Tuesday, May 4, 2010

Goa Blog

Goa Blog

Seminar on FIFA World Cup in Goa

Posted: 04 May 2010 08:40 AM PDT

The 34th National Convention of the Sports Journalists’ Federation of India is to be held in Goa from May 5 to 9 and, among the highlights of the five-day meet, is the FIFA World Cup 2010 seminar to be held on May 7 ahead of the mega event starting on June 11 in South Africa.

Football Olympians S S Narayan and Fortunato Franco, AIFF Player of the Decade (1985-95), former India goalkeeper Brahmanand Shankawalkar and ex-India forward Bruno Countinho are the panelists at the seminar, a media release from SJFI said today.

The convention, to be attended by around 100 sports journalists representing 16 states including members of Sports Journalists’ Association of Goa, would also feature discussions on the future of Indian cricket (May 5), the Olympic Gold Quest project (May 6) and Indian rugby (May 8), the release said.

Former national cricket selection panel chief and ex-India stumper Kiran More, seasoned first class cricketer Amol Muzumdar, veteran boxing administrator Kishen Narsi and former Indian hockey captain Olympian Viren Rasquinha (CEO, Olympic Gold Quest), will be among key speakers.

Greg Davey, Development Manger, Rugby India will make a presentation on India’s preparations for the Commonwealth Games to be held in New Delhi in October, the release said.

V M Prabhu Desai, Executive Director, Sports Authority of Goa, would be the chief guest at the inaugural session on May 6.

Competitions on a zonal basis for the the J K Bose Twenty20 cricket tournament, A C Bali Table Tennis Tournament and the ESPN-Star Penalty Kicks competition are the other highlights of the convention, the release said.

In a special message to the SJFI, Sports Minister, M S Gill said, “I find that a very impressive four-day programme has been made out and it should be a fine opportunity for sports journalists and sportspersons to have a dialogue on matters of national interest.”

The convention is being held in Goa for the first time. The cricket tournament will be held at Panjim Gymkhana and SAG ground, Campal. Table tennis tournament and penalty kicks competition would take place at the SAG complex, the release added.

Courtesy:TOI

Squads to check hill cutting, land filling in Goa

Posted: 03 May 2010 07:41 PM PDT

The government has decided to constitute and induct a flying squad for each district to respond to calls on illegal hill cutting and filling of low-lying land. Sources said each flying squad will be headed by a deputy collector and comprise officials from the police, town and country planning and survey departments.

This was decided at a meeting chaired by CM Digambar Kamat and attended by secretary (town and country planning) Raajiv Yaduvanshi, chief town planner Morad Ahmed and others.

The decision to constitute the flying squads comes in the wake of persistent complaints by citizens, and especially the Goa Bachao Abhiyan, that hill cutting and filling of low-lying land is done on Saturdays, Sundays and other holidays when no government authorities can be reached. Sources said the flying squads are the government's way of ensuring quick response to such complaints. The chief minister has already signed the order and it is now up to the district collectors to constitute the flying squads, sources said.

The government has decided to constitute a special committee having legal experts under the chairmanship of commissioner and secretary (TCP) to review the TCP Act, 1974 as amended from time to time.

Sources said the government also decided to release additional funds and appoint technical assistants for expeditious completion of the Regional Plan 2021. It was decided that the government would respond to advertisements that give a wrong picture of projects as and when brought to the notice of the government.

Courtesy:TOI

20% mangroves along Goa Galgibaga river destroyed in October flooda

Posted: 03 May 2010 09:36 AM PDT

Around twenty per cent of mangroves along the banks of Mashem-Galgibgaga-Tolpona river were destroyed in October 2009 floods. The floods also damaged twenty five per cent of other plants alongside the river. According to local environmentalists, the main mangrove areas in Canacona are in Maxem, Galgibaga and Tolpona and the maximum damage took place along Maxem-Galgibaga river bank and as such there is an urgent need to initiate steps to carry out the afforestation otherwise soil erosion would take place on a massive scale.

Goa:Mangrooves

Mr Bhanudas Naik Gaonkar and Mr Manoj Naik Gaonkar, both environmentalists and school teachers, said that mangroves saved around ten per cent of the houses in the last October floods and also the lives of several cattle. They further said that mangroves protect shorelines from getting damaged from storms, hurricane winds, and waves. "Mangroves also help prevent soil erosion by stabilizing sediments with their tangled root system. They maintain water quality and clarity, filtering pollutants and trapping sediments originating from land."

Mr Bhanudas Naik Gaonkar pointed out that "mangroves, admittedly, are not only important but crucial for the coastal areas. Since estuarine areas are highly populated areas, the slightest ecological imbalance will take a heavy toll. They play a vital role in stabilizing these areas. No engineering and technological solutions can be sought for stabilizing these areas. Even if we negate all benefits of mangroves as forests, their value as protector of shoreline is enough to convince us for conserving them."

Out of total 15 types of mangroves found in Goa around nine to ten types of mangroves are found in Canacona, he stated adding to preserve them is the need of hour. According to Mr Omu Dhuri, a traditional fisherman and former councillor, mangrove forests and estuaries are the breeding  grounds for a number of marine organisms, including the commercially important shrimps, crabs and other fish.

Mangroves are being now looked upon by the scientists as saviours in the today's scenario of global warming. Most of the coastal areas throughout the world are going to be affected by sea level rise due to global warming, the effects of which are already visible. Therefore, when most of the coastal areas will be flooded, mangroves can possibly provide a gene bank for cultivating salt tolerant species of crops which could be our future resource.

In fact, the mangroves in Canacona and Pernem talukas too, and some small patches in Bardez and Tiswadi talukas are worth their weight in gold — they are repositories of an array of biodiversity and nurseries for fishes, a large number of birds including darters, herons, curlews and plovers, etc. The Indian monitor lizard as well as the marsh crocodiles besides other species have been documented in Goa's mangroves, informed Mr Manoj Naik Gaonkar.

Due to the last year's floods, the estuarine rivers of Mashem-Galgibaga and Talpona in Canacona taluka have developed spits at their mouths giving apprehensions that this phenomenon could make the rivers lose their identity and the only solution to keep a check on the phenomenon is desiltation of rivers at the earliest, added the environmentalists.

Courtesy: NT
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