Vatican envoy in Goa for feast of St Xavier

Times of India | 4 hours ago | 03-12-2022 | 07:40 am

Panaji: The Apostolic Nuncio, Leopoldo Girelli, the Vatican’s diplomat in India, arrived in Goa on Friday, ahead of the feast of St Francis Xavier at Old Goa. At the Bishop’s House a choral piece titled ‘Salve Pater’ was sung, expressing warm greetings to him. He later met with the governor and chief minister. Girelli, with the bishop of Sindhudurg and Cardinal Filipe Neri Ferrao, will concelebrate the high Mass of the feast at 10.30am on Saturday. There are 12 Masses scheduled on Saturday beginning at 4am and ending at 6pm. The 5pm Mass will be held with sign language interpretation as was being done during the nine days of the novenas. tnn

Read more

Share:

Similar News

40 candidates in fray for 3 panchayat polls

Times of India | 8 hours ago | 03-12-2022 | 04:20 am

Times of India

8 hours ago | 03-12-2022 | 04:20 am

Panaji: Forty candidates are in the fray for the election to 15 wards of three panchayats in Pernem taluka, which include Casarvarnem, Alorna and Chandel-Hassapur. Two candidates have been declared as unopposed. A total of 52 candidates have filed nominations.The election will be held on December 9, and counting will take place on December 11. Polling will be held from 8am to 5pm.Goa State Election Commission (SEC) said that 17 candidates have filed their nomination for seven wards of Alorna panchayat, 15 nominations were received for five wards of Casarvarnem panchayat, and 19 nominations have been submitted for five wards of Chandel-Hassapur panchayat.“The model code of conduct came into force from November 18 in the areas under the jurisdiction of Casarvarnem, Alorna and Chandel-Hassapur panchayats in Pernem taluka. It will remain in force till the election process is completed,” SEC said.

Porvorim flyover plan to be first sent for panchayats’ inputs: Cabral

Times of India | 8 hours ago | 03-12-2022 | 04:09 am

Times of India

8 hours ago | 03-12-2022 | 04:09 am

Panaji: PWD minister Nilesh Cabral said that construction on the Porvorim elevated highway stretch will begin only after seeking suggestions from members of local panchayats.Panchayat members of all village panchayats in Porvorim will be first presented with the plan of the elevated highway stretch. They will also be shown the traffic management plan for the period of the construction. An elevated highway is being constructed in Porvorim to avoid demolition of residential and commercial structures. The highway is pitted as a solution to the present traffic congestion on the stretch. But locals have been worried that the construction period will prove a traffic nightmare.“We will plan it in such a way that we will execute it without much problems. Though we say there are no problems, we are already facing traffic congestion in Porvorim. We will have to help each other. Maybe we will have worse traffic blocks for the next two-and-a-half years, but after that we will permanently have none. For this, we will give you a presentation. We will do it in such a way that those who do not want to come to Porvorim will be able to travel to Panaji from the elevated highway without affecting traffic in Porvorim,” said Cabral, speaking to some panch members in Porvorim on Thursday.Some residents had gone to the Supreme Court alleging faulty land acquisition procedures. With the apex court order now having been received, the work is expected to begin shortly.“We will be giving a presentation on the road. Some had gone to the Supreme Court and the order has come recently. We had decided along with chief minister Pramod Sawant and Union minister for road transport and highways Nitin Gadkari that estimate for the project will only be done after the SC order. We are constructing the road in such a way that traffic on current roads will be able to flow smoothly underneath,” said Cabral.The landing of the flyover will be near Gauri Petrol Pump, he said.“We have sent for in-principle approval of the central government. With regards to land acquisition, we have decided that we want to give the project to a contractor without any incumbrances so that it is completed on the set date and that targets are met,” the PWD minister said.Porvorim MLA Rohan Khaunte said that before the plan is announced to the public, it will be presented to the panchayats. “We will ensure that the project is as per your suggestions, the traffic management plan is also smooth. Nobody should have any doubts about where the project will start, at which point the landing will be. PWD is ready to give you the presentation and take your suggestions. We need your participation,” said Khaunte.

From Jan, remote check on violations of MV Act

Times of India | 8 hours ago | 03-12-2022 | 04:02 am

Times of India

8 hours ago | 03-12-2022 | 04:02 am

Panaji: After successful trials of remote monitoring of traffic violations with the help of cameras installed in Panaji and Porvorim, the directorate of transport is set to install more devices in these areas.“We have been receiving feed from some of the cameras from the command and control room. It is now possible to issue challans to violators and the process will start soon. We will, however, issue a public notice on this initiative before implementation begins,” director of transport, Rajan Satardekar told TOI.Through this system, erring motorists will be booked without any human intervention. Transport directorate officials will send a challan to the address of the registered vehicle owner. An SMS will also go to the registered mobile phone number alerting the motorist of the same.Common violations such as speeding, red light jumping, helmetless riding, driving without seatbelt, driving in the wrong lane, etc, will be detected through this mechanism. Prior to implementation, an education drive will also be held by transport officials to make motorists aware of the upcoming implementation.So far, cameras have been installed, in Panaji, up to Dona Paula, and, in Porvorim, up to the O Coqueiro circle, under the Smart City initiative.“We need the cameras functional at, at least, 10 to 15 locations before we can start the implementation. It will take at least a month to activate all the cameras, following which we will start issuing challans in the new year through remote enforcement,” Satardekar said. New locations will be taken up in the new year by the transport directorate and the PWD.“We are also attempting to install the devices at more locations. A tender will be floated in this respect very soon,” he added.

Govt asks depts to accept digi payments

Times of India | 9 hours ago | 03-12-2022 | 02:40 am

Times of India

9 hours ago | 03-12-2022 | 02:40 am

Panaji: The Goa government departments, corporations, public sector enterprises (PSEs) and autonomous bodies may soon accept payments online.The state government has directed them to use unified payment interface (UPI) and point of sale (POS) machines to ease the payment process for citizens.Presently, in some departments, citizens have to pay challans at banks to avail of government services. M/s Paytm Payment Services Ltd had recently approached various government departments to provide digital payment services via its platform to facilitate online transactions. However, officials were reluctant in availing these services as there were no directions in this regard from the finance department.However, the finance department has now issued a circular to all government departments, corporations, public sector enterprises and autonomous bodies to accept online payments via UPI and POS. “...the finance department encourages such advanced payment mechanisms to be implemented in the various government departments, which eases and facilitates the process of payments by the citizens. All departments are therefore directed to submit their proposals, if any, in this regard after obtaining administrative approval for approval of the finance department to adopt such new payment mechanisms,” under secretary finance Pranab Bhat said in a circular.

Govt not acting against touts, hawkers: RG

Times of India | 9 hours ago | 03-12-2022 | 02:40 am

Times of India

9 hours ago | 03-12-2022 | 02:40 am

Panaji: Revolutionary Goans (RG) on Friday alleged that the tourism department is turning a blind eye to the illegalities committed by hawkers and touts.RG founder Manoj Parab said that CCTV cameras should be installed at all tourist places and tourist places monitoring committees should be formed in every panchayat.“The tourism budget is Rs 247 crore for this year of which Rs 12 core is for foreign junkets or promoting Goa in international travel events. Stop these junkets for one year and instead use the Rs 12 crore to set up high definition CCTV cameras on all the beaches,” he said.Parab said that it is shocking that a minister directly blames police for not cracking down on touts, hawkers and beggars. He said that he has sent photos and videos to tourism minister Rohan Khaunte and tourism director Nikhil Desai, but there has been no action. “Hawkers are still selling wares in Panaji near the Immaculate Conception Church. Action is taken against touts for a day or two but after that nothing happens,” Parab said.

More News

Latest News