log on to thegoan.net THURSDAY JUNE 12, 2025 @thegoanonline Facebook.com/thegoan The Goan E-Paper (Playstore/IOS) 13 pages PRICE ` 10 PANAJI MARGAO GOA VOLUME X, NO. 356 Goa's Biggest Media Brand with Highest Viewership which makes us Instagram.com/thegoanonline RNI: GOAENG/2015/65729 Come join us Contact: 9011043385 / 9850755549 / 9130004704 / 9689923150 Email: marketing@prudentmedia.in Govt set to roll out smart ‘Heritage policy’ gets cabinet approval power meters from July Implementation envisages preservation of over 200 historic sites THE GOAN I NETWORK PHASE-1 TO TARGET COMMERCIAL, 3-PHASE METERS; LETTER OF AWARD ISSUED TO DIGISMART, CWD LTD THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI After a two-year long delay, the Goa government is all set to replace the existing electronic power meters with smart meters, as the Letter of Award being issued to DigiSmart Networks Pvt Ltd (lead consortium member) and CWD Ltd (consortium member). In the first phase, the project will replace the commercial and three-phase meters, starting from July. The CWD Limited informed that it has received a Letter of Award for a major smart metering project from the Goa government. The order, placed under the Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) initiative, involves the deploy- HI-TECH METERING A total of 9 lakh prepaid smart meters to be installed over 10 years Execution period: 27 months, followed ment and maintenance of 9 lakh smart prepaid meters over a period of 10 years. The company said that the implementation will be based on the Design-Build-Finance-Own-Operate-Transfer (DBFOOT) model. by 93 months of OPEXbased operation and maintenance Benefits: Real-time monitoring of energy consumption, voltage, and current Enables accurate billing, load scheduling, demand management, and fault detection CWD will provide the wireless IoT modules while DigiSmart will handle ground-level deployment. The project will be executed within a period of 27 months. The project is to be implemented in OPEX mode for 93 months, excluding an execution period, and the company is responsible for the supply, installation, testing, and commissioning of the smart metering infrastructure along with operation and maintenance for this duration. The total cost of the estimate put to tender was over Rs 396 crore. The Union Power Ministry had recently pulled up the State government over its consistent delay in implementing the Smart Metering Project, which was sanctioned to the coastal State way back in 2021 with a total budgetary provision of Rs 467 crore. In March, the Cabinet approved the appointment of DigiSmart Networks Pvt Ltd >Continued on P6 PANAJI Chief Minister Pramod Sawant-led State cabinet on Wednesday gave its nod for the implementation of the 'State Heritage Policy 2025' which envisages preservation of over 200 sites of historic, archaeological or heritage importance besides some 100-plus private and public buildings which have heritage value. The policy makes provision for the government to provide technical and financial support for preservation of private heritage homes and encourages their use adaptively for tourism purposes. The draft policy was made public in December last year and covers 14 core areas, besides recognising 46 folk art forms and 61 traditional occupations practiced in the State. Meanwhile in other decisions, the cabinet approved the appointment of a new surveyor to carry out surveys and verify Forest Rights claims. The appointment of a new surveyor is necessitated as the OTHER CABINET DECISIONS Appointment of a new surveyor to carry out surveys and verify Forest Rights claims Work order for the construction of the Centre-funded Unity Mall at Chimbel Proposal for earmarking 2,000 sqm of land in Mandrem village for a crematorium and to set up two 4G towers in Vagheri-Sattari and in Sanguem Contractual posts of 19 Medical Officers and four ENT surgeons previous agency appointed for the purpose had abandoned the task halfway. The cabinet also approved the work order for the construction of the Centre-funded >Continued on P6 Power linemen to get smart safety gadgets THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI Finally, the Goa Electricity Department (GED) will buy 100 smart helmets and a like number of smartwatches for its linemen to ensure their safety while working on power lines and transformers. "These safety gadgets have been developed by the Goa Engineering College (GEC) and will enhance the safety linemen while on duty," Power Minister Ramkrishna (Sudin) Dhavalikar said on Wednesday. The GEC-designed smart watches and helmets will detect electricity leakages and other hazards and will alert the user of any danger or hazard during field work. Monsoon session of Goa Assembly from July 22 PANAJI: The Goa cabinet on Wednesday approved the summoning of the Goa Legislative Assembly for the monsoon session on July 22. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant who announced the decision at his post-cabinet media briefing said the decision on the duration of the session will be taken once the Governor gives his nod for the summoning of the Assembly. The State's legislature last met during the budget session which ended on March 26 with the Opposition accusing the government of curtailing it to just three working days to avoid being exposed over several controversies at the time with Sawant responding that the monsoon session will be long. Connected. Empowered. Digital. The Goa Electricity Department has been under fire in recent months after multiple deaths of linemen while working on repairs and maintenance of power lines >Continued on P6 Two arrested for sexual assault on minors in Calangute hotel PANAJI: The Agassaim police have arrested two men from Porvorim and Karnataka on charges of sexually assaulting two minor girls in a hotel at Calangute. The arrests came after three minor girls, aged 15, 13 and 11, were reported missing from Agassaim on June 7. One of the complainants told the police that her two daughters did not return home while another woman, a tenant in the same premises, said her 11-year-old daughter had also gone missing and was likely in the company of the other two girls. >> See pg 3 India's immense progress towards becoming a semiconductor hub; market size reached ₹4+ lakh crore in 2024 CBC 37101/13/0009/2526 Optical Fibre Cable length reached 42+ lakh route KM; 2.14 lakh Gram Panchayats connected Every second global real-time digital transaction happens in India UPI transactions worth ₹24 lakh crore in April 2025 Cost per GB of data declined from ₹300+ in 2014 to less than ₹10 5G reached 99.6% districts in just 22 months, one of the fastest rollouts in the world India is the 2nd largest mobile phone manufacturer in the world 5.76 lakh Operational Common Services Centres under Digital India Orders worth ₹13.4+ lakh crore made via GeM portal, enhancing transparency, efficiency and speed in public procurement Remarkable feat of administering over 220 crore COVID-19 vaccine doses made possible through the digital CoWIN platform Viksit Bharat ka Amrit Kaal SAAL Seva, Sushasan, Garib Kalyan ke Nearly ₹44 lakh crore transferred to the poor and needy under DBT On Digilocker, 52+ crore users have uploaded 943+ crore documents, availing secure and convenient access to digital documents anytime, anywhere 2200+ government services accessible through UMANG App, a single platform for all citizens to access pan India services; 8.25 crore registrations so far 10.2+ crore life certificates submitted digitally by pensioners under Jeevan Pramaan
The new Goa, with a broader profile of people from different parts of India and the world, needs not just a strong local paper but a complete paper. The Goan on Saturday will connect to and be a viable and comprehensive read for locals, other Indians in Goa, NRI and foreigners. It will also be a bridge for Goans in other parts of India all over the world to their home land. The Goan is published by Goa's most reputed industrial houses.
