AT THE NEW GOA MANOHAR INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT: Successful completion of a 3-day training program from Feb 6 to 8, 2023 on Chemical Biological Radiology & Nuclear Emergency (CBRNE). CBRNE is an acronym for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear weapons emergency. These types of weapons have the ability to create both mass casualties as well as mass disruption of society. The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) planned this training for the first time at an airport in Goa (NDMA is an apex body of the government of India with a mandate to lay down policies for disaster management).
NDMA nominated SK Ghosh (senior consultant-nuclear and radiological) and invited 8 more renowned scientist & SMEs as faculties from different parts of country to conduct the training which included class room lecturers by domain experts and mock exercises. Day 1 was dedicated to nuclear and radiological emergency preparedness, Day 2 to chemical, psychosocial & biological emergency preparedness and Day 3 to sensitization and mock exercise by a 40-member team from 5th Battalion of NDRF near the PTB of the airport.
CEO-GGIAL R V Sheshan observed, “We have successfully completed the training of our partners, passengers and all stakeholders which is of foremost importance for us. The purpose of this training is to ensure that first responders have a common knowledge base and a minimum level of preparedness to recognize and mitigate attacks.” He congratulated NDMA & SDMA for selecting candidates as also 40 participations from emergency handlers which included GGIAL departments (Airport Rescue & Fire Fighting, Terminal Operations, Airside Operations, Environment, Health, Safety & Sustainability, Security, Project & Engineering, Cargo), and CISF, Airlines, Ground Handling Agency, Airport medical services, SDMA, DDMA, NDRF, Goa Fire & Emergency Services, Goa Police, Goa Medical Services, Air Airport Authority of India, Indian Navy & Oil & Natural Gas Company for being part of this significant program.

PANAJI HEADING FOR TRAGEDY

WITH Panaji’s Patto Plaza, already witnessing incessant and perennial flooding, the government should have conducted proper professional research and ecological study, before going full steam ahead with its lofty ambition to function from Goa’s tallest building on eco-sensitive reclaimed land! It is lack of proper planning which is setting the foundation for an incompatible environment system without required infrastructure for the new constructions mushrooming high up in Goa.
Given what we are already witnessing in the congested Patto Plaza area, the chaos can only worsen, with the government’s new mammoth 75-meter tall administrative block! Have we forgotten that Patto Plaza business district has come up on marshy, swampy, acidic and highly corrosive silt subsoil. Experts have opined that no construction there will survive for long as the stress, fractures, fissures and corrosion in standing buildings already indicate this. Many are sinking inch by inch but who is doing any structural audit? No lessons have been learnt from the sinking museum building — which had to be demolished.
This is sheer waste of hundreds of crore of taxpayers’ money for yet another sinking white elephant. A project of this magnitude warrants a meticulous environmental impact assessment. This high-rise project should not have been a political decision but one guided by the right experts in construction on weak foundations. We have seen over and over again how nature’s fury when it comes knows no bounds. You cannot build a great building on weak foundations, a solid foundation is needed for a strong superstructure. The property value of every building standing at Patto Plaza will become zero in time to come for the stress is already being witnessed in sinking roads, cracks in the Central Library building and corrosion happening rapidly.
The 75 meter tall building at Patto Plaza will be a true epitaph for our sinking Panaji city! Those responsible may not be around to see a mess of their making. It is not the beauty or the height of a building that we look at but at the designing of the construction on a foundation which will or will not stand the test of time.
— Aires Rodrigues, Ribandar

PROBE ADANI GROUP!
Why is the Modi government hesitating to form a Joint Parliamentary Committee to probe allegations against the Adani group? Prime Minister Narendra Modi whilst delivering his 90-minute speech in reply to a debate on a motion thanking the President for her address in a joint sitting of parliament in Rajya Sabha aggressively attacked Opposition leaders for openly accusing him of roaming around with his blue-eyed boy Gautam Adani right from 2014 and helping him to get huge contracts in western countries on his official trips abroad.
Modi said that the more Opposition leadersl fling “keechad” (dirt) on him, the bigger the “kamal” (lotus) will bloom for his party which will emerge stronger than ever before. All that Modi blah-blah is fine but if he is confident thinks he’s big brand India, then why is his government hesitating/refusing to set up a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), as demanded by the entire Opposition to investigate the scams of the Adani group of companies, despite the serious allegations made against it in the recent Hindenburg report?
If Modi is really an honest leader with conviction/dedication (as he confidently claims every time) he would address an open live press conference with media persons of the country and the world and directly answer all questions including those to do with the Hindenburg revelations.

—Jerry Fernandes, Saligao