Panaji: September 30, 2016 ….. Additional Collector II South Goa Shri Johnson B.Fernandes held a meeting with the South Goa District Level Coordination Committee for Tobacco Control along with senior official of various government departments from South Goa and NGOs  in the  Mathany Saldanha Administrative Complex, Margao recently.

       The meeting discussed about Tobacco Control awareness programme which will be starting from October 3, 2016. He said that every taluka should be serious in carrying out COTPA drives.

        To make the awareness programme a grand success the  collector South advised to take the help of maximum participants of students, youth, NGOs, in form of floats in the rally campaign.

        Addl. Collector, Shri Johnson Fernandes directed all the Mamlatdars. Jt. Mamlatdars and concerned officials to conduct raids, identify the defaulters and issue Challens immediately.

        Addl. Collector II also directed to issue reminders to the Commercial Tax Department as they failed to provide a list of banned chewing tobacco products.

      Dr. Doreen Dias, Nodal officer, District level coordination Committee for Tobacco Control, Hospicio Hospital, Margao presented  the minutes of the last meeting.

 Panaji: September 29, 2016 ….. The Agriculture Technology Management Agency, South Goa, Directorate of Agriculture, is organizing the 3 days “Hilly Vegetable Festival” from October 1 to 3, 2016 at Ravindra Bhavan, Margao. The festival will be inaugurated at the hands of  Minister of Agriculture Shri. Ramesh Tawadkar at 4.00 pm.

        The “Hilly vegetable festival” an Agricultural Exhibition is organized to promote the production, value addition and Marketing of Hilly Vegetables. Also competition on Hilly vegetable like Muskmelon, Ridge gourd, Bottle gourd, Pumpkin, Yam and Cucumber.

      The competition on vegetable carving open for Higher Secondary Schools of South Goa District will be held on October 1, 2016. Training and Demonstration will be held at the venue. On same day demonstration on vegetable carving at 11.30 am. and Training on Chilly cultivation at 2.30 p.m and vermicompost at 4.00 p.m on October 2, 2016 demonstrations will be held on “sea shell craft 10.30 a.m., Jam preparation at 3.00 pm and mushroom cultivation at 4.00 p.m.

          During these 3 days exhibition various vegetables grown in hilly areas agricultural technologies and services provided in the field of Agriculture and allied sectors like Horticulture, Animal Husbandry, dairy, Fisheries etc will be showcased.

         Government Agencies, Non Government Agencies, Self Help Groups and Private companies will participate and display their advanced technologies, products, Hi-tech inputs services etc during the exhibition.

The exhibition

Panaji: September 28,2016 ….The employees attached to Indian Farmer’s Fertilizer Co-operative Limited Employees Union (IFFCO)  met Dr. (Smt.) Mridula Sinha at Raj Bhavan Donapaula recently.

Governor in her address appreciated the hard work and dedicated efforts put in by  IFFCO organization for the well being of Indian farmers. IFFCO, today is a leading player in India’s Fertilizer Industry and is making substantial contribution to the efforts of Indian government to increase food grain production in the country, she added.

The Governor further called for better coordination between employer and employees to boost the production. She  expressed happiness that the IFFCO is celebrating its Golden Jubilee Year Celebration of inception on January 20, next year.

          Shri Brajesh Kumar President of IFFCO briefed about the functioning of organisation .

Dr. Uday Shankar Avaste, Managing Director (IFFCO), Shri Sardul Singh Yadave, General Secretary, Shri V.G Diwale, Administrative Manager(IFFCO) for Goa and Mumbai , Shri Dharma Shetgaonkar, local Representative (Goa) and all other Union members of (IFFCO)were present on the occasion.

Shri. Gagan Deep Singh, Vice President of IFFCO  proposed the vote of thanks.

Panaji: September 27, 2016 … The National Institute of Public Cooperation and Child Development, Bangalore is organizing a non-residential sensitization programme on Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012 in collaboration with various stakeholders involved in the implementation of POCSO Act on October, 6 and 7 2016.

The full day programme will be held on October 6, 2016 at the Seminar Hall, Secretariat, Porvorim. The inaugural function will be on October 6 at 9.30 a.m.

Panaji: September 25, 2016 …. Expressing concern over the growing incidents of accidents in the state, Minister for Water Resources Shri. Dayanand Mandrekar recently stressed the need to create awareness among the road users to ensure safety to their life and minimize accidents in the state.

Inaugurating the 6th State Road Safety Week 2016 celebration being organized by by Directorate of Transport, Mapusa on the Theme “Love Safety, Marry Rules, Divorce Speed at Fr. Agnel Institute of Technology and Design Assagoa in Bardez Taluka. Shri. Mandrekar mentioned that the number of accidents that are occurring on roads 98.5 percent accounts due to man made errors which includes over speeding, rash and reckless driving. In the context the minister emphasized the need for road safety and traffic discipline among the road users besides to obey traffic rules, youth succumbing to injuries caused due to accidents is a matter of concern he added.

Speaking further Shri. Mandrekar also highlighted the need to have presence of mind while driving, walking and also while crossing the road.

The Function was also attended by Dr.V. Mariappan, Principle of Agnel Institute, Fr. Sebastiao Rodrigues, Asst. Director (ATEC), Shri. Sunil Masurkar, Director of Transport, Gurudas Narvekar, Dy. Director for Transport, Shri. Roland Martins, Convener, GOA CAN and Shri. Narayan Rathvad, Senior Journalist.

Shri M.C Tar, Motor Vehicle Inspector who gave presentation on Road Safety Instruction to Students said that “Lack of Knowledge of Traffic rules and traffic Sign boards may cause to serious fatal accidents.

Prof. Larissa Carvalho, Asst. Prof. AITD, compered. Shri. Sandeep B. Dessai, Asstt. Director of Transport, Enf. (North)Welcomed the guests,Shri. Sandeep.B. Dessai,Asstt. Director of Transport.Enf. (North) proposed the vote of thanks.

Panaji: September 24, 2016 …. The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities, New Delhi will award National Scholarships for students with disabilities through  National Scholarship Portal. Eligible Students should apply online on or before September 30, 2016. The website for the online application isWWW.Scholarships.gov.in.

For further details contact on phone no:-0832-2232257 to the Director of Social Welfare, Panaji. Email socialwelfaregoa@rediffmail.com

 Panaji: 23 September , 2016…Towards  Strengthening  Mormugao Port Trust  (MPT) and economy of Goa yesterday concessions of agreement for the Project of Redevelopment of Berths 8, 9, and  Barge Berth between Mormugao  Port Trust and Goa Seaport private Limited were Signed in the Presence of Union Minister of Shiping, Highways And Road Transport Shri. Nitin Gadkari and Chief Minster, Shri Laxmikant Parsekar , similarly Project of 200 KV solar installation at MPT was inaugurated by the Union Minister during the programme held at a Hotel in Miramar.

Speaking on the occasion Shri Gadkari  expressed confidence that both these projects will boost Economical growth of State.  We are a fast growing economy in the world, and therefore our ports needs to developed. To reduce the cost of transport or logistic in economical sector, it very important to develop infrastructure for ports, he said. Union Minister further informed about Sagarmala project which will bring  investment in the tune of around 12 lacs crores towards waterways, Ports and coastal areas development, through which Goa state is going to be benefited directly in many aspects.  Union Minister while expressing  serious  concerns on rising road Accidents informed that his ministry has allocated Rs. 11 thousands crore  to do away with Accident prone zones. Till now 786 lacs accident prone zones have been identified in the country, he told. And also asked the Goa govt to find out Such accident prone zones, which can be repaired with central funds.

Chief Minister Shri. Laxmikant  Parsekar lauded various initiaves  and Schemes instituted  by Union Minister Shri Gadkari for State Goa. Union Minister Shri Gadkari always remained on forefront to approve various Scheme and projects for Goa. There were many infrastructural projects  in sector of Road Transport and mobility awaited for long time, which could get started only after Shri Gadkari took charged as a Union Minister.

Concession of Agreement were signed by  Shri. I.J.kumar, Chairman of MPT and Shri. Ashok Kumar Director of Goa Seaport Private limited. On this occasion Shri. Milind Naik Power Minister. Shri. R.K. Srivastava chief secretary of Goa were present.

September 22, 2016“There are funds from the Central government are meant to ameliorate urban living conditions in Goa but there needs to be systems  in place in the community where these funds can be utilized,” said Shri Francis D’Souza, Deputy Chief Minister of Goa. He was speaking at the state level self-help group conclave that was held in Panaji on Thursday.

In his address, he listed out the various schemes of the government, aimed at reducing the financial burden on Goans. He said, “The municipalities need to co-operate with the government so that schemes are successfully implemented.”

Goa State Urban Livelihoods Mission’s Director, Shri Elvis Gomes, who was present on the occasion said, “The task of municipalities is more than just the cleaning of gutters. It has the responsibility of poverty alleviation in urban areas.” He further spoke of the mission’s aim of poverty alleviation and urban development.

Several women from the women’s self help group were felicitated. A few also shared their successful and inspiring stories. Shri Sumeet Singh, co-coordinator of Smart Colony, Smart Ward initiative, spoke of the Jodhpur model of city development that they were following. A booklet Day-Nulm was released on the occasion. Also present were the Commissioner of the Corporation of Panaji, Shri Dipak Dessai and the chairpersons of various municipalities.

The program was organised by the Goa State Urban Livelihoods Mission under the Goa State Urban Development Agency and supported by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation.

Earlier, Project Consultant, Celsa Antao welcomed the gathering while the Chief Project Officer, Jagdish Hosamani, proposed the vote of thanks.