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Goa: Olive Ridley turtles keep annual date, lay first batch of 135 eggs at Galgibaga | Goa News – Times of India

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POINGUINIM: Goa’s flippered friends have kept their annual date with South Goa’s Galgibaga beach, laying the first batch of 135 eggs at 4am on Wednesday.
This is earlier than the first Olive Ridley turtle nest last season, which was laid between December 31, 2019 and January 1.
The first turtle nest at the Galgibaga beach was immediately fenced off, range forest officer Vikramaditya Gaonkar said.
The quiet beach stretch is one of only four turtle nesting sites in Goa, along with Agonda (also in Canacona) and Morjim and Mandrem in Pernem. Efforts to conserve the nesting grounds in Galgibaga for Olive Ridley turtles, a protected species, began in 1999 under the guidance of then parish priest Fr Mariano Goes e Proenca.
Ever since, the northern portion of this beach has earned the nickname of Turtle beach.
A stretch of Galgibaga was included among the four ‘silent zones’ beaches zones declared recently by the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) towards efforts to preserve turtle nesting grounds.
The state receives these flippered visitors from around October to late March-early April each year.
Among turtles, the Olive ridley sea turtle or Lepidochelys olivacea is the smallest in size and most abundant of the sea turtle in the world. This amphibious reptile shuttles between the sea and shoreline and instinctively chooses a supralittoral zone for egg-laying to avoid tidal flush.
Though Goa doesn’t get large numbers like in Odisha, it is significant that these creatures with their round, heart-shaped carapace, have not missed a date with the state’s beaches for decades, even though tourism has increased human activity in Morjim and Galgibaga manifolds over the years.
World over, the species have declined from historic levels and are considered endangered because of their few remaining nesting sites in the world. It is recognized as vulnerable by the IUCN Red list.
Their behaviour of synchronised nesting in mass numbers is known as arribadas and females return to the same beach throughout their lifetime where they first hatched, to lay eggs.
The Olive Ridley turtles are believed to have similarly discovered the Goa’s coastal stretches hundreds of years ago.
One female lays 80 to 120 eggs, sometimes even twice in a season, to increase the hatchlings’ survival rate.

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Broke Swiggy guy walks 3 km to deliver food, Social media helps him find better job. Heartwarming story is viral

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Social media can be a wondrous place at times. While on most days, its ugly face is on display, on days like today, it sets examples of the power of kindness. In a social media post, a LinkedIn user shared how a delivery executive, in need of money and a better job, bagged one after the users on the platform came together to help the person out.

Priyanshi Chandel, Marketing Manager at tech company Flash, shared an incident about a Swiggy delivery agent who had come to deliver food at her residence. When she asked the late and out-of-breath delivery person, identified by her as Sahil Singh, about what happened, he told her that he had no transport and had to walk 3 km to deliver the order.

He also said that he was out of money and had nothing left to pay his landlord too. Singh told her that he was not looking for money from her but requested her to help him bag a job. He said that he had a degree in Electrical and Communication Engineering, and had worked with Byju’s and Ninjacart before. He had to move back to Jammu during the pandemic.

“I have not eaten for a week, just drinking water and tea to get by. I am not asking for anything, please if you can find me a job, I used to make 25k before, I am 30 years old, my parents are getting old and I can’t keep asking for money from them (sic),” Chandel quoted saying.

She also shared his marksheets and contact number for people to help. His details shared show that he is a 2018 BTech graduate from Mewar University, and completed his schooling from the Jammu and Kashmir state board.

After she shared the details, the comments section was filled with people who stepped up to help. While someone recharged his Yulu account so that he did not have to walk around to deliver food, someone offered a place to stay. Many offered to help him with his applications, while some offered jobs too.

Chandel, later on put an update on the post, and said that he received a job.

However, so far it is unclear what job he has received.

2023 has so far been a year of job losses, an eventual outcome of the pandemic and increased hiring by tech companies. For instance, the SSC MTS 2023 recruitment exam that took place in Uttar Pradesh in May saw over 55 lakh applications for Group D jobs. Numerous candidates who applied for positions such as peon, watchman, gardener had educational backgrounds like BTech, MBA, and Master’s degrees.

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Goa CM, NRI Commissioner writes to MoEF for help in safe return of Goans from Ukraine

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Panaji: Goa chief minister Dr Pramod Sawant on Thursday urged Union Minister for External Affairs Dr S Jaishankar to help in safe return of Goans who are in the Ukraine.

Sawant tweeted “we are concerned about the Goans in Ukraine who are considering to return to India in the light of ongoing Russia-Ukraine crisis. I request Union Minister for External Affairs @DrSJaishankar ji for help in the safe return of Goans. I am keeping track of the situation.”

The chief minister’s tweet comes hours after Goa’s NRI Commissioner Narendra Sawaikar wrote to the Union External Affairs ministry seeking help in return of Goans who are in the Ukraine.

“Many Goans are currently residing in Ukraine due to various purposes including higher studies and due to the ongoing tension between Russia and Ukraine, I have started receiving requests for help and assistance from them to return back to India,” Sawaikar wrote.

The Commissioner further wrote in the letter that advisories have already been issued by the Ministery of External Affairs to Indians currently in Ukraine and our Indian Mission in Kyiy is currently handling the matter.

“Striking note of urgency, the Government of India has recently asked the family members of Embassy officials in Ukraine as well as students and citizens whose stay is not vital , to leave the Eastern European nation amid it’s raising tensions with Russia,” the letter reads.

Sawaikar wrote that the Goans in Ukraine are in touch with this office as they are anxious to temporarily return till the situation normalizes.

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Election Commission announces polling dates and counting days for Vidhan Sabha elections in 5 states

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On Saturday, the Election Commission of India (ECI) announced the dates for the Vidhan Sabha elections in 5 States, namely, Goa, Punjab, Manipur, Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

While briefing the media, Chief Election Commissioner Sushil Chandra informed that the elections in the poll-bound States will commence from February 10, 2022, to March 7, 2022. Elections in the State of Uttar Pradesh will be conducted in 7 phases, followed by Manipur with 2 phases. Elections in Goa, Uttarkhand and Punjab will be conducted in a single phase.

According to the Election Commission of India, the votes will be counted on March 10, 2022. ECI informed that all physical campaigning will be ceased until January 15, 2022, in light of the rising cases of Coronavirus.

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