News Analysis India

Tag: Goa

  •  ‘Tika Utsav’: Goa vaccinates over 8,000 people above 45 years

    By PTI
    PANAJI: ‘Tika Utsav’ in Goa received an enthusiastic response on the first day on Sunday with 8,189 people above the age of 45 years getting the COVID-19 jabs, a state health official said.

    “Glad to see the positive response for Tika Utsav. There has been tremendous participation for the COVID-19 vaccination in the State of Goa. Together, we will fight and defeat the virus,” Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant tweeted.

    As per the data made available by the Directorate of Health Services (DHS), 4,341 people (above 45 years of age) were vaccinated across 16 panchayats in Goa during the day while 3,848 others were inoculated at various public and private hospitals.

    The ‘Tika Utsav’ drive was held across 16 panchayats. “The Chief Minister has already announced to extend this drive till April 20 to ensure that everyone above the age of 45 years is vaccinated.

    The CM had also said that if needed, the Utsav could be held till April 30 so that no one is left out,” the official said.

    Amid a rapid surge in the COVID-19 cases, Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his recent interaction with chief ministers had proposed a four-day ‘tika utsav’ starting from the birth anniversary of social reformer Jyotiba Phule on April 11 and ending on the birth anniversary of B R Ambedkar on April 14.

    Asserting that the ‘tika utsav’ marks the beginning of the another major war on COVID-19, PM Modi on Sunday made several suggestions to people on curbing the virus and urged them to focus on personal and social hygiene.

  • COVID-19: Online exam for students of Class 9 and 11 in Goa

    By PTI
    PANAJI: In the wake of rising COVID-19 cases in Goa, the state education department has directed the higher secondary schools and junior colleges to hold examinations for Classes 9 and 11 in online mode.

    The department had earlier announced that examinations for students of Class 1 to 8 would be held online and they can appear for the test from home.

    On Friday evening, director of education D R Bhagat issued a fresh circular, in which he asked the educational institutions to hold exams for Classes 9 and 11 also in online mode.

    The circular has been issued to all the higher secondary schools in the state, which were gearing up to hold offline exams for the students from this week.

    “It is informed that the examinations for Standard ninth and eleventh should be conducted by allowing students to answer from their residences, in the same way the students up to standard eight have been allowed,” the circular read.

    The COVID-19 caseload of Goa rose by 482 to touch 61,239 on Friday.

    There were 3,597 active cases till Friday night.

  • Goa Congress MP Francisco Sardinha says state unit chief weak, must be replaced

    By PTI
    PANAJI: Congress Lok Sabha MP from Goa Francisco Sardinha on Monday said the state unit chief Girish Chodankar was weakening the party.

    He said the party needed to replace Chodankar before the Assembly polls scheduled for next year.

    Chodankar was not available for comment.

    Incidentally, the attack by Sardinha on Chodankar’s leadership comes days after the state Congress’ women’s wing chief Pratima Coutinho joined the Aam Aadmi Party.

    She had said the state Congress had weak leadership and was suffering from infighting.

  • Congress leader and Gandhi loyalist Capt Satish Sharma passes away in Goa

    By PTI
    NEW DELHI: Congress leader and former union minister Captain Satish Sharma died in Goa on Wednesday after a brief illness.

    He was 73.

    Sharma was suffering from cancer and was ailing for some time.

    “He died at 8.16 PM at Goa. His last rites would be done in Delhi on Friday, as the body is being brought from Goa,” his son Samir told PTI.

    A close aide of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, Sharma was Union Minister of Petroleum and Natural Gas from 1993 to 1996 in the Narasimha Rao government.

    Born on October 11, 1947 in Andhra Pradesh’s Secunderabad, Sharma was a professional commercial pilot.

    A three-time Lok Sabha MP who represented Rae Bareli and Amethi constituencies, Sharma was a Rajya Sabha member for three terms representing the states of Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh.

    He first became a member of Rajya Sabha in June 1986 and was later elected to the Lok Sabha from Amethi in 1991 after the death of Rajiv Gandhi.

    He was later a member of Rajya Sabha from July 2004 to 2016.

    Sharma is survived by his wife, a son and a daughter.

    Senior Congress leader Randeep Surjewala expressed condolences to Sharma’s family.

    “Deeply saddened at the demise of Capt. Satish Sharma, Former Union Minister.Capt. Sharma epitomised dedication and loyalty. Condolences to the family and friends,” he tweeted.

  • Goa to host two carnival parades amid COVID-19 pandemic

    By PTI
    PANAJI: Goa will host only two carnival float parades instead of six this year in light of the COVID- 19 pandemic, a senior official said on Thursday.

    The parades will be held on February 13 and 14 in Panaji and Margao in South Goa respectively due to curbs imposed to contain the spread of infection, said Nikhil Desai, managing director of the Goa Tourism Development Corporation.

    The tourism department usually hosts parades at six cities across the state, and this would be the first time in the history of the coastal state’s tourism that only two parades will be held, he said.

    Mythological character King Momo will be heralding the colourful float parades.

    All COVID-19 restrictions will be in place during the parade, which will be attended by thousands of people, the official added.

  • Goa govt will give jobs to kin of freedom fighters: Sawant

    Speaking in the state Legislative Assembly, Sawant said the issue would be resolved by March 31 this year.

  • Municipal polls in Goa postponed for three months

    By PTI
    PANAJI: The Goa State Election Commission has again postponed the elections to the Panaji city corporation, 11 municipal councils and bypolls in various village panchayats for three months.

    Earlier also, the elections, which were scheduled for October 18 last year, were postponed by the SEC for three months due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

    In a release issued on Monday, the SEC said the elections to 11 municipal councils, Corporation of the City of Panaji, bypolls to wards of different village panchayats, and the election to the zilla panchayat constituency of Navelim (South Goa) are postponed for three months till April 2021, or the election date which may be determined by the commission.

    The release did not mention any reason for postponement of the polls.

    The coastal state has 12 municipal councils and a municipal corporation.

    The term of 11 municipal councils in Goa ended on November 4, 2020, following which the Directorate of Municipal Administration appointed administrators for these bodies.

  • Goa records 83 fresh cases of COVID-19; three more deaths

    By PTI
    PANAJI: Goa’s COVID-19 tally reached 52,345, after 83 more people tested positive for the infection on Saturday, an official from the health department said.

    As many as 69 patients were discharged from various treatment facilities, while three died of the infection during the day, the official said.

    With this, the toll in the coastal state stands at 756 and the count of recoveries has reached 50,712, he said. There are currently 877 active cases in the coastal state, the official said.

    With the addition of 670 new samples tested in the day, the total number of tests conducted in the state has gone up to 4,26,703, he added.

    Goa’s COVID-19 figures are as follows: Positive cases 52,345, new cases 83, death toll 756, discharged 50,712, active cases 877, samples tested till date 4,26,703.

  • Hospital worker gets first coronavirus vaccine dose in Goa

    By PTI
    PANAJI: A hospital worker became the first person in Goa to receive the coronavirus vaccine on Saturday, health officials said.

    Ranganath Bhojje, a worker at the Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMCH) near here, was the first to receive the vaccine dose in the coastal state, an official said.

    The vaccination drive began in the morning at seven different centres, including two private hospitals, in the state.

    Union minister Prakash Javadekar and Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant were present at the GMCH when Bhojje was given the dose.

    Ninety nine others will also get the dose at this facility on Saturday.

    In South Goa, senior doctor Dr Ira Almeida took the vaccine at the T B hospital in Margao.

    ALSO READ: PM Modi launches India’s coronavirus vaccine drive, first shot administered

    Several health workers lined up outside the facility since morning.

    Javadekar and Sawant welcomed Bhojje with a rose after he was administered the vaccine.

    “I would request family members of the persons who are administered the vaccine not to crowd inside the centre.

    They should stand outside and wait for the person to come out,” Javadekar said.

    Sawant said the vaccination drive began at all the seven centres in the state and 700 beneficiaries will get the dose on the first day.

    A team of doctors at all these centres would be monitoring the health condition of the persons getting the dose, he said.

  • Study in Goa flags alarming levels of microplastics in seafood

    By PTI
    PANAJI: The levels of microplastics found in fish and other seafood samples from the Sal Estuary in Goa is worrisome, a study by researchers of the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) here has said.

    The study, led by senior scientist Dr Mahua Saha, indicated presence of microplastics in water, sediment and biota (local animal and plant life) from the estuary.

    A paper based on the study, result of two-year-long research by scientists from CSIR-NIO, was published in the prominent scientific journal “Chemosphere”.

    During the study titled “Microplastics in seafood as an emerging threat to marine environment: A case study in Goa” the researchers collectedsamples of four species of finfish from two sites.

    Three species of shellfish were collected from local fishermen.

    The estuary is a valuable source of oyster, finfish and shellfish species, the study said.

    “The average abundance of microplastics in the Sal Estuary is significant which is comparable to the microplastic abundance in water from the Netherlands and China and in sediments from China and Nova Scotia (Canada),” it said.

    “The significant presence of microplastics in the gastrointestinal tract of finfish may pose an additional threat to these fishes due to the leaching of chemicals,” the study said.

    Further, “profound abundance” of various microplastics in bivalves (shellfish) poses risk to humans because bivalves are mostly consumed as a whole, it noted.

    “A similar signature of polymers in water and sediment, and in seafood suggests that human activities in the densely populated area around the estuary might be the leading source of microplastic contamination,” the paper said.

    Fishing activities may also contribute to the microplastic pollution in the estuary, it said.

    “The study overall adds to the increasing evidence that ubiquitous contamination by plastic particles is seriously impacting the coastal marine biota,” the researchers said, calling for “robust management strategies” to stop it.