Unmasking the second wave of pandemic in India!

 Indian governments are in quandary now not knowing how to curb the fast- spreading tentacles of second wave of corona express.

Both central and state governments, especially Maharashtra, Kerala, Delhi, West Bengal, Andra Pradesh and Telangana, are fighting hard to minimize the death toll but are in helpless situation with overcrowding critical care centres, running out of oxygen cylinders, beds and crucial life-saving drugs like Remdesvir, drifting the situation to out of control.

When first phase struck in early 2020, we were not prepared. No one knew for sure how the virus would impact the human’s immune system and enter into lungs. But now we are prepared, we know the symptoms, and how important to consult health expert when we have early symptoms. But still, we have alarming death rate which have crossed more than 2000 now.  We have the world record of highest singly day cases, which have crossed 3.5 lakh now.

Ironically, the countries who are well above India in global economic and pollution list, are not much affected, so far. To Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and Nepal, where we had sent millions of doses of vaccines recently as part of ‘Vaccine Deplomacy’, are turning their heads now. They even have issued advisory to stop their citizen to visit India.

Even US, which was earlier declined to help India to send critical components for making vaccines, came under intense criticism across

 the globe and has now agreed to send life-saving consignments to help millions of Indians who are struggling to breath.

When we managed to contain the first wave of pandemic efficiently with our limited health resources, what is the reason for the second wave , which has struck severe than before and have now gone out of hands killing more people than ever?

After seeing the declining in numbers several state governments had relaxed the curbs on activities and threw open public places like theatres, parks, malls, tourist and religious places late 2020. People also took it easy, not bothered to wear mask and maintain social distancing. Those who wore masks got ridiculed. NO one objected to that. Then came the wedding season, elections to states and now the maha kumbh mela.

Everywhere, the corona safety protocols have been floated. People thought we had defeated corona. NO leaders or experts warned them. NO restriction were imposed on people to move around freely in large numbers or gather at a particular place.

So, it is people who have to be blamed for the second wave in which we have lost quite a number of our near and dear ones. People should have shown some civic sense and restrain. There should also be some regulations, imposition of strict measures and guidelines.

In the presence of none, people started enjoying the new found free atmosphere (getting after a year or so), freely spreading the virus to known and unknown.

Responsible countrymen make responsible governments. So, for this pathetic situation, people have to be blamed and the government comes second.

Can we still contain the spread of covid 19? We can.

Vaccinating the entire population who are vulnerable and also those who are above 50 should be taken up on priority within six months (without playing politics). Like Korea, we should use artificial intelligence to track vulnerable population and vaccinate them fist.

Secondly, by imposing strict rules and guidelines and implement the same with iron hand, we can surely contain the pandemic and save millions of people from the death trap. When China can do it, we too can. Let good sense prevail.

 

Will lock-down usher dawn for online education in India?

With India getting into complete lockdown mode for three weeks till mid-April 2020, one of the biggest hits is the education sector. As CBSE and other state board exams for class 12 have postponed the remaining papers, children and parents are at their wits’ end not knowing what is in store for their children in the coming days.

The cascading effect is now on the preparation for JEE, NEET and other competitive examinations, which too have been postponed.

With classes for 10^th and 12^th already been started in many schools across the country, the sudden outbreak of COVID-19 and subsequent lockdown have brought the entire education system in India to a grinding halt. Sensing the difficulties, the students are going to face in their preparations for the 2020-21 board exams, some schools have already started online classes for students in class 10 and 12 with the help of education software tools available on the internet. 

These education apps help teachers to connect with about 100 students at a time in a virtual classroom, (which can be interactive too), and can teach core subjects such as maths, physics, chemistry, computer science, biology, etc.

Seeing the sudden surge of demand for online classrooms, there have been a spurt in number of educational apps available online which can be downloaded on any smart phone, tablet or laptop. Of course, there is a price tag attached to it. But looking at the uncertainty involving reopening of schools in June, many schools in metros and smaller cities have made arrangements for teaching students online at convenient timings.

For example, a famous CBSE school in Chennai has asked its senior teachers to conduct online classes for students in class 10 and 12, so that students don’t miss much of the portion during the lock down period. One of the famous apps they use is Zoom.

Some of the other virtual classroom software providers include WebEx, Newrow Smart, Vedamo, BigBlueButton, LearnCube, Electa Live, Adobe Connect, WizIQ, Google hangouts and Edvance 360.

But what about the lower classes? For classes from pre-primary, primary to secondary classes till class 9 and class 11, the schools may not extend online classes for them as of now. Even if the school re-opens in the first week of June, it is possible for teachers to complete the portion for these classes before the annual exam in March 2021.

Will it be a new beginning for online education in India, which has been thus far overshadowed by classroom education method? Though there are several online players such as Byjus, Vedantu, Khan Academy, Unacademy, Edukart, Udemy, Shiksha, Toppr, Meritnation and Extramarks making their pitch for the last few years, they have not been able to penetrate the USD 100 billion education market in India.

With the lock down period coming as an opportunity to revive and reach millions of students for these virtual classroom service providers in India, will there be dawn for the online education in India? Only time will tell. 

COVID-19 infects world economy, will push India few years back!

With the Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressing the nation for the second time in a week locking down the entire nation for 21 days to control the possible spread of Coronavirus, India has joined many of its European counterparts in shutting down the entire nation fearing deadly virus and its devastating impact on its citizen.

Though India has not yet entered the third stage of the pandemic (thankfully), which is the community spreading stage, the measures such as restricting people to stay at home, will, to a great extent, help in containing the virus infecting millions of people in India.

With the country being the second most populous after China, the impact can be devastating and nothing can be said as of now whether the lock down will be effective in stopping the spread of virus and containing the causalities.

Like Italy, Iran, Spain and France, if there is a sudden spike of positive cases in India in the coming weeks, then the impact may be disastrous looking at the fragile, not-so-developed and overstretched healthcare system in India. Due to high population density in urban clusters and high number of uneducated rural households, the virus can infect millions within a few days. So, the lock-down can break the spreading chain.

But what happen after 21 days? If the travel restriction goes, people coming from outside can still infect people. Huge crowd can be seen in railway stations, bus terminus, temple festivals or social functions. Unless there some effective vaccine or cure is at sight, we can’t say for sure, whether the lock-down should be lifted after April 15.

Another important aspect is that, with offices and industries of non-essential goods closing the shutters around the country, the economy is the worst hit, and will take some years for India to come back to the present stage.

Stock market is bleeding, taking the cue from international markets and also domestic scenarios as thousands of crores have been vanished within a week. Rupee value too breached all time high making imports vulnerable. Several key industries have stopped production in their crucial third quarter of the fiscal.

Not only in India, entire world economy has been in jeopardy owing to the novel virus. As our prime minister stated in his address, if we don’t follow the government’s instruction to stay put at homes, our generation will be pushed back to 21 years and the impact will be devastating on several families.

For the world economy, it’s already been infected heavily by Coronavirus. It will surely take few years for the nations to come back to the stage where they are today, and India is not an exception to this situation.

So, without thinking about scientific aspects involved in social distancing to contain the virus, people should be indoors for some days, self-quarantining for the sake of their own health, elders and children in their families and also for the fellow countrymen. By doing this, we can win the race against the deadly virus which has threatened the very existence of humanity. 

Voice of India: Tamil Nadu Turns dump-yard of crime against women

Voice of India: Tamil Nadu Turns dump-yard of crime against women: Tamil Nadu, once the safe haven for women, has been turning into a place of nightmare as there has been more  crime against women inciden...

Tamil Nadu Turns dump-yard of crime against women

Tamil Nadu, once the safe haven for women, has been turning into a place of nightmare as there has been more  crime against women incidents coming to the fore with the recent being the brutal killing of an aspiring actress by her husband, whose chopped head still to be traced in Chennai dump yards and a class X student who was dead after being gang rapped for five days in a shed near Chennai.

Call it a lackadaisical attitude of police, in the second case, had the police acted on the plaint lodged by the student’s parents on the very same day when she failed to return home from school, the girl would have saved from the perpetrators and living among her parents now.

According to reports, the girl was forced into a shed on the way to school by a man acquainted to her (police say her boy friend and relative) and raped her along with four men he brought in later, and all of them continually raped the poor kid for five days. Earlier report suggested that the girl died due to excessive bleeding. Later the prime accused confessed to police that after the crime he hit the girl with iron rod to death. Once they found she was dead, they buried the body in a nearby sugarcane field in Thiruvallur near Chennai.

But their luck ran out after two weeks when a few labourers found a body half-buried beneath the field dug out by stray dogs, and informed the police. The main accused and his four middle-aged accomplices have been arrested.

The girl neither reported to the school on that day nor came back home in the evening. When the parents approached the nearby police station, the police personal in the station refused to entertain the poor parents’ complaints, and ignored it by believing that the girl would have been eloped with someone. After waiting for two weeks, the girl’s parents petitioned the High Court with Habeas 

Carpus plea to find their daughter.

In the first case too, the aspiring Tamil film actress’ husband, who is a director, made several attempts to misguide the police and deceased’s parents, but was caught red-handed when one of the chopped-out hands of the actress was found in a dump yard which had his tattooed name. In a fit of rage, after a domestic quarrel, her husband hit her head with hammer, chopped her body parts and dispatched them in gunny bags in different dump yard locations. With her torso and head still to be traced out even after a month of crime, it is unlikely that the victim and her parents will get justice and accused get punished.

There are several such incidents that are being report from other parts of the state and country daily by media, but the law remains dormant and perpetrators know that they have several legal windows to escape punishment. In most of the cases, the criminals may escape for lack of evidence or due to political and other such influences.

The law should be enacted in such a way that such criminals who committed heinous crimes should be be-headed like the law prevalent in UAE and other gulf countries. Such punitive measure should hesitate people even think of such crime against women.

  

Max Kids Festival Briings in Disney Merchandise for Kids

New Delhi: India’s leading fashion brand, Max Fashion has launched the sixth edition of the highly-awaited Max Kids’ Festival across the country. 

Max has associated with kid’s all-time favourite brand Disney to come out with specially designed Cars merchandise as part of their summer collection. The Fest kicked off with India’s biggest and most popular kid’s icon Rob, of MAD fame, conducting an exciting and fun filled DIY upcycling workshop for about 200 kids at the ‘Max Kids Festival’.

Vasanth Kumar, Executive Director of Max Fashion said: “Max stands for fashion for the entire family, we believe in bringing them closer through our initiatives. The idea of a kid’s fest is to make summer more fun for kids, ignite their young minds and teach them skills which they will use in future." 

Jiten Mahendra, VP Marketing said: “At Max, we continuously strive to engage with our customers through innovative, fun and engaging initiatives. This summer we bring to you specially designed Disney Merchandise to coincide with release of the most awaited blockbuster “Cars 3”. Max Kids festival is in its 6^th year and we saw more than 8000 kids participate actively last year. This year we are expecting more than 12000 kids across the country to participate in various activities.”

Max Kids Festival is an annual activity conducted Max Fashion, where their goal is to help children and parents spend quality time with each other. Over the last 5 editions the Fest has grown in popularity with kids and their parents and is eagerly awaited by this audience. 

This year Max has tied up exclusively with Disney and the Max Kids Festival will see a range of Disney merchandise featuring Cars and Mickey Mouse & Minnie Mouse at their stores.  Apart from DIY, customers can also expect entertaining activities in store every weekend like storytelling, track racing and craft workshops.

Gem & Jewellery India International Exhibition to Open in Chennai from March 10

Chennai: The 13^th edition of Gem & Jewellery India International Exhibition 2017 is scheduled to begin on March 10 at Chennai Trade Centre, Chennai.

Organized by UBM India, the three-day glittering expo will see an array of products that includes fine finished jewelries, gemstone manufacturing services, pearl manufacturing services, silver manufacturing services, diamond manufacturing services, machineries and equipments for making jewellery, packaging materials, display materials, software and allied products as well as related products and survives.

An ideal platform for both buyers and sellers, the annual exhibition is known to attract thousands of visitors, not only from India, but also from several countries.

The participants of Gem and Jewellery India International Exhibition 2017 (GJIIE 2017) will exhibit several equipments and services belong to gem and jewellery industry. Some of them include, Fine Finished Gold Jewellery, Gemstones, Pearls, Diamonds, Silver Jewellery, Machinery and Equipment, Packaging and Display, Ancillary Service Providers, Hallmarkers, Assayers, Jewellery Retail Chains, Publications and Websites.

 The mega B2B gem and jewellery extravaganza is poised to raise benchmarks and fuel trade for the jewellery industry in India.

The expo which is represented by over 350 exhibitors and participants include retailers, artisans, wholesalers and machinery manufacturers who will showcase the latest trends in this domain.

The expo will also see jewellery wholesalers, retailers, importers and exporters, jewellery manufacturers, diamond, gemstone, pearl suppliers and traders, precious metal and jewellery mounting traders and suppliers, and representatives from trade and governmental organisations, all come under one roof to meet, connect, network and grow their business.

In addition to Tier I, II and III cities in India, the exhibition will have delegate representation from Malaysia, Singapore and Dubai, thus substantiating the international reach and presence of GJIIE 2017.

Spread across five halls in CTC, this year’s expo will witness participation by leading players in the gem and jewellery industry from Chennai, Trissur, Coimbatore, Trivandrum, Madurai, Cochin, along with Mumbai, Hyderabad, Rajkot, Ahmadabad, Chennai, Delhi, Jaipur, Bangalore, Kolhapur, Calicut, Surat, and Vijayawada to name just a few.

Take your business to the next level - Top Ten Tips

You have a start-up business which has just crossed the break even. You know that you can sustain but need a thrust to take your business to the next level. 

You need more minds to think for you and take a right decision at the right time. You may need to take the help of market research agencies, financial analysts, consent of creditors or financiers, and of course your own gut feeling to move things forward—in right direction.

Though there are many to occupy your priority list, we have formulated top ten tips you should consider while planning to expand your business operations to the higher level.

Understanding market trend

Your product might have found a place in the market. But the trend keeps changing as competitors always wait for opportunities. So, before any new move from your side, you should do a thorough market research to understand the trend and future prospects of your product. If you find emerging opportunities, you should first hit the market. This may be an unplanned move but will help you consolidate our business in the long run.

Set clear goals

Before you take a final decision on expanding your business, you should analyze how much capital you are going to infuse into the market, incubation period, prospect of ROI, effect of failure on your established business, etc. Make sure that your goals are measurable, specific, achievable, relevant and timely.

Quality check

Before you make a foray into the next level of your business, which may be the introduction of a new product or expansion to new areas, you must ensure that you have the best quality product available to the new consumers.

New areas of expansion

Always look for new areas to expand your business. If you have a business which has more local interest, then there shouldn’t be any stone unturned from your end to utilise the last available opportunity to reach maximum customers in projected areas.

Ways to reach more customers

Marketing is the time tested strategy to reach wide array of customers. Technology has given us more options to find prospective customers in sophisticated ways. Apart from doing traditional marketing, you should expand your horizon to find new customers through new marketing tools available in the digital world.

Look for new business alignments

Partnership is one of the ways to expand the business. This will reduce the capital expenditure and risks. Though you may have to part with some of the profits, the long term benefits are more while you take your business to the next pedestal.

Think globally and target other markets

If you feel that you need to expand your business beyond your established local area, understanding the trend, customers’ need and marketing strategy to be adopted at the new planned area/s, should be essentially learnt before your venture into the new territory.

Invest on quality staff

Motivated and talented workers bring much needed improvements in your business. Learn how to motivate your staff to higher levels of performance.

Improve customer service levels

Satisfied customers are the brand ambassadors of any business. You should spend more time and energy to fine tune your customer service personnel which will help to connect with your existing customers when you launch new products in the market.

Draw up a strategy to outwit competitors

Always be geared to outwit your competitors.  Even if they introduce better product/s in the market first, you should not hurry to launch a counter product without spending adequate time and energy in research and development as inferior product will erode customer base and benefit your competitors. 

Mainstream and Indie Artists -Survival of the fittest

With more and more young talents getting into the arena of arts, the competition to stay alive becomes an arduous task for established as well as Indie artists, who often struggle to find a suitable launching pad to take their career into high pedestal.

Compared to Mainstream Vs Indie Artists, the former has their own advantages and disadvantages as well. Honestly, getting associated with a major label is becoming extremely harder these days. Also labels are only few and people are finding reality shows and social media as much easier mediums to showcase their talents for a wider audience. Established players are also losing their sheen due to piracy and are providing online access to downloading community for their survival.

However, those who are associated with established companies who have a good management skill to survive any odds, can relax as they don’t have to fear professional uncertainty unlike their Indie Music companies or Indie artists. But mainstream artists are like bonded labourers to the music company they are associated with for a particular number of years as they can’t work for others or other mediums.

Internet these days play a level playing field for Indie artists and have become a big boon for indie and amateur artists as it has the ability to create an audience worldwide just like mainstream labels.  The main advantage is low or almost nil advertising cost. One can reach millions of targetted audience through emails or Youtube or any other social media means. 

Finding entertainment in nudity

If one has to go by the latest ruling by the apex court on the superstar Aamir Khan’s forthcoming flick PK, India has indeed become a matured society and knows to differentiate between the nudity and art.

After 47 years of Independence, we have at least shown excellent growth in a field, so to say.

If the same thing was told to the Hindu hardliners when they protested about the nude pictures allegedly drawn by the acclaimed painter  MF Hussain on Hindu Goddesses a few years ago, he won’t  had quit the country and died in a distant land.

It’s baffling to understand, why a good actor like Aamir needs such publicity for his movie? His last film Doom 3 was a super-duper hit and still fills fresh in our mind. In one of the latest promotional events, he was asked about the reason for releasing such picture, which would be difficult for a family to watch with children in India. His answer was vague. He said, he wanted to check whether his friend Salman Khan would imitate this act also in his films.

If one considers the latest supreme court ruling on PK that the picture is more of an art than promoting nudity, then one can expect more such films in the future having Sunny Leone, Rakhi Sawant or any other frontline actresses who just cover their modesty with a piece of cloth or paper and roam around the streets. Does it an indication that our society has grown up?

We are already struggling with sociological and cultural degradation which leads to sexual crimes happening in large numbers almost every day. Not even a single day passed without a gang rape reported in a corner of the country. Women are subjected all sorts of assaults.

According to studies, the main reason for such large number of sexual crimes is due to the depiction of violence and sex shown on silver screens. A few years ago, say 20 years back, our celluloid heroes and heroines used to come closer to make love and two sunflowers would be shown indicating the obvious lip locking act. But now-a-days, films won’t become a box office hit unless it has, not one, but more such lip locking and sex scenes.

It won’t be correct to say that one should be conservative towards sexuality. We have to promote sex education in high-school level for safe sex. There have been talks for decades, but no government has come forward to pass the Bill in the Parliament. Even showing love on the silver screen can be an art. Why should we bring bedrooms in front of our GenNext? Of course we have Hollywood movies showing such scenes in almost every film, but the number of Indian audience, especially children, watching such movies is relatively smaller in number.

The court said, showing such scene is part of an entertainment. Then why we make a hue and cry about pornography? Human sex also an art. One can find several such art works in Ellora and Ajanta caves. Even in several south Indian temples, the Dravidian architecture depicts sexual acts on the temple towers by way of sculptures. These were once used to educate girls about sex and re-productivity by their mothers. But no one portrays it public domain with commercial interest in mind.

So, in the issue of PK, if the ad was made keeping only commercial reason in mind (which is obvious), then it is strongly deplorable. Such decision by the honorable court should not open a Pandora Box and pave the way for several such initiatives by producers and actors to fill-in their coffers at the cost of the society.

Jai Hind!

RTE Act, will it be beneficial to actual beneficiary?

The recent ruling by the Supreme Court exempting minority education institutions from the ambit of Right to Education (RTE) Act has evoked mixed reactions in Chennai with schools having minority status welcoming the decision, while parents of underprivileged and poor students belong to majority community decrying the order as ‘arbitrary’.

While certain schools in Chennai still to admit 25 per cent of students belonging to backward community in their respective areas, a section of parents have expressed apprehension that several wealthy parents belonging to backward community will take this Act as a route to enter into frontline private educational institutions to get free education for their wards.

Since economic status has not been clearly mentioned for admitting these students, a simple caste card is enough to comply the school authorities with extending admission for these students, they say.

However, one can’t rule out the possibility of deserving and intelligent children from middle or poor families belonging to upper cast getting left out or being denied quality education. It is mandatory to argue that by denying seats to these children, are we not denying their right for quality education?

Reservation is good for those who don’t afford quality education, which comes with heavy price these days. Instead of deciding on the basis of caste, economic status should be taken as yardstick to admit these students in private aided or unaided schools, which impart quality education. It will be a good investment for the state government too on these students, who shall utilise their education for the benefit of the state when they grow up.

Modi proposes, BCCI disposes

After a much hullabaloo, the Supreme Court has announced the results of the elections to the administrative body for Rajasthan Cricket Association and Lalit Modi has been announced the convincing winner for the president post.

However, Modi’s happiness was short-lived as red-faced BCCI under its new head Sunil Gavaskar, banned Rajasthan cricket body for lifetime and even appointed a separate team to look into its day-to-day affairs. The order was issued by BCCI’s interim president Shivlal Yadav.

Modi, the former IPL commissioner, has been living in London in exile for over four years after the allegation of financial bungling related to IPL broke out.

Modi won the election by a landslide margin, polling in 24 out of 33 votes, while his opponent Rampal Sharma received only five votes.

It was almost a 20:20 match between Modi and BCCI ever since the Apex Court appointed Justice Kasliwal to oversee the December 19 elections, as fortunes swung in favour of each other till the last moment.

Modi, who feels that the win as RCA chief will pave his way to return to BCCI, said he intended to cleanse the system in the state cricket body, formerly headed by CP Joshi. However, with the quashing of the cricket body, his dream will never come true.

Earlier, the BCCI disciplinary committee, comprising Arun Jaitley and Jyotiraditya Scindia, had submitted a 134-page report in July, 2013, in which it had found Modi guilty of financial irregularities, indiscipline and actions detrimental to the interest of the BCCI.

Marital Bliss at Cidade de Goa !

Wedding is an important day which one would treasure for a lifetime. Facing the serene beach of Vainguinim near Panjim, Central Goa, Cidade de Goa a premier 5-star luxury beach resort in Goa, provides one of the best exotic locations to have a dream destination wedding. 

In a peaceful location, with modern amenities and a multitude of entertainment options, Cidade de Goa is that rare venue - one singularly exquisite location with everything you could ever want!

A Wedding is the starting point of memories, which you would cherish forever. Cidade de Goa has a choice of settings when it comes to holding a wedding. Both for a grand and an intimate wedding, Cidade de Goa provides you with everything that your heart desires.

The wedding planners at Cidade de Goa take care of everything to create your special occasion as personal and unforgettable as you wish.  From the exquisite floral displays to innovative gourmet menus, from unique baarats to mehendi, sangeet parties besides the shimmering bay, you would find Cidade de Goa is an ideal marriage destination offering world class luxury and Goan hospitality.

Cidade de Goa has two “Indoor venues”:  Grand Sala which has an architectural detail, conferred ceiling arched opening and French doors complimented by chandeliers and more with the capacity of setting arrangement of 475 people. Sala de Banquet is another indoor venue, which can hold up to 180 people in a theatrical style which creates a perfect ambience for a romantic evening.

Terraced on a hillside overlooking the bay, Cidade de Goa’s breathtaking view abounds at every turn, sets the mood for wedding celebrations.

One can extend the event outdoors in any one of the Cidade de Goa’s beautifully landscaped lawns. The Sunset Lawns, the Mandovi Lawns and the Zuari Lawns provide a large idyllic setting for your family and friends to gather and celebrate your special day and can be a creative location for your wedding bash.

Your wedding day will spellbind your friends and family as they marvel over the

picturesque backdrop of the blue waters at the Vainguinim. Cocooned in this sprawling expanse of pure indulgence and makes Cidade de Goa a perfect way to turn your nuptial vows into wedding “wows”.

About Cidade de Goa :

Nestled in the serene beach of  Vainguinim near Panjim, Central Goa, Cidade  de Goa, premier among 5-star luxury beach resorts sprawls across 40 lush green acres, created to resemble a self-contained Portuguese hill hamlet (the resort's unique architectural grandeur, earned an international R.I.B.A. award). Cidade de Goa is centrally located near the capital city, a 30-minute drive from the airport or railway station.

The only five star luxury beach resort in Goa that is situated between a green hill and nearing the proximity of the sea – the sort of setting that can turn even the most ordinary person romantic. Surrounded by picturesque bay views, lush green spaces and attentive hospitality, it is ideal for a family getaway, total rejuvenation, wedding celebration and even business conference.

The 5-star resort's dining facilities include The Chef’s Specialty Dining, Alfama; Open-air Beachfront Grill, Barbeque, Poolside Café, Café Azul; International Buffet, Laranja; 24-hour Coffee shop, Doçaria; Poolside Bar, Bar Latino; the Lobby Bar, Taverna and 24-hour in-room dining. It’s an experience that seamlessly combines the old-world charm of Goa with the finesse and professionalism of a world class 5 star luxury beach resort.