The state’s beach shacks, which over the past decade have gone beyond offering just a dining facility on the shore, have gone a step ahead this season. A stroll along the popular Calangute-Baga stretch reveals that shacks now have a loungelike facility with sofas, fancy lighting, hookahs, live DJs, as well as selfie-friendly “installations” for tourists inclined towards social media.

Chief minister Pramod Sawant on Saturday assured that action will be taken over the controversial structure at Old Goa “in accordance with law”.

The Union environment ministry on Friday has issued a notification amending the coastal regulation zone (CRZ) norms of 2019, based on representations from Goa. The amended notification states that in cases where salt water ingress has taken place beyond the bund or sluice gate and this area is under mangroves, the area will be classified as CRZ-IA and will be protected from diversion of the land for any developmental activities.

Following a letter from the Union ministry of health to Goa and other states over low testing, and in view of ‘Omicron’, the new variant of concern identified by the WHO, the directorate of health services on Saturday asked all its health centres to increase testing.

Chief minister Pramod Sawant on Saturday said that he was yet to fathom the reasons for the 14-year delay by the Indian government in securing Goa’s liberation from the Portuguese rule, and called for a debate over the issue.

The Old Goa panchayat on Friday said that by December 1, they will issue a stop work order, and subsequently revoke the construction licence of the controversial project coming up close to the world heritage site at Old Goa.