Panaji: Goa is in the grip of unusually warm nights this summer, with minimum temperatures above 28°C for the second consecutive night, marking the warmest nights of the season so far. According to the India Meteorological Department, Panaji recorded a minimum temperature of 28.3°C, which is 2°C above normal, while Mormugao recorded 28.4°C on Tuesday, 1.5°C above the seasonal average.Panaji: The Bombay high court has sought a response from Goa govt and the TCP department in three petitions challenging the govt’s decision to withdraw permissions granted under Section 39A of the Town and Country Planning Act in St Andre constituency.The petitions filed by Dempo Properties and Investments Pvt Ltd through its director, Yogish Dempo, contended that they received provisional approval for change of zone of their lands under Section 39A. It is their case that their permissions were withdrawn following pressure from public protestors and without being given any prior notice or an opportunity to be heard.To end the hunger strike by St Andre MLA Viresh Borkar and widespread protests by Goans opposing land conversions under Section 39A on Feb 26, state govt handed over an order of the TCP department stating that provisional and final land conversions under Section 39A of the TCP Act in St Andre constituency were suspended with immediate effect.The high court will hear the case on June 17.Vasco: The judicial magistrate first class (JMFC), Vasco, on Tuesday granted a conditional bail to Madhav Khattar, the younger brother of YouTuber Gautam, who faces allegations of outraging religious feelings and promoting enmity between communities.Madhav who was represented by advocate A Prabhudessai, refuted the allegations by police, but said, he (applicant) will fully abide by the conditions of bail. The defence counsel said that Madhav is 18 years old and a student of law, and has no criminal antecedents. Prabhudessai argued that the FIR does not attribute any hate speech to Madhav, and that his mere presence in the audience does not attract provisions of BNS relating to offences specified in FIRJMFC Pooja Desai allowed Madhav’s bail plea, considering his age, and his status as a student. She also factored that investigation against Madhav was complete, and that there is no recovery was to be made from him, and the main speaker has already been arrested.The JMFC ordered that Madhav be released on bail on submission of personal bond of Rs 10,000, and a surety in like amount.Additional public prosecutor L Sawant appeared for police.A similar trend was observed the previous night, when Panaji recorded 28.4°C, and Mormugao recorded 28°C on Monday.Daytime temperatures have also remained high. Panaji recorded a maximum of 35°C (1.2°C above normal), while Mormugao registered 34.7°C (1.4°C above normal). Notably, maximum temperatures have hovered around 35°C in Panaji since Friday, showing little sign of decline.Meteorologists attribute the prevailing conditions to the absence of significant pre-monsoon rainfall. “The pre-monsoon rainfall for Goa as of Tuesday morning stands at 52%, with actual rainfall till now being only 4.4mm as against the mean normal of 9mm,” said meteorologist and retired chief scientist at NIO Goa, MR Ramesh Kumar.Relative humidity stood at 68% in Panaji and 87% in Mormugao.
