Tuesday, September 7, 2010

Goa Blog

Goa Blog

Navy alerts Goa coastal residents about super sonic boom

Posted: 07 Sep 2010 06:56 AM PDT

Indian Navy has asked the coastal residents in Goa not to get worried as that they might hear large noise of super sonic boom as MiG-29K supersonic flights were practicing off the coast. Indian Navy Public Relation Officer (PRO) Cdr M C Joshi has said that the residents may hear sonic boom sounds and they need not panic as it is associated with the training of MiG-29K aircrafts, which is happening off Goa coast.

The defence official said that without disturbing the resident population of Goa, MiG-29K pilots at INS Hansa will fly all flights involving supersonic profiles deep into the sea and at very high altitudes. ”There is still a possibility that sonic booms could be heard by the local population and our fishing communities from time to time,” he added.

In February this year, the residents had panicked after three loud sounds were heard in the sea. The state government had initiated inquiry into the cause of the sound and later had found out that the noise was related to MiG-29K. The PRO has said that the MiG-29K is an advanced multirole fourth generation Air Superiority Fighter at present being operated from the Indian Navy’s premier naval air station INS Hansa at Dabolim. This aircraft has the capability to go supersonic at almost twice the speed of sound, in order to overtake enemy fighters and shoot them down. ”Supersonic flights are associated with ’sonic booms’.

A sonic boom is a sound which is similar to a loud explosion generated by the shock waves formed on the airplane in supersonic flight,” he said. In certain atmospheric conditions, sonic booms from a supersonic aircraft may reach distances as far as 20 to 40 kilometers,” he said. Joshi said that the ability to fly at supersonic speed is of great advantage to a fighter pilot in a combat situation and it is therefore important that supersonic flying is practiced to maintain a high level of operational readiness.

He said that the booms are absolutely harmless to life, health and property. Supersonic flights have been undertaken by the IAF all over the country since the 1970s and are an absolutely normal part of fighter training.

Courtesy: indianexpress

Goa beach shacks are being sublet to foreigners, alleges petn

Posted: 06 Sep 2010 11:01 PM PDT

Palm thatched shacks allotted on the Goa beaches are being sublet to foreigners contravening the provisions of law, a court was told here. A writ petition filed before the Goa bench of the Bombay High Court, alleges that foreigners are being presented as managers of the shack or employees on it by the locals. The petitioner, a local–Vikas Bhagat has said that an agreement appointing a foreigner as manager is made to camouflage the subletting. “At times, there is no formal agreement and upon inquiries, the foreigners inform authorities that they are employees of the shack owner,” Bhagat told the court. The beach shacks licenced by the tourism department are erected along the shores during tourist season which begins in October annually.

The division bench at Goa comprising Justice D G Karnik and Justice F M Reis admitting the petition on Monday asked the state government to monitor the situation properly. The Judges asked the government lawyer in the court to ensure that no permission should be granted to shacks at Palolem beach, which is a fulcrum of the current petition, till the court hears it. The next hearing is fixed three weeks. A Palolem beach resident concerned by over-exploitation of beaches by shack owners moved the court pleading judicial intervention in fixing the various issues related to shacks. He has pointed out an instance at Palolem beach in South Goa, where illegal subletting to foreigners continues in breach of the allotment orders.

Courtesy: ibnlive
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