The Goa government decided not to impose night curfew in the coastal state for now so that the tourism business amid the Christmas-New Year festival season is not affected.
Tag: Goa
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Goa reports 1st Omicron case; minor traveller from UK found infected
By PTI
PANAJI: An eight-year-old boy, who arrived in Goa from the United Kingdom, has been found infected with Omicron, making it the first case of the new coronavirus variant in the coastal state.
State Health Minister Vishwajit Rane told PTI on Monday that the boy, who travelled from the UK on December 17, 2021, was confirmed to be infected with Omicron, as per his test report received from the National Institute of Virology in Pune.
Rane said the state government will take steps according to the central government’s protocol and also adopt stringent measures as required.
Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has already asked the tourism stakeholders to stay alert and ensure there is no spread of COVID-19 during festivities, in the wake of the upcoming New Year celebrations.
On Sunday, Goa reported 25 new cases of coronavirus, taking the state’s infection count to 1,80,050, while the death toll remained constant at 3,519, as per official data.
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Ex-Goa MLA Lavoo Mamledar quits TMC months after joining it; dubs it as ‘communal’ party
By PTI
PANAJI: Nearly three months after joining the Trinamool Congress (TMC), former Goa legislator Lavoo Mamledar on Friday resigned from the party, accusing it of being communal and trying to create a divide between Hindus and Christians for votes ahead of the state Assembly polls.
The former Ponda MLA had joined the Mamata Banerjee-led party in the last week of September.
He was among the first few local leaders in the state to join the TMC, which has decided to contest all 40 seats in the Goa Assembly polls, due in February 2022.
He also alleged that the TMC was collecting the data of people in the name of rolling out a welfare scheme for women in the state if it is voted to power after the elections.
Talking to reporters after resigning from the party, Mamledar said, “I had joined the TMC because I was fully impressed with Mamata Banerjee-led party’s performance in West Bengal (Assembly polls held earlier this year).”
“I was under the impression that TMC is a very secular party. But from whatever I have noticed in the last 15-20 days, I came to know that it is worse than the BJP,” he alleged.
The TMC has forged a pre-poll alliance with the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), of which Mamlatdar was an MLA between 2012 and 2017.
He alleged that the TMC was trying to divide Hindu and Christian votes.
“As part of their pre-poll alliance, they want that the Christian votes should go to the TMC and Hindu votes to the MGP…The TMC is a communal party, which is trying to disturb the secular fabric,” he alleged.
He accused the TMC of trying to collect the data of people in the name of its Griha Laxmi scheme.
“We have found that under its Laxmi Bhandar scheme introduced in West Bengal, only Rs 500 are given, while here they are promising Rs 5,000 to women under the Griha Laxmi scheme, which is next to impossible. The promise of the scheme is entirely to collect data from Goa,” he said.
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Amid Omicron threat, Goa CM Pramod Sawant asks tourism industry to follow all protocols
By PTI
PANAJI: In view of the growing threat of the Omicron variant of coronavirus in the country, Goa’s COVID-19 task force will hold a meeting on Friday to discuss guidelines for Christmas and New Year celebrations, state Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has said.
Talking to reporters late night on Thursday, he also appealed to the tourism industry to abide by all the coronavirus-related protocols, especially during the festive season.
The tourism industry stakeholders should take all the precautionary measures to ensure that the virus does not spread in the state, he said.
“Although no case of Omicron infection has been detected in Goa so far, all necessary steps need to be taken during the festive season. A few states have imposed night curfew in view of the virus variant. But we need to make sure that we don’t have to go undertake such measures,” Sawant said.
The tourism industry should ensure adherence to COVID-19 norms, like social distancing and sanitisation, to prevent the spread of the virus.
The state has been testing international passengers arriving at the airport, he said, adding, “Those who test positive are isolated and other passengers who arrive with them are also monitored.”
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Goa minister Milind Naik resigns from cabinet amid allegation of sexual exploitation
By PTI
PANAJI: Goa’s Urban Development Minister and BJP legislator Milind Naik tendered his resignation from the state cabinet on Wednesday after the Congress alleged that he was involved in a sexual exploitation case.
The Chief Minister’s Office (CMO) issued a statement late night on Wednesday, saying that Naik has tendered his resignation to ensure a “free and fair probe”.
The CMO said in a tweet that Naik tendered his resignation as a minister, which has been accepted and sent to the governor.
The BJP MLA, who represents the Mormugao Assembly constituency in South Goa, held the urban development portfolio in the Pramod Sawant-led cabinet.
He was also a part of the previous cabinet led by the then chief minister Manohar Parrikar.
Earlier in the day, Congress Goa chief Girish Chodankar accused Naik of being involved in the sexual exploitation of a woman by misusing his power as a cabinet member.
He demanded that Sawant should sack the minister and the police should initiate a probe into the allegation against him.
A fortnight back, Chodankar had first time raised the issue, but had not named the minister at that time.
He had given 15 days’ time to the chief minister to remove the minister from the cabinet.
CM Sawant had asked Chodankar to name the minister and also provide the copy of the complaint filed by the victim against him.
After Chodankar named Naik, Goa Pradesh Congress Committee vice president Sankalp Amonkar also filed a complaint with police against the minister.
In a press conference, Amonkar also released a purported audio conversation between the victim and the minister.
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Goa: Four crew members of merchant navy ship arrived from South Africa test negative for Omicron
By PTI
PANAJI: Four crew members of a merchant navy ship, who had tested positive for coronavirus after they arrived in Goa from South Africa, have tested negative for the Omicron variant while another sample has been sent for re-testing to Pune in Maharashtra, Goa health department officials said on Saturday.
The five crew members, including two from Russia, had arrived from Cape Town.
They had tested positive for coronavirus earlier this month, following which their samples were sent for genomic sequencing to a laboratory in Pune as they had travelled from a high-risk country.
“4 out of 5 initial samples sent for genomic sequencing are negative for #OmicronVariant. 1 sample has been put for retesting,” Goa Health Minister Vishwajit Rane tweeted on Saturday.
Goa state epidemiologist Dr Utkarsh Betodkar said that one of the five samples had to be retested again due to some technical snag in the machine.
“This does not mean that it has been sent for reconfirmation. On the other hand, since all the four samples are negative (for Omicron strain), it is more likely that the fifth one also will be negative,” he added.
Goa has not reported any Omicron variant case so far.
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Goa: All passengers who arrived on flight from UK test negative for COVID-19
By PTI
PANAJI: The Goa government on Tuesday said that all the 245 passengers who arrived in the state from the UK during the day tested negative for coronavirus infection.
State Health Minister Vishwajit Rane made the announcement on Twitter.
As per Goa Airport, the 97th Vande Bharat Mission (VBM) flight arrived with 245 passengers on board from London-Heathrow on Tuesday morning.
So far, five patients including two Russians have been isolated in the state on suspicion that they might be carrying the Omicron variant infection.
Their samples have been sent for genome sequencing and results are awaited.
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‘Minister in Goa cabinet sexually exploited woman by misusing power’: Congress seeks his sacking
By PTI
PANAJI: The opposition Congress on Tuesday alleged that a minister in the BJP-led government in Goa had sexually exploited a woman by misusing his power and threatening her.
Addressing a press conference, Goa Congress president Girish Chodankar alleged that Chief Minister Pramod Sawant was helping the minister, whose name he didn’t reveal, to destroy the “electronic evidence” including the objectionable video clips of the minister.
“The CM should sack the minister within 15 days and take legal action against him for misusing his power to sexually exploit the woman,” he demanded.
Chodankar claimed that he had seen the objectionable videos of the minister and heard the audio clips in which the minister has threatened the woman.
The Congress leader claimed that the number of rapes in Goa doubled compared to the national average and that the majority of the victims are minors.
He said the name of the minister has not been revealed to protect the dignity of his family and of the victim.
“But if no action is taken in the next 15 days, we will disclose the name of the minister,” Chodankar said. Goa Pradesh Mahila Congress Committee president Beena Naik said an agitation will be launched if the concerned minister is not removed.
While chief minister Pramod Sawant was not available for his comments, BJP MLA Carlos Almeida, who represents the Vasco assembly segment, backed the allegation raised by Congress.
“As far as the sex scandal is concerned my friend has seen that video. This video will affect five states. The BJP has to block the minister,” he demanded.
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Amid Omicron scare ahead of Christmas-New Year season, Goa’s tourism sector adopts ‘wait and watch’ policy
By PTI
PANAJI: Ahead of the world-renowned Christmas-New Year celebrations in Goa, the tourism sector in the state is keenly watching the likely impact of a new coronavirus variant that was detected in southern Africa recently and one which the World Health Organisation has christened ‘Omicron’ and labeled a ‘Variant of Concern’, stakeholders said on Sunday.
They said chartered flights and international services bringing in foreign tourists start arriving by the middle of December, heralding what the sector is expecting to be another fruitful season post a robust one during Diwali as the coastal state became the preferred destination for domestic travelers after the COVID-19 pandemic ebbed.
“We are waiting and watching. Till now, at least, there is no impact (of Omicron) but we will have to wait and watch all the developments over the next 15 days. If cases go up, then protocols will have to be adhered to even more strictly,” Travel and Tourism Association of Goa president Nilesh Shah told PTI.
He said lack of precaution has been the primary reason why cases went up in the past, though the country is better equipped to tackle an outbreak now as some 70 per cent of the eligible population has taken at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Explaining the situation with chartered flights expected to arrive in the state, Shah said, “The process of issuing visas has started. The severe COVID-19 wave in Russia is cooling off, the cases in UK are coming down. The Union government has allowed international flights from December 15, and many tourists come here on scheduled flights.”
Putting up a brave front when asked if there was fear of losing the Christmas and New Year season to a resurgent virus variant, Shah said Goa was a safe destination as 100 per cent of the eligible population has received at least one dose of the vaccine.
“Moreover, we are not afraid as such. We have to learn to do business with the presence COVID-19 around,” Shah asserted.
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Goa Congress attacks TMC, Prashant Kishor’s IPAC
By PTI
PANAJI: The Goa Congress on Monday questioned the silence of the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC on the BJP in the poll-bound coastal state and alleged that the latter’s agenda may be to help the ruling party.
Assembly polls in Goa are likely to be held in February next year and the Trinamool Congress as well as the Aam Aadmi Party are planning to contest, which may queer the pitch for the Congress against the BJP.
All India Congress Committee state desk in-charge Dinesh Gundu Rao also alleged that IPAC, a poll consultancy firm mentored by strategist Prashant Kishor, may be “betraying” Banerjee in Goa.
“The agenda of the TMC is to help BJP. They want to weaken all other parties and are targeting the Congress. Why can’t they target the BJP? Who is giving them resources, where is the money coming from,” Rao questioned while talking to reporters in Quepem in South Goa.
“The people running the IPAC may have a different agenda. They may be even betraying Banerjee. I do not know whether Banerjee knows all this or not,” Rao claimed.