Panaji, Feb 20 (IANS) A non-polluting information technology (IT) manufacturing industry could well be the answer to Goa's woes after the dire straits the state's ban-hit mining industry is in.

Panaji, Feb 20 (IANS) India's information technology (IT) imports will be worth $400 billion by the year 2020, much more than the country's oil imports, a top industry honcho said Wednesday.

Panaji, Feb 19 (IANS) Goa's 96 iron ore mining leases should be auctioned instead of being merely renewed, in the spirit of an apex court judgment in the 2G spectrum scam trial which makes a case for auctioning of national resources, the Congress demanded Tuesday.

Panaji, Feb 19 (IANS) Foreign tourists wearing "less clothes" at Goa beaches often blind visitors coming to the state, as they cannot see anything else, a witty Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said Tuesday.

Panaji, Feb 19 (IANS) Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar Tuesday said he does not know how to handle the e-waste he generates.

Panaji, Feb 18 (IANS) The State Human Rights Commission (SHRC) has issued notice to the authorities of Goa's central jail after a former convict accused them of misappropriating money meant to be deposited in the compensation fund for the victims' families.

Panaji, Feb 18 (IANS) The inclusion of two tainted Commonwealth Games (CWG) officials in the organising committee for the upcoming Portuguese Commonwealth Games in Goa has exposed the strife in the state's ruling BJP.

Panaji, Feb 16 (IANS) Google satellite imaging and global positioning systems (GPS) are flawed when it comes to monitoring illegal mining and encroachment of forest land by mining companies, the Goa government has told the Supreme Court.

Panaji, Feb 16 (IANS) Mining in Goa should be continued, even if excavation operations are carried out below the water table, the Goa government has said in its affidavit before the Supreme Court.

Panaji, Feb 16 (IANS) The Goa government is thinking of banning all fresh excavation of iron ore in the state, a top mining official has said in his affidavit filed before the Supreme Court of India.

Panaji, Feb 16 (IANS) Rs.78 crore central government funds meant for hosting the Portuguese Commonwealth Games in Goa this year have "disappeared", Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said Saturday.

Panaji, Feb 15 (IANS) Goa's ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has demanded a CBI probe into the construction of Maharashtra's Tillari canal network, which in the last few weeks has seen several breakages.

Panaji, Feb 15 (IANS) The Goa BJP refused to be part of a Sharad Pawar-led delegation to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's office to resolve the state's mining crisis, the BJP state president said Friday.

Panaji, Feb 15 (IANS) Goa's INS Hansa naval air base has been put on alert after a leopard attacked an Indian Navy sentry, an official said Friday.

Panaji, Feb 14 (IANS) Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar will discuss "ways and means" to "resolve" the issue of Goa mining ban with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Feb 18, a party official said here Thursday.

Panaji, Feb 14 (IANS) Konkan Railway Thursday started on-board shopping in select trains, offering a variety of goods at "most competitive rates".

Panaji, Feb 13 (IANS) Three outstation cricket teams, including a Sri Lankan outfit, will be the highlight of the Goa Professional League (GPL) which will kick off here Feb 23, the organiser said.

Panaji, Feb 13 (IANS) The Joshi family from Pune had only heard about the Goa carnival. But when they actually came to Goa last week to see one, all they animatedly discussed during the colourful parade was the Rs.2,000 they paid the cabbie for the ride from Calangute to Panaji - just 18 km.

Panaji, Feb 12 (IANS) The father of a seven-year-old girl who was raped in a school toilet here last month has demanded the arrest of school officials for destroying evidence after the tragedy.

Panaji, Feb 10 (IANS) Transferring mineral resources into private hands has caused an "explosion of corruption" across the country, lawyer-activist Prashant Bhushan said Sunday.

Panaji, Feb 10 (IANS) The 2013 Delhi legislative assembly elections will be a test case for Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), before the new political outfit sets its eyes on the rest of the country, party co-founder Prashant Bhushan said Sunday.

Panaji, Feb 8 (IANS) Anti-corruption crusader Arvind Kejriwal Friday launched a scathing attack on Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar calling his controversial amendments to the Lokayukta law "stupid".

Panaji, Feb 8 (IANS) Organisers of this year's Goa Carnival have allocated 1,000 seats to senior citizens for watching the parade during the five-day Iberian-inspired fiesta here.

Panaji, Feb 6 (IANS) Over 12 percent of Goa's population will come under the Lokayukta scanner, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said Wednesday.

Panaji, Feb 5 (IANS) Goa's ruling BJP Tuesday promised a rethink on a controversial amendment to the Lokayukta law fixing a Rs.1 million fine for false complaints, admitting that public outcry against the provision needed to be heeded.

Panaji, Feb 5 (IANS) A quaint garden named after a 16th century Portuguese Jewish physician and naturalist Garcia de Orta will host one of the Goa carnival's biggest samba parties this year.

Panaji, Feb 4 (IANS) Chain snatchers are back in business in Goa where four such incidents have been reported at the coastal police stations in the last few weeks, police said Monday.

Panaji, Feb 4 (IANS) Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar Monday came out openly in support of the banned mining industry in Goa.

Panaji, Feb 3 (IANS) Goa has to enforce the rule of law especially to preserve its eco-system from the rapacious hordes of tourists who hit its shores by hundreds of thousands annually, Nobel prize winner R.K. Pachauri said Sunday.

Panaji, Feb 3 (IANS) Less than three weeks after a paedophile lured a seven-year-old girl to a Goa school toilet and raped her, another paedophile has been arrested for molesting over several months four minor girls from Margao, police said Sunday.

Panaji, Feb 2 (IANS) Activists Saturday asked the Goa governor to seek an explanation from a former judge likely to be state's first Lokayukta on why he suggested "anti-people" amendments in the Lokayukta Act, which allegedly would not curb graft.

Panaji, Feb 2 (IANS) Accumulating and untreated garbage is going to kill Goa's golden goose, a top official of a leading tourism and travel body said Saturday.

Panaji, Feb 2 (IANS) Taking on Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar for trying to "slight" Justice (retd) N. Santosh Hegde's credibility, India Against Corruption (IAC) said Saturday those who criticise the former Karnataka lokayukta "should have the stature to sit at his feet".

Panaji, Feb 1 (IANS) Concerned over crimes against women, Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar Friday said the state has evolved a special set-up to monitor the trials of cases of sex crimes.

Panaji, Feb 1 (IANS) Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar Friday asked for an apology from Justice Santosh Hegde for the former Karnataka lokayukta's criticism of controversial amendments to Goa's Lokayukta law.

Panaji, Feb 1 (IANS) After Sunburn, the Nokia India festival and the Barefoot festival, Goa's music scene will have a ball this February with a blend of beach soccer and electronic music.

Panaji, Feb 1 (IANS) Chief minister Manohar Parrikar will personally visit a fishing beach village to probe allegations by fishermen of harassment by naval officers, he told the Goa assembly Friday.

Panaji, Feb 1 (IANS) The Goa government will crackdown on taxi operations illegally run by foreign nationals, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said Friday.

Panaji, Jan 31 (IANS) The mining scam in Goa is only worth Rs.5,000 crore and not Rs.35,000 crore as estimated by the Justice M.B. Shah commission, chief minister Manohar Parrikar told the Goa legislative assembly Thursday.

Panaji, Jan 31 (IANS) In a shocking disclosure, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar told the Goa legislative assembly Thursday that a school headmistress oversaw the washing and cleaning of the private parts of the seven-year-old rape victim.

Panaji, Jan 31 (IANS) The Goa government plans to phase out plastic which is plaguing the state's beaches and adding to the garbage menace, Forest Minister Alina Saldanha said Thursday.

Panaji, Jan 31 (IANS) Goa's casinos have netted a whopping Rs.102 crore in revenue collections in the last 20 months, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar told the state legislative assembly Thursday.

Panaji, Jan 30 (IANS) Amid protests over the move, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar Wednesday said his amendments to the Lokayukta bill in Goa were to keep "hostile" governors like H.R. Bharadwaj at bay, who act at the "behest" of the central government.

Panaji, Jan 30 (IANS) Wobbly dentures and not sharp teeth is what Goa's much-hyped Lokayukta appears to be having, political activists say criticising the recently amended public ombudsman bill tabled in the state assembly.

Panaji, Jan 30 (IANS) The mining lobby Wednesday attacked Goa Governor Bharat Veer Wanchoo, calling him an "agent" of the central government and accusing him of being callous to those affected by the ban on iron ore mining in Goa.

Panaji, Jan 29 (IANS) Bollywood actor-filmmaker Farhan Akhtar will swing and sing to the Goa Carnival mood, when the festival week opens up on the streets here next month.

Panaji, Jan 28 (IANS) The Goa government is working on a financial package for people in the state's mining belt who have lost jobs or ancillary businesses following the ban on iron ore mining, Governor Bharat Vir Wanchoo announced Monday.

Panaji, Jan 28 (IANS) Buying fish for the rice plate has got dearer for Goans with prices escalating sharply due a strike by trawler owners.

Panaji, Jan 27 (IANS) From mobile jammers to CCTV cameras to barbed wires, Goa's schools are taking no chances ever since the spine-chilling rape of a seven-year-old girl in a school toilet Jan 15 shocked the state.

Panaji, Jan 27 (IANS) When the Goa assembly convenes Monday, the reams of cyclostyled paper with questions and answers and other text, a common sight in every state legislature, will hardly be seen. High definition (HD) screens will take their place, functioning in the manner of a TV prompter.