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Keeping safety in mind, churches aim to take in more parishioners for New Year Masses | Goa News – Times of India

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PANAJI: After holding services for thousands of devotees for Christmas during the pandemic, churches are now planning similar services for New Year, treading carefully to ensure that the faithful stay safe.
Registrations for New Year Masses have already begun, with churches that couldn’t accommodate all the faithful for Christmas giving those who missed out preference for New Year. Holy Cross Church in Santa Cruz, which has around 15,000 parishioners, is one of these.
The church has decided to organise an additional midnight Mass in the school hall, too. “Many people prefer attending midnight Mass, and since the hall can accommodate more people, we decided to have two Masses simultaneously in the hall and church. We will celebrate a total of nine Masses,” parish priest Fr Ricardo Pinheiro told TOI.
No screens will be put up for parishioners outside the church as this could attract a large crowd where social distancing norms could be flouted, he said.
At Tilamol, Quepem, the Our Lady Mother of Poor Church with around 7,000 parishioners, is restricting services to representatives from the community and live-streaming the Masses for the others at home. Like many others, this church too has moved out all its wooden pews to make way for plastic chairs that can easily be sanitised, thus reducing the seating capacity to 86 with social distancing norms compared to 1,200 prior to the pandemic.
Those wishing to attend services must submit their names well in advance. A list of the attendees’ names and phone numbers are printed.
“We maintain all these records for each service along with the name of the priest who celebrated the Mass and members of the choir who sang. If anything untoward happens, we can easily trace them,” parish priest Fr Leonardo Moraes, said.
In other churches, where only two from a family are being permitted to attend services, some have preferred not to attend and leave their loved ones behind. “Some people cooperate, while others don’t feel comfortable being separated from their family and have decided not to register at all,” a church volunteer said.
The sizeable number of foreigners who attend Christmas Mass at St Anthony Church, Siolim, every year were conspicuous by their absence this year. Only a few tourists, mostly Russian, were seen. Although they didn’t register, they were not turned down but accommodated in the church compound. The church is, however, concerned about domestic tourists who could show up for New Year’s Mass, parochial administrator Fr Clifford Castelino, said.
In Keri and Tiracol, the church decided to do away with the tradition of serving cake and coffee after midnight Mass and has reduced Christmas lighting. The money has been diverted to the Good Samaritan fund, in keeping with the Archbishop’s circular.

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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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