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NGT order on pvt forests stands as SC dismisses Goa plea | Goa News – Times of India

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PANAJI: The Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal filed by the Goa government against an August 18, 2020, order of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) pertaining to private forests. Thus, the 46 sq km of private forest approved by the NGT will now have to be notified by the state government.
“We find no ground to interfere with the impugned order passed by the tribunal. The appeal is, accordingly, dismissed. Pending interlocutory application(s), if any, is/are disposed of,” reads the order by a bench comprising Justices Rohinton Nariman and Aniruddha Bose.
Over the years, several committees have been formed to look into the issue of private forests in Goa. The first were the Sawant and Karapurkar committees, tasked with identifying such lands in Goa. Another panel led by Deepshikha Sharma reviewed these reports.
The NGT order pertains to Sharma’s report, certain aspects of which were sought to be reviewed by yet another committee, headed by Anthony D’Souza. The tribunal rejected the D’Souza committee’s report, a decision now upheld by the Supreme Court.
The Goa government had filed an appeal in the Supreme Court over the NGT order dated August 18 (and corrected as on August 31, 2020).
The state had sought to have the NGT order set aside.
The top court, in a brief order issued earlier this month, has now rejected the state’s appeal.
In the August 2020 order, the NGT had approved over 46 sq km of private forest, which was the first such parcel to be accepted as private forest in Goa. The NGT order was based on the findings of the Sawant and the Karapurkar committees, later reviewed and confirmed by the Sharma committee.
The state government is required to notify the area approved as private forest by stating the dos and don’ts inside these parcels of land.
The criteria to identify the private forests applied by the Goa government in the case of all committees beginning with the Sawant committee, formed in 1997, is that 75% of the tree composition of such lands should be of forestry species. The other criteria state that the area should be either contiguous to the government forest lands or, if in isolation, the minimum area identified should be 5 ha. And, canopy density should not be less than 0.4.
The state government’s contention about finalising the survey numbers identified as private forests is that it will have implications for owners of the private lands.
In July 2019, chief minister Pramod Sawant had said that still there are complaints about inclusion of private properties as private forests, even though the Thomas and Araujo committees were formed post the Sawant, Karapurkar and Sharma panels, as also two review committees to re-examine the findings.

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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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