Senior Citizens of Goa to benefit from state policy soon

Come the next couple of days and the state of Goa could have its policy for the senior citizens in place, something  which was formed under the Maintenance and Welfare of parents and senior citizens act 2007, after it is duly notified and published in the official gazette. The policy is likely to come into force from October 1 2009, to coincide with the International day for Senior citizens.

It may be recalled that the state government of Goa has announce this policy for senior citizens welfare last year on 1st of October and it is exactly after one year the government has decided to implement the same. the file pertaining to the policy has reportedly been cleared by the finance and the law departments and has been reverted to the social welfare department.

Under the policy, parents are eligible to claim maintenance allowance from their children and the policy also envisages the setting up of maintenance tribunals and appellate tribunals. Pressure has been mounting on the government over the delay in implementing the policy with various NGOs urging for its early enforcement. It is reported that senior citizens in the state face a lot of hardships from their children especially in matters related to property in Goa . Under the policy, the elderly shall be empowered to claim the property back from their children if the same is given on the basis of looking after their needs and amenities.

There is also a demand to set up and maintain homes for senior citizens in Goa to take care of them in their old age and provide the necessary medical care and recreation facilities. There are suggestions also made to the government of Goa to apprise and inform the police and the judiciary on protection of life and property of the elderly under the provisions of the act.

Goa will thus join states such as Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Delhi, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Nagaland, Rajasthan and Tripura in enforcing such a policy aimed at the protection of the interests of the senior citizens of the state.

Illegal mining in Goa : Panel blames select trio

The committee on mines in Goa has put the onus of illegal mining in Goa on three departments of the state which the committee said are passing the buck when it came to illegal mining in the state of Goa. The three departments are the Directorate of mines, Forest department and the Goa state Pollution control board. The first report of the committee says that if these three departments had to initiate action against the offenders, then the state of Goa would not have faced this problem of illegal mines and pollution.

The committee observed that while the Directorate of mines followed central government rules in the enforcement, it did not take the responsibility to ensure that mining activity is not done without environmental clearance and other required permissions. The committee observed that it was the duty of the departments to close down or cancel the licences of the mines whose mining rejects and mining wastes pose a threat and damage to paddy fields, fruit bearing crops and drinking water resources and other water bodies within the vicinity of the mines

While the deemed clause was being misused by numerous mining companies, and which was being known to the concerned departments, none of them stopped this practice. The committee has now suggested to the government of Goa to pass strictures amending the state and central legislation affecting mining in the state. The committee has urged the government to stop all mining operations in the state which are carried out with or without valid lease concessions.

Now CCTVs to ogle at you in Goa, at Margao and Tivim

CCTVs have finally made their way into strategic locations in Goa and the first hosts have been the railway stations in Goa at Margao and Thivim which will come under the eye of CCTVs beginning Monday August 24, 2009. Both the facilities currently installed with closed circuit televisions would become operational on Monday after the inauguration at the hands of Konkan railway corporation managing director Mr Anurag Mishra.

With terror threats looming over Goa since the end of last year after the Mumbai terror attacks, the CCTV project was contemplated for Goa's railway stations of Margao and Thivim and are being installed at an estimated cost of Rs 40 lakh. While Margao was the lone station initially mooted for the project after the Mumbai carnage, the Konkan railway corporation however sanctioned the project for the two railway stations to contain the terror threat in a more wholesome manner.

Besides helping the cause of warding off terror threats in the state, the CCTVs are expected to help the law enforcement agencies in the state  in tracking down criminals in Goa who commit crimes and flee out of the state via the Margao railway station.

It has been earlier experienced by the police that the trail of most criminal offences in Margao and in the state have led sniffer dogs to the Margao railway station in cases mostly related to thefts and burglaries. The CCTVs are expected to help keep a close tab on such elements who use the Margao railway station as their mode of fleeing Goa after committing the crimes.

Goa panchayats get together to spit fire on amendment

The controversy ridden amendment bill to the Panchayat raj act added another dimension with a new forum formed to battle against the draconian bill when the panchayats from Goa announced the formation of the All Goa panchayat Democratic Forum(AGPDF) which warned the government of a full blown agitation in the state if the bill wasn't reverted in a time frame of three weeks.

The forum which met in Panjim , exhorted Goans and the people from South Goa to attend a big public rally in Salcete, to oppose the damaging bill in full force. The date for the rally is expected to be fixed somewhere after the Ganesh festival.

Speaking at he meeting, the President of the forum, Mr Joseph Sequeira said that if the government failed to take cognizance of its demand, then there will be a full fledged agitation which the government of Goa will find difficult to resist. Mr Sequeira also lambasted the various MLAs for making baseless statements against the Sarpanchas, as a means to push in the amendment bill

Other speakers who spoke on the occasion were Soter Dsouza who called for unity among the panchayats and compared the government to the British who tried to play the game of divide and rule.Thalmann Pereira revealed how a select committee and ad-hoc committee reports differed on the rights of the panchayats and urged the panchayats to pass resolutions opposing the amendment. Former convenor of Goa Bachao Abhiyan(GBA) , Mr Oscar rebello recollected the victories of the Goan people in fighting issues such as the Regional Plan 2011, SEZs etc and said that it is time the gram sabhas of Goa took this issue also to be defeated through an unified action.

Prajal Sakhardande, the well known historian reminded the people about the day August 20 2009 as being the birthday of the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi whose vision of panchayati raj in Goa was being strangulated by this amendment. Also speaking on the occasion were convenor of GBA Sabina Martins, Cansaulim Sarpanch Basil Fernandes, Rachol Sarpanch Joseph vaz and others.

Swine flu gets Goa worried : Leave rules relaxed in schools

Swine flu deaths in the neighborhood of Goa at Pune, has left the establishment in Goa worried and anxious about the dangerous dimensions of the fast spreading H1N1 virus in the country. So far, the city of Pune in Maharashtra was the worst hit by the disease with four deaths confirmed while another six more persons were reported to be currently battling for their lives after being afflicted with the deadly virus. So far the country has seen over seven people claimed by the dreaded disease of swine flu mainly from Pune, Mumbai and one death from Chennai.

Goa, in the meanwhile is grappling with patients regularly showing up with the virus which so far has not proved fatal in the state. In the latest round of people suspected to be infected with swine flu, four people have been currently identified and their throat swabs have been sent to the national Institute of communicable diseases New Delhi on the 9th August 2009 (Monday). While two of these persons had arrived from Pune and Mumbai, the third is a woman from Brazil while the fourth is a man who had come in contact with a swine flu patient.

With the virus threatening to spread and new cases being detected everyday, the Goa government has however ruled out the closure of schools and colleges unlike some swine flu affected areas of the country. The administration has however stated that teachers, staff members and students showing symptoms of swine flu will be allowed to stay home for a period of upto ten days and waived the need to produce a medical certificate for the specified period.

The state authorities are also finding it to be a herculean task to screen every person entering Goa for Swine flu and the health authorities  are instead encouraging people who suspect that they may have contracted the virus , to get themselves screened voluntarily.

It is found that out of the 40 suspected cases of swine flu in Goa, around thirteen were detected through screening by the swine flu squad at Dabolim airport but the remaining 27 persons had approached the government hospitals or a private doctor on their own volition thereby being referred to the swine flu squad. The state figures have reported that over 14 persons had directly approached the government hospitals once they suspected to have contracted the influenza while around 13 individuals were known to be referred by private practitioners.

Any person who may have traveled from a swine flu-affected country or state in the last 10 days and showed symptoms of influenza A (H1N1) that include fever, cough, sore throat and difficulty in breathing should immediately contact the Goa Medical college and hospital Bambolim or the cottage hospital at Chicalim.

Government agencies in Goa are expected to follow up on their meetings with private doctors in Goa by launching a massive campaign to inform and educate the Goan public about swine flu and its dos, dont's and necessary precautions.

Meanwhile Goans in Pune studying in various colleges were suddenly left stranded without a college to attend or a hostel to reside when both such places were mostly closed down asking students to leave in view of the swine flu outbreak ion the area. As a result the large Goan population in Pune is forced to make their way back to Goa with no place to go.

Goan roads : Signs of abusive neglect

Visible on a busy Margao road in South Goa was the following sign obviously put up by disgruntled citizens, which is a stinging slap on the people responsible for the upkeep of Goan roads. It clearly proves that there is no co-ordination between the various public utility service departments to ensure that the works carried out by them are completed in all respects with proper accountability without proving a hindrance to the citizens. No wonder there is a grave dissent in the minds of the Goan public about the use of helmets in the name of safety alone, when our system is so full of willful potholes.

 

 

Will this be the last such sign? Will the authorities ever learn? Will our lives be taken for granted? Will our helmets save us from such whimsical behaviour of our public sector?

Goa students need to learn traffic rules in School

The need to impart traffic rule education in Goan schools came to the fore in the assembly when the opposition MLAs maintained that the transport ministry had failed in its promise to make knowledge on traffic regulations as a part of school curriculum and no steps in this direction had so far been taken. However regular challans were being issued to defaulters with no education measures being undertaken by the government to ensure that the alarming rise in the number of road accidents in the state had arrested.

Mr Francis D’Souza, the Deputy opposition leader stressed on the imperative need for the procedure of acquiring a driving license to be made more stringent and lamented that bribes of Rs 500 were enough for anybody to get a licence and urged that unless the people are educated in traffic discipline, the licences should not be issued.

Also Mr D’Souza advised the government that improvement in road engineering aimed at widening accident prone zones would go a long way in reducing accidents considerably in Goa.

Road safety programmes need more teeth to be highlighted effectively to the community in Goa and good highways and one ways were the need of the hour said Mr D’Souza

Goa to implement High security registration plates

The long awaited high security registration plates(HSRPs) are finally on their way to reality in Goa very soon, possibly within a fortnight. The enforcement of such plates on vehicles in Goa will make the state the third in the whole country to employ such registration plates which are expected to enhance the tracking of vehicles thereby posing as a deterrent to vehicle related crimes in Goa.

The High security registration had been given the green signal by the Supreme Court which set a deadline of three months for the central and the state governments to implement the high security plates, removing all uncertainty thus setting up August 4th as the deadline for the implementation.The HSRPs were also recommended by a technical committee of experts which reviewed the central Motor Vehicle act 1988.

The HSRPs are empowered with seven security features which help to track down stolen vehicles, prevent their misuse and also trace culprits involved in hit-and-run cases. The move is also expected to help against tax evasion at the time of registration and transfers during resale of the vehicle besides bringing the large unorganised sector of licence plate painters under the organised sector.

The state government of Goa has reportedly awarded the HSRP contract to Shimnit Utsch India Pvt Ltd who are billed as the leading licence plate manufacturers in the country. The HSRPs are plates with inherent security features such as retro-reflective sheeting,embossed numbers, IND inscription, unique laser code and snap lock fitment which therefore make these plates tamper proof and prevent vehicle thefts and misuse. The online data is expected to provide real time support to all kinds of vehicles with the HSRPs.

So how does one migrate to the High security registration plate era? All the existing vehicles are given upto two years time to upgrade to the HSRP implementation of the licence plates. The procedure involves approaching the RTO for an application form and the payment for the HSRPs for two wheelers is Rs 550 while for four wheelers it is 1,200. VAT and other taxes are extra.

Margao Municipal Council scouting land for garbage

It is now the turn of the Margao Municipal council to follow in the footsteps of its bigger sibling  the corporation of the city of Panjim(CCP), to hunt for a site to treat garbage in view of its long term requirements. Daily garbage collection in the commercial capital of Goa at Margao is in excess of 50 tonnes which is bound to increase with the passage of time. As such the Sonsoddo garbage dump is likely to be overburdened with any additional load of garbage, which has therefore necessitated the need to look for alternative sites.

The Sonsoddo garbage dump which has been spread over an area of 16,000 sq metres of land is already burdened with piles of garbage which has collected over the years. Moreover the landfill site which is to be set up by one of the two bidders is expected to gobble up around 6000 sq m of land. Add another area which the council plans to separate as an area for treatment of medical waste, and the treatment plant itself which is expected to take some more portion of the land besides the composting units  to be built in the dumpyard, the Sonsoddo garbage dump seems to be in a complete overburdened territory.

However the landfill site which would take around a chunk of 6000 sq metres of land is apparently available for garbage operations after being topped after meeting certain norms. However more land would be required in view of additional waste generation. But although the council had acquired over 30 thousand sq metres of land in the adjoining areas in the nineties, for the purpose of garbage treatment, no work on the landmass was ever taken up due to protests from villagers around the area.

The council is currently engaged in finalising one of the two bidders - IL&FS and Fomento who are jointly bidding on one side and Ramky Enviro Eng Pvt Ltd who are the other bidders for the Sonsoddo garbage project and the winning bid will sign an agreement spanning the next 25 years. The winner of the bid will therefore be entrusted with the responsibility of segregating the garbage, composting it and also filling out landfill operations.

Goa to add 64 rural health centres

The growing demands of an increasing population in the state of Goa has prompted the state cabinet to approve the setting up of over 64 additional sub-health centres in the rural areas of Goa under the National rural health mission. The centres are expected to function under the directorate of health services and cater to people from all over Goa.

The sub-health centres will have one nurse and one patient-attendant to provide basic relief to the patients .Doctors  will follow a predetermined schedule to visit the sub-health centres on a periodic basis.

Goa, presently has around 172 sub health centres under various primary health centres and community health centres. However as per the norms set by the government, one unit of multipurpose health worker (MPHW) comprising one male and one female worker must cater to a population of around 5000 people. Besides a host of other tasks, a MPHW must maintain the health profile of the community. However in many areas of Goa, there is a huge population in excess of 10,000 to 15,000 under one health centre. The additional 64 health centres are therefore being set up to meet this shortfall and to meet the national health norms.

The sub-health centres are expected to be spread all over the state from Pernem taluka in the north to Canacona taluka in the south of Goa

Goa Police get "INSAS" shot in the arm

Post 26/11, the government of Goa was stirred into the stark reality which had already embarrassed the Mumbai Police after their lack of mere preparedness to face terrorists was exposed with the megapolis' city police found toting with antique pistols and guns which made them look like virtual schoolboys caught at recess time when the terrorists from across the border struck the most telling blows at different locations in Mumbai's hotels, airports, restaurants and an Jewish centre on November 26 2008. Goa was feared to be the next terror target which had made the administration get up and take the much overdue decision of beefing up its armoury to meet current standards of defence preparedness.

It was therefore hearty to note that the initiative has finally borne fruit with the Goa government procuring over 100 INSAS rifles as part of the plan to gradually phase out the nearly 3000 odd .303 rifles which the force has been so far been using.

However the procurement of the guns has been part of regular haphazard  purchase practices where the guns are there but no ammunition to use them. No doubt the guns procured last month lay unused for over a month untill the state government of Goa received a consignment of ammunition from the Delhi Police on loan. The guns have now been distributed to various police stations in the state to enable the '"men in uniform" to train themselves in the use of the sophisticated rifle.

The rifles which cost over Rs 10 lakh, have been distributed to police stations in Panaji, Calangute, Anjuna, Pernem and Porvorim polices stations in the North of Goa and Vasco, Colva, Margao, Verna, Cuncolim and Canacona in South Goa and the training of the policemen on the gun, is currently in progress .

The Goa state police is presently on a state of high alert following intelligence inputs regarding terror threat on the west coast of India and the possible eventualities during the forthcoming Independence day celebrations. Patrolling at vital points in Goa has therefore been intensified and the Police have increased their co-ordination with fishermen, hoteliers, cyber cafe, PCO owners and taxi operators, alerting and sensitising them about the security steps.

Hotels, guest houses,cyber cafes, PCO's and other places have therefore become the frequent stops for beat officers to maintain regular checks all over Goa.

Goa Medical College PG course to be conditional

The dilemma facing the Goa Medical College (GMC) which is currently facing a crunch in specialist doctors could soon be a thing of the past if a proposal by the health Ministry in Goa sees the light of day and is actually implemented meticulously. As per the proposal, doctors who wish to specialize with a post graduate degree at the Goa Medical College will have to sign a bond which includes a clause stating that they would either have to work for a period of two years in a rural government hospital in Goa or in lieu, pay the state a fee of Rs 10 lakh.

The above was necessitated by the dire situation faced by GMC which finds itself drained of doctors after the post graduation course is over and therefore burdens the states medical resources undesirably. Students who finish their post graduation course leave the institution having no obligation to stay behind for any period of time thereby straining the whole chain of healthcare resulting in  a shortage of teaching staff at the entry level of the teaching faculty, assistant lecturer and upwards. The main departments affected by this attitude in the GMC include the surgery, medicine and orthopaedic departments.

The health Minister MR Vishwajit Rane has therefore reiterated that he will ensure strict implementation of this policy so that the state does not face this unnecessary crunch even after students passing out from the institution year after year. There are currently about 26 Post Graduate diploma seats and 39 post graduate degree seats at the Goa Medical College.

Such policies are however existing on paper in many other states of the country. However when it comes to implementation there seems to be absolutely no will and few states are actually enforcing the rules strictly.

Goa too had a rule for medical students studying the Post graduate course wherein they were required to sign a bond with a clause to work in the public health centres for atleast a year or in lieu, pay a fine of Rs 3 lakh. However there was hardly any will to implement this clause and the current problem has slowly manifested itself to pose an alarming vacuum in the state's health sector.

Diabetics to get free insulin in Goa from August 15

For many diabetics in Goa, this years Independence day could mean much more than just a celebration of freedom from foreign rule. Come August 15 2009, the government of Goa proposes to provide free insulin to patients who cannot control the disease with tablets and are having complications and undergoing treatment at the various government hospitals and health centres in Goa.

The health Minister of Goa Mr Vishwajeet Rane disclosed that the initiative was a part of the diabetes care programme which was launched last year in association with Nova Nordisk India Private Limited Bangalore. Nova Nordisk is reported to have screened over 15,000 people across the state and found that over 17 percent were suffering from diabetes.

In the initial stage the talukas of Pernem, Bicholim, Sattari, Canacona and Sanguem and the Cansaulim village in Mormugao are expected to be covered under the free insulin project which is expected to be monitored by a core committee of GMC doctors. A fund of around Rs 3 crore is reportedly been formed to monitor usage of insulin to patients.

Cansaulim in South Goa has been in the meanwhile, found to be having the highest concentration of diabetics patients in Goa with the Nova Nordisk screening programme detecting a high 38 percent of patients who visited the primary health centre during medical camps found to be affected by the disease.

The government of Goa is also planning to set up a comprehensive diabetics registry to document the prevalence of the disease besides screening and treatment of patients and suitable amendments to the Goa public health act would make it liable upon private practitioners to submit details of diabetic patients in their care , to the registry.

Full fledged diabetic clinics are also mooted to be set up at the Goa Medical College and at both the district hospitals in the state. Stating that diabetes patients in Goa are increasing the Minister said that since costs of hospital treatment are very high much help would be given if insulin was available freely to patients and it would thereby assist in making Goa a model state in diabetics care.

Goa to see more coastal police stations

In a bid to tighten the maritime security in the country, the central government is planning to increase the number of coastal police stations to around 72 along the entire stretch of the 7500 kilometre Indian coastline besides increasing the areas under "no fishing zone" around the vital installations including the nuclear establishments, coastal dams and major ports.

The above Coastal security scheme(CSS) is scheduled to be launched by April 2010. There is also a review for better coordination among different organisations such as the navy, coast guard, marine police of different states besides the intelligence agencies to increase the vigil.

The home ministry is reported to have asked the nave and the cosat guard to provide assistance to states in recruiting and training executive and technical staff for coastal police stations and over nine states are expected to benefit from this scheme. They include Gujarat, Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka, Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh, Orissa and West Bengal and the Union territories of Puducherry, Lakshadweep, Daman and Diu and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

The coastal states have also been asked to beef up their infrastructure and train their manpower and have been advised to firm up their additional requirements to face any eventualities in security. Also registration of fishing vessels, installation of communication equipment on these boats and uniform system of issuance of identity cards to fishermen.

Swine flu "oinks" into Goa

The state of Goa saw its first case of the dreaded swine flu when a man from south Goa was confirmed to be infected with the dreaded influenza A (H1N1) and has been subsequently quarantined at the Chicalim cottage hospital and is being treated as per the directive of the central health agencies.With this latest case diagnosed in Goa the total number of confirmed cases of Swine flu in India have gone up to 15 with Hyderabad accounting for 7 cases, Coimbatore 2, Delhi 5 and Goa 1.

The 41 year old Goan man is known to have travelled to the flu affected regions such as Brussels and London and his swab samples have been sent to the National institute of Virology(NIV) Pune and the National Institute of communicable diseases(NICD) , New Delhi for confirmation.

The director of the DHS Rajananda Dessai confirmed that the samples of the man sent to NIV Pune had in fact tested positive for swine flu and they have now sent the tests back to the NIV and NICD for confirmation. The man has been kept isolated at the Chicalim college hospital and only his wife is allowed to meet him on the condition that she wears a mask.

In the meanwhile another woman hailing from North Goa and who had arrived by flight from Sharjah was taken by the directorate of Health (DHS) officials to the Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMC) Bambolim after she displayed some symptoms of swine flu upon being screened at the Dabolim airport by health officials

In a bid to prevent swine flu from hitting the state of Goa the govbernment had taken steps to ensure that international tourists are made to fill up a questionnaire before being screened at the airports prior to their movement into Goa Altogether a total number of 6,675 passengers have so far been screened at the Dabolim international wing of the airport.

Drishti moots ESMA to counter attacks on Goa beach lifeguards

The recent spate of attacks on the lifeguards manning Goa's beaches under the banner of the contracted agency "DRISHTI special response services (DSRS) " surf life saving Goa, has prompted the directorate of tourism to move a proposal to the government of Goa to bring the lifeguard agency currently on a contractual obligation, under the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA).

The department has maintained that Drishti which was hired to maintain surveillance on Goan beaches was not receiving proper assistance from the state police. Citing specific instances the director  of tourism Mr Swapnil Naik informed the ad hoc committee on tourism of the state legislative assembly presided by the acting chairman Mr Reginaldo Lourenco, that despite a ban imposed on swimming along the Goan coastline, a group of tourists attempted to swim in the sea on May 27 2009 and upon being objected by the Drishti Lifeguards, they had a heated argument with them which resulted in the  lifeguards being detained by the Goa Police for one day.

On an average 3 deaths are currently being reported in Goa every month due to drowning incidents on Goan beaches despite all the precautions such as signages which have been put up at all the important beaches in Goa such as Colva, Calangute, Candolim, Baga, with clear detailed information about the tide timings, swimming zones and tide timings and flags being put up in the water to demarcate swimming areas etc.

Due to the stubborn attitude of certain tourists visiting the Goan beaches, the lifeguards of Drishti who are working under the famed system of "Surf Life Saving Goa" (SLSG) , have a dual challenge to comprehend. While discharging their duties to protect the tourists from drowning these lifeguards now also have the added burden of protecting themselves from violent attacks from the tourists themselves. Such attacks and threats from tourists have now become routine and it is believed that over 90 percent of such attacks take place on the three famous beaches of Goa namely Calangute and Baga in the North of Goa and Colva beach in the South.

It is due to the increase in the number of attacks on the lifeguards, that the management of Drishti's SLSG have urged the government of Goa to take immediate remedial steps to prevent such attacks on their lifeguards by declaring life saving as an essential service and recognise life-guarding services as a public duty performance and therefore provide them with adequate protection as is provided to public servants under the Indian Penal Code.

The management of SLSG has also threatened to close down their operations in Goa if there is no adequate protection given to their lifeguards who have been threatened, abused and attacked by violent tourists.

It is reported that recently over six army personnel attacked lifeguards at Calangute when they were informed not to venture into the sea which was very rough on that day. It may be noted that the government of Goa has already informed the public by a notification that they should not venture in the sea  due to the rough sea conditions and the lifeguards were only advising the people about the dangers of swimming at the beaches during the specified period and informing them that in case of any eventuality they would not be in a position to help them in distress. However the warnings of the lifeguards were reportedly met with attacks from the army men and when the beach locals rushed to their rescue what followed was utter chaos which injured the army men with a police complaint being lodged subsequently at the Calangute police station.

In the above fracas, the lifeguards were detained and later arrested by Police and were subsequently released on a bond of Rs 3,000 each although they had not inflicted any injuries on the army men who were allegedly injured in the scuffle with local beach visitors who rushed to the rescue of the lifeguards.

The SLSG has therefore asked the government to step in immediately to relieve the life guards of such attacks and help them to concentrate of their task of saving lives rather than get involved in physical attacks with different kinds of tourists visiting the beach. The agency also lamented that although many complaints were lodged with the police, no action has been taken to prevent any attacks on the lifeguards and only non-cognizable offences a have been registered so far.

Goa bound tourists and public advised not to venture into the sea

The tourists visiting Goa have been warned not to venture into the sea from May 27th onwards in view of the increase in the wave intensity due to the forthcoming monsoons.

The public in general and tourists visiting Goa have therefore been advised not to venture into the sea from May 27 to September 15 2009.

The hotel and resort owners in Goa particularly those that are dotted on the beach belt of Goa are advised to take note of the prevailing situations and advise their guests by displaying suitable placards, billboards and  by distributing leaflets containing all information regarding the subject.

In case of emergencies, the following numbers may be contacted.

No	Authority	Telephone number
1	Police ( North Goa )	100 / 2705094
2	Police ( South Goa )	100 / 2705094
3	Tourist Police	2437038
4	Coast Guard	2531718 / 2520584
5	Ambulance (EMRI)	108
6	Department of Tourism	2438750 / 51 / 52
7	Drishti special Response services Pvt Ltd ( Life Guard Services) North Goa	2276987
8	Drishti special Response services Pvt Ltd ( Life Guard Services) South Goa	2780599

Goa FDA expected to be tough on eateries this monsoon

With the prospect of water borne diseases facing the state in the oncoming monsoons, the Goa FDA is taking no chances and is ecxpected to intensify its random checks on eateries in the state in a bid to prevent the occurrence of water borne diseases during the monsoon season.

The Goa FDA director maintained that the various restaurants in the state have been forewarned about the need to be compliant with the directives in the licenses issued to them and unhygienic conditions in these places would be viewed  stringently for strict action under the Goa Prevention of Food Adulteration rules.

De4pending on the gravity of the non-conformance of regulations, the penalty could range from suspension of license to its cancellation. The director explained that with the monsoons hitting the state there is a general tendency of overall deterioration of hygiene in various restaurants and the departments food inspectors have therefore been instructed to check on the supply and storage of water and overall cleanliness and personal hygiene of the staff in order  to prevent the contamination of the food.

Stale food and all such deficiencies are also expected to be viewed seriously by the Goa FDA during this coming season and joint inspections along with municipality staff and officers of  the health services will also be conducted as the spreads over 12 inspectors who will fan out across Goa along with food sampling attendants. There are an estimated 3,000 to 4,000 eateries all over Goa.

The FDA has further urged the participation of the Goan public to help the campaign and has asked them only to patronise clean and hygienic restaurants in the state while reporting any eateries that operate in unhygienic conditions. the telephone number of the FDA for reporting such situations is 2220245 with extension 225.

Goa's Bogmalo village wells adulterated with petroleum content

VIllagers of Chicolna Bogmalo were naturally upset and concerned over the finding of petroleum products in the drinking water wells once again around the area.

About a year ago a similar predicament was faced by the villagers in this area and the state government had assured then that the affected well owners would be provided compensation. However with opver a year passing, no compensation has ever come their way.

The villagers have now confirmed once again that the drinking water in the wells in the area have indeed been contaminated causing a major worry to the villagers. The panchayat members took a sample of the contaminated water from one of the wells and observed that it caught fire immediately upon lighting.

A spring near the area has also been contaminated thereby disturbing the aquatic life around the spring and raising the fear of the panchayat of villagers further The village of Chicolna Bogmalo had been trying to beautify this spring in a bid to attract tourists to the area. however with the contamination, no tourists are frequenting the place currently.

As if "pigs got wings"

The world is threatened by a flu which had the nerve to even rock the economic markets in the world due to the fear of its spread which could hamper a lot of industries such as tourism and aviation in particular. Countries affected by the disease got added on day after day as if the swine could fly, thereby spreading the worth of its sneeze around the world.

The time one read about pigs flying was in Lewis Carroll's " Alice In Wonderland" where it as first spoken when the Duchess told Alice that she had as much right to think as "pigs have to fly". In "Through the Looking Glass", the Walrus and the Carpenter walked along the beach pondering,"whether pigs can fly". Many years later, in the year 2009, they seem to have done just that.

A new swine flu pandemic threatens to sweep the face of the earth and while some call it the Mexican Flu, the USA's renowned centre for Disease control has steered clear of any controversy by referring to the disease as the "H1N1" flu.

The reason for the above is due to the inconclusiveness of whether the virus actually originated from pigs and calling the outbreak as "swine flu' has already confused people into believing that they can get infected by eating pork products which has naturally infuriated the international pork industry and the Goan pork butchers are helplessly fuming.

The World organisation for animal health (OIE) and the the apex body of human health the WHO disagree on the nomenclature. OIE opines that the virus doing the damage at present is a cocktail virus of mixed human, avian and swine origin and should be called " North American Flu". Traditionally, influenza pandemics are named after the regions where they originated, like the Spanish flu - 1918-19, Asian flu - 1957-58 and Hong Kong Flu - 1967-68. But the World Health Organization is not getting carried away and sticking to its version - "Swine Flu".

Mexico has seen the biggest hit of the Flu with over 100 deaths reported and is therefore the worst affected. Tourism being the biggest source of revenue for Mexico after Oil, the country is hard hit by the outbreak. Its tourism industry has lost more than Rs 5000 crores in revenues since the outbreak leaving its airports, beaches and hotels empty with occupancies less than 20%, at a time of the year when it is above 90%.

However the swine hasn't stopped here. It has flown. To the US, Canada, New Zealand, Israel and even western Europe, Germany, the UK and Spain have all recorded cases of swine flu with twelve other European Union (EU) countries looking at suspected cases.

Business rating agency Moody's has already stated that the Swine flu scare could adversely impact investment and business confidence even in countries such as India causing a drag in economic activity like household consumption, business investment as well as further pull down and already beleaguered tourism trade sector reeling under the effects of recession.

The government of Goa has therefore rightly taken precautionary measures to prevent the invasion of the disease into the state of Goa.

For the readers of this post if you are in danger of getting swine flu, it is good to make a check. Swine flu is a respiratory disease of pigs but has been known to spread to human beings. Symptoms include fever, cough, sore throat, body ache, headache, chills and fatigue. Extreme cases can lead to pneumonia and respiratory failure causing death.

It is believed that the flu spreads from person to person through coughing or sneezing. People are also known to be infected by touching something with flu viruses on it and then touching their mouth or nose. Doorknobs, switches and lift buttons are common transmission points. Infected people can spread the infection from day one even before the symptoms develop which means that you can pass on the flu before you know the person concerned is sick.

To avoid swine flu, regularly wash your hands with soap, try not to touch surfaces that may be contaminated by the virus and avoid close contact with people whoa re sick. Those who get infected can be treated by anti-viral medicines which are available in Goa as also the rest of India.