Monday, July 5, 2010

Goa Blog

Goa Blog

Goa offers Special Honeymoon Package for Newly Weds

Posted: 05 Jul 2010 06:26 AM PDT

Goa with its long stretch of beaches, innumerable number of churches, dense greenery, boating in lakes and backwaters and the open atmosphere has been a perfect place as a romantic destination. Now the Goa Tourism Department has launched a slogan, "Leave your worries and wallet behind and spend your honeymoon dedicated to each other,” to promote Honeymoon Tourism for newly weds, attracting them with special packages.

Goa is a popular tourist destination in India attracting both domestic and foreign tourist in large numbers. The tourist groups include singles, families, friends, office trips, school and college trips and many others. Goa with its wide stretch of beaches overlooking the Arabian Sea and with Western Ghats passing though the state receives about 20 lakh tourists each year.

Now the Tourism Department of Goa specifically wants to target the group of newly married couples and has developed a special package under the brand name of "Honeymoon Package". The package includes five nights and six days stay at three different hotels in various romantic locations. Apart from lodging and boarding facilities at good hotels, the package also includes pickup for each couple either from the airport, railway station or bus stand and sightseeing tours of the main tourist sights in the state.

The Honeymoon Package for Goa was launched by the State Tourism Department just a fortnight ago, and already they have received a very encouraging response.

In monsoons, Goa often wears a deserted look, as sightseeing gets affected due to rains. In order to promote tourism even in the rainy season, the Tourism Department had also recently launched "Raindrop Tourism" to attract tourist to Goa in monsoons, highlighting the state's feature especially during rains.

Courtesy:Rang7

Total bandh in Goa, cops arrest state Shiv Sena chief

Posted: 05 Jul 2010 01:21 AM PDT

Even as Goa observed complete bandh today as a part of nationwide protest against fuel price hike, police arrested two persons, including state Shiv Sena chief Upendra Gaonkar, for alleged unlawful activities. Superintendent of Police (North) Arvind Gauns told PTI this morning that Gaonkar was arrested at Assnora village, 30 kms away from Panaji.

“He along with other group were deflating the tyres of the tanker,” Gauns said, adding, a local panchayat member has also been arrested for “unlawful activity”.

Goa observed 100 per cent bandh as besides call for strike against spiralling prices of essential commodities and fuel hike, the private bus operators had also resorted for strike seeking hike in the ticket fare. All the major markets in the state remained closed since morning.

Police confirmed that stray incidents of stone pelting were reported at Borim village 50 kms away from here.

Courtesy: PTI

Marine research centre to be set up at Goa University

Posted: 05 Jul 2010 01:19 AM PDT

Goa university (GU) vice-chancellor D Deobagkar said recently that a marine microbial diversity research centre, under government of India’s department of earth sciences, is proposed to be set up at the university.  Speaking at a biodiversity awareness programme sponsored by UGC and organized by GU’s botany department, Deobagkar said that the national facility (with a sub-centre in Chennai) will facilitate collection of data on microbial resources.

The major hub in GU campus will have its separate building and world class infrastructure, especially laboratory and is likely to function on the pattern of central research organizations through a Rs 6-crore project. Goa university and Annamalai university, Chennai, will collaborate in commencing a new MSc programme in oceanography to carry out research on both sides of India’s coastline. Thousands of cultures, fungi, algae etc are expected to be deposited in the national facility after it is set up.

NIO scientist Baban Ingole, who was among a number of scientists who gave their presentations at the programme conducted in association with Goa Union of Journalists, said the earth’s climate has been always changing. But in the last ten years it has warmed by about 0.6 degrees Celsius as compared to 1.5 degrees Celsius in the past 1,000 years.

Other botanists, microbiologists and experts raised concerns about the loss of biodiversity in the state due to mining, construction activity and other forms of development. M K Janarthanam said plateaus harbour endemic species but awareness about this aspect is poor.

Courtesy: TOI

Will Congress fall for Alemao’s threat?

Posted: 04 Jul 2010 10:13 AM PDT

With Churchill Alemao serving an ultimatum to the Congress leadership to scrap the newly-appointed Navelim Congress block committee, it’s to be seen if the party’s central election authority will succumb to the South Goa strongman’s pressure tactics.

The authority, headed by senior Congress leader Oscar Fernandes is considered an independent entity in the party. On Friday, Alemao told a section of the media that he suspected Fernandes - in charge of the party’s organizational polls across the country - of the “development” in his constituency.

The PWD minister said that he had given the party leadership 15 days to recognize Lionel Raicar and his team as the “real block Congress committee” in Navelim. He has threatened to appoint his own committees in all the constituencies in Goa if this is not done.

Alemao’s pressure tactics in the party are not new, but this time around, political observors are wondering if a committee elected as per the procedure laid down by the party itself, will be dissolved as per the local MLA’s whims?

Sources said that Conceicao Piexote’s team - affiliated to Alemao’s bete noire Luizinho Faleiro - was elected as Alemao’s workers had failed to enlist members at the grassroots level.

They pointed out that at the Congress block committee election at Davorlim panchayat hall On May 15, both Alemao and Faleiro’s groups participated. However, Faleiro mustered a majority in the 28 polling booths. This, sources said, was because the former MLA had enlisted more members at grassroots level which saw his team whip up more votes. On the other hand, Alemao’s camp had failed to enlist enough members to draw votes.

Incidentally, it is not only at the block and booth levels that Alemao has failed to have his supporters elected. At the district level too, Schubert Furtado, a panchayat member and close aide of Faleiro, was elected, sources said.

Meanwhile, on losing the block election, an apparently humiliated Alemao, took up the matter with the party high command. The latter, however, decided not to interfere as the polls were conducted by the party’s election authority.

Earlier this week, Alemao approached chief minister Digambar Kamat and GPCC chief Subhash Shirodkar.

Courtesy:TOI
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