Goa Tourism

Lying on the west coast, Goa is one of the smallest states in India known for its brilliant beaches, scrumptious food and Portuguese heritage. Panjim, the capital city located in the centre is well-connected with an international airport and roads and trains run from North to South part of Goa.

With a coastline stretching for over 100 kilometres, Goa has numerous beaches that attract millions of visitors. While Baga and Calangute are more popular among the Indian family crowd, Anjuna and Arambol draw a lot of foreign tourists. The beaches in South Goa are relatively lesser explored, but some of them like Agonda and Palolem are more beautiful. 

A former Portuguese colony, Goa also boasts of beautiful architecture from the colonial era with many churches and old-style bungalows. The people are quite friendly towards tourists and celebrate many festivals throughout the year. While the seafood is excellent, Goa has one of the best nightlife in the country with trendy bars, beach shacks, elegant cafes and many clubs and discotheques. Thanks to lower alcohol prices in the state, Goa is also great for younger tourists with relatively tighter pockets.

                            Pollution

Pollution is the process of making land, water, air or other parts of the environment dirty and not safe or suitable to use. This can be done through the introduction of a contaminant into a natural environment, but the contaminant doesn't need to be tangible. Things as simple as light, sound and temperature can be considered pollutants when introduced artificially into an environment. 

Toxic pollution affects more than 200 million people worldwide, according to pure earth , a non-profit environmental organization. In some of the world's worst polluted places, babies are born with birth defects, children have lost 30 to 40 IQ points, and life expectancy may be as low as 45 years because of cancers and other diseases. Read on to find out more about specific types of pollution.

13 Ways to Avoid Getting Sick With a Cold or the Flu.

Are you avoiding your co-worker with that hacking cough, cold, or flu in the cubicle next to you? Do you open every door knob with your elbow? It's time to get a grip—without opening yourself up to getting sick. 

Here, medical experts weigh in on 13 different ways you can avoid getting catching something this cold and flu season.

1. Wash your hands as much as you possibly can.

2. Don't touch your face.

3. Get enough sleep.

4. Get your flu shot—every. single. year.

5. Eat enough fruits and vegetables.

6. Work out regularly.

7. Keep your distance from sick people.

8. Keep hand sanitizer on hand.

9. Quit smoking already.

10. Be wary of sharing food with others.

11. Buy a leather bag, and ditch your cloth purse.

12. Try to smile once in a while.

13. Think of ways to keep others healthy too.

Bebinca (Layered Goan Dessert)

A traditional, rich dessert, bebinca is a must-have at any celebration in Goa, India. The multi-layered cake is made up of thin layers of a coconut flavored batter separated by melted ghee (clarified butter). Making bebinca, also known as bebik, requires patience and a lot of time (plan on at least 2 hours); each layer is cooked separately, requiring you to take the pan out of the oven repeatedly—but the end result is well worth the effort. Traditional bebinca has seven layers, but some cakes go up to 16 layers; you can make as many as you like.

Ingredients Of Bebinca

200 Gram Refined flour

10 Egg yolks

500 Gram Sugar

200 Ml Coconut milk

5 Gram Nutmeg powder

200 Gram Butter

How to Make Bebinca

Mix the coconut milk, flour, sugar, nutmeg and the egg yolks and make a batter.

Grease an oven proof dish with a spoonful of melted butter, pour 75 ml of batter into the dish and spread evenly.

Bake till golden brown.

Spread another spoonful of butter and pour another 75 ml of batter over it and spread evenly.

Bake and repeat this until all the batter is used up.

Turn out the bebinca onto a wire rack.

Cool and cut into slices before serving.

The Inevitable Puppy Poem

On a puppy’s sleepy

spotted tummy

the sun connects her dots.

Her back legs tricycle.

Her pink snout-

of-a-velvet church

beads with milk;

a muffle; an eye

swims under its lid

as her brother’s tongue

takes her ear up

like a flower petal.

     Stop violence against doctors 

Sporadic violence against doctors and health workers occurs across the world, but it’s usually limited to threats and abuse by patients under the influence of alcohol or illegal drugs. Violence against medical professionals in India is unique because it’s not perpetrated by patients, but by their families and friends, strangers who join out of misplaced sympathy, random goons, and political leaders and party workers looking for the crowd’s approval. It is often physical, with a mob quickly coming together to rough up healthcare staff and vandalise hospitals. While the global trigger is usually anger at real or perceived negligence, in India it is driven by delays in treatment, doctors and services not being available, and allegations of profiteering. In the absence of adequate grievance redressal mechanisms at hospitals and medical negligence cases taking decades to resolve, if at all, frustrated families vent their frustration in violence.

If patients are underserved, doctors are overworked, as highlighted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s tweet congratulating “all hardworking doctors for their round the clock effort to make our society fit and healthy” on national Doctors’ Day, July 1. There are 11,57,771 allopathic doctors registered with the Medical Council of India, of which an estimated 9.26 lakh are in active service to treat 1.35 billion people. This puts India’s doctor-population ratio at 1:1,457, which is lower than the World Health Organization’s recommended ratio of 1:1,000. Till the Centre’s efforts to reinforce human resources in healthcare, such as raising the number of seats in medical colleges and relaxation of norms for setting up medical colleges in terms of requirements of land, faculty and other infrastructure, bear fruition, short-term solutions are needed to defuse the crisis.

Improving doctors’ communication skills, reducing waiting time, using digital technology for faster response, making billing transparent, and setting up a complaint redressal system in hospitals are some ways forward. 

Patients, too, must have realistic expectations and keep in mind that medicine is a science, and doctors are professionals, not magicians. Some patients will survive, and some won’t, irrespective of doctors’ skills or the services available.

                The Three Little Pigs

Once upon a time there were three little pigs. One pig built a house of straw while the second pig built his house with sticks. They built their houses very quickly and then sang and danced all day because they were lazy. The third little pig worked hard all day and built his house with bricks.

A big bad wolf saw the two little pigs while they danced and played and thought, “What juicy tender meals they will make!” He chased the two pigs and they ran and hid in their houses. The big bad wolf went to the first house and huffed and puffed and blew the house down in minutes. The frightened little pig ran to the second pig’s house that was made of sticks. The big bad wolf now came to this house and huffed and puffed and blew the house down in hardly any time. Now, the two little pigs were terrified and ran to the third pig’s house that was made of bricks.

The big bad wolf tried to huff and puff and blow the house down, but he could not. He kept trying for hours but the house was very strong and the little pigs were safe inside. He tried to enter through the chimney but the third little pig boiled a big pot of water and kept it below the chimney. The wolf fell into it and died.

The two little pigs now felt sorry for having been so lazy. They too built their houses with bricks and lived happily ever after.

                         Dora kabab

Ingredients

. 900 gm minced lamb

. 150 gm lamb kidney fat

. ¼ cup onion

. ¼ cup ginger

. 8 green chillies

. 1/3 cup coriander leaves

. 2/3 cup cashew nuts

. 2 eggs

. 3 tbsp groundnut oil

. ½ tsp white pepper powder

. Salt to taste

. 2 tsp garam masala

. Twine of thread

. Butter for basting

Method

Mince the fat and set aside. Wash, dry and chop the onions, ginger and coriander leaves. Deseed and finely chop the green chillies and keep aside. Crush the cashew nuts separately using a mortar and pestle and set aside. Whisk eggs in a bowl and keep aside.

Add the above ingredients, except butter to the lamb mince in a large bowl and mix well. Keep aside for 15 minutes. Divide into 12 equal portions and make them into balls.

Pre heat the oven to 325ºF.

Use a moist hand to flatten the balls by pressing each one along the length of the skewers, roll twine (thread) on the kabab to hold them in place.

Roast the kebabs in a moderately pre-heated oven for about 8-10 minutes. Remove the skewers and leave them aside to let the excess moisture drip off for about 2 minutes.

Baste with butter and pop it in the oven again for 2 minutes.

Remove the kebabs from the oven and serve hot with coriander chutney.

         How to travel on a Budget...

Exploring exotic places doesn’t have to cost a fortune and you certainly don’t need to win the lottery to travel the world – not if you know how to watch your pennies. We’ve complied some tried and tested tips to help you plan a holiday on a budget.

1. Come up with a plan

Travelling spontaneously is great, if you have the luxury of time and money to spare. But if you’re travelling on a budget, the first thing to do is come up with a plan.

2. Travel out of season

Avoid trips during the school holidays, this is when the travel industry hikes up prices to take advantage of families who can only travel during these weeks. Research the best time to visit your intended destination, and then travel just before or after these dates.

3. Be accommodation-savvy

Trade expensive hotel suites for dorm rooms in hostels. Sharing a room naturally divides the costs and communal bunk rooms offer the opportunity to meet people who might be keen to explore with you.

4. Pack properly

Make sure you bring everything you need so that you don’t have to shop while you’re away (apart from a few souvenirs). No matter where you’re heading, take at least one pair of long jeans, warm hoodie and waterproof jacket for unpredictable weather incidents. For some in-depth advice, check out our ‘Travel like a pro’ guide to packing for every kind of trip.

5. Book flights in advance…

Especially return flights; running out of money abroad without a guaranteed ticket home is never ideal. Airlines ‘release’ their flight seats up to a year in advance and the closer you get to your departure date, the more the prices increase, especially in the last month.

                      Chandrayaan-2

Chandrayaan-2 mission is a highly complex mission, which represents a significant technological leap compared to the previous missions of ISRO. It comprised an Orbiter, Lander and Rover to explore the unexplored South Pole of the Moon. The mission is designed to expand the lunar scientific knowledge through detailed study of topography, seismography, mineral identification and distribution, surface chemical composition, thermo-physical characteristics of top soil and composition of the tenuous lunar atmosphere, leading to a new understanding of the origin and evolution of the Moon.

After the injection of Chandrayaan-2, a series of maneuvers were carried out to raise its orbit and on August 14, 2019, following Trans Lunar Insertion (TLI) maneuver, the spacecraft escaped from orbiting the earth and followed a path that took it to the vicinity of the Moon. On August 20, 2019, Chandrayaan-2 was successfully inserted into lunar orbit. While orbiting the moon in a 100 km lunar polar orbit, on September 02, 2019, Vikram Lander was separated from the Orbiter in preparation for landing. Subsequently, two de-orbit maneuvers were performed on Vikram Lander so as to change its orbit and begin circling the moon in a 100 km x 35 km orbit. Vikram Lander descent was as planned and normal performance was observed upto an altitude of 2.1 km. Subsequently communication from lander to the ground stations was lost.

The Orbiter placed in its intended orbit around the Moon will enrich our understanding of the moon’s evolution and mapping of the minerals and water molecules in Polar regions, using its eight state-of-the-art scientific instruments. The Orbiter camera is the highest resolution camera (0.3 m) in any lunar mission so far and will provide high resolution images which will be immensely useful to the global scientific community. The precise launch and mission management has ensured a long life of almost seven years instead of the planned one year.