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OHERALDOThe Voice of Goa Since 1900
Business: China, India lift
sentiment EPFR Pg 12
These topics are out of syllabusfor this term. Tell BJP we are
readyto answer any other questions.
(Continued on page 10)(Continued on page 10)
Sports: Pathan approached by
a stranger BCCI Pg 18
Goas Heartbeat: I didnt want hush
hush debut Narmmadaa Pg 14
It is in justice that the ordering of
society is centered.
Aristotle
Visit us at:www.oheraldo.in panjim, Saturday, September 18, 2010
priCe rs. 3.00 (air Surcharge rs 2.00) pages 18
IN BRIEFHERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, SEPT 17
After becoming the permanentvenue for the International
FilmFestival of India (IFFI), Goa hasnow been named the
permanentvenue for South Asian Film Fes-tival (SAFF).
The successive State govern-ments, earlier the BharatiyaJanata
Party and now the Con-gress, have been striving to de-velop a film
culture in the Statesince 2004 when the IFFI wasfirst hosted.
Making an announcement, atthe inaugural function of thefifth
SAFF Chief Minister Digam-abar Kamat said that the gov-ernment
wanted to developGoa as the destination of var-ious festivals and
therefore aneffort was made to bring SAFFin Goa.
He hoped that with the timesthis festival will become popularnot
only in the State but entirecountry.
He said the SAFF spreads themessage of peace and harmonythrough
the medium of films.
Earlier, Kamat declared openthe 5th four-day festival, SAFFGoa
2010 an initiative of SouthAsian Foundation with the sup-port of
the State government,Indian Council for Cultural Re-lations (ICCR),
EntertainmentSociety of Goa and Kala Acad-emy, with the theme of
dissolv-ing boundaries.
Ajit Gupte, Joint Secretary tothe Union Ministry of
ExternalAffairs, and Deputy DirectorGeneral ICCR, Chief
SecretarySanjay Srivastava, CommissionerNRI Affairs and former
ExternalAffairs Minister Eduardo Faleiro,Secretary General SAFF
RahulBarua, ESG CEO Manoj Srivas-tava, Festival Director
RamizaAkhtar and others were alsopresent for the inaugural
func-tion.
Prominent film makers and
actors from all South Asian coun-tries, representatives of the
In-dian film fraternity also the timeAssamese directors
BhupendraKaman and Hiren Bora are at-tending the festival.
The inauguration of the fes-tival was followed by an
en-thralling contemporary danceperformance by noted Kathakdance
exponent. SharmistaMukherjee and her group. Thefestival will
showcase differentkinds of work under various seg-
ments providing opportunitiesand a forum to filmmakers
fromparticipating countries to dis-cuss their work. The motto
isalso to ensure participation ofpolicy planners and opinionleaders
and facilitate marketingof all types of films from thecountries
within the region.Over 50 films will be screenedat the festival
from the SouthAsian Countries. The focus coun-try is Afghanistan
for SAFF Goa-2010.
SAFF SETTLES IN GOA
Chief Minister Digambar Kamat lighting the traditional lamp to
mark the opening of the four-day SouthAsian Film Festival (SAFF) at
Panjim on Friday. Photo by Rozario Estibeiro
PTI
LUCKNOW, SEPT 17
Efforts to delay the judgementin the Ramjanambhoomi-BabriMasjid
dispute beyond Septem-ber 24 were today rebuffed bythe Allahabad
High Court whichdismissed a plea for mediationsaying it was aimed
at creatingobstruction in the final disposalof the matter.
Rejecting the petition by de-fendant Ramesh Chandra Tri-pathi, a
three-judge bench ofthe of the court also imposedexemplary costs of
Rs 50,000terming his effort for an out-of-court settlement as a
mischie-vous attempt.
The judgement will now bedelivered on September 24.
Allaying apprehensions ofpossible violence in the wake
of next weeks judgement in the60-year-old case, the Lucknowbench
of the court observedthat arrangement of securityis the
responsibility of the State.
We have read in the news-papers that the prime ministerof the
country has assured thepeople that the government iscapable of
meeting any contin-gency. We cannot comment butrepose confidence in
the gov-ernment since they are the bestjudge of what is required
inmaintaining law and orderand/or security of any individualof
group of such individuals, asthe case may be, shall be takencare
of, it said.
The court also made it clearthat arrangement of security isthe
responsibility of the Stateand they were the authority to
asses the measures and not anyindividuals own perception.
....the application lacks bonafide and is a clear attempt
todivert, deviate and also to createobstruction in the final
disposalof this matter after more thansix decades without there
beingany reason whatsoever.
Considering also the factthat all other learned counselappearing
for different parties,whether plaintiffs or defendants,have
seriously opposed it, wehave no hesitation in rejectingthis
application.
The judges observed thatthe applicant has without anylawful
excuse or reason filedthis application and we holdthis attempt
mischievous, and,therefore, he deserves to beimposed exemplary
cost.
Allahabad HC rebuffs moveto defer Ayodhya ruling
Five held overplot to harmPope in UK
PTI
LONDON, SEPT 17
Five people, believed to be ofNorth African origin, were
ar-rested here today over a sus-pected terror plot to harm
PopeBenedict XVI, now on a Statevisit to the United Kingdom.
The five men, aged between26 to 50 years of age, werepicked up
by Scotland Yard thismorning in central London andwere being
questioned bycounter-terror detectives.
All five are street cleaners inWestminster, and worked forVeolia
Environment Services, amajor contract cleaning com-pany that does
work for West-minster Council.
The men were picked up aftercounter-terrorism officers re-ceived
intelligence of a potentialthreat this morning as they pre-pared to
go on shift.
The men are not British na-tionals, the BBC reported.
Otherreports said the men are ofNorth African origin, and mightbe
Algerian. Searches were un-derway at their propertiesacross the
capital.
Two acquitted in Wilma
shooting caseHERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, SEPT 17
The Cuncolim police has re-ceived a serious jolt in the
sen-sational Wilma Colaco shootingcase with the Sessions
Courtdischarging two of the three ac-cused persons from the
case.
While the main accusedLucky Singh is still at large, withthe
police unable to lay theirhands on the accused hailingfrom Punjab,
framed charges ofmurder and criminal conspiracyhave been issued
against thefourth accused, Basu Das.
Additional Sessions JudgeDesmond DCosta dischargedMohan Chawan
and Rohi lChaudhary before framingcharges against them, with
thejudge observing that he findssufficient grounds to dischargethe
duo from the case.
The discharge of the two ac-cused came as a setback to
theCuncolim police, who hadchargesheeted Mohan Chawan,Rohil
Chaudhary and Basu Dasin the case, while declaring theprime accused
Lucky Singh as
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, SEPT 17
Taking strong cognizance ofthe indiscipline by employees,the
Kadamba Transport Corpo-ration has today issued memosto 20 head
office employees andthreatened to take stern actionagainst
them.
The 20 officers from the headoffice in Porvorim include
upperdivision clerks (UDCs), lower di-vision clerks (LDCs), traffic
incharges, drivers and conduc-tors.
Sources in the corporationtold Herald that the manage-ment was
peeved with the ab-senteeism of the employeesespecially during the
ongoingGanesh festival.
Many of the drivers, conduc-tors did not report for duty anddid
not apply for leave or informthe office as a result of
whichcommuters in rural areas facedproblems, as many of the
busescould not pass through the vil-lages, sources stated.
When contacted KTC Chair-
man Dipak Dhavalikar con-firmed the development andsaid that
strict action wouldbe taken against the erring em-ployees.
Yes, we have issued memosto the 20 employees and askedfor an
explanation, Dhavalikartold Herald.
He stated that the KTC willhenceforth have zero tolerancetowards
indiscipline.
The employees will have tocome on time otherwise
facedisciplinary action, he saidadding We have also trans-ferred
the traffic incharge inPanjim for lapse in duties andnegligence at
the workplace.
The chairman further saidthat the indiscipline was causinglot of
problems in the move-ment of buses and other admin-istrative
works.
These employees remainedabsent without applying forleave and had
been taking thecorporation for granted formany years, Dhavalikar
said.
KTC gets tough on 20 truant workers
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
BELGAUM, SEPT 17
A pilgrimage from Vailakanniended in tragedy for a
Fatordafamily, when two family mem-bers were killed while four
oth-ers were injured in a roadmishap along the Khanapur-Yel-lapur
highway on Friday afternoon.
CPI Arunkumar Naik of theKhanapur police told Herald thatthe
incident took place 16 kmsfrom Alnavar-Khanapur a tabout 2.30 pm,
when theGoa-based Wagon R (GA-08-3507) and a truck (KA-22-3B-9899)
collided with each otheralong a sharp curve of the highway.
Police identified the deceasedas Rosita Louis Rodrigues (63)and
Canossa Conception Ro-drigues (9), while the injuredpersons are
Maria ConceptionRodrigues (42), ConceptionLouis Rodrigues (43),
Chrishola
Conception Rodrigues (14) andKimberly John Pereira (18).
The occupants in the car werereturning from Vailankani, whilethe
truck was proceeding to-wards Mangalore.
Rosita and Canossa died onthe spot, while the injured
wereshifted to the KLES hospital,here, police said.
The two bodies had been sentto the mortuary at the Govern-ment
District Hospital, here.
A KLES official told Heraldthat the injured persons wereadmitted
in the hospital atabout 5 pm.
While three persons are se-riously injured, the conditionof
Conception L Rodrigues isstable, the official said.
Police said the truck driverfled from the site after themishap
and investigations arein progress.
Pilgrimage turnstragic for
Fatorda family
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
OLD GOA, SEPT 17
In a shocking incident, a 35-year-old woman and her
three-and-half-year old son werecharred to death, after thewoman
allegedly set themselvesablaze at Kerant-Chorao in thewee hours of
Friday.
According to Old Goa Police,the incident occurred at about12.30
am when Raghvi Raguh-nath Wadekar along with herson Manjunath were
in a room
behind her house, while otherfamily members were busy
per-forming Ganesh Arti.
Police are yet to find the mo-tive behind the incident
whereRaghvi reportedly pouredkerosene on herself and her son,before
setting themselves ablaze.
A police team rushed to thesite and tried to put out the
firewith the help of locals, but couldnot succeed.
The bodies have been sentto GMC Hospital in Bambolim.
Woman burns self, son in Chorao
India hitsback at Pakfor Kashmir
remarks PTI
NEW DELHI, SEPT 17
India today hit back at Pakistanrejecting as gratuitous
itsstatements on Jammu and Kash-mir, saying they amounted
tointerference in the internal af-fairs of the country.
It asked Islamabad to takeeffective action against infiltra-tion
from across the LoC (Lineof Control) and dismantle
terrorinfrastructure there as it is thepeople of the State who
sufferfrom the consequences of ter-rorism fomented from acrossthe
border.
Reacting sharply to PakistanForeign Minister S M Qureshiasking
India to exercise re-straint in the State, Ministryof External
Affairs officialspokesperson Vishnu Prakashsaid India firmly
rejects gratu-itous statements issued by Pak-istan on Jammu &
Kashmir,which amount to interferencein the internal affairs of
India.
Migrant cap affecting UKBritish Business SecretaryVince Cable,
who opposedplacing an annual cap on mi-grants from India and
othercountries outside the EU, hassaid the limit imposed by theHome
Office is already affect-ing the countrys economic
re-covery.Placing an annual limit on thenumber of India and
othernon-EU professionals whocould come to Britain forwork is one
of the majoritems on the coalition gov-ernmentsagenda. Theplan,
however, has been op-posed in several quarters.(PTI)
3 killed in protests Three persons were killed and30 others
injured as violentprotests continued at severalplaces in the
Kashmir valleywhere curfew remained inforce in Srinagar and
othermajor towns for the fifth suc-cessive day today. (PTI)
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GOA, SATURDAY, 18 SEPTEMBER, 2010
GOA Pg 2OHERALD
O
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
PORVORIM, SEPT 17
They were meant to provide self-employment to the unem-ployed,
but many kiosks underthe Deendayal Swayam RojgarYojna (DSRY) are
being subletto non-Goans.
Taking advantage of thelethargic attitude of authorities,many
beneficiaries of the DSRYhave rented out their kiosks,thereby
defeating the very pur-pose of the scheme.
It may be recalled that theState government had startedthe DSRY
scheme, which waslater renamed as Goa Youth Ro-jgar Yojna Scheme,
aimed atproviding self-employment tothe unemployed youth.
As per conditions of thescheme, kiosks are to be oper-ated by
the allottee only. All ben-eficiaries were issued photoidentity
cards by the Goa Hand-icrafts Rural and Small Scale In-dus t r i e
s Deve lopment
Corporation (GHRSSIDC), whichare non-transferable.
As per the scheme, theGHRSSIDC is supposed to carryout
inspection of the units/pro-jects once in 6 months and cer-tif y
that the beneficiary isrunning the allotted kiosk.
A copy of the Identity Card isrequired to be displayed in
thekiosk. During inspection, if it isestablished that the kiosk is
op-erated by any other person, itshall be sufficient ground
fortermination of lease/allotment.
It appears that authoritieshave failed to inspect the kiosksas
required under the scheme,due to which many beneficiarieshave
rented out their kiosks.
Speaking to Herald, somepeople opined that the govern-ment
should survey the kiosksallotted under the DeendayalSwayam Rojgar
Yojna Schemeand should terminate the allot-ment of those renting
out thekiosks to others.
Self-employment scheme misused;
kiosks sub-let
A kiosk allotted under the Deendayal Swayam Rojgar Yojna
Scheme.Photo by Anil Shankhwalker
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
PORVORIM, SEPT 17
The inspectors of Food and DrugAdministration (FDA) and
Metrol-ogy Department on Friday in-spected shops at Kadamba
busstand Mapusa and confiscatedgoods, which did not have
labels.
The FDA inspectors confis-cated goods which did not
haveinformation like the price, nameof the manufacturer, date
ofmanufacture, date of expiry andthe weight on the packages ofthe
food products. The inspec-tors also issued notices to
theshopkeepers.
Speaking to Herald, Food andDrug Administration Depart-ment
Inspector Rajaram Patilsaid adulteration, including mis-branding
and mislabeling, isbeing treated as criminal offenceunder the Act
and the guilty can
be punishment with imprison-ment.
Lately, one of the shopkeep-ers from Mapusa, who wasbooked under
the Food Adul-teration Act, was awarded pun-i shment o f s i x
monthsimprisonment by the Court, in-formed Patil.
Metrology Department In-spector D N Mapari informedthat he has
confiscated 62 pack-ets of food items, includingchewable Supari
worth Rs 5,000from the shops.
The punishment prescribedunder Standards of Weight andMeasures
Act is that penalty tothe extent of Rs 10,000 can beimposed on the
shopkeeper forthe first offence. The second of-fence carries the
punishment ofboth penalty and imprison-ment, said Mapari.
FDA raids shops in Mapusa, seizes illegal goods
FDA Inspector Rajaram Patil inspects a shop at Mapusa. Photo by
Anil Shankhwalker
Petrol pumps toremain closed
on September 20HERALD NEWS DESK
PANJIM, SEPT 17
The federation of all India Pe-troleum traders has given a
callfor all India petrol pump bandhon September 20, as many ofits
demands have not been metby the Union government forthe last many
years.
The general body of GoaPetrol Dealers Association, inan
emergency meeting, has de-cided to support the call givenby the
national body by keepingall the petrol pumps in Goaclosed on
September 20, says apress note issued here.
The association has pledgedto ensure minimum inconven-ience to
consumers.
804 compete for 347 beach
shacksHERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, SEPT 17
There are a total of 804 appli-cations for the 347 shacks to
beallotted for the forthcomingtourist season.
Director of Tourism SwapnilNaik told Herald that till the
lastday of submission of documents,the department received a
totalof 804 applications.
The method to decide whogets to put up a beach shackfor the
coming tourism seasonwill be carried out through adraw of lots.
Naik said that the tourism de-partment has decided to followthe
interim order issued by theHigh Court during the lasttourist
season.
Naik further said Compared to last year, the
number of shacks this year willbe less by seven due to somelegal
problems in Bambolim andother areas, he said.
Naik said the process ofgranting permissions for pri-vate shacks
would start on Oc-tober 1.
On the number of beach beds,he said, the department had de-cided
to grant permissions forfive pairs per shack in Calanguteand
Candolim areas while else-where there would be 10 pairsper
shack.
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, SEPT 17
The counsel representing theCentral Bureau of Investigation(CBI)
in the death of Scarlet Keel-ing Eden today told Goa Chil-drens
Court that no pages fromScarlets diary are missing.
S R Rivonkar was replying toan application filed by thelawyers
representing the twoaccused Samson DSouza andPlacido Carvalho --
that fewpages from Scarlets diary weremissing. The Court will pass
anorder on October 1.
No pages from Scarlets diaryare missing. CBI was given acopy of
the diary provided bythe Goa police, who earlier in-vestigated the
case. We havefurnished everything to theCourt from the
investigation
that we carried out Rivonkartold the Court.
During the trial on August 27,the defence lawyers had movedan
application that few pagesbelonging to the British victimsdiary
were missing.
To this, the Court had askedthe prosecution to file a replyon
September 3 but sinceRivonkar remained absent, theCourt adjourned
the hearing toSeptember 17.
The diary with black coverwas recovered by Goa policeduring
investigation betweenFebruary and May 2008, beforethe case could be
handed overto CBI in June 2008.
The diary was recovered fromthe room of Scarlets localboyfriend
Julio, who was alsoimplicated in the case of staying
with the minor girl. He was how-ever acquitted by the
ChildrensCourt in November 2009.
In July 2010, Scarlets mother,Fiona Mackeown had identifiedthe
diary and its contents. AdvPeter DSouza while cross-ex-amining
Fiona pointed out thatfew pages of the diary weremissing. The
sketches of thediary had revealed several hid-den facets of
Scarlet.
Earlier, Adv DSouza had filedanother application seeking
doc-uments on record wherein Fionahad identified dark blue
shorts,white underwear and brownsandals belonging to Scarlet,which
were found on Anjunabeach, the day after the minorwas found dead.
Scarletsbruised was found on Anjunabeach on February 18, 2008.
No pages from Scarlets diary missing: prosecution
HERALD BUREAU
NEW DELHI, SEPT 17
The National FishworkersForum headed by Matanhy Sal-danha on
Friday "completely re-j e c ted " the d ra f t CRZNotification 2010
issued earlythis week, saying it neither pro-tects the fishing
communities'rights and livelihood nor thecoastal environment.
"Activities that do not needto be within 500 metres fromthe sea
like atomic plants, green-field airports, so-called non-pol-luting
industries, SEZs, largehousing projects are all permit-ted without
any clear rationale,with no attempt to take accountof the
cumulative impacts ofthermal power plants and portsalong the
coast," the forum saidin a statement issued here.
Pointing out that there areonly cosmetic changes in thepre-draft
notification of April,it said: "Either the Minister forEnvironment
and Forests is try-ing to fool the people or thebureaucrats are
hoodwinkingthe Minister and the publicwhile acting as puppets of
thevarious lobbies and vested in-terests."
KHAZAN LANDS: It said con-cessions given to Goa are "noth-ing
but humbug and mereeyewash" as mapping of itscoastal villages and
'khazan'lands do not entail any protec-tion to environment or
fisher-men as it is silent on protectingtheir houses and means of
liveli-hood.
"In fact, the special conces-sions provided for the
fishingcommunity in Goa appears to
be an attempt to ghettoise themin order to take control of
theentire village under the CoastalZone Management Plan
andthereafter throw it open for landsharks and developers,"
theforum alleged.
It said mapping of the 'khazan'lands, an unique eco-system ofthe
country found only in Goa,will also bring no tangible ben-efits,
particularly where thereis no specific provision to pro-hibit their
conversion for otherpurposes like pisciculture in theguise of their
management.
Even the special concessiongranted to Kerala whereby thesetback
area in backwater is-lands is reduced to 50 metresappears to be for
the benefit ofhoteliers and developers whohave acquired large
chunks ofland in these islands, rather thanin the interest of the
local in-habitants, the forum said.
Colossal waste: It accused theministry of a colossal waste
ofpublic funds by holding 10 con-sultations across the
countryostensibly to understand viewsand opinions of the fishing
andother communities living alongthe coast as none of the
recom-mendations made in these con-sultations are reflected in
thenotification.
Wondering whether the bu-reaucrats who drafted the
CRZnotification were working aspuppets of vested interest, theforum
said the special statussought to be given to Goa, Mum-bai and
Kerala will only openup the coast to builders, thetourist lobby,
land sharks andindustry.
Fishermen forumrejects draft
CRZ notification
Ravi on HCNPANJIM (HND): As Goa be-
comes a hub of activities, allgood, bad, the ugly in
recenttimes, watch our Home MinisterRavi Naik giving out a
specialmessage to all Goans. Tune into HCN on Saturday, September18
at 11:30 am. Watch the re-peat telecast at 9 pm.
Collectoratepeon
suspendedHERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, SEPT 17
South Goa District Collector GP Naik has suspended a peonfor
dereliction of duties.
Naik informed that the peonleft the Collectorate buildingwithout
closing down the vari-ous sections as mandated as pera system in
place.
He said such a callous attitudewould not be tolerated by
theadministration.
Replying to a question, he saidthe police and the district
ad-ministration have been maintain-ing vigil in view of rising
theftsand that the failure by the peonto shut the doors of the
varioussections certainly amounts todereliction of duties.
HERALD REPORTER
VASCO, SEPT 16
Residents living near the gov-ernment school at
Zuarinagar-Sancoale on Thursday caught acontractor red-handed
whiledumping the garbage alongsidethe highway.
The residents later handedover the contractor to Verna
Po-lice.
The area, barely 50 mtrs fromthe government school alongthe
highway at Zuarinagar-San-coale, has become a dumpingground for
garbage.
The garbage generated byelite class from Vidayanagar
As-sociation, Zuarinagar and RagaviEstate from Sancoale andDabolim
is being dumped nearthe government school at Zuar-inagar.
According to sources, the res-idents l i v ing in the
poshcolonies, Vidayanagar and Ran-gavi Estate, have appointed
acontractor to collect theirgarbage.
Sources further informed thatthe contractor has allegedly
beendumping garbage near a residen-tial area close to the
governmentschool, Zuarinagar, an exercisewhich has been go ing
onsmoothly for the last one year.
When asked who had author-ized him to dump the garbage,the
contractor said panchayatmembers from Sancoale haveal lowed him to
dump thegarbage.
Sancoale Panch Girish Pillai,who was present at the site,claimed
that the contractor wasmaking false allegations, as the
panchayat had not permittedhim to dump the garbage.
Vidayanagar Association Gen-eral Secretary Edy Fernandessaid
most of the residents ofVidyanagar are regularly payingtax to the
panchayat.
Despite repeated visits to thepanchayat, they are least
con-cerned to collect the garbagefrom the colony. It is due to
thisproblem, resident themselves col-lect Rs 100 from each house
topay the contractor to collect thegarbage, informed Fernandes.
Unfortunately, we were notaware where the contractorused to
dispose the garbage.
But now since the matter hascome to our notice, we will con-vene
general body meeting towork out a solution to theissue, added
Fernandes.
Contractor caught dumping garbage along highway
Accused contractor along with his goods rickshaw filled with
garbage that was dumped near Govern-ment School,
Zuarinagar-Sancoale. Photo by M Prabhav
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
SANGUEM, SEPT 17
A 79-year-old woman from Poko-rmoll-Kalay, Sanguem, died
aftershe was hit by a speeding trainat Kalay on Friday morning.
The incident occurred at about8.30 am when Bhagi Toko Zangliwas
returning home after sup-plying milk at the local milk co-operative
society.
While she was in the processof crossing the tracks, the
speed-ing train hit Bhagi, killing her onthe spot.
Sources informed that Zangli
is the daughter of freedomfighter Navlo Varak from Kalayand
Bhagi herself had taken partin freedom struggle. At the timewhen
Navlo was arrested andput behind bars by the Por-tuguese, Bhagi was
also lodgedin the prison along with her fa-ther for one month, but
was laterset free. The locals rushed to thespot, but could not help
Bhagi,as she died on the spot.
Incidentally, this is not for thefirst time that a fatal
incidenthas taken place along the tracksat Kalay.
In the absence of a railwayover bridge, public is compelledto
cross the railway tracks, whichis in violation of railway
rules.
Though frequent demandshave been made by villagers forthe
construction of a railway overbridge in the locality,
authoritieshave failed to pay heed to thevillagers request.
The question of the need foran over bridge at Kalay was
alsoraised by Sanguem MLA Vas-sudev Meng Gaonkar during therecent
Assembly session, but nopositive reply was given by the
government.The villagers have once again
urged the government to con-sider their demand for the
con-struction of the railway overbridge, as it is not only the
eldercitizens but school-going chil-dren are also compelled to
crossthe railway tracks in the villagein the absence of over
bridge.
Bhagi is survived by her hus-band Toko and five children.
Rail-way Police headed by VikrantNaik conducted the panchanamaand
later sent the body for postmortem.
Woman crushed under train at Kalay
Petroleumfirms pay
rent arrearsto MMCHERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, SEPT 17
After Bharat Petroleum, Hindus-tan Petroleum on Friday
de-posited a cheque of Rs 11.99lakh with the Margao Civic bodyas
rent arrears.
Both Bharat Petroleum andHindustan Petroleum owed tothe C iv ic
body rent duesamounting to Rs 34 lakh uptoOctober 31, 2009.
The MMC has so far suc-ceeded in recovering arrears tothe tune
of Rs 22.53 lakhs fromboth the petroleum companies.
MMC Chairperson SavioCoutinho told newsmen that thecivic body
would not rest tillthe balance arrears is clearedby the two
companies. The ar-rears had mounted to Rs 34 lakhover the years as
the petroleumcompanies nor the Civic bodytook the initiative to
recoverthe dues, he said and vowedto recover the balance amountfrom
the companies.
14-day remand for Margao
blast accusedHERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, SEPT 17
HERALD REPORTER
VASCO, SEPT 17
As many as six unnatural deaths have oc-curred along the 82
km-odd railway trackof South Western Railways (SWR) betweenVasco
and Dudhsagar in the last three weeks.
For the Vasco Railway police, it was a gru-elling effort as they
had to attend to the sixunnatural death cases along the long
SWRroute without vehicles at their disposal.
The Vasco Railway Police, which is ex-pected to cover nearly the
entire 82-km rail-way track, does not even have a motorcycleto
attend to accidents along the railwaytrack.
We were forced to hire private vehiclesor adjust with some other
police stations
to attend to accidents along the SWR route,said a source in the
Vasco Railway Police.
The fatal mishap of a 79-year-old womanfrom Pokormoll-Kalay, who
was killed afterbeing hit by a speeding train at Kalay onFriday
morning also highlighted the diffi-culties of the Vasco Railway
Police.
The body remained along the railwaytrack for over two-and-half
hours, as thepolice took time to reach the site.
The many locals who had gathered atthe site were unaware of the
plight of theVasco Railway Police and criticized the policefor
delay removing the body.
If we fail to clear the body from thetrack in quick time, it can
lead to a law andorder problem. To avoid that, we alert the
local police station, even though the RailwayPolice has the
jurisdiction of cases alongthe SWR railway line, added the
source.
In the last 20 days, six bodies have beenrecovered along the SWR
track, includingtwo recent accidental deaths in Vasco.
One can only imagine the plight of theRailway Police, which is
expected to manthe 82-km stretch without any vehicle,added the
source.
"If bodies lying on the track or alongsidethe track are not
cleared immediately, thencould be mutilated by another moving
train."
In such cases, we literally have to collectthe mutilated remains
from one place toanother and this is mainly due to the delayin
attending to such cases, the source said.
Rly police man 82-km track sans vehicle
HERALD REPORTER
VASCO, SEPT 17
An 80-year-old man from Alto-Dabolim was reported missing
fromhis residence since the last 10 days.
According to Vasco Police, JohnMarthino Fernandes had left his
res-
idence on September 7 morning afterhaving his breakfast and he
was lastseen in Vasco.
A complaint to this effect was filedby his family member Mary
Fernandeson September 10. However, it gotdelayed to lodge the
complaint by
three days, as his family memberswere busy inquiring with
relativesand friends to trace him. If any onehas seen this person,
contact yournearest police station or Vasco Policeon 0832-2512304
or contact his sonLory on 9881286177 or 9404315294.
Dabolim local missing for the last ten days
HERALDR REPORTER
MARGAO, SEPT 17
Its six months since the threeday Carnival festivities ended
inthe commercial capital, but pro-ducers and directors of
tradi-tional Khel Tiatr still left in thelurch with the Margao
civic bodydilly dallying on the question ofpayments for staging the
tiatrduring the festival.
If the khel tiatr producers areto be believed, they have
beendoing repeated rounds in thecorridors of the civic body
sincethe last day of Carnival, but they
are yet to receive the paymentsamounting to Rs 1.87 lakh
theamount the civic body owesthem for staging the Khel Tiatracross
the Municipal wards dur-ing the Carnival festivities.
Friday saw a delegation of KhelTiatr producers calling on
theMargao Municipal Chairpersonseeking to know the fate of
theirpayments delayed since the lastsix months.
We have been knocking thedoors of the Margao Municipalbuilding
since the last sixmonths, but in vain. All we have
received over this period is onlyassurances and promises,
re-marked Sannny de Maina.
He maintained that variousartists who acted in the playsalong
with the musicians ap-proach the directors for the pay-ments. We
are helpless. Whenwe call on the MMC Chairperson,he only tells us
to come tomor-row, he added.
MMC Chairperson SavioCoutinho said the payments aredelayed this
year on account ofthe inordinate delays by theTourism Department in
sanction-
ing the funds. Unlike previousyears, this years carnival
organ-ization was given to an eventmanagement company by theTourism
Department. As per thecondition, we were not author-ized to collect
any sponsors andthe entire cost and expenditurewas to be borne by
the TourismDepartment, Coutinho said.
He said that the Tourism De-partment has promised to releasethe
funds within the next fewdays, adding that the moneywould be
disbursed to the kheltiatr producers immediately.
Tiatrists yet to be paid for carnival performance
The South Goa Sessions Courton Friday remanded bomb blastaccused
Prashant Ashtekar to14 days judicial custody.
The accused was producedbefore the court today after theexpiry
of his remand period.The National InvestigatingAgency prayed to the
court forextension of the remand period,which was granted by the
court.
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, SEPT 17
Forest-related crimes will nowcome under strict vigilance,
asmotorcycle-borne guards willnow patrol the forest areas toavert
any untoward incidents.Forest Minister Philip Neri Ro-drigues in a
formal ceremonytoday morning distributed 30motorcycles to
guards.
The guards will no morehave to walk into thick forestareas. The
motorcycles are dis-tributed to various guards, as it
will help them carry out en-hanced work, Rodrigues
toldreporters.
Additional Principal ChiefConservator of Forest DrShashi Kumar
said that thetwo-wheelers will be put intooperation shortly. This
willhelp to carry out improved pa-trolling along the wildlife
sanc-tuaries and protected forestareas, he said.
The motorcycles are procuredunder Compensatory Afforestra-tion
Fund Management and
Planning Authority funds. Forthis, the Goa government re-ceived
Rs 12.2 crore as first in-stalment.
Dr Kumar further said thatthe department would purchasevehicles,
mobile phone connec-tions and research and boundaryclearance
survey, under its an-nual plan. The department isalso anticipating
purchasingwireless system to connect allwildlife sanctuaries in
Goa.
To a question on Keri Tigerkilling trial at Valpoi, the
chief
conservator said that the firsttrial was heard on September7.
Ironically, the trial begins,nearly five months after an
in-dictment against five accusedwas filed in the Judicial
Magis-trate First Class court on April21.
Suryakant Majik, a homeguard and his father GaneshMajik, Naguesh
Majik, AnkushMajik and Bhiva Gawas havebeen indicted for killing
the pro-tected species. The next datefor hearing is on
month-end.
Motorcycle-borne guards to patrol forests
-
HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, SEPT 17
One of the three dream bridgesof PWD Minister Churchill Ale-mao
over River Sal will be com-missioned on Liberation Day onDecember
19 this year.
If the PWD minister is to bebelieved, the 74-meter
longTelaulim-Varca Bridge will bethrown open for traffic on
De-cember 19 this year.
Alemao also said that the 620meter-long Assolna-Cavelossimbridge
would be completed andcommission on December 19,2011.
On the fate of the controver-sial Sinquetim-Benaulim
Bridge,Alemao told newsmen that thematter was presently pending
inthe High Court, adding that thePWD was awaiting a court deci-sion
before going ahead with theconstruction work.
Churchill along with seniorPWD officials inspected the
twobridges of Assolna-Cavelossimand Telaulim-Varca this eveningand
expressed satisfaction overthe progress of the work.
Thanking the people ofTelaulim for welcoming theTelaulim-Varca
Bridge with open
arms, Alemao said that 60-70 percent of the bridge work is
almostcomplete and added that thebridge would be thrown openfor
traffic by December 19 thisyear. The estimated cost of thisbridge
is put at Rs 10.5 crore.
As far as the Cavelossim Bridgeis concerned, he said nearly
40per cent of the 620-meter longbridge is completed till date
andthe balance 60 per cent workwould be completed in all re-spects
by December 19 next year.This bridge has 21 spans and isestimated
to cost Rs 55 crore,he added.
The PWD minister said the As-solna-Cavelossim bridge wouldnot
only benefit the residents ofthe two villages of Cavelossimand
Assolna, but would give aboost to tourism and benefit en-tire South
Goa.
Let the court decide. If thecourt gives a decision in favourof
the bridge, we will go aheadwith the construction of the
Sin-quetim-Benaulim Bridge. We willwait for the court order,
headded.
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
BELGAUM, SEPT 17
A seasoned commission agentwas reportedly caught red-handed by
farmers at the Bel-gaum vege tab le marke t ,exposing the dubious
role beingplayed by middlemen engagedin the vegetable trade
betweenBelgaum and Goa.
The involvement of few du-bious commission agents, whoare
allegedly involved in hikingprices of vegetable despitelesser
purchase rate and rise insupply, not only affects farmers,but also
causes a sharp rise inretail prices of vegetables inGoa.
The incident took place atBelgaum vegetable market,where a
seasoned commissionagent was reportedly caughtred-handed by
farmers, whileattempting to gulp a huge mar-gin in a deal of green
chillies.
The farmers from Belgaum
taluka had sold green chillies atthe wholesale vegetable
market.
Due to the shortage, thegreen chillies were sold in notime. The
farmers after sellingtheir products collect their pay-ment from the
commissionagents, wherein a farmer andthe buyer both pay a
certainpercent of commission to the
commission agent.However, the agent instead
charged Rs 220 per quintal butonly paid Rs 160 to the
farmers.
Farmers, who realized thewrongdoing of the agent imme-diately
caught hold of him andmade him pay the difference ofpayment he had
received fromthe customers.
The incident has raised dubi-ous nexus between the middle-men
engaged in vegetable tradebetween Belgaum and Goa,which has led to
a huge discrep-ancy in prices of vegetables be-tween Belgaum and
Goa.
The agitated farmers who arenow united under the bannerof
different organisations havetaken the commission agents totask and
have taken a decisionto bring the discrepancies tothe notice of the
district admin-istration.
Meanwhile, questions havebeen raised about the profitmargin
maintained by the com-mission agents, who are en-gaged in supplying
wholesalevegetables to Goa.
The incident has not onlythrown open a nexus betweenthe
commission agents and thewholesale suppliers, but lookingat the
vast disparity in prices atBelgaum and Goa, questions are
GOA, SATURDAY, 18 SEPTEMBER, 2010
GOA Pg 3OHERALDO
HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, SEPT 17
Days after he hogged the headlinesvis--vis the alleged
immigration andmoney laundering racket, formertourism minister
Mickky Pacheco hasslapped a notice on the Indian Expresscalling
upon the newspaper manage-ment to pay him Rs 50 crore as damagesfor
defamation.
Pachecos lawyer, Adv Srikant Nayak
said that Pacheco has also demandedan unqualified and
unambiguous apol-ogy from the Indian Express within 7days failing
which he has threatenedto initiate immediate legal and
criminalproceedings for the offence of defama-tion.
In his notice, Adv Nayak said thenews under the heading
GoasPacheco may be part of mega racket,US tells India is false,
baseless and
highly defamatory and made with theintention to defame the
BenaulimMLA.
By saying so, you have engaged inwriting a wanton, malign and
com-pletely outrageous, false and whollyindefensible libel of the
Benaulim MLA.The published contents are a matterof record and have
been read by mil-lions of people around the country andthe world
and have inflicted grave, in-
calculable and irreparable damage tothe reputation, character
and credibilityof the former minister, the noticestated.
You have alleged that top govern-ment sources said that the
Bureau ofDiplomatic Security first got in touchwith the Ministry of
External Affairs(MEA) through the US mission in NewDelhi, and has
since backed the alle-gations against my clients with docu-
ments and details of banking transac-tion. You have further
alleged that theevidence is being described as sub-stantive and
watertight, Nayak saidin the notice.
Meanwhile, the Benaulim MLA toldnewsmen after inaugurating free
tai-loring classes at Majorda that he didnot care for the political
leaders andthat only God and the people woulddecide his political
future.
Mickky threatens to sue Indian Express for defamation
Let the political leaders plotagainst me, but I know that Godand
the people are with me,he added.
HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, SEPT 17
A five-day old infant was foundabandoned behind the busstand at
Cabo de Rama on Fri-day.
Wrapped in a bed sheet, thebaby girl was found abandonednear the
bus stand since thelast 24 hours as evident by thefact that the
infant had sus-tained some ant bites.
Upon receiving a complaint,the Cuncolim police took pos-session
of the infant and firstadmitted her to the Balli Pri-
mary Health Centre fromthere she was rushed to Hos-picio for
further medical treat-ment.
Margao sub-divisional Policeofficer, DySP Umesh Gaonkarinformed
that they would referthe infant to Apna Ghar afterher discharge. It
appears thatthe child was delivered at homeand was abandoned just
to con-ceal the birth, he said.
The Cuncolim police haveregistered a case against un-known
persons and investiga-tions are on.
Infant found abandoned
Belgaum middlemen spike up veg prices in Goa
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
BELGAUM, SEPT 17
The intervention of the Hor-ticulture Corporation of Goain
regulating the supplies ofvegetables and other horticul-tural
produce from Belgaumis necessary to curb inflationcaused by
middlemen en-gaged in the vegetable tradebetween Belgaum and
Goa.
In fact, the Horticulture Cor-poration of Goa has been
en-couraged to enter into an
agreement with the Horticul-ture Produce Growers Con-sumers
Marketing Society(HOPCOM), to provide a bigrelief to consumers in
Goa.
We will welcome any suchmove from the Goan authori-ties, HOPCOM
Deputy Direc-tor I K Doddamani told Herald.
A couple of years ago, HOP-COM did supply vegetables toGoa, but
the supplies could notbe continued for long due toreasons that were
not known.
being raised about the authen-ticity of the retail prices.
This results in adding the bur-den to the consumers dailybudget.
However, when asked,a long time vegetable vendorfrom Belgaum
expressed igno-rance of such a nexus.
Meanwhile, the wholesaleprices of some of the vegetablesin
Belgaum market per 10 kiloswere Green Chilly (Rs 160-170),Shimla
Mirch (Rs 250-300), Cab-bage (Rs 60-70), Beans (Rs 160-170),
Coriander (Rs 450-500 fora bunch of 100 pendhis).
Govt intervention needed!
Telaulim-Varca Bridge will beopened on Dec 19: Churchill
PWD Minister Churchill Ale-mao has reiterated his de-mand for a
Greater Goa byincluding Konkani speakingareas of Karwar and
Kar-nataka into Goa.
I am against Vishal Go-mantak. But, there is no harmif Konkani
speaking areas ofKarwar are including into thestate to make Greater
Goa,he said.
The PWD minister saidJnanpith awardee RavindraKelekar had
espoused thecause of inclusion of Konkanispeaking areas into
Goa.Our leaders should give aserious thought to Kelekarsproposal,
he said.
Reiteratesdemand forGreater Goa
HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, SEPT 17
With the tar ball menace continues to haunt Sal-cetes coastline
between Colva and Betalbatim,Deputy Collector, Margao Johnson
Fernandes onFriday dashed off a letter to the Tourism Depart-ment
to ensure that the beach stretch is free fromthe tar ball
menace.
Incidentally, the deputy collector has claimedthat the Tourism
Department has already deployedmanpower to collect the tar balls
from the Gan-daulim-Betalbatim beach stretch.
The letter from the Sub-divisional Magistrateto the Tourism
Depat assumes significance in viewof the fact that a large number
of tar balls wereseen washed ashore the beach stretch these
days.
When the attention of the deputy collector was
drawn to the fact that the collected tar balls con-tinue to lie
on the shoreline, he said the prioritywas to first clean up the
beach stretch and thenlift away and dispose off the material in a
scientificmanner.
Replying to a question, he said his office cantake over the
beach cleaning operations underthe disaster management only in the
event theTourism Department expresses its inability to man-age the
same.
We are not averse to deploy our manpower toclean up the beach
stretch. But, the Tourism De-partment should communicate to us
stating itsinability to carry out the work, he added.
Meanwhile, labourers deployed by the TourismDept were seen on
the Salcete beach belt clearingthe tar balls washed ashore in the
last 24 hours.
Dy collector asks Tourism Dept to clean up tar balls
Labourers clearing tar balls from the Majorda beach on Friday.
Photo by Sidharth Mehta
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, SEPT 17
The Goa State Commission forWomen (GSCW) will conduct aseparate
inquiry into the at-tempted escape incident by in-mates of
Protective Home, GSCWchairperson Ezilda Sapeco said.
I will be calling for detailsfrom respective authorities assoon
as possible. The commissionwill simultaneously carry out aninquiry
into the escape, she saidwhile speaking to Herald.
Sapeco asserted that the com-mission would render complete
assistance to the Directorate ofWomen and Child and
ProtectiveHome officials, so that such in-cidents do not occur
again.
Protesting against their pro-longed lodging at Merces
Pro-tective Home, nine womenrescued from prostitution racket,fled
from the Home but werelater traced with the help of OldGoa
police.
These incidents should nothappen again and for this, weare ready
to provide assistanceif required. The commissionmembers will meet
the inmates
to find out their problems, etc,she said.
The authorities on Thursdaytried to keep the incident underwraps
as it exposed their lethargyof keeping the women for overthree
months against the legalprovision to release them within15
days.
I dont have any informationon the escape. If there is anysuch
incident, I will ask for a re-port, Director of Women andChild
department Sanjiv Gadkartold Herald when contacted forreaction on
Thursday evening.
Escape bid from protective home
Women Commission to probe
Decision onbail plea of
rape accusedreserved
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, SEPT 17
The Childrens Court will decidea bail petition on September
29,filed by Bangladeshi father whois accused of raping and
assault-ing his minor daughter.
The 45-year-old Azad Mia,hailing from Bangladesh andpresently
residing at Curti inPonda is booked under sections376 (rape), 323
and 354 of In-dian Penal Code and section 8(2) of Goa Childrens
Act. He iscurrently in judicial remand.
Arguments on his bail petitionwas heard in the Court
todaywherein the prosecution gavea detailed sequence of eventsright
from April 2009, when the14-year-old girl became her fa-thers
victim.
Public Prosecutor PoonamBharne told the Court that Miaoften
raped his daughter bytying her hands and legs to thebed, in the
absence of his wife.
-
GOA Pg 4GOA, SATURDAY,18 SEPTEMBER, 2010
upcoming evenTs
OHE
RALD
O
sHorT TaKes
By AyESHA BARRETTO
Music is both, a universal language andbond, that brings people
together evenafter years of no communication! A perfectexample of
this is the musical reunion ofLorna and two of the Monsorate
Brothers,which will take place soon, exactly after adecade and a
half!
As part of the Heritage Jazz Konkani RocksGoa! Celebrating Lorna
and more concert,Lorna will take centre stage at Ravindra
Bhavan,Margao, on Wednesday, 22nd September 2010,while being backed
by trumpeter Bosco Mon-sorate and his brother, Blasco Monsorate
onthe trombone, along with an additional ninemember ensemble. This
is indeed a historicalmoment for one and all involved as, Lorna
andthe Monsorate Brothers last worked together,in the confines of a
studio, 15 years ago.
Born to renowned trumpeter, the latePeter Monsorate, and to a
family full of mu-
sicians, it is no wonder that both the brothersare as good as
they are at what they do.Their talent and skills have, in turn, led
toa successful career and their playing alongside many stars, like
Lorna.
But what was it like recording with thenightingale of Goa back
then? Recalls Bosco,I first recorded a song with Lorna back in1972.
It was different back then as both, themusicians and the singers
would record to-gether, live and simultaneously, in the studio.It
was a lot of fun and I enjoyed the sessionwith her. In 1995
however, I never met herbecause the musicians came and recordedthe
song first and then, she came and dubbedher voice later. So, for
me, this will be a re-union after 38 years! I cant wait for
Wednes-day to get here because I know that it willbe a great moment
for me and that, together,all of us will create magic on stage!
Now, with so many years having gone by,
what do they expect will happen? Blasco says,We always wanted to
plan shows with Lornabut never had the sponsors. Also, as each ofus
went into our different fields of work, itbecame tough for all of
us to come together.But now, I am really looking forward to it
be-cause it has been too long a gap and I knowthat it will be a
great concert. This will be ourfirst time live, on stage, with
Lorna and whenit comes to playing along side her, you justknow it
will be spectacular! I am also lookingforward to the reunion as I
didnt see this hap-pening after so long. Hats off to Armando
andHeritage Jazz for making this possible! I justhope that, one
day, all the Monsorate Brotherswill be able to play on stage with
her.
So, with all this energy and enthusiasm hap-pening off stage,
one can only imagine whatpassion will erupt on stage! One thing is
forsure. For those present, they will be a part ofan unforgettable
moment in history.
Lorna to share stage with Monsorate Bros after 15 yrs
Restricted water supply to BardezPANJIM(HND): Due to repairs at
Podocem water treatment
plant, there will be restricted water supply to entire Bardezand
part of Bicholim Taluka on September 18, says a press re-lease.
Catechism children performing on stage at St Alex
Church,Calangute to celebrate Mothers Day on the occasion of Feast
ofNativity of Blessed Virgin Mary celebrated by the Catholics inthe
coastal belt of Calangute.
Distribution of JonosPANJIM(HND): Comunidade of
Morombi-o-Pequeno will be
distributing the Jono to its Jonoeiros for the year 2010 at
itsusual place of meeting at Merces on September 19, between10 am
to 12.30 pm and thereafter from Mondays to Thursdaytill September
end at the Office of the Administration of Co-munidades, Panaji,
between 10 am to 12.30 pm. The compo-nents are requested to produce
their I D Cards issued by thisComunidade while collecting the Jono,
says a press release.
Function at Pilar SeminaryPANJIM(HND): The Archdiocese will be
celebrating the Laity-
Sunday on September 26. In view of this event, the
DiocesanCentre for Laity will organize a special programme for
ChristianProfessionals. This programme would be held at the
PilarSeminary Annexe, from 9 am to 2 pm. Rev Dr Fr Victor Ferrao,Dr
Wiseman Pinto, Averthanus D'souza and Joe Noronha willbe the
speakers of the day. Fr Joseph Salema will moderatethe panel
discussions while Fr Daniel Pereira will coordinatethe event.
A team of delegates from 'Dimensions'; a Mumbai basedForum of
Christians Professionals and Entrepreneurs will alsoaddress the
gathering. The purpose of organizing this seminaris to impart faith
formation as well as better networkingamong professionals and
entrepreneurs.
Those interested should contact by email([email protected])or
telephone (2232496) latest by September 22.There is no
reg-istration fee, says a press release.
YMCA meet at CalangutePANJIM(HND): The National Board of YMCA,
the highest
policy making body of the Indian YMCA will hold its
deliber-ations on September 18 at Nizmar Resorts, Calangute andwill
be attended by over 190 delegates from across the 9YMCA regions of
India spanning the whole country fromKanyakumari to Shimla. The
National Board is a yearly eventand deliberates on policy matters
and implementation of its'action plans' for the triennium 2009-2012
having the overar-ching theme "one Body, many parts: called to
witness."
The National President John Cherian will chair all the meet-ings
beside the national board which will see an officialopening on the
morning of September 18 preceded by praiseand worship conducted by
YMCA Bombay. The inaugural onSaturday will feature addresses by the
national president, thehost YMCA president Dr Peter Philip, YMCA
Goa President PM Vaz and special guest Kohei Yamada, secretary
general Asiaand pacific Alliance of YMCA in Hong Kong.
Dental check-up campsCANACONA(HC): The Directorate of Health
Services, Panjim,
in coordination with few NGOs will organise five free
dentalcheck-up camps in Canacona taluka from September 18 to
23.
Patients will be examined free of cost for teeth
problems,besides related activities like teeth cleansing, simple
extractionand small fillings. Medicines will also be provided free
of costin the camps.
The dental camps under Community Health Centre (CHC)Canacona
will be accordingly held in rural medical Centres.The camps will
begin at 9 am.
On September 18, camp will be held at CHC Canacona,Cotigao
Panahcyat area Rural Health Sub Centre (September20), Gaondongrim
Panchayat area Rural Health Sub Centre(September 21), Sristhal
Panchayat Panchayat hall (September22) and Agonda Panahayat area
Rural Medical Centre (Sep-tember 23). Health Service sources in the
taluka have requestedthe public from respective areas to take
benefits of this freecamps.
HERALD REPORTER
VASCO, SEPT 17
With Mormugao Port Trust(MPT) Chairman Praveen Agar-wal likely
to vacate his officenext month, all eyes will nowbe set on the
continuity of theport's expansion plans.
There is a strong apprehensionthat with Agarwals transfer,
theambitious port expansion planmay come to a standstill, as
ef-forts were put in by the MPTchairman to ensure that port
isdeveloped in a sustainable man-ner taking into consideration
theinterests of all stake holders.
Though there are apprehensionsthat some projects may be
droppedor come to a standstill once Agar-wal vacates his office,
the chairmanhas insisted that MPT projects willgo on despite his
absence.
We are here for a fixedtenure, what best I could do
fordevelopment of the port, I havedone. My successor will carryon
with whatever necessary hasto be done, said Agarwal.
He claimed that he had heardfrom some people that some proj-ects
may be stalled or come to astandstill once he vacates his
office.
There is a general finding bya top management school thatthe
problem with developingeconomies like India is that theydo not have
well-institutional-ized organisations for infrastruc-
ture development, he said.The finding suggests that lots
depend on individuals, particularlythe one who takes decision,
whichis the greatest weakness of or-ganization and government in
de-veloping economies, informedAgarwal.
The finding generally sug-gests that once the person whotakes
decision to leave the post,there are possibilities that proj-ects
may get stalled or may notproceed as per the plans, in-formed
Agarwal.
"However, in the case of MPTprojects, plans outlined by theMPT
will carried forward by mysuccessor."
When asked how he can assurethat expansion plans will moveahead
when top managementschool has opined that once deci-sion-maker
leaves the office, thereis a possibility that project maydie, he
shot back saying: It wonthave any implication on MPT, asMPT is an
unique organizationdriven by growth and has positivemomentum for
development.
MPT, being Central governmentorganisation, is well structuredin
terms of procedure, guidelinesand instructions, whatever ap-provals
Board of Trustees havetaken for concerning land, estate,foreshore,
water area, is as perthe land policies of major portsand
instructions of Central Vigi-
lance Commission, Control andAuditor General, Planning
Com-mission and Ministry of Shipping.
When asked despite comply-ing procedures, things have notmoved
in the right direction forMPT, especially with the Stategovernment,
he said: I have feltno constraint and never foundimpediments
created by theState government.
All our projects are proceed-ing as per the schedule andthere
are certain procedures tobe followed and certain rulesto be
compliances, we are flow-ing all that, said Agarwal.
However, in his five-year tenure,Agarwal had made plans for
manyprojects including major projectunder execution development
ofIron Ore Terminal at West of BreakWater on Public Private
Partner-ship, development of Berth No 7as second coal terminal
(PPP), de-velopment of coal terminal atBerth No 11 (PPP),
developmentof cruise berths to promote cruisetourism through Goa,
marinas onnorth and south banks of riverZuari wherever possible,
cargoberth complex, development ofVasco terminal to create
facilitiesfor the much needed containerterminal for local
industrial need,facilities for Indian Navy, CoastGuard, Custom
Foreign Navy andrehabilitation of Khariwado fishingjetty to Katem
Baina shore.
Will Agarwals departure stall MPTs expansion plans?
Kingfisher Voice of Goa
auditions todayHERALD NEWS DESK
PANJIM, SEPT 17
Season six of the KingfisherVoice of Goa kicks-off with thefirst
audition at Alua, Merces onSeptember 18 at 5 pm. Onceagain the
search begins for Goa'snew sensation.
According to a press note re-leased by the organizers, the
au-ditions are open to all Goans inthe age group of 18 years
andabove. There is no entry fee forparticipation and the entry
formsare available at the venue itself.
Interested participants shouldbe at the venue by 4:30 pm.
Par-ticipants will be provided withbackup music and those who
in-tend to get their own instrumentsare allowed to do so.
Participantsare informed that the judgmentwill be on their singing
and noton the music as it is a talentsearch for the best voice of
Goa.
This is the first time auditionswill be held in English as well
asour very own language Konkani.To boost talent there will be
cashprizes in each category for allauditions besides the gala
prizeof Rs 3 lakh for the English roundand Rs 50,000 for the
Konkaniround at the grand finale.
The event is open to generalpublic and for their
entertainmentband Crimson Tide will be perform-ing live. The
organizers appeal toall Goans to come forward in largenumbers to
participate in this eventand showcase their talent.
Rangmanch inaugurated
Ajit D Naik, Chairman of Merces Sanskrutik Trust along withYatin
Pundalik Palyekar, dy sarpanch of Merces and the trustmembers at
the inaugural function of Rangmanch.
PANJIM(HND): Yatin Pundalik Palyekar, dy sarpanch of
Mercesvillage panchayat inaugurated Rangmanch (stage platform)in
the presence of Ajit D Naik Chairman of Merces Sanskrutiktrust and
trustee Dhaktu Vegulekar, Adv Prashant Vengurlekar,Namdev
Salgaonkar, Vinod Narvekar, Dattaram Chari, SukaGovekar and
Kamlakant Chari.
The Rangmanch is donated to Merces Sanskrutik Trust byYatin
Palyekar in memory of his late father Pundalik Palyekaron the
occasion of Ganesh Pratishthapana, says a press re-lease.
more goa news
on page 9
-
GOA, SATURDAY, 18 SEPTEMBER, 2010Pg 5OHERALDO
Pg 5_Pg12 9/18/2010 12:36 AM Page 1
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Casinos to stay? Stephen Dias, Dona Paula
The Bombay High Court at Goa has keptthe final arguments on the
operation ofcasinos in the River Mandovi for 20 Sep-tember. It
remains to be seen whether thevessels will remain permanently at
differentlocations within the river, as per their al-lotment
suggested by the Captain of Ports.
Casinos in the Mandovi pollute the riverenormously. It is
choc-a-bloc with fishingtrawlers, tourism boats, barges, etc,
andthe chances for collisions are very high.NGOs have threatened a
street protest onthis issue. Leader of the OppositionManohar
Parrikar has already smelled a ratand kickbacks.
What is the guarantee that these casinoswill not further
increase in numbers, justas happened with beach shacks?
Cast-e in stoneNeeraj DAguiar, Cuncolim
Adv Aires Rodrigues has called the govern-ments decision to hold
a caste census asa step in the reverse direction (Consti-tution
laid low, Herald, 17 Sept). In thatcase, is not the reservation of
seats forOBC and ST candidates in the panchayatand municipal
elections also a step in thereverse direction?
The government does not want to erad-icate caste. On the
contrary, all steps aretaken to ensure that India remains boundby
chains of caste. It is a shame that evenafter 60 years of
Independence, we stillfollow the British policy of divide and
rule.
Reserving seats for a certain caste meanstaking the caste out of
competition. Theday is not far when seats in buses and trainswill
also be reserved on caste basis. Cheersto democracy!
Save Mapusa nowFloriano Lobo, Goa Su-Raj Party
It has never happened in Goa since 1961.A municipal election is
being contested bycivil society collectively on a progressiveand
disciplined Peoples Manifesto.
Kudos to Mapusa Nagrikancho Ekvottled by Adv Antonio Lobo,
ex-Bar Councilmember from Goa.
The Citizens Panel needs to be supportednot only by Mapxemkars,
but by Bardezkarsand Goans alike. One glance at todays Ma-pusa and
the sad state of the famous FridayMarket tells a sorry tale of
mismanagement.
Civic change comes only when one issubmerged up to the nose, it
is said. Thefilth has already reached the nostrils andMapusas
survival is in peril. The MapusaNagrikancho Ekvott, hopefully will
cleanout the Aegean stables.
Think of the motherM X DSouza, Mapusa
The Catholic Church in adhering to the dik-tat of its Master is
trying to defend the un-born child from ravenous abortion mills.The
foetus in the womb, though not yetborn, is very much alive, so
killing it is acrime.
The killing of the foetus of a girl child is
a crime in India; why not the other sex?But we must be sensitive
to the mothers.Sometimes the woman is hapless and forcedto
terminate her pregnancy.
People who are not gifted with a childmust adopt children. The
mothers mustnot to ashamed to give birth. Killing theinnocent
foetus would be more shamefuland painful.
The Church, both clergy and laity, mustboldly stand up to defend
life. Its futilepreaching to others about pro-life, whenwe hate
life itself: I have come that theymay have life, and have it to the
full. (John10:10)
Municipal mix-upAdelmo Fernandes, Vasco
The names of the three major municipalitiesin Goa Mapusa, Margao
and Mormugao have the same abbreviation, MMC. Thiscreates confusion
among newspaper read-ers, and probably also in official
documents.
They should have different abbreviations,for example, MoMC for
Mormugao, MuMCfor Mapusa and MaMC for Margao.
We are not weedsPeter DSouza, Mapusa
The recent statement by BJP MLA PrahladRemani: I will not rest
until the seeds ofChristianity are weeded out, shows how
wicked he is. He is ungrateful, having donehis education in a
Catholic school and col-lege.
Isnt the BJP hypocritical when so manyof their MLAs studied in
Catholic schoolsand colleges, and send their children abroadto
Christian countries like the US, UK andAustralia.
What Christianity has given to this coun-try is its finest
educational institutions, or-phanages, etc, which the BJP
forgets.
Justice for NareshRicky Fernandes, Dubai
Over 45 days have passed since our belovedNaresh was brutally
murdered. Still, GoaPolice have not come up with anything
con-crete. What was the motive? Who else wasinvolved?
The police said they are yet to establishthe motive behind the
murder. Snehal hasalready confessed. What stops the policefrom
revealing the motive now? Is theresome political pressure? We need
an an-swer.
Practise, dont carpAshley J Fernandes, Margao
Music that sucks Jerry Fernandes (Herald,15 Sept) is somewhat
true. But I would liketo remind Jerry that is talking about thefew
musicians he listens to.
Some musicians in Goa spend their timeslashing one another with
their tongues,instead of spending time in serious practice.Others
hold government jobs and music isjust a side business. They qualify
as goodcritics on the sidelines.
Jerry is being unfair to good musicianslike Brian, Fortes,
Steve, Iggy, Mac and afew others that are worth listening to. Ihope
the ones who destructively criticizeothers use their time more
seriously topractice, so that they can be better musi-cians than
critics.
Police slothConceisao Filipe N Menezes, Chinchinim
I fully support Menino Fernandes (PoliceLethargy Herald, 15
Sept). Despite makinga complaint in the Cuncolim Police Stationin
November 2009 for damage to my com-pound wall and gate, besides a
number offruit-bearing trees (I was also threatenedwith dire
consequences in front of the po-lice), the culprit was let go with
a merewarning.
I am reminded of Adv Aires Rodrigues re-vealing that half of
Goas police officers arefacing disciplinary action (Herald, 10
Sept).
Feeding frenzyVishal DCosta, Cuncolim
Goa is naturally beautiful. Tourists visit Goato enjoy its
nature and not its concretepavements nor its designer electric
posts.Ministers are on a feeding frenzy of publicfunds. The Sky Bus
project was a waste ofpublic fund in the name of tourist
attractionand promotion. Public funds are squanderedon
beautification of Goan beaches, androads leading to MLAs bungalows.
Instead,we must think of ways and means to savethe eroded Candolim
beach and preservethe sand dunes off the Miramar beach. Thelist is
endless.
Lakhs of rupees have been spent on thebrand ambassador of GTDC,
and the man-aging director of GTDCs foreign trips. Noone pays any
heed to restore the crumblingCabo De Rama Fort. Mahatma Gandhi
oncesaid, there is enough in this world foreveryones need but not
enough for every-ones greed. Goa needs to be saved fromthe feeding
frenzy of its ministers.
Problems of Plenty
The visit of Pope Benedict XVI to Britain inmid-September has a
very special signifi-cance for the entire world. The focus of
his
visit will be the beatification on Sunday 19 Sep-tember of John
Henry Cardinal Newman, who isacknowledged to be one of Britains
most tow-ering intellectuals, on par with St Thomas More,G K
Chesterton, Hillaire Belloc and Ronald Knox.Britain should feel
proud that such an outstandingthinker will be included in the
pantheon of menand women whom the Catholic Church proposesfor
emulation by people all around the world.The conferment of the
title of Blessed or Saint isan endorsement of the persons sanctity
nothis / her intellectual achievements. In Newman,however, like in
St Thomas More, the qualitiesof mind and personal sanctity are
eminently com-bined. It is precisely because of this that
Newmanstands out in todays world as a person to bevenerated as well
as emulated.
Cardinal Newman is more relevant today be-cause of the
widespread conspiracy to create abarrier between faith and reason.
According tomany popular articles which appear in the mediaand also
in many so-called specialised journals,the argument is proposed
that faith and reasonare mutually exclusive and incompatible. It is
saidthat faith is contrary to reason and is based onblind
acceptance of dogmas that cannot standthe scrutiny of reason. It is
also asserted thatthose who accept or profess any belief are
irra-tional and ignorant. According to these arguments,any belief
should be rejected which does notpass the test of reason.
It is precisely this kind of flawed reasoningthat Newman
addressed in his many writings andsermons. In his most outstanding
treatise, TheGrammar of Assent, Newman showed, quite con-clusively,
that reason itself is based on certainassumptions that are taken as
axiomatic. All ar-guments are based on axioms or
presuppositions,which are not established by reason. He goes onto
show that belief is not contrary to reason but,in fact, is demanded
by reason.
Interestingly enough, Dr Sarvapalli Radhakr-ishnan, one of the
most eminent Indian philoso-phers and statesmen, shared Newmans
view ofthe mutual relationship between reason and faith.In his
widely read book The Present Crisis ofFaith, Dr Radhakrishnan
observes: A philoso-phers loyalty to reason does not commit him
tothe proposition that the nature of ultimate realitycan be
apprehended only as an object of reason.
Many philosophers, both in the East and theWest, have reached
the conclusion that reality issupra-rational that it is not in its
ultimate natureaccessible to conceptual understanding andthat
religious insights are also genuine revelationof ultimate reality.
He goes on to observe: Au-thentic religion is based on the
consciousness ofbeing in direct relationship with the Supreme.This
experience transcends all forms, all imagesand concepts. The union
is effected in the centralself, which is the root of intellect and
will alike.All religious utterances are vain attempts to dealjustly
with the meaning of the experience whichhas been attained.
John Henry Newman had the unique distinctionof stressing the
importance of the role of thelaity in the Church at a time when the
laity werepractically relegated to the periphery of theChurchs
life. Newman emphasised the fact ofthe consensus fidelium in the
process of deter-mining what the Church teaches as
demandingimplicit obedience. He gave an elaborate descrip-tion of
the unwavering loyalty of the faithful tothe doctrine of the
divinity of Jesus at the timeof the Arian heresy; even when many
theologians
and Bishops were in error. In a defence of an article which
appeared in
the Rambler, Newman asserted that the bodyof the faithful is one
of the witnesses to the factof the tradition of revealed doctrine,
and becausetheir consensus through Christendom is the voiceof the
Infallible Church. He cites St Augustinesobservation that in
matters whereupon the Scrip-ture has not spoken clearly, the custom
of thepeople of God, or the institutions of our prede-cessors, are
to be held as law (On Consultingthe Faithful in Matters of
Doctrine, GeoffreyChapman, London, 1961, pg 23).
Newman was obviously decades ahead of hiscontemporaries in the
matter of recognising theimportant role of the People of God in the
devel-opment of Doctrine. His influence was palpableduring the
Ecumenical Council, Vatican II (1962-65). The Decree on the
Apostolate of the Laity Apostolicam Actuositatem is indelibly
markedby the insights of Cardinal Newman. Bishop Gor-don Wheeler,
retired Bishop of Leeds, wrote:Those of us who took part in Vatican
II becamevery aware that Newman had not only come intohis own but
the whole mind of the Council was
imbued with his thought. In his reflections on the theologian
John Duns
Scotus, Pope Benedict XVI (7 July 2010) pointedout that valuable
theologians enriched withtheir specific thought what the People of
God al-ready believed spontaneously about the BlessedVirgin,
manifested in acts of piety, in the expres-sions of art and, in
general, in Christian living.He noted how faith in the Immaculate
Conceptionor in the bodily assumption of the Virgin was al-ready
present in the People of God, while theologyhad not yet found the
key to interpret it in thetotality of the doctrine of the faith.
Thus thePeople of God precede theologians and all thisthanks to
that supernatural sensus fidei, namely,that capacity infused by the
Holy Spirit, whichqualifies us to embrace the reality of the
faith,with humility of heart and mind.
Pope Benedict XVI gently invited theologiansto listen to this
source of faith and have the hu-mility and simplicity of the little
ones. In thissense, the People of God is magisterium thatprecedes,
and that later must be deepened andintellectually accepted by
theology (Pope Bene-dicts address on 7 July 2010 when he spoke
ofBlessed Duns Scotus at the general audience inPaul VI Hall).
Cardinal Newman, who was born in 1801, wasdescribed as that
shining light, and pride of theEnglish race, and came into
prominence as oneof the leaders of the Oxford Movement,
whichendeavoured to spread Anglo-Catholic ideas inthe Church of
England. A pamphlet called Tract90 published in 1841, in which he
tried to rec-oncile the Thirty-Nine Articles of the Church
ofEngland with the Catholic doctrine of the Councilof Trent,
aroused great controversy. He was re-ceived into the Catholic
Church on 9 October,1845, and was ordained priest in Rome in
1847.He was elevated to the rank of Cardinal by PopeLeo XIII in
1879. He died in 1890. Preaching atthe London Oratory, Cardinal
Manning said: Thehistory of our land will hereafter record the
nameof John Henry Newman among the greatest ofour people, as a
Confessor for the Faith.
Amid the confusion which is being spread inour times about the
sanctity of life, the sanctityof marriage, the complementarities
between thesexes and the mutual reinforcement afforded byfaith and
reason, Cardinal Newman stands out asa beacon of light. We need to
pray: Lead KindlyLight amid the encircling gloom. Lead Thou
meon...
OPINIONwww.oheraldo.in
Pg8Vol No CX No: 236
Goa, Saturday 18 September, 2010
Letters to the EditorLetter of the Day
Misguided mobsMaria P Mascarenhas, Cansaulim
I agree with Listen to the People by Jeremiah DSouza (Herald, 15
Sept). Goas villagesreally are under evil attack. I recall Thomas
Hardy: God was palpably present in thecountry and the devil had
gone with the world to town. The devil is really all out toruin
Goas lush countryside and resorts to all kinds of tricks. In Gram
Sabhas, the sanevoices of villagers who seek to protect their
natural habitat are sought to be stifledby heckling and
manhandling. The tragedy is that the mob is sometimes blissfully
un-aware that they are being used by unscrupulous builders. The
disruption of the Cansaulim Gram Sabha is a clear case where a
particular builderstooped so low as to even use religious sentiment
to gather a mob to stifle the voiceof opposition from villagers to
a mega-project. Little did the gathering understandthat they were
called in the name of their beloved God to destroy His
beautifulCreation and to fatten the pockets of an individual who
shows contempt for the faith.
Printed and published by Vinayak Pai Bir for and on behalf of
Herald Publications Pvt Ltd. Printed at Herald Publications Pvt
Ltd, Plot No: L-135, Phase II, Verna Industrial Estate, Verna,
Salcete, Goa. Published at PO Box 160, Rua Sao Tome, Panjim, Goa -
403001. Editor-in-chief: Mr R F Fernandes. Editor: Ashwin
Tombat(Responsible under PRB Act). Regd Office: St Tome Road,
Panjim, Goa. Tel: 2224202, 2228083, Fax: 2222475 (all Editorial);
2230535, Fax: 2225622 (Advertising); Margao: 2737689. Mumbai
Office: 16-A, Bell Building, 2nd Floor, 19 Sir PM Road, Fort,
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Paths of Wisdom
John Henry Cardinal newman will be beatified tomorrow in Britain
by Pope Benedict XVi, says aVertHanUs l dsoUZa
OHERALDO
Tongue in Cheek
By adelmo Fernandes
OHERALDO
The Workers in theVineyard
The Kingdom of heaven is like this.Once there was a man who went
outearly in the morning to hire some mento work in his vineyard. He
agreed topay them the regular wage, a silver coina day, and sent
them to work in hisvineyard. He went out again to the mar-ket place
at nine oclock and saw somemen standing there doing nothing, sohe
told them, You also go and work inthe vineyard, and I will pay you
a fairwage. So, they went. Then at twelveoclock and again at three
oclock, hedid the same thing. It was nearly fiveoclock when he went
to the marketplace and saw some other men stillstanding there. Why
are you wastingthe whole day here doing nothing? heasked them. No
one hired us, they an-swered. Well, then, you also go andwork in
the vineyard, he told them.
When evening came, the owner toldhis foreman, Call the workers
and paythem their wages, starting with thosewho were hired last and
ending withthose who were hired first. The menwho had begun to work
at five oclockwere paid a silver coin each. So, whenthe men who
were the first to be hiredcame to be paid, they thought theywould
get more; but they too weregiven a silver coin each. They took
theirmoney and started grumbling againstthe employer. These men who
werehired last worked only one hour, theysaid, while we put up with
a wholedays work in the hot sun yet youpaid them the same you paid
us.
Listen, friend, the owner answeredone of them, I have not
cheated you.After all, you agreed to do a days workfor one silver
coin. Now, take your payand go home. I want to give this manwho was
hired last as much as I havegiven you. Dont I have the right to
doas I wish with you with my own money?Or are you jealous because I
am gener-ous? (Mathew 20; 1-16)
100 Years Ago
18 September 1910Peace at last!The Treaty between Russia and
Japan,which assures a lasting peace betweenthe two nations, was
finally signed.
Exams abolishedThe Senate of the University of Bombayabolished
the system of Previous Ex-aminations, to facilitate the youth
whodesire to obtain a fast matriculation.
Juvem SchoolThe inhabitants of Sto Estevam submit-ted to the
Government a petition re-questing to establish in the village
anall-Girls High School.
Saraswat conventionIn the coming December will take placeat
Mapusa, the convention of GaudSaraswat Brahmins Parishad, with
theaim to bring back to its fold all the divi-sions and
sub-divisions from that HinduClass.
PRIMEIRO DIARIO NAS COLONIAS PORTUGEZAS
No resort onthis island!
The picturesque Konko Island at Palolem Beach is thejewel in
that picturesque beachs crown. Part of itsmagic is that it is
uninhabited, completely wild, is a
nesting place for rare birds that shun habitation like theWhite
Bellied Sea Eagle, and for other wildlife.
From decades, hoteliers and builders have laid their evileye on
this marvel of nature. Now, once again, new rumoursare afoot that
developers are planning to set up a resort onthe island. But local
residents are fiercely protective of theirpatrimony, and it is not
at all surprising that they havevowed not to allow anyone to touch
their island. Accordingto them, it protects their beach and village
from naturaldisasters.
A wooded hillock 68,000 sq metres in size, the island
isseparated from the mainland by a narrow channel that canbe waded
across at low tide. It originally belonged to alocal bhatkar, who
reportedly sold it to a Delhi-based en-trepreneur for a paltry Rs
60 lakh. Now, this absentee owneris trying to make an enormous
profit on his small investment,as big time players in real estate,
politicians and film starsare all vying to buy it and set up a
resort.
What has opened the doors to development on the islandis the new
draft CRZ rules made public just a few days ago,which open up areas
between 200 and 500 metres fromthe high tide line for so-called
restricted development bythe hospitality industry. But that is not
the only provisionwhich Konkos would-be developers are looking at.
Theyalso seek to misuse the specific exception for Goa in therules,
which allows housing structures in the CRZ area tobe rebuilt.
There is a tiny structure on the island that was originallyused
for storing coconuts. It is a small, single room, inruins.
Somewhere along the way, it mysteriously acquireda house number,
ever though nobody ever stayed there.Probably, it was an exercise
in trying to set up a resort.Now, the new developers want to set up
a resort by re-building what they will claim is an old house. If
UnionMinister Jairam Ramesh needs any evidence that the pro-visions
in his new CRZ draft are prone to misuse, he onlyhas to look at
this case. The exception has been made forfisherfolk, but the ones
who will take maximum advantageof it are big builders.
Local residents, who must be congratulated for their vig-ilance
in this matter, have demanded that the governmentshould acquire
this island and leave it undisturbed for pos-terity, banning any
sort of development that could disturbits natural state. If the
government cannot afford it, it canpossibly do a deal with a
Britisher who had offered in 2007to buy it and leave it
undisturbed. It has a similar agreementwith a British foundation,
for restoring the Reis Magos fort.How about keeping this one for
nature?
Crossing the line?
Former Law Minister Shanti Bhushan has a sterling rep-utation
for probity and public service. But in his latestaction, of stating
that eight of the 16 former Chief Jus-
tices of India were definitely corrupt, he seems to havecrossed
the line.
Judicial probity is a burning issue in India today; a
graveconcern in a country where the other two pillars of democracy
the Legislature and the Executive are in dire straits. Thisis the
one institution that the public still has faith in.
To frontally assault its highest functionaries on the basisof
what he was apparently told by two former ChiefJustices is not
correct. The Indian Judiciary deserves betterthan that.
Lead Kindly Light
We need the rains. Water is necessary for sustaining life onthe
planet. In fact, water is the main component of anylife form. Rains
are a must to sustain life. They are re-
sponsible for the greenery we see around us. But then, when
itrains continuously, people start to complain.
Incidentally, Goa has had rainfall in excess of the usual this
year.Everyone seems to wonder when it will stop raining. The rain
hasbeen so much more this year that someone even commented thatthe
rainfall should be measured in feet and not in inches!
Too much of rain will bring hardship to the people, and can
alsobe counter productive. The paddy that has grown during
normalrainfall can wither away and die if the rain is in
excess.
In the past, around this time of the year, the downpour is onthe
downslide. The rains begin to ebb. But it seems that this year,the
rain has increased in momentum when, in fact, it should beslowing
down.
Fortunately, Goa does not witness the floods that some of
the
other states in the country have to learn to live with. In this
state,all the flooding that takes place is more man made, as the
guttersstart to clog, resulting in flooding of the roads.
Anything in excess is not good. But then, in the case of
therainfall, it may not be true. If there is too much of rain, it
can beharvested. No one can say for sure that we will have a
goodmonsoon next year. This is where the concept of rain water
har-vesting gains importance.
Unfortunately, in Goa, rain water harvesting has not picked upin
a big way, mostly because of the lackadaisical attitude of thestate
government. The Meteorological Department has alwaysfound it
difficult to predict the weather.
It can be said that predicting the rainfall can be the most
un-predictable thing to do. When the Met Department says that
itwill rain, the sun will probably shine it all its glory. And when
theMet Department predicts that it will be bright and sunny,
onemight as well take out the rain wear, as it may rain cats
and
dogs. The reason why the weather has become so unpredictable
in
recent years is because of the pollution the atmosphere is
subjectedto, resulting in global warming. This has had a telling
effect onMother Nature as well as on the weather.
Be that as it may, it is but human to complain of excess of
rain,as no one wishes to be in discomfort. And since it has been
rainingcontinuously this year when the rains should have almost
stopped,almost everyone is complaining.
People feel that we are facing a problem of plenty plenty
ofrainfall. In any other state it (the excess of rainfall) would
havebeen considered a blessing. But in Goa, where very few
peopleare still into cultivating paddy, most of the rain water goes
intothe sea without being used. What a waste of a most precious
re-source! If only we could try to utilise to the fullest Gods gift
ofplentiful rain
Moral Considerations
-
GOA Pg 9GOA, SATURDAY, 18 SEPTEMBER, 2010
OHE
RALD
O
appointments
BY HERALD REPORTERMARGAO, SEPT 17
Removal of sand bags from theMajorda beach appears goingon a
slow pace despite ordersfrom the Sub-divisional Magis-trate,
Margao.
A visit to the Majorda beachrevealed that thousands of sandbags
continue to be buriedunder the sand. The SDMs orderto a starred
resort to removethe sand bags have not beenobeyed fully as those
bags ex-posed due to the sea erosionare removed.
However, locals maintainedthat thousands of sand bags arestill
buried under the sand andraised apprehensions that thebeach as well
as the creek will
Work on buried sand bags at slow pace at Majorda beach
Sand bags continue to dot the Majorda beach despite orders from
the Sub-divisional Magistrate.
undergo a change if the bagsare not removed at the earliest.
A local villager, Adv RadharaoGracias said the sand bags
buriedunder the sand by the resort tokeep at bay erosion near
thehotel premises will spell doomfor tourism and destroy the
ecol-ogy. Already, the rivulet haschanged its course, and this
isgoing to severely affect thebeach, he said
Radharao said that thoughthe deputy Collector had actedquickly
by issuing notice on thestarred resort, the governmentand the
Tourism Departmentappears least concerned aboutthe situation. We
will wait forsome time to see the govern-ment action. If not, we
will
knock the doors of the highcourt to demand action againstthe
resort for burying sand bagson the beach, he warned.
Inquiries with the SDMs of-fice has revealed that the
starredresort has sought time to clearthe beach of the sand bags.
Itis learnt that the SDM JohnsonFernandes has fixed inspectionof
the beach stretch next weekbefore initiating action againstthe
resort.
HERALD REPORTERVASCO, SEPT 17
Mormugao Port Trust (MPT) andGoa State Pollution ControlBoard
(GSPCB) may lock hornsover the proposed iron ore ter-minal at West
of Breakwater(WOB) in MPT jurisdiction.
The proposed iron ore termi-nal at WOB will be developedat an
estimated cost of Rs 1,012crore on Public Private Partner-ship
(PPP).
The terminal will be a dedi-cated iron ore berth with a
ca-pacity of 7.2 metric tonnes. Theproject, which will be
completedby February 2014, requiresnearly 140,000 hectares of
landto reclaim.
Though MPT had a smoothsailing for most of its other
proj-ects,but the iron ore terminalremains to be controversial
forGSPCB, as it failed to hold publicconsultation despite MPT
havingpaid Rs 5 lakh fees for holdingpublic consultation.
Speaking to Herald, MPTChairman Praveen Agarwalclaimed that as
far as iron oreterminal at WOB is concerned,MPT executes its
project afterapproval from Cabinet Commit-tee on Infrastructure
(CCI),which is chaired by DeputyChairman Planning Commission.
"The WOB proposal is beforethe CCI, which is likely to get
appr