: December 09,2019 … Government is committed to safeguard the interest of special children and have been doing  everything for their betterment and will continue to do so   in future said Chief Minister Dr. Pramod Sawant. He was speaking after inaugurating the hall named after former Chief Minister late Shri Manohar Parrikar at Sanjay Center for Special Education at Porvorim recently. The function was organized by the Directorate of Social Welfare to celebrate ‘World Disability Day’ in collaboration with Sanjay Center for Special Education Porvorim.

Dr Sawant speaking further  underscored the need  of a Special Disability   cell  to reddress the grievances of special children. He said to enable special children to live a dignified life.  We have to make them self reliant and to assure them better livelihood reservation for this section need to be implemented properly. Therefore he appealed to concerned institutions to follow and execute roster.

Minister for Science, Technology and Environment Shri   Michael Lobo while speaking said that  special children deserve to have better facilities. He said they need skill development to secure job to earn livelihood. He said there is need of a training center for these children where they can receive training in various disciplines and items manufactured by them can be  displayed with price tag for sale to public and tourists as well. In this way he said  the productivity, entrepreneurship among special children can be enhanced and they will  become self reliant, he added.

Chairman Sanjay Centre for Special Education, Shri Guruprasad  Pawaskar  in his address said that, the United  Nations has recommended Sanjay Center for Special Children for having highest attendance of Special Children in the school in the country. . He said every effort has been made at the center to help special children to live respected and independent life. Training or skill development is essential so as to  avail government schemes and efforts would be made through Economic Development Corporation  hereafter,   he informed.

 Ex-Chairman Bal Bhavan  Smt Kunda Chodankar and  Shri Utpal Parrikar Son of former Chief Minister late Shri. Manohar Parrikar both spoke on the occasion. The Chief Minister earlier inaugurated blood donation camp on the occasion.

Smt Sheru Shirodkar Member Secretary, Sanjay Centre, Shri Krishna. Ketkar, Shri. Manohar. Korgaonkar, Shri. Sagar. Jawadekar all Board  Members, attended the function

Shri Pradip  Nagarsekar, Director Directorate of Social Welfare earlier welcomed the guests.  Shri Durgesh  Majik Special Educator compered the function. Shri Taha Haziq, Officer On Special Duty, Social Welfare  proposed the Vote of thanks.

Panaji, December 08, 2019 …Chief Minister Dr. Pramod Sawant launched a dedicated website (www.birdfestival.goa.gov.in) on bird festival recently at his official residence Altinho, Panaji. Forest Department of Goa, will   be organizing its third edition of Bird Festival from January 17 to 19, 2020 at Valpoi and Surla of Sattari taluka.

Minister for PWD Shri. Deepak Pauskar; MLA’s, Shri. Pratapsingh Rane, Smt. Alina Saldanha, Shri. Prasad Gaonkar, Principal Secretary, Forest Shri Punit Kumar Goyal IAS, Principal Chief Conservator of Forest, Shri. Subhash Chandra, IFS ; Chief Wildlife Warden, Shri. Santosh Kumar IFS, Members of State Wildlife Board and others were present on the occasion.

Goa is home to over 450 species of birds both residents and migratory.  The Bird Festival aims to generate awareness towards wildlife and their habitat conservation with special emphasis on birds. Delegates from all over the country and abroad will be joining in the event. It is open to the general public with a nominal registration fee. Experts and renowned speakers will share their knowledge and experiences on birds and wildlife conservation.

Day trips to forests will be conducted for those unable to attend entire events.

Bird walks and field trips in forests of Valpoi, Bondla, Molem and Mhadei harbouring rich bird diversity will also be conducted.

Various Quiz competitions, Wildlife Film shows, videography and photography competitions will be conducted in the festival, entries for which can be sent to Forest Department. For more information interested participants can visit http://birdfestival.goa.gov.in

Panaji, December 07, 2019 .. Mahatma Gandhi had firm conviction in whatever he did. He had no pride or arrogance. He introduced morality in politics said Governor, Shri Satya Pal Malik, while speaking as the Chief Guest at the ‘Gandhi Katha’ programme organised by Raj Bhavan and Directorate of Art and Culture at Sanskruti Bhavan, Panaji, recently.

Shri Malik said that Gandhi staunchly supported human rights and living with dignity. Some of the significant contribution of Mahatma Gandhi has been his fight against injustice said Shri Malik sharing anecdotes of Gandhi’s life which highlighted his principles and values.

The Deputy Chief Minister, Shri Chandrakant Kavlekar, in his address said that Mahatma Gandhi played a pivotal role in the freedom struggle of India and Indians cannot forget his contribution in the Independence Movement of the nation. Shri Kavlekar said that Gandhi’s far-sighted vision and principles such as ‘Ahmisa’ (Non-Violence) and teachings regarding cleanliness, helped bring a consciousness among the people.

‘Gandhi Katha’ is a programme to commemorate the 150th Birth Anniversary year of Mahatma Gandhi. The inaugural was followed by ‘Gandhi Katha’, presented by Shobhana Radhakrishna, Chief Functionary of the Gandhian Forum for Ethical Corporate Governance, SCOPE (Standing Conference of Public Enterprises-an Apex body of Central Government owned Public Enterprises), India. ‘Gandhi Katha’ is a narration of many unpublished and little known incidents on the life of Mahatma Gandhi and is aimed at inspiring people in nation building.

Earlier, Director, Directorate of Art and Culture, Shri Gurudas Pilarnekar, in his welcome address said that the aim of the function is to propagate the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi among the young generation.

Present on the occasion were Secretary to Governor, Shri Rupesh Kumar Thakur, IAS; Vice-Chancellor of Goa University, Prof. Varun Sahni, and others.

Panaji: December 06, 2019 ….Chief Minister Dr. Pramod Sawant recently launched DIKSHA, a digital service inspired program. The program is made by the efforts of teachers in many states to enhance and elevate school education in the country. The service which is a brainchild of MHRD and NCTE was launched at the official residence of Chief Minister in Altinho in the presence of Secretary Education, Smt. Nila Mohanan IAS, Director Ms. Vandana Rao IAS, Dy Director (Academic) Shri. Shailesh Zingade, SCERT Director Shri. Nagraj Honnekari were present for the same.

DIKSHA has introduced Energized (QR code imposed) textbooks which will allow for contribution and access to curated digital content for every chapter of the school textbook. There will be interactive audio-visual content, assessments and illustration aligned to school syllabus to make learning interesting and effective for state board students and teachers.

Students, parents and teachers can follow the instructions that will be provided in the textbook to download the mobile application to scan the QR code and access the state-of-the art content syllabus from the android smart phones.

For the academic year (2019-20), the QR codes will be imposed on two classes 5^th class EVS and 6^th class Mathematics in English Medium.

         Goa is also the first state to launch the first DIKSHA Content Creation Competition which was held in March 2019. The winners of the competitions were felicitated by the Chief Minister on the occasion.

      Teachers Smt. Trupti Umesh Mandrekar, Smt. Sulakshna V. Gadekar and Smt. Angela Monteiro were awarded 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd prizes respectively for creating valuable content for EVS in 5^th class.

      Teachers Smt. Sulakshna V. Gadekar, Smt. Maria Manisha D’Silva and Smt. Mafel Manscarenhas were awarded 1^st, 2^nd and 3^rd prizes respectively for creating valuable content for Mathematics 6^th class. Along with the winners, the State DIKSHA Content Review Committee members were awarded Certificates for appreciation by the Chief Minister.

Panaji: December 05, 2019 … The Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade, Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India in collaboration with the Government of Goa, is organizing the Start-Up India Global Venture Capital Summit-2019, a special curated event for Fund Managers and Limited Partners of top Global Venture Capital Firms on December 6 and 7, 2019 at Cidade de Goa Resort, Panaji.

The event envisages showcasing the diversity – width depth and scale of the Indian Market opportunity and the cutting-edge innovation originating in India.

Chief Minister Dr. Pramod Sawant on December 7, 2019 will attend the event along with many Global Venture capital Fund Mangers from over 15 countries and reputable corporate.

Panaji: December 04, 2019 …. A training programme for Cook-Cum-Helpers under the Mid Day Meal Scheme for the State of Goa covering North Education Zone, Central Education Zone and South Education Zone held recently.

The purpose of the training programme was to train the Cook-Cum-Helpers and the Self Help Groups, Mahila Mandals, P.T.A on Food Handling, Serving, Personal hygiene, Use of Local Seasonal Vegetables, Kitchen Gardening and Nutritious cooking practices.

 Nutrition experts Ms. Varsha Bhide and Ms. Manasi Kudchakar were the resource persons for the training programme.

Ms. Varsha Bhide spoke on personal hygiene and different aspects of hygiene and food safety and food handling. Ms. Manasi Kudchadkar spoke on importance of nutritious cooking practices, use of local seasonal vegetables and kitchen gardening. Shri Vijendra Naik provided technical expertise during the training programme.

Set of aprons, head gears and hand gloves were distributed to the participants.
Assistant Director of Education Mrs. Maria Rose Grace D’Souza welcomed the participants and spoke on the importance of health and hygiene. Vocational Education Officer Shri Jaywant Naik explained the importance of quality of Mid Day Meals and proposed the vote of thanks.

The function concluded with Prize distribution by the A.D.E.I’s at the taluka level dealing with mid -day meal scheme.

Panaji, December 03, 2019 …Chief Minister, Dr Pramod Sawant in the presence of Panchayat Minister, Shri Mauvin Godinho; MLA and Chairman, Goa Housing Board, Shri Subhash Shirodkar inaugurated the new building of Village Panchayat Panchwadi in Shiroda Assembly constituency, constructed under Upgradation of Infrastructure in Rural areas under Deendayal Panchayat Raj Infrastructure Development (Golden Jubilee) Scheme 2013, recently.

Speaking on the occasion, Dr Sawant said, with the visionary leadership of Ex-CM late Manohar Parrikar all round development of the State started in the year 2012. The major projects standing tall in the State today and some of which are nearing completion is the vision of late Parrikar. Shri Parrikar laid due emphasis to develop the infrastructure of rural areas along with the cities, he added. The infrastructure being undertaken in the field of Government education in the State is much much higher compared to other States, he said.

Dr. Sawant urging the people, mainly youths, to focus on revival of the traditional business of agriculture and farming said that the rural economy of the State can only increase with agriculture and farming. Government is ready to provide all the necessary support and technical know-how. One just needs to take one step forward and show interest in this field, he said.

The Chief Minister reiterated the Government commitment to make all out efforts to make every Goan self sustainable and stand on their own feet. Panchayats should take the requiste initiative to give a fillip to the agriculturists. Farmers should ensure to add value to their local produce apart from looking at proper upgradation and marketing techniques to earn higher returns, Shri Sawant remarked.

Shri Sawant applauded the efforts of MLA Shirodkar for his contribution in the field of education for the last 5 decades to educate the students and make them capable to face the challenges in this competitive world.

Shri Shirodkar lauded Governments vision for all round development of the State. He said keeping in mind the basic needs of the people – electricity, road and water 12 crores of electricity works in the Shiroda constituency are sanctioned apart from augmentation of water supply system, he said.

Zilla Panchayat Member, Shri Jaideep Shirodkar and panch member Shri Cristev Costa spoke on the occasion. Sarpanch, Anthony D’costa welcomed while panch member, Shri Vishant Gaonkar proposed the vote of thanks.

Deputy Sarpanch, Mrs Crista Fernandes; BDO, Shri Milindra Velip, panch members and Ex sarpanchas were also present on the occasion. Students of the Panchashil High School presented welcome song.

The ground plus two panchayat building consists of 6 shops on the ground floor to mop in additional revenue to the panchayat. The first floor consists of the Panchayat office, gymnasium, library, store room and pantry. Separate seating areas are provided for sarpanch with conference room. Second floor has a hall with a capacity of 300 persons. Two green rooms on either side of the stage are provided with attached toilets along with separate toilets for ladies and gents on all floors.

Panaji, December 02, 2019 ….Government is tirelessly working on the basis of “Sarvoday and Antyody” for overall development and development of the last citizen of the State said Deputy Chief Minister, Shri Chandrakant (Babu) Kavlekar. The State is marching towards progress by keeping aside differences and taking everyone into confidence, he said.

Shri Kavlekar was speaking after inaugurating the Pension Week organised by the Office of the Commissioner, Labour and Employment at ESI Hospital, Margao. Pension Week is celebrated across the nation from November 30th to December 6, 2019 under Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan Dhan (PM-SYM) and  Pradhan Mantri Laghu Vyapari Maan – Dhan Yojana (PM-LVMY) Scheme.

Speaking further Shri Kavlekar appealed to the people to take the benefit of PM- SYM and PM-LVMY schemes. Both the schemes will provide relief after the age of 60. Savings is the need to secure ones future Kavlekar said.

 There are various schemes of the Union and State Government to support the people. Beneficiaries should publicize these schemes with their word of mouth among their community and society at large he urged and added this will long way to ensure that maximum people avail benefits of these schemes. Everyone should work together for the betterment of society, Shri Kavlekar ended.

Opposition Leader, Shri Digambar Kamat applauded the efforts of the Union Government for starting both the pension schemes. Labour Department needs to work hard to reach out to the eligible people as these schemes are in the larger interest of the people.

Head of ESI Hospital, Margao, Dr Vishwajeet Faldessai was present on the occasion. Deputy Labour Commissioner, Shri Satish Vaghurmekar welcomed while Assistant Labour Commissioniner, Shri Vaman Bhatikar proposed vote of thanks.

Pradhan Mantri Shram Yogi Maan – Dhan Yojana is a pension scheme for unorganized workers while Pradhan Mantri Laghu Vyapari Maan – Dhan Yojana or National Pension Scheme is for traders and self employed persons. Beneficiary should contribute Rs. 50 to Rs. 200 every month depending on their age for both the schemes. After the age of 60 years subscriber will get an assured monthly pension of Rs. 3000. To enroll or for any information one can contact nearest Common Service Centre.