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OHERALDOThe Voice of Goa Since 1900
Visit us at:www.oheraldo.in panjim, monday, oCTober 18, 2010
postal reg. no. Goa 101 priCe rs. 3.00 (air Surcharge rs 2.00)
pages 18
IN BRIEF
A fools bolt is soon
shot.
Shakespeare
Inform all the builders that theirbuildings should be only green
incolour. I will not compromise onGreen Goa.
Business: Pre-trading call
auction to start today Pg 12
India: Mallika in Murder 2, but
Emraan not happy Pg 9
Sports: Murray lifts Shanghai
Masters title Pg 18
Panasonic Presents
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, OCT 17
Cigarette puffing heroes andheroines and creative minds willhave
to be wary this time whenthey light a smoke at Interna-tional Film
Festival of India (IFFI)2010.
Goa Governments steeringcommittee has decided to keepa close
watch on those violatingAnti-Tobacco Act during theforthcoming
IFFI.
Police in plain clothes will beposted at the venue, who
willtrack the violators and com-pound the fine, on the spot.
Directorate of Health Serv-ices State Level Steering Com-mittee
on Tobacco Control inits recent meeting has decidedthat pamphlets
would be dis-tributed along with delegate
cards to make IFFI visitors awareof No Smoking Zone.
They can walk out of prem-ises and smoke. We will notallow the
law to be violated.More care will be taken at Inoxcourtyard and at
Kala Academy,Dr Shekhar Salkar, member ofthe Steering Committee
told
Herald.Dr Salkar, who is also General
Secretary of National Organisa-tion for Tobacco
Eradication(NOTE), said that last time NOTEhad complained about
coupleof cases involving film stars, whowere found smoking in
the
cops to eye smoking at iFFi Notice to
casinoHERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, OCT 17
The State Level SteeringCommittee (SLSC) on tobaccocontrol has
issued notice toan offshore casino, for vio-lating Anti Tobacco Act
bypermitting smoking even inthe area where crche forchildren
exists.
Sources stated that the no-tice was issued after a visitorto the
ship, who did notwanted to be identified, com-plained to SLSC about
therampant violation of Anti-To-bacco Act there.
The SLSC issued warning
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
VALPOI, OCT 17
Elaborate arrangements havebeen made to conduct free andfair
by-election to Valpoi Assem-bly seat on Monday.
The elections officers, includ-ing presiding officers, havetaken
possession of their re-spective booths in all the 31booths on
Sunday evening. Be-sides, CISF Jawans were seenguarding the booths
on Sunday.
According to Returning Offi-cer Jayant G Tari, voters will
ex-ercise their franchise in all 31booths, 27 polling stations
andfour auxiliary booths on Mondayfrom 8 am to 5 pm.
The Poll Monitoring System
(PMS) would be implementedfor the first time to avoid
bogusvoting and to facilitate smoothconduct of poll.
The voters, if any, require as-sistance or guidance could
availthe benefits from voters facili-tation centre, set up near
eachof the booths.
When contacted, Valpoi PoliceInspector Sandesh Chodankarinformed
that no poll-relatedcase has been registered till lateSunday
evening and further saidthat intensive patrolling round-the-clock
was on to monitor thesituation.
As per the situation prevail-ing till Sunday, poll would
beconducted peacefully as far as
law and order situation is con-cerned, said PI Chodankar.
According to sources, a totalof 17,920 voters (male 9,107,female
- 8,805, service voters -8) will exercise their franchiseand
average number of votersper polling stations will be 663.
The polling stations are lo-cated at Nanus, Valpoi,
Velus,Brahmakadmal i , Ambede,Dhave, Kodal, Kudse, Sanvor-dem,
Kumtal, Velguem, Kho-tode , S i r sode , Gawane ,Shelmelaulim,
Murmune, Guleli,Dhamshe, Savorshe, Bironde,Padeli, Vante and
Advoi.
The maximum distance thevoters will have to travel to
Valpoi goes topoll toDay
Election staff carry electronic voting machines and other
material amidst tight security at mamlatdaroffice, Valpoi. Photo by
Ashraf Khan
PTI
NEW DELHI, OCT 17
Open war broke out betweenleading lights of the Common-wealth
Games with SureshKalmadi hitting back at DelhiChief Minister Sheila
Dikshittoday declaring he would notwant the Organising
Committee,which he chaired, to be thescapegoats any more.
Kalmadis ire was promotedby Dikshits comments to PTIyesterday
that the suspicionof corruption in the just con-cluded mega
sporting event ison the Games Organising Com-mittee (OC).
The real corruption seemsto be with regard to the moneygiven as
loans (to the OC), shesaid. Central Government hadgiven loans to
the tune of Rs1,600 crore.
Slamming Dikshit, a belea-guered Kalmadi, said her asper-sions
on corruption in the OCwere most disappointing anduncalled for and
that she mustindulge in self-reflection on cor-ruption in her own
depart-ments.
In a hard-hitting statement,Kalmadi said that keeping
quietshould not be interpreted as asign of weakness.
But, on Dussehra day, I oweit to the Organising Committeethat we
speak out. We dontwant to be the scapegoats any-more, he said.
Delhi Chief Minister Sheila
Dikshits aspersions on corrup-tion in the Organising Commit-tee
Commonwealth Games 2010Delhi are most disappointingand uncalled
for. It is not rightto deflect and point fingers atothers when she
must indulgein self-reflection on corruptionin her own
departments,Kalmadi said.
He said the OC has alreadywelcomed the Prime Ministersdecision
to set up a probe paneland hoped that the Terms ofReference of the
Shunglu Com-mittee will include not just thescope of work
undertaken bythe OC at a budget of Rs 1,620crore but also the Rs
16,000spent by the Delhi Government.
Look whostalking, says
Kalmadi
Dikshit gets it back
PTI
NEW DELHI, OCT 17
Towering effigies of demonKing Ravana, his son Meghnadand
brother Kumbhakaranblazed and crackled in fierysplendour as
Dussehra, sym-bolising the triumph of goodover evil, was celebrated
acrossthe country with fanfare andtraditional fervour.
Amid beating of drums,devotees, dancing frenziedly,also bid
farewell to GoddessDurga as she returned to her
celestial abode.As the skies darkened, the
fire crackers-stuffed effigies,dotting grounds and openspaces in
villages and towns,went up in flames amid deaf-ening sound.
Fire crackers lit up the skiesand crowds burst into cheersas the
effigies went up inflames on Vijayadashmi, mark-ing the slaying of
demon kingRavana by Lord Rama.
Dussehra, which also marksthe end of scorching summer
and heralding of winter, is pre-ceded by nine auspicious daysof
Navaratri during which devo-tees pray, fast and feast.
Ramlilas, vivid enactmentsfrom the life of Lord Rama,were staged
in large parts ofthe country during the ninedays preceding the
festival.
In Delhi, Prime Minister Man-mohan Singh and Congresspresident
Sonia Gandhi wereamong the dignitaries whowatched the evil going up
insmoke at the Ramlila Maidan.
Fanfare marks Dussehra
Effigies of Ravana, Meghnad & Kumbhakaran burning on the
occasion of Dussehra celebration atMohrabadi grounds in Ranchi on
Sunday.
Thackerays grandson
enters politicsPTI
MUMBAI, OCT 17
Shiv Sena supremo Bal Thack-eray tonight introduced hisgrandson
Aditya into politics byanointing him as the head of itsyouth wing
at a Dussehra rallywhich also witnessed three gen-erations of
Thackerays sharingthe podium.
Handing over a sword toAditya to encourage him in hisnew
endeavourYuva Sena, the83-year-old Thackeray at thesame time said
he does not be-lieve in dynasty politics in theSena. 20-year-old
Aditya, whois making his first major publicappearance, is Sena
ExecutivePresident Uddhav Thackeraysson.
I never brought Uddhav inSena. He was made executivepresident by
Krishnakunj per-son (official residence of his es-tranged nephew
and MNS chiefRaj Thackeray). In fact, I opposedit, but all the
party functionariesaccepted Uddhavs leadership,he said.
Indias largest IPO opens todayState-run Coal Indias $3.5
bil-lion dollar initial public offering(IPO), the biggest in the
historyof corporate India, will open onMonday at a price band of
Rs225-245 a share. (Agencies)
Geelani re-electedHurriyat chief Hardline separatist leaderSyed
Ali Shah Geelani hasbeen re-elected as the chair-man of his faction
of the Hur-riyat Conference for the thirdconsecutive 3-year term.
Geelani was elected to thepost unopposed during a Ma-jlis-e-Shoura
(advisory council)meeting in Srinagar on Satur-day, a Hurriyat
spokesmansaid on Sunday. (Agencies)
Dikshits aspersions oncorruption in the OC aremost disappointing
anduncalled for. She mustindulge in self-reflectionon corruption in
her owndepartments.
Suresh Kalmadi
India planning Mars mission
in 2030: KalamPTI
DEHRA DUN, OCT 17
Former President A P J Kalamtoday said that India is planningto
send its mission to Mars in2030.
We hope that we will be ableto send the mission to Mars in2030,
he said at a school func-tion here. Significantly, Kalamhad made a
similar announce-ment here in 2001 regardingthe Chandrayaan-I
mission tothe moon when he was scientificadviser to the
government.
Answering a question, he saidthe best way to eradicate
cor-ruption in the country is to starta campaign from the home.
For a nation of a billion peo-ple, if you ask your father, in
casehe is unfortunately corrupt, tostop corruption, this is the
bestway to stop corruption from thehome itself. If everybody
doesthat, then corruption will stop,Kalam told the school
children.
He said he had been askedthis question earlier also at aschool
function and his answerat that time was the same.
Later, Kalam also adminis-tered an oath asking the youngstudents
to fight corruption.
To another question, Kalamsaid he does not believe in thebrain
drain theory and said theIndians used to go to othercountries to
acquire knowledgeand wealth in the past also.
Headley, a double agent?
PTI
WASHINGTON, OCT 17
David Headley, who confessedhis involvement in the Mumbaiterror
attacks, may have been adouble agent who worked forboth al-Qaeda,
through LeT, andAmerican intelligence agencies,as he was receiving
training atterrorist camps in Pakistan.
By letting Headley maintaincontacts with Lashkar-e-Toibaand
other al-Qaeda leaders inPakistan as reflected in thecourt papers
submitted by theFBI federal authorities havesaid that they hoped to
reachthe top al-Qaeda leaders.
But Headley went rogue andslipped out of their hands.
Those handling Headleys ac-count in the American intelli-gence
agencies said that adecision to arrest him was takenonly after he
shifted his atten-tion from India to Europe andHeadleys Pak
handlers startedusing him for a Mumbai-type at-tack in European
cities.
The information coming fromvarious federal (American) andIndian
sources coming out inbits and pieces indicate that atsome level
intelligence agenciesin the US had information aboutthe possible
Mumbai attack in2008 and the key role that heplayed in this
massacre of inno-cent people by Pakistan-basedLeT terrorists.
This is possible because fed-eral officials hoped that
onceHeadleys handlers had full faithin him, they would be able
toget access to the top al-Qaedaleaders inside Pakistan.
However, another official saidthat Headley gradually
wasbrainwashed and was leakingout only selective informationto the
US and started playingonly on behalf of LeT and al-Qaeda leaders
who were hiscontact persons inside Pakistan.(Continued on page
10)
(Continued on page 10) (Continued on page 10)
Coastlines to have radar
sensors PTI
NEW DELHI, OCT 17
The Central government haslaunched Rs 350-crore projectto set up
radar sensors alongthe countrys coastlines forsurveillance to
prevent terror-ists from entering the nationto repeat the
Mumbai-type at-tack.
The chain of radar sensorsalong the entire 7,517-kmcoastline,
the Andaman andNicobar Islands and Lakshad-weep is being set up by
theCoast Guard under a Home Min-istry scheme.
The radar sensors will be fit-ted on lighthouses at 46
loca-tions, out of which 36 are inmainland, six in
LakshadweepIslands and four in the Andamanand Nicobar Islands.
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GOA, MONDAY, 18 OCTOBER, 2010
GOA Pg 2OHERALD
O
CIVIC FORUM
Killer divider at Verna NH-17JEROmE mENDES, CHAiRmAN Of ROAD
ACCiDENTS ViCTimS TRuST, VERNA
The recently installed road divider on the stretch from
SaiService to Agnel Ashram School is causing many accidents.The
divider is not visible since it has not been painted withreflector
paint. On Ganesh Chaturthi a 65-year-old couple pro-ceeding to
Panjim hit the divider when they tried to avoid anovertaking car. A
few days later, a tourist from Yemen hit thedivider and damaged the
car extensively. Then a truck smashedfour parked vehicles at this
junction. He had no licence. Iphoned the PWD minister about these
accidents; he said thatit was the Transport Ministers
responsibility, not his. Ourlocal MLA said the police would handle
it. Who is responsiblefor these avoidable accidents?
Cuncolim power dept uselessViSHAL DCOSTA, CuNCOLim
Electric poles are placed in the centre of the road at
Cun-colim, posing danger to motorists. They need to be shiftedto
the side of the road. Light fixtures are dangling from theirsupply
cords, ready to fall. Trees are leaning against theelectric poles
causing them to bend. The electric poles areused by cable operators
for fixing their cable junction andsignal amplifier boxes. The
electricity department at Cuncolimis so lethargic; their lethargy
is endangering the life of thepeople.
Kadamba corruptioniSHA NAik, by EmAiL
I am a passenger from Ponda travelling every day to andfrom
Panaji. There is open corruption in the Kadamba busesspecially the
Khethoda bus going from Panaji to Ponda at 6PM. The conductors
charge Rs 20/- or even more for a ticketto Ponda and issue a ticket
of 18/- or 19/- and keep the change.This has been a trend now and
if questioned the conductorgets abusive. The concerned authorities
need to look intothis at the earliest.
Help! Mr Power Minister! TuLSiDAS mALkARNEkAR, mARgAO
Electricity bills no longer have the columns for delayedpayment
charges. They need to be included because if pay-ment is not made
in time the bank does not accept thebill. We have to waste time and
money travelling to theElectricity Dept to get the delayed payment
charges en-dorsed on the bill. This is a great hardship especially
forsenior citizens. The delayed amount and the amount payableafter
due date is calculated automatically by the computer,with no extra
work for the seemingly overworked electricitydept clerical staff.
Will the Power Minister remedy the sit-uation?
Booby trapADELmO fERNANDES, VASCO
The metal sign-board which stands on the pavement alongthe
Swatantra Path near the Municipal Garden in Vasco is rustyand bent
at an angle. The board poses a grave danger topedestrians who could
bang their heads on the corroded metalat night. The concerned
authorities should either straightenthe sign-board or remove it
altogether as it serves no pur-pose.
House collapse and sparksJONAS CORREiA, ALDONA
A house on the main road, right opposite the Mapusa
Mu-nicipality partially collapsed over three months ago. The
struc-ture has further weakened during monsoons and unless thehouse
is fully demolished, it poses a hazard to pedestriansand motorists
alike passing this route daily. Also, the Munic-ipality has kept a
garbage bin near Janata School close to theelectric transformer.
The garbage is incinerated daily andsparks fly in the direction of
the transformer. This is potentiallydangerous for the students
passing nearby. Immediate actionby the Municipality will certainly
help in averting any catas-trophe.
Roadside garbage dumpWiLLiE SEVERES, mAJORDA
A roadside garbage dumping site is emerging just a fewmeters
away from the Majorda beach. Although there is a signboard put up
prohibiting the dumping of garbage in this area,it seems that the
prohibition has not been effectively enforced.With the tourist
season just starting, dumping of garbage islikely to increase with
surrounding restaurants and shacksmaking full use of this area.
Local panchayat authorities shouldseriously look into this matter
at the earliest, before it becomesa nuisance.
(Do you have a complaint against some authority or service?
Arethere any violations of the law that you would like to bring to
thenotice of the public? Do you have any suggestions for
improvementand/or redressal of services?
If you do, then write to us at [email protected]. With
theaim of improving the quality of our civic life, every Monday
Heraldwill publish the best letters on these subjects received
during theweek. This is in addition to our regular Letters to the
Editorcolumn.)
HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, OCT 17
Garbage disposal menace hascome back to haunt the villagersof
Benaulim on Sunday afterthey spotted waste dumped bya business
establishment alongthe road leading to St John theBaptist
Church.
Colva police rushed to Be-naulim around noon after thelocal
youth who had beenmaintaining vigil against wastedumping near the
Church found that the waste came fromthe Colva-based
establishment.PSI Gawde late this evening toldHerald that the
police had ar-rested and released one personon bail for dumping
waste inthe area.
Benaulim ZP member MariaRebello also rushed to the spot,even as
the youngsters de-manded action against the un-scrupulous business
owner fromColva for disposing off his wasteat Benaulim.
Secretary of the Colva Civicand Consumer Forum JudithAlmeida,
who was present atthe spot, strongly protested overthe disposal of
waste from Colvainto Benaulim.
She lamented that the ColvaPanchayat has no system to takecare
of the garbage generatedin the village. The village Pan-chayat has
written to the high
court stating that they have puta system in place to
tacklegarbage disposal. This only goesto shows that the Panchayat
hasno system, she said, while ap-preciating the youth for main-t a
in ing a v i g i l aga ins tunscrupulous elements fordumping waste
from other vil-
lages in Benaulim.Almeida has further lamented
that the cases lodged at theColva police station has failedto
deter the unscrupulous ele-ments from dumping waste atBenaulim,
adding that dumpingwaste in the open exposes peo-ple to various
health hazards.
Benaulim locals demand action against Colva businessman for
dumping waste
The waste dumped along the road leading to St John the
BaptistChurch, Benaulim on Sunday. Photo by Santosh Mirajkar
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
CORTALIM, OCT 17
After a lull of about two months,the National Highways
Authorityof India (NHAI) officials begansurveying the stretch which
islikely to be acquired for 4/6 lanewidening of National
Highway17.
About 3-5 field staff was seenvisiting houses that are likely
tobe affected by the road wideningof the National Highway.
Saying that this exercise hadalready begun in the State,
fieldsurveyor Vinay Naik said theyhad been directed to
identifyingstructures falling between 35 to45 mtrs of the National
High-way.
According to earlier statistics,about 66 structures were
likelyto be affected in Cortalim whichare mostly in 1st Arvale ward
ofthe village if the road width hadto be of 45 mtrs.
Thereafter, following opposi-tion from various quarters,
theState government had an-nounced that the width of theNH would be
reduced to 35 mtrsin areas where it would resultin large-scale
destruction ofstructures/houses.
An official from CPWD how-ever ruled out the possibility
ofreducing the width to 35 mtrs
in Cortalim. We have NationalHighway 17A catering to trafficfrom
Vasco-Ponda via Cortalim.So it will not be possible to re-duce the
width to 35 mtrs in Cor-talim, the official told Herald.
However, in order to over-
come the crisis resulting fromthe road widening, CortalimMLA
Mauvin Godinho had de-manded that a flyover be buildright from the
Cortalim junctionto the Pazentar near Toyotashowroom.
NH17 widening: NHAI surveys affected houses in Cortalim
Officials visiting a house at Cortalim on Sunday. Photo by
Alvaro Colaco
Carambolim VP to set up vermi
composting unitHERALD CORRESPONDENT
OLD GOA, OCT 17
Carambolim Panchayat has de-cided to set up a Vermi Com-posting
unit in the village.
According to sources in pan-chayat, about 8,000 sq mtrs ofland
has been identified for set-ting up the unit in the jurisdic-tion
of Carambolim Panchayat.The unit would be utilized onlyfor
composting garbage beingcollected from Carambolim.
Speaking to Herald, Caram-bolim Sarpanch Balchandra Us-goankar
said the process of landacquisition is almost completeand the
project will be taken upusing panchayat funds.
I will see that I complete theproject before the end of my
pan-chayat term, said the sarpanch.
When asked whether the pan-chayat would recruit labourersfor the
collection of garbage inCarambolim jurisdiction, he saidthe
panchayat would recruitlabourers from Carambolim ju-risdiction for
garbage collectionand also for the Vermi Compost-ing unit through
NREG Scheme.
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
SANGUEM, OCT 17
The election manifesto of for-mer Sanguem Municipal Council(SMC)
chairperson MinguelinhoDCosta, who is contesting fromWard 2
(Khairikanttem/Pangulna)in the ensuing municipal elec-tions, was
released on Sunday.
The manifesto was releasedin the presence of DCosta sup-porters
and voters. DCosta inhis manifesto has 10-pointagenda with focus on
all-rounddevelopment of Sanguem Mu-nicipal areas with support andco
-operation from al l theelected representatives from
thecouncil.
The manifesto also talks ofbringing on track the adminis-trative
affairs at SMC, which isallegedly at cross roads and pro-vision for
payment of electricitybills of the poor and the needysubject to the
limit of Rs 100per month after due scrutinyand study of individual
cases.
Other visions focused in themanifesto includes developmentof
crematoriums of all religionson priority basis, allocation ofshops
at the SUDA complexunder construction as per theneed and choice of
the affected
HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, OCT 17
Urban Development MinisterJoaquim Alemao has said thatFatorda
MLA Damu Naik has noright to demand his resignationon the
controversial reservationof wards in the municipal areas.
Addressing voters of ward 3of Margao Municipal Councilafter
opening the election officeof Joseph Silva, Alemao assertedthat
only the people of Cuncolimhas the right to demand his res-ignation
if the people thinks hehas failed them on the develop-mental
front.
Damu should tell the peopleof Goa why should I quit as
theMinister for Urban Development.Am I responsible for reservingthe
municipal wards for OBCsand STs when the House tookthe decision in
view of the callingattention motion. Can the Con-gress say no to
reservations forthe OBCs and STs when thesecommunities have rallied
behind
the party at all times, he said.Reminding the Fatorda MLA
that reservations have beendone by the Director of Munic-ipal
Administration and not byhim or the Chief Minister Digam-bar Kamat
or GPCC general sec-retary Vijay Sardessai, Alemaourged the people
of Goa to voteand elect good candidates whowould fulfill their
aspirations inthe municipal bodies.
Making an appeal to the peo-ple of ward 3 to support
thecandidature of Joseph Silva, theUrban Development
Ministerpromised that he and hisbrother, PWD Minister
ChurchillAlemao would take up all pend-ing works in the ward in
thenext two years.
In his address, the GPCC gen-eral secretary Vijay
Sardessailashed out at both the FatordaMLA and the candidate
PiedadeNorohna for not ushering de-velopment work during
theirtenure.
Reservation row: Damu has no right to demand my
resignation, thunders Joaquim
Campaigning for MMC polls gains momentum Candidates open
election offices
HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, OCT 17
Campaigning for the MargaoMunicipal polls picked up mo-mentum on
Sunday with candi-dates opening their electionoffices and
distributing voterscards to the electorate.
If writer, singer and Konkaniactivist Purnanand Chari openedhis
election office in ward 8 ofthe Margao Municipal councilthis
morning, Urban Develop-ment Minister hit the campaignfor the
trusted lieutenant of his
close aide and GPCC generalsecretary Vijay Sardessai.
Alemao accompanied bySardessai opened the electionoffice of
candidate and FatordaBlock Congress presidentJoseph Silva in ward 3
Silva islocked in a battle with sittingcouncillor and former
MMCChairperson Piedade Norohna,who is seeking re-election fromthe
ward.
In ward 8, Purnanand Chari,who is backed by the MadgaoLoksamiti,
opened his election
office by breaking the sacredcoconut. Chari is locked in
astraight fight against sittingcouncillor Gonzaco Rebello.
A cross section of his sup-porters from the ward werepresent
during the office open-ing ceremony.
Some of the candidates havealready opened their electionoffices
and have kicked off theircampaign in right earnest.Amongst those
who were thefirst to open the election officewas Pratima Coutinho,
wife ofMargao Municipal ChairpersonSavio Coutinho in ward 16 ofthe
Margao Municipal council.
Many a candidates have al-ready started their
door-to-doorcampaigning, while many othersare waiting for their
voters cardsfor distribution to the elec-torate.
In Fatorda area of the MargaoMunicipal Council, corner meet-ings
have already started bysome of the candidates.
Incidentally, banners put bythe candidates sans permissionfrom
the election and Municipalauthorities were removed in adrive
undertaken last week.
Candidate Purnanand Chari breaks the coconut to mark opening
ofhis election office in Madel ward on Sunday. Photo by Savio
Dias
Ex-SMC chief releases manifestoshopkeepers, formulation
ofschemes for safeguarding andprotection of all religious
struc-tures in the municipal areas andtimely payment of salaries
work-ing at the council which many atimes is kept pending formonths
together for want offunds.
DCosta in his manifesto hasalso chalked plans for the for-mation
of a special cell in themunicipal office which will dealexclusively
with the power prob-lems faced by the citizens.
Sarpanch promises modern
bus stand at CarambolimHERALD CORRESPONDENT
OLD GOA, OCT 17
In a bid to provide better trans-port facility to the
villagers,Carambolim Sarpanch Balchan-dra Usgoankar has
initiatedplans to set up state-of-the-artbus stand, catering to the
serv-ices of Carambolim bus trans-porters.
According to sources, the newbus stand is likely to be readyin
two years time and will besituated close to the Caram-bolim
Panchayat, which will alsohouse over 10 shops.
Speaking to Herald, SarpanchBalchandra Usgoankar said
thepanchayat has initiated plans toconstruct a bus stand,
especiallyfor Carambolim villagers.
We have already initiated theland acquisition process for thebus
stand, which is almost com-plete. About 2,300 sq mtrs ofland has
been identified for thebus stand with the help of ourlocal
Cumbarjua MLA PandurangMadkaikar, he said.
I will see that the bus standget to its completion as soonas
possible. We will also ap-proach the State government tosanction us
funds for the con-struction of the bus stand inCarambolim, he
added.
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
CALANGUTE, OCT 17
The North Goa Tourist Taxi Own-ers Association (NGTTOA) at
itsgeneral body meeting at St AlexChurch Hall, Calangute, on
Sat-urday has resolved to take thematter of their pending de-mands
with Chief MinisterDigambar Kamat.
The Association memberswere of the view that the matterof
renewal of permits for the800 cc vehicles should now betaken up
directly with the chiefminister through Calangute MLAAgnelo
Fernandes.
The NGTTOA members havedecided to call on Fernandes toexplain
their position on theissue and intervene in their gen-uine demand
of renewal of per-mits for the 800 cc vehicleswithout any further
delay.
The NGTTOA felt that delay onpart of the concerned authoritiesis
killing their business and hasdecided to meet the chief ministerto
resolve the pending issue. TheNGTTOA has also come to theconclusion
that there is no reasonin keeping their genuine demandpending when
other states in thecountry issue permits to 750 cc
and 850 cc vehicles.The NGTTOA also claimed
that the State governmentshould consider a minimal rise
in hire charges due to steephikes in petroleum products.
Others issues discussed at themeeting included insurance
anddiscount on spares.
Vasudev Arlekar (president)welcomed the guests of Sai Serv-ice
and LIC, while VinayakNanoskar (secretary) proposedthe vote of
thanks. The meetingwas attended by Ravindra Ven-gurlekar (v ice
president) ,Pradeep Shirodker (treasurer),Vivek Korgaonkar (joint
secre-tary), Rajen Palyekar, Sanjay Ven-gurlekar, Irenieu
Gonsalvesamong others.
N Goa taxi owners to take up grievances with CMn The
Association
members were of theview that the matter ofrenewal of permits
forthe 800 cc vehiclesshould now be takenup directly with thechief
minister throughCalangute MLAAgnelo Fernandes.
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GOA, MONDAY, 18 OCTOBER, 2010GOA Pg 3OHERA
LDO
HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, OCT 17
Welcome to Cuncolim wherea total of 46 candidates are inthe fray
for the ensuing pollsfor the 10-member CuncolimMunicipal
Council.
If you are a stranger to Cun-colim town, dont be surprisedto
find most of the contestingcandidates either swearing theirloyalty
to local MLA and Urban
Development Minister, JoaquimAlemao or are rest assured ofhis
support for their candida-tures.
In fact, banners put up by rivalcandidates in some of the
wardswould show that the candidatesenjoy support of the local
MLA.Photographs of the Urban De-velopment Minister with
thecandidates is not uncommon onthe banners of rival candidates
in some of the wards.This was clearly evident in
Ward no 2 when banners of rivalcandidates Pratima Gaonkar
andMangaldas Gaonkar were seentogether with the photographof the
Urban Development Min-ister.
Incidentally, the Urban Devel-opment Minister has decidedto play
cool and not to intervenein the game of one-upmanship
over the game of banners orwith candidates declaring pub-licly
over enjoying support totheir candidature.
It is learnt that most of thecandidates barring his vocalenemies
have sought Alemaosblessing before filing their nom-ination papers.
And, the rush tothe Varca residence of the Cun-colim MLA by the
candidatesalong with their supporters hasnot stopped as yet,
sources said.
When contacted, the UrbanDevelopment Minister said thatthere is
no opposition for himin Cuncolim. This only showsthat the majority
of the contest-ants are my supporters. I didnot discourage any of
them fromcontesting since they had theirambition to enter electoral
pol-itics, he said, adding theremay be 46 candidates in the
fray,but you will see all the 10 Coun-cilors belonging to me after
thepolls.
Though Alemao says thatmost of the contestants are
hissupporters, it is learnt that theMLA certainly has his blue
eyedboys in the fray and is expectedto make his support known tohis
supporters only on the eveof the Civic polls.
Majority of candidates in Cuncolim swear loyalty to Joaquim
Alemao
The two banners of rival candidates contesting the Cuncolim
Municipal polls with the photograph ofUrban Development Minister,
Joaquim Alemao. Photo by Sidharth Mehta
Calangutepolice arrestone, recover stolen goods
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
CALANGUTE, OCT 17
Calangute Police arrested a per-son and recovered electronici
tems worth Rs 2 lakh atCalangute.
Calangute Police team led byPI Nolasco Raposo achieved
abreakthrough in theft relatedcases by arresting Rohan Sal-gaonkar
on October 11 and re-covering from him various items,including
electronics goods.
Police further informed thatthe accused confessed of
variousthefts in the coastal belts ofCalangute and Anjuna.
Calangute Police recoveredfour laptops, four mobilephones, three
cameras andother items, all worth Rs 2 lakh.The four laptops were
stolenfrom a parked car in Anjuna.Rohan Salgaonkar has
beentransferred to Anjuna Policestation for further
investiga-tions.
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, OCT 17
Goas first ever InternationalTravel Mart (ITM) culminatedtoday
with buyers and sellersexpressing their mix reactionsfor the
event.
The dates of ITM were ques-tioned by many, who felt thatit
should have been little afterKerala Tourism Mart (KTM),which
attracts huge interna-tional participation.
ITM should be prior to KTMor after that. We should knowthat
international buyers flydown for KTM annually andwe cant expect
them to comeagain within two weeks forITM, said Mario
Nazareth,General Manager, O Hotel, Can-dolim.
He said that he will be put-ting across to organizers
sug-gesting them to shif t the
annual date of ITM accordingto KTM.
Nazareth, however, said thatITM put up a good show andthe
response was good.
Jack Ajit Sukhija, represent-ing Welcome Heritage, PanjimInn,
said that KTM should bethe deciding point for an-nouncing dates of
ITM. Itwould have been better, if ITMwas just after KTM, he
said.
Sukhija said that althoughbeing for the first time,
infra-structure for ITM was good.We have to improve the buy-ers
list, he said adding thatITM has the capability to gainpopularity
like KTM.
The participants, who haveput up their stalls, feel thatthe
organizers should unveilthe list of buyers in advanceso that the
industry can startdialogue with them before
Mixed reactions from buyers, sellers as ITM comes to end
Old Goa VP to hike rates for stalls at SFX feastHERALD
CORRESPONDENT
OLD GOA, OCT 17
Old Goa Panchayat in a bid toincrease its revenue has decidedto
increase the rates for thestalls, which will be put up atOld Goa
during the Novenas andFeast of St Francis Xavier.
According to sources in pan-chayat, from this year, stall of
2mtrs each will be charged Rs1,000 per day, while a stall of 4mtrs
will be charged Rs 2,000per day. The stall rates were lastincreased
two years ago.
Sources further informed thatthe forms are expected to beout
from November 10.
It may be noted that hundredsof pilgrims from all over theworld
attend the Feast of StFrancis Xavier at Old Goa duringwhich over
500 stalls are put upat various places in Old Goa.During 10 days,
Old Goa Pan-chayat earns huge revenue inthe form of rent from
stalls.
Speaking to Herald, Cumbar-jua MLA Pandurang Madkaikarsaid the
panchayat has decidedto increase the rates of the stallsso that the
panchayat could earnsome extra revenue.
The panchayat thought ofincreasing the rates, as the pan-chayat
felt that the rates weretoo low, said Madkaikar.
they arrive here.The footfalls on the stalls
are low compared to what wewere expecting, Atish Fernan-des,
Director (operations), FirstClass Holidays reacted.
He said that buyers list waskept confidential till the lastwhich
stopped us from con-tacting them.
We are willing to partici-pate next year. The organizersshould
also take the sellersand buyers into confidence be-fore putting up
the show nexttime, Fernandes said.
Fernandes company is intoinbound tour in Goa and UttarKarnataka.
He said that 15per cent of the people who in-teracted during the
event werehere to sell their own locationslike South Africa and
SouthEast Asia, he stated.
The four day long ITM whichbegan on October 14 had var-ious
sections including knowl-e d g e s e s s i o n s i n w h i c
hindustry experts expressedtheir opinion on various is-sues.
As the tourism season nears, the work of erecting shacks is in
full swing. In this photo, workers are busy in their job, at
Vagator beach, onSaturday. Photo by Rozario Estibeiro
HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, OCT 17
T h e Tr a d i t i o n a l Fa m a o fMenino Jesus will be
cele-brated at Colva Church onMonday on October 18.
The Eucharistic celebrationwill begin at 5.30 am on Mon-day at
the hands of ParishPriest, Fr Diogo Fernandes,after which the image
of InfantJesus will be brought downfrom the glittering bullet
proofvault on the Altar and takenin a procession, followed
bykissing by the devotees till10.30 in the evening.
Parish Priest Fr Diogo Fer-nandes said the entire villageof
Colva is geared up to cele-brate the Fama of MeninoJesus. The Fama
has a mag-netic power as the grand cel-ebration grips the natives
ofColva. People from differentcommunities participate in
thecelebrations to thank InfantJesus for the favours receivedas the
Image is endowed withthe power of performing mir-acles, Fr
Fernandes added.
Historically, many legendssurround the statute of InfantJesus as
regards its origin, Therecord in the Church, illus-trated by a
couple of paintingson the wall of the sacristy, tes-tifies to
strange happenings inthe 17th century.
Fama of Menino Jesus
to be celebrated in ColvaThe statue of Menino Jesus
was located by a part of ship-wrecked sailors led by a
JesuitMissionary Fr Bento Ferreiraoff the coast of Mozambiquein the
17th century.
On his posting to Colva, in1648, Fr Ferreira had the
statuegrandly enthroned on a specialaltar, Soon, the statue
invitedhordes of devotees for an an-nual Fama ceremony when
theimage was exposed for publicveneration. The popularity ofthe
event in Colva spread be-yond the borders of Goa.
SHWETA KAMAT
PANJIM, OCT 17
Miramar beach is likely to leadGoas shores in becoming to-bacco
free zones in near future.
Directorate of Health Serv-ices State Level Steering Com-mittee
(SLSC) has decided totake up pilot project of TobaccoFree Beaches
from Miramar.
Dr Shekhar Salkar, prominentanti tobacco activist and SLSCmember
said that the statehealth departments tobaccocontrol board has
planned tostrictly enforce the anti-smokinglaw in the popular
beaches ofGoa, which are thronged bytourists during the season.
Proper boards would be dis-played on Miramar beach whichwill
prohibit smoking as well asconsumption of other tobaccoproducts on
the beach.
Tourists visiting here will beinformed in advance that use
oftobacco is banned here as it isa public place.
Tourism department and Po-lice department has been ropedin this
ambitious project whichwill pave way for other beaches
to be tobacco free, he said.Voluntary Health Association
of India (VHAI), Goa branch hasbeen appointed as a party
toundertake this ambitious proj-ect.
Dr Salkar said that the stategovernment itself wishes tomake
Goa, a tobacco free state.
During a recent function or-ganized by Indian Medical
As-sociations (IMA) Goa branch,the chief minister DigamberKamat had
written on bannerthat it is his dream to have To-bacco Free State,
he said.
SLSC discussed implementa-tion of the law during its re-cently
held meeting. It wasdecided that tourism along withpolice will form
a flying squadwhich will crack down the vio-lations and fine the
offender onthe spot.
The vigil will be kept roundthe clock, he said adding thatevery
100 metres boards wouldbe displayed warning the visitorsagainst
smoking.
State tourism department isexpected to formally announcethis
pilot project through media.
Goa has seen almost 80 per-cent implementation of
theanti-tobacco law and actionsare being taken to make thestate
tobacco free. The stategovernment and the anti-to-bacco group are
working intandem to make Goa a smokefree state.
SLSC which has decided tonail the violation at every publicplace
had recently conducted asurvey at Quepem on implemen-tation of anti
smoking act.
Salkar said that around 400hotels were checked of whichjust 13
per cent lack implemen-tation. Rest 87 per cent has putup boards
and ban customersfrom smoking in the hotel, headded.
While smaller establishmentshave been holistically imple-menting
the law, two of biggerhotels from Panaji are allegedlyviolating the
law.
Salkar said that they have re-ceived complaints about NovaGoa
and Fidalgo which lacks theimplementation. We will be is-suing them
notices shortly, hesaid.
Tobacco Free Beaches campaign to be tried and tested at
Miramar
HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, OCT 17
In an interesting development,the Curtorim Communidade onSunday
cancelled the auctionscheduled on Sunday and Mon-day for extraction
of basaltstones and setting up of stonecrushers in Sao Jose de
Arealvillage.
Sao Jose de Areal villagersunder the banner of ScheduleTr ibes
As soc i a t ion , whomarched to the Curtorim Com-munidade office
this morningto protest against the auction,hailed the cancellation
of theauction as a victory for the peo-ple.
The cancellation of the auc-tion came for want of any bid-ders
and also the fact that theAdministration of Commu-nidades, south
told the CurtorimCommunidade to keep the auc-
tion in abeyance.The Curtorim Communidade
will now meet on Wednesdayto take decide on the applica-tions
received from the peopleopposing the auction of the hillsfor
extraction of basalt stonesand for stone crushers.
Around 300 Sao Jose de Arealvillagers marched to the officeof
the Curtorim Communidadewell ahead of the auction sched-uled at
10.30 am. When thecommunidade attorney DrErnesto Rodrigues came to
theoffice, the villagers questionedhim on the auction and
under-lined to save the village hills forposterity.
Rodrigues explained to thevillagers that his office has
re-ceived a communiqu from theAdministrator of Commu-nidades asking
the Commu-nidade to keep the auction. He
later gave a note to the villagersstating that the auction
standscancelled.
A villager Freddy Travassolater told the villagers that
theauction has been cancelled bythe Communidade and reiter-ated the
resolve of the peopleto protect the hills from furtherdestruction.
Our only requestto the Curtorim Communidadeand other authorities is
to justleave our hills alone and not de-stroy them for basalt stone
ex-traction. We will never allowauction the land and hills of
ourforefathers to be destroyed bystone extraction,
Travassoadded.
He said the villagers have toldthe Curtorim Communidade toinform
the Sao Jose de ArealChurch about future decisionson the auction or
other issuesaffecting the village.
Curtorim Comunidade calls off auction of Areal hills
Sao Jose de Areal villagers with placards outside the Curtorim
Communidade opposing auction of thehills for basalt stone
extraction. Photo by Santosh Mirajkar
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
CALANGUTE, OCT 17
Nine persons, including three foreign nationals,were saved from
drowning by Drishti Surf Lifeteam of lifeguards along the Candolim,
Calanguteand Arambol coasts.
According to Drishti reports, a Mumbai couple,Rounak Marfartia
(25) and Gauri Kandira (25)were saved at Candolim by lifeguards
NarayanGauns and Rajendra Gaonkar, while at Calangute,
Sudesha Devi (40) from Bangalore and RenukaBarde (26) from
Karnataka were saved by lifeguardAnil Gaonkar and others.
A Kerala duo of Rakesh and Sujit were alsosaved by lifeguards
Arun Kumbharjuvekar andAmit Shinde.
At Arambol, a Kazakhstan trio of LawrenceGodwin (38), Ushtap
Nuqthaiva (31) and GulsimA Kulrary (26) were saved by lifeguards
SakharamBandekar and Vijay Pednekar.
Nine rescued from drowning
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upcOming EvEnTS
GOA, MONDAY, 18 OCTOBER, 2010
GOA Pg 4OHERALD
O
Gram sabha at CortalimPANJIM(HND): The ordinary gram sabha
meeting of the Vil-
lage Panchayat Cortalim-Quelossim for the month of Octoberwill
be held on Sunday, October 24 at 9.15 am in the officeof the
Village Panchayat Cortalim-Quelossim.
The following agenda will be discussed: To read and confirmthe
proceedings of the previous gram sabha meeting, to placebefore the
gram sabha the half yearly statement of accounts,to place before
the gram sabha the list of name underDhangar/ST/IAY/RAY/NREGS, to
discuss on proposals receivedfrom the gram sabha members if any,
any other subject withthe prior permission of the chairperson.
Any person who desires to place any suggestions beforethe gram
sabha meeting may be sent by him/her in writingaddressed to the
Sarpanch four days before the gram sabhameeting. If the required
quorum is not found within thescheduled time, the meeting will be
adjourned and the samewill be conducted after half an hour on the
same day andplace, says a press release.
Tiatr Kusovo at MargaoPANJIM (HND): Ami Daizi Fatorda, a newly
formed insti-
tution, will stage a traditional tiatr titled Kusvo on October22
during the 36th Tiatr competition organised by Kala Acad-emy, at 7
pm. A pre release show is scheduled to be held atPai Tiatrist JAF
Auditorium of Ravindra Bhavan, Margao, onOctober 17 at 10.15 am
which will be followed by criticalanalysis of the presentation by
drama critics.
Kusvo is scripted by Conceisao Fernandes, directed byAvinash
Chari and has Rupesh Jogle in the lead role withSuzeta Pereira,
John Marques, Ivy Pereira, Nazario Pinto andPobre Dias. Singers
include Francis Pinto, Bernardo Noronha,Mario Pinto, Alfred Colaco,
Antonette Barbosa , Kareen Mas-carenhas, Reema Dias, and Conceisao
Fernandes.
Ami Daizi, a registered society, aims at preserving andpromoting
cultural heritage of the state, besides tappingtalent and endearing
them its rich culture, says a press releaseissued here.
SHORT TAKESProgramme on HIV/AIDS held
Sensitization programme on HIV-AIDS at Dharbandora.
CURCHOREM(HC): The Goa State AIDS Control Society
incollaboration with Goa Institute of Rural Development
Agencyrecently organized one-day sensitization programme on
HIV-AIDS to the self help groups of Dharbandoda and
SancordaPanchayats.
About 70 members were present for the function held
atDharbandoda Panchayat Hall.
Dharbandora Sarpanch Shamu Velingkar was the chiefguest for the
function. Project Manager Sanjay Naik, facultyof GIRDA Sarita
Patil, Gram Sevika Nirmla Marathe andSecretary Khushalidas Gaonkar
were present at the pro-gramme.
Velingkar in his speech urged the need to spread themessage of
HIV AIDS at the grass root level.
Resource person for the programme Sanjay Naik briefedabout
various issues of HIV AIDS, myth and misconceptionsof HIV AIDS,
services about HIV AIDS issues, stigma and dis-crimination,
etc.
Earlier, many such programmes were organized for selfhelp
groups, anganwadi workers, panchayat members, electedmembers and
government officers all over the State with thehelp of GSACS and
GIRDA.
Dr Pradip Padwal, Project director of GSACS, and RekhaJoshi,
Assistant Director GIRDA, are the key persons behindthe
programme.
Sarita Patil welcomed the chief guest and other
participants,while Sarita Patil proposed the vote of thanks.
Konknni compering workshop held
Dr Ajay Vaidya inaugurates the workshop in the presence ofGKA
Vice-President Vincy Quadros, DKA President PremanandA Lotlikar and
Secretary Jose Salvador Fernandes.
PANJIM (HND): The second Konknni compering workshopwas conducted
recently by Dalgado Konknni Akademi (DKA)in Margao BPS Club. Dr
Ajay Vaidya was the main resourceperson who guided the participants
on various issues andskill that are required for competent
compering. He also in-augurated the workshop in the presence of Goa
KonknniAkademi's Vice President Vincy Quadros, DKA's president
Pre-manand A Lotlikar and Secretary Jose Salvador
Fernandes.Certificates were presented to the participants by the
guests.
DKA is plans to hold two more such workshops shortly;one in
Ponda and another in Canacona.
Navtara opened at Porvorim
Imelda Tavora inaugurates restaurant at Porvorim. Photo by Anil
Shankhwalker
PORVORIM(HC): Imelda Tavora inaugurated the Porvorimbranch of
Navtara, the pure vegetarian multi-cuisine restauranton
Thursday.
This is the third branch of Navtara in North Goa, the firsttwo
being in Panjim and Mapusa.
Speaking to Herald, Navtara proprietor Carlos Tavora saidthey
have been receiving good response from customers inGoa. I studied
in Karnataka and during my stay for sevenyears, I happened to visit
Udipi hotels and hence urge wasdeveloped to start such pure
vegetarian restaurants in Goa,informed Tavora. Considering
overwhelming response fromthe customers, I decided to open more
branches. I plan toopen two more branches, one each at Margao and
Calanguteshortly, added Tavora.
Tavora further informed that about 300 dishes are beingprepared
in his restaurants and Derick Barnes is the architectof his
restaurants.
Talk on career guidance held
Pradeep Joshi, Vivek Kerkar, Ashok Kerkar, Ashok Kenkre,
AjitKolwalkar, and Vaman Gaitonde seen on the occasion.
PANJIM (HND): Progress HS recently organised a talk
onPersonality and Career Guidance' for the SSC students andtheir
parents. Vaman Gaitonde, the founder of the trainingcentre called
'Make Over' was the guest speaker who spokeon the various careers
which students could opt for andadvised them oriented study towards
their career and excelin the one they choose. He also underscored
the importanceof personality for a successful career. Chairman of
the managingcommittee, Vivek Kerker, manager Ashok Kenkre,
vice-chairmanPradeep Joshi and the headmaster Ajit Kolwaikar were
alsopresent. Maria Ribeiro compered and the vote of thanks
wasproposed by Satish Mhapsekar.
Fr Diogo M Fernandes
Its October and once again its time forthe Colva Parishioners to
celebratethe traditional Fama of Infant Jesus
popularly and lovingly known as MENINOJESUS.
Generally, the Fama of Infant Jesus at'Our Lady of Merces
Church, Colva is cel-ebrated on the second Monday of October.But,
if the second Monday comes beforetwelfth, then it is celebrated on
the fol-lowing Monday. This year it will be cele-brated on October
18, the theme being,"Let us imbibe the values of Infant Jesusin Our
life. The statue of Infant Jesus isendowed with the power to
perform mir-acles and hence, thousands of devoteesthrong to this
church irrespective of castecreed or religion to seek His blessings
orto thank Him for the favours received.
On the morning of the great day abrass band announces the much
awaitedevent with traditional music Alvoradawhich means dawn in
Portuguese.
As in the past, let me acquaint thedevotees of the historical
legends thatsurround the statue of Infant Jesus as re-gards its
origin. The record in the church,illustrated by a couple of
paintings on
the wall of the sacristy, testifies to strangehappenings in the
seventeenth century.
From 1498 to 1600, Portuguese navalfleets and merchant ship had
the monopolyof the control and trade of the Indian Ocean.Each ship
had a small chapel with a statueof Jesus or a saint and always, at
least onepriest accompanied the fleet in order toenable the sailors
or soldiers to performtheir religious duties. Many a time
theseships were caught in storms at sea andshipwrecks were common.
One such tookplace off the coast of Mozambique, on theshores of
Africa in 1640, involving a part ofthe sailors with a Jesuit priest
accompanyingthem. The priest was Fr Bento Ferreira sj.They all swam
a shore and reached Sena inMozambique, perhaps at night. When
theygot up in the morning, they saw a numberof birds surrounding an
object on a rockclose to the shore. On closer scrutiny theywere
surprised to see that the object wasa statue of the child Jesus,
seated on therock, dressed in fine clothes having goldring on his
finger with a diamond.
The statue may have floated from aPortuguese ship that had
previously sunkand carried away at high tide by thewaves and
stopped on the rock as the
waves receded at low tide,The Jesuit, Fr Bento Ferreira
brought
the statue along with him to Goa. In 1648when he was posted at
Colva church, hehad the statue solemnly enthroned on aspecial Altar
in the church. Soon the statuebecame an object of veneration for
thehordes of devotees that flocked the church.Somehow the original
statue reachedRachol Seminary church, while the originalring with
the diamond remained in Colva.
There are popular legends which ex-plain this event, but it is
not known whichone is correct. The first Legend is that afew years
later Fr Bento Ferreira wastransferred to Rachol church, attachedto
the then college of the Jesuits for Sal-cete, presently the Rachol
Seminary.
On his transfer, he removed the statuefrom the altar at Colva,
leaving there theoriginal gold ring with the diamond thathad
slipped out. He took the original statuewith him to Rachol church
and mounted iton other altar. The legend seems plausible.
Another legend gives that the statue wasrobbed from Colva, but
the Parishionerspursued the robber up to Sonsoddo, a placeon the
borders of Raia village, where thegold ring fell from the finger of
the statue.
At this moment there is said to have beena dazzling light and a
vision of the childJesus, directing them to take the
originaldiamond ring to Colva. This legend is pop-ular amongst the
villagers of Colva.
The Eucharistic celebration on theFama day will begin at 5.30
am, with themain celebrant being the Parish PriestRev Fr Diogo M
Fernandes. This will befollowed by bringing down the miracu-lous
statue of Infant Jesus from the bulletproof vault on the altar. The
image thenwill be carried in a procession followedby blessing of
the flag pole bearing thebanner of Infant Jesus. The image thenwill
be thrown open for kissing by thedevotees, even beyond 10 pm.
The novenas will begin from October 19,followed by the Feast of
Infant Jesus on Oc-tober 28. After the main mass, other masseson
the Fama Day will be celebrated outsidethe church from 8 am to 12
noon and againin the evening from 3 pm to 8 pm.
On the Feast Day, masses will be cel-ebrated at 6 am 7.15 am and
the feastmass will be held at 9 am. This year thefeast of Infant
Jesus is being celebratedby the new committee and all the mem-bers
of the Confraria of Colva.
Fama of Menino Jesus at Colva
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
PORVORIM, OCT 16
Organic Farming Association ofIndia, GOACAN and Green
Es-sentials along with ThomasStephens Konkani Kendra
(TSKK)celebrated World Food Day byorganizing an exhibition in
thepremises of TSKK at Porvorim.
Students of Chubby CheeksGreen valley school, Pilerne,Holy Cross
High School, Bastoraand SFX High School, Siolimpresented a
demonstration onways to detect food adulter-ation.
A number of local vegetablesand garden tools were also ondisplay
at the exhibition, whilefarmers from Choaro held dis-cussion on
food security.
Additional Director of OrganicFarming Association of IndiaMiguel
Braganza said the WorldFood Day is generally celebrated
by the Agriculture departmentsand ICAR.
"This year, NGO's decided tocelebrate it with the involve-ment
of people and students.The prime objective of organ-izing this
exhibition is to invitethe attention of the people tothe necessity
of food and itsproduction," said Braganza.
TSKK Director Fr Pratap Naiksaid the purpose of organisingthe
exhibition is to create publicawareness on ways to maintainecology
and open spaces, to freeGoa from insecticides and non-organic
fertilizers and to culti-vate vegetables using
organicfertilizers.
"Every home should have akitchen garden. People shouldgrow
vegetables or plant treesif open spaces are available intheir
residential premises," saidFr Naik.
World Food Day held at TSKK Porvorim
A student demonstrates ways to detect adulteration in food
items. Photo by Anil Shankhwalker
HERALD REPORTER
VASCO, OCT 17
Going by the performance of the previouscouncil, most candidates
winning electionsto the Mormugao Municipal Council (MMC)will end up
either serving as chairpersonor deputy chairperson.
Such has been the musical chair syn-drome at the MMC during the
previouscouncil, that as many as 14 of the 19 coun-cillors have
either served as chairperson orvice chairperson in the last five
years.
Though the council has 20 members, thestrength was reduced to 19
following theresignation of Mormugao MLA Milind Naikas
councillor.
While six councillors served as chairper-son, all seven women
councillors had theprivilege to become the vice chairperson.
When barely three months were left forMMC to go to polls, the
vice chairpersonspost was allotted to a male candidate andKashinath
Yadav was elected to the post.
According to sources, when the councilbegan its tenure in 2005,
the ruling group hadmutually agreed that the chairperson would
serve for one year, while the term would beabout eight months
for the vice chairperson.
But after a year, the one-year "term" forthe chairperson was
reduced to six months.
Councillor Manesh Arolkar, recentlyelected unopposed to the new
MMC, hadthe privilege to serve as chairperson for amaximum of
nearly 15 months. Later, CarlosAlmeida who took over as MMC
chairpersonwas voted out of office within four months.
Councillor Anita Chopdekar served asvice chairperson for nearly
one year, whileShanit Mandrekar occupied the same postfor only 49
days.
The chairpersons in the MMC during thelast five years have been
Sharad Chopdekar(October 13, 2005 to December 21, 2006),Manesh
Arolkar (December 21, 2006 to Feb-ruary 4, 2008), Carlos Almeida
(February 19,2008 to June 23, 2008), Kritesh Gaonkar (July1, 2008
to April 24, 2009), Saifullah Khan (May12, 2009 to November
25,2009) and ShekharKhadapkar (December 8, 2009 till date).
The vice-chairpersons in the MMC duringthe last five years have
been Kishori Haldankar(January 31, 2005 to July 8 2006),Lavina
DSouza
(August 1, 2006 to May 16, 2007), AnitaChopdekar (May 16, 2007
to May 6, 2008),Shanti Mandrekar (May 6, 2008 to June 23,2008),
Suchita Shirodkar (July 1, 2008 to No-vember 12, 2008), Chitra
Gawas (November12, 2008 to April 2, 2009), Chitra Gawas (April25,
2009 to July 8, 2009), Rohini Parab (July28, 2009 to July 28, 2010)
and Kashinath Yadav(July 13, 2010 till date).
The 'musical-chair' syndrome also affectedthe administration in
the council, with sixchief officers serving the council in the
lastfive years. Moreover, the council functionedwithout a full time
chief officer for nearlyone-and-half year.
Due to constant change in guard, de-velopment works were
hampered and nota single project has been followed properlyby
concerned authorities, admitted a seniorofficer in the council, who
spoke on condi-tion of anonymity.
The new chairperson took his own timeto know the affairs of the
council and bythe time he got involved in some seriousbusiness, he
was replaced by another chair-person," the officer added.
14 councillors served as chairperson, dy in MMC
The residents of Aivao, Dona Paula celebrating Dandiya Raas at
Sateri Temple, Dona-Paula on Saturday.
Teachers visiting UK briefed on
Indian festivalsHERALD CORRESPONDENT
PORVORIM, OCT 17
Holy Family Primary School or-ganized a programme to
depictfestivals of India to the teacherswho are leaving for UK on
Oc-tober 30 to visit the partnerschools in Cornwall, UK.
Speaking on the occasion,Holy Family High School Head-mistress
Fatima DSa said out ofthe eight teachers selected fromBardez to
visit UK as part ofGlobal Schools Partnership pro-gramme, two
teachers Irene D-Souza Manuel and Reena Simoesare from their
primary school.
During their stay of oneweek, they will learn culture andobserve
the teaching techniquesof schools in UK. This GlobalSchool
Partnership programmewill benefit the teachers of theschools in UK
and Goa, saidDSa.
Teacher Irene Manuel said thevisit will enable the teachers
ofboth the countries to shareideas, teaching experiences andthereby
develop harmonious re-lationship between the partnerschools.
This will increase open mind-edness and with the exchangeof
thoughts the change in edu-cation can be brought about,added Irene
Manuel.
Spring Valley High School, Pil-erne, Headmistress Selena D-Souza
said four schools fromBardez taluka have been se-lected to visit
UK. This visit willhelp to develop joint curriculumand critical
thinking.
Legal literacy camp held
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
COLLEM, OCT 17
Sanguem Taluka Legal ServiceCommittee and JMFC Sanguemjointly
organized a Legal Literacycamp for the students of Std IXand X of
Abhinav VidyamandirHigh School Mollem at MollemPanchayat Hall on
October 6.
Adv Rupa Prabhu Gaonkar ofJMFC Sanguem and Adv Pan-durang Parab
were the keyspeakers for the programme.
School Headmaster SharadChandra Khandeparkar and JMFCHead Clerk
Elanna Alfonso werealso present on the occasion.
Speaking on Anti-ragging,Adv Rupa Gaonkar said involve-ment in
ragging activity inschools or educational insti-tutes is a crime.
Many studentslost their career as well as theirlives by committing
suicidesdue to ragging cases. Adv Pan-durang Parab spoke on
FreeLegal Aid.
Expo at Panjim
HERALD NEWS DESK
PANJIM, OCT 17
New Ayushi Craft and WeavesPromotion Society Bhopal (MP)has
organized an exhibition"Cotton Fablo in India" at ClubNacional,
Panjim, and today isthe final day.
The society has been provid-ing training, design and market-ing
facilities to the identifiedpoor weavers and artisans.
The products on display areChanderi Sarees, cotton
suits,Baghprint suits, Butic Suit, Top,Fulkari Dress Materials etc.
Prod-ucts from Madhya Pradesh,Chhatisgarh, Rajasthan,
Gujrat,Maharashtra, Patiala, HariyanaAndhra Pradesh, Lucknow,
UttarPradesh and Kashmir.
The Pearls and Stone Jew-ellery from Hyderabad, woodentoys,
Masoor Chandan Agarwatifrom Karnataka, Saharanpur Fur-niture, Japur
and many moreproducts are on display. 20% dis-counts on handlooms
and 10%discount of handicrafts are avail-able, says a press
release.
HERALD CORRSEPONDENT
VALPOI, OCT 17
Opposition Leader Manohar Par-rikar said he is confident thatBJP
candidate Santosh Haldankarwill win the by-election, as
Valpoipeople are fully convinced withthe issues BJP has taken up
dur-ing house-to-house campaign.
Parrikar was addressing thepress conference at Valpoi onSaturday
evening.
Parrikar, North Goa MP ShripadNaik, Govind Parvatkar and
othersenior BJP leaders claimed thatthey have toured entire Valpoi
con-stituency in the last few days andfound that no big
developments,as claimed by Vishwajeet Rane,have been carried out in
Valpoi.
Major projects like busstand, market complex, up gra-dation of
Dabose Treatmentplant could not be completed.The conditions of the
interiorroads in the villages are bad,they claimed.
Parrikar stated that about 39hectares of land has been
con-verted into reserve forest in Sep-tember, this year, and about
100families from Karmali Budruk, whohad cashew plantation, will be
af-fected due to the conversion.
Local MLA Vishwajeet Ranecould not do anything to providerelief
to the affected people.Hence, all those families willback BJP
candidate this time,alleged Parrikar.
I am confident that BJP can-didate Santosh Haldankar will
Parrikar confident ofBJPs victory in Valpoi
HERALD CORRSEPONDENT
VALPOI, OCT 17
Congress candidate Vishwajeet Rane has accused the BJP of
mis-leading people regarding his comments on mining activities.
Addressing a press conference on Saturday, Rane clarifiedhis
stand stating that no mining activities will be permittedwithin the
limits of Valpoi Municipal Council (VMC) and nonew mines will be
allowed to operate in Valpoi constituency.
I am with the people. Whatever the policy on mining, I willadopt
and will be with the collective decision of the people,stated
Vishwajeet Rane.
Coming down heavily on Manohar Parrikar and other seniorBJP
leaders, who are campaigning in Valpoi since the last fewdays, Rane
said that one BJP MLA and another ex-minister inthe Parrikar
cabinet had recently visited his office and blamedParrikar for not
doing any development work in their con-stituencies during his
tenure as chief minister.
Rane claimed that he went to the people during his campaignwith
three issues, development, employment and women em-powerment, and
got overwhelming support from the people.
Its the people who will teach BJP a lesson on October 18.I am
confident that I will win the election with thumping ma-jority.
Whatever projects are incomplete, I will complete it assoon as
possible, said Rane.
BJP misleading people: Vishwajeet
win, as Valpoi people are fullyconvinced with the issues BJPhas
taken up during house-to-house campaign, added Parrikar.
North Goa MP Shripad Naikaccused Congress candidateVishwajeet
Rane of misleadingthe people by saying that NorthGoa MP has not
done anything.
Naik clarified that he carriedout 22 projects in Sattari
talukaunder MP funds, including 11
community halls in Poriem andfive community halls in
Valpoiconstituency.
BJP candidate Santosh Hal-dankar said he is born andbrought up
in Valpoi andpresently stays in Valpoi and willbe available to
people at anytime on all the days unlike hisopponent who stays in
Panjimand most of the time remainsout of the country.
Restrictions on misuse of vehicles for bye-poll
PANJIM (HND): The office of the Chief Electoral Officer,
Altinhohas issued directions for the use and hiring of vehicles
duringbye-election at 19-Valpoi Assembly Constituency, which will
be inforce on the polling day October 18 from 8 am to 5 pm.
Section 133 of the Representation of People Act, 1951
providesthat free transportation of the voters by candidates or
their agentsto and fro from the polling station is a Corrupt
Practice and shallattract prescribed penalties. One vehicle each
only shall beallowed to the candidate and his Election Agent on the
day of polland such vehicle should display the permission letter on
the frontwind screen.
-
GOA, MONDAY, 18 OCTOBER, 2010SUPPLeMeNT Pg 5OHERA
LDO
Maria de Lourdes
Bravo da Costa Rodrigues
Down South of Goa thereis a beautiful villagenamed Colva, where
ex-
ists the Church of Our Lady ofMercy, in which is installed
theidol of a Miraculous Infant Jesus.The Fama marks the beginningof
the celebrations and an an-nouncement to the devoteesabout the
ensuing festivity. Onthe day of the fama, people fromall over Goa
throng to thischurch to pay obeisance to theInfant.
Before celebrating the feast,preparatory novenas are held.A day
prior to the beginning ofthe novenas the Fama is held.On this day a
Maddi (areca nutpole) is put up in the open spaceof the church,
facing the church.
Fama of Infant Jesus at Colva On this pole is hoisted the
ban-ner with the picture of the deitywhose feast is to be
celebrated.It remains there till the feastday. The feast is
celebrated withgreat pomp. However, it is veryinteresting to note
that the Famaof the Menino de Jesus of Colvais the only one that is
celebratedwith great pomp and gaiety.
The Fama of Menino Jesus isheld on second Monday of themonth of
October. It is so pop-ular that the schools in Southof Goa declare
a local holidayon this day to enable the stu-dents attend the
Fama.
However, if the Monday is be-fore the 12th then it is on
thethird Monday.
When Rev Fr Bento Ferreira, amissionary belonging to the Je-suit
Order, was going fromMozambique to Sena in the year1640; the ship
on which he was
travelling got wrecked, so thathe and the other passengerswere
obliged to swim to an islandnearby, from where they contin-ued
their journey by foot. Reach-ing the shores of Sena they sawfrom a
distance a number of birdsencircling a huge rock on whichrested a
curious and indistinctobject. Being all keen sportsmenand thinking
it might be gameof some rare sort, they hurriedto the spot to
investigate, butfound a statue of the Child Jesuswhich with great
reverence Fr.Ferreira took possession of.
In 1648 Fr. Bento Ferreira wasappointed the first Vicar of
theChurch of Our Lady of Mercy atColva, and later was made
theRector of the College of Rachol.With him he brought the
imagewhich he had found on the rocksand kept it in a niche in
hisroom. He found that he wasnightly disturbed by a
strangesupernatural light, which shonefrom it and flooded his
chamber.Realising then that the statuewas no ordinary one, he had
itfixed on the main church altarfor public veneration. So
filledwith gratitude and love for theInfant who had taken up
hisabode in their midst and gen-erously dispensed his favoursand
blessings on them, the peo-ple constituting the four villagesof
Colva, Sernabatim, Venelimand Gaundalim, belonging tothe parish of
Our Lady of Mercy,raised funds through subscrip-tion and got a
magnificent altarerected especially for the statue
to be placed.The Jesuits meanwhile, who
had Christianized the area ofSalcete and taken control of allthe
churches of this province,were in 1834 banned from Por-tugal and
her provinces byD.Maria, the Queen of Portugal.
The Rector of Rachol Semi-nary took the Menino Jesus fromthe
Church, claiming that theMenino was found by a Jesuitpriest, the
late Fr Bento Ferreira.This action was taken on 11thof September,
before the thenVicar Fr Jose Figueiredo left theChurch. He not only
took theMenino, but all the jewelry thatadorned the image, and
themoney of the treasury. It wasthe faith of destiny that
whilecarrying away the Image, a golddiamond ring which adornedone
of the Infants
finger, fell into the niche ofthe altar and remained there.On
hearing this people of Colvaand surrounding areas were sad,that
they had lost the miraculousInfant, for whom they had fer-vent
devotion.
Together they sent a letter tothe Superior of the Jesuit
Order.
However, his reply was not
favourable, as he said that theimage was found by a
Jesuitpriest, as such it belonged tothe Order. The reply did not
sat-isfy the devotees of the villageand the surrounding areas.
The people once again gottogether, and made an appealto the
Viceroy, Francisco JoseSampaio, who advised themto follow the usual
procedureas he was powerless to helpthem. They then sent a
peti-tion to the king of Portugal,Dom Joao V, who on the 18thof
April, 1835, wrote a docu-ment to the Viceroy and theCounselor of
the State order-ing that the Image, togetherwith all its jewelry
and funds,should be restituted to thechurch of Colva and withoutany
further delay.
Inspite of the Royal edict, theMenino continued in the Semi-nary
of Rachol and the villagersand the devotees gave up anyhope to
recover them and in-stead started collecting fundsto buy a new
statue.
The new statue was installedon May 2, 1836, and the ringthat
belonged to the originalimage, and was found in thesame niche where
it was in-stalled was put on the Infant. Itis important to note
that whilethe original Image existing in
the Rachol Seminary does noteffect miracles, the new one
in-stalled to replace the one takenby the Jesuit rector,
continuesto do miracles till date. The peo-ple of Colva believe
that theMiraculous Menino was theirs,that even when taken away
byforce, He chose to leave behindfor them all His virtues and
pow-ers in the ring He dropped.
A large number of devoteesattend the fama, not only fromColva,
but from all over Goa.On this occasion the Infant istaken out from
the niche, andis covered with regal robes andjewelry and taken in a
solemnprocession, around the church,in which hundreds of
devoteesparticipate The clothes on theImage are then removed andthe
Image given a bath, and thewater collected by the devotees.It is
then exposed for publicveneration, when thousandsqueue up to kiss
the Infant.Childless parents who were be-stowed with a child, to
fulfillthe vow made by them, bringthe baby for the fama and
de-posit the child on the altar ofthe Menino, as
thanksgiving.Others who had vows to fulfilloffer their thanksgiving
to theInfant. Near the altar of the In-fant in the Church a huge
boxcollects offerings in wax likearms, legs, eyes, ears and
stom-
Colva Fama
celebrated
like a feastBy JOEGOAUK
Which one is most pop-ular? Maddi/Famna orSalvi or Vespr or
Fest?
The answer of course, is theFest' or feast, with vhodlem
mis,sutt-boott, Feri beri, Poskotteboskotte, Kaddio boddio, ker-mes
bermes, chonnern bonnern,Cheu
Risam bheurisam, housiebousie, goddgodo boddgodo,Soirim Dairim,
Tiatr Biatn DansBans, Dhirio Bhirio, Muzg Buzg,Soro Boro, Sannam
bannam, DukorBukor, Gai Bai, Nustem Bustem,Verddur Berddur, Undde
Bundde,Kellim Bellirn, Apol Bapol, etc.
But this one is different. TheTraditional Colva Fama', wherethe
Fama is celebrated withpomp and gaiety with high massearly in the
morning at 5.50 am.
Fama day here is like theFest, everything usually seenfor the
feast (like above), yousee on Fama day too.
The traditional Fama of mirac-ulous Infant Jesus (Menino Jezu)is
celebrated today at Colva. Thestatue of Menino Jezu is broughtdown
as usual at 530 am.
Followed by the procession,then the statue is kept open
forkissing by devotees throughoutmidnight. Another peculiarity
ofthe Fama/feast is the Betina blackand yellow striped blessed
holycords. Nowhere else do you seethis type of betina'. People
usuallytie it around their wrists or theirgold chain or around
their necks(its about half a metre long).
Although the miraculousstatue of Infant Jesus (knownfor its
healing powers] is about170 years old, the golden ringwith diamond
it has on its fingeris about 358 years old.
As the original statue, of l648,ms taken to the Rachol
Seminaryin 1836, the said ring had slippedoff home the original
statue andwas mounted on the new one.
We saw all types of peopleChristians, Hindus and even nonGoans.
We also saw a large num-ber of people playing goddgodoon the main
road, with plenty ofpolice marnas around. As it waslate, we quickly
had chouricopao, veg patties, cro quettes andbeen then gorrom
gorrom chor-rrrnem, and we were back homejust before midnight.
So, this time if you go thereand meet some Colvakars, howwould
you wish them? HappyFeast or Happy Fama? I guessHappy Feast will
do. Happy feastto all Colvakars!
achs as promised by the devo-tees, who pledged to make
theofferings if they were free fromthe ailments they suffered.
Thewax of the offering and that ofthe thousands of the candles
issold and the income depositedin the treasury. Another
pecu-liarity of the fama is the sale ofmedidas. These are cords,
olive
green and light green in colourand entwined, measured to thesize
of the Menino touched to themiraculous statue and carried awayby
almost all devotees as souvenirs.These are tied to the wrists by
thedevotees or worn on the chainsor escapularios, which are
alsosold on this day. It is a sign of pro-tection and good
luck.
-
Slavish electorateArwin Mesquita, UAE
Many Goans sing praises of their MLAs/Min-isters who help them
with specific favours.Surely, if the system of governance was
ef-ficient at the macro level there would beno need for the MLAs to
assist the peopleat the individual level. It is lethargic,
cor-rupt, inefficient governance which forceGoans to approach the
MLAs for assistanceand then be forever enslaved to their sav-ior.
Literacy makes for better democracy,but in Goas case it has
not.
Advice to GoansStephen Dias, Dona Paula
My friend visited Goa after 25 years. Hesaw the dirt and
degradation of Calangute,the Russian grannies in Baga being
mas-saged by beggars, Anjuna loaded with trin-kets and thrash.
Israeli clubs with signsthat said, No Indians allowed and he
askswhat are Goans doing? Beach after beachdecimated; miners rape
the hills and not a
peep from Goans. He said East Indians inMumbai are protesting
against a SpecialEntertainment zone which will destroytheir culture
and environment.
No politicos in sportsAires Rodrigues, Ribandar
There should be a total ban on politiciansholding posts in
sports organizations. Hav-ing corroded the political sphere they
dragthe same rot into the sports arena. Wehave been seeing sports
organizationsgoing down the tubes due to such bad in-fluence. Let
the sports field be managedby sportsmen and sportswomen. We haveso
many of them and they will do us proud.
Tourist security forceJ M de Almeida, Alto Porvorim
In the past one year Goa has witnessedserious crimes against
tourists. Our fairname has been shaken. The World Traveland Tourism
Council, India initiative, pro-posed the creation of a Tourist
Security
Force manned by ex servicemen to patrolbeaches and arterial
roads, markets, beachparty venues, to keep tourists safe.
20four-wheeled SUVs equipped with moderngadgets and l5 Hero Honda
motor cycleswere donated to the Tourism Dept. Asusual, due to red
tapism the said vehiclesare yet to start their operation despite
thefact that the tourist season has alreadybegun.
Lorna owes Chris PerryDiogo A. Rodrigues, Majorda
Late Chris Perry, music wizard and com-poser, first groomed and
introduced Lornain his band, recorded his songs and intro-duced her
to the Konkani stage. They fellout and never came together again.
Hissongs with other singers never clicked. Avery close friend of
mine, Chris showedme a written contract signed by Lorna tosing
exclusively for him. Till his death, shenever came back to record
songs for othersor appear on stage. The public crave to lis-ten her
voice on stage. When the cat isaway the mice will play. Lorna has
beenagain making waves on stage with ChrisPerry songs. Her mentor
is no more, buthe must be certainly looking on with
somederision.
Clean air is our rightAgnelo DSouza, by email
This has reference to the news item Oretransportation via Quepem
will not be al-lowed (Herald, 15 Oct). Breathing dust freeair is
the fundamental right of Quepemkarsas much as it is of Sirvoicars
and all otherGoemcars and Kawlekar should understandthat he cannot
please his voters by causingpermanent hardship to others. He
begandumping Quepem garbage in Sirvoi onlyafter Sirvoi became part
of Curchorem Con-stituency. Let the mining by-pass issue besettled
on sound reasoning and in the largerinterest of Goas future. As
Satardekar said,it needs to be solved by co-operation andnot
thinking of ones individual benefit.
GBA and the RP2021P L Fernandes, Old-Goa
First of all our CM should make promiseswhich can be kept. Just
putting away thingswont work because people are waitingwith bated
breath. If the CM, who is a de-ified figure is perceived as lying
throughhis teeth, then all that aura and charm ofthat Chair is lost
and bodes ill for the future.And the Goa Bachao Abhiyan, will not
ceaseto exist after their achievement of the RP-
21. There is another major issue of strength-ening the Gram
Sabhas at local levels, end-ing corruption and giving a boost
tosuggestions made by Arvind Kejrival in re-spect of Goa?
Brand campaign neededAdelmo Fernandes, Vasco
The four-day Goa International Trade Martwill go a long way to
attract tourists andmake Goa a leading holiday destination.The Goa
Government should create a pro-motional video clip for
international travelchannels like TLC.
Gujarat Tourism has an effective cam-paign with Amitabh Bachchan
as their brandambassador. We should do the same withours.
Whats ails our youth?Moon Charles Afonso, Vasco
What a waste of life entering teens anddying. Is it the fast age
or the easy avail-ability of death-defying machines giftedto our
youth in appreciation or as a statussymbol?
We can always encourage our childrenbut not compete with the
wealthy. Whenthings go wrong, what legacy do we leavebehind for our
children? They are youngand we need to impart knowledge, wisdomand
advise them on the realities of life. Weparents should give them
our time andcare for them as youth of today are theleaders of
tomorrow.
Dont target shack ownersJohn Lobo, General Secretary,
ShackOwners Welfare Society
This has reference to Letter to TourismMinister by Rui Ribeiro
da Gama (Herald,14 Oct), saying that action should be takenagainst
the shack owners for sunbeds onbeaches. Sun beds and tables were
seenon all the beaches of Goa for the last twomonths. Permits for
shacks were onlygranted last week.
No person is allowed to put a shack be-fore obtaining all
permissions. The sunbeds and tables on the beaches right noware by
private parties. The authoritiesshould act against them and not
just blamethe shack owners. Rui Gama should comeand see for
himself.
CWG scam investigationCedrick Fernandes, Margao
All is not well just because the Gamesended well. All states
should also get thesame kind of infrastructure. More impor-tantly,
will the Congress-led UPA govern-ment stick to their word on
investigatingthe CWG scam on a fast-track basis?
Will action be taken on the Central Vig-ilance Committee Report
and their earliercomments of sub-standard work? Or willit just be
denial mode and blame game ashas been the procedure in the past
untilpeople forget about it?
GBA leaders for GoaRamdas Naik, Siolim
Is it time for a political change? If thosewho spoke at the Goa
Bachao Abhiyanmeeting on bringing a change in the Gov-ernment are
really serious then it could bea possibility. But will Goans vote
for a po-litical change?
This question fills me with anxiety, butagain I start wondering
where are the goodleaders to take on the might of the oldjockeys so
firm in the saddle. If the GBA isserious then it has to in tandem
with otherserious people and groups start lookingfor probable
leaders who are smart andintelligent. Can we vote for a change?
Westill have the time.
Hang bride burnersMarcos Alemao, Varca
The strong worded judgment of theSupreme Court of India against
thekillers of young brides is most wel-come (Herald, 10 Oct). In
the absenceof such judgment, thousands of bride killerswent
scot-free.
This type of judgment is very muchneeded to save the lives of
young bridesfrom the hands of greedy husbands andtheir murderous
families. Similar judgmentshould also apply to murderers and
crimi-nals.
The Herald office
Charles Darwin in his essays on Evolutionhad asserted: In the
process of evolution,the fittest survive and propagate. Thus,
the
natural process of selection and elimination in-volves a process
of adaptation and mutation tocounter the forces of extinction which
are directedtowards inhibition and elimination.
I do not wish to delve into details on the fineraspects of
evolutionary biology, but only wish tomake a point that virulence,
toxicity and aggres-siveness are not the only ways by which the
strongerspecies overcome and overpower their prey.
They can also achieve it by remaining passive,dormant or using
the aggressive behaviour ofthe opponent to subdue or counter, which
is alsoa very important trait employed in the battle ofwits for
survival. While the snake can be venomousand kill an aggressive
tiger, a clever mongoosewhich is a far too small a creature, is
able to killthe deadly snake.
I would like to reflect on these three years ofDigambar Kamats
rule as the Chief Minister ofGoa using the evolutionary approach to
the Goanpolitical scenario.
A pessimist sees the glass half-empty; whilethe optimist
considers the same glass as half-full. The glass of Digambar Kamats
reign is 70per cent full and now only 30 per cent of his fiveyear
term still remains to be completed. Thethree turbulent years of
Digambars rule werethreatening to overturn his cup of governance
atleast on two major occasions.
The farmhouse our elected representatives in-habit at the Goa
Assembly complex has seen how5-star hotels, the mining lobby and
the drug mafiaprosper and grow. Goa Assembly complex is de-void of
those who exhibit the traits of the statelytigers, and the graceful
lions. There are howevera few who are faithful dogs, cats and
horses,reared both by the major political parties andthe Chief
Minister himself. These have helpedhim survive and overcome the
political turbulenceduring the last three and half years.
The common man of Goa is forced to accept allthat happens at the
farmhouse at Porvorim. Thereare those who are harsh and declare
that Digambaris a chief minister whose rule is lacklustre and
unproductive. The state of Goa, his detractorsclaim, is full of
chaos, crime and corruption.
There are those others, who are generous andobjectively state
that the three years of Digambarsrule were filled with concrete
actions and deci-sions. Be it the stalling of the Regional Plan
2011,abolishment of the SEZs brought in by the Ranegovernment, or
the recently established FlyingSquads, to bring down the growth of
mega build-ing projects, rampant hill cuttings and the de-struction
of our ecology. But, are they effectivelyfunctional? This is not
easy to address.
Looking objectively under the ecosystem pre-vailing around the
Goa Assembly complex, Digam-bar in my viewpoint assumes the role of
the humblemongoose, taking cover under duress of the pesti-lence
and the virulence, which is all around.
The Aam admi in Goa is not expecting muchfrom Digambar Kamat,
who is surrounded by thepoisonous reptiles in Goa governance, who
haveparalyzed our society with crime, corruption anddraining our
public exchequer. Needless to say,if Digambar uses his mongoose
instinct to strikethe poisonous snakes or against the
politicalscorpions dominating the seat of power in GoaAssembly, the
rodents in the farmhouse and thebulls in the Assembly complex,
would gang upto ensure Digambar is eased out of his chair,causing
even more havoc in Goa.
In the animal farm Digambar does not pose asa lion or a power
hungry tiger, for he knows thathe would soon be the victim of a
bite or stingfrom lethal colleagues sucking the blood of thecommon
man. Through sins of omission, com-mission and manipulation,
Digambar survives.
Goans know full well about contractors givingcommission for
infrastructure projects and thatillegal gratification is the order
of the day in allministries and government departments. Licensesare
granted for a price whether it is mega projects,destruction of
forest land, excise scams, illegalmining, power pilferage, health
scams.
It is not about live and let live. It is about eatingor cheating
together as along as one does not cutoff the hand that feeds you.
For Goans, corruptionis the way of life today. The big brother from
Delhioften brokers stability for Goa through suitcasediplomacy,
using the carrot and stick system toensure discipline at the animal
farm at the Assemblycomplex. The Aam admi is left watching the
circusand paying for the shows with high taxes.
As you sow, so shall you reap; as you give, soshall you receive.
You cannot expect donkeys toperform like stallions. We have elected
thosewho live by corruption and expect Digambar todeliver mangoes
on blades of grass. Come onGoans, be practical and realistic.
University doc-torates and High Priests are not representing
you. Those who swear at or scream against Digam-bar Kamat should
realize that you get the gov-ernment you deserve. The Aam admi in
Goa doesnot see beyond his home comforts.
Digambars has had to deliver steadily understress and strain of
a fractured mandate, underthe dubious Congress framework where
nomi-nations for party tickets are based not on loyaltyor
performance, but on price.
Some may give Digambar bouquets for his threeand half year rule.
There are others who wouldshower him with brickbats, but I, in all
humility,would encourage him to better his performanceunder serious
constraints, threats and severehandicaps. We must learn to count
our blessingsand also appreciate the consequences of our ownpassive
outlook. As Digambar rightly says, Goansdo not want to pay parking
fees in Goa, but oncein Belgaum, they meekly pay Rs5 per hour.
As of today, we do not have the Regional Plan2011. Would we have
the dubious SEZs floodingGoa with hordes of migrants? The
notoriouscamel in the MPT is still actively pursuing thegoal of
changing the face of Goan coastline andour traditional occupations.
Digambar has playedhis role to retard the rate of degradation of
Goaand reduce the adverse impacts in a limited way.
Goa is degrading slowly, but the aam admi too,is at fault. We
are today in the Golden jubileeyear of Goas Liberation. May I wish
Digambarwell that he may profitably use the funds releasedby the
Centre t