Heena Sharma Blog

  The Goa government will launch 'Tika Utsav' , a grassroots drive to maximise coverage of the Covid-19 vaccine for people above 45 years, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said on Friday. The drive was launched a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi in a virtual conference with Chief Ministers, urged the states to encourage citizens to get vaccinated. "Goa will hold 'Tika Utsav' across the state from April 11-14, 2021. The vaccination drive will be undertaken at the panchayat level for maximum coverage," Sawant said, even as the state has witnessed a spike in Covid-19 cases over the last few weeks. "It will be celebrated in Goa in all the village panchayats. We have the infrastructure available -- halls, etc... The PM has stressed on testing, tracking and asked that we increase the number of testing facilities," the Chief Minister said, adding that if all people above 45 years get vaccinated, the state would see 50 per cent coverage. Read More

  Goa's Covid-19 tally is increasing "day by day", Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said on Monday, but said that no decision had been yet taken to impose restrictions, as a precautionary measure to prevent further spread of the deadly virus. Speaking to reporters on the sidelines of a government function in Panaji, Sawant also said that both people as well as the government of the day share the responsibility of keeping Covid-19 numbers under check. "Covid cases are increasing day by day. It is the responsibility of both (government and people) ... the government keeps urging people to take care of themselves. We advise social distancing and other (SOPs). We want to test in a big way. People should take care of themselves and get themselves tested," Sawant said. "There are 250 cases in Goa, it should be kept in control. We need people's cooperation. Government has not taken a decision yet to impose restrictions. We are personally monitoring the situ

  The Goa government plans to implement its New Education Policy (NEP) 2020 by June next year, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said on Friday. The three sub-committees formed to examine educational infrastructure and finalisation of new syllabi in sync with the NEP have been asked to submit reports by February 2021 said Sawant, who also holds the education portfolio. "The three panels will make recommendations for pre-primary, secondary and higher secondary education after studying the infrastructure available in Goa. They will also examine the issue of new syllabi," Sawant said. Speaking to reporters outside his official residence here, Sawant said that he had sought updates via a virtual conference on Friday from a 27-member committee specially formed by the Education Department to examine the eduction policy. Read More

Goa BJP president Vinay Tendulkar said there would be clarity on who would be the state's new chief minister by 2 pm Monday. Tendulkar said this after meeting Union minister and senior BJP leader Nitin Gadkari at a hotel near here over the issue. Hectic political activities are on in the coastal state to select the new chief minister after the death of chief minister Manohar Parrikar Sunday. "The decision on chief ministerial candidate is yet to be taken. But the picture will be clear by 2 pm," Tendulkar said, adding that the new chief minister would be sworn in after 3 pm Monday. Tendulkar met Gadkari along with Assembly Speaker Pramod Sawant, who is a contender for the top post. Earlier in the day, Gadkari met ally Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP) MLAs led by Sudin Dhavalikar and BJP legislator Vishwajit Rane. Dhavalikar and Rane are also aspirants for the chief minister's post, BJP sources said. Sawant and Rane are front- runners, they added.

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Goa Police has given a clean chit to former state Home minister Ravi Naik and his son in a case of alleged nexus between politicians, police and drug traffickers . A senior police official said Wednesday that 15 people, including Naik and his son, were questioned but "no evidence was found against them". The SIT has prepared a 50-page report of its probe and it would be submitted to the state government this week, he said. "A detailed interrogation was conducted in the matter. We even called two persons who were not named in the House Committee report during the investigation," the official said. Naik, who is currently a Congress MLA from Ponda constituency in North Goa district, was the state Home minister during Digambar Kamat's tenure as the chief minister. A Goa Assembly Committee's report had in 2013 indicted Naik, his son and some police officers for allegedly having links with the drug ma

The candidates, all graduates, needed to secure a minimum of 50 marks out of the total 100 to qualify but none got it Current Affairs News : As many as 8,000 candidates appeared for an examination conducted for 80 posts of accountant in the Goa government, but all failed the test. The candidates, all graduates, needed to secure a minimum of 50 marks out of the total 100 to qualify but none got it, a senior official said on condition of anonymity. Goa's director of accounts , in a notification issued yesterday, said none of the candidates, who appeared for the initial recruitment examination held on January 7 this year, secured the minimum qualifying marks required to get through. The Directorate of accounts had advertised 80 posts of accountant in the common account cadre in October last year. The five-hour examination included a 100 marks paper on English, general knowledge and accounts-related questions, the official said. The successful candidates w

The incidents took place near Baga and Siquerim beach in north Goa Current Affairs News : Two tourists from Tamil Nadu drowned in separate incidents while clicking selfies in the Arabian Sea near beaches in Goa, the police said today. A group of eight tourists from Karnataka and Tamil Nadu visited the Baga beach in North Goa district on Saturday evening. "Three of the group members went to a rocky stretch in the waters. As they were clicking selfies on their mobile phones, a strong sea wave hit them," Calangute police inspector Jivba Dalvisaid. While two of the group members managed to swim to safety, the third person, identified as Dinesh Kumar Ranganathan (28) from Vellore in Tamil Nadu, drowned in the waters, he said. The body was fished out later. In a similar incident, four tourists from Tamil Nadu went to enjoy at a rocky patch in the waters at Siquerim beach near Fort Aguada in North Goa yesterday morning, Dalvi said. As they were clic