Panaji, November 20, 2017 … The State level Crib Competition organized by Directorate of Art and Culture from December 26 to 31, 2017 in Goa.

The competition will be held in two categories, Institutions/Group (Cribs made by institutions, clubs, parishes or by a group of people) and Individuals/Household (Cribs made at a house or beside the house by an individual or within a family.)

The winners of the competition will be awarded cash prizes along with the certificate. The prizes for Institution/Group Category are as follows: 1st Prize- Rs. 25,000/-, 2nd Prize- Rs.20,000/-, 3rd Prize- Rs. 15,000/- and Five Consolation Prizes of Rs. 7,000/- each. For Individuals/Household Category, the prizes are as follows: 1st Prize- Rs. 15,000/-, 2nd Prize- Rs.10,000/-, 3rd Prize- Rs. 7,500/- and Five Consolation Prizes of Rs. 5000/- each.

The interested may collect the application forms from November 22, 2017 from the office of the Directorate of Art and Culture, Sanskruti Bhavan, Patto, Panaji, Ravindra Bhavan-Margao, Fatorda and Ravindra Bhavan-Curchorem, Curchorem, Ravindra Bhavan, Baina-Vasco, and submit the duly filled forms on or before December 11, 2017 at the above mentioned offices during working hours.

Panaji/20th November 2017 … Ecotourism Society of India (ESOI)  is organizing a workshop on “ Sustainable & Responsible  Tourism’ with a special focus on ‘Sustainable Tourism Criteria for India’  ( STCI) for the Tourism stakeholders. This is a part of a series of such regional events organized by Ministry of Tourism, Govt of India and is in partnership with TTAG  and Goa Tourism.  These workshops are useful for all stakeholders, professionals and practitioners in the Industry .This includes- Hoteliers, Individuals from Travel, Tours  & Transport Industry, Resort Managers, Tourist Guides, Adventure Tourism Providers and Community representatives who are involved in sustainable tourism models . The details are;

 DATE     : November 21 & 22, 2017

TIME      : 10:00 AM – 06:00 PM

VENUE : ABOLIM HALL, INTERNATIONAL CENTRE GOA (ICG)

This workshop aims to demystify the concept of Sustainability in every day Tourism business- by breaking it into steps that are easy to emulate and apply.

We all know that the way forward involves setting corrective and curative measures with regard to Tourism practices with ecological sensitivity and conservation of nature and community development in the Goan region.

These practices will be highlighted by speakers who practice them in their businesses and yet benefit financially along with creating a lighter footprint and supporting the local communities and environment.

ESOI is the nodal body of  ‘Eco Tourism’ supported by Ministry of Tourism , Govt of India – to further the cause of Safe, Sustainable & Responsible Tourism. Being the national body for Responsible Tourism, we work in partnership with other stakeholders, the state governments and other national and regional bodies.  Recently, we have signed an MOU with the Ministry of Tourism to help deliver Sustainability in Tourism across the country. MOT recognizes ESOI as its partner in driving and advocating Sustainable Tourism Criteria for India (STCI) initiatives across the country.

Agenda:

 Registration- 9 ‘o clock onward

Day 1;  Inaugural session      – 0930-1100

• Welcome: Dr. Anjuna Dhir, Director of Program – ESOI

• ESOI & Workshop agenda- Shri Steve Borgia Hon. President, ESOI

• Special Address – Shri Dharmeder Sharma Chief Secretary, Govt of Goa
• Special Address – Shri Suman Billa, JS , MoT, Govt of India
• Chief guest address- CM/ Minister Tourism
• Keynote address– Shri Ravi Singh, Secretary General & CEO, WWF India

 Tea ;  1100-1115

Technical Session – 1: Setting the Context 1115-1315

• Converting Tourism into Responsible Business- Mr. Steve Borgia, CMD, Indeco Hotels
• Sustainable Tourism Criteria for India- Genesis & Current status, Dr.Anjuna Dhir, Director Programmes, ESOI
• Ecotourism & Community based initiatives in Goa- Mr. Parag Rangnekar,
• Heritage / Conservation – Mr. Ketak Nachinolkar, Conservation Architect
• Ecological Approach to Planning – Mr. Dean D Cruz, Mosaic

 Session conducted by Mr Rakesh Mathur

Lunch: 1315-1400

Technical Session-2 : Technology of Being Responsible – The issues -1400-1600

• Pollution issues– Mr Roland Martin ,
• Community Solid Waste management- Mr.Varun Rupela, Smarter Dharma

• Managing Cleanliness, Waste, Beach front – Mr. Sanjit Rodrigous ,Chairman, Goa State Waste Management Corporation
• Coastal tourism in Goa: issues of environmental concern—Dr.Antonio Mascarenhas, former Scientist , NIO Goa

• Impact of marine Tourism on marine megafauna and ecosystems- Ms. Pooja Mitra, Founder Terra Conscious

 Session conducted by Mr Savio Fonseca

 Tea ;  1600-1615

Technical Session-3 : Scope of Being Responsible 1615-1745

• Responsible Kerala- Mr. Jose Dominic, MD, CGH Earth

• Sustainable Tourism – the Govt support- Mr. Suman Billa, JS , MoT, Govt of India

DAY – 2 Technical Session -4: More Goa; Responsible Goa; 930-1115

• Adventure Goa/ Trekking– Ms. Bianca Diaz, Offtrail advnture
• Adventure  & White water rafting- Mr. John Pollard- Off the grid
• Farm/spice tourism- Mr. Ajit Sukhija, Panjim Inn
• Birding- Mr. Savio Fonseca, Keystone

 1115-1130 Tea Break

Panel Discussion1130- 1245 

Issues facing Tourism industry & Way Forward

M/s Savio/Francis Braganza- TTAG,  Dr. Antonio Mascerenhas- CRZ issues, Mr.Ajai Saxena- PCCF Goa,  Mr.Sanjit – Waste Mgt ,  Mr. Jose Dominic-Responsible Practices, Mr. Ajit Sukhija-, Ms. Puja Mitra- The Tourism master plan

Q & A; 1245-1315

Concluding Session   – 1315- 1400

Recap – Mr Rakesh Mathur

Pledge- Safe & Honourable Tourism

Vote of thanks – Dr Anjuna Dhir

Panaji, November 19, 2017 …. To ensure the smooth movement of vehicular traffic during the 48^th International Film Festival of India which will be held from November 20-28, 2017, elaborate traffic arrangements have been made. 

The Opening Ceremony and the Closing ceremony will be held at Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Stadium, Taleigao and all the remaining events will be held at Kala Academy, Inox and Maquinez Palace. The open screening for public viewing will be held at Joggers Park, Altinho during the festival.

 Those attending the Opening and Closing Ceremony at Dr. Shyama Prasad Mukherjee Stadium, Taleigao Plateau (November 20 and 28) and coming from North and South Goa (except Panaji) are requested to come via NH 17 and on reaching GMC Bambolim take Goa University road and come up to the function venue.

 Those coming from Panaji will, may come to the function venue via Taleigao or Dona Paula. The INOX lane (General Bernard Guedes Road) i.e. road leading to D.B. Marg from Panaji market along INOX complex will be closed near CCP market complex for entire period of 09 days.

 Car passes will be issued by ESG indicating the category of the pass and respective parking lots. The parking lots identified for the Opening and Closing Ceremony are:

 Zone – A: Parking lot inside Dr. Shyama Prasad Stadium.

Zone –A1: Parking lot inside Dr. Shyama Prasad Stadium (Gate 3)

Zone – B: In the open space adjacent to the stadium towards GMC side.

Zone – C: Cricket Ground next to SPM Stadium.

 During the screening at Kala Academy on November 20, vehicles with Zone – A Passes will be parked in the Kala Academy parking lot and the other vehicles will be parked at Bandodkar football Ground Campal.

 On other days during the festival period, the vehicles with car pass only will be allowed to park in the Kala Academy parking lot, the service lane along INOX theatre and remaining vehicles can be parked at Bandodkar football ground.

 No vehicles will be allowed to be parked on the D.B.B. Marg. The motorists are requested to note the same and co-operate with Traffic Police to ensure smooth flow of traffic in the city and at the venues of the festival.

 Panaji, November 18, 2017…… The Election Commission of India is conducting a Special Drive till the end of this month, during the ensuing Special Summary Revision, to improve the health of Electoral Rolls by enrolling all eligible citizens and deleting  the dead/absentees/shifted voters. The Booth level Officers (BLOs), shall visit houses to collect the information.  

          The objective of the Special Drive is to maximize registration of eligible electors, to remove entries of dead and permanently shifted electors, to correct errors in the electors details in all languages of Electoral Roll, obtaining family details/ contact details etc to provide better Electoral Services, to identify overseas Indian electors/ unenrolled Indian Citizens living abroad and to obtain information about the existing Polling Station.

          During the field visit BLOs will prepare a date base for the prospective electors, who would become eligible for enrolment, as a voter on or before January 1, 2019.   

          In view of the above, the Collector and DEO South has appealed to the general public to avail the facility of the said Special Drive by cooperating with their respective BLOs by correctly sharing all the relevant details. Voters are also informed that services being offered under Special Drive are available at online portal i.e NVSP http://www.nvsp.in and ht tp://eci.nic.in which can be accessed at a click of a button.

Panaji, November 17, 2017 … The Office of the Executive Engineer Division IV, Public Work Department (PWD) has informed the general public that all non-working lifts in Junta House, Panaji will be replaced on priority.

          Work order has been issued to replace Lift No. 1 and 2 by February 2018. It is advised that the public may use Lift No.3 and 4 till the lifts are replaced.           

          Lift No. 3 has already been replaced while Lift No. 4 connecting Annex Building is in working condition.

Panaji, November 17, 2017 …  Governor, Dr. Smt Mridula Sinha launched the website for Raj Bhavan today at the Conference Hall at Raj Bhavan, Dona Paula. The website is developed by Goa Electronics Limited (GEL) and contains information about Raj Bhavan, its history, events etc.

          The website was inaugurated in the presence of Secretary to the Governor Shri. Rupesh Kumar Thakur IAS, CEO of GEL Ms. Revati Mujumdar and officials of Raj Bhavan.

          The url for the Raj Bhavan website is www.rajbhavan.goa.gov.in.

Panaji: – November 17, 2017 …. Minister for Art and Culture Shri Govind Gaude presented ‘Yuva Srujan Puraskar 2017, at a function organized by Directorate of Art and Culture at Multipurpose Hall, Sanskruti Bhavan Patto Panaji recently.

The recipients of the Puraskars include Shri Mayuresh D.Vast (Music), Shri  Dayaram B. Padloskar (Literature), Smt.Jessica J. Gomes (Tiatr), Smt. Sucheta Narvekar (Drama), Shri Sachin Naik ( Fine Art), Shri Chetan V. Khedekar (Folk –Art).

Secretary of Directorate of Art and Culture, Shri Daulat Hawaldar  IAS, Director for Directorate of  Art and Culture, Shri Gurudas Pilernekar were present along with others.

Speaking on the occasion, Shri Gaude congratulated the recipients of the awardees and said that  today’s youth are far ahead in artistic world and keeping this in mind the Directorate of Art and Culture is organising and will continue  to organize seminars, workshops etc to encourage upcoming young  talent.

Shri Hawaldar further said that this award is a token of small appreciation which motivates the artists and other upcoming talents to come up and be competitive.

Shri Mayuresh . D.Vast and Smt.Suchita Narvekar spoke on behalf of the awardees.

Shri Gurudas Pilernekar welcomed the gathering, Smt.Siddhi  Upadhey  compered the programme while Shri Ashok Parab, Deputy Director of Directorate of Art and Culture  proposed vote of thanks.

Panaji, November 17, 2017 … Office of the Executive Engineer PWD-III (PHE-N), PWD has informed  that the Government has completed a new water supply scheme to supply water to the habitants of Kadamba Plateau viz. the construction of 2 sumps of 2000 m3 each and 2 overheads reservoir of 650 m3 each along with conveying main, feeder and distribution pipelines.

However due to work of 4 laning of National Highway at Kadamba Plateau, alignment of the conveying main has altered and the work of relaying has commenced. Also Opa Water Treatment Plant is being augmented by construction of a 27 MLD WTP and the same will be commissioned by May 2018.

After relaying of pipeline the water supply scheme to Kadamba Plateau is expected to be commissioned latest by June 2018 for public distribution of treated water as informed by the executive Engineer –III,  PWD.

Panaji, November 16, 2017 … Government of India has instituted the “Prime Minister’s Award for  Excellence in Public Administration” to acknowledge and recognize extraordinary and innovative work done by Districts and Central/State Government organizations. The Awards are presented by the Hon’ble Prime Minister on the occasion of Civil Services Day on April 21 every year.

The following priority programmes which have been identified for the Awards to be given on the next Civil Services Day on April 21, 2018 and  Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana, Promoting Digital Payments, Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban and Rural, and Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Grameen Kaushalya Yojana.

In addition two Awards will be given for innovation in the field of environment conservation disaster management, water conservation, energy, education and health, women and child centric initiatives, etc. Organizations of Central/ State Governments, as well as districts are eligible for PM’s Awards on innovations.

Department of Administrative Reforms and Public Grievances (DARPG) has developed a web portal for online registration of Districts for choosing priority programmes to compete for PM’s  Awards. The link (http://nceg.gov.in/login) of the portal is available on DARPG website (www.darpg.gov.in).

Government is keen to encourage a healthy competition among Districts for the awards which would go a long way in ensuring better service delivery for the citizens and good governance in the country. Each District has to choose at least one programme from the identified priority programmes. However, they may choose as many as they can from amongst the identified priority programmes, so that there can be wider participation.    

Panaji: November 15,2017 …. The Chief Minister Shri Manohar Parrikar has exhorted the students to develop themselves as well knowledgeable person with the help of modern devices of information and technology. The Government had implemented the Cyber Age scheme some years ago   with the intention to make our students well versed and more accessible to the knowledge of the modern world he added.  

Shri Parrikar was speaking as the Chief Guest at a Laptop distribution programme organized by the Directorate of Education in association with Info-tech Corporation of Goa Ltd. at Patto – Panaji today,  

Shri Parrikar further said that the students should strive to develop  rational attitude, a capacity to judge right and wrong and restrain themselves from becoming blind followers of internet and social media  like  whatsapp,  face book, twitter etc. He insisted upon the students to make proper use of the gadget for acquiring more and more knowledge to serve the purpose of the scheme, he reiterated.

Minister for Information & Technology Shri Rohan Khaunte while speaking said that the Government has re-implemented Cyber Age scheme under which 37000 students of 12^th Std. of last year and present will get the benefit. The Government he said have commenced distributing laptops to the students from here onwards.  He called upon them to become knowledge seekers with the proper use of  the device and serve the vary purpose of the scheme.

The educational institutions which received the benefit of this scheme includes Don Bosco Higher Secondary School, Mushtifund Higher Secondary School, Hedgewar Higher Secondary School, Peoples Higher Secondary School and Dhempo Higher  Secondary School etc.

Shri Siddharth Kuncalienkar, Chairman EDC, Shri Amey Abhyankar, Director Dept. of IT, Shri Ravi Zha, Managing Director ITG. and others attended the function.  

Shri Gajanan Bhat, Director of Education welcomed the gathering.