Panaji Apr 19 PTI Goa Town and Country Planning Minister Vishwajit Rane on Tuesday held a review meeting with officials and said restructuring of the department was required to improve efficiency He said officials serving in the department for more than three years will be transferred In the review meeting he stressed on clearing of files on priority basis and making the departments administration people-friendly Spent the morning with the Town Planning officials and chief town planners where I gave them clear directions for implementation of the decisions taken by the Board yesterday regardless of when the amendment its executed he tweeted after the meeting He said town planners and officials will be sent on frequent training programmes to be in sync with evolving national-international trends of developmental planning adding that restructuring in the department is required to improve efficiency among officials PTI RPS BNM BNM

New Delhi [India], March 28 (ANI): Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday congratulated newly sworn-in Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and other state Cabinet ministers who were administered the oath of the office.

Panaji (Goa) [India], March 28 (ANI): The Pramod Sawant led Goa Cabinet sported new faces after four former ministers, which included a few who had left the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ahead of the state polls, missing from the new government.

Panaji Mar 20 PTI With the BJP legislature party meeting in Goa yet to be convened even as the Assembly poll results were declared on March 10 states caretaker chief minister Pramod Sawant and his party colleague Vishwajit Rane together met Union Home Minister Amit Shah in New Delhi The meeting took place on Saturday evening Rane said Both Sawant and Rane are being seen as top contenders for the post of chief minister in the state BJP sources confirmed that in the recent past Rane had expressed his desire for the CMs post According to the party sources Shah had asked Sawant and Rane to meet him together in New Delhi In the Goa Assembly polls the BJP has won the majority by bagging 20 seats in the 40-member House With two MLAs of the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party MGP and three Independents extending their support to BJP the saffron party appears to be in a comfortable position in the Assembly However the BJP has not yet staked a claim to form a government in the state which will be its third straight term BJPs Goa unit chief Sadanand Shet Tanavade had told reporters earlier that the party will form the government after Holi celebrations Both the leaders Sawant and Rane met Shah together and discussed various issues related to Goa party sources said without elaborating BJP president J P Nadda was also present during the meeting When contacted Rane confirmed that he met Shah along with Sawant The meeting was about various issues related to Goa he said Sawant was not available for comments The BJPs parliamentary board the top decision-making body of the party is yet to formally announce the name of the next Goa chief minister The party has appointed Union minister Narendra Singh Tomar and L Murugan as the observer and co-observer respectively to oversee the selection of the chief minister and process to stake claim to form the next government On Wednesday Sawant had met Prime Minister Narendra Modi in New Delhi to discuss about formation of the next government He was accompanied by BJPs Goa election in-charge Devendra Fadanavis Goa desk in-charge C T Ravi Tanavade and the partys state general secretary organisation Satish Dhone PTI RPS NP NP

Panaji (Goa) [India], March 12 (ANI): Amid uncertainty over the next chief ministerial in Goa where the BJP retained power in the Assembly polls, state Health Minister in the outgoing Pramod Sawant government Vishwajit Rane met Governor PS Sreedharan Pillai on Saturday, however, he denied it being a political visit and called it a mere "personal visit".

Panaji (Goa) [India], March 10 (ANI): Amid ongoing counting of votes, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Goa Health Minister Vishwajit Rane on Thursday said that he cannot predict whether Pramod Sawant will become the next chief minister of the coastal state and called it a "sensitive question".

Panaji (Goa) [India], February 20 (ANI): Pointing out that the Goans and Goan economy suffered due to defections during the BJP regime, Goa Pradesh Congress Committee President Girish Chodankar on Saturday stated that people of the state will not tolerate such acts again.

Panaji Jan 28 PTI In a setback to the Congress in Goa party veteran and former state chief minister Pratapsingh Rane whom the grand old party gave ticket from his traditional Poriem seat for the next months Assembly elections has now withdrawn from the poll race Although Rane was not available for comment a Congress leader on Friday confirmed that the former CM has told the party that he will not be contesting the February 14 election Sources close to Rane told PTI that the veteran leader has decided to withdraw from the fray to avoid a clash with his daughter-in-law Deviya Rane who will be contesting the election from Poriem constituency as a candidate of the ruling BJP Rane 87 who has served as the chief minister of the coastal state for six times had won from the Poriem Assembly constituency as many as 11 consecutive times Pratapsingh Rane has confirmed that he wont be contesting the upcoming polls from Poriem after which the party has selected another candidate from the seat a Congress spokesperson said The BJP has nominated his daughter-in-law Deviya Rane wife of state Health Minister Vishwajit Rane from Poriem Reports were rife that Pratapsingh Rane might suggest the name of his wife Vijayadevi to the Congress as its candidate from the seat But the revised list of candidates which the Congress announced on Thursday evening named Ranjit Rane as its nominee from that constituency Reportedly the BJP had earlier tried to convince Pratapsingh Rane to contest on its ticket from Poriem before announcing the name of his daughter-in-law The incumbent Pramod Sawant-led Goa government has bestowed upon Rane the lifetime cabinet status for completing 50 years as a legislator Rane was elected from Poriem constituency for the first time in 1972 on the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party MGP but fought all subsequent elections till 2017 as a Congress candidate In the 2017 polls he had secured 5427 per cent votes in the constituency winning with a major margin Deviya Rane will be contesting her maiden Assembly election while her husband Vishwajit has been winning from Valpoi Assembly segment since 2007 first as an independent then as a Congress candidate before he joined the BJP PTI RPS NP NP

Panaji (Goa) [India], January 8 (ANI): The genome sequencing device will be installed in the State-run Goa Medical College and Hospital (GMCH), Bambolim on January 15, said state Health Minister Vishwajit Rane.

Panaji Dec 27 PTI Goa health minister Vishwajit Rane on Monday wrote to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant urging the latter to withdraw cases against tribals who took part in last years protests against the setting up of an IIT campus in Sattari Several cases were filed in connection with the protests that took place in Shel Melaulim village which is part of Ranes Valpoi Assembly seat This issue needs to be put at rest as there will not be an IIT in Guleli and as decided by the Cabinet I have requested the Honble CM through my letter and email to withdraw the cases with immediate effect I shall be meeting with him in this regard to follow up on the same he tweeted In January this year the state government had scrapped the plan PTI RPS BNM BNM BNM