Goa, Portugal sign MoU for water, sewage management
Panaji, Sep 29 : The MoU between the Portuguese Environment Ministry and Goa Public Works Department (PWD) will help Goa manage its water resources better, Portuguese Environment Minister Joao Pedro de Matos Fernandes said on Saturday.
The signing of the two-year long arrangement is a significant move to work in tandem to develop common initiatives for water supply and waste water management in the state, Goa's PWD Minister Sudin Dhavalikar said at a function organised here.
"I think the MoU will be really important for both countries. 20 years ago Portugal had exactly the same problems that Goa is facing today.
"Portugal is very proud of what we have done in our country. We have invested about 10 billion euros during the past 20-25 years and we can now see the results of this investment," Fernandes said.
The prime ministers of both India and Portugal had identified water and waste management as priority areas for bilateral co-operation and the memorandum of understanding (MoU) is in sync with the vision of the top leaders of both states, he added.
The MoU proposes technical partnership in areas of water supply operation and energy efficiency, resource valorisation, waste water and sewerage planning, management and technological solutions, asset management procedure and standards, energy management operational workflows, operational data and information management.
Dhavalikar also said that as part of the MoU, assessment of two of the biggest water treatment and supply plants at Selaulim and Opa would be undertaken apart from considering ways and means of removal of manganese from the water processing facilities, which results in stoppages every now and then.
"The signing of the MoU at this juncture is nothing but consolidation of a true partnership and we should not miss out on this opportunity for sustainable development," he added.
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NATO, others turn down US call for help in Hormuz: Trump
Washington (PTI): President Donald Trump on Tuesday said NATO and most of US' other allies have rejected his calls to help secure the Strait of Hormuz as the war with Iran entered the third week.
In a social media post, Trump asserted that Iran’s military has been “decimated” and he no longer felt the need for assistance from NATO countries or anyone else.
Last week, Trump had sought help from European nations and others who depend on oil supplies transiting from the Hormuz Strait to safeguard the critical waterway.
“The United States has been informed by most of our NATO “Allies” that they don’t want to get involved with our Military Operation against the Terrorist Regime of Iran, in the Middle East, this, despite the fact that almost every Country strongly agreed with what we are doing, and that Iran cannot, in any way, shape, or form, be allowed to have a Nuclear Weapon,” the US President said in a post on Truth Social.
Iran's attacks on Gulf nations and its grip on the Strait of Hormuz, through which a fifth of the world's oil is transported, have sparked increasing concerns of a global energy crisis and are unnerving the world economy.
“I am not surprised by their action, however, because I always considered NATO, where we spend Hundreds of Billions of Dollars per year protecting these same Countries, to be a one-way street — We will protect them, but they will do nothing for us, in particular, in a time of need,” Trump said.
He said Australia, Japan and South Korea too have turned down his call for help.
“Fortunately, we have decimated Iran’s Military – Their Navy is gone, their Air Force is gone, their Anti-Aircraft and Radar is gone and perhaps, most importantly, their Leaders, at virtually every level, are gone, never to threaten us, our Middle Eastern Allies, or the World, again,” Trump said.
He said that given the scale of recent military successes, the US no longer "need" or desires assistance from NATO countries, adding that it never relied on such support in the first place.
Speaking as President of the United States, the "most powerful" country in the world, "we do not need" help from anyone, Trump said.
The West Asia conflict began on February 28 when the US-Israeli combine conducted airstrikes on Iran.
The Strait of Hormuz, the narrow waterway that connects the Persian Gulf to the open ocean, has effectively been shut following the US and Israel attack on Iran and Tehran's sweeping retaliation.
However, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi had said that from Tehran's "perspective", the strait is "open". "It is only closed to Iran's enemies, to those who carried out unjust aggression against our country and to their allies.”
Earlier in the day, a second Indian-flagged LPG tanker, Nanda Devi, reached the country after safely sailing from the war-hit Strait of Hormuz. On Monday, the first ship, Shivalik, reached Mundra port in Gujarat.
As of now, 22 Indian vessels remain on the west side and two on the east side of the strait.
Indian authorities are in constant touch with all the relevant stakeholders in the region to secure the safe passage of the remaining ships, officials said.
