Panaji: April 22, 2015 …. Goa Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education has invited applications from the students desirous to enroll as Private candidate to appear for S.S.C./H.S.S.C. Examination of March 2016.

 Eligibility for SSC- Student must complete 17 years and above as on March 1, 2016 and for HSSC – Student must complete 19 years as on March 1, 2016.

 The last date to submit the application form is May 20, 2015 and June 1, 2015 with late fees.  The printed application forms may be procured from the Board’s Office during office hours on payment of s.25/- per form.

  Private candidates will be issued the enrollment certificate after registration.  Only enrolled candidates shall be eligible to fill Examination form.  The date of filling the Examination form will be declared at a later date.

 Students intending to enroll as private candidates may note that the Board does not appoint any private agent for such enrollment and therefore, they may contact Asstt. Secretary, SSC/HSSC of Goa Board Office or may contact on Phone number 2417593 directly for any other information in this regard.

April 22, 2015 …. It was decided by the Government to link the interest rates of State PFs (General Provident Fund and other similar funds) including Special Deposit Scheme, 1975 (SDS, 1975) for Non-Government Provident, Superannuation and Gratuity Funds for the FY 2015-16 to Public Provident Fund (PPF) rates. In pursuance of that decision, the Government has decided to fix the rates 8.7% per annum applicable to the following:-

·         The General Provident Fund (Central Services).

·         The Contributory Provident Fund (India).

·         The All India Service Provident Fund.

·         The State Railway Provident Fund.

·         The General Provident Fund (Defence Services).

·         The Indian Ordnance Provident Fund.

·         The Indian Ordnance Factories Workmen’s Provident Fund.

·         The Indian Naval Dockyard Workmen’s Provident Fund.

·         The Defence Services Officers Provident Fund.

·         The Armed Forces Personnel Provident Fund.

         The rate of interest is applicable to the above funds w.e.f. 1^st April, 2015 and until further orders.

Recently, the Government had kept the interest rates for PPF and other Small Savings Schemes intact.  However, interest rates for 5 year Senior citizen Saving Scheme and Sukanya Samriddhi Account Scheme have been increased from 9.2 to 9.3% and 9.1 to 9.2% respectively, keeping in view the commitment of the Government towards the welfare of the girl child and the senior citizens.

Panaji: April 22, 2015 ….  The Government of Goa has constituted the Goa State Commission for Protection of Child Rights for a period of three years to exercise the powers conferred on and to perform the functions assigned to it under the protection of Child Right 2005 Act and Rules, consisting of Dr.(Mrs.) Sushma P. Kirtani, Lawande House, Corte De Oiteiro, Panaji as its Chairperson. 

 Smt. Sujata Damodar Bhatkar, Damodar Sadan, Verem Bardez; Dr. Mandava Rama Krishna Prasad, Bldg. No. 2, Flat No.S-4, Kamat Complex, Tonca, Panaji;           Ms. Prachi M. Kandeparkar, 10, Bharadwaj Bldg., Dr. Dada Vaidhya Road, Panaji; Mrs. Cyanna Mendes Hoogewerf, 403 Kyle Hill Park, Nagali Hills Colony, Main Street, Dona Paula; Ms. Audry Pinto, G-2, Peace Heaven, ‘A’ Cooperative Housing Society, Alto Porvorim, Bardez and Mrs. Carmelina A. Franco, H.No.35/5, Aradi, Guirim, Bardez are its Members.

Panaji: April 21, 2015 …. The general public are informed that during the closure of Zuari Bridge for traffic on April 26, 2015,  Six ferry boats will be deployed at Agassaim-Cortalim route from 6.00 a.m. to 9.00 a.m.

 Ferry services will be made available for passengers and two wheelers only No four wheelers and three wheelers/other light vehicles or heavy vehicles will be allowed.   

21/04/2015 ….  …. Following is the text of the External Affairs Minister and Overseas Indian Affairs Minister Smt. Sushma Swaraj’s Suo-Motu Statement in Lok Sabha on “Recent Developments in the Republic of Yemen and Efforts Made for Safe Evacuation of Indian Nationals from There”

Hon’ble Madam Speaker,

I rise to make a statement on the “recent developments in the Republic of Yemen and efforts made for the safe evacuation of Indian nationals from there”. 

I am glad to inform this August House that operation “Raahat” conducted for the evacuation of Indian nationals from war-torn Yemen has been a resounding success, well-acknowledged by the international community. We not only managed to safely evacuate 4,741 Indians but also 1,947 foreign nationals from 48 countries till 18 April under most difficult circumstances. Our approach in the evacuation process has been guided by the spirit of “वसुधैव कुटुम्बकम्”.

Madam Speaker,

We are all aware of the internal turmoil Yemen has witnessed since post-Arab spring protests in 2011. Due to serious differences between Zaidi Shia group of Houthis from Northern Yemen and the federal government led by President Abdu Rabbo Mansour Hadi, the country has been witnessing political uncertainty and worsening security scenario since September 2014.

The Government of India has kept a regular and close watch on the internal developments in Yemen. The deteriorating internal situation in Yemen not only has a direct bearing on the regional security but also on the safety and well-being of our nationals living there. As per estimates from our Embassy in Sana’a, over 4,000 Indians were working in various sectors in Yemen.

In anticipation of a possible deterioration of the security environment in Yemen, the Ministry of External Affairs and our Embassy in Sana’a issued three advisories on 21 January, 19 March and 25 March this year urging our nationals there to leave Yemen voluntarily by available commercial means as it was possible to leave safely. At that time, no one paid attention to these advisories and left Yemen.

Thereafter, an inter-ministerial team led by a senior official from the Ministry of External Affairs visited Yemen from 9-13 March to assess the local security situation and to advise on additional security measures required for the protection of our Embassy officials and other Indian nationals living there.

Madam Speaker,

We took urgent and necessary steps to ensure security of our nationals and got in touch with the local Yemeni authorities and other governments in the region for their safe and timely evacuation. The no-fly zone imposed on the Yemeni airspace and blockade of sea route by the coalition forces made the evacuation exercise a complex and very difficult task.

I personally spoke to the Foreign Minister of Saudi Arabia on 27 and 29 March and requested for assistance in our evacuation efforts. On 30 March, Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modiji, had a telephonic conversation with the King of Saudi Arabia, His Majesty King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, during which the King of Saudi Arabia assured him of all necessary assistance.

An inter-ministerial “Standing Group for Repatriation of Indian nationals from Abroad” under the chairmanship of Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs Shri Anil Wadhwa met on a daily basis since 26 March to plan, coordinate and implement the evacuation plans. I myself chaired several meetings of this Group from 30 March onwards to review and make effective the plans for evacuation by air and sea route.

We established a 24-hour control room and help-lines in the Ministry of External Affairs from 26 March to assist our nationals in Yemen and their concerned family members in India. Similar 24-hour help-lines were established in our Embassy in Sana’a and control room in Djibouti.

Keeping in view the complexity of the operations, we made Djibouti the hub for our evacuation efforts. My colleague Minister of State General V.K. Singh personally supervised these efforts from our camp office in Djibouti. He shuttled between Sana’a and Djibouti sparing no effort to accomplish this difficult task. He was duly assisted by our Ambassador in Ethiopia Shri Sanjay Verma operating from Djibouti. We also deputed 26 officials from the Ministry of External Affairs to Djibouti and Sana’a to strengthen and coordinate our evacuation efforts.

Necessary logistical arrangements were put in place in coordination with the Ministries of Home, Defence and Civil Aviation for the evacuation. We deployed adequate capacity for evacuation through 5 naval ships and 7 aircrafts. 

There were 3 Indian navy warships – INS Sumitra, INS Mumbai and INS Tarkash and 2 Indian passenger vessels – Kavaratti and Coral. Out of 7 aircrafts – 3 were Indian Air Force C-17 Globemasters and 4 Air India commercial aircrafts.

Three Air India aircrafts ferried evacuees, both Indian and foreign nationals, from Sana’a to Djibouti. One Air India 777 was used for onward journey of Indian nationals to Kochi and Mumbai. Our naval ships evacuated people safely from Aden, Al-Hudaydah and Al-Mukalla ports in Yemen, despite heavy shelling and fighting on the ports between the warring factions.

Under the close supervision of our Ambassador Shri Amrit Lugun, our Embassy officials / Staff in Yemen worked round-the-clock in most trying circumstances to carry out the evacuation plans. Our officers deployed in Djibouti also worked tirelessly and coordinated this massive effort. Our Honorary Consul in Djibouti Shri Nalin Kothari provided all possible local assistance.

We also ensured that our nationals not in possession of travel documents were provided emergency certificates by our Embassy in Sana’a. We left no stone unturned to assist all those Indians in Yemen desirous of returning home in a timely and safe evacuation.

We did not stop at taking care of the evacuation process only from Yemen but went a step further. Indian Railways provided all hospitality and confirmed tickets free of charge for onward journey to their homes. The state governments concerned, especially of Maharashtra and Kerala, provided assistance to all returnees on their arrival in India.

I would like to make a special mention of the efforts made by the Government of Maharashtra. Though majority of returnees reaching Mumbai belonged to other states, the Maharashtra Government extended all facilities to them at the airport and further provided a cash grant of Rs. 3,000 for onward journey.

Madam Speaker,

As Indian Embassy was among the handful of foreign missions operational in Sana’a after the airstrikes began, we received formal requests from 33 countries, including from neighbouring and Western countries, for assistance in evacuation of their nationals. We responded positively to these requests to the extent possible based on ground realities and helped nationals of 48 countries in evacuation.

We assisted nationals of Australia, Bangladesh, Bahrain, Canada, Cuba, Djibouti, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, France, Greece, Germany, Hungary, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Maldives, Morocco, Myanmar, Mexico, Moldova, Nepal, New Zealand, Philippines, Pakistan, Romania, Russia, Somalia, Sweden, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Spain, Switzerland, Syria, Tanzania, the UK, Uzbekistan, the US, the UAE, Uganda, Ukraine and Yemen. This received worldwide appreciation.

As for the evacuated Indians, they are from 27 States and Union Territories. The State-wise list of evacuees is as follows:-

· Assam – 3
· Andaman & Nicobar Islands – 1
· Bihar – 219
· Gujarat -115
· Goa -30
· Himachal Pradesh- 5
· Haryana – 5
· Jharkhand -20
· Jammu & Kashmir -1
· Karnataka -123
· Kerala – 2,527
· Maharashtra – 293
· Manipur – 3
· Madhya Pradesh – 47
· Nagaland – 2
· NCT Delhi -23
· Odisha – 31
· Pudducherry – 1
· Punjab – 31
· Rajasthan – 60
· Tamilnadu – 427
· Telengana/Andhra Pradesh -180
· Tripura – 1
· Uttar Pradesh – 368
· Uttarakhand -30 and
· West Bengal -195.

Till 18 April, a total of 6,688 persons including 4,741 Indians and 1,947 foreign nationals have been evacuated by air and sea routes in this operation. It was a joint effort of several Indian Ministries and agencies, supervised and coordinated by the Ministry of External Affairs.

Madam Speaker,

In view of the worsening security situation in Sana’a and after the successful conclusion of the evacuation process, we have relocated our Embassy to Djibouti on 15 April. Our Embassy would continue to operate from Djibouti till situation returns to normalcy in Yemen.

Thank you.

20/04/2015 …. The Goa Food and Cultural Festival 2015, Goa’s most prominent food festival recently got underway in the capital city of Panjim.

In keeping with the true spirit of Goa, the event got off to a flying start with music performances that set the tone for the days to come.

The Hon’ble Chief Minister of Goa, Shri. Laxmikant Parsekar inaugurated the five day event in the distinguished presence of Tourism Minister, Shri . Dilip Parulekar, Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC) Chairman, Shri. Nilesh Cabral, Panjim MLA Shri. Sidharth Kuncalienkar , Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) Mayor, Shri. Shubham Chodankar , Chief Secretary and Secretary Tourism , Govt. of Goa Shri. R. K. Shrivastava and Director of Tourism Shri. Ameya Abhyankar.

The Goa Food and Cultural Festival 2015 is conceptualized and designed to be the best ever in terms of attendance, operations, flow and offerings.

Over 1.5 to 2 lakh tourists will experience a blend of cuisine and entertainment over five days. The festival revived three years ago has come to be known as one of the biggest food festival in India.Apart from being the only festival of its kind in Goa, the Food and Cultural Festival is also touted to be one of the most popular gourmet festivals till date.

Organized from 17th to the 21st April 2015 at the D. B. Bandodkar Grounds, Campal, Panaji-Goa, the festival will bring together restaurateurs, hoteliers, food guilds, eateries serving Goan cuisine and more all under one roof.

More than 50 stalls will offer a range of gourmet food classics of Goa, including barbecues, pasta, oriental cuisine and other delicacies. Vegetarian and non-vegetarian cuisine options will also be available, as will a bevy of luscious sweet treats.

On the inaugural day (April 17) the program comprised of DJ music , classical dance performances, entertainment by Sonia Shirsat and Status 4.Indus Creed, India’s front running rock band also performed.

On April 18, the program comprises of DJ music, Bollywood dance performances and and music by Goan band Valentinho’s. Well-known Bollywood playback singer Sudesh Bhonsle will also perform.

On day 3 (April 19) the entertainment comprises of DJ music followed by musical performances by Goa’s well-known Siddhanath Buyao & troupe and Goan Band Crimson Tide. Prince Dance group, winner of the reality-talent show, ‘India’s Got Talent’ will perform for the first time in Goa.

On Monday, April 20, the entertainment comprises of D J music, African acrobats, dance performances by Gipa and music by Goan band RAAGAS2RICHES. . The highlight of the evening is the live performance by PARIKRAMA, India’s legendary rock band known for Classic Rock based music fused with Indian instruments.

The last day’s program includes DJ music, dance performances, and performance by Goan band Archies. A fashion show by Verma D’Mello will be the main highlight. Harshita Saxena, Femina Miss India International 2009 would be the show-stopper. Leading band from North East, Colours, will also perform.

Panjim, April 20: Cruise liners, e-Tourist Visas (e-TVs) bring cheer to Goa tourism as foreign tourist footfalls surge during the last two months from these two segments.
The Goa airport at Dabolim has issued as many as 15,337 e-Tourist Visas as on April 14, 2015. Likewise, as on April 11, 2015 as many as 21,801 foreign tourists arrived in Goa on cruise liners which docked at MPT.

According to reports from the MPT, between November 14, 2014 to April 11, 2015, a total of 23 cruise liners have docked at MPT cruise terminal.

A total of 21,801 foreign passengers have visited Goa via cruise liners alongwith 9,169 crew on board respectively.

• 15,337 e-Tourist Visas issued till April 14
• 21,801 foreign tourists arrive in Goa on cruise liners till April 11.
• Govt. hails MPT, Goa Airport for providing adequate facilities at port and airport

Most of the cruise liners have had on board tourists from Germany, UK, Australia, USA, Switzerland, Belgium and Argentina. Interestingly, Russian tourists dominate the e-Tourist Visa list with as many as 10, 135 e-tourist visas issued till April 14.

Foreign nationals from 27 countries have availed of this e-TV facility. These include foreign tourists from USA (292), Germany (477), Ukraine (3,907), Oman (6), Israel (11), Finland (157), Norway (71), Palestine (5), American Samoa (1), Mexico (4), Fiji (1), Indonesia (3), Kenya (3), UAE (48), Thailand (4), Australia (79), Singapore (4), Philippines (50), Brazil (8), Luxemburg (7), Jordan (52), New Zealand (33), Burma (1), Republic of Korea (1), Japan (5) and Mauritius (1).

Tourism minister Shri. Dilip Parulekar said, “While there were several apprehensions over the current season and decline in foreign footfalls, the scenario is better than expected. A lot of tourists are availing of the e-tourist visas and cruise liners to visit Goa. This year alone we have done well, and we can expect a better season 2015-16.”

Shri. Parulekar hailed the efforts made by MPT and Goa Airport in providing facilities for tourists on arrival at the port and airport and added that Goa Tourism is extending full support to all agencies co-operating with the government in promotion of tourism. He also said that the Konkan Railway Corporation (KRC) is adding additional trains to meet the demands from tourists to travel to Goa during the summer vacations and all this are positive signs that tourists think of Goa for holidays, weekend holidays and events.

18/04/2015 …. After the local villagers from Bambolim had opposed the setting up of a marina at nauxi Bambolim st andre mla Vishnu surya wagh has now also joined the movement of opposing the marina stating that the concerned activity would severely affect traditional fishing activities in Zuari bay leading to ecological problems and has even taught of launching a public movement along with minister for forest alina saldanha.

It may be noted that the local villagers had recently alleged that the marina project was like a declaration of war against indigenous people and a threat to food security due to which mr wagh has now decided to join the villagers and also create an awareness among st andre constituency in opposing the marina coming up in bamboilm village ….

Speaking to goanreporter st andre mla vishun surya wagh said that it was shocking to know that the mpt chairman had gone on record saying that mpt wants to develop marinas in coastal belts of Bambolim along with sancoale too when the land was belong to the state government and since all the land was eaten up by the five star hotels it was difficult to understand as what would the local fisherman community do if a marina was set up in Bambolim village which would also put a lot of effect on bio-diversity

Wagh said that he had raised the issue in his party meet and had raised his apprehensions and fears on which cm had informed him that the proposals were only cleared in principle but the agencies had been told to get clearances from the concerned government agencies

Wagh also stated that he would create public awareness over the marina issue in his constituency and would also meet social functionaries and non government organizations also and asked for their support against the agitation on this marinas and he along with the minister for forest alina saldanha could come together to launch a public movement on it …

17/04/2014 ……… Speaker of goa legislative assembly rajendra arlekar has said that the state bjp led government had taken the right decision of demolishing the baina hutments as certain illegal activities were found to be going on in the vicinity

Speaking to goanreporter mr arlekar said that as a citizen his view was that the state government had taken the right decision of getting the hutments demolished as through some of the concerned hutments various other illegal activities were going on in and around the baina vicinity and therefore it was the right decision which the state government had taken though certain steps were needed to protect houses of certain residents …

Arlekar also stated that certain politicians have now come in public to create politics of social issues which shouldn’t take place from such issues and if there are some issues with the demolishing of baina hutments then government has already informed of sitting round the table and solving it through rehabilitation but not by an outsider who would come to goa and tries to instigate people is totally wrong as if they feel that something was going wrong then why those concerned politicians did not take steps to rehabilitate the concerned residents from baina hutments

Panaji, April 16, 2015 …. The Governor of Goa, Mrs. Mridulla Sinha presented Dalit Mitra Puraskar at an impressive ceremony held at Institute Menezes Braganza Hall in city recently.

The award is an initiative of the Dalit Sanghatana which was conferred on former Speaker of Goa Legislative Assembly, Prof.  Surendra Sirsat for his contribution for the social cause on the occasion of 124^th Birth Anniversary of  Bharat Ratna Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar.

Addressing the gathering after the presentation ceremony, the Governor Mrs. Mridulla Sinha said, Dr. Ambedkar’s learning, wisdom and deep concern for human dignity gave a new dimension to equality.  Further she said, inequality is a blot on our society and our civilization. While the Government is most concerned about it and is making constant endeavors to give a rightful place to the poor and backward classes in the society. Speaking further the Governor emphasized that voluntary sector should also make efforts to give a further impetus to these efforts with their willing co-operation.

The Governor said great leaders like Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Ambedkar paved the  way for us  to eradicate the social evils that impeded our progress. We are fortunate that this country has produced such great leaders who made lasting contribution to bring about social reforms.

 Smt. Sinha said, when we think of the life of great leader like  Dr. B. R. Ambedkar, we are inspired by the supreme dedication with which he served the country and for the cause of emancipating the poor and the down trodden millions. She said that  he is remembered for the great ideals of knowledge, equality and compassion and human freedom. He was indeed one of the greatest reformers and educationist of our country she added.

The Governor stressed on the work done by Dr. Ambedkar towards up liftment of society and said, he fought fearlessly against social evils of casteism and untouchability which had undermined the very unity of the Indian society.

Elaborating on “Sachchi Dosti” programe that was recently organized at Raj Bhavan, the Governor said, the idea behind organizing the programme is to remove inequality among the children studying in private and public schools. Total 40 students had participated in said programme and  the Governor advised them to maintain their friendship throughout their life and meet once in 15 days and exchange pleasantries.

The function was presided by former Union Law Minister Shri Ramakant Khalap, who also spoke on the occasion.

A Souvenir by name “Watchal” was released on the occasion at the hands of the Governor.

Smt. Ashu Mochemadkar read out the messages sent by the Chief Minister Shri Laxmikant Parsekar and Speaker of Goa Legislative Assembly, Shri Rajendra Arlekar.

Earlier Shri Subhash Halarnkar welcomed the guest and proposed vote of thanks. The function was compered by Shri Shambhu  Bandekar.