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OHERALDOThe Voice of Goa Since 1900
HERALD REPORTERMARGAO, MARCH 20
Chalo Panjim. That was the mes-sage that went around
Salcetescountryside to participate in thepublic meeting at the
AzadMaidan on Monday afternoonin support of the demand forEnglish
as the medium of in-struction at the elementary ed-ucation.
The PTAs of schools and otherconcerned citizens have madea
strong case for English as themedium of instruction
withKonkani/Marathi as one of thecompulsory subjects.
Addressing a press conferencein support of the demands ofthe
parents, former TourismMinister, Mickky Pacheco hasvowed to fight
tooth and nailfor government grants for Eng-lish medium
schools.
He said that efforts are onamongst the ruling MLAs topush the
issue to the next aca-demic year given this is an elec-
tion year.I will fight tooth and nail for
grants for English mediumschools. The government cannotabdicate
their responsibility.People will not forgive the MLAsif they take
Goans for a ride,he said, while giving a call tothe parents to
attend the March21 rally at Azad Maidan in largenumbers.
Saying he does not find anydifficulty for the government
toextend grants to Eng l i shmedium schools, Pacheco de-manded to
know why the gov-ernment had been grantingpermissions for new
Englishmedium schools across theState.
If the government is reallyhell bent on teaching the chil-dren
their primary education intheir mother tongue, then, howdoes the
government justify thatin the government primaryschool category,
only seven percent schools teach in Konkani
medium, whereas 89 per centteach in Marathi medium. Is
thegovernment trying to say thatonly seven per cent of the
stu-dents have Konkani as theirmother tongue? When the gov-ernment
even gives in grant-in-aid to Kannada medium, why isthe government
hesitating togive grant-in-aid to Englishmedium, he asked and
re-quested the government to keep
(Continued on page 10)
(Continued on page 10)
IN BRIEF
The prickly thorn oftenbears soft roses.
Ovid
Visit us at:www.oheraldo.in panjim, monday, march 21, 2011
postal reg. no. Goa 101 pricE rs. 3.00 (air Surcharge rs 2.00)
pages 16+4
i n s i d el Debate favours parents
choice for medium ofinstruction... Page 3
l Musings on English as medium ofinstruction... Page 4
l The RTE Act 2009... Page 6
l Boon or curse... Page 7
Biz: Gates, Buffett to persuade rich
Indians to part with cash Pg 13
India: Bollywood stars greet
fans on Holi Pg 7Sports: Saina claims
Swiss Open title Pg 15
Heart-
HERALD REPORTERPANJIM, MARCH 20
Goa government would takestern action against its employ-ees who
fail to report for dutyeven as the latter is adamant togo on an
indefinite strike fromMonday onwards.
The strike is likely to affectthe proceedings of the
Legisla-tive Assembly.
On Sunday, Chief SecretarySanjay Srivastava made a re-newed
attempt to resolve thecall given by the Goa Govern-ment Employees
Association forthe indefinite pen-down strikefrom Monday.
But the talks failed followingwhich the government has de-cided
that the employees ab-sence from work will be decidedas
unauthorised.
All secretaries, head of de-partments, head of Public
SectorUndertakings and autonomousbodies, joint secretaries andunder
secretaries are instructed
to record the names of the offi-cials who refuse to function
dur-ing office hours.
Employees disobeying thedirections and participates inthe strike
will be viewed seriously.
If the strike intensifies, theprinciple of no work no paywill be
invoked in all such unau-thor i sed absence , thespokesperson
said.
The Government in a circularissued has urged all employeesto
desist from joining the strikecalled by the Association as its
recognition itself is under cloud.It has also urged the
employeesnot to be misled by instigatingtalks of the Association
members.
Meanwhile Association Pres-ident Mangaldas Shetkar hassaid that
they are firm on theindefinite strike. The CS hasasked us to hold
back our de-mands till the Assembly sessionends. But we have waited
foryears together and still ourdemands are not heed. We arefirm on
the indefinite strike callfrom Monday, Shetkar said.
A dAY oF ReCKoninGChalo Panjim! meetfor medium today
Govt employees firm on
strike, ignore warning
VIBHA VERMAPANJIM, MARCH 20
Archeological Survey of India(ASI) has planned to
introducetickets for the visitors at the13th century old Aguada
Fort,which has been listed as a pro-tected monument.
The Central government runagency has also decided to
postsecurity guards on this fort,which has been frequented bythe
visitors. ASIs Goa Circle saidthat the security measures
arerequired to curb the anti socialand immoral activity in the
fort.
In its report to the ASI Direc-tor General Dr Gautam SenGupta,
the Goa Circle has sug-gested that ticketing systemcould generate
revenue asAguada Fort is a hot favouriteamongst tourists,
filmmakersand even locals.
The place is frequented by
thousands of visitors everyday.We are losing revenue as we
arenot charging any fees for theentry. As per the rules, we canfix
a nominal fee, said ASI Su-perintendent Shivram Rao.
With the revenue collectionfrom this monument, the ASI
plans to put up basic infrastruc-ture like drinking water,
toiletand others for the visitors. TheASI also intends to have
wheelchairs for the physically chal-lenged visitors, who visit
here.
Following ticketing, the ASIalso plans to deploy strict se-
curity vigil as in the past theyhave encountered several
badexperiences.
Sources stated that some mis-creants broke open the fortsfrontal
huge gate and damagedthe iron bars.
Rao said that the security willbe provided 24x7 for the
fort,which has a historic importanceand also houses a light
houseand jail beneath it.
The ASI has almost completedthe significant restoration of
thefort by fixing grills on the moat,filling up the gap between
thestones, while the thick vegeta-tion has also been cleared.
When asked about the crum-bling walls, the ASI chief repliedthat
the fort is in healthy con-dition. The ASI received fund ofRs 1.5
crore from the CentralGovernment in the last fiscalyear for the
restoration activity.
now, pay to visit Aguada Fort
Radiation levelsworry Japan
PTITOKYO/FUKUSHIMA, MARCH 20
Over 300 Japanese engineers onSunday raced against time
tosalvage the quake-hit Fukushimaatomic power plant makingsome
progress in their effortsto cool down overheated spentfuel rods but
concerns spreadover rising radiation levelsand food and water
contam-ination.
The plant operator TokyoE lec t r i c Power Company(TEPCO) said
external power wasrestored to the No 2 reactor andover 2,400 tons
of water werespread into buildings housingNo 3 and No 4 reactors,
all hitby March 11, 9.0 magnitudeearthquake and tsunami, which
has left 21,000 dead or miss-ing.
A sudden rise in pressure in-side No 3 reactor sent jittersamong
the technicians whoquickly prepared exigency planto release more
radioactivegasses into the atmosphere toregulate it but the plans
wereaborted after TEPCO said thatthe situation has been
stabilised.
I think the situation is im-proving step by step, DeputyChief
Cabinet Secretary TetsuroFukuyama told a news confer-ence. Some 300
engineers wereengaged to intensify efforts tocoo l the reac to r s
a t theFukushima plant, 240 kmsfrom Tokyo, to avert melt-downs.
PTITRIPOLI/CAIRO, MARCH 20
The US and European forces onSunday unleashed over 100Tomahawk
cruise missiles onLibyan military targets in Tripoliand along the
Mediterraneancoast as their war planespounded forces of
MuammarGaddafi who vowed to retaliateagainst western aggressionand
the war on Islam.
At least 112 Tomahawk mis-siles were fired from Americanand
British ships and submarinesin Operation Odyssey Dawn(OOD),
targeting some 20 Libyanair and missile defence targetsin Tripoli
and western city ofMisurata, US Navy Vice Admiral
William Gortney said at a Pen-tagon briefing in Washington.
India and Russia came outagainst the strikes. India said
itregrets the air strikes that are
taking place and wanted meas-ures to be taken to mitigate andnot
exacerbate the already dif-ficult situation for the
Libyanpeople.
Us-led coalition pound Libya
A Transal, a French military transport plane takes off on Sunday
at theaerial military base of Solenzara in Corsica.
2 Indians indetained ship
AFPROME, MARCH 20
Italy is ready to use all possiblemeans to free the
11-strongcrew, including two Indians, ofan Italian high-seas
tugboatbeing held in the Libyan port ofTripoli, Defence Minister
IgnazioLa Russa said on Sunday.
We are on standby for anevacuation of the detained tug-boat crew
by a l l possiblemeans, he told Rai 3 television.
Armed men, including onewho claimed to be the harbour
n All secretaries, head of departments, head of PublicSector
Undertakings and autonomous bodies, jointsecretaries and under
secretaries are instructed torecord the names of the officials who
refuse tofunction during office hours.
n If the strike intensifies, the principle of no work nopay will
be invoked in all such unauthorisedabsence.
Govt pens it down
Bahrain oppn seeks UN, US intervention
APMANAMA, MARCH 20
Bahrains opposition asked forUN and American interventionin the
government crackdownon the Shiite protests trying toloosen the
monarchys grip, ina brief protest on Sunday in thecapital that
disbanded beforepolice could arrive to break itup.
The 18 opposition legislatorsprotesting today at the UN of-fices
in Manama resigned lastmonth to protest the crackdownon the
month-long revolt, in-spired by the pro-democracy up-risings across
the Arab world.
Bahrains king declared mar-tial law last week, and a Saudi-led
military force from otherGulf nations is in the countryto back the
Sunni monarchy.
In the five-minute protest, thelawmakers appealed to the UNto
stop the violence against pro-testers and mediate talks be-tween
the opposition and themonarchy; they asked the US topressure the
Gulf force to leave.
They should return home.There is no need for them to behere
since this a political, not amilitary problem, said JassimHussein,
a former parliamentmember of Bahrains largest Shi-ite group Al
Wefaq.
The Gulf force underscoresthe deep wor r i e s aboutBahrains
stability among the re-gions Sunni kings and sheiks,who fear any s
tumble byBahrains leaders could em-bolden challenges to their
ownregimes and possibly open po-litical inroads for Shiite
Iran.
Iran has condemned thepresence of the Gulf force inBahrain.
Equinoxtoday
PTINEW DELHI, MARCH 20
Marking the beginning of spring,the Sun will cross the plane
ofthe Earths equator on March21 morning, making day andnight of
approximately the sameduration.
The event known as equinoxis eagerly awaited by space
en-thusiasts as it takes place onlytwice a year, on March 21
andSeptember 23.
On the equinox, the sunmoves across the celestial equa-tor,
which lies directly above theEarths equator.
When the Sun crosses theplane, it rises exactly in the eastand
sets exactly in the west.
This year the phenomenon(vernal equinox) will take placeat 4:51
AM (23:21 UT), SciencePopularisation Association ofCommunicators
and Educators(SPACE) President ChanderBhushan Devgun said.
THE HEAT IS ON: Powered by a pain-staking 113 by Yuvraj Singh,
India laboured hard in hot and humid conditions to win their last
Group Bleague match against West Indies by 80 runs in Chennai on
Sunday. India will now face the heat as they take on Australia in
the quaterfinalson March 24 in Ahmedabad. (Report on page 16)
Yemeni Prezsacks govt
AFPSANAA, MARCH 20
Yemens embattled Presi-dent Ali Abdullah Saleh onSunday sacked
his govern-ment in the face of massiveprotests demanding his
res-ignation, the state newsagency Saba reported.
The president has dis-missed the government butasked the cabinet
to remainin a caretaker position untila new one is formed,
Sabasaid.
The announcement cameas tens of thousands of peo-ple turned out
in Sanaatoday for the funerals ofmany of the 52 peoplegunned down
by Saleh loy-alists two days earlier.
The victims were killedon Friday when snipersraked demonstrators
nearSanaa University square withbullets from
surroundingrooftops.
The protest movementagainst Saleh started in lateJanuary.
The opposition says thepresident a key US allyin the war against
Al -Qaeda in the region must resign this year, buthe has refused to
leave untilhis current term expires in2013. Saleh has been inpower
since 1978.
High Tide: 1201; 2351
Low Tide: 0543; 1756
T I D E S T O D A Y
A girl casts her vote for the nextTibetan Prime
Minister-in-exile inDharamsala on Sunday.
Tibetans vote fornew PM-in-exileThousands of Tibetans acrossthe
world on Sunday voted toelect the prime minister of theTibetan
government-in-exile,an exercise that may usher ina transition in
the commu-nitys leadership following theDalai Lamas flat refusal
toreconsider his decision to re-tire as its political head.
(PTI)
(Report on page 10)
Holi turns tragic for4 Delhi families Holi celebrations turned
tragicfor four families in the capitalas they lost their loved ones
two teenagers drowned, alabourer murdered and ayoung couple crushed
todeath in an accident leavingtheir two children orphaned.
(PTI)
9 miners killed in PakistanNine miners were killed and41 others
trapped when a coalmine in Balochistan provinceof southwest
Pakistan col-lapsed following a blastcaused by methane gas.
Theexplosion in the mine at So-rang, located about 30 kmfrom
provincial capital Quetta,was caused by the accumula-tion of
methane gas. (PTI)
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GOAOHERALD
O
Pg 2GOA, MONDAY, 21 MARCH, 2011
CIVIC FORUMThe precarious dangle!
ADELMO FERNANDES, VASCO
The above picture shows this huge plastic advertisement
bannerhung from a building near the Railway station at Vasco.
Oneend has come off and it now hangs precariously with supportfrom
the other end.
This is obviously a sight for sore eyes. What is more is thatit
poses a danger to the general public as it can come downcausing
injury to passers-by. The concerned authorities needto take
necessary action before someone gets seriously hurt.
No stopping, no waitingPRAVIN U SARDESSAI, ADPAI
Private buses plying on various routes have been
purposelyhalting at various strategic locations and wait for
commutersto board them. For instance, buses proceeding from old
bus-stand, Ponda towards Vasco, Margao and Sanvordem halt atthe
sharp turn at Tisk. Buses proceeding towards the KTC bus-stand,
Margao towards Ponda halt near the District and SessionsCourt at
the old market. Similarly, buses proceeding from KTCbus-stand,
Ponda towards Panaji often halt near the ferry bus-stop at Sao
Pedro and Ribandar. So also, buses proceedingfrom Panaji to Ponda
halt near the Kundaim gate which happensto be a major bus-stop.
However, the above practice causes great inconvenience
andcommuters get delayed in reaching their respective
destinations.The RTO authorities should take a serious view of this
unfairpractice and initiate appropriate action against the
bus-operators
Illegal roadside garagesMAHESH KUMAR, MARGAO
The Bolshe Big Foot Circle roundabout in Gogol Margaowith its
impressive statues and decorations is a landmark pieceat Gogol.
However, close to the approach of this roundabout,an illegal garage
has cropped up. This illegal garage operatespartly on the road and
partly on the kerb. The garage sprawlsonto the road by almost three
metres when business is brisk.This illegal garage blocks traffic
and has messed up the wholearea with grease, grime and rubbish, and
in the process, hasdestroyed the beauty of Bolshe Big Foot
Circle.
It is baffling that the concerned authorities like the
Deputy-Collector of Margao, The Chief Officer of Margao
Municipalityand the Chief Traffic Police Officer of Margao have
turned ablind eye and have allowed this illegal garage to thrive on
thislandmark area of Gogol. Just imagine what would happen
ifeveryone set up such illegal roadside garages before many
ofMargaos roundabouts? There has to some mechanism whereproper law
and order is maintained. It is the duty of the au-thorities to
enforce some semblance of discipline; otherwisesuch structures will
mushroom everywhere. If the concernedauthorities do not take
action, the
"Chaka Chak Team" should take the lead.
Goas rubbish
M MACBAIN, SCOTLAND
My wife and I have been spending our winter holidays inGoa for
12 years now, and like many of our fellow tourists, weare becoming
more and more frustrated with the amount ofrubbish we see
everywhere in Goa.
The above picture is a classic example. While it's true
thatthere have been many improvements over the years, such asthe
roads and the electricity supply, the rubbish situation seemsto be
getting worse. The piles of rubbish behind the shacks inCandolim,
Calangute and Baga seem to lie there all season sometimes the smell
is sickening. Then there is the dumpingof rubbish along the new
footpaths that were built at a) enteringCalangute from Nerul bridge
and b) on the approach to thenew Baga bridge. I have heard it said
that, it's the tourist's de-mand for bottled water on the beaches
that causes the problemfor the shack-owners. However, the tourists
can't be blamedfor what is dumped along the roadsides.
If things don't improve with regard to rubbish collection,then
we like many others, will have to consider holidayingsomewhere in
Thailand or Cambodia where the litter problemis under control.
(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 improvement and/or redressal
ofservices? If you do, then write to us at [email protected].
Withthe aim of improving the quality of our civic life, every
Monday,Herald will publish the best letters on these subjects
received duringthe week.
This is in addition to our regular Letters to the Editor
column.)
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
MERCES, MARCH 20
Garbage is collected from 40spots in Chimbel village, out
ofwhich at 10 spots garbage iscollected on a daily basiswhereas at
30 spots garbage iscollected every alternate day.
This is the information pro-vided by Chimbel Panchayat
Sec-retary Prasad Shet under the RTIAc t to v i l l age r Tuka
ramKunkolkar who had sought infor-mation regarding frequency
ofgarbage collection in the village.
A rosy picture indeed! How-ever, the ground reality paintsa
different picture altogether asforget about daily collection,there
are several places cited inthe information where garbageis not
collected even alternately.
And the picture gets evengrimmer as there are somep laces ment
ioned wheregarbage collection does not takeplace at all.
When Herald questioned Pan-chayat Secretary Prasad on whatbasis
he has given the informa-tion, he said that he has reliedon the
resolution adopted atthe fortnightly meeting of thepanchayat
wherein the detailswere prepared.
When asked whether he hasnot bothered to cross checkwhether the
information is fac-tually correct or not, Prasad saidit is not his
duty to cross check.
Interestingly, the said resolu-tion, on the basis of which
the
Waste collection at Chimbel RTI info paints rosy picture,
reality proves otherwise
REALITY CHECK: This is the way garbage is being disposed in
Chimbel, by burning. This photo showsone point of collection (near
Rajesh Tailor) in Ward 1, where RTI information states that garbage
is col-lected daily. Photo by Manuel Vazinformation is provided, is
pro-posed by Panch Manohar Shan-mugan and seconded byBhadrinath
Jagannath, and ispassed 10-0 in favour of the res-olution.
Apparently, Panch Manoharrepresents Ward 1 in Indira-Nagar and
the details state thatthere are four points of collec-tion in this
ward namely nearBhau Bandekar Printing Press,
near Rajesh Tailor, near Borkarhouse and near Mahadev Tem-ple,
where information claimsthat garbage collection is donedaily.
When Herald visited thesespots, it was seen that garbagewas
burnt. Herald also ques-tioned some residents and askedwhether
garbage is collecteddaily. And all those questionedsaid that
garbage is not col-
lected even weekly and that thegarbage is disposed of by
burn-ing.
While most of them did notwish to be named fearing ha-rassment
from panchayat au-thorities, Anand Karnam cameforward boldly and
said thegarbage at the spot (near RajeshTailor) is burnt daily and
thatgarbage collection is done oncein a blue moon.
Again, in Ward 6, it is shownthat there are three points
ofcollection, where collection isundertaken every alternate
day.However, Tukaram Kunkolkarsaid as per his knowledge, tilltoday
garbage has not been col-lected even once.
The information that is givenis only to mislead the higher
au-thorities when the ground real-ity is actually the opposite,
healleged.
In Ward 7, the picture is nodifferent either, as villager
JohnPereira informed that garbageis collected once in a week andnot
every alternate day as men-tioned. Two labourers comedaily and burn
the waste, hefurther added.
Yet again, in Ward 11, it isshown that there are two pointsof
collection, where collectionis done every alternate day. But,a
resident of the area HussainChapparband said from the firstspot
shown (near Kasim Mullahouse), garbage is not collectedeven
fortnightly.
Hussain further said thatwhenever the contractor comesto collect
garbage, only a smallamount is lifted while most ofthe garbage is
being left behind.If the panchayat cant lift theentire garbage, it
would be bet-ter to stop garbage collection,he added.
Interestingly, from the secondspot mentioned in Ward 11(near
Rajaram House), garbageis not collected at all.
DSS pension of18,341 people
stopped: Sudin HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, MARCH 20
The Department of Social Wel-fare has stopped pension of18,341
beneficiaries under theDayanand Socia l SecurityScheme pension
scheme, Min-ister for Social Welfare Ramkr-ishna Sudin Dhavalikar
said.
In reply to a question tabledon the floor of the
LegislativeAssembly last week, the ministerexplained that pensions
werestopped for various reasons de-tected during inquiry.
Pensions have been stoppedfor various reasons such as
ben-eficiary expired, double sanc-tioned, receiving pension fromArt
& Culture Department, re-tired government pensioners,husband
& wife both receivingpension, non-eligible cases,
ben-eficiaries surrendered voluntar-ily, Sudin said in a written
replyto a question from Leader ofOpposition Manohar Parrikar.
Whereas, applications of 5101pensioners comprising of 4485senior
citizens, 463 widows and153 handicapped are pendingas on date. No
applications ofunmarried women are pending.
Sudin, in the reply has furtherstated that 1,31,367
applicationshave been sanctioned and 1,13,026beneficiaries are
receiving the pen-sion under the scheme.
Among those who are availingthe benefit comprise of 77,235senior
citizens, 28,055 widows,7667 handicapped and 57 un-married.
HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, MARCH 20
Theres good news in store forresidents of Betalbatim
village.
The Panchayat would soonundertake testing of drinking
waterwells, both public and private, dot-ting the village
Countryside.
At the Sunday gram sabhameeting, Sarpanch MinguelPereira said
that the panchayathas received water testing kitsfrom the PWD to
test water sam-ples of drinking water wells. Hepointed out that the
exercisewould commence soon after ameeting with the Water
Sanita-tion Committee.
Replying to a query from a gramsabha member, the Sarpanch
saidthe exercise would cover all the 48wells, private and
public.
The gram sabha also adopteda resolution to acquired
landadmeasuring 42000 sq metersat the Tonwaddo beach to setup
facilities for the visitors. Dur-
ing discussions, it was pointedout that the beach is
frequentedby picnickers who face difficul-ties for want of any
facilities.
The sarpanch informed the achildrens park, besides chang-ing
rooms and other facilitiescan be set up on the acquired landfor the
benefit of the visitors. In re-sponse to a query, the
Sarpanchconfirmed that the panchayathas a valid subscription to
theGovernment Gazette and they wereavailable for reference to any
mem-ber of the Gram Sabha. It was alsoconfirmed that a file of all
circularsreceived from the government wasavailable for
inspection.
When pressed about the im-portant circulars received, theGram
Sabha was told that oneof them contained instructionsthat
henceforth all constructionplans were to be sent directlyto the TCP
and would come to thepanchayat after all the clearances.
Members were up in arms
and immediately, it was unani-mously resolved that all
con-struction plans should be routedthrough the panchayat first as
wasthe practice. It was further resolvedthat a copy of the
resolution be for-warded to the TCP and the ministeras also the
local MLA.
The Sarpanch assured agi-tated members that he wasaware of the
nuisance causedby a commercial piggery-cumgarbage collection centre
and wastaking steps to solve the problem.
The Sarpanch also informedthat a new transformer wouldsoon come
up in Chaul ward asthe ground work was complete.The medium of
instruction issuetoo figured and it was unani-mously resolved that
the Edu-cation Dept be urged to givegrants for primary education
inEnglish whilst insisting thatKonkani the sole official lan-guage
of Goa be made compul-sory from Std I to SSCE.
Betalbatim VP to test water wells in village
HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, MARCH 20
The Gram sabha of Benaulim vil-lage panchayat on Sunday
calledfor the ouster of both theSarpanch Carmelina Fernandesand her
deputy Stanley Fernan-des from the posts.
The Sunday meeting was heldin the absence of both theSarpanch
and her deputy. Themeeting was chaired by Panchmember Gilbert
Fernandes afterthe Sarpanch abstained onhealth grounds.
Members called for the re-moval of the Sarpanch anddeputy
Sarpanch on groundsthat they have not been workingin the interest
and developmentof the village. Agitated memberspointed out that the
Sarpanch
had lodged police complaintagainst them in December lastyear
over the garbage issuewithout any valid reason.
Agitated members asked thePanchayat secretary to producethe copy
of the affidavit field bythe Sarpanch in the high courton the
garbage issued. Memberspointed out that the police com-plaint filed
against some of themembers is also mentioned inthe affidavit filed
in the courtand wondered why the affidavitwas not brought on the
Pan-chayat record.
The police complaint filed bythe Sarpanch was deliberatedat the
meeting, with gram sabhamembers demanding to knowthe Panchas
whether theSarpanch had taken them into
confidence before lodging thecomplaint. The Panch memberspresent
at the meeting repliedin the negative.
A resolution was also tabledto file appropriate proceedingsin
the appropriate forum againstthe sarpanch for carrying outthe
expenses without approvingthe budget.
Members pointed out thatthe audit has raised queries overthe
failure to approve thebudget in the past and hencecalled for action
against theSarpanch.
Questions were raised overthe panchayats decision to en-gage a
new lawyer and de-manded to know from the Chairover the decision to
replace theprevious advocate.
Meet calls for ouster of Benaulim sarpanch, dy
HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, MARCH 20
The Sao Jose de Areal gramsabha on Sunday has adopted
aresolution directing the Pan-chayat to challenge the orderof
Additional panchayat Direc-tor regarding the mega hous-i n g p r o
j e c t o f O m S a iDevelopers.
At the meeting held on Sun-day, agitated members told
thePanchayat body to file an appealin the South Goa District
Courtagainst the order of the Addi-tional Panchayat Director andto
hold in abeyance inspec-tion of the project pendingdec i s ion by
the D i s t r i c tCourt, South.
The members also demandedthat the Panchayat also take
theinspection committee into con-fidence while inspecting
theproject.
Members further demandedthat all illegalities such as
thebuilding height, construction inCADA area etc be corrected
first,while claiming that the builderhas submitted different
plansciting different road width.
The meeting which waspresided by deputy SarpanchVincy
Mascarenhas in the ab-sence of the Sarpanch wit-n e s s e d a n u p
r o a r w h e nmembers alleged a fraud onthe question of deleting
in-formation by the secretaryby applying white ink. Mem-bers
demanded action in the
Sao Jose meet wants order on housing project challenged
Year Religion Rep. Det. C/S
2008 Hindu 12 4 1
Catholic 4 1 1
Muslim 1 0 0
Jain 1 0 0
2009 Hindu 9 3 3
Catholic 4 0 0
Muslim 0 0 0
Jain 0 0 0
2010 Hindu 3 3 3
Catholic 10 2 0
Muslim 0 0 0
Jain 0 0 0
Cops low in detecting desecration cases
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, MARCH 20
Goa polices insensitivity in in-vestigating sensational
religiousdesecration cases is evident withlow detection level as
againstthe total number of cases reg-istered from 2008-2010.
With 44 cases registered inthe last three years, Goa police
has detected mere 13 cases andcharge-sheeted eight cases
sofar.
The reply tabled by HomeMinister Ravi Naik on the floorof the
House last week, also re-vealed that police have achievedtwo
convictions, two acquittalswhile four cases are pendingtrial.
Davorlim opposes land acquisition
HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, MARCH 20
Agitated members of the Da-vorlim gram sabha on Sundayregistered
their strong protestover the governments move toacquire Communidade
land ad-measuring 1.15 lakh square me-ters for the proposed
publicutility services.
The gram sabha demandedthat the government drop theland
acquisition proceedingsand leave the land for the ben-efit of the
villagers. They pointedout that the land in questionwas preserved
and protected bytheir ancestors for posterityand urged the
governmentto respect the sentiments ofthe people and drop the
pro-posal.
Members pointed out thatthe government has gone aheadwith the
land acquisition pro-posal despite a host of resolu-tions passed by
the gram sabhaand the Panchayat body.
In this connection, agitatedmembers suggested that a mor-cha be
taken to the office of theCollectorate, South and hold ameeting at
the historic LohiaMaidan to make the publicaware of the government
deci-sion.
matter and to write a letterto the BDO immediately.
Member also demanded thatthe Panchayat withdraw licenseto a
factory Tech Force in the
village, claiming it was ille-gal.
The meeting witnessed acommotion when a gramsabha member accused
theSarpanch, which was ob-jected to by the Panchayatmembers.
Amidst the commotion, agram sabha member suggestedthat the
elected members bemade to swear on the Holy Bibleat the next
meeting that theyhave not taken any bribe fromthe politicians,
building andquarry owners.
Agitated members have alsocalled upon the Panchayat bodyto
communicate with the con-cerned department for the re-lease of
water in the irrigationcanal built over two decadesago.
nAgitated memberstold the Panchayatbody to file an appealin the
South GoaDistrict Court againstthe order of theAdditional
PanchayatDirector and to hold inabeyance inspectionof the project
pendingdecision by theDistrict Court, South.
Thousands witness shigmo at Ponda
The floats that participated in the Shigmo parade at Ponda.Photo
by Amresh Parab
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
MARCEL, MARCH 20
Thousands of people fromPonda and nearby areas con-verged at
Ponda on Sunday towitness the annual Shigmo pa-rade festival.
Despite Holi celebrations andthe ICC World Cup Cricketmatch
between India and WestWindies, the State level Shigmoparade at
Ponda turned out tobe a big crowd puller.
Home Minister Ravi Naikalong with Shiroda MLA Ma-hadev Naik and
Priol ML ADeepak Dhavlikar inaugurated
the Shigmo parade at Tisk-Ponda in the presence of Bolly-wood
actor ChandrachurSingh.
In all, 32 floats, seven Lokn-rutya, five Romtamel along
withnumerous fancy dress partici-pants took part in the paradethat
commenced at about 6pm.
Police force was stationed atthe States cultural capital
tomonitor security arrange-ments.
Traffic Police also managedin controlling the road traffic asper
plans.
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GOAOHERALD
OPg3
GOA, MONDAY, 21 MARCH, 2011
HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, MARCH 20
A debate held at the BenaulimCommunity Centre on Sundayon the
topic Should English bemade the Medium of Instructionin school
concluded that thefuture of children should be de-cided by the
parents and not bythe politicians.
The well-attended debatedwhich was hosted by Dr HubertGomes
brought to the notice ofthe gathering that the Goa,Daman & Diu
School EducationAct, 1984 and Rules 1986 clearlystates that the
teaching in aschool at the primary level stage,shall, as far as
practicable, bein the mother tongue of thechild, unless the parents
orguardians of the child requestsotherwise in writing.
Dr Gomes emphasized thatthe Act clearly implies that ifthe
majority of the parents ofchildren studying in a particularschool
want the medium of in-struction to be in English, itshould be
granted.
Almost every participant atthe debate agreed that themedium of
instruction shouldnot be imposed on the children,but should be as
per the wishesof the parents. Anxious parentsraised a host of
questions overthe medium of instruction policy
from Std I-VIII and strongly de-manded that English should
bemade the medium of instructionwith Konkani/Marathi as a
com-pulsory subject up to Std VIII.
Some of the parents felt thatif certain schools want to
con-tinue with Marathi or Konkanias their medium of
instruction,they should be allowed to doso without denying the
rightsof those who want to shift toEnglish. However, the
partici-pants agreed that the EducationDepartment should give
equalgrants to every governmentaided school, irrespective of
themedium of instruction adaptedby that school.
CALANGUTE CORRESPON-DENT ADDS: Parents of coastalCalangute
students will joinprotest march at Azad Maidanon Monday.
Speaking to Herald, the par-ents of the area are of the opin-ion
that the decision to educatetheir child should be decidedby
themselves and the politicalplay by self-centred politiciansshould
be stopped.
The State government hasbeen dangling with a sword
overCatholic-run institutions denyingthem grants if they do
notswitch over to Konkani orMarathi medium of instruc-tions, they
stated.
The parents are of the opinionthat the medium of
instructionshould not be decided by thepoliticians, but the parent
aloneand the State governmentshould have no
discriminationwhatsoever if English continuesto be the medium of
instructionas it is the sole language thatwill come handy
throughouttheir lives.
The parents are also agitatedthat the Konkani/Marathi ghosthas
not yet died down to decideon the grants for the schools.
The parents wondered whythe issue has cropped up againwhen it
was settled long backwith medium of instruction asEnglish and
Konkani/Marathi as
optional languages. The parentsalso do not rule out a big scam
ora ploy to close down Catholic-runschools in the name of
grants.
The medium of instructionshould be English as it is thesole
language that comes handyall the while. The mother tongueKonkani
should be given its dueplace with a compulsory sub-ject, said Simon
DSouza.
Says Natty Lobo To imposeKonkani or Marathi language onstudents
is madness. Englishshould be the medium of in-struction at
elementary, whileKonkani or Marathi should bean optional compulsory
subject.The present system should bemaintained without affectingthe
students or the parents.
Valentine Pereira said: Thereshould be no changes whatso-ever in
the medium of instruc-t i o n w h i c h i s p r e s e n t l
yEnglish.
Majority of the teachers ofthe area alleged that the
Stategovernment or the politicians haveulterior motives in making
Konkanior Marathi the medium of instructionat elementary level.
The English language is easyto understand for the parentsas well
as students, so whyshould the government playwith their educational
careers,questioned teachers.
Debate favours parents choice for medium of instructions
nAnxious parentsraised a host ofquestions over themedium of
instructionpolicy from Std I-VIIIand stronglydemanded thatEnglish
should bemade the medium ofinstruction withKonkani/Marathi as
acompulsory subjectup to Std VIII.
Property gutted in CurchoremHERALD CORRESPONDENT
CURCHOREM, MARCH 20
Property worth over Rs 5 lakhwas gutted in a fire at
Baag-wada-Curchorem crematoriumlate Saturday night.
According to sources, overfive truck loads of fire wood
wasstored in one of the godowns,which caught fire at about 11
pm.The local residents, who no-
ticed the flames coming outf rom t h e r o o f o f t h egodowns,
immediately sum-moned the Curchorem FireBrigade.
The fire personnel under theleadership of leading fire fighterR
V Pednekar had to fight for
about five hours to bring thefire under control.
Fire Brigade managed to savehalf of the firewood. However,the
roof of the two adjacentg o d o w n s c o l l a p s e d a n dgutted
in the f i re .
Besides, the walls also de-veloped cracks due to thefire.
Curtorim local convicted for rash driving
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
SANGUEM, MARCH 20
Judicial Magistrate First ClassQuepem Bela N Naik has con-victed
one Conceicao MeninoFernandes of Grande Morod,Curtorim, for rash
and negligentdriving and for causing injuriesto the car
occupants.
In the judgement passed re-cently, JMFC Naik sentenced
theaccused for one year rigorousimprisonment and a fine of Rs1,000
or in default to undergorigorous imprisonment for onemonth for
offence under Section338 and six months rigorous im-prisonment and
fine of Rs 500for offence under Section 279and six months rigorous
impris-onment and fine of Rs 500 underSection 337 of IPC.
The Judge also held that ifthe amount of fine is realized,then
the same is to be paid tothe injured persons.
In the instant case, the ac-cused on July 11, 2008 atXelvona
drove his Mahindra jeep(GA-02-A-7464) in a rash andnegligent manner
and dashedagainst oncoming Maruti Zen(GA-06-A-0449), which was
pro-ceeding from Curtorim to Cur-chorem.
The car occupants, DomnicMendes, his wife Sandy and twoother
occupants, were injuredin the accident.
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, MARCH 20
With rise in number of road ac-cidents, Goa Government claimsto
have enforced road discipline& safety and different
strategiesto reduce accidents.
In reply to a starred questiontabled in the legislative
assemblylast week, Home Minister RaviNaik siad that traffic
enforce-ment has increased by 1.34 per-cent.
In 2010, traffic police booked2,63,239 traffic offenders
asagainst 2,59,752 cases in year2009.
Thus, in all 3,487 more per-sons were booked for traffic
vi-olations in 2010 compared to
previous year.Moreover, the de-partment has col-l e c ted f i
neamount o f Rs3 .50 c ro re a sagainst Rs 3.20crore for the
cor-responding period in 2009.
Naik, in the reply, stated thatthe government has engagedexperts
from the Central RoadResearch Institute (CRRI), NewDelhi to conduct
a comprehen-sive study of Goa road trafficand transportation
problems.
The experts have already vis-ited major accident spots,
acci-dent prone zones and importantjunctions/intersections
through-
out Goa. Speedlimits have beennotified. Variousmodern
gadgetshave been pro-posed to be ac-qu i red underPolice
Moderniza-
tion Scheme, the ministerreplied.
Naik further said that the traf-fic police have suggested
forspeed breakers and rumblers atimportant places to
controlspeeding vehicles which wouldin turn minimize accidents.
Healso said that all special opera-tions are taken to ensure
thattraffic rules are observed by roadusers
In 2010, 627 Goa and outsta-tion vehicles were involved
inaccidents, as against 610 vehi-cles involved in fatal, seriousand
minor accidents in 2009.
Even though various steps arebeing taken to reduce
accidents,Naik told the House that the de-partment does not have a
ded-i c a t e d C e l l t o m o n i t o raccidents and take
correctivemeasures.
However, whenever anyfatal/grievous accident takesplace, traffic
officers of respec-tive traffic cells visit the accidentspot and
suggest correctivemeasures, if any to the con-cerned civic
authority andPWD, the reply states.
Experts to conduct comprehensive study on traffic problems:
Ravi
Year vehicles
challaned
2008 2,47,455
2009 2,59,752
2010 2,63,239
3 hurt in Vasco
HERALD REPORTER
VASCO, MARCH 20
Three people, including twoyouths, were injured in an acci-dent
along the highway nearShantinagar Junction, Vasco, onSunday
evening.
According to reports, the ac-cident occurred when AshishAshok
Divkar (21) from New Vad-dem along with his friendVenkatesh
(pillion rider) wereproceeding towards New Vad-dem on their
motorcycle (GA-06-C-3559).
On reaching near ShantinagarJunction, the motorcycle riderlost
control over the vehicle andfirst dashed against Chetakscooter
(GA-02-L-1882) from therear, which was also proceedingin the same
direction.
After hitting the scooter, themotorcycle skidded further
andbanged against a stationary bus.
Motorcycle rider Divkar andthe pillion rider sustained
in-juries, while scooterist ShivdharJadhav (42) sustained leg
frac-ture.
Divkar, who had sustainedgrievous injuries, was operatedin a
private hospital at Chicalim,while scooter rider Jadhav wasadmitted
in GMC Hospital.
The motorcycle that went underneath a bus near
Shantinagar-Vasco. Photo by M Prabhav
Valanka supporters demand Cong ticket
HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, MARCH 20
Supporters of Valanka Alemaoon Sunday demanded that theCongress
nominate her as theparty candidate in Benaulim con-stituency.
The demand was communi-cated to Youth Congress Electionofficial
in-charge of Goa, J Sara-vanan at a meeting held outsideValankas
office at Benaulim thisevening.
Saravanan did not make anycommitment on the party ticket,but
make it quite clear toValankas supporters that effortsput in to
strengthen the organ-ization through the Youth Con-gress membership
will not goin vain.
In her address, Valankas sup-porter Catarine made an
im-passioned plea to Saravananto impress upon the Con-gress
leadership to allot theticket to Valanka to serve thepeople o f
Benau l im con-stituency.
Describing Valanka as astrong, hardworking and dy-namic citizen,
she said thepeople of Benaulim are allready to support her to
winthe seat.
We are confident thatValanka will help the people toovercome all
their difficultiesand problems, she said, adding
that Valanka had been fightingfor the poor and needy.
In his address, Colva PanchCalvert Gonsalves asked theYouth
Congress leader toi m p r e s s u p o n t h e C o n -gress leadersh
ip to g iveValanka a chance to ser vethe people.
She has already proved her-self. Give her one chance as theParty
candidate and Valankawould not let the party down,Calvert said,
while asserting thatthe people of Benaulim aresolidly behind
her.
Saravanan, however, pointedout that his visit to Goa is notto
decide the seat or candidatesfor the constituencies, but hascome
down to the state to over-see the membership drive as asoldier of
the party.
Conveying Rahul Gandhismessage to work hard tostrengthen the
organization,Saravanan pointed out thatRahul will not let the Youth
Con-gress down.
Saying that Rahul Gandhi hashonoured his promise made tothe
Youth Congress in TamilNadu by allotting 16 ticketsto Youth
Congress leaders,he said work to strengthenthe party organization
andcontribute to the member-ship drive and your effortswould not go
waste.
Margaoshigmotsav imbrogliocontinues
HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, MARCH 20
The rival Margao ShigmotsavSamitis headed by Chief Minis-ter,
Digambar Kamat and MLADamu Naik finally met in thecity here on
Sunday to arrive ata compromise to hold a jointshigmo in the
commercial cap-ital this year.
The Damu-led panel gave therival group a proposal on
thecomposition of the Committeeand has given a deadline till 11am
on Monday to decide on thecompromise.
As per the proposal, theDamu led Panel has suggestedthat the
Margao ShigmotsavSamiti should be headed byChief Minister, Digambar
Kamat,while the president of the Or-ganising Committee should goto
Girish Chodankar of theKamat panel.
In return, the Damu panel hassuggested nomination of Ru-pesh
Mahatme as the Samitigeneral secretary and VasudevVirdikar as the
treasurer.
After coming out of the talks,Mahatme said that the ball nowlies
in the court of the Kamat-led panel to accept or reject
theproposal.
Anganwadis issue understudy: Govt
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, MARCH 20
Goa Government has said thatthe demand of the Anganwadiworkers
and helpers to regular-ize them in government servicesis being
examined.
However, the financial impli-cations to grant cash amountwith
monthly pension to thoseretired is not yet worked out.
The statement released bythe Home Minister Ravi Naikwas in reply
to a starred questionedtabled by the Leader of OppositionManohar
Parrikar on the floor of theHouse, last week.
Goa has a total strength of1262 Anganwadi workers andthe same
number of helpers,had also proposed the govern-ment that till their
demands aremet, their payment should beon par with the pay of
MukhyaSevika. Naik said that this de-mand is also being
examined.
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Pg4 GOAGOA, MONDAY, 21 MARCH, 2011
SHORT TAKES
OHE
RALD
O
UPCOMING EVENTS
Discriminated teachers dharna MARGAO (HR): Asserting that the
Kamat government has
failed to take any positive steps on their long pending
demands,the Discriminated Teachers Forum will go ahead with its
pro-posed dharna at the Margao residence of Chief Minister
Digam-bar Kamat on March 21 at 8.45 am.
Briefing newsmen, Forum President Neves Anthony Rebellosaid the
Forum has been consistently demanding with the stategovernment to
give them two lost increments, their salaryarrears for the two lost
years and re-fixation of pension in theVIth pay Commission scales,
but in vain.
We have decided to stage dharna at the residence of
ChiefMinister so that the government takes urgent and
immediatesteps to find a solution to our long pending grievances,
at leastduring the present Assembly session, Rebello said, and
madeit emphatically clear that their fight for justice will
continue tillthe end.
On the financial implications, Rebello said only an amountof Rs
eight crore would be required to settle their genuinegrievances
once and for all, since most of their retirement ben-efits had been
paid to them at the time of their forceful retire-ment We wish to
remind our aam admi government that itcan afford a small sum of Rs
eight crore when it can spend Rs100 crore on preparing the
feasibility reports of non-feasibleprojects like the Dona
Paula-Mormugao sea link, he added.
Stating that Chief Minister Digambar Kamat had assured
theagitating teachers in September 2010 to convene a joint
meetingof the Chief Secretary and the Finance Secretary along
withthe Forum to find a solution to the problems, Rebello,
however,lamented that the promised meeting is yet to materialize
tilldate for reasons best know to the Chief Minister. It appearsthe
Chief Minister has no time for discussing problems of pre-maturely
retired teachers and finding a last solution to ourgenuine
grievances, Rebello added.
Navy to hold firing exercisePANJIM (HND): Naval Coast Battery,
Mormugao will carry out
40/60 and 105 mm IFG gun firing on March 30 from
Mormugao,Headland, Sada, from 10 am to 1 pm. The danger zone
lieswithin an area bounded by 200 to 260 from Marmugao Head-land
Flag Staff position upto a distance of 20 nautical miles toseaward
and flying height of 6500 m. Shipping, harbour craftsand other
vessels should keep clear of the danger area on thestipulated time
at the said location.
Cobras golden jubilee today VASCO (HC): One of the oldest and
highly illustrious squadrons
of the Indian Naval Air Arm, INAS 310, nicknamed Cobras,
willcelebrate 50 glorious years on March 21.
The squadron was commissioned on March 21, 1961 underthe Command
of then Lt Cdr Mihir K Roy (since retired as aVice Admiral).
The squadron pioneered carrier borne operations, operatingfrom
INS Vikrant with the Alize anti submarine aircraft.
The squadron is presently based at the Naval Air Station
atDabolim and is operating various operational versions of
theDornier 228 aircraft.
The 310 Squadron flew the Alize aircraft earlier and now flythe
multi role and versatile Dornier aircraft. The squadron hasalso
seen action during Kargil war and won accolades for
theirperformance.
The Squadron participated in the Liberation of Goa, theIndo-Pak
war of 1965 and in Op Pawan in Sri Lanka.
It is the most decorated squadron of the Indian Navy,
havingearned one Maha Vir Chakra, two Vir Chakras, nine Nao
SenaMedals, one Yudh Sewa Medal and seven mentioned in
Dis-patches.
The Golden Jubilee celebrations will include a myriad ofevents
ranging from a Seminar on Maritime Reconnaissance,Barakhana
(Community lunch) and release of a Special DayCover by the Governor
Dr S S Sidhu on March 21.
Homkund Utsav from todayMAYEM (HC): The annual Homkund Utsav of
Bordem will be
organised with different religious rituals at
Bordem-Wadakade,Bicholim, on Monday.
The celebration will commence with Kalsh procession at 7pm. A
Konkani play Sapnatlyo Gajali will be staged at 11.30pm, followed
by Homkundotsav in the late night.
The famous Godemodni festival of Bordem will be celebratedon
March 22, while Hutashani Pournima will be held on Saturday.The
Maand will be staged on March 25, while the celebrationwill
conclude on March 29 with Dhulvandana.
BY FR EDMUND BARRETTO
With a great filial respectto my Mi Bhas Iwould like to
ponder
over the pertinent question:Why shouldnt English be alsoallowed
as one of the languagesto be the medium of instructionin our aided
Primary schools? Iam encouraged to realise that Iam not alone in
this ponderingof mine but that there are thou-sands of parents in
this State ofours whose minds are gripedwith similar pondering.
From the tsunamic vibrationsof the parental aspirations fortheir
children, that are felt inGoa for the last couple of weeksand from
the pulse of the con-cerned parents pertinentlydemonstrated in the
media, onecomes to the realisation that,parents who know what is
bestfor their children, are havingaversion to State
Governmentsdysfunctional adherence to thepolicy of forbidding the
inclu-sion of English as a medium ofinstruction along with
Konkani/Marathi and regional languagein the aided primary
Schools.
It is becoming crystal clearthat the parents are not
againstKonkani, Marathi or any regionallanguage which in fact they
maybe speaking in their homes.What they are against is the
gov-ernments puerile decision tocurtail their freedom to
instruct
their children in the medium ofinstruction of their choice
whichmay include English, along withKonkani / Marathi and
regionallanguage. They, in fact, with thesame enthusiasm are
demand-ing that Konkani / Marathi bemade compulsory throughoutthe
elementary education.
The Right of Children to Freeand Compulsory Education Act,2009 (
RTE ) as well as GoaSchool Education Rules 1986state that Teaching
in a schoolat the primary stage shall, asfar as practicable, be in
themother tongue of the child.Now who is the better judge ofthe
practicability enshrined inthese rules? Is it the govern-ment,
educationists or the par-ents? The above mentioned ruleof Goa
School Education Rules1986 continues to emphasizethe parental
option in the choiceof medium of instruction whenit states: unless
the parentsor guardian of the child requestotherwise in writing.
The Ques-tion is: why should the govern-ment rob the parents of
theirfreedom of choice so wisely en-visaged by these rules?
Thousands of parents wholove their mother tongueKonkani /
Marathi or any re-gional language for that matter,have unanimously
and withoutany compulsion but of their ownfree -wi l l have
demanded
through their resolutionsthroughout the State of Goa
andconfirmed through their signa-tures that English be includedas
medium of instruction alongwith Konkani / Marathi and re-gional
language at primary level.If the educational rules providethe
parents with a right tochoose the medium of instruc-tion for their
children and if par-ents do exercise this right onbehalf of their
children, than Ibelieve the government has abounden duty to fulfil
the rightof the people it represents.
My real worry is: Are our rep-resentatives, who come beggingfor
our votes and constitute thegovernment on our behalf, lis-tening to
us? Are our concernstheirs too? Do they enact poli-cies that
further their self-ab-sorbed interest at the cost oftrampling upon
the aspirationsof the very people who gavethem the power to
rule?
We are living in a progressiveworld where the winds ofchange are
blowing and we arecompelled to look ahead andnot to revel in
sterile attitudeof susegad Goemkar . Myearnest plea to our elected
rep-resentatives is to feel the vibesof the people they
represent,feel their pulse and judge care-fully the people-power
lest thefate of the inconsiderate rulersof Egypt, Libya... be
theirs.
Musings on English as medium of instruction
HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, MARCH 20
The parent members of the Loy-ola High School PTA
ExecutiveCommittee, Margao said on Fri-day that the statement made
bythe Education Minister on thefloor of the House vis--vismedium of
instruction lacks clar-ity and direction.
The members met th i sevening and discussed Monser-attes
statement that the gov-ernment will take a policydecision on the
medium of in-struction issue before end ofthe Session after
consulting allthe stakeholders.
The members also demandedto know who the governmentwould
consider to be stakehold-ers is this important process.The people
called to be part of
this policy decision should benamed and though we supportthe
decision of the governmentto take a swift decision in theprocess,
we demand that the gov-ernment ensures transparencyand
participation of all stakehold-ers, primarily the parents, in
thisregard, the members said.
The parent members of theLoyola PTA has also called uponall
parents in Goa to participatein the rally on March 21 at
AzadMaidan, Panjim at 2.30 pm inlarge numbers to bring forththis
issue strongly and vocifer-ously before the government.
Members present at the meet-ing were Colin Savio Coelho,Bruno
Gomindes, Sandra DSa,Dr Agostinho Misquita, JoyceFernandes and
Evelyn Lourenco.
Meanwhile, in a separate
statement, Valanka Alemao hasrequested the government totake
into consideration theviews of all stakeholders on themedium of
instruction, partic-ularly views and opinions ex-pressed by the
parents and PTAsince any action taken by thegovernment to force
anymedium of instructions or acompulsory subject on the childat the
elementary educationlevel is going to have a directbearing on the
future of the chil-dren. I personally feel that Eng-l i sh med ium
w i th onecompulsory Konkani subjectcould be one of the option
easilyacceptable to the major stake-holders because this
optiontakes care of immediate and fu-ture needs of the
children,Valanka added.
Babushs statementlacks clarity on medium
HERALD REPORTER
VASCO, MARCH 20
Handcarts have been increasingalong the busy roads and streetsof
Vasco, but authorities seemto have turned a blind eye tothe
menace.
In the inspection report sub-mitted to the Comptroller
andAuditor General, Mormugao Mu-nicipal Council (MMC) has
clearlystated that in all, 111 mobilehandcarts are registered
withthe council, of which only 24handcarts pay Sopo, while 87are
illegally operating and owenearly Rs 13.57 lakh to the
coun-cil.
However, information soughtunder RTI from Chief OfficerGopal
Parsekar seems to con-tradict the inspection report, asParsekar has
given the totalnumber of mobile handcarts as169.
Though, council has 169 mo-bile handcarts registered with
them, only 27 handcarts haverenewed its license for
financialyear and the rest are operatingillegally.
Be it the fish market, newvegetable market, city area orany
prime location in Vasco cityor along the FL Gomes road, il-legal
handcarts are mushroom-ing with each passing day tofurther congest
Vasco city.
It is learnt from municipalstaff that handcart
operatorsduplicate licenses by printingsingle license number on
differ-ent handcarts.
Pedestrians are forced towalk on roads due to mobilehandcarts,
which are placed asper their whims and fancies incity areas to
congest the traffic,said Uday Morajkar from New
Vaddem.When media had sought an
action from the chief officer, hehad fixed March 16 as the
dateto commence a drive to seizeillegal handcarts and illegal
en-croachments of vegetable ven-dors in new vegetable market.
However, municipal staff didact to crack whip on violators,but
the action seems to be amere eye wash, as only fourhandcarts were
lifted from thefootpath, when entire footpathnear fish market is
occupiedwith illegal handcarts.
Drive will continue till all il-legal handcarts are lifted
fromVasco city and surroundingarea, said Parsekar.
Sources in MMC informedthat when council staff com-menced the
drive to seize illegalhandcarts, they have been pres-surized by
politicians and mostof the handcart owners enjoypatronage of local
politicians.
Handcarts add to Vasco congestion
Illegal handcarts near Vasco fish market. Photo by M Prabhav
PANJIM (HND): Shri Shiv Temple at Satt-Adhar complex,Karaswada,
Mapusa celebrated its third anniversary recently.
Chief guest Dr Pramod Salgaokar, Samiti president Arun
Bi-cholkar, Secretary T Shashikumar were present.
Dr Pramod Salgaokar spoke on gender discrimination, birthcontrol
and the rights of women.
Later the chief guest presented prizes to following winnersof
various competitions.
Fancy Dress (Jr Group): 1st Saitej Gauns, 2nd KaushishChopdekar,
3rd Ayush Bicholkar, Consolation Richa Haldankar,Revonkar, Ruturgi
Shinde and Sarthak. (Sr Group): 1st SohanNaik, 2nd Saideep Gauns.
Dance competition -- Samiksha Ped-nekar, Konkani act Tanishka
Tilve, Sejal Kalangutkar andgroup, Special Dance Shruti Nerulkar,
Vishwaja Naik andDiveta Harmalkar. Vithu Polle proposed the vote of
thanks.
Mapusa temple anniversary held
Dr Pramod Salgaokar distributing prizes to the winner of
thecompetitions on the occasion of Shiv Temples 3rd anniversaryat
Karaswada-Mapusa.
Konkani telefilm releasedPANJIM (HND): A Konkani telefilm Punn
Tum Goykar de-
picting the fight for reclaiming the lost treasures of Goa
wasreleased by the Superior General of the Society of Pilar, FrTony
Lopes in the Pilar Monastery on Thursday.
Fr Lopes said that Goans need to preserve their values andbe
more others-oriented. We are losing our Goan identitynot merely
because we are selling our properties, but more sobecause we are
slowly losing our values in the society, headded.
The writer-director Fr Lucas Rodrigues, stated that
thethoughtless selling of our ancestral resources for
quickmegabucks and indiscriminately imbibing western ethos for
aseemingly easy life have had the alarm bells ringing.
Obviously,there needs to be an attitudinal change in the mental
make-up of a Goan, wherever he or she may be, if our Goa and
Goan-ness has to be preserved for the future generations.
Punn...Tum Gykar will communicate this message.
The film features Antonette De Calangute, Jessica, Anil
Ped-nekar, Antush, Roseferns, Jr Nelson, Willy, Comedian Nato
andJohn DSilva.
Mario Fernandes (Babit) who organizes shows for PilarFathers in
London and Swindon stated that what motivated FrLucas to produce a
film of such topical interest was a sinceredesire to arrest the
ominous winds sweeping across the Goancommunity, both within and
outside the state of Goa.
PANJIM (HNB): Goa Medical College Staff Society in
associationwith MEC organised a lecture on recent advances in the
diagnosisand management of Alzheimers disease.
Prof Ralph Martins, director of research, Sir James Mc
CuskerAlzheimers disease research Unit, Western Australia, who
wasthe resource person for the day highlighted the recent
devel-opments in the field of Alzheimers disease and the
promisingresearch in reversing the damage caused by the deposition
ofBeta Amyloid in the brain which is mainly responsible for
thedisease.
Prof Martins is Goan in origin and is the founder of
thestate-of-the-art research center in Western Australia. He iskeen
on developing linkages with Goa Medical College andthe Dementia
Society of Goa and expressed his desire to starta similar center of
excellence for dementia research in Goa.
Lecture on Alzheimer delivered
Prof Ralph Martins (4th from right) with Dr V N Jindal, Dean,GMC
and members of Staff Society & MEC.
PANJIM (HND): Over a 100 delegates attended the two-daynational
symposium on microbial diversity and its applicationsin health,
agriculture and industry, organised by ICAR Complexfor Goa,
recently.
Rasik Ravindra, Director, National Centre for Antarctic andOcean
Research, Vasco-da-Gama, inaugurated the symposium.Prof D K Arora,
Director, National Bureau of Agriculturally im-portant
Microorganisms, Mau, Uttar Pradesh, presided overthe function.
Rasik Ravindra gave an account of microorganisms of
Antarcticregion. He also spoke on the use of microbes from
Antarcticfor the benefit of humans. D K Arora highlighted the
evolutionof microbes and their association with humans and role of
mi-crobes in bio-geochemical cycle.
Vice President of United Breweries, Govind Tiwari gave anaccount
of importance of microorganisms in industry andcalled on the
microbiologists to make use of industrial facilitiesfor
research.
Presentations on molecular analysis of microbial
diversity,microbes in health and industry, microbes in agriculture
andmicrobes in animal rearing were held.
Symposium on microbial diversity
Farmers told of their rightsPANJIM (HND): A farmers
training-cum-awareness programme
on Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers Right 2001,
or-ganised by ICAR Research Complex for Goa in collaborationwith
Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers Rights Authority,New
Delhi, concluded recently. The programme was inauguratedby speaker
Pratapsing Rane.
Rane said that many plant and rice varieties are on the vergeof
extinction and need to be protected.
Dr P K Singh, Registrar PPV and FRA, New Delhi; Satish
Ten-dulkar, Director, Dept of Agriculture and Dr N P Singh,
Director,ICAR Complex, presided over the function.
Dr N P Singh emphasised the importance of rules and reg-ulations
with respect to the plants varieties protection. Thereis scope for
registering a number of farmers varieties in Goaespecially in rice,
cowpea, green gram, coconut, cashew,mango, brinjal, chilli and
bhendi. Farmers attending the pro-gramme should educate other
farmers in their villages withrespect to these developments, Dr
Singh added further.
Be responsible,youth urgedHERALD CORRESPONDENT
MAYEM, MARCH 20
Transport Minister Sudin Dhav-likar has called upon Goan youthto
shoulder the responsibilityof the State, which is beingheading
towards destructiondue to value-based political sys-tem.
He was addressing the gath-ering during the felicitationfunction
of senior citizens fromBicholim. The function was or-ganised by MGP
Bicholim unit,Bhausaheb Bandodkar BirthCentenary Anniversary
Commit-tee and Senior Citizens Associ-ation Bicholim at Hirabai
ZantyeMemorial Hall on Saturdayevening.
Speaking further, Dhavlikarsaid: The existing scenario inthe
State has tarnished theimage of Goa which was createdby Goas first
chief ministerBhausaheb Bandodkar withgreat pains.
He also called upon the peo-ple to save from Goans sellinglands
to outsiders, drug traffick-ing, illegal mining business
andcorruption.
The function was presidedover by senior citizens, TanajiPal,
while Ratnakant Mardolkar,BMC Deputy ChairpersonShashikant
Halrankar, RamakantShetye, Aappa Teli and AdvNarayan Sawant were
presenton the occasion.
Tanaji Pal, Ramakant Shetye,Gaurish Ghadi and Saili Gardespoke
on the occasion.
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
MAYEM, MARCH 20
District Governor of Rotary Dis-trict 3170 Mahesh Raikar
do-nated two wheelchairs and apaediatric walker to Keshav
SevaSadhana School for special chil-dren at Bicholim.
Raikar also announced a grantfrom District fund towards
theschool. A matching grant projectwas also sanctioned for
supply-ing musical and physiotherapistequipments and other items
re-quired by the school.
It will go a long way in facil-itating the training and
educa-tion of mentally challengedstudents and in making
thesestudents self-reliant. The KeshavSeva Sadhana School has
beenadopted by the Rotary Club ofPanaji Riviera.
The District Governor alsodistributed scholarships to threeneedy
students of National As-
sociation of Blind Goa andHamara School.
The public function for theDistrict Governors official visitwas
held at Hotel Mandovi onFebruary 26. Rotarians fromclubs all over
Goa attended thefunction.
Dr Pradeep Naik, head of theOphthalmology DepartmentGMC, was
felicitated for his self-less service. Dr Naik helped theRotary
Club of Panaji Riviera inconducting an eye camp at Bi-cholim, where
300 patientswere examined and 10 cataractoperations were later
con-ducted.
A film showcasing projectsundertaken in the past sixmonths by
the Rotary Club ofPanaji Riviera was screened onthe occasion. The
event alsomarked the release of the Janu-ar y issue of Rivulet ,
themonthly club bulletin.
Wheelchairs, paediatric walkers donated
Mahesh Raikar donated two wheel chairs to Keshav Seva
SadhanaSchool Bicholim in the presence of Nitin Kenkre, Pallvi
Salgaonkarand others. Photo by Vishant Vaze
People urged to adopt ayurveda
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
MAYEM, MARCH 20
Bicholim Taluka Block CongressCommittee President NareshSawal
has called upon the peo-ple to adopt ayurvedic medicalmode to cure
the diseases per-manently even if it takes time.
He was addressing the gath-ering after inaugurating theayurvedic
medical diagnosis andtreatment camp organised byKrida Sanskritik
SrujanatmakNivrutt Karmachari MandalUmmid Kendra,
Mulgao-Mulgao,Bicholim.
On the occasion, about 60 pa-tients above 60 years were
di-agnosed and t rea ted byAyurvedic Dr Kiran Joshi and DrKumari
Karpe. The patients weregiven free medicines. M K Patilproposed
vote of thanks and alsogave an introductory speech.
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
CANACONA, MARCH 19
The Canacona ShigmosthavCommittee has decided to pres-ent this
years Shigmo floatswith a difference in Chaudi.
Addressing a press conferencein his cabin, Canacona Shig-mosthav
Committee 2011 Pres-ident and Canacona MunicipalCouncil (CMC)
Chairperson Rat-nakar Dhuri informed that thisyears Shigmo will be
held witha difference and including vari-ous competitions during
andafter the floats, an informativesouvenir will be released on
theoccasion.
We will also felicitate fivefolk artistes from Canaconataluka
for their valuable contri-butions in the field of culture,informed
Dhuri.
The folk artistes are AnantSatarkar (Welwada-Poinguinim),Sandesh
Pa ingu inka r(Poinguinim), Malkum Gaonkar(Gaondongrim), Manohar
Jadav(Palolem) and Dattu Pagui (Sa-
leri-Khola).Dhuri further said this year,
the Samiti has also decided togive recognition to the all
thepast presidents of CanaconaShigosthav Committees fortheir
meritorious organiza-tional abilities of the annualevent ever since
the Shigmofloats have been introducedfirst time in 1989 at
Chaudi-Canacona.
Former ministers Sanjay Ban-dekar, Isidore Fernandes, ex-
MLA Jagdish Acharya, teacherBalaji Dessai, CMCs ex-chaiper-sons
Sameer Dessai, RanghanathNaik Gaunkar, Konkani activistand social
worker Ramesh BaboyKomarpant forms the list of pastpresidents of
Canacona Shig-mosthav Committee.
During the prize distributionof Shigmo floats, the committeewill
also recognize contributionof CMC driver Pradeep Gayakfor his
contribution towards or-ganization of floats at Chaudi,informed
Dhuri.
Incidentally, the decision toregister Canacona
ShigmosthavCommittee with the authoritieshas been deferred for the
timebeing.
According to sources, therehave been different opinions
bydifferent section of people overthe composition of member-ships
for registering the bodyand hence the decision for reg-istration of
Canacona Shig-mosthav Committee has beenput-off as of now.
Canacona Shigmo panel pledgesunique floats this year
Provide aid to needy, credit societies told
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
CALANGUTE, MARCH 19
Calangute MLA Agnelo Fernan-des has stated that credit
soci-eties should come forward inproviding financial assistance
tothe needy.
He was addressing a gather-ing after inaugurating the
newpremises of Jana Utkarsh UrbanCo - op C red i t Soc ie t y a
tCalangute. Others present onthe occasion included
AssistantRegistrar of Co-op SocietiesRamdas Pednekar and Chairmanof
the Society Narayan Karekar.
In his address, Ramdas Ped-nekar urged the directors of
thesociety to work wholeheartedlyfor the growth of the society soit
reaches greater heights. Healso advised the directors tobuild trust
among the share-holders.
Others who spoke on the oc-casion were the first shareholderof
the society in Calangute, Gu-rudas Shirodkar and
RajendraKorgaonkar.
-
Pg5GOA\REGIONOHERALDO
GOA, MONDAY, 21 MARCH, 2011
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, MARCH 20
Chief Minister Digambar Kamathas said that bridges at
Talpon,Galjibag and Zuari will be takenon priority once National
High-way Authority of India (NHAI)takes up the project to widenthe
existing National Highway17.
Kamat conceded that thesethree bridges are of utmost im-portance
and their completionis required for smoothening ofthe traffic on
the highway.
All these three bridges are onthe national highway and theNHAI
had refused to give NOC tothe state government to constructthem,
the chief minister told theState Legislative Assembly.
He was responding to the pri-
vate member resolution movedby Poinguinim MLA RameshTawadkar on
the floor of thehouse demanding constructionof Talpona and Galjibag
bridgeson priority bases.
Kamat said that the NHAI hasdecided to take up constructionof
these bridges on priority oncethey start widening of the na-
tional highway.Tabling the resolution, Tawad-
kar said that the road traffic be-tween Mashem to Poinguinimcan
be decongested only afterconstruction of Talpona andGaljibad
bridges.
There is a demand that thesebridges should be completedon
priority, he said recallingthe fatal accident reported re-cently in
which one UlhasPoinguinkar was crushed undertruck wheels to due
recklessdriving.
Tawadkar pointed out thatits been almost 25 years sincethe
proposal is pending. 19years back the procedure of landacquisition
was completed. Buttill today work has not bestarted, the MLA
said.
Talpon, Galjibag and Zuari bridges will get priority: CM
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
MARCEL, MARCH 20
Hundreds of revellers took partin the annual traditional
Shig-motsav which was celebratedon the Chathurdas day at
Mar-dol.
It is an annual Shigmotsav pa-rade, where about 18 Romtamelfrom
Ponda taluka participatevoluntarily since the last manyyears. There
are no prizes forthe best performer, but the Rom-tamel takes part
to offer prayersand to seek blessings of God-dess Mahalasa.
The troupes after dancing tothe drum beats and Kasale,
visitMahalasa Temple for prayers.
There is altogether different
mood among the people whotake part in the Romtamel. It
istradition of several years andwe should preserve it for
futuregenerations, said Veling-Priolpanchayat member Satish
Mad-kaikar.
We are proud that this eventis happening in our Mardol vil-lage.
Though, earlier there weresuggestions to keep prizes, butwe turned
down the idea, as itwould change the celebrativemood of this
festive tradition,added Madkaikar.
In competitions, one wontget to see such type of
peoplesparticipation. This event is notcompetitive and we are
againstsuch an idea, he said.
In olden days, there wereabout 25 troupes but since thelast few
years, the number hascome down to around 18, in-formed
Madkaikar.
Gududa Naik of Savoi-Veremsaid: Every year, our Romtamelcome
first to take part in the pa-rade and is followed by
otherRomtamels. We have been fol-lowing this tradition since
1961.
First, we offer prayers at ourvillage, to Shree Anant andGodess
Sateri and on theChathurdas day, we offer prayersat Mahalasa Temple
Mardol. Andfrom here, we take part in com-petitive Romtamel
competitionswhich starts from Ponda, he in-formed.
Mardol revels in Shigmotsav
Romtamel of Shree Madanant Shigmotsav Savoi Verem. Photo by
Amresh Parab
HERALD REPORTER
VASCO, MARCH 20
Chief Minister DigambarKamats announcement in theBudget 2011-12
to give boostto the tourism by making a pro-vision for Helicopter
Tourismhas been welcomed by the pri-vate sector.
Incidentally, Venture Avia-tion had commenced a similarservice
four years ago to boosttourism in the State. But lackof government
support andpoor infrastructure forced themto ground the service
shortlyafter it started.
It may be recalled that Vasco-based Venture Aviation (op-erated
by Bandekar Group) hadcommenced Helicopter Serv-ice in Goa for
aerial joyridesand sightseeing, air taxi serv-
ices, corporate travel, aerialphotography, videography,news,
gathering, advertisingcampaigns, film production,aerial
reconnaissance surveys,police and law enforcements,etc.
Its a welcome move, asState like Goa requires Heli-copter
Tourism since it is con-sidered to be a viable ventureand most of
the northern statesand hill stations have excelledin it, said
Sanjay Shetye ofVinson World.
Four years ago, Venture Avi-ation had started similar serv-ice
in Vasco, but due to lackinfrastructure and unwilling-ness to
provide a landing facil-ity at Goas Taj Helipad, Aguada,Venture
Aviation was forcedclose the service, said Shetye.
Presently, Venture Aviationis operating such service inPune and
Mumbai route, hesaid.
He further said that the gov-ernment should create an
in-frastructure and then this newventure would certainly excel,as
the ratio of high-profiletourists and foreigners in Goais
satisfactory.
It is learnt that the helipadat Aguada remained unutilizedfor
the purpose for the lastmany years and even privateplayers willing
to commenceHelicopter Tourism are deniedlanding permission.
Besides a Helipad at Taj Goa-Aguada, a starred resort atCanacona
has its own privatehelipad to cater to the needsof their
guests.
Private sector hails provisionfor Helicopter Tourism
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
CANACONA, MARCH 20
Hundreds of people convergedat Agonda to seek Kovul (bless-ings)
of Avtar Purush.
Incidentally, Chief MinisterDigambar Kamat missed the rit-ual
for the first time in the pastfour years apparently due to
theongoing Assembly session. How-ever, Kamat was represented byhis
wife Asha, who took theblessings on his behalf.
It was Asha Kamat who alongwith large presence of otherdevotees
first watched theunique ritual performance of sixAvtar-Purush
(priests believedto be filled with Gods spirit)carrying colourful
Tarangas andlater invoked their blessings forbetter health and
protection.
This is a customary annualceremony held at Voile-Agondin Agonda
as part of Shigmo cel-ebrations and during this timemost villagers
having their rootsin Agonda, besides relatives and
friends makes it a point to con-verge and take Kovul
(Blessing)of Avtar Purush.
Invoking Gods at the playingof drums in unison, first, all
thesix tarangas carrying Avtar Pu-rush gets filled with Gods
spiritin unique manners, before theyrun to a small temple site
situ-ated in the same locality andimmediately begins to
giveblessings.
Interestingly, three years agoChief Minister Kamat for thefirst
time participated in the rit-uals invited by his close well-wishers
from the village at atime when he faced political tu-mult to
overthrow his govern-ment.
After that he along with otherfamily members including sonand
son-in-law continuously re-mained present for the next
twoyears.
DySP Mahesh Gaonkar, whohails from Agonda and presidentof Shri
Agondeshwar Temple,
was seen assisting Asha Kamatensuring she is given preferencefor
Kovul and regularly playingthe role of cameraman by click-ing her
photographs every nowand than.
Several other prominent peo-ple including Kritesh Gaonkar(former
MMC chairperson) tookthe blessings.
Interestingly, this is one ofthe rituals in the village
whereirrespective of castes and creedmost Hindu devotees
havingorigins of the village, includingthe one staying in far off
placesespecially married off daugh-ters along with their
familymembers makes it a point topartake in this rituals annuallyto
take Kovul of Shri Mallikar-jun God.
The Kovul also given in theform of blessed rice is thentaken
back home and preservedin the respective households in-voking Gods
protection againstany evil, says sources.
Hundreds seek blessings of Avtar Purush at Agonda
Chief Minister Digambar Kamats wife Asha accompanied by DySP
Mahesh Gaonkar before takingKovul from Avtar Purush at Agonda.
Photo by Kathy Pereira
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
BELGAUM, MARCH 20
Miscreants pelted stone on themain gate of the St JosephsConvent
High School, here,damaging the watchmanscabin.
This is for the seventh timethe incident has repeated hereand
has brought fear amongstthe Canossian nuns, who run
the school.According to principal of the
Convent Sr Thangam, the inci-dent took place at 3 am
whentwo-three motorcycle bornemiscreants indiscriminatelystoned
from the rear gate ofthe Convent.
By the time the watchmancould reach the gate, they man-aged to
vanish, Sr Thangam
said.In a similar incident, miscre-
ants had pelted stones twiceon the Divine ProvidenceSchool,
causing damage to theclassrooms. We are shockedand are feeling
insecure as de-spite lodging several com-plaints with the police,
culpritsare still at large, Sr Thangamsaid, urging the authorities
to
protect the nuns and girl stu-dents in the Convent.
Meanwhile, the Christian com-munity is shocked as the
incidenthas taken place during the pres-ence of the Chief Minister
B SYeddyurappa in the city.
The miscreants have man-aged to repeat the act despitethe heavy
presence of policein the city.
Catholic school stoned in BelgaumHERALD CORRESPONDENT
BELGAUM, MARCH 20
Political leaders and officialsmight be basking in the successof
the recently held World Kan-nada Meet at Belgaum.
Though everyone associatedwith the three-day meet is walk-ing on
cloud nine due to thephenomenal success achieved,no one seems to
have time toponder about wha t wasachieved after holding the
his-torical meet.
The aspirations of many indifferent aspects might havebeen
served, however, partici-pation of IT conglomerate N RNarayana
Murthy of Infosys hadraised the expectations of thepeople of
Belgaum.
Based on Belgaums proximityto Goa and the available com-bined
infrastructure, manythought that Narayana Murthywould make an
important dec-laration of setting up of an ITpark at Belgaum.
But, the people of Belgaumand the region however whowere
carrying great expectationsregarding some concrete dec-larations
have now been left dis-appointed. Barring MLA AbhayPatil, it seems
no serious at-tempts were made in that di-rection.
People of Belgaum had ex-pected that presence of IT ty-coon N R
Narayana Murthywould bring greater opportuni-ties in the IT sector
for the ben-efit of the region. There was a
buzz around that Murthys whohad the greatest honour of
in-augurating the historical meet,would make some important
an-nouncement regarding spread-ing of his IT empire in Belgaumand
leave a permanent mark ofthe meet. But this did not hap-pen.
Even leaders including Kar-nataka Chief Minister B S
Yed-dyurappa did not urge theMurthy couple to consider Bel-gaum for
further investmentsand activities of the InfosysFoundation.
Dr Prabhakar Kore had earlierstated that he was in touch withthe
Murthys in this regard, buthe along with other leaders didnot even
make a mention aboutthe IT in the inaugural and vale-dictory
speeches, dashing thehopes of thousands of Belgau-mites who since
last couple ofyears have nurtured dreams ofhaving an established IT
industryhere.
Meanwhile, MLA Abhay Patilin his speech during the In-vestors
Meet on March 12, hadappealed the investors fromIndia and abroad to
invest inBelgaum as the city offers thebest of infrastructural set
up.
Belgaum with its full-fledgedairport, good roads, health,
en-gineering and other institutionsand ever-increasing
hospitalityindustry is the only city afterBangalore, suitable for
invest-ment in IT, textile and sugar in-dus t r i e s , ML A Pa t i
l ha s
emphasized.But to his greater disappoint-
ment, not a single announce-ment was made regardinginvestment in
Belgaum.
People along with a certainsection of leaders are totally
dis-appointed as Murthy did notmake any announcement regard-ing
investment in Belgaum,MLA Patil said.
I do appreciate that a varietyof topics including Kannada
lit-erature, culture, language, etc,were widely discussed and
de-bated during the meet. Themeet was successful, but one ofthe
main purpose of holding themeet at Belgaum of getting in-vestments
to Belgaum and cre-ating better opportunities wasrather defeated,
Abhay Patil as-certained expressing disappoint-ment on this
aspect.
In case Murthys are seriousabout working for the rural poorand
the marginalized, then Bel-gaum with its large rural hin-terland
offers them to pursuetheir cause, as they can investin Belgaum that
would generategreater employment and otheropportunities, said MLA
AbhayPatil.
We have perhaps not madethe best of the opportunitiesavailable
to us to persuade thelikes of NR Narayana Murthy toconsider Belgaum
for their ex-pansion plans, said Patil addingthat the efforts would
continueto get an IT and Textile parks inBelgaum.
Infosys leaves Kannada meetparticipants disappointed
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
BELGAUM, MARCH 20
Work on the dilapidated Dhar-wad-Panjim road connecting theNH4-A
at Ramanagar that hadcommenced since a couple ofdays ago is being
carried out ona war footing.
However, commuters mighthave to wait a little longer asthe work
along the Panjim-Ram-nagar-Alnawar-Dharwar roadhas been delayed due
to delayed
clearance from the forest de-partment.
Thousands of commuters willnow breathe easy as the shortestroad
to reach Hubli-Dharwadthat had become entirely un-motorable since
several years,will soon be available for thepeople of Goa and Londa
area.
The work on the 60-km road,which is one of the importantlinks
between Karnataka andGoa, is being carried out at an
estimated cost of Rs 230 crore.The road will be 15 mtrs wideand
have five major bridges in-cluding several culverts.
The 60-km road betweenDharwad Cross and Ramnagarhad totally
deteriorated due tothe heavy movement of theoverloaded mining
trucks. Peo-ple from the area had put up astrong and sustained
agitationdemanding immediate repairand reconstruction of the
road.
The authorities who hadturned a blind eye to this roadused to
only carry out the tem-porary patch work, which couldnot hold the
heavy movementof the mining trucks, damagingthe road again.
Being constructed on a pub-lic-private partnership, the
con-tribution from the Centre andState is 20 per cent each whilethe
remaining 60 per cent isbeing contributed by the con-
tractor who will be operatingthe road on BOT basis.
Apart from several villages inKhanapur and Dharwad talukawhich
lie on the either side ofthe road, commuters from Goareaching
Dharwad were theworst sufferers all these years.
To reach Dharwad, commutersfrom Goa had to either go
viaKhanapur-Yellapur highway orvia Belgaum, travelling about 70-80
kms of extra distance.
Work on Dharwad-Panjim road begins on war footing
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
BELGAUM, MARCH 20
The Rani Chennamma Universityof Belgaum which was developedinto
an independent universitylast year for the benefit of thestudents
from Belgaum, Goa andneighbouring Maharashtra, hasdecided to
introduce newcourses in Criminal Justice andCriminology from the
next aca-demic year.
According to University ViceChancellor Prof B R Ananthan,this is
for the first time in entireSouth that this course has
beenintroduced.
The university also plans tostart post-graduate courses
inScience and English subjectsfrom the next academic year,he
said.
Launching the Universitys em-blem at a press meet in Belgaumon
Thursday, Ananthan said sev-eral experts and senior officialsin
various government depart-ments, police training academiesand
Central Bureau of Investiga-tion (CBI) have agreed to takeup
lecture sessions for coursesin Criminology and Criminal Jus-tice to
be introduced by the Uni-versity.
He said that there is amplescope to conduct research andstudies
in criminology and crim-inal justice in south India.
The University also plans tostart a Masters course in
MediaStudies shortly in associationwith various institutions, he
saidadding that the University is yetto decide whether to run
this
course for two years or more.It will include several issues
and subjects related to masscommunication and journalism,he
said.
The University presently has306 Colleges from Bijapur, Bel-gaum
and Bagalkot districts and33 new colleges have appliedseeking the
universitys affilia-tion.
The University is making wayfor PG Centres in private
collegeswhich already have all the basicfacilities on campus, he
saidadding that the university hasreceived 18 applications for
set-ting up of PG centres.
Meanwhile, the University de-clared its first semester
resultsfor all the courses for 2011 inwhich 19,939 students of
thetotal of 31,921 who appearedfor the examinations have passedwith
the majority of passed stu-dents being girls.
The results of the first semes-ter courses may be browsed
fromwww.resultsgallery.in (Univer-sitys website).
Belgaum varsity offerscriminology course
Job mela held at
AmbaulimHERALD CORRESPONDENT
QUEPEM, MARCH 20
An awareness programme anda job mela for BPL rural youthof Goa
was conducted at HolyCross Convent Hall, Ambaulim-Quepem, on March
15 and 16.
The programme is an initia-tive of Ministry of Rural
Devel-opment under one of its ruraldevelopment scheme
Swarna-jayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana(SGSY) in collaboration with
NISSparta and Indira Gandhi OpenUniversity New Delhi. The
pro-gramme was conducted by theDistrict Rural
DevelopmentAgency.
The programme commencedwith inaugural address by SaritaPatil of
Goa Institute of RuralDevelopment, followed by Ek-nath Shirodkar
(Nodal officerDRDA North Goa), AmbaulimSarpanch F X Cardozo and
Suc-corina Fernandes (DRDA SouthGoa).
The session was handled byRelha Sankla, Aryan Thapur andVilas
Gawankaskar from NISSparta.
The target group of the pro-gramme was rural youth ofBelow
Poverty Line between 18and 30 years and educationalqualif