Ponda: Though 18 people in Ponda are suspected to be suffering from dengue, the health authorities have denied an outbreak of the fever in Ponda. Ponda health officer Dr Smita Parsekar said people need not panic as all the cases are only suspected. Directorate of health services’ (DHS) nodal officer for vector borne diseases, Dr Kalpana Mahatme, has also confirmed that there is no outbreak of dengue fever in the area. “The maximum number of fever cases were reported from Dattagad Bethora. All patients are now cured,” Parsekar said. “Altogether 18 suspected cases were found in April and May. Now the cases are decreasing and no new case has been reported in the last four to five days,” she said. Parsekar attributed the decline to the quick and vigorous action taken by the Ponda health centre, including source reduction drives, education and counselling, awareness and on-field inspection. “We are taking all precautionary measures and we urge residents to cooperate with us to prevent an outbreak. People also need to be careful and should not allow water stagnation,” she said. A total of five public health centres — Ponda, Usgao, Betki, Shiroda and Marcaim — come under the Ponda block of the health services department. Meanwhile, at a recent meeting convened by the health minister Vishwajit Rane at Altinho, Panaji, a decision was taken that all municipal councils should initiate dengue prevention measures such as fogging in areas under their jurisdiction.
Valpoi: As many as 43 suspected dengue cases have been reported from five villages of Sattari despite health authorities stepping up measures to control the disease in the taluka. Two weeks ago, 30 dengue cases were reported at Koparde, Satode, and Bhironda, and the number has now risen to 43 cases, with one patient each in two more villages of Dhabe and Caranzol. Workers from community health centre, Valpoi have been undertaking fumigation across several places in the taluka, and have also issued appeals to people to ensure that water is not stored in open containers. The CHC team is also handing out leaflets to all households on measures to be taken to prevent the spread of dengue. Sattari locals fear that cases would surge when monsoon commences. People have appealed to authorities to conduct fumigation operations not just in the houses of patients, but in all houses of the affected villages as well. Valpoi CHC health officer Dr Abhijeet Wadkar is closely monitoring the situation and various teams have been planning measures and public awareness campaigns to tackle the further spread of dengue in the taluka. Chairperson of Valpoi municipal council, Shezin Shaikh has also written to the health department to undertake fogging in all the 10 wards of the municipality.
Ponda: The Ponda Municipal Council (PMC) has swung in action after the town’s hospital registered four cases of dengue. The PMC convened a meeting with health officials to decide on measures to curb any possible outbreak. PMC chairperson Ritesh Naik will convene a meeting of council members on Friday to plan measures. Naik told reporters after the meeting that awareness is one of the measures to contain the spread of the virus. He said that he will summon a meeting of councillors to ask them to create awareness drives in their respective wards. Though Ponda town has only four cases, there is an urgent need to take measures at this stage itself to prevent more cases, Naik said, adding that he summoned Ponda health officer Dr Smita Parsekar and medical superintendent of the Ponda sub-district hospital Dr Jayashri Madkaikar. He said that they will request people to ensure that there is no stagnant water around their houses. “If people have fountains in their houses, they should change the water regularly. Also, people should avoid leaving coconut shells scattered around as rain water collects in them,” he said. Naik said fogging is necessary at places where there are chances of water logging. He said PMC will undertake fogging at several places.
Ponda: Even as various parts of the state are witnessingrain showers,cases of dengueare increasing at an alarming rate with the Ponda health centre reporting 38 cases ofthe diseasetill date.Dattagad area in the jurisdiction of Bethoda village panchayat has turned out to be a hotspot of dengue cases.This was informed by health officer Dr. Smita Parsekar on Monday during a meeting called by the Ponda Municipal Council chairperson Ritesh Naik to take precautionary measures with regard to the dengue cases.The Ponda health centre has 38 active cases of dengue.Out of this, 28 have been reported from the Dattagad area, while five patients are from the Ponda town area and another five cases have been reported from Curti Khandepar area.Stating that cases in the Ponda town area are scattered, Dr. Parsekar said the situation in Dattagad area is being brought under control by the health officials. The slum-like structures in the Dattagad area have become an area of concern due to the unhygienic conditions prevalent there. According to sources, the situation in Dattagad is almost like an outbreak with many people showing symptoms of dengue and yet to undergo a medical test.Dr. Parsekar informed that the health officials are regularly monitoring the situation in and around Ponda, and fogging and spraying is being taken up in the areas where the cases are being reported. “People are being constantly made aware about the preventive measures regarding dengue,” she said.Following the meeting,health officials have urged the locals to be aware and cautious about the dengue mosquito breeding in their areas like unused fountains, flower or plant pots, abandoned tyres and water bottles and other material or spots where water can accumulate. People should check their surroundings and not allow water to accumulate for more than seven days, as it may turn into a dengue mosquito breeding site, the officials have said.It may be noted that in October 2021, a 17-year-old girl from Nagzar Curti had died of suspecteddenguewhile undergoing treatment in a hospital. She was found to be denguepositive after an NS1 rapid test. Following the death, health officials had checked the surroundings of the house and found a dengue mosquito breeding site in a non-functional fountain in her premises.
Vasco: Tourism minister Rohan Khaunte visited the Arossim beach on Thursday to gain a first-hand understanding of the tar ball situation plaguing the stretch. Khaunte said that the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) has been given the mandate to issue directions to clean beaches where tar balls have washed up. At present, the beach cleaning agency is tasked with the job. “Tar balls washing ashore is a challenge we face every year. It is the oil spillage in the high seas that is leading to the problem and affecting the environment. We visited the Arossim beach to get first-hand information about what was happening and what needs to be done,” Khaunte told reporters. Khaunte said that they are looking at various options to tackle the tar balls that have been collected. “We are contemplating handing it over to the agency handling hazardous waste,” he said. The tourism department has been struggling to dispose of the bags of tar balls collected since last year. He said that GSPCB has been directed to collect samples of tar balls and water for laboratory testing. “After the reports are received, a decision will be taken as to what is to be done.” “The state government will speak to the ministry of ports, shipping and waterways, and we will also discuss the matter with the chief minister,” Khaunte said. Tar balls have surfaced on around 15 beaches over the past 10 days. Though Goa has been facing the problem for the past several years, there has been no solution to the problem. The tourism department cleans the beaches, but collecting tar balls is a tedious job, a tourism official said.
Panaji: The recent introduction of new bylaws and the notification of fines for municipal areas against plastic litter has put municipal bodies in a spot as they can no longer be mute spectators while plastic waste is dumped in their areas. Urban development department director Gurudas Pilarnekar said that since the notification has been issued, civic bodies must get cracking so that traders and residents are discouraged from discarding plastic waste as per their convenience. Earlier, under the Plastic Waste Management Rules 2016, while municipal bodies and panchayats were empowered to impose fines, they were rarely proactive in implementing these rules or penalising violators. A government official said that now municipal bodies stand to get exposed if they continue to take a lenient view of people dumping waste or commercial establishments that do not shoulder their share of responsibility. The onus is also on manufacturers, producers or importers, the official said. “Manufactures or producers can be penalised Rs 50,000 for the first act of violation, and Rs 1 lakh for a second violation. The penalty will be Rs 3 lakh if a third violation is noted. Municipalities must be firm and deal strictly with violators, whoever they may be,” the officer said. Meanwhile, hotels and restaurants will be fined Rs 1,000 for the first contravention, Rs 2,000 for a second offence and if the violation is repeated a third time, they will be liable to pay Rs 3000 as fine. Mormugao Municipal Council (MMC) chief officer Jayant Tari said their awareness programmes are under way and that they have implemented the 2016 rules even before new bylaws came into force. MMC, which is the biggest council in the state, has a population of 1.2 lakh people. According to Tari, MMC’s biggest challenge is that of controlling the dumping of waste by illegal settlements spread across the port town. “Migrants live in the city in large numbers. Plus, there are several illegal huts and people living in them are prone to litter, making waste management a challenge,” he said. Stating that the civic body is trying its best to control the situation, Tari said that they have already roped in many commercial establishments. He also said that as soon as awareness is created about the fines, they will start penalising people and traders as per the new bylaws.
PANAJI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday that the BJP would form the next government in the state, chief minister Pramod Sawant said after briefing the PM over political developments in Goa. The assembly results are scheduled to be declared on Thursday. “Modi told me that BJP will form the government,” Sawant told TOI from Delhi. Modi held the meeting with Sawant to review the political situation in the state. During the discussion, Modi took constituency-wise details about the number of seats BJP will secure in Goa. Sawant provided details to Modi on what the results would be, and how BJP would form the government. “We will form the next government in the state and in case we are short of a majority, independent MLAs will support BJP,” Sawant said. He added that if required, BJP would seek support of MGP. The CM told Modi that BJP is getting around 20 seats, and with the help of independent MLAs, BJP will form the government. Modi also deliberated on the possibilities of forming a coalition government just in case there was a fractured mandate. The meeting also discussed seeking support from independent MLAs or regional parties. All the exit polls on Monday have predicted a hung assembly in Goa. The election is crucial for BJP as well as for Sawant as both are facing anti-incumbency. BJP has contested all 40 assemblies for the first time, and it’s also the party’s first state election in the absence of their strategist, former chief minister Manohar Parrikar. Modi addressed the people of the state during the election campaign and had said “Goa has decided that this wave of development and good governance should not slow down. Under the young leadership of chief minister Pramod Sawant, this journey will continue in the same manner”. Sawant, BJP state president Sadanand Shet Tanavade and BJP’s Goa election in-charge Devendra Fadnavis held a meeting in Mumbai to discuss the formation of the next government. Fadnavis already held a meeting with senior MGP functionary Ramkrishna ‘Sudin’ Dhavalikar over the post-poll alliance. Dhavalikar had told Fadnavis that the MGP-TMC alliance would take a decision after the results. BJP had started approaching independent candidates who are likely to get elected in the assembly election, already hitting the drawing board to strategise how to form the next government.
Panaji: Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Tuesday that the BJP would form the next government in the state, chief minister Pramod Sawant said after briefing the PM over political developments in Goa. The assembly results are scheduled to be declared on Thursday. “Modi told me that BJP will form the government,” Sawant told TOI from Delhi. Modi held the meeting with Sawant to review the political situation in the state. During the discussion, Modi took constituency-wise details about the number of seats BJP will secure in Goa. Sawant provided details to Modi on what the results would be, and how BJP would form the government. “We will form the next government in the state and in case we are short of a majority, independent MLAs will support BJP,” Sawant said. He added that if required, BJP would seek support of MGP. The CM told Modi that BJP is getting around 20 seats, and with the help of independent MLAs, BJP will form the government. Modi also deliberated on the possibilities of forming a coalition government just in case there was a fractured mandate. The meeting also discussed seeking support from independent MLAs or regional parties. All the exit polls on Monday have predicted a hung assembly in Goa. The election is crucial for BJP as well as for Sawant as both are facing anti-incumbency. BJP has contested all 40 assemblies for the first time, and it’s also the party’s first state election in the absence of their strategist, former chief minister Manohar Parrikar. Modi addressed the people of the state during the election campaign and had said “Goa has decided that this wave of development and good governance should not slow down. Under the young leadership of chief minister Pramod Sawant, this journey will continue in the same manner”. Sawant, BJP state president Sadanand Shet Tanavade and BJP’s Goa election in-charge Devendra Fadnavis held a meeting in Mumbai to discuss the formation of the next government. Fadnavis already held a meeting with senior MGP functionary Ramkrishna ‘Sudin’ Dhavalikar over the post-poll alliance. Dhavalikar had told Fadnavis that the MGP-TMC alliance would take a decision after the results. BJP had started approaching independent candidates who are likely to get elected in the assembly election, already hitting the drawing board to strategise how to form the next government.
MARGAO: A bag containing 40 cartridges belonging to the Indian Reserve Batallion (IRB) that proceeded to Uttar Pradesh from Goa for election duty that was found misplaced on Tuesday, was recovered by Margao police on Wednesday from the roadside at Davorlim. Police sources said that about 900 IRB personnel had departed by an UP-bound train from Margao railway station on Tuesday evening. They were ferried to the Margao railway station by buses. However, it was after the train departed from Margao railway station that the “missing” bag containing cartridges came to their notice. The Railway police were soon alerted, who in turn contacted the Margao town police who launched a search exercise on the routes taken by the buses to ferry the IRB personnel to the railway station. The bag was finally recovered from a roadside at Davorlim on Wednesday. Police surmise that the IRB personnel left the bag containing cartridges after alighting from the buses to proceed to the railway station.
Margao: In a major relief, the 40 live cartridges that were in the possession of IRB personnel headed for poll duty in Uttar Pradesh and had gone missing late on Tuesday night, were found in a gutter near Davorlim circle hardly half km away from the Margao railway station platform on Wednesday morning.Ten companies of IRBpolice personnel left by a train for Delhi from where they will travel to Uttar Pradesh. Four boxeswith each containing 10cartridgeshad gone missing. IRBpersonnel Nansekerhad made an application to the Margao police on Tuesday late night in which he had mentioned thatthe live cartridges in his possession had gone missing.He had reported that the cartridges went missing along the ring road between fire station and Davorlim circle. A search operation was conducted by police.Police teamengaged in the search operationhad visited the Konkan railway station area, checked the CCTV footagebesides parkingareaswhere buseshad dropped the IRBstaff, however, the cartridges were not found.However on Wednesday at around 10 a.m.,the four missing boxeswerefound in a gutter by LIB team of policewhich was also pressed into a search operation. It is still a mystery howthe live cartridges reached the gutter. Investigation is in progress. Police havekept the cartridges in custody after conducting legal formalities.
Panaji: Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL) chairman Bharat Bhushan Nagpal retired on Saturday after a three and a half year stint at the helm as the chairman and managing director of the government-owned shipyard. GSL’s finance director T N Sudhakar has been given additional charge as the interim chairman and managing director. Nagpal, who joined GSL in 2016 as director for corporate planning and business development took charge as chairman and managing director in December 2018 and has since sustained the shipyard’s growth and expansion. GSL’s order book stands at Rs 14,670 crore, it’s highest ever, and under Nagpal’s watch, GSL has also forayed into new business lines including development of autonomous vessels and the use of artificial intelligence in shipbuilding and maintenance in partnership with the private sector. During Nagpal’s tenure, GSL concluded the contract for five offshore patrol vessel (OPVs) and also commenced construction of the two stealth guided-missile frigates for the Indian Navy. GSL is also building two indigenous pollution control vessels and eight fast patrol vessels for the Indian Coast Guard and a floating dock for the Sri Lankan Navy. During his service, Nagpal laid special emphasis on corporate social responsibility, extending support to local communities and the government and working towards a link up with academia and start-up incubation centres. During the pandemic, he offered to help the state government with isolation and quarantine centres and also contributed Oxygen production plants and ventilator units to the government.
Staff ReporterVascoCommodore Bharat Bhushan Nagpal, NM, Indian Navy (Retd), Chairman & Managing Director, Goa Shipyard Limited has superannuated on Saturday and has relinquished charge as CMD of one of the premier Defence Shipyardsof India.Commodore Nagpal joined Goa Shipyard in 2016 as Director (Corporate Planning and Business Development) following a distinguished career of 32 years as a Naval Architect Officer with the Indian Navy. He took charge as Chairman and Managing Director of Goa Shipyard on December 1, 2018 and has since spearheaded the Yard ensuring sustained growth and expansion.Under his leadership and the commitment of Yard employees, Goa Shipyard continued its track record of ensuring on-time delivery of vessels successfully concluding the 05 Offshore Patrol Vessel order for the Indian Coast Guard despite disruptions posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The yard signed the contract for two P1135.6 missile frigates for the Indian Navy and commenced production in record-time for the largest and most complex warship building project undertaken by GSL.GSL has also established its position as a competitive shipbuilding and refit brand in domestic and export market. Cmde Nagpal’s tenure saw the yard bag several orders on a competitive basis from the Indian Navy, Indian Coast Guard, the Indian Army, state administration and foreign friendly countries. In recent months alone, GSL has commenced the construction of two indigenous Pollution Control Vessels, signed a contract for 08 Fast Patrol Vessels for the Indian Coast Guard and construction of a floating dock for SriLanka Navy.On his superannuation, Cmde Nagpal expressed his profound gratitude to all employees and workers of Goa Shipyard, the Unions and the Ministry of Defence..for their unwavering support and commitment that has ensured that the Yard continues to reach new heights.
Panaji: Goa reported six new Covid cases on Friday with nil hospitalisations and nil deaths. A total of 469 samples were tested with a case positivity rate of 1.28%. Goa’s case positivity rate crossed the one percent mark twice this week, after several weeks. Active cases are at 44, the highest since April 2. Goa’s weekly positivity rate is 0.94% for North Goa and 0.82% for South Goa between April 22 and April 28.
Staff ReporterPanajiThe number of COVID cases doubled in Goa on Wednesday with the detection of 14 fresh cases.On Tuesday, Goa had logged seven fresh cases at a positivity rate of 1.23%.The test positivity rate recorded on Wednesday is 0.97% and the tally of active cases has risen to 39 in the state.Fortunately, no new death linked to the dreaded virus was reported in the last 24 hours.Two patients were declared as recovered in the last 24 hours andthe overall recovery rate in the state continues to be at 98.43%.The confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Goa currently stand at 2,45,409 of which 2,41,538 patients have defeated the deadly disease. Till date, 3,832 patients have died due to COVID-19 in the state.Meanwhile, amid a rise in fresh COVID-19 cases across the country, the public health department on Wednesday issued an advisory asking citizens to continue wearing masks at all public places.In an official communiqué, the department has urged people to continue observing all appropriate COVID behaviour as important preventivemeasures against the virus.It is pertinent to note that on Monday the expert committee of doctors had opined that the emergence of fourth COVID wave cannot be ruled out and hadrecommended wearing of face masks in public places and closed rooms.
Panaji: Goa reported six new cases of Covid infections and nil deaths on Sunday. With this, the total number of positive cases has now gone up to 25. Meanwhile, a total of 711 samples were tested and the case positivity rate currently stands at 0.84%. The state has reported 3,832 Covid deaths, 2.45 lakh cases and over 31,000 hospitalisations since the beginning of the pandemic in 2020. Goa’s recovery rate stands at 98.43 percent.
