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OHERALDOThe Voice of Goa Since 1900
PTI
NEW DELHI, SEPT 23
The Allahabad High Court ver-dict on the Ayodhya title suitwill
not be delivered tomorrowwith the Supreme Court defer-ring it by a
week in a suddenturn of events today and decid-ing to hear the plea
for post-ponement next Tuesday.
After sharp differences overthe issue of entertaining the
pe-tition challenging the HC orderrefusing to postpone the
judge-ment, a Bench comprising Jus-tices R V Raveendran and H
LGokhale stayed for a week theverdict due to have been pro-nounced
tomorrow by the HighCourts Lucknow Bench.
Following the courts tradi-
tion in case of differences, theBench decided to issue noticesto
all the contesting parties andsought their response to the
plea by retired bureaucratRamesh Chand Tripathi.
Tripathis petition pleaded forexploring the possibility of
an
out-of-court settlement on the60-year-old Ram Janambhoomi-Babri
Masjid title suit dispute.
The court asked Attorney Gen-
eral G E Vahanvati to be presentand assist the court when
thematter comes up on Tuesday.
In view of the differences,place the matter before theChief
Justice of India for consti-tuting a larger Bench, the courtsaid in
its order.
Justice Raveendran was of theview that the special leave
peti-tion filed by Tripathi should bedismissed while Justice
Gokhalewas of the opinion that a noticeshould be issued for
exploringthe option of settlement.
Notwithstanding his reserva-tions, Justice Raveendran, whowas
heading the Bench, pre-ferred to go along with JusticeGokhale in
making one attemptto find a settlement.
Business: India switchesover to cleaner fuel! Pg 13
iN BRieF
Oops!! your silly spelling mistakehas cost us our forensic
labora-tory.
Sports: Champions League firstsemi-final today Pg 18
Goas Heartbeat: Jade Jagger toopen jewellery store in Goa Pg
14
Visit us at:www.oheraldo.in panjim, friday, september 24, 2010
priCe rs. 3.00 (air surcharge rs 2.00) pages 18
HERALD NEWS DESK
PANJIM, SEPT 23
His Holiness Sri Sri Ravi Shankar,the world spiritual leader
andfounder of the Art of Living willarrive in Goa on Friday
evening.
To commemorate the occa-sion, the Art of Living family, itsGoa
chapter has organisedAnandotsav 2010 which will beheld in the
presence of Sri SriRavi Shankar on Saturday, at 5 pm at Colva
beach.
SC stays Ayodhya verdict
PTI
NEW DELHI, SEPT 23
Amid intense criticism overCommonwealth Games prepa-rations,
Prime Minister Manmo-han Singh today held a meetingwith union
ministers and othersinvolved in the sporting eventbut kept away
Organising Com-mittee chief Suresh Kalmadi,triggering speculation
aboutbeing sidelined.
The Prime Minister askedCabinet Secretary K M Chan-drashekhar to
meet Common-wealth Games Federation chiefMichael Fennell tomorrow
afterhe arrives here and apprise himof the preparations.
During the 90-minute meet-ing, Singh enquired about vari-ous
aspects of the preparationsfrom Urban Development Min-ister Jaipal
Reddy, Sports Min-ister M S Gill, Delhi LieutenantGovernor Tejendra
Khanna andChief Minister Sheila Dikshit.
The Prime Minister wasbriefed about the state of pre-paredness
of the CommonwealthGames. He was informed thatevery effort is being
made to
prepare the games facilities andthe Village to the expected
stan-dards, Khanna said.
Our guests will be receivedand welcomed in accordancewith the
best traditions of Indianhospitality, the Lt Governor saidafter the
meeting which wasa l so a t tended by Chan -drashekhar, National
SecurityAdviser Shivshankar Menon andHome Secretary G K Pillai.
Significantly, Kalmadi was notinvited to the meeting,
trigger-ing questions as whether he wasbeing sidelined in the wake
ofall-round attack over the lack ofpreparedness.
Apart from accusations of in-efficiency, the Organising
Com-mittee and the government havealso been left embarrassed bythe
collapse of a bridge near theJawahar Lal Nehru Stadium.
The meeting came two daysafter international delegateslambasted
the Games Village asfilthy and uninhabitable andtop teams such as
Canada, Scot-land and New Zealand delayedtheir departure to the
Indiancapital.
PM holds meet,Kalmadi kept out
Casinos withdrawpetitions
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, SEPT 23
The off-shore casino operatorstoday withdrew petitions
filedbefore Bombay High Court atGoa in which they had chal-lenged
State Governments de-cision to shift them to Aguadabay.
Lawyers representing all sixoff-shore casino managementsconceded
to withdrew the pe-titions, when the matter cameup for hearing on
Thursdaymorning before the DivisionBench comprising of Justice DG
Karnik and Justice F M Reis.
The court was told by lawyers
Beware! dry fishmay be harmful
PTI
KENDRAPARA (Orissa), SEPT 23
Dry fish is a popular delicacylapped up across the country,but
consumption of it is alsohazardous for human health asthe
preservative used in keepingthem dry is highly toxic.
Dry fish traders at Kharinasi,Ramnagar and Paradip on theBay of
Bengal widely use thepreservative to keep the fish dryfor longer
for export to stateslike West Bengal, Assam andChattishgarh.
Test of samples of a particularclass of preservative used in
pro-ces s ing d r y f i sh i n aBhubaneswar-based RegionalResearch
Laboratory found sub-stances of Formalin De-Hydewhich is often used
to preservehuman body.
It is deadly if consumed rawand if one has to use it for
pro-cessing dry fish it should beused only in a diluted form,Subrat
Das, marine fisheriesofficer of the Paradip zone,said.
However, Hemant Biswal,local unit chief of the Orissa Ma-rine
Fish Producers Association,claimed that the toxicity contentof the
preservative becamegreatly reduced once it was ex-posed to air.
To put an end to the unethicaltrade practice, the Marine
Fish-eries Directorate has clampeda blanket ban on any form
ofchemical for dry fish process-ing.
We have come across reportsof dry fish traders using
preser-vatives. As the preservativechemicals are suspected to
con-tain toxicity, orders were issuedrecently on prohibiting its
use,Subrat Das said.
Notices were served on dryfish manufacturing units, marine
fishermens bodies, trawler op-erators association besides
fish-ermens cooperative societies.Any deviation would be a
penaloffence under the Marine Fish-ing Regulation act, 1982,
hesaid.
Bibhuti Biswal, a spokesmanfor the traders, defending theuse of
preservatives argued thatit was a common practiceamong fishing
communitiesacross the country and to thebest of his knowledge it
wasnot detrimental to humanhealth.
Test of samples of aparticular class ofpreservative used
inprocessing dry fish ina Bhubaneswar-basedRegional
ResearchLaboratory foundsubstances ofFormalin De-Hydewhich is often
used topreserve human body.
80 p.c. Goan kids totally immunisedSPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
PANJIM, SEPT 23
The more educated the mother,the more likely a child is to
getproper immunisation. Goa,along with Lakshadweep,Daman & Diu,
Andaman & Nico-bar Islands, Himachal Pradesh,Tamil Nadu,
Puducherry, Punjaband Kerala, is in the group ofStates with the
highest level ofcomplete immunisation; 80 percent or higher.
These figures have been re-leased by the latest UNICEF Cov-erage
Evaluation Survey 2009,which estimates that 61 per centof Indian
children in the agegroup 12 to 23 months werefully immunised.
Earlier, government estimatesunder the District Level House-hold
Survey-3 for 2007-08(DLHS-3), reckoned 54 per centhad received the
full immunisa-tion schedule.
The complete schedule of im-munisation for children undertwo
years includes BCG (TB),three doses each of polio andDPT
(Diphtheria, Pertussis orwhooping cough, Tetanus), andMeasles.
Often the first doses
Sri Sri toarrive today
After sharp differencesover entertaining thepetition
challengingthe HC order refusingto postpone thejudgement, the
Benchstayed the verdict for aweek. The Benchdecided to issuenotices
to all thecontesting parties andsought their response .
India a thriving democracy: USAhead of his landmark visit
inearly November, PresidentBarack Obama described Indiaas a
thriving democracywhich peacefully overthrewcolonialism. --
(PTI)
ON PAGe 5
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: Amultifaceted personality
mixed ReACTiONCONGRESS: SC order is with good
intentions,everybody should welcome it.
BJP:We will wait for the High Court verdict tocome out and then
react to it.
CPM: How can one expect to achieve anyresult, that too within a
week?
VHP: Disappointed, rules out conciliation as ameans to solve the
dispute.
Plea for postponement will now be heard on Tuesday
(Continued on page 10)
(Continued on page 10)
Page 1_Layout 1 9/24/2010 1:06 AM Page 1
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GOA, FRIDAY, 24 SEPTEMBER, 2010
GOA Pg 2OHERALD
O
Churches urged to pray ahead of Ayodhya verdict
HERALD NEWS BUREAU
PANJIM, SEPT 23
The president of the CatholicBishops' Conference of India(CBCI)
has urged all churches inthe country to pray ahead ofthe Ayodhya
title suit verdict tobe pronounced by the AllahabadHigh Court.
"The verdict on the Ayodhyamosque should be fair, and ac-cepted
by all parties, and leadto interfaith harmony. India hasa pluralist
tradition of peaceand this must be defended atall costs," said CBCI
PresidentCardinal Oswald Gracias, whowas quoted in the
AsiaNews.
"The Church is not a party tothis case, but it has a role
toplay, as a bridge builder for un-derstanding, tolerance and
re-spect. For this reason, we mustuse prayer, the most
powerfulweapon we have at our dis-posal," said Cardinal Gracias
in
the report."The verdict could lead to vi-
olence between Muslims andHindus. Clashes would in turnraise
tensions and cause socialdisorder."
"As spiritual leaders in India,we have called on all the
faithfulto pray for our beloved home-land, especially for peaceful
ac-ceptance of the sentence," saidCardinal Gracias.
According to AsiaNews, thearchbishop of Mumbai, whotraces his
roots to Orlim-Salcete,is the first religious leader toask his
fellow believers to prayfor Ayodhya, which, after thedestruction of
the mosque, wasturned into a Hindu temple.
"This call to pray can be easilyunderstood by the fact thatIndia
is a profoundly spiritualnation. Here, religious leadersare much
respected and heeded.This is part of India's culture
and life. It is essential for us tolead people against
violenceand favour true brotherhood,"Cardinal Gracias said.
"All Indians must be likebrothers. They must apply theprinciple
of reciprocity amongall religions. We must make surethat India is
not just an eco-nomic power, but that it is spir-itual and moral
authority berecognised among the nations."
Cardinal Gracias pointed outthat the verdict in the trialwould
"touch everyone, not onlyHindus and Muslims."
"We must continue to fightfor religious freedom and re-spect for
places of worship, fun-damental rights for progressand development.
They are partof our cultural heritage and areprotected by our
constitution.But above all, they are the foun-dation of man's
dignity," he wasquoted in the report.
AAGMJ appeals
for peaceHERALD CORRESPONDENT
MARCEL, SEPT 23
The Association of All Goa Mus-lim Jamaats (AAGMJ) has ap-pealed
to people of the State tomaintain their traditional peaceand
harmony, irrespective of theHigh Court judgement.
Goans are known for main-taining peace and communalharmony and
the present situa-tion demands that we all jointogether and
channelize our re-sources for maintaining peaceand prosperity of
our country,states the press note issued by
AAGMJ General Secretary KaziSalim.
Let us all respect the judicialsystem and work together forthe
welfare of the common man.Let peace be a victor today,added the
press note.
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, SEPT 23
Goa police has placed all se-curity measures on stand tillthe
next date after SupremeCourt deferred Fridays ver-dict on Ayodhya
to September28, police Spokesperson Su-per intendent o f (Spec ia
lBranch) Police Atmaram Desh-pande said.
Security was enhanced asa precautionary measure thatcould arise
after the verdicton Ayodhya case. However,since the Supreme Court
hasdeferred the verdict, all secu-rity steps are put on hold
tillthe next date, said the officer.
A high level meeting of min-isters, bureaucrats and policewas
held on Wednesday to or-ganise peace committee meet-
ings in sensitive areas of Goaon Friday.
Chief Minister DigambarKamat at a press conference hadalso
requested locals not to fallprey to any propaganda thatcould lead
to communal furyafter the Court delivers the ver-dict.
Section 144 of CrPC was im-posed and Quick ResponseTeams and
police personnelwere deployed at all sensitiveareas including
Margao, Davor-lim, Curchorem and otherplaces. The state had also
di-rected that all vehicles enteringGoa through major and
otherpoints be checked.
These security measures willnow be practiced on the daywhen
Supreme Court passes itsorder on a fresh date.
Security measures put on hold, for now
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
MARCEL, SEPT 23
In view of the Ayodhya ver-dict, which has been deferredfor
September 28, Ponda Po-lice on Thursday formed aPeace Committee
comprisingvarious religious representa-tives from Ponda taluka.
Ponda Sub-divisional PoliceOfficer, DySP, Seraffin Diasand
Police Inspector CL Patilguided the members presentduring the
meeting on theirrole in the Peace Committee.
According to Ponda Police,the committee will help inmaintaining
peace during anyuntoward incident in thetaluka.
PI Patil said all the precau-tionary measures have
beenundertaken so that no unto-
ward incident takes place.I urge people not to take
law in their hands and theverdict should be respected.People
should not come onthe streets or break law inwhatsoever protest.
Variousleaders and political figureshave also appealed to thepeople
to maintain peace,he said.
We are taking no chanceand will strictly monitor thearea.
Wherever people noticeany anti-social activity, thenplease report
it to us and donot get carried away with ru-mours, added PI
Patil.
The Peace Committee willalso help us to connect topeople in
trouble times tomaintain peace and harmonyin the society, said PI
Patil.
Peace panel formed in Ponda
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
PORVORIM, SEPT 23
Deputy Collector Bardez D MRedkar has appealed to all sec-tions
of society to desist fromany activity which could disturblaw and
order in view of the Ay-odhya title suit verdict to bepronounced by
the AllahabadHigh Court.
He was speaking at the meet-ing of representatives of allfaiths
convened by him in hisoffice on Thursday.
The verdict of the high courtmay go in favour of one party,but
the aggrieved party has aright to appeal against the ver-dict in
the Supreme Court,stated Redkar.
The Central government hasalso appealed to people not todraw any
hasty conclusions onthe verdict and had assured the
people that the issue will besettled amicably. Hence
afterverdict, people should not getdisturbed and take law in
theirhand, said Redkar.
Redkar further said the stategovernment has imposed Sec-tion 144
prohibiting assemblyof people in the state and it willcontinue till
September 25.
Hence, no procession shouldbe taken out without prior
per-mission of the government. Inthe State, people of all
religionshave been living in peace andharmony for years together
andthere has been no communaltension, he said.
The people should acceptthe verdict of the High Courtwith an
open mind and shouldnot undertake unlawful activityto demonstrate
their protestwhich might disturb peace of
the State, added Redkar.Deputy Superintendent of Po-
lice Sammy Tavares advised thefew citizens invited to the
meet-ing to appeal to the people oftheir respective communitiesto
cooperate with the policeand help maintain law and orderin Bardez
taluka.
The police department hasalso deployed reserved policein
sensitive areas as a preventivemeasure, informed DySPTavares.
Bardez Mamlatdar GaurishShankhwalker, DySP P L Mapari,Porvorim
Police Inspector De-vendra Gad, representatives ofJamma Masjid
(Mapusa), Hamza-sha Masjid (Betim), GossiaMasjid (Socorro), Hindu
Janaja-gruti Samiti, RSS, Mapusa andPopular Education Trust
werepresent for the meeting.
Maintain law and order, Bardez dy Collector appeals
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
SANGUEM, SEPT 23
Quepem Deputy Collector Ag-nelo Fernandes has urged thepeop le o
f Sanguem andQuepem talukas not to be dis-turbed with the verdict
on Ay-odhya, as the verdict by the HighCourt could be appealed
beforethe Supreme Court.
A meeting of the Peace Com-mittee and prominent citizensfrom
Sanguem, Curchorem andQuepem was convened in thechamber of Deputy
Collector,Quepem, on Thursday to discusspreventive measures and to
avoidany incidents from taking placeafter the High Court verdict
onAyodhya issue is given.
The meeting was attendedby a large number of people,mostly
sarpanchas, panchayatmembers, chairpersons, generalpublic and
police officers.
Speaking at the meeting, Fer-nandes urged the people not tobe
disturbed after the judge-ment is pronounced as the ver-dict to be
given by the HighCourt to be only one step in thejudiciary.
"The party affected by thejudgement could well file an ap-peal
before the Supreme Court,"he said.
He urged the public to refrain
from clashing in the name ofGod and that they should notopenly
react to the verdict,whether it is in their favour oragainst.
It is the duty of everyone tocontribute to the peace forIndia.
Let us remain united andnot provoke anyone, claimedFernandes.
Fernandes also gave strict di-rections to the police officersto
avoid happening of any un-foreseen eventualities withintheir
jurisdiction after the judge-ment.
If need be, take preventivemeasures against any personwho tries
to bring discord tothe communal harmony, addedFernandes.
Ashish Karmali expressed hisfeeling and the fallout of 1989to
1991, where there was a lotof destruction and submittedthat there
can be out of courtsettlement between the com-munities.
Sanjay Dessai, Maruti Naikand Vassant Parwar also spokeat the
meeting.
At the end of the meeting,all the members unanimouslydecided to
remain united at thehour and not to fall prey to anycommunal forces
to destroy theunity of India.
Quepem dy Collector appeals for calm
People attend the meeting convened by the Mapusa Deputy
Collector. Photo by Anil Shankhwalker
HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, SEPT 23
A peace committee meetingconvened by Sub-divisional Mag-istrate,
Margao Johnson Fernan-des has appealed to the peopleto maintain
peace and commu-nal harmony irrespective of theJudgment of the
Allahabad highcourt on the Ayodhya dispute.
Senior police officials, besidescitizens, including Margao
Mu-nicipal Chairperson SavioCoutinho attended the meetingand
underscored the need tomaintain the traditional bondof amity and
peace amongstGoans.
Responding to a suggestionmooted at the peace meeting,Margao
Sub-divisional Police of-ficer, DySP Umesh Gaonkar saidthat the
police will carry outchecks at the border check postsnot to leave
any scope for ru-mours that outsiders are comingto Goa to create
disturbances.The district Administration hasinvolved section 144 of
the CrP C banning all processions, car-rying of weapons, use of
loudspeaker, lighting of fire crackerset al. Exemption, however,
isprovided for religious functionsand services, DySP
Gaonkaradded.
Replying to a question on thedistribution of pamphlets by
Ba-
jrang Dal, DySP Gaonkar saidthe pamphlet pertains to the 21day
Ganesh festivities at theSamarth Gad Temple at the Rum-damol
Housing Board, butadded that the district admin-istration will
still verify aboutthe pamphlets as a precaution-ary measure.
Sub-divisional Magistrate,Margao Johnson Fernandes saidthat
police force will be de-ployed adequately in sensitiveareas, while
appealing to main-tain the rich tradition of com-munal amity
amongst Goans.We have made a strong appealto various religions to
pass onthe message to the people tolive in peace and harmony.
Wehave to respect the Judiciary,he added.
Earlier in the morning, a del-egation of the Concerned Citi-zens
for Peace called on theChief Minister Digambar Kamatat his
residence and requestedhim to call an all party meetingin view of
Fridays Allahabadhigh court judgement.
The Chief Minister told thedelegation that the state
admin-istration is fully geared up tomeet any situation, and
recalledthe directions issued to the col-lectors to convene peace
meet-i ngs a s a p recau t iona r ymeasures.
Margao SDM urges people to maintain communal harmony
All eyes on Rumdamol
HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, SEPT 23
With the district administra-tion gearing up to tone upsecurity
in view of the Judg-ment on the Ayodhya dispute,the Rumdamol
housing areais the cynosure of all eyesgiven the past history.
Residents of the HousingBoard, including electedmembers, feel
that the areahave not witnessed any com-munal incidents in
recenttimes and the people havebeen staying peacefully with-out any
dispute.
Rumdamol deputysarpanch Damu Naik said thattheres absolutely no
disputebetween members of theHindu, Muslim and Christiancommunities
staying in Hous-ing Board. We have togethercelebrated ID and
GaneshChathurti. There are no ten-sions between the
religiouscommunities, he added.
Rumdamol Sarpanch Sher-iffa Bi echoed similar senti-ment s and
expres sedconfidence that nothing un-toward will take place in
theHousing Board area.
HERALD REPORTER
VASCO, SEPT 23
Mormugao Deputy CollectorLevinson Martins and DySP Ma-hesh
Gaonkar on Thursday con-veyed a meeting of variousreligious groups
and committeesfrom Vasco to discuss law andorder in the wake of
RamJanambhoomi-Babri Masjid caseverdicy, which has been post-poned
to Septmebr 28.
To ensure communal peaceand harmony among variouscommunities,
religious organi-zations convened the meeting
at Janata Vachanalaya Hall,Vasco.
Urging the people to maintainsecular fabric of the town,
Mormu-gao Municipal Council ChairmanShekhar Khadapkar, Martins
andGaonkar urged to take preventivemeasures so that anti-social
elementsdo not take advantage of the situa-tion after the
verdict.
It is important to ensure thatlaw and order is not disturbedwith
the fallout of AllahabadHigh Court verdict and ensurethat people
assistance is re-quired to maintain peace and
harmony in the taluka, saidMartins.
Vasco PI Braz Menezes, Mor-mugao PI Nigle, Verna PI JivbaDalvi,
Sancoale Deputy SarpanchRamakant Borker, former Chi-calim sarpanch
Anacleto D-Souza, Councilor Arnold Rego,Vishaw Hindu Parishad
officebearer Shrikant Dhargalkar, TahirDaud Carol among others
werepresent for the meeting.
The Apex Court has stayedthe verdict, which was supposedto be
delivered on September24.
Mormugao officials take stock of situation
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, SEPT 23
Goa government is yet to issueshow-cause notice to ShimnitUtsch
over termination of highsecurity registration plates(HSRP) contract
even one andhalf month after making sub-mission to the High
Court.
Transport Director Arun Desaitold Herald that the departmentis
yet to receive file from thegovernment over terminationof the
contract.
We are waiting for the govern-ment approval over the contract
file.The show-cause notice will be issuedaccordingly, he said.
It is confirmed from the Ad-vocate Generals office that thefile
was forwarded to the state
government on August 23 andis still pending with them.
After the company- Shimnit Utschin their petition to the High
Courtpointed out that the governmenthas not followed the procedure
whiletaking decision to terminate thecontract, the state government
hadassured Court that the notice willbe issued soon before
termination.
Accordingly, the transport de-partment on August 20 decidedto
issue show-cause notice overits termination. However, it wasfurther
postponed to August 23.
The state government had as-sured to scrap the tender ofShimnit
Utsch after Srivastavacommittee pointed out glaringirregularities
in the tenderingprocess.
No show cause notice to Shimnit Utsch yet
HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, SEPT 23
The Central Bureau of Investi-gation (CBI) on Thursday op-posed
the application filed byformer Tourism Minister, MickkyPacheco for
release of his cellphones and laptops.
Making an oral submissionbefore Judicial Magistrate FirstClass,
Margao, a CBI official op-posed the appl icat ion ongrounds that
the JFMC court hasno jurisdiction to entertain theapplication since
the matter istriable by the sessions court.
The JMFC, however, has askedthe CBI to submit a written replyto
the court and fixed the matterfor hearing on October 1.
Acting Investigating OfficerAshok Yadav, however, sought
time to file the reply as the In-vestigating officer is
presentlyin Delhi.
Pachecos lawyer Adv SrikantNayak submitted before thecourt that
its nearly a fortnightsince the CBI seized the laptopsand the cell
phones when theseitems have no connection withthe probe, more so
when theMLA has fully cooperated withthe investigations.
The JMFC later adjourned thematter to October 1 for the CBIto
file reply to the applicationfiled by Pacheco for the releaseof his
laptops and cell phones.
Adv Nayak later told news-men that the CBIs decision toseize the
laptops and cell phonehas no basis since the SIM cardsare
absolutely new and when
the information can be obtainedfrom the cell phone
companies.
He further argued that out ofthe four laptops, one has beenout
of order, while another onewas given to Pacheco by thegovernment
being a Legislator.
Pacheco is being framed bythe CBI under an economic of-fense
merely on a statement oftwo persons apprehended in theUSA that they
were recruited bythe former Minister, he said.
Moreover, he pointed out thatif the allegations made by thetwo
persons detained in USA istrue that Pacheco had facilitatedforgery
of travel documents,then the American consulate,which had issued
the travel Visa,should be made a party to theinvestigations.
CBI opposes release ofMickkys phones, laptops
HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, SEPT 23
Exactly four years since theSouth Goa Planning and Devel-opment
Authority (SGPDA) in-vited objections for the OutlineDevelopment
Plan for Margao,the PDA has finally publishedthe ODP after
government ap-proval.
Copies of the ODP are avail-able for inspection at the officeof
the South Goa Planning andDevelopment Authority, Margaoand the
office of Senior TownPlanner, Town Planning depart-ment,
Margao.
The PDA had on September6, 2006 had invited objectionsto the
revised Development Planfor Margao. The plan was re-no-tified for
the Margao PlanningArea on August 23, 2007, invit-ing public
suggestions and ob-jections.
On September 30, 2008, thegovernment returned the planback to
the SGPDA with direc-tions to modify and alter theplan following
huge protestsfrom members of the public.
The Margao ODP had kickedup a bitter row after citizensunder the
banner of CitizensWelfare Committee and profes-sionals trongly
opposed the planon grounds that the PDA didnot comply with the
mandatoryprocedure.
SGPDA brings out
ODP HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, SEPT 23
Stakeholders attending the thirdedition of GIREM Urban
Planningand Real Estate Leadership sum-mit have underlined the
needfor a holistic approach to devel-opment without compromisingon
the quality of life and thecultural heritage of a place
orsociety.
Development need not nec-essarily mean good develop-ment. There
is also dark side ofdevelopment which has beenwitnessed in some
parts of Goatoo. With Development comechallenges in terms of
infra-structure such as traffic, newbuildings etc, asserted Prin-c
ipal Architect , V NareshNarasimhan.
While saying that there can-not be a compromise on the cul-tural
heritage and quality of lifebecause of development, Nareshsaid it
is difficult to balancethe two. This summit will go along way in
addressing the linksbetween good quality develop-ment and
infrastructure hand inhand, while preserving the cul-ture, heritage
etc.
He pointed out that there isa current shortage of 25
millionhouses to house the increasingpopulation. We are faced
withthe question of building these
houses as the government lacksthe resources on its own, hesaid,
while rooting for thePublic Private Partnershipmodel not only to
createhomes, but employment op-portunities for the new gen-eration
of youth.
He also underlined the needto build new cities are the ex-isting
cities are getting increas-i ng l y conges ted due tocontinuous
migration from therural countryside.
GIREM president, Shyam Sun-dar S Pani said that many
issuesrelating to townships, energy,water and waste managementwill
be addressed at various lev-els during the three day Lead-ership
summit.
Power the Future is thefocal theme of GIREM this year.The
three-day long event willwitness key strategists, urbanplanners,
industry experts andtop bureaucrats coverage to
brainstorm on how to deal withthe myriad issues that
confronturban planning. About 300 del-egates from across India will
beattending the summit.
Says GIREM President, ShyamSundar S Pani: With the per-centile
growth of population inrural and urban areas during thedecade
(2001-2011) estimatedat 17.9 and 31.2 per cent re-spectively, urban
India isfaced with gargantuan issues pressure on housing
andindustrial requirements; civicrequirements such as watersupply,
sewerage, drainage etc.These pressing issues need im-mediate and
long-term sustain-able solutions and all the stakeholders
understand that theycannot be discussed and dealtin solos. GIREM is
an initiativeto bring different key playerstogether in the pursuit
ofplanned and sustainable urbandevelopment.
Holistic approach todevelopment needed
Development need not necessarily meangood development. There is
also dark sideof development which has been witnessedin some parts
of Goa too. WithDevelopment come challenges in terms
ofinfrastructure such as traffic, newbuildings etc.
-- Architect, V Narasimhan
3 held guilty HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, SEPT 23
The South Goa Sessions Courton Thursday held guilty threepersons
under section 307of the IPC for attempt tomurder.
In this case, the Maina Cur-torim police had charged thetrio for
assaulting one JoaoPereira outside a bar at Mainawith iron rods and
broken bot-tles, causing grievous injuriesto him.
The prosecution examinedaround 12 witnesses in supportof its
case, informed Investigat-ing Officer, PSI Navlesh Desai.
Vishwajeet files
nominationHERALD CORRESPONDENT
VALPOI, SEPT 23
Congress candidate Vishwa-jeet Rane on Thursday filedhis
nomination papers forthe October 18 bye-electionfor Valpoi
constituency, ashundred of supporters gath-ered outside the
Mamlat-dars office Valpoi.
Rane filed his nominationpapers before Returning Of-ficer Raju
Gawas at Mamlat-dars office Valpoi at about11.30 am. The returning
of-ficer was assisted by JointMamlatdar (Sattari) TruptiRane.
Rane was accompanied byChief Minister Digambar Kamat,Congress
President Subash Shi-rodkar, Power Minister Alex Se-quiera, Pale
MLA Pratap Gawas,Valpoi Municipal Council (VMC)V i ce Cha i rper
son UmeshGulelkar, former MLA AshokParob, former ZP member
LaduHarvalkar, Dr Divya VishwajeetRane, VMC councilors and pan-chas
of various panchayats inValpoi constituency.
According to sources, Vish-wajeet Rane filed two sets
ofnomination papers.
The proposer for one set wasUmesh Gulelkar,while Sayaji
RaoDessai was the proposer for theother set.
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, SEPT 23
Whi le Opposi t ion LeaderManohar Parrikar and PanjimMLA along
with some BJP sup-ported corporators have op-posed the Corporation
of theCity of Panjim (CCP)s plans tostart pay parking at three
loca-tions in the city, it (CCP) wantsto have pay parking at
moreplaces in Panjim.
Approval for expanding payparking to other places in thecity is
on agenda of the CCPsmeeting scheduled for Friday.The Opposition
Leader had reg-istered its opposition to payparking plans of the
CCP on thegrounds that it cannot have payparking unless all the
existingparking spaces in the city areopened up.
He had alleged that manybuildings in the city haveblocked
parking spaces and CCPis solely responsible for existingparking
problem. Earlier thisweek CCP announced the intro-duction of pay
parking in thecity beginning with 18 th JuneRoad, market area and
DonaPaula jetty.
When contacted Elvis Gomes,CCP Commissioner, said he hasbrought
it to the notice of Mayor, Carolina Po about objectionsraised by
the Opposition Leaderpertaining to pay parking. Mayor
CCP plans 3 more pay parking slots
when contacted however, saidthey havent discussed the issueand
no decision has been taken.
Meanwhile, CCP has taken ac-tion against blocking of
parkingspace at Tamba House on M GRoad. Access to the parkingspace
was made difficult by un-even levelling. Parrikar hadspecifically
pointed out aboutblocking of the parking spaceat Tamba House and
alleged thatoccupancy certif icate wasgranted to the owner by
floutingrules.
Gomes said they have takenaction in this regard and theowner has
been asked to openup the parking space.
CWH inCotigaoopposed
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
CANACONA, SEPT 23
After Chorao residents threat-ened to boycott public hearingsin
view of governments plansto declare the village bird sanc-tuary as
Critical Wildlife Habitat(CWH), similar opposition is alsobrewing
in Cotigao.
The State Level Expert Com-mittee (SLEC) for Critical
Wildlifehearing is scheduled at CotigaoPanchayat office on
September30 in connection with the gov-ernment's plans to declare
Coti-gao Wildlife Sanctuary into aCWH.
Sarpanch Rajesh Gaonkar is-sued a public notice and dis-played
it at many prominentplaces asking villagers to remainpresent at
SLEC hearings withevidences in large numbers.
Gaonkar has also informedthat in the past, gram sabha
hadresolved to oppose govern-ments move to turn their villageinto a
CWH, as the governmentcontinued to sleep on rehabili-tation
measures after declara-tion of village forests as
wildlifesanctuary.
If sources are to be believed,everyone in the village is
op-posed against declaring the vil-lage wildlife sanctuary as
CWHfor fear of more stringent rulesthat could be used to harassthem
in the future.
-
GOA, FRIDAY, 24 SEPTEMBER, 2010GOA Pg 3OHERAL
DO
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, SEPT 23
Pilerne Citizens Forum on Thurs-day threatened to move theHigh
Court on the viability ofany kind of elections in the Statewhen the
Chief Election Com-missioner of India had himselfaccepted prima
facie no ECIguidelines were followed whileenrolling voter names in
theelectoral rolls in the State.
Addressing a press confer-ence, legal adviser to PCF, AdvYatish
Naik, recalled, The ChiefECI Dr S Y Quraishi during hisGoa visit
had assured PCF of aprobe through his secretaryBernard John, but it
appears theinquiry will go on and on.
Adv Naik said they were askedto call John on September 10to know
what action has beentaken into PCFs complaint onnon-compliance of
ECI guide-
lines by mamlatdars in all 11talukas of the State. However,we
called on September 13 and20 and both the times the replywas
inquiry is on, he men-tioned.
This reply is a farce, he as-serted and questioned as to
howelections could take place afteran officer of the highest
calibrelike the Chief ECI made a publicstatement before the media
stat-ing there was prima facie caseinto the submissions of PCF
be-fore him.
It may be recalled PCF hadshown Quraishi documentssough under
the Right to Infor-mation Act which brought tolight mamlatdars in
all eleventalukas of the State were notfollowing ECI guidelines
whileenrolling voter names in theelectoral rolls.
Adv Naik had many questions,
How did the ECI declare elec-tions when it was conductingan
inquiry into the electoralrolls. Will there be any conclu-sion into
this inquiry? Will elec-tion be legal and fair when thee lec tora l
ro l l s a re underscrutiny?
He said the ECI has not beenserious and now he has to tellthe
people of Goa what has beendone about the inquiry up tillnow. If
elections are heldthen it will amount to viola-tion of democracy,
he men-tioned.
On a question whether PCFwould be specifically prayingfor a stay
on the Valpoi by-pollsto be held in October beforethe court, he
answered, PCF isvery clear in this regard. Whatwe are saying is no
electionsshould be held on the basis ofrolls under scrutiny of ECI.
The
Valpoi by-poll roll too is underscrutiny of the ECI.
Adv Naik said the petition ofthe PCF was being drafted byseeking
advice from very seniorlawyers and in the next two tothree days
they would be readyto go before the court. We arecompelled to go to
the courtbecause the highest officer hasnot done anything to see
thew r o n g w a s r i g h t e d , h estated.
Some of the political punditsand analysts believe PCF has
astrong case before the court asit has all the evidence soughtunder
RTI Act that show uniformECI guidelines have not beenfollowed while
formulating elec-toral rolls.
If the court takes a seriousstand thousands of illegal
voterswill be thrown off the list, theyopined.
Election in Goa, if held, will be illegal, says PCF HERALD
REPORTERPANJIM, SEPT 23
The Corporation of the City ofPanjim (CCP) has been facingtough
time in dealing with citygarbage in the absence of itsown Solid
Waste TreatmentPlant (SWMP) and, is now likelyto be burdened with
garbagefrom Taleigao village panchayat(TVP) as well.
The TVP has demanded thatCCP to take care of its garbage(six
trucks of mix garbage perday) as compensation for usinga landfill
site that falls withinthe jurisdiction of the TVP.
We have received a proposalfrom TVP demanding that wetake care
of solid waste gener-ated in Taleigao, said a CCP of-f icer on the
condit ion ofanonymity.
Currently, the CCP does nothave facility of its own to
burryresidual waste and, will have towait until the quarry located
inLa Marvel Colony, Dona Paula ismade ready for use.
The CCP will discuss the pro-posal in its Friday meeting butits
a foregone conclusion thatCCP will not turn reject the pro-
posal.And though all this while
TVP permitted CCP to use itssite for free of cost it is nowset
to extract price with in-terest.
On hindsight, the CCP officersaid it would have been betterif
TVP were to charge CCP forusing its site.
The CCP dispose off about55-60 ton of waste every day. Ithas
composting units to treatbio degradable waste but theproblem is
two-three trucks ofnonbio-degradable waste forwhich it has been
compelled touse Taleigao site.
nThe TVP hasdemanded thatCCP to take careof its garbage
ascompensation forusing a landfillsite that fallswithin
thejurisdiction of theTVP.
Taleigao garbage now haunts CCP!
Two held for murder in Anjuna
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
CALANGUTE, SEPT 23
Anjuna Police on Thursday ar-rested two persons in connec-tion
with the murder of SampritMalwankar at Anjuna.
It may be recalled that Sam-prit (23) from Ghumal Vaddo,Anjuna,
was shot dead by an un-known person in a bar at Anjunaon Wednesday
at about 7.30pm.
Anjuna Police arrested twosuspects, Ajit Kambli and Lax-man
Salgaonkar, who have beenremanded to eight days policecustody for
further investiga-tions.
Meanwhile, Samrpits bodywas handed over to his relativesfor
final rites.
Calangute Police is investi-gating the case.
LURKING DANGER: At a time when the Directorate of Health
Services is looking at containing vector-borne diseases like
chikungunya anddengue, these discarded tyres dumped by the
roadside, close to the KTC Circle in Panjim, could be possible
breeding sites for mosquitoes.
Photo by Franky Gracias
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, SEPT23
After asking to withdraw thebunch of civil petitions, theBombay
High Court at Goa onMonday will hear the final ar-guments in the
petitions filedby Salgaocar Mining Indus-tries Pvt Ltd (SMIPL)
chal-leng ing the Goa (Tour i s tPlaces Protection and
Main-tenance) Act, 2001.
SMIPL had filed a plea in 2003seeking a declaration that theAct
is in violation of the IndianConstitution. As per the act,
thegrounded River Princess vesselbecomes a state property.
When the matter came up forhearing this morning, AdvocateMahesh
Sonak appearing on be-half of SMIPL requested theCourt to hear the
final argumentover the petition.
The court, however, ruled that
the petition would be heard onlyafter the company withdrawsall
its other civil applications.
Accordingly, the lawyer saidthat the applications were
with-drawn.
Earlier, the division benchcomprising Justice D G Karnikand
Justice F M Reis disposedoff the intervention applicationfiled by
River Princess HataoManch (RPHM), who had raisedobjection over
awarding of ten-der to SMIPL.
The Court made it clear thatthe state government is yet togive
into the terms of contractto SMIPL and hence RPHMs in-tervention
does not stand.
Last week state governmentin an oral statement to theCourt, had
said that it wouldmodify the terms and conditionsset before SMIPL
for the removalof the vessel.
Advocate General SubodhKantak had informed Court thatin the
fresh modification thestate has asked SMIPL to in-crease the bank
guarantee to10 crores instead of one-crore.SMIPL, however on
Wednesdayrefused to accept the govern-ments proposal to deposit
Rs10 crore guarantee for the RiverPrincess tender.
Goa government earlierthis month had informed theCourt that
SMIPL wi l l begiven preference to removethe stranded vessel from
theCandolim shore as it is readyto do free of cost.
Accordingly, the divisionbench had asked the govern-ment to make
sure that the ves-sel is removed before onset ofnext monsoon
beginning fromNovember 7, 2010 to May 7,2011.
Tipperstolen
in Vasco HERALD REPORTER
VASCO, SEPT 23
A t ipper, worth about Rs11.68 lakh, was stolen fromBaina-Vasco
on Wednesdaynight.
According to Vasco Police, un-known persons stole Tata
tipper(GA-06-T-1428), which wasparked near Kamat Service Sta-tion
at Baina.
According to the statementof tipper owner Ibrahim Shaikh,the
vehicle, which was barelyone-year old, was parked atBaina on
Wednesday at about11 pm. The truck was foundmissing on Thursday at
about 6am, informed police.
Vasco Police has registeredan offence against unknown per-sons
and is investigating thecase.
Incidentally, this is the secondsuch incident to have occurredin
Vasco within the last threemonths, where parked heavy ve-hicles
have been stolen by un-known people.
Earlier, a truck, which parkedat Varunapuri, Mangor Hill,Vasco,
had gone missing and itis yet to be traced.
Live wiresbroughtdown inMargao
ERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, SEPT 23
Pedestrians had a miraculousescaped on Thursday morningafter low
tension wires camedown on the pavement near theAga Khan Park.
Electricity AE, Sunil Wadekarsaid no one was injured in
theincident was immediately putoff by the department.
The incident occurred whena Coach carrying heavy luggagecame in
contact with the over-head wires, bringing down thecables and the
cable guard.
As per the report of the trafficconstable, the cables and the
guard-ing came down because the bus car-rying heavy luggage. No one
isinjured in the incident, he said,even though some said a womanwas
injured after she fell down.
One dies in mishap
HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, SEPT 23
A two-wheeler rider died in aroad accident on the Easternbypass
near Maruti Mandir onThursday noon.
Margao PI Santosh Desai saidthe deceased Franky Norohna(38) met
with a self accident andwas immediately rushed to thehospital. He
succumbed to hisinjuries at the Goa Medical Col-lege and Hospital,
Bambolim.
The police are investigating.
One held inMumbai for
theft inCalangute
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, SEPT 23
A thief who looted his colleagueof lakhs of rupees in
Calanguteand fled to Mumbai was arrestedby a vigilant traffic
constablenear Dadar railway station atMumbai, today morning.
The traffic police ShankarSalunkhe attached to Matungatraffic
police station was on dutynear Dadar (East) station whenhe saw a
crowd chasing a man.
Realising seriousness of thesituation, Salunkhe also ran
andcaught hold of the person whowas identified as SameerullaRafique
Katachi. He was takento the respective police stationwhere,
according to an officer,Katachi confessed he is involvedin a theft
case.
He disclosed to the policethat he robbed his employernamed
Satish Beg of Rs 20 lakhat Calangute and escaped.
When contacted CalangutePolice Inspector Nolasco Rapose,told
Herald, that the accused isalso wanted in three propertiesrelated
offences registeredagainst him at Calangute policestation. There
are two to threeproperty cases booked againsthim We were working
onthese cases as well, he toldHerald.
A team of Calangute police wasimmediately sent to Matunga
tobring the accused to Goa on transferwarrant. The team along with
theaccused has reportedly reached Goain the wee hours on
Thursday-Friday.
The history-sheeter, a resi-dent of Mapusa and native
ofKarnataka was earlier arrestedfor a shutter-bending case atMapusa
police station when hewas a juvenile. Katachi has beennamed as
accused in certaincases registered against him atdifferent police
stations whereashe is suspected in other of-fences.
Princess case: SMIPL has withdrawn applications, lawyer tells
High court
HSS teacherswant Part B
implementedHERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, SEPT 23
Teachers of Higher secondaryschools are agitated over
thenon-implementation of Part Bof VI Pay Commission by thestate
government in spite of re-peated promises.
HISTAG President GirishChodankar said we have beenstruggling
peacefully since 2007,every time the teachers metChief Minister, we
were onlypromised and sympathized, butnothing has come till
date.
He further said that theteachers are eagerly waitingfor the last
three years, butthe government is delayingthe matter under one
pretextor other.
Teachers of higher second-aries have been sufferers fromall
sides, he said, adding thatthe government have been quickin
implementing UGC scales tothe College teachers by goingout of way,
but is hesitating togive the higher secondary teach-ers their dues.
With the samequalification, there is vast dif-ference in the scale
of collegeand higher secondary teachers,Chodankar added.
Vowing to launch a peacefulagitation in support of their
de-mands, Chodankar said the gen-eral body meeting of HISTAGhas
been called on September26 at 10 am at Peoples highersecondary
school, Panjim to de-cide the future course of action.
He has urged HISTAG mem-bers to attend the meeting.
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
CANACONA, SEPT 23
When a youth from Canaconalanded up in Dubai in search ofa
brighter future, little did herealise that his life would beturned
upside down within daysof his arrival in the Gulf.
Jackson Coutinho (28) of Or-dhofond-Canacona reachedDubai after
a sustained hunt fora decent job and joined a cater-ing company as
a technicianwith a hope of becoming a solebread-earner to his
family.
But as the fate would have iton the third day of his
arrivalone-and-half month ago, he suf-fered from high fever and
wasadmitted in hospital.
Since then, he is lying seri-ously ill in the ICU of
Al-RashidHospital, Dubai, reportedly withmultiple organ
failure.
Back home in Ordhfond-Cana-cona, the frantic parents arehelpless
and have now relied onfervent prayers at the localchurch.
Special prayers, including awhole night retreat, was
recentlyconducted in Bhatpal Church,with the priest leading the
faith-
ful in fervent prayers to God tocure Jackson from his
seriousailment.
According to a report pub-lished in Gulfnews quoting DrRaess
Ahmad, head of ICU atRashid Hospital, Coutinho hashis liver,
kidneys and lungs se-verely damaged.
He was operated on Mondayfor internal bleeding in his ab-domen
and doctors found hispancreas also infected.
However, what surprised hisfamily back home and people,who now
help him in Dubai, in-cluding one of his cousins andDubai Church
authorities, is thathe was hale and healthy whenhe left from Goa
via Mumbai.
The only incident was that ofan upset stomach when he alongwith
his friends ate out in Mum-bai, before being admitted to
Dubai hospital in a serious con-dition.
His well-wishers in the Gulfreportedly on advice of the doc-tors
at Al Rashid Hospital areplanning to shift him to HindujasHospital
in Mumbai, providedhis condition improves.
Hopes are high, as he hasbeen reportedly responding tomedicines
in recent days.
But the major hitch is financialresources in footing of
heftybills of Al-Rashid Hospital,Dubai, increasing on daily
basis,the travelling expenses of shift-ing him on a stretcher and
ac-companying medics and thesubsequent cost of admission,treatment
in Hindujas Hospital.
Sources informed that he hasno one in his family or his
well-wishers in Dubai who are finan-cially capable of footing
the
huge expenses needed to savehis life.
Some organizations and in-dividuals have now made wide-spread
appeals on the internetand local media for donation tothe
cause.
St Marys Goan (ex-Sodality)Community, a church body inDubai, is
taking the initiative toassist Jackson and has appealedto donate
for generating nec-essary funds.
Persons to be contacted forcontributions include Navita
Bar-retto (00971-50-8559562) andMaria Fernandes
(00971-50-4577209).
The Gulf News report hasalso appealed for funds ask-ing those
wanting to reachout can write to [email protected].
Besides, individuals too whovisit Jackson on his hospital
bedhave sent e-mails to their con-tacts for prayers and
financialhelp.
One Praveen Viegas writes:Please act immediately if youare
willing, as funds are requiredfor the flight arrangement. Youcan
also contact Fr Frank, FrMichael in St Marys Church,Dubai.
Goan youth struggling for life in Dubai, wants financial
help
nThe major hitch is financial resources infooting of hefty bills
of Al-Rashid Hospital,Dubai, increasing on daily basis,
thetravelling expenses of shifting him on astretcher and
accompanying medics andthe subsequent cost of admission,treatment
in Hindujas Hospital.
-
GOAOHerALd
O
Pg4short tAkEs
GOA, FridAy, 24 SePTember, 2010
==
Restricted water supplyPANJIM (HND): Due to failure of raw water
pump at Podocem
Water Treatment Plant, there will be restricted water supplyto
entire Bardez and Bicholim Taluka on September 24.
Public is requested to bear the inconvenience caused.
Lions Week inaugurated
PANJIM (HND): Lions Club of Ponda inaugurated the LionsWeek at
the hands of Zone Chairperson Sagar Sakordekar, atAntruz
Shigmotsava Hall, Ponda.
A large gathering of lions, teachers and students from vari-ous
schools of Ponda were present on the occasion.
The week full of Ponda taluka level competitions, com-menced
with the Mehendi competition, for students of Std VI-IIth to Std
Xth. 53 students participated in the contest.President of Lions
Club of Ponda Sagar Panvelkar presentedthe analysis and announced
the results of the Mehendi com-petition.
Bashira Sheikh of Dada Vaidya High School-Ponda won thefirst
prize, Santoshi Naik of Wagle High School-Mangeshibagged the second
prize and the third prize was awarded toRaksha Naik of Swami
Vivekanand High School-Borim. Conso-lation prizes were awarded to
Reema Ramrai of PragatiVidyalay, Borim and Pooja Chari of
Government High School,Juna Bazar. Participation certificates were
given to all partici-pants.
In his speech, Sagar lauded the participants for their effortsin
creating the intricate designs and congratulated the win-ners. He
highlighted the various projects taken up by LionsClubs at national
as well as international level.
Lions Week co-ordinator Valaulikar presented a report onthe
various events that will be held during the Lions Week. DrShaila
Valaulikar coordinated the event.
11-day Ganesh immersedVALPOI (HC): The 11-day Ganesh idol of
Sarvajanik Ganesh
Utsav Mandal Valpoi was immersed on Tuesday evening.Devotees
were seen dancing to the beats of music arranged
by the Utsav mandal amid fireworks throughout the
proces-sion.
The procession, which began in the evening, proceeded toValpoi
market from Hanuman Temple, Valpoi and the idol wasimmersed at
Massorde River.
The Sarvajanik Ganesh Utsav Mandal Valpoi organised vari-ous
competitions for the school children. Besides, cultural pro-gramme
and religious programmes like Bhajan, Arti and Kirtanwere organized
on all the days.
Valpoi Police Training School (PTS) and Valpoi Police im-mersed
its nine days Ganesh idols on Sunday.
BoI holds Foundation Day
Sr Sybil felicitates meritorious SSC student from Nerul in the
pres-ence of Anthony Pereira. Photo by Thomas Fernandes
CALANGUTE (HC): The 105th Foundation Day of Bank ofIndia (BoI)
was celebrated by BoI Nerul Branch with a felicita-tion programme
of SSC students, who excelled at the lastBoard examinations.
Interactive programme for the villagers and esteemed cus-tomers
of the Bank was also organized on the occasion.
The three students of the local school in Nerul, SheralDMello,
Reema R Kumar and Nikhil R Shirodkar were felici-tated by Sr Sybil
of Our Lady of Remedies High School, Nerul,in the presence of Nerul
Branch senior Branch Manager An-thony Pereira among others.
The bank had extended invitation to the senior
citizens,pensioners, self-help group members, teachers, customers
ofthe bank, headmistress of Our Lady of Remedies School, Nerul,and
students of Nerul for the Foundation Day celebration.
Earlier, welcoming the gathering, Anthony Pereira and Man-ager
Deposits M Albuquerque explained various deposit andloan schemes
available for the general public.
Loan sanction letters were also distributed to the customersof
the Bank. M Albuquerque later proposed the vote of thanks.
Hindi fortnight observed
Magazine Mandovi Pushpa released during the Hindi
fortnightprogramme.
PANJIM (HND): Income Tax Department observed the Hindifortnight
programme recently with an aim to promote andspread the use of
official language Hindi and to create envi-ronment for the use of
Hindi in day to day official working.
The concluding function was organized in the Aayakar Bha-van,
Panjim. Chief Commissioner of Income Tax Pankaj Guptapresided over
the function.
During this fortnight, various competitions like essay writ-ing,
translation, memory, quiz, and Hindi singing were organ-ised. On
this occasion, three prizes for each competition weredistributed
and also two consolation prizes were awarded.
In accordance with Hindi training scheme, the exams of Pra-bodh,
Pravin, and Pragya were conducted and prizes for firstthree ranks
were distributed. The office of the Chief Commis-sioner of Income
Tax, Panjim won the shield which was keptfor inter-office
competition. On this occasion, MandoviPushpa the fifth edition of
the department magazine was pub-lished at the hands of chief
Commissioner of Income Tax PankajGupta.
uPCoMING EVENts
Friday BalcaoPANJIM (HND): Friday Balcao, the fortnightly
discussion
event, will be held on September 24 at the Goa Desc
ResourceCentre No 11, Liberty Apartments, Feira Alta, Mapusa and
willfocus on the need for a people powered movement to
tackleclimate change.
Drawing contest at MiramarPANJIM (HND): Disha Charitable Trust,
School and Vo-
cational Centre for mentally challenged children will or-ganise
its 10th all Goa drawing and paintingcompetition on September 25 at
the Club Tennis deGasper Dias Hall, Miramar. Around 400 mentally
chal-lenged children from all such schools in Goa will be
par-ticipating. Minister of Social Welfare Sudin Dhavlikarwill be
the chief guest.
Poetry book releasePANJIM (HND): Renowned Konkani poet and
journalist San-
jiv Verenkar's English poetry anthology 'Village Evening'
trans-lated by late Prakash Thali will be released on September
25at Goa Chamber and Commerce and Industry's hall, near AzaadMaidan
at 4.30 pm.
The book will be released at the hands of Padmashree DrMaria
Aurora Couto. The event is organised jointly by InstituteMenezes
Braganza and Shri Nagesh Mahalaxmi Prasadik NatyaSamaj,
Bandodem-Ponda,
Chairman of Goa Public Service Commission Prakash Desaiwill
preside and curator of Central Library Carlos Fernandeswill be the
guest of honour. Noted translator Dr Kiran Bud-kule will review the
book. The book is published by Delhi-based B R Publishing
Corporation. Sanjiv Verenkar's selectedpoems from his Konkani
poetry books are included in thiscollection.
Harvest dance at NacionalPANJIM (HND): Clube Nacional, Panjim
will hold its tradi-
tional Harvest Dance a dine and dance, featuring Goas top-most
band Cascades on September 25 in the clube premisesfrom 8 pm
onwards.
Members and their guests are requested to register theirnames in
the clube office latest by 11 am on September 24.For further
details, contact Clube Nacional on 2225316.
Workshop for womenPANJIM (HND): Konkani Bhasha Mandal and
Bardez
Konkani Kendra in association with DMs College of Arts,Science,
Commerce and Management will organise a work-shop on the topic Self
defense for women: need and ap-proach on September 25 in DMs
conference hall, from 3pm to 5.30 pm.
Papers will be presented by Anita Haladi, Anvesha Singbaland
Valerie Britto. There will be demonstration on
self-defensetechniques.
Felicitation of personalitiesCALANGUTE (HC): The Goa Cultural
and Social Centre in
collaboration with Little Flower of Jesus High School,Calangute,
will honour two Goan personalities, who ex-celled in different
fields, on Eminent Goans Day, Septem-ber 25.
Tomazinho Cardozo, former speaker and a Tiatrist, and DrSusana
de Souza, Director of Sports and Youth Affairs, will befelicitated
by Minister for Tourism Nilkanth Halarnkar at LittleFlower of Jesus
High School, Calangute, on Saturday at 10.30am.
Calangute MLA Agnelo Fernandes and Health Officer of Pri-mary
Health Centre, Candolim, Dr Sachin Govenkar will alsobe present on
the occasion. Besides, Goas top ranking stu-dents will also be
felicitated on the occasion.
Blood donation campPANJIM (HND): A blood donation camp will be
held on Sep-
tember 25 at VP Uccasaim-Paliem-Punola panchayat hall andwill be
organised by United Cultural Association, Palem-Ucca-saim from 9.30
am to 12.30 pm.
Interested donors contact Baban on 9923536598 or Kar-ishma
Madgaonkar on 9764744436.
ECG workshop PANJIM (HND): Vrundavan Hospital and Research
Centre in
association with IMA-Goa, Bardez branch and Indian Red
CrossSociety, will organise a one-day workshop on
Electrocardiog-raphy (ECG) for family physicians on September 26,
from 9 amto 5 pm.
This workshop addresses the needs of doctors and alliedhealth
professionals who encounter ECG monitoring, whilstrecognizing the
often chronic nature of these diseases, bybuilding knowledge of
path physiology, assessment, examina-tion, treatment and care.
The workshop will be conducted at Vrundavan Hospitalpremises
under the guidance of Dr Digambar Naik, Dr Viraniand Dr Madhusudhan
Asawa. The training will be imparted byDr Digambar Naik, Dr
Madhusudhan Asawa, Dr Naren Sharmaand Cheryle Menezes.
Physicians are advised to register in advance as there willbe a
limited intake. Kindly contact the reception at 0832-2250022/33 or
9225989272.
Legal literacy campPANJIM (HND): The Legal Aid Society of V M
Salgaocar
College of Law, Miramar will organise a legal literacy campon
September 26 at Madkaim Panchayat Hall, Madkaim,Ponda, at 4 pm. The
Ponda Taluka Legal Services Committeewill also open a legal aid
clinic in Madkaim Panchayat, Mad-kaim on the same date, time and
place, with a view tospread consciousness about the legal rights
and duties ofthe citizens.
Advocate G V Khandeparkar will speak on Domestic Vio-lence Act,
advocate Anupama Shirodkar will speak on benefitsand entitlement of
free legal aid service.
Gandhi Jayanti celebrationsPANJIM (HND): Gandhi Jayanti will be
celebrated in the State
on October 2. The main function will be held at GandhiChowk, Old
Goa.
Chief Minister Digambar Kamat will be the chief guest, for-mer
transport minister Pandurang Madkaikar, North Goa MPShripad Naik
and other dignitaries will pay floral tributes tomemory of Mahatma
Gandhi on the occasion.
Later, the chief minister will address the gathering and
willalso felicitate Premanand Naik and Aruna Afonso for their
serv-ice to the society.
A Sarva Dharma Prarthana will be held and Choir group ofKala
Academy will recite Bhajans on the occasion.
Later, Chief Minister and other dignitaries will pay tributesto
the memory of former Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shashtrion his
Birth Anniversary Day.
wEAthEr rEPortMax Temp: 32.00C Min Temp: 24.00C
Humidity: 89%
Rainfall past 24 hrs: nil
Seasonal Total: 3273.5 mm
Forecast: Occasional spells of rain or thundershowers would
occur.
PowEr shutdowNSEPTEMBER 24
OLD GOA: From 9 am to 2 pm. Areas affected are St Pedro
area,Ramnath Saw Mill, Sheikh Hassan Quarry, Tamba Quarry and
sur-rounding areas of Old Goa.
SEPTEMBER 25CORLIM: From 9 am to 2 pm. Areas affected are PDA
colony,
Mollar, Dhulapi of Corlim village. SEPTEMBER 26
OLD GOA: From 9 am to 2 pm. Areas affected are Navelkar Es-tate,
Navelkar Hill City of Old Goa village.
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
MERCES, SEPT 23
North Goa flying squad in-charge and deputy collector(district
recovery officer) Fran-cisco X L Ferrao informed thatthe powers of
the flying squadsare not enough to bring theculprits to book and
felt morepowers should be given for ef-fective functioning of
thesquads.
Ferrao was speaking to re-porters in Merces, where an il-legal
land filling activity wasbrought to his notice.
The squads should havepowers to attach the vehiclesand also
arrest the offendersand the judiciary should nothave powers to
question theauthority of the squad in-charge, he informed andadded
that it should be some-thing on the lines of powersempowered in
cases of illegalsand extraction.
Admitting that currently theflying squad is under-staffed,Ferrao
informed that he has al-
ready urged the government tosanction him more staff so thatthe
North Goa flying squadcould function smoothly.
However, he commendedthe current staff, who despitebeing
overburdened are doinga tremendous job in helpingthe public when
illegal hill cut-ting and illegal land filling ac-tivities are
taking place.
When questioned whetherpolitical interference is ham-pering in
discharging his du-ties, Ferrao said till date he isfunctioning
independently andthere is no interference what-soever from the
politicians.
When asked to comment onthe statements of the NGOswho have
criticised him for notacting on their complaints, Fer-rao said it
could have beendone in a burst of frustration.
He also informed that some-times they are so overbur-dened with
work that theycant immediately attend to thecomplaints and this
probablymakes the NGOs believe that
they are being ignored.Even if the flying squad
does not makes its presencefelt immediately on receipt
ofcomplaint, it is duty bound tovisit the site within 24 hours,he
clarified further and addedthat a mere phone call isenough for the
squad to takeaction against the offenders.
Speaking on the functioningof the flying squad, Ferrao saidthat
after halting the work ofillegal land filling or illegal
hillcutting, a directive is issued tothe TCP Town Planner and
theSDM to pursue further courseof action.
He then informed that theTCP officials then visit the siteand if
they find any violation ofrules, they issue an order di-recting the
police to file an FIRagainst the offenders.
The Tiswadi Town Plannerhas thus far issued several or-ders to
file FIR, he divulged andadded that such action shouldbe
forthcoming from Town Plan-ners of other talukas as well.
Need more power to functioneffectively: flying squad chief
Curchorem, Cacora locals form panel to contest polls
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
CURCHOREM, SEPT 23
A group of citizens from Cur-chorem and Cacora haveformed an
association, Cur-chorem Cacoda Nagar VikasSamiti, to contest the
forth-coming municipal election.
A special meeting was re-cently convened here under
thechairmanship of formerQuepem block development of-ficer Anant C
Kamat, who wasunanimously elected chairmanof the Samiti.
The main aim in setting upthe Samiti is to give corruptionfree,
transparent-peoplefriendly and responsible munic-ipal
administration to the citi-zens of CCMC.
Out of the 12 wards, theSamiti has presently decided tocontest
six wards, dependingupon the response from the cit-izens and the
names of the can-didates will be announced atappropriate time,
stated Kamatin the press note.
HERALD NEWS DESK
PANJIM, SEPT 23
The 2010 Vincent Xavier Vero-diano Award has been con-ferred
jointly on social workerMangala Wagle and environ-mentalist Clinton
Vaz.
A resident of Palolem, Waglefound her humanism challengedat the
fish market in Panjim dur-ing the daily confrontation be-tween
angry fisherwomen andthe street children who stolefish from them to
survive.Rather than remaining a specta-tor to the harrowing scene,
shevowed to come to the aid of thechildren. She envisioned a
set-ting where the street childrennot only would have a home
butalso an opportunity to becomeeducated and gain social
accept-ance. Her resolve resulted in thefounding of Hamara School
in1990.
Presently, Hamara School ed-ucates almost 100 street kids,
most of whom are children ofconstruction workers or frompoor
families where the young-sters have been forced towork. Hamara
School's objec-tive is deeply rooted in the pre-cept: "Every child
has a right tochildhood and every person aright to dream." The
schoolalso strives to initiate and im-plement social change by
en-couraging genuinerelationships to develop be-tween the
privileged and theunderprivileged.
Clinton Vaz is a self em-ployed environmental consult-ant based
in Benaulim. Afterleaving his job as a mechanicalengineer in 2004,
he pursuedhis interest in the environmentand has been actively
workingwith wildlife and environmen-tal protection. He began by
as-sisting Swedish students withan awareness campaign as wellas the
formation of the Be-
naulim Environment Trust in1999. Subsequently, he hasworked on
various issues suchas river pollution, hospitalwaste, and
environmental edu-cation.
Vaz has traveled extensivelyto speak on environmental is-sues,
including in Delhi, Swe-den, Switzerland, Portugal andNepal. After
a three year proj-ect with the Corporation of theCity of Panjim,
Vaz is currentlypromoting environmentalawareness via interactive
pre-sentations in Goan villages. Anecotourism booklet for touristis
another of his ongoing en-deavors.
Instituted in 1989 by DomMartin, the objective of theVincent
Xavier VerodianoAward is to promote the wellbeing of mankind
through indi-vidual advancement in the fieldof art, music,
literature, sci-ence, medicine or humanities.
Verodiano Award for Mangala Wagle, Clinton Vaz
Club Mahindra donates
street lights HERALD NEWS DESK
PANJIM, SEPT 23
Club Mahindra Varca Beach Re-sort, Varca donated 10 solarstreet
lights to Varca village aspart of its corporate social
re-sponsibility under the Esopsinitiative.
PWD Minster Churchill Ale-mao inaugurated the solarstreet
lights. Parish Priest ofVarca Church Fr Luis Coutinhoblessed the
solar light in thepresence of the VarcaSarpanch Vincentina
Fernan-des, panch members, resi-dents, executives and staff ofClub
Mahindra.
Alemao congratulated andthanked the team of ClubMahindra for
taking the initia-tives for such a noble cause.
Earlier, Senior HR Managerof Club Mahindra Varca BeachPatsy
Gomindes welcomed theguests and highlighted variousinitiatives of
Club Mahindra.
Moira panel demands
demolition of house near
sluice gateHERALD CORRESPONDENT
PORVORIM, SEPT 23
The Katrachem Khazan Associa-tion of Moira has demanded
thedemolition of a house at Katra-chem Khazan near their
sluicegate, claiming that the structureobstructed the sluice
gate.
In a complaint to the Attor-ney of Communidade of Ucas-saim, the
Association statedthat farmers/tenants had aroom for the fishermen
at thesluice gate to fish.
The sluice gate is being auc-tioned annually. One person
hasconstructed a house by the sideof the sluice gate making it
dif-ficult for the auctionee/fisher-men to cast their nets,
statedthe complaint.
The illegal house is situatedon the bandara of Khazan Riverand
it comes under the jurisdic-tion of Communidade of Ucca-saim. This
house has beenrented out and the occupanthas kept big hound dog
tothreaten the farmers/tenantsand fisherman. In view of
this,illegal house may be demol-ished, states the complaint.
The farmers/tenants/mem-bers of Katrachem Khazan As-sociation
had sent a letter withthe signatures of farmers/ten-ants to the
Collector North Goa.
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
PORVORIM, SEPT 23
Former MP Adv Amrut Kansarsaid every citizen of India hasa right
to profess, practice andpropagate his religion peace-fully.
He was speaking after re-leasing the Marathi bookDharmantar Te
Rashtrantar,written by Arjun Jairam Parab,at the function organised
byGomantak Maratha Academy inassociation with PurogamyVicharmanch
at Porvorim.
There is no restriction onthe propagation of religion sofar, as
it does not affect thepublic order and public health.Constitution
of India allows In-dian citizen to choose any reli-gion he or she
wants tochoose, said Adv Kansar.
Adv Kansar further said rightto religion, faith and worshipare
fundamental rights givenby Constitution of India toevery
citizen.
Fundamental Rights arehuman rights and everybody isentitled to
enjoy them. Funda-mental Rights were included inthe Constitution
because theywere considered essential forthe development of the
per-sonality and to preservehuman dignity, he said.
Adv Kansar complimented
book writer Parab for writingthe book Dharmantar Te Rash-trantar
and highlightingtherein bolding factors whichled to conversion of
Hindus inancient times.
This book needs to be trans-lated in Hindi and English
lan-guages also so that people fromall communities and religioncan
read this book. There is aneed to abolish caste system tobring
equality among humanbeings, said Adv Kansar.
Adv Pandurang Nagvekarsaid Brahmins were creed andnot caste. The
human beingswere divided in four classes,Brahmins, Kshastriya,
Vaisha
Every citizen has right to profess, practice, propagate
religion: ex-MP
Former MP Adv Amrut Kansar releases the book Dharmantar Te
Rash-trantar at Porvorim. Photo by Anil Shankhwalker
and Shudra.Gradually with the passage
of time, the selfish people fortheir individual gains devel-oped
the caste system due towhich inequality among thepeople was
created, saidNagvekar.
Knowledge cannot begained by praying to God, itcan be acquired
by sheer hardwork. The nation can progressif all the citizens
become liter-ate, said Nagvekar.
Senior journalist PrabhakarDhage and Gomantak MarathaAcademy
President NarendraAzgaonkar also spoke. Earlier,book writer Arjun
Parab wel-comed the gathering, AdvKansar released the book.
Yan-neshwar Nigale compered.
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, SEPT 23
The Goa Shack Owners WelfareSociety (GSOWS) has de-manded that
shacks shouldalso be reflected in CoastalZone Regulation (CRZ)
notifica-tion 2010 and decided to makerepresentation to Union
Minis-ter for Environment and Forest(MoEF) Jairam Ramesh.
The GSOWS had an emer-gency meeting in the city todayto decide
the course of action.
Speaking to Herald, CruzCardozo, President of GSOWS,said shacks
are into operationeven prior to CRZ notificationof 1991 came into
effect.
Though shacks are erectedfor a temporary period -- shackbusiness
is not temporary itis permanent business withtemporary shacks, he
added.
Cardozo claimed touristsvisit beaches because of theshacks and
tourism will be af-fected if there are no beaches.Hence, it is
important thatshacks are notified in the draftCRZ notification 2010
as partof the beach area.
About 304 shack owners aremembers of GSOWS. Theyhave also
decided today to alsomake a representation to theState Minister for
Science andTechnology.
Appeal against sub-letting ofshacks -- The GSOWS has askedits
members not to sub-letshacks and has warned that itwill take action
against mem-bers engaging in such illegali-ties. We will report to
theTourism Department if anyoneis found sub-letting his/hershack,
told Cardozo.
Shacks should be included in CRZ notification
-
GOAOHerALd
O
Pg5==
GOA, fridAy, 24 sePtember, 2010
Sri Sri Ravi Shankar: A multifaceted personality
HERALD NEWS DESK
PANJIM, SEPT 23
His Holiness Sri Sri RaviShankar is a universally
reveredspiritual and humanitarianleader. His vision of a
violence-free, stress-free societythrough the reawakening ofhuman
values has inspired mil-lions to broaden their spheresof
responsibility and work to-wards the betterment of theworld.
Sri Sri is a multi-faceted so-cial activist whose
initiativesinclude conflict resolution, dis-aster and trauma
relief, povertyalleviation, empowerment ofwomen, prisoner
rehabilita-tion, education for all and cam-paigns against female
foeticideand child labour. He is engagedin peace negotiations
andcounselling in conflict zonesaround the world. His expert-ise in
bringing opposing par-ties to the negotiating table inareas such as
Sri Lanka, Iraq,Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Kash-mir and Bihar is widely
ac-knowledged.
In 1981, Sri Sri establishedthe Art of Living, an educa-tional
and humanitarian non-governmental organisationthat works in special
consulta-tive status with the Economicand Social Council (ECOSOC)
ofThe United Nations. Present inover 140 countries, it formu-lates
and implements lastingsolutions to conflicts and is-sues faced by
individuals, com-
munities and nations. In 1997,Sri Sri founded the Interna-tional
Association for HumanValues (IAHV) to foster humanvalues and lead
sustainable de-velopment projects.
Sri Sri has reached out to anestimated 300 million
peopleworldwide through personalinteractions, public
events,teachings, Art of Living work-shops and humanitarian
initia-tives. Not since MahatmaGandhi has one person unitedpeople
of different traditionsand faiths into a spiritual com-munion
across the length andbreadth of India.
He has brought to themasses ancient practices whichwere
traditionally kept exclu-sive, and has designed
manyself-development techniqueswhich can easily be integratedinto
daily life to calm the mindand instil confidence and en-thusiasm.
These techniqueshave helped thousands over-come depression and
violentand suicidal tendencies. One ofSri Sri is most unique
offeringsto the world is the SudarshanKriya, a powerful
breathingtechnique that facilitates phys-
ical, mental, emotional and so-cial well-being.
Numerous honours havebeen bestowed upon Sri Sri, in-cluding the
Order of the PoleStar (the highest state honourin Mongolia), the
Peter theGreat Award (Russian Federa-tion), the Sant Shri
Dnyanesh-wara World Peace Prize (India)and the Global
HumanitarianAward (USA). Sri Sri has ad-dressed several
internationalforums, including the UnitedNations Millennium
WorldPeace Summit (2000), theWorld Economic Forum (2001,2003) and
several parliamentsacross the globe.
Sri Sri is engaged in bridgingreligious, social, ideologicaland
economic divides in soci-ety by enlivening the ancientIndian ideal
of Vasudhaiva Ku-tumbakam (One World Family).He reminds us chat
diverse tra-ditions and cultures have theirroots in the same basic
humanvalues of peace, compassion,truth, belongingness and
non-violence. The Art of Livingserves society with a
non-de-nominational, secular and ho-listic approach.
AwArdS And HonourSn Born in I956 in southern lndia.n Often found
deep in meditation as a child. At the age of
four, astonishes his teachers by reciting the Bhagavad (lira,an
ancient Sanskrit scripture.
n Starts lessons with his first teacher, Pandit
SudhakarChaturvedi, a close associate of Mahatma Gandhi.
n Becomes a scholar in Vedic literature and obtains an ad-vanced
degree in modern science by the age of 17.
CONfERRED WiTH:
n Doctor of Letters Honoris Causa, Bangalore University,
India,2009
n Doctor of Letters Honoris Causa, Nagarjuna University,India,
2008
n Doctor of Letters Honoris Causa, Maharaja Sayajirao
Univer-sity, India, 2007
n Doctor of Science Honoris Causa, Rajiv Gandhi
Universityof'Hcalth Sciences, India, 2007
n Doctor of Philosophy (Holistic Medicine) Honoris Causa,Open
International University for Complementary Medicine,Sri Lanka,
2006
n Doctor of Literature Honoris Causa, Kuvempn University,India,
2004
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, SEPT 23
Rajesh Desai, accused in the in-famous Sameer Mapari casehas
been acquitted by thePonda Court by upholding hiscontention that he
did not at-tempt suicide but instead aDySP allegedly mercilessly
as-saulted him with a wire ropeand rubber belt.
The 30-year-old accused hadcontended that DySP MohanNaik and
other police officershammered him at Ponda out-post at Farmagudi on
August20, 2007.
Judicial Magistrate FirstClass was hearing the case filedby
police against Rajesh for at-tempt to murder after he was
arrested in the Sameer murdercase.
The Court acquitted Rajeshand the charges of trying toend his
life after it was con-vinced that injuries on his wristwere
allegedly due to beatingby senior police officer.
The police had held thatDesai rubbed his left hand tothe torn
pointed iron net fas-tened to the lock-up windowof the police
lock-up.
The defense argued that thefacts were twisted and fabri-cated to
produce a manipu-lated case against Desai.
When the accused tried toprevent the assault with hishands it
brushed against hisleft wrist due to which he sus-
tained injury, the counsel ar-gued.
The prosecution examinednine witnesses including a doc-tor who
echoed that the ac-cused grazed his hand againstthe window of the
police lockup and began bleeding.
The Ponda police thoughfailed to furnish recording ofthe CCTV
footage, which wasfixed in the police lock-up.
Magistrate Sayonara TellesLaad lamented that the footagecould
have a vital piece of in-formation to prove the fact theaccused
attempted suicide.
The accused was repre-sented by Advocates DamodarDhond, S Samat
and ShashantNaik.
HERALD NEWS DESK
PANJIM, SEPT 23
Secretary for Science, Technol-ogy and Environment, V K Jhahas
asked eco teachers to iden-tify and encourage students oftheir
respective schools whoare willing to take part in envi-ronmental
activity. This is nec-essary not only to develop lovefor
environment among stu-dent community but also toconserve
environment andprotect the Earth, he said.
Jha was addressing the ecoteachers from South Goa whohave
participated in the StateLevel NGC Teachers TrainingWorkshop and
the Energy andEnvironment Awards ceremonyorganised by National
GreenCorps, Goa NGC at Fr AgnelAshram, Verna.
Speaking further, Jha saidthat a good worker can be de-veloped
into a good leader
provided he or she gets properencouragement and training.In this
context, teachers canplay a decisive role to mouldthe students and
also for theirall-round growth and develop-ment, he added.
Jha also complimented theorganisers of the workshopand winners
of energy and en-vironment awards 2010. Hetold the participants of
theworkshop to derive maximumbenefit of environment
relatedprogrammes organised by thegovernment to upgrade
theirknowledge.
Jose Manuel Noronha, Chair-man Goa State EnvironmentImpact
Assessment Authorityand General Manager, AgnelAshram and Dr M
Sudhakar,senior scientist Ministry ofEarth Sciences, New-Delhi
alsospoke.
Later, Jha and other digni-
taries released a climatechange CD, climate changebrochure and
climate changeresource material. Prizes tobest eco clubs in Goa at
thehigh school, higher secondaryand college level were also
dis-tributed. The State level En-ergy and Environment Awardwas
bagged by ShardaVidyalaya, Cumbarjua.
Dr Baban Ingole, senior sci-entist from National Instituteof
Oceanography, Dona Paulaand Dr Rainer Lehmann, Pro-fessor Rodhe
Island-USAguided the participants on bio-diversity, global warming
andcarbon emissions and other is-sues concerning environment.
Dr Joseph Rato de Souza,Chief Scientist and State NGCNodal
officer welcomed.Deepak Parab, Technical Assis-tant and NGC
co-ordinator pro-posed vote of thanks.
Eco teachers urged to encourage students in environmental
activity
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
OLD GOA, SEPT 23
Corlim Deputy SarpanchFedelis Pereira resigned fromher post on
Wednesday.
Pereira submitted her resig-nation letter to the TiswadiBDO,
Panjim, for further proce-dure.
It is learnt that Pereira re-signed from the post of
deputysarpanch to make way for an-other panch member from theruling
group.
Pereira, after serving as thedeputy sarpanch for three andhalf
years, has now thought ofcontesting the elections for thepost of
sarpanch, which is be-lieved to be vacant in the nextfew days, as
Sarpanch SistoFernandes is learnt to be re-signing from his post as
per themutual understanding within
the ruling group after comple-tion of his term.
Other panch members of theruling group include formersarpanch
Joao B Lobo, whilethe opposition group consistsof Naresh Naik, Onu
Dhulapkarand Vinayak Naik.
Speaking to Herald, DeputySarpanch Pereira said he re-signed
from the post of deputysarpanch so he could pave wayfor ruling
group Panch UshaKuttikar to be the deputysarpanch.
We had a mutual under-standing of sharing two andhalf years each
for the post ofdeputy sarpanch. Now, as Ihave learnt that Sarpanch
SistoFernandes is about to resignfrom his post, I would like
tocontest the elections for thesarpanchs post, said Pereira.
Corlim VP deputy resigns
HERALD NEWS DESK
PANJIM, SEPT 23
Executive Editor of GomantakSuresh Naik called upon par-ents to
be vigilant over the wayand type of education theirwards are
receiving.
Suresh was speaking as chiefguest at a function organisedby
Samraat Club-Chodan to fe-licitate six teachers of the vil-lage and
surrounding areas ata function organised at villagepanchayat hall,
recently.
The teachers honoured for
their selfless and valuable con-tribution to build up
futuregeneration included MukundKhandeparkar of DayanandHigh
School-Chodan, TukaramKholkar of St Bartholomew'sHigh
School-Chodan, Shrikr-ishna Tanksale of VijayanandHigh
School-Mayem, SureshGaonkar of Shri MahamayaHigh School-Mayem,
MinaxiParab of GPS-Mayem andVishya Chari of GPS,
Pan-davwada-Chodan.
They were presented with
shawls and mementos at thehands of the chief guest. Stu-dents
who had excelled in SSCand HSS examinations werealso felicitated in
the function.
Speaking further, Suresh saidthat modern and electronicgadgets
are utilized for impart-ing knowledge to the studentsin western
countries, however,this type of education lackssensitive, mutual
understand-ing and social bonding of theGuru-Shishya traditions,
whichare essential for the proper de-velopment of the students.
Former MLA and the Presi-dent of Samraat-Club ChodanDharma
Chodankar said thatteachers role should not belimited to the text
book andthe classroom education, butshould strive to mould
thecharacters of the students insuch a way that they would notturn
to vices and wrong deeds.
The function started withgarlanding portrait of greatthinker and
former presidentof India Dr Sarvapalli Radhakr-ishnan in whose
remembranceteachers day is being cele-brated.
Earlier Mr. Kishor Govekar,treasurer of Samraat ClubChodan
welcomed the guestsand the audience and Mr.Suresh Chodankar the
Secre-tary of the Club -proposed thevote of thanks.
Parents urged to be vigilant on education pursued by wards
One of the teachers felicitated at the hands of Executive
Director ofGomantak Suresh Naik. Also present are Prasad Chodankar,
SureshChodankar, Srikrishna Tanksali, Dharma Chodankar,,
MaheshAmonkar and Kishor Govekar.
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
MARCEL, SEPT 23
Even though a series ofdwelling units were con-structed in close
proximity tohigh tension electrical wires atCurti in
Curti-Khandepar Pan-chayat jurisdiction, the builderhas managed to
obtain electri-cal connection to one of thebungalows.
Incidentally, one of the bun-galows is so close to the 33
KVelectricity pole, that the stay
wire passes through the bal-cony, indicating that thebuilder had
violated laws whileconstructing nine bungalowsin close proximity to
33 KVhigh tension line.
Incidentally, the Curti-Khan-depar Panchayat gave permis-sion to
construct ninebungalows, despite the pres-ence of high tension line
pass-ing through the plot.
When Herald highlighted theissue, the electricity depart-
ment (Div 3) at Curti-Ponda di-rected the panchayat not toissue
occupancy certificate untiland unless the line is shifted,which the
builder had applied.
However to the surprise ofthe villagers, one bungalowwas given
electrical connectionby the same Div 10 of the elec-tricity
department at Curti-Ponda.
When contacted, officials atthe department refused tocome on
record, claiming thatthe authority rests with thechief
engineer.
However, they explainedthat one of the bungalows is ata specific
distance as per rules,due to which permission wasgranted for the
electrical con-nection to the bungalow.
However, they claimed thatother eight bungalows do nothave the
needed clearance asthey are in close proximity tothe line. Hence,
electrical con-nection would not be releasedto these structures
until theline is shifted. According tosources, the file pertaining
toshifting of 33 KV line is yet toby cleared by the electricity
de-partment at Panjim.
Despite violations, builder getspower connection to bungalow
The bungalow (first) to which the electrical connection was
releasedat Curti-Khandepar, Ponda. Photo by Amresh Parab
UCAN NEWS
PILAR, SEPT 23
Physicist and Pilar Father AllanTavares, an acoustics
re-searcher, says modernchurches have become malls.He wants a team
of experts topreserve the architectural andspiritual heritage of
churches.
Modern churches dont havethe proper acoustic dynamicsto create a
mood for worship,the priest says: The moodshould be sparked by
aweupon entering [the church].Churches must also help peo-ple
understand the spokenword clearly and allow sacredmusic to linger
on, he adds.
But modern churches arebuilt to accommodate the max-imum number
of people, andlook more like malls thanchurches. Father Tavares
feelsthe ecclesiastical authoritiesshould form a team to helpbuild
new churches with aproper liturgical atmosphere.
He feels that reticulate walls,gilded woodwork and largewindows,
part of ancientchurches, make the buildingliturgy-friendly.
Churches werebuilt for preaching, which re-quires very short
reverb, but at
the same time longer reverbsfor singing, besides silencefrom the
background.
Fr Allan presented a paperon Acoustic Characterisationof Sacred
Music rendered by aHuman Whistle at the DivineProvidence Church in
Goa,India during the 22 to 27 Au-gust International Congress
ofAcoustics in Sydney.
His paper concluded thatthe impact of sacred music wasthe
strongest when accompa-
nied by