South Asia Times

Facebook X-twitter Youtube Instagram Tiktok Linkedin

Goa Offshore Casinos Granted ‘Final’ Extension Till 2027

Goa government extends offshore casinos operations in Mandovi River until March 2027 amid relocation challenges [Representational Image via Indian Express]

The Goa government Wednesday granted extension to the offshore casinos, currently anchored in river Mandovi off Panaji, to continue operations till March 2027.

Goa has six-offshore casinos on the Mandovi river and over a dozen others that run inside leading five-star hotels. Over the years, the casinos have become an integral part of the state’s tourism and an important revenue generator for the state, drawing both domestic and international tourists.

Addressing the media after chairing a cabinet meeting, Goa Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said the state cabinet has granted “final” extension to offshore casinos to continue operations in Mandovi river till March 2027.

Also See: Gang Arrested for Kidnapping Indian Actor Mushtaq Khan

Over the years, off-shore casinos have been given several six-month extensions. But the casinos have drawn criticism from locals in Panaji for causing traffic congestion on the riverfront, with successive governments facing calls to have them relocated.

Officials said that additional time to operate the casinos in the river has been given as the authorities are yet to determine a new site for them. Earlier proposals to move them to another part of the Mandovi river near Aguada Jail or to other rivers such as Zuari and Chapora, have been deemed unfeasible.

This news is sourced from Indian Express and is intended for informational purposes only.

Picture of News Desk

News Desk

Your trusted source for insightful journalism. Stay informed with our compelling coverage of global affairs, business, technology, and more.

News Desk

Your trusted source for insightful journalism. Stay informed with our compelling coverage of global affairs, business, technology, and more.

Recent

When Insurgents Rule: The Taliban’s Crisis of Governance

When Insurgents Rule: The Taliban’s Crisis of Governance

SAT Editorial Desk October 30, 2025

The Taliban’s confrontation with Pakistan reveals a deeper failure at the heart of their rule: an insurgent movement incapable of governing the state it conquered. Bound by rigid ideology and fractured by internal rivalries, the Taliban have turned their military victory into a political and economic collapse, exposing the limits of ruling through insurgent logic.

Read More »
The Great Unknotting: America’s Tech Break with China, and the Return of the American System

The Great Unknotting: America’s Tech Break with China, and the Return of the American System

Emir J. Phillips October 29, 2025

As the U.S. unwinds decades of technological interdependence with China, a new industrial and strategic order is emerging. Through selective decoupling, focused on chips, AI, and critical supply chains, Washington aims to restore domestic manufacturing, secure data sovereignty, and revive the Hamiltonian vision of national self-reliance. This is not isolationism but a recalibration of globalization on America’s terms.

Read More »
Inside the Istanbul Talks: How Taliban Factionalism Killed a Peace Deal

Inside the Istanbul Talks: How Taliban Factionalism Killed a Peace Deal

SAT Editorial Desk October 28, 2025

The collapse of the Turkiye-hosted talks to address the TTP threat was not a diplomatic failure but a calculated act of sabotage from within the Taliban regime. Deep factional divides—between Kandahar, Kabul, and Khost blocs—turned mediation into chaos, as Kabul’s power players sought to use the TTP issue as leverage for U.S. re-engagement and financial relief. The episode exposed a regime too fractured and self-interested to act against terrorism or uphold sovereignty.

Read More »
The Indo-Afghan Arc: Rewriting Pakistan’s Strategic Geography

The Indo-Afghan Arc: Rewriting Pakistan’s Strategic Geography

Sultan Mehmood Hali October 27, 2025

The deepening India-Afghanistan engagement marks a new strategic era in South Asia. Beneath the façade of humanitarian cooperation lies a calculated effort to constrict Pakistan’s strategic space, from intelligence leverage and soft power projection to potential encirclement on both eastern and western fronts. Drawing from the insights of Iqbal and Khushhal Khan Khattak, this analysis argues that Pakistan must reclaim its strategic selfhood, strengthen regional diplomacy, and transform its western border from a vulnerability into a vision of regional connectivity and stability.

Read More »
Pakistan’s rejection of a Taliban proposal to include the TTP in Turkey talks reaffirmed its sovereignty and refusal to legitimize terrorism.

Legitimacy, Agency, and the Illusion of Mediation

SAT Editorial Desk October 26, 2025

The recent talks in Turkey, attended by Afghan representatives, exposed the delicate politics of legitimacy and agency in Pakistan-Afghanistan relations. By rejecting the Taliban’s proposal to include the TTP, Pakistan safeguarded its sovereignty and avoided legitimizing a militant group as a political actor, preserving its authority and strategic narrative.

Read More »