Hundreds ring in New Year at Salcete beaches under shadow of COVID-19

Navhind Times | 10 months ago | 01-01-2022 | 07:40 am

NT NETWORKMargaoHundreds of tourists as well as locals flocked to the beaches in Salcete taluka on Friday to ring in the New Year despite the rising number of COVID cases in the state. Several major junctions in the area were also witness to traffic jams that weremanaged and controlled by the local police and traffic cell.Around 150 police personnel were roped in from several South Goa units including that of Margao, Quepem and Curchorem to man major junctions, direct traffic and patrol the streets.Junctions like that at Maria Hall in Benaulim and Green Building in Colva saw a steady flow of traffic during the day which picked up pace by late evening.As per the pre-set plan, the traffic cell had notified three areas in Colva and two in Benaulim for parking of vehicles. Mostly two-wheelers and four-wheelers were seen roaming the streets making their way to the beach to ring in the New Year. For the most part, the police authorities said commuters were cooperative and helped in the smooth flow of traffic and parking of vehicles.At the beaches of Benaulim and Colva, majority of locals and tourists were seen without masks and lacking social distancing norms, while they enjoyed the sea water, food and parties at the local shacks and water sports during the day.Many were busy enjoying the last few hours of the year taking selfies and enjoying themselves.In villages, youngsters partook in a tradition where a stuffed figure of an old man was burned as the clock struck 12.

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Times of India | 3 hours ago | 29-11-2022 | 02:40 am

Times of India

3 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.

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Times of India | 3 hours ago | 29-11-2022 | 02:40 am

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Times of India | 3 hours ago | 29-11-2022 | 02:40 am

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Times of India | 3 hours ago | 29-11-2022 | 02:40 am

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Times of India | 10 hours ago | 28-11-2022 | 07:47 pm

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