Panaji Apr 21 PTI Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Thursday held a review meeting of the finance department wherein he emphasised the need to focus on revenue generation and to curtail wasteful expenditure This was the first meeting of the finance department after Sawant took over the charge for the second term following the BJPs win in the recent Goa Legislative Assembly election The Chief Ministers Office CMO said in a press release that the CM who is also the finance minister emphasised on revenue generation measures curtailing wasteful expenditure and use of unutilised funds lying for various purposes so that the benefit reaches the common man The chief minister also appreciated the finance department for availing low interest of NABARD Rural Infrastructure Development Fund at the rate of 275 per cent for various health sewerage waste management and water supply projects PTI RPS NP NP

Panaji Apr 20 PTI The Goa government on Wednesday lifted the power load restriction on the industries in the state after it started purchasing additional electricity a senior official said The state government has started purchasing additional power and hence lifted the power load restriction on industries the official from electricity department said Goa State Industries Association GSIA president Damodar Kochkar thanked Chief Minister Pramod Sawant for the timely intervention On Tuesday Sawant had assured that the state will purchase 120 MW additional power from the open market The industry bodies in the state had assured the state government that they will pay for additional power as current load shedding was affecting their business The industry bodies had on Monday written to the state government raising concerns about the acute power shortage in the state resulting in load shedding thereby affecting the industry States all the prime Industry bodies Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industries GCCI GSIA and Goa Pharmaceuticals Manufacturers Association GPMA had written to Sawant and state Power Minister Sudin Dhavalikar on Monday expressing their concerns PTI RPS NP NP

Panaji Feb 24 PTI Goa on Thursday reported 45 new coronavirus positive cases taking the toll to 244906 a health department official said One patient died due to the infection during the day which raised the fatality count to 3798 The overall recovery figure in the coastal state rose to 240701 after 94 of them got discharge on Thursday There are now 407 active cases As 1607 tests were conducted on Thursday the cumulative test count in the state went up to 1874278 he added Goas COVID-19 figures are as follows Positive cases 244906 new cases 45 death toll 3798 recoveries 240701 active cases 407 samples tested so far 1874278 PTI RPS NP NP

Panaji Jan 30 PTI With the addition of 826 coronavirus positive cases the infection count in Goa mounted to 238406 on Sunday the health department said Seven patients succumbed to the infection during the day which took the states toll to 3682 Goas COVID-19 positivity rate is 2877 per cent at present it said As 1582 patients recuperated on Sunday the overall recovery count rose to 225066 With 2871 samples getting tested during the day the overall number of tests went up to 1808073 he added Goas coronavirus figures are as follows Positive cases 238406 new cases 826 death toll 3682 recoveries 225066 active cases 9658 samples tested till date 1808073 PTI RPS NP NP

Panaji Jan 29 PTI Union Home Minister Amit Shah will be on a day-long visit to poll-bound Goa on Sunday during which he is scheduled to address separate indoor public meetings in three Assembly constituencies in the state a party functionary said Assembly elections in Goa where the BJP is currently in power will be held on February 14 During his visit Shah will address three public meetings - one each in Ponda Sanvordem and Vasco Assembly constituencies BJPs Goa unit president Sadanand Shet Tanavade said on Saturday The Union minister will address the first public meeting in Ponda at 430 pm followed by another such event in Sanvordem at 630 pm He will hold his last public meeting of the day at Vasco at 8 pm All three public meetings will be held indoors with 50 per cent seating capacity and all the protocols related to COVID-19 will be followed during these events Tanavade said The last rally at Vasco will be live-streamed in 10 different Assembly constituencies simultaneously he added The party has fielded Ravi Naik Ganesh Gaonkar and Daji Salkar from Ponda Sanvordem and Vasco Assembly constituencies respectively This is the first public meeting in the state to be addressed by any star campaigner of the BJP since the Election Commission of India ECI announced the schedule of the Assembly polls in five states earlier this month The BJP has fielded candidates from all 40 Assembly constituencies in Goa The ECI had last week extended its ban on physical rallies and roadshows till January 31 in the five poll-going states but allowed public meetings with a maximum of 500 people in the constituencies where elections will be held in the first phase It had however granted a relaxation for political parties to hold indoor meetings of maximum 300 people or 50 per cent of the capacity of the hall PTI RPS NP NP

Panaji Jan 27 PTI Apart from being a multi-cornered fight with several parties in fray next months Goa Assembly elections will be an interesting affair for another reason - as many as five couples will be testing their electoral luck In case all of them get elected they will form one fourth of the total strength of the 40-member Goa House The Bharatiya Janata Party BJP which currently rules the state has fielded two couples and also given candidature to one of its leader while his wife will be contesting as an independent The Congress and the Trinamool Congress TMC have given ticket to one couple each BJP leader and Health Minister Vishwajit Rane is contesting from Valpoi Assembly segment while his wife Deviya has filed her nomination from Poriem constituency on BJP ticket Interestingly Poriem seat is currently represented by her father-in-law Pratapsinh Rane on Congress ticket The Congress has given ticket to Pratapsinh Rane from this Assembly segment Deviya Rane is contesting her maiden election The BJP has also given ticket to Atanasio Monserratte from Panaji Assembly constituency and to his wife Jeniffer from Taleigao seat While Jeniffer Monserratte was elected on the Congress ticket in the 2017 Assembly polls from Taleigao her husband had won as a Congress candidate during the 2019 Panaji by-election which was necessitated after the death of the then chief minister Manohar Parrikar The Monserrate couple had joined the ruling saffron party in 2019 along with eight other Congress MLAs Deputy Chief Minister Chandrakant Kavlekar and his wife Savitri Kavlekar are also in the fray While he has been given ticket by the BJP to contest from his traditional Quepem seat Savitri was denied ticket by the party from Sanguem assembly segment She then announced that she would be contesting as an independent candidate from that constituency The couple had contested the 2017 election on the Congress ticket While Kavlekar had won the polls and joined the BJP in 2019 his wife had lost the election The Congress has fielded Michael Lobo and his wife Delilah from Calangute and Siolim constituency respectively The former state minister had recently left the BJP after the party denied ticket to his wife Lobo had joined the Congress along with Delilah after quitting the BJP She woul be contesting her first Assembly election Mamata Banerjee-led TMC has given ticket to Kiran Kandolkar from Aldona constituency while his wife Kavita would fight the polls as the party candidate from Thivim constituency Kiran Kandolkar had resigned from Goa Forward Party recently to join TMC Assembly elections in Goa will be held on February 14 and the counting of votes will be taken up on March 10 PTI RPS NP NP

Panaji Jan 27 PTI Trinamool Congress TMC vice president Pavan Varma on Thursday said his party stands for real Hinduism while the BJP uses Hindus as puppets to get short-term political gains Talking to reporters here he said using religion to divide people was an insult of Goa Goans and Goenkarponn Goanness I want to tell you the brief point that TMC stands for what is real Hinduism which is inclusive tolerant plural accommodating and open to diversity Unfortunately BJPs form of Hinduism is a distorted one and it attempts to use religion for hatred bigotry exclusion division and violence he alleged Varma said TMC stands for respect for all faiths as promised under the Constitution and this respect is Indias legacy When a political party like TMC says that it stands for real Hinduism it is the one that is committed to respect all faiths for harmony inclusion peace and social stability he said Varma said that TMC founder and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee is of the view that elected representatives must work for the benefit of people irrespective of their religion He added that TMCs voting percentage in West Bengal rose from 44 per cent to 49 per cent in the last Assembly elections as people from all religions voted for it The programmes that we come up with are meant for all religions he said BJPs attempt to show that it has monopoly over Hinduism while all other political parties are against Hindus is a cynical political instrument to divide people to win elections through hatred he added Assembly elections in Goa where the BJP is currently in power will be held on February 14 and the counting of votes will take place on March 10 Apart from the BJP and the Congress several other parties including the TMC the Aam Aadmi Party AAP the Shiv Sena and the Nationalist Congress Party NCP will be contesting the elections PTI RPS NP NP

Panaji Jan 23 PTI Congress veteran P Chidambaram on Sunday said the Trinamool Congresss TMC proposal of a pre-poll alliance for the next months Goa Assembly elections was not considered by his party as the Mamata Banerjee-led party poached Congress leaders in the state His statement comes three days after TMC leader Abhishek Banerjee said that if the Congress fails to dislodge the BJP from power in Goa then Chidambaram who is Congress state election in-charge should own up the responsibility and resign Banerjee had also said that the TMC had approached Chidambaram with a formal offer for a pre-poll alliance for the February 14 Goa polls Talking to reporters here Chidambaram said there was a suggestion from the TMC for a pre-poll alliance with the Congress in Goa What I can say is that there was a suggestion from the TMC that we should form an alliance in Goa But Before and after that certain incidents took place the senior Congress leader said He alleged that the TMC poached Congress leaders in the coastal state They poached Luizinho Faleiro and even after the proposal of alliance they poached Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco whose name was in the Congresss first list of the candidates They also poached in other constituencies like Mormugao and Vasco he said without naming any leader from these two seats The former Union minister said that after these incidents he did not get any instructions from the top leaders in the Congress over the alliance proposal When asked about Abhishek Banerjees statement against him Chidambaram said I dont want to engage with the TMC general secretary I occupy a humble position in the Congress party and I would not like to comment He said that Congress leaders had met Shiv Sena and NCP leaders over a pre-poll alliance in Goa But there was no meeting point so we did not take it further he said The Shiv Sena and the NCP have joined hands to contest the elections to the 40-member Goa Assembly while Congress will be fighting the polls with the Goa Forward Party GFP The TMC has tied up with the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party MGP Replying to another question Chidambaram said that Congress candidates in Goa will give their suggestion on whether to announce a chief ministerial candidate in the state We will take views of the candidates once nomination process is over and then communicate it to AICC All India Congress Committee he said PTI RPS NP NP

Panaji Jan 23 PTI Objecting to the Centres decision of dropping one of Mahatma Gandhis favourite hymns Abide with me from this years Beating Retreat ceremony senior Congress leader P Chidambaram on Sunday said the governments move has hurt the thinking and sensitive people Abide with me written by Scottish Anglican poet and hymnologist Henry Francis Lyte in 1847 had been part of the Beating Retreat ceremony since 1950 The Indian Army announced on Saturday that it has been dropped from this years ceremony For this years ceremony the hymn has been replaced by the popular patriotic song Ae Mere Watan Ke Logon which was written by Kavi Pradeep to commemorate the supreme sacrifice made by Indian soldiers during the 1962 Indo-China war Talking to reporters in Goa Chidambaram said Abide with me is an old hymn that dates back to 1847 It was Mahatma Gandhis favourite hymn Ever since we became a republic in 1950 the ceremony called Beating the Retreat on the last of the Republic Day celebrations would always end with the march to the tune of Abide with me he said It is very sad that an old Christian hymn which is no longer a Christian hymn but a secular hymn has been dropped from the Republic Day parade he said The former Union minister said it was sad that the government has decided to abandon the hymn in the 75th year of Indias Independence It has hurt a lot of thinking and sensitive people I hope that better sense will prevail and on the Republic Day it will be restored on which our troupe will march the Congress veteran said PTI RPS NP NP

Panaji Jan 23 PTI Ahead of the next months Goa Assembly elections the Congress which was hit hardest by defections in the BJP-ruled state in the last five years made its candidates swear before God that they will not switch the party if they get elected The Congress on Saturday took all its 34 candidates in a special bus to a temple a church as well as a dargah in the state and made them take the anti-defection pledge Since the last election the Congress has seen most of its legislators quitting the party The grand old party which had emerged as the single largest force by winning 17 seats in the 40-member House after the 2017 Assembly elections now has only two MLAs in the House In 2019 ten Congress legislators had joined the ruling BJP whose current strength in the Assembly stands at 27 In order to build trust in the minds of people the exercise of getting candidates swear before the God was undertaken Goa Pradesh Congress committee GPCC president Girish Chodankar said The candidates were taken to the Mahalaxmi temple in Panaji a church at Bambolim and at a dargah in Betim village near the capital city Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram who is partys Goa election observer accompanied the candidates to these religious places But the Congress is not the first party in the state to undertake this kind of exercise On January 31 last year the Goa Forward Party GFP had taken its all three MLAs and office-bearers to Dev Bodgeshwar temple at Mapusa and made them take a pledge that they will not support the BJP in the 2022 state elections The GFP had extended its support to the Manohar Parrikar-led BJP government in 2017 The GFP MLAs were made ministers at that time However after the 10 Congress MLAs joined the BJP in 2019 the GFP ministers were dropped from the cabinet by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant who took over the states reins following the death of Parrikar The Vijai Sardesai-led GFP had to face a backlash for supporting the BJP to form the governmentHowever despite taking the oath at the Mapusa temple one GFP legislator Jayesh Salgaonkar later shifted to the ruling BJP He is currently the BJPs candidate from Saligao Assembly constituency Recently the Aam Aadmi Party AAP which is also contesting the Goa Assembly elections had announced that its candidates will have to sign legal affidavits mentioning that they will not quit the party to join another one if they get elected The Arvind Kejriwal-led party took the decision to stem defections as it feels that the coastal state is notorious for politicians jumping to other parties an AAP leader had said As per a report by the Association of Democratic Reforms ADR as many as 24 legislators in Goa which is 60 per cent of the total strength of the state Assembly have switched parties in the last five years The organisation said in its report that with these defections Goa has set a unique record which is unparalleled in the history of Indian democracy In the five year tenure of the current Assembly 2017-2022 as many as 24 MLAs have changed their parties which is 60 per cent of the total strength of the House It has never happened anywhere else in India It is a clear reflection of utter disrespect to the mandate of voters A callous approach to ethics and discipline overborne by uncontrolled greed at its worst the report said Goa is going to polls on February 14 The electoral battle in the state has become multi-cornered with the entry of the Trinamool Congress TMC and the AAP So far poll tie-ups have been forged between the regional MGP and the TMC and between the Congress and the GFP The Shiv Sena and the NCP are also contesting the elections together In the 2017 polls despite winning 17 seats the Congress could not come to power as the BJP which had bagged 13 seats allied with some independents and regional parties to form the government PTI RPS NP NP