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Newly appointed Commander of Indian Coast Guard (ICG), Goa region, DIG N V Narasimha has said the Coast Guard will monitor the movement of ships in the Arabian Sea from the Mormugao port in the next three months.

Speaking to Herald during his first press meet since he took over as new DIG of Goa region about two months ago, Narasimha said enhancement plans of the Coast Guard has been in rapid pace after the 26/11 terror attack in Mumbai.

“As part of enhancement of surveillance system, the state-of-art ‘Remote Operating Station’ will be set up in Goa. The radar will be installed as per the coastal chain of radars to monitor and keep tab on movement of vessels or boats in the deep sea,” he said.

Besides other coastal states in the country, Goa is also made available the facility of station to enhance surveillance system as per the decision of the Central government.

“A radar will be installed at Fort Aguada in another three months and depending on the height of the radar, it will cover the area. The radar that is going to be installed in Goa will cover an area of 50 miles (80 kms) from the station into the deep sea,” said Narasimha.

“If the height is more, then it will cover even more area,” he added.

“This is an effective system to monitor the movement of the vessels and even small boats will be monitored from the station in Goa as well as in Delhi. Similar stations in many countries have proved to be successful in terms of surveillance,” said Narasimha.

He further said Goa is having three ships, one fast patrol vessel for rescue, search and surveillance operation and recommended one more ship from Mangalore or Mumbai, besides, helicopter squadron, but due to lack of berthing facility, big ships could not be stationed in Goa.

“ICG is willing to setup international standard Coast Guard Academy in Goa and approach has been made in this direction to the chief minister, but due to lack of revenue and land in possession, the State government has kept fate of the project in balance,” he said.

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The Government released a five-rupee commemorative coin on Mother Teresa to mark the centenary birth celebrations of the legend who made serving the poor her mission in life.

Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee released the coin as well as a souvenir on Mother Teresa and gave the first coin and a copy of the souvenir to President Pratibha Patil here.

It is said that Mother Teresa had Rs five when she started her mission in Kolkata.

Speaking on the occasion, Patil said, “She (Mother Teresa) was truly the embodiment of the word Mother in its fullest, truest and complete sense. It has been truly said that God cannot be everywhere and that is why he has created Mother.”

“Clad in a white sari with a blue border, she (Mother Teresa) and the sisters of Missionaries of Charity became a symbol of hope to many – the aged, the destitute, the unemployed, the diseased, the terminally ill, and those abandoned by their families,” she said.

Mother Teresa was born on August 26, 1910 and was named Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in Macedonia.

At the age of 18 years, she left her parental home to join the Sisters of Loreto, an Irish Community of nuns with missions in India.

Mother Teresa began her missionary work with the poor in 1948, replacing her traditional Loreto habit with a simple white cotton saree decorated with a blue border and adopted Indian citizenship.

For over 40 years, she served the poor and disabled.

For her services, she received 124 awards and distinctions, including Nobel Peace Prize and Bharat Ratna. Mother Teresa died on September 5, 1997.

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In a bid to placate Members of Parliament demanding higher pay packages, the government on Monday agreed to further hike their monthly allowances by Rs. 10,000.

The Union Cabinet, which met under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, decided to increase the office and constituency allowances of MPs by Rs. 5000 each per month.

The decision comes against the backdrop of a section of lawmakers expressing unhappiness over the increase proposed by the Cabinet last week.

The Cabinet had not accepted the proposal of the Joint Parliamentary Committee to hike their salaries from Rs. 16,000 to Rs. 80,000 and instead pegged it at Rs. 50,000 per month.

Besides, it had hiked the office and constituency allowances from Rs. 20,000 per month each to Rs. 40,000 per month each.

Now, the constituency and office allowance of MPs would be Rs. 45,000 each per month, sources in the government said.

The Lok Sabha had witnessed uproar last week by RJD, SP and JD(U) members over government’s decision with agitated members of these parties dubbing it as an insult to Parliament.

BJP, RJD, SP and JD(U) leaders had a meeting with Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee on Saturday over the issue after which the government had assured them to take appropriate steps.

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Looks like August isn’t a particularly good month for Google India. It was exactly a year ago – in August 2009 that Google’s popular maps service Google Maps was mired in controversy regarding the depiction of Arunachal Pradesh being a part of China.

Back then, Google had admitted that it goofed up and had the maps rectified. A year on, Google’s Insights For Search tool has depicted Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK) as being a part of Pakistan – when in all actuality, it is still a disputed area.

When bought to attention of Google officials, they have confirmed that necessary steps would be taken and the relevant product group would be intimated for further action, reports the Times of India. Back in 2005, Google Earth was shown depicting PoK as a part of Pakistan and had lead to a similar controversy.

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