Panaji, December 7, 2012 …..  The  3^rd  meeting of District Task Force Committee on Tobacco Control  chaired by  Shri  R. Mihir Vardhan, Collector (North )   was held in the conference hall,  Collectorate, Panaji.

During the course of discussion at the meeting, it was proposed to organize  one day  workshop  on Tobacco control for Principals of  Higher Secondary Schools and Colleges  in North Goa.  About 100 Principals or their representatives are  expected to participate in the workshop.

It  was also proposed  to hold  the awareness  programmes  at  various  schools  to educate the school going children  about ill effect of  smoking,  gutkha and Tobacco  etc. during the month of  January and February, 2013.

The  meeting   also discussed about  printing  of  leaflets  on Tabacco Control  to distribute to Panchayats and Schools, to  prepare and display of revised new “No Smoking” boards, enforcement squad  as per  COTPA  act at  taluka level in North Goa and related other issues.

The meeting was  attended by Dipak Desai, Addl. Collector, Smt. Sheru Shirodkar, Dy. Collector,   Shri Roland Martins, Dr. Shekhar  Salkar, other committee members  and Senior Govt.  Officers.

Duler Football Ground of Goa Football Association is one of the oldest and best known grounds in Goa, with a rich historical past. Goa Football Association started to develop and to improve this ground since 1997, in a phased manner. Recently, they have undertaken an ambitious programme of upgradation of this ground which includes important steps like replacement of grass with astraturf, provision of flood lighting for night play, augmentation of seating capacity of the stadium as well as improvement of the amenities and facilities for players and spectators.

A massive expansion project was prepared for the purpose, under the guidance of the President GFA, Shri Shrinivas Dempo, and the Executive Committee, which included construction of additional buildings with total built – up area of about 8600 sq.mts. This will increase the seating capacity of the stadium from present 6000 to 8000, provide adequate amenities and facilities for the players, proper space for the media, matching parking facility to satisfy the demand, and, most importantly, setting up of a Football Academy with state-of-art infrastructure, such as accommodation for players and coaches, auditorium, board room, well-equipped gym, swimming pool, medical facilities, kitchen and dining hall as well as the necessary space for administration and offices. A substantial commercial component in form of shops and offices – has been incorporated in the project to make it financially viable and self sufficient.

The Project was recently accorded a formal approval (Development Permission) by the North Goa Planning & Development Authority, thanks to the sincere efforts and valuable assistance provided by its Chairman Shri Michael Lobo, who himself is fully committed to the cause of the game which now has been declared as the state sport of Goa.

The project has been prepared by M/S. Environmental Planning & Design Consultants, who have been associated with the phase – wise development and improvement of the Duler Football Stadium since its beginning in 1997.

With this approval, Goa Football Association, under the leadership of Shri Shrinivas Dempo and support of the members, now propose to undertake implementation of the project, which will have a far-reaching impact on the upliftment of this most popular sport in Goa.

Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) in alliance with is Directorate of Education, Government of Goa is organising a one-day Summit :  CII Higher Education Summit 2012 “Improving Quality of Higher Education to Drive Goa’s Economy” on Friday, 14 December 2012 at Vivanta by Taj Panaji, Goa

The summit on 14 December 2012 will be attended by H.E. The Governor of Goa, Mr. Bharat Vir Wanchoo, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Goa, Mr. Manohar Parrikar and bureaucrats, Heads of Educational Institutions, Trustees of about 50 Colleges in Goa alongwith their Principals and Heads of Departments.

Mr. Keshav Chandra, Secretary Higher Education has called for a press conference at 1600Hrs on 8 December 2012 at Senado of Hotel Mandovi. (Copy of letter is placed as an attachment).

The CII ‘Higher Education Summit 2012’ bids to bring together some of the leading affiliates of the education sector and related industries to device recommendations related to government initiatives, raising education standards, to bridge the skill-set gap, and other problems faced by the sector.

It will emphasize the need of building a learning process to transcend the existing frontiers of education and to explore unexplored the heights of a knowledge-dominated, innovation-intensive global arena. It will also mobilize Sustained Efforts, Strategic Planning and Creative Thinking to devise appropriate policies and measures to enable India / Indian States emerge as a Robust knowledge Economy to reckon with, and a global leader.

Curriculum Revision, Steps for Institute’ Academic Autonomy, Managing Educational Institutions For High Quality Learning, Benchmarking against World’s Best Teaching Practices, Goa as Potential Education Hub & Student Learning would be some of the Key Summit Takeaways from this Summit

“Sparsh” Women Federation, a cluster of Self Help groups promoted by Syngenta Santa Monica Works under their Community Development Project ”Sparsh”  celebrated its Annual day on 1.12.2012 at “Shri Shantadurga Verlekarin” Hall at Marcel.

Mr. Deepak Dhavlikar, local MLA and Minister for Co-Operation and Factories & Boilers was the chief guest on the occasion. Ms. Auda Veigas a well-known women activist from Goa was the guest of honour and main speaker.

Present on the dais were Mr. Pratap Volvoikar, Sarpanch of Marcel Panchayat, Ms Sarvinda Tivrekar President of “Sparsh” Women federation, heads of corporate social responsibilities sygenta india limitied corlim, Mr. P.S.Jagadeesha and Mr. Sakharam Borkar.

Mr. Sakharam Borkar, in his welcome speech outlined various activities conducted for Self Help Groups under the project ”Sparsh”. “We have at present 100 self- help groups comprising of more than 2000 women linked with the project” he said.

Mr. P.S. Jagadeesha appealed the women to participate keenly in these Self Help Group activities so that they can add to the income of the family and be self- sufficient.

Ms. Sarvinda Tivrekar, President of the “Sparsh” Federation gave an account of various activities done in the year while two members of the federation shared their experiences.

Ms. Auda Veigas spoke on different issues pertaining to women and the ways to overcome them. She said that women should be pro-active and take actions before it is too late. As Goa is a tourist destination, she appealed the women to undertake making mementos made out of the shells, wood, coconut shells which have lot of demand.

Speaking on the occasion the chief guest Mr. Deepak Dhavlikar, local MLA and Minister for Co-Operation and Factories & Boilers said “I am very happy to be the part of this function wherein more than 500 women have gathered and therefore I congratulate Syngenta for getting a mass support for this initiative and appealed the women to take maximum benefits in form of trainings and exposure visits given by the company’

Dhavlikar said “our government has undertaken various initiatives for women and intended to start a Co-operative bank exclusively for Self Help groups of Goa and a marketing facility in the capital to sell the goods made by self- help groups.

Five best self Help groups were given musical instruments as prizes at the hands of the chief guest. Winners of the various competitions organized earlier were awarded prizes and certificates at the hands of dignitaries on dais.

Earlier in the day various competitions such as Folk dance competition, Cookery competition, Fancy dress competition, Singing competition, Rangoli competition were conducted for the women and women of all ages enthusiastically participated in the competitions. The audience witnessed a seventy year old lady taking part in the fancy dress competition.