75-80% of water sports institute work completed: Shripad Naik

Navhind Times | 6 months ago | 25-05-2022 | 02:05 am

‘Government aiming to hand over premises on December 19’Panaji: Union Minister of State for Ports, Shipping and Waterways and Tourism Shripad Naik on Tuesday informed that 75-80% of the National Institute of Water Sports (NIWS) work has been completed and that the government is aiming to formally hand over the premises to the NIWS on December 19 by completing the pending work.NIWS is a designated centre under the Indian Institute of Tourism and Travel Management which is run by the Union Tourism Ministry.Foundation stone for the project was laid in 2014, but the work was halted for quite long due to various reasons. Even though the project is incomplete it has been partially made functional.“There is work that needs to be completed, including that of the swimming pool. As of today, 75-80% work is complete and more funds are required to complete the project. Estimated cost of the project in 2014 was `57 crore but that is not enough as now the prices of material have shot up. We will provide the required amount and get it completed, and hand it over on December 19,” Naik said, while interacting with mediapersons along with Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte after holding a review meeting with the concerned officials.Khaunte said that the Goa government will sign a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with NIWS and take benefits of the services offered by it.He informed that till date 2,458 students from Goa have received training at the NIWS in different disciplines.“Officials of NIWS and tourism department should chalk out a roadmap and sign a MoU where Goa government and department of tourism can benefit from the initiatives taken by the NIWS,” he said.

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Govt to set up demo wind power plants

Times of India | 3 hours ago | 29-11-2022 | 04:24 am

Times of India

3 hours ago | 29-11-2022 | 04:24 am

Panaji: The state government is looking at setting up wind power plants as a demonstration project, at Goa University.The Goa Energy Development Agency (GEDA) has invited tenders for the supply, installation, testing, commissioning and maintenance of 2.2kW grid-connected wind power plants. The plants — with small aero-generator (wind) power systems — will be set up on existing towers at Goa University. Work must be completed within 45 days from the date of issue of the work order.GEDA has stated that the intending tenderer must have five years of experience in supply, installation, testing and commissioning of wind power systems, and a minimum annual turnover of Rs 20 lakh over the past three years exclusively in the business, without having had incurred losses during this period.The wind power plant will include aero-generators with instrumentation for power/data measurements, junction boxes, grid tie inverters, cooling, enclosed construction and cables, among other aspects.

Irked over non payment of compensation, sugarcane farmers say govt fooled them

Times of India | 3 hours ago | 29-11-2022 | 04:22 am

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3 hours ago | 29-11-2022 | 04:22 am

Margao/Ponda: Sugarcane growers of Sanguem have accused the government of fooling them by closing down the Sanjivani sugarcane plant and giving them false assurance of restarting it on various occasions.Addressing reporters, a member of the Sanguem Uss Utpadak Sangharsh Samiti, Prashant Dessai, said that despite the government having assured to pay sugarcane growers compensation of Rs 3,600 per tonne last year, the farmers were yet to receive the amount, leading them to hold a sit-in protest at the sugarcane plant. Dessai said that the farmers had objected to sugarcane cultivated by Goan farmers being sent to Karnataka, and had demanded that the cane instead be processed at the Sanjivani plant. However, he said, their demands were ignored and tonnes of sugarcane got wasted or consumed by animals. Consequently, Dessai said, farmers were forced into penury.Expressing disappointment over the government’s failure to revive the Sanjivani plant, Dessai demanded that the plant be given to the farmers. Several other sugarcane farmers recently demanded that the government makes its stand clear about the future of the factory. They have also threatened to once again sit in protest at the factory premises on December 6.Francis Mascarenhas, a cane farmer, said that the administration of the Sanjivani factory is yet to inform them on whether or not to plant canes. “The ethanol plant needs canes as raw material. If the government was certain about restarting the plant here, it would have directed us to plant canes,” he said.Several other sugarcane farmers recently demanded that the government make its stand clear about the future of the factory. They have also threatened to protest at the factory premises on December 6

Mopa likely to start ops from Jan 5, flyers will be informed by SMS

Times of India | 5 hours ago | 29-11-2022 | 02:40 am

Times of India

5 hours ago | 29-11-2022 | 02:40 am

New Delhi: The new international airport at Mopa is likely to become operational in the first week of January, possibly on the fifth, sources said.CM Pramod Sawant had said at the Times Now Summit last week that PM Narendra Modi could tentatively inaugurate it on December 11.“It takes about a month to make an airport operational after the inauguration,” sources said. “Airlines need to mark on tickets to and from Goa which airport the flight will operate from, Dabolim or Mopa. Also, CISF has to move in and take over security of the facility, which takes around 15 days. People who have bought tickets to and from Goa for the coming months will be informed by airlines via SMS in case their flights will now land at or depart from Mopa.” GMR Goa International Airport Limited (GGIAL), which will operate the airport, is looking at January 5 as Mopa’s opening date. On October 26, the directorate general of civil aviation had issued the aerodrome licence to the Airport after a series of checkposts, thus, the airport was certified to be safe for handling flights. Airlines like IndiGo have indicated that they will operate from both the existing Dabolim airport and the new one at Mopa.The Mopa airport is keenly awaited as Dabolim, a Naval airport, has limited slots for scheduled commercial flights. For years, this has meant flights during limited hours of the day — and hence high fares in peak travel season — for passengers. Being a 100% civilian airport, Mopa will allow more flights to Goa — at least doubling from current numbers.The airports economic regulatory authority (AERA) this August issued an ad hoc tariff order for the GMR-developed Mopa airport. For the first few years, second airports that will soon start opening in Indian cities/regions could be relatively more expensive than the single ones operating there so far. The reason: A majority of them will need to compete for traffic with the existing ones. When Bengaluru and Hyderabad got new airports in 2009 and 2008, respectively, the exiting ones — HAL and Begumpet — were closed for commercial flights. AERA’s ad hoc aeronautical charges tariff order for Mopa includes a user development fee (UDF) of Rs 450 and Rs 1,100 per departing domestic and international passenger respectively. The GMR group that has developed Mopa had proposed a UDF of Rs 980 and Rs 1,500. The authority felt “the proposal of the airport operator is on the higher side and needs to be moderated”. The authority has decided to allow GGIAL to charge the ad hoc tariff till March 31, 2023, or if the regular tariff order is issued before that.

13 gas cylinders found underweight at Vasco

Times of India | 5 hours ago | 29-11-2022 | 02:40 am

Times of India

5 hours ago | 29-11-2022 | 02:40 am

Vasco: The department of legal metrology during a raid at Housing Board Colony, Zuarinagar, Vasco of BPCL domestic LPG cylinders, found 13 of the domestic LPG cylinders to be underweight.On Monday, people residing in Lamani Colony, Zuarinagar raised a protest after finding some cylinders brought for distribution were short in weight.Both the delivery person and driver of the distribution vehicle abandoned the truck and fled from the site after consumers confronted the duo.Following the uproar, assistant controller, legal metrology, South Zone-I Margao, Nitin Purushan along with his team rushed to the site and conducted a raid. Purushan said that necessary action will be initiated against the gas agency as per provisions of the legal metrology rules and acts. The department has advised consumers to check the weight of a cylinder before buying it and check the verification certificate issued by the department, and also urged citizens to lodge complaints on the designated number.

Centre permits manual extraction from sandbars & beach shacks in CRZ areas

Times of India | 5 hours ago | 29-11-2022 | 02:40 am

Times of India

5 hours ago | 29-11-2022 | 02:40 am

Panaji: The Union environment ministry (MoEFCC) has amended the CRZ notification, 2019, to allow activities like manual extraction of sand from sandbars in rivers and setting up of temporary structures, like beach shacks, in CRZ areas.The Centre has also given local authorities almost all powers to clear projects, except in case of those coming up in ecological sensitive areas and in water.A senior government officer said the amendments will be applicable only in states where the CZMP 2019 is notified and that, in the case of specific projects mentioned in the CRZ notification, 2019, approval will have to be sought from the MoEFCC.With reference to removal of sandbars in CRZ area, the MoEFCC’s CRZ amended notification, 2019, issued last week states: “The sandbars in intertidal areas shall be removed by traditional coastal communities only through non-mechanised manual method.”It further states that state governments and Union territory administration can permit removal of sand in specified quantity and in specified time period on the condition that the extraction is being carried out by registered persons from the local community. The notification also mandates annual renewal of the extraction registration.Various organisations and citizens have opposed amendments to the CRZ notification, 2019, related to oil and gas exploration, sand extraction from sandbars and retaining shacks on beaches during the monsoon, stating that the proposed changes will spell disaster for the environment and local communities.“For projects or activities also attracting the Environment Impact Assessment Notification, 2006, the Coastal Zone Management Authority shall forward its recommendations to the central government or state Environment Impact Assessment Authority for Category A and Category B projects, respectively, to enable a composite clearance,” the CRZ amendment states.For those projects not covered under the Environment Impact Assessment Notification, 2006, but attracting the CRZ amended notification, 2019, and located in CRZ-I or CRZ-IV areas, Coastal Zone Management Authority shall forward its recommendations to the Centre, the MoEFCC notification states.The Centre had received representations from different stakeholders — state governments and ministry of petroleum and natural gas — through the director of general of hydrocarbon for making certain amendments in the CRZ notification, 2019, inter-alia, for delegating the powers of giving Coastal Regulation Zone clearance to State Coastal Zone Management Authorities or state governments for small infrastructure projects located in CRZ-I and CRZ-IV areas, exempting exploratory drilling and associated facilities thereto except in CRZ-IA areas, including the provision of temporary beach shacks as already available in Coastal Regulation Zone notification, 2011, as amended and expanding the said provision to all coastal states, allowing removal of sand bars by traditional communities.“Projects or activities not covered in the Environment Impact Assessment Notification, 2006, but attracting this Notification and located in CRZ-II or CRZ-III areas or those projects or activities listed in sub-paragraph (ii) of paragraph 7 of this notification, shall be considered for clearance by the concerned Coastal Zone Management Authority within sixty days of the receipt of the complete proposal from the proponent,” the MoEFCC notification said.

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