Panaji, July 16 : Beware Bacchus worshippers who can't resist a tipple in public places, for those caught drinking thus in Goa will have to shell out a fine of Rs 2,500 from August 15.

"Mind you, there will be a heavy fine if you are found drinking (in public) from August. We are issuing a notification very soon. I intend to do it before August, so that we can implement it from August 15," Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said on Monday at a function here.

Parrikar also warned against littering the state capital will empty beer bottles, adding that he had caught and cautioned college students found drinking beer along the newly developed river front here.

"I have caught two-three college students going there with beer bottles. This is not done," Parrikar said, adding that bottles thrown in the rocks along the river front were putting other people at risk.

Earlier this year, Parrikar during an interaction with students had chided girls for drinking beer, triggering a controversy. Women had posted photographs of them drinking beer on the social media along with #GirlsWhoDrinkBeer.



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Guwahati(PTI): Union Minister H D Kumaraswamy on Monday said he would soon visit tea gardens, owned by public sector enterprise Andrew Yule, to revive its estates as workers are facing immense hardship.

Kumaraswamy, the minister of steel and heavy industries, thanked Assam Industries Minister Bimal Borah for apprising him of various challenges being faced by the tea gardens and the need to support the management to alleviate suffering of workers.

"We are concerned about the economic challenges and hardship of the tea gardens owned by Andrew Yule Group in Assam and its impact on the wage earners," Kumaraswamy said at a press conference here.

The tea garden wage earners will also get a 20 per cent Durga Puja bonus, like workers of other gardens, he said.

Referring to his recent visit to the Cement Corporation of India Ltd factory at Bokajan in Karbi Anglong district, Kumaraswamy said there was a plan for the revival of the cement industry in the state by investing Rs 700 crore.

He also emphasised on the need for a cement manufacturing unit in the northeastern states.

On the current development of Faster Adoption and Manufacturing of Electric Vehicles (FAME) policy utilisation in Assam, the union minister said more than Rs 2,000 crore would be invested for battery charging stations and nearly 70,000 such facilities will be set up across the country.

More than 18,000 e-buses will also be purchased to fulfil the goal of carbon emission reduction, Kumaraswamy added.