Goa’s popular beaches turned black on Monday evening due to a suspected oil spill off the coast here.
Beaches like Calangute, Siquerim, Candolim in north Goa and Colva, Betalbhatim and Sernabhatim in the south were covered with black tar balls, eyewitnesses said. “Entire south Goa beaches are covered with black oil which has been washed ashore,” a source said.
Tourism department director Swapnil Naik said they have sent teams to take stock of the situation. He said there was no cause for panic. “There is nothing to be alarmed. Usually such tar balls surface on the beaches during monsoons,” Mr Naik said. Collision of two merchant ships off the Mumbai coast on August 7 had caused a massive oil slick in the metropolis’ shores and some surrounding areas.
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Laxman surgery to remove feeding tube
Pune : Celebrated cartoonist R.K. Laxman underwent an operative procedure at the Military Command Hospital here to remove an existing feeding tube inserted through the nose that was causing him extreme discomfort, doctors said on Monday.
The operation called “Percutaneous Endoscopic Gastronomy (PEG)” was performed on Laxman on Sunday placing another tube directly in the stomach to facilitate food intake, commandant-general S.S. Panwar told reporters.
Mr Laxman was being fed through the tube, which is now removed, since his hospitalisation in Mumbai where he was treated following a series of strokes he suffered about two and half months back. —PTI
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Kasab case deferred to Sept. 20
Mumbai : The Bombay high court on Monday deferred by three weeks the hearing on the confirmation of death penalty awarded to Pakistani terrorist Ajmal Kasab for his role in the 26/11 terror strikes after his lawyers sought time to file an appeal against the conviction. Kasab’s lawyers Amin Solkar and Farhana Shah sought time saying the appeal was still being prepared because of the delay by defence lawyers, who had appeared for the convict in the trial court in making available necessary information.
Justices R. Desai and R.V. More deferred the matter to Sept. 20 after Kasab’s lawyers assured them that they would file the appeal before that date. —PTI
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More food ration for soldiers
Age Correspondent
New Delhi
The government has ordered increase in food rations for soldiers to be at par with that for officers and has directed that eggs and fresh fruit be part of the rations for all soldiers, ministry of defence (MoD) sources have said. Army sources said that the proposal had been initially forwarded by the Army for provision of food rations for soldiers to be on par with that for officers. The Army’s proposal has been accepted by the government.