-
OHERALDOThe Voice of Goa Since 1900
HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, APRIL 27
Former tourism minister,Mickky Pacheco on Wednes-day found
himself in the dockafter a court of Judicial Mag-istrate First
Class, Margao con-victed and sentenced him toone year simple
imprisonmentin the Jr Engineer Kapi lNatekar assault case.
JMFC, Margao DevidasKerkar further d i rectedPacheco to pay a
fine of Rs5000 or in default to undergo
one months simple imprison-ment. If the fine amount waspaid, the
court ordered thatit should be forfeited in thename of
Government.
The court, however, sus-pended the sentence for amonth to allow
the BenaulimMLA to file an appeal in thehigher court.
Whi le the Court he ldPacheco guilty under Section353 of the
IPC, he was acquit-ted of the charges of wrongfulconfinement and
threats.
Judge Kerkar said the pros-ecution has proved that onJuly 15,
2006 at about 10.55am in the office of the Ministerfor Agriculture
and AnimalHusbandry, Pacheco slappedon the face of the
complainantKapil Natekar whilst he wasperforming his lawful
duty,thereby causing hurt to himand committing an offencepunishable
under Section 353of the IPC.
In this case, the electricity
IN BrIef
Visit us at:www.oheraldo.in panjim, THURsday, apRiL 28, 2011
postal Reg. no. Goa 101 pRiCE Rs. 3.00 (air surcharge Rs 2.00)
pages 16 + 4
World: Obama releases his
birth certificate Pg 13
Anybody can cut prices,but it takes brains to
produce a better article.
P. D. Armour
Sports: Fletcher Indias
new cricket coach Pg 16
High Tide: 0806; 2006Low Tide: 0151; 1333
T I D E S T O D A Y
Goas Heartbeat: Jennifer Aniston to
spend millions on new home Pg 4
(Continued on page 8)
sD iceire rvcto Serate of Health sD iceire rvcto Serate of
Health
OF THE DAY
Husband, wife or any other person
seeking sex confirmation of the child
before birth is punishable under
PC-PNDT Act.
fidbH
.htlaeHfoetar eSotc vreri eciD s
rrtcATDNP-CP
rednuelbahsinusihtrtiberoffoeb
dlihcehtfonoitamrriffinoc
xesgnikeesnosreprehtoynroeffeiw,dnabsuH
FREDDY REBELLO
POINGUINIM, APRIL 27
Their life was ruined even beforethey entered the world and
theyhave been condemned to an un-certain future in their
motherswomb itself.
Official records from 2005 till2010 availed under Right to
In-formation reveal that there are131 children born to motherswho
had contracted AIDS. More-over, there were two motherswith HIV who
delivered twins.
The data of those womenwho had conceived with AIDS
is only from Government hos-pitals.
It is learnt that many private
RTI info reveals 131 infants are HIV positive
l Many private clinics dont report HIV positive casesto the
Directorate of Health Services.
l From April 2005 to December 2010, 4,340 patientswere screened
for ART eligibility. Of these 97 werechildren and 82 of them are
alive on ART.
l In 2008, 46 children were born to HIV positivemothers. In
2009, the figure was 58 while in 2010 itwas 27.
faCts & fIGUres
2G: ED to attach properties In more trouble for telecomcompanies
involved in the 2Gspectrum scam, the Enforce-ment Directorate told
theSupreme Court that propertiesworth Rs 2,000 crore each oftwo
firms will be attachedsoon. Property worth Rs2,000 crore each has
to be at-tached relating to these com-panies, senior advocate K
KVenugopal, appearing for theED, submitted. (PTI)
Jilted lover beheadsgirl in collegeA teenaged girl student
wasbeheaded in the campus of theprestigious St Xaviers
College,Ranchi by her jilted lover, po-lice said. Kusum Kumari
(17)was beheaded with a sharpweapon in the campus of StXaviers
College by a youngman who was identified as Vi-jendra Prasad,
Superinten-dent of Police Sambhu Thakursaid. Police said Prasad
hadthe intention of committingsuicide after killing her butwas
overpowered by studentsbefore he could do that. (PTI)
PTI
NEW DELHI, APRIL 27
An all out political war brokeout today with the Public
Ac-counts Committee (PAC) comingdown heavily on the PMO, Cab-inet
Secretariat and faulting thePrime Minister in the 2G scamwhile the
Congress and DMK hitback demanding Chairman MurliManohar Joshis
resignation.
Riled by critical commentsagainst Prime Minister Manmo-han
Singh, the ruling coalitionaccused Joshi, a veteran BJPleader, of
having malafide in-tentions to destabilise the Gov-ernment after he
circulated adraft report of the Committeewhich criticised the PMO
andCabinet Secretariat for not tak-
ing corrective action.The report will be discussed
tomorrow at meeting of the PACwhich is likely to be stormy.With
the strength of the twosides delicately balanced in the21-member
committee, the roleof SP and BSP, which have amember each on the
PAC, willbe important.
The PAC has seven represen-tatives from the Congress, fourfrom
BJP, two each from AIADMKand DMK, and one each fromShiv Sena, BJD,
JD(U), SP, BSPand CPI(M).
Joshi is keen on pushing thereport before the term of thecurrent
Committee ends on Sat-urday. But the ruling coalitionmembers are
expected to stall
the report by seeking furtherdiscussion and calling more
wit-nesses, including former Tele-com Minister A Raja in a bid
toprolong the process.
They may insist on a vote onthe issue in tomorrows meet-ing. An
indication was availablewhen Congress member K S Raosaid the ruling
coalition has amajority in the PAC and youwill see it tomorrow.
The report did not spare evenSingh for some unfortunateomissions
that led to the 2Gspectrum allocation scam beingdubbed by the
Opposition asthe biggest scandal in independ-ent India.
The report also attacked thethen Finance Minister P Chi-
dambaram for recommendingto the Prime Minister to treatthe
matter as closed instead
of taking action against thoseresponsible for loss to the
ex-chequer.
WAR OVER PAC REPORTCong, Opposition head for showdown
HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, APRIL 27
Rejecting a plea by his lawyerAdv Srikant Nayak to take alenient
view and to releasePacheco on admonition, JudgeDevidas Kerkar said
that no-body is above the law and no-body can use his
politicalpower to commit illegal acts.
Judge Kerkar said the courtcannot take into considerationthe
submission made by thedefense that Pacheco has beenconvicted for
the first time,saying the offense committedby the accused under
Section
353 of the IPC is a serious of-fense.
Maximum punishmentshall be awarded to the ac-cused in order to
deter himnot to commit such type ofoffense in future. Nobody
isabove the law and everybodyhas to obey the law and no-body can
use his politicalpower to commit i l legalacts , Judge Kerkar
ob-served.
In his submission on thepoint of sentence, Pachecoslawyer, Adv
Nayak submittedthat the accused has not been
convicted at any point of time.Accused was a minister soalso
political leader in thestate of Goa and he got re-spect from the
public, AdvNayak said, while praying thatthe court take a lenient
viewat the time of granting sen-tence.
On the other hand, Assis-tant Public Prosecutor, sub-mi t ted
tha t max imumpunishment be awarded tothe accused as per the
provi-sion of law so that he will notcommit such type of offencesin
future.
I respect the order: Mickky
HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, APRIL 27
Soon after the JMFC pro-nounced the conviction andsentence,
Benaulim MLAMickky Pacheco told waitingjournalists that he
respectsthe order of the court.
The Benaulim MLA, whohas been bracing up to floathis own
political party in theState, later told newsmen that Benaulim MLA
Mickky Pacheco outside the Margao Old court
building soon after the verdict. Photo by Santosh Mirajkar
Mickky gets jail
Nobody is above the law: judge
PTI
NEW DELHI, APRIL 27
Striking Air India pilots weretoday directed by Delhi HighCourt
to return to work forth-with, as the managementquickly terminated
the servicesof six of their leaders and dere-cognised their union
while Gov-ernment said the airline cannotbe held at gunpoint.
At least 40 Air India flightswere cancelled till late tonighton
the first day of the strike byits pilots causing enormoushardship
to thousands of trav-ellers.
Notwithstanding the Courtorder directing the agitating pi-lots
to resume duties forthwith,leaders of the Indian Commer-cial Pilots
Association (ICPA)made up of 800 pilots of theerstwhile Indian
Airlines andspearheading the stir said we
are continuing with our agita-tion as of now.
The leaders, who are demand-ing a pay hike and better work-ing
conditions, said tonight theywere in consultations with theirlegal
team following the courtorder.
There were indications thatthe ICPA cou ld move theSupreme Court
tomorrow, butthe ICPA leaders said we willtake a decision after our
legalconsultations are complete.They were expecting to get
finallegal opinion by tomorrowmorning.
Following an urgent hearingof A I management s p leaagainst the
strike, Justice GitaMittal of Delhi High Courtbarred the pilots
from resortingto any kind of demonstrationand directed them to
report forwork.
Court cracks whip on striking pilots
Devotees move the transparent casket containing the body of
Sathya Sai Baba inside Prashanthi Nilayam in the village of
Puttaparthi, onWednesday.
PTI
PUTTAPARTHI, APRIL 27
Sathya Sai Baba, who had a phe-nomenal following across theglobe
with his message of uni-versal love and brotherhood,was bid adieu
at a solemn cer-emony today when he was laidto rest at the very
spot fromwhere he used to meet and ad-dress his disciples for
years.
The Sai Kulwanth Hall in Pras-anthi Nilayam, the abode fromwhere
Sai Baba ran a spiritualempire, reverberated withhymns from the
vedas andchants of Om Sai Ram as thelast rites were performed by
theBabas nephew R J Ratnakar.
The Kurnool Battalion ofAndhra Pradesh Special Policepresented a
21-gun salute as a
mark of respect to the spiritualleader for whom the govern-ment
declared a state funeral.
Watched by a galaxy of polit-ical personalities includingAndhra
Pradesh and Karnatakachief ministers N Kiran KumarReddy and BS
Yeddyurappa, Gov-ernors ESL Narasimhan and Shiv-raj V Patil, and
hundreds of hisfollowers, Sai Babas body was
laid to rest amidst chanting ofSai mantras.
Once the last rites were per-formed by vedic pandits,
redcurtains were drawn around9:45 am and the process startedfor
laying the body in a pit cre-ated at the spot in Sai Kulwantwhere
he used to make hispreachings for his followers fora number of
years.
Sathya Sai Baba laid to rest
SHWETA KAMAT
PANJIM, APRIL 27
In what could be bad news forlegislators and parents lobbyingto
include English as medium ofinstruction, the Law Departmentwhich
vetted the Right to Edu-cation (RTE) rules has retainedKonkani and
Marathi as themedium to be taught in schools.
Sources from Directorate ofEducation confirmed this
devel-opment.
We cannot change the sys-
tem. As decided, the Govern-ment will retain the existing
sys-tem of primary education inmother tongue and upper pri-mary
education Std V to VIII in English, an official said.
In the recently concludedBudget session of the
LegislativeAssembly, Education MinisterBabush Monserrate had said
thatprimary education in Goa willcontinue to be in the
mothertongue.
Presently, elementary edu-
cation in the State is differentfrom the rest of India, and
isgoing on for the last 50 years,Monserrate had told the
Statelegislative Assembly.
The Government of late isunder immense pressure fromdifferent
sections of society overthe medium of instruction.
The Government was also puton the backfoot after some ofits own
legislators were foundlobbying for English. Thousandsof parents had
also supported
the issue. Protests were also held by
Bhartiya Janata Party and Bhar-tiya Bhasha Suraksha Manch,headed
by former chief ministerShashikala Kakodkar, who unan-imously
demanded use ofmother tongue at primary level.
Meanwhile, Government hasalso decided to maintain the ex-isting
system with Std I to IVbeing retained as primary sec-tion.
Konkani, Marathi to stay as medium!
A bleak future for these babies!
l Std I-IV to be retained as primary section
l Schools with proper infra can change to full-day
The Prime Minister on January 3, 2008wanting to keep the PMO at
armslength seemed to have given anindirect green signal to Raja to
goahead and execute his unfair,arbitrary and dubious designs.
The then Finance Minister PChidambaram recommended to thePrime
Minister to treat the matteras closed instead of taking
actionagainst those responsible for lossto the exchequer.
What the draft report says
Sanquelim toSakhali?
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
BICHOLIM, APRIL 27
Sanquelim Municipal Council hasasked North Goa Collector to
re-name Sanquelim town to Sakhali.
In a letter dated April 14, SMCChairman Anand Naik has askedthe
North Goa Collector to re-name Sanquelim to Sakhali.
It was a unanimous decisiontaken by us during the
municipalmeeting to rectify the name ofthe city as the word
Sanquelimis a Portuguese word, said Naik.
Five villages of Harvalem,Gauthan, Parye, Karapur andVirdi form
a Sakhali (chain) andwe feel that it is the right wordfor the city,
added Naik.
(Continued on page 8)
(Continued on page 8)
(Continued on page 8)
JUNIOR ENGINEER ASSAULT CASE
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GOAOHERALD
O
Pg2GOA, THURSDAY, 28 APRIL, 2011
Mickky defies Churchill, opens Majorda subway HERALD
REPORTER
MARGAO, APRIL 27
Taking the Churchill Alemaocamp completely by surprise,Benaulim
MLA Mickky Pachecoand his supporters on Wednes-day morning
inaugurated thelong-delayed Majorda Sub Way,leaving his bete noire
and PWDMinister fuming far away inKuwait.
PWD Executive Engineer, AnilRinge immediately lodged acomplaint
with the Colva policeupon instructions from his po-litical masters,
but before themen-in-uniform could reach Ma-jorda and stop the
inauguration,the subway was already thrownopen for traffic and
pedestriansby the local MLA.
The Benaulim MLA along withZP members Nelly Rodriguesand Wilfred
DSa, MajordaSarpanch Visitation da Silva andpanch members came to
theSub Way at around 11 am in abig group, wherein the founda-tion
stone was blessed by aPriest. Later, speaking to news-men, the
Benaulim MLA said hethought of inaugurating the subway along with
the people as itwas ready since the last threemonths.
He said work on the Rs 1.90crore sub way should have
beencompleted three years ago, andfelt that PWD and its
agenciesshould take care of water log-ging in the sub way during
themonsoons. I had proposed thebridge in 2003. Let us see
thesituation during monsoons, but itwould be the responsibility of
thePWD and its agencies to take careof water logging, he said.
Lamenting that work on thesub way ought to have beencompleted
three years ago,Pacheco said the work shouldhave been completed
long ago.Moreover, he said it was nearly
Benaulim MLA Mickky Pacheco inaugurates subway in the presence
of his supporters at Majorda. Photo by Savio Dias
one month and half since list ofnames were asked by the
au-thorities, adding that he thoughtof inaugurating the sub way
withthe local people.
Meanwhile, the Benaulim MLAhas said the PWD Minister
ChurchillAlemao is obstructing the processof tendering road works
in his Be-naulim constituency to the tune of
Rs 14 crore.He said the works have re-
ceived all approvals from thegovernment and wondered whythe PWD
is not tendering hiswork. I have briefed the ChiefMinister on the
issue and I willagain take up the issue withKamat to direct the PWD
Sec-retary ensure that basic ameni-
ties are made available to thepeople of Benaulim.
I fail to understand why thePWD Minister is obstructing
mydevelopment work. My familymembers are not contestingfrom
Benaulim, but the PWDMinister should understandthat I represent
Benaulim,he added.
It will be officially inaugurated: Churchill HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, APRIL 27
Terming as illegal the inaugu-ration of the Majorda Sub wayby
Benaul im ML A MickkyPacheco, PWD Minister ChurchillAlemao has said
that the subway would be officially inaugu-rated by the government
afterwork is completed in all re-spects.
A fuming Alemao demandedto know how the Benaulim MLAcan
inaugurate the Sub way be-fore the government could of-ficially
throw open the roadunder bridge for traffic.
The PWD had planned the
formal inauguration by invitingthe Chief Minister DigambarKamat
and all other concernedpersons. Now, the governmentwould set a
fresh date for theformal inauguration, he said.
Alemao admitted that thePWD officials has lodged acomplaint with
the Colva po-lice on the matter since theinauguration ceremony
wasillegal.
He also refuted Pachecos al-legations of obstructing
devel-opment work in Benaulim.People all over Goa havepraised me
for ushering in de-velopment work under thePWD. I have taken up so
manyprojects in Benaulim, he said,adding that whatever pendingworks
in Benaulim would betaken up for the benefit and wel-fare of the
constituency.
2 hoursordeal for
4-yr-old boyat Hospicio
HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, APRIL 27
Believe it or not, it tooknearly two hours for the Hos-picio
hospital to attend to afour-year old boy at the Hos-picio hospital
on Wednesdayevening.
The boy was taken to thehospital at around 7 pm afterhe
complained of pain in oneof his ears. However, insteadof attending
to him promptlyby the Hospicio doctors, thepatient was made to wait
fortwo long hours at the hos-pital on the plea that the ladydoctor
was on her way to at-tend to the boy.
MMC Councilor Raju Naik,who also rushed to the Hos-picio,
expressed his angerover the very functioning ofthe hospital. Just
imagine asituation if the serious pa-tient was brought to the
hos-pital and the doctor his owntime to come and attend tothe
victim, he said, addingthat the government shouldimmediately devote
atten-tion to the functioning ofthe hospital.
I am a witness to the in-cident since the boy happensto be
hailing from my ward.For two hours, the boy wasnot attended on
groundsthat the ENT doctor was onher way, he said, while call-ing
for toning up of the hos-pital services for the benefitof the
common man.
AITUC demands benefitsfor BSNL contract staff
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, APRIL 27
In a sternly written letter, theAll India Trade Union
Congresshas demanded that BSNL Goaensure that employees con-tracted
in the realm of construc-t ion and ma intenance o ftelecom systems
through vari-ous contractors be given thebenefits of statutory
labour wel-fare legislations.
We wish to bring it to yourkind attention that being
theprincipal employer it is statuto-rily obligator on the part of
themanagement of BSNL-Goa to en-sure that these workmen
areprovided/extended the benefitsof statutory labour
legislations
such as Provident Fund, Em-ployee State Insurance Scheme,Payment
of bonus, payment ofminimum wages, leave paidweekly off, holidays
and pay-ment of overtime for workingon extended hours of worketc.,
the letter to the GeneralManager of BSNL reads.
They have demanded that un-skilled workmen be paid Rs 224per
day, semi-skilled Rs 248 perday, skilled/clerical is Rs 273 aday
and highly skilled is Rs 297per day.
These workmen employedunder the BSNL Goa are notpaid the above
wages as notifiedby the central government forthe above categories
of work,
the letter reads.The letter however stops
short of threatening a strikeor warning of any action ifthe BSNL
management failsto comply.
Copies of the letter have beenforwarded to the Union ministerfor
Human Resource Develop-ment Kapil Sibal, General Sec-retary of the
AITUC Gurudas DasDupta, PF commissioner and ESIcommissioner, both
based a Pan-jim.
There are total of 350 workersemployed under the BSNL forthe
works, who have found sup-port of General Secretary of GoaState
Committee of the AITUC,Christopher Fonseca.
NGOs hold solidarity meet at Cavrem HERALD CORRESPONDENT
QUEPEM, APRIL 27
The Cavrem Adivasi BachavSamiti in coordination withother NGOs
from the State onWednesday convened a solidar-ity meeting near
Cavrem PrimarySchool at Cavrem-Quepem.
About 300 villagers fromCavrem and other parts of Goaattended
the solidarity meet-ing.
Addressing the meeting,C a v r e m A d i v a s i B a c h a vS a
m i t i P re s i d e n t N i l e s hGaonkar claimed that all
min-ing companies at Cavrem hadobtained Environment Clear-ance from
the Ministry of En-v i ronment by submitt ingfalse and distorted
Environ-ment Impact Assessment Re-port, where they stated thatthere
is no ST population.
The villagers are planning tostop further mining in Cavremand
also to close down the ex-isting one, stated Gaonkar.
The mining which hasstarted in Cavrem about 4 yearsago has
destroyed agriculture,which is the lifeline of majorityof the
villagers. Presently, dueto dust pollution people are con-
stantly suffering from healthproblems which is not gettingcure,
added Gaonkar.
The way the police aresupporting the mining trans-port appears
as if they areoperating the mining trans-port themselves. The
miningcompanies are constantlyt r y ing to d i v ide the v i l
-lagers, claimed Gaonkar.
Rajendra Kakodkar of GavRakhon Manch appreciated the peo-ple for
their unity, determinationand leading the agitation in a differ-ent
way. He urged the villagers toremain united in their fight.
Rama Vel ip of ColombaBachav Samiti stated that once
hills are destroyed for miningpurpose, then water resourcesand
forests would be destroyed.
He requested the villagers tofile their objections to the
ForestPolicy notified by the govern-ment.
Zerina of Goychea XetkarachoEkvott said: Nature is ourmother,
which nurtures us byproviding water, air and ourfood. She appealed
the villagersto protect mountains, forest,water resources and
agriculturefor the well-being of future gen-eration.
In his speech, GXE PresidentDeelip Hedge blamed the
Stategovernment for the mining messin the State.
To promote mining, theState Government is destroyingthe dairy
industry, as both can-not go together, he said.
Incidentally, while the meet-ing was in progress at about 6pm, a
loaded mining truck wasstopped and sent back by theCavrem
villagers.
Other who addressed themeeting included MaheshGaonkar, Yetin Pai
and oth-ers.
nThe way the policeare supporting themining transportappears as
if they areoperating the miningtransport themselves.The mining
companiesare constantly tryingto divide the villagers.
-- Gaonkar
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, APRIL 27
Goa government has finally de-cided to seek intervention
ofNational Coastal Zone Manage-ment Authority (NCZMA) to di-agnose
the crucial issue of tarballs appearing on the statesbeaches.
Goa Coastal Zone Manage-ment Authority (GCZMA) Mem-ber Secretary
Michael DSouzasaid that the issue has beenraised with the NCZMA,
who inturn will seek help from theirconcern authority.
We were incidentally in NewDelhi, when this issue was re-ported
by newspaper in Goa.The issue was discussed withNCZMA in detail,
DSouza said.
The authorities were per-plexed because the tar ball phe-nomenon
that used to surfacebefore the monsoons have sud-denly started
appearing in thesummer season.
Recently the beaches likeVarca and Benaulim in SouthGoa had
faced this phenome-non.
Officials from Tourism De-p a r t m e n t s a i d t h a t t h
ebeaches were cleaned butwith the high tide, the ballssurfaced
again on Saturday.
We are constantly cleaningthe beaches by collecting thesethick
oily balls, he said.
Last year, when such tar ballshad arrived on the long
stretchesof Beaches, Nagpur based Na-tional Environmental
Engineer-ing Research Institute (NEERI)was given the task to study
theissue.
However, officials said thatNEERI is yet to get back withthe
study report.
After the recent case, offici-ating director Science,
Environ-ment and Technology LavinsonMartins had written to the
In-dian coast guard to give the list
of the ships that had passed bythe ocean during those days.
Martins had said that the re-leasing of oil in the sea is a
se-rious offence and rough shipscan be booked, if they are
foundguilty.
Indian coast guard (ICG) hasthe jurisdiction from the shore-line
to 20 nautical miles, whichis guarded by them.
Officials said that ICG can as-certain whether any ship
hasdischarged the oil by checkingships log book, which has
therecord of oil present on the shipand other essentials of the
ves-sel.
Goa govt to seek NCZMAs help to tackle tar balls
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, APRIL 27
The High Court of Bombay atGoa on Wednesday admittedthe criminal
appeal petition chal-lenging acquittal of two accusedin the
infamous 2002 TanujaNaik murder case that hadrocked the temple town
ofPonda.
The Court has further orderedto issue warrants to both
theaccused, who are at their nativeplaces at present. North
GoaDistrict and Sessions Court hadacquitted Rajnish Singh aliasRaju
Bhayam Bhagel and RamAvtar Singh alias Ram in May2009.
The state police had chal-lenged the acquittal in Decem-ber 2009
and finally, the petitionwas admitted today on April 27.
The matter which came upbefore the double bench of Jus-tices S C
Dharmadhikari and FM Reis is kept for final hearingin June.
Special Public Prosecutor RRivankar contended that thelower
Court totally discardedthe evidences including the dep-osition of
the eye-witness whohad seen one of the accusedrunning with the fire
arms.
Even the recovery of the firearm from the accused has beenturned
down because one of
the panch witnesses to the re-covery turned hostile. But
theCourt did not consider otherpanch-witness who was firm onhis
deposition, Rivankar ar-gued.
On July 15, 2002, 22-year-oldTanuja was shot dead by un-known
persons at Caranzal-Mar-caim when she was returninghome. On August
7, 2006, theCrime Branch arrested Raju andsubsequently arrested his
ac-complice Ram, both from Mad-hya Pradesh.
The police claimed that themotive behind the crime wasrobbery of
a gold chain thatTanuja was wearing.
HC admits plea challenging acquittals in Tanuja murder
Hubby gets remand for
murder HERALD CORRESPONDENT
PORVORIM, APRIL 27
Ganpat Shetye, who was ar-rested by Mapusa Police in con-nection
with the murder of hiswife, has been remanded toseven days police
custody forfurther investigation.
It may be recalled that onTuesday evening, Ganpat Shetye,a
native of Pernem but residingat Nachinola, was arrested byMapusa
Police on charges ofmurdering his wife Sneha.
Mapusa Police on Wednesdayafternoon had produced ac-cused Ganpat
before JMFC andobtained a remand of seven daysfor further
investigation.
When contacted, Sneha's father,Dilip Pednekar stated that his
daugh-ter Sneha had married Ganpat fiveyears ago and were blessed
with ason and daughter. It was love mar-riage and since there was
some op-position from his parents, both wereresiding with us at
Nachinola. Snehawas working in a private firm at Pan-jim. She used
to leave for office inthe morning and return by 7 pm,informed
Dilip.
State to challenge Dudus bail HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, APRIL 27
The Narcotics and Drugs Psy-chotropic Substances (NDPS)Court,
Mapusa on Wednesdaydismissed the States applicationopposing the
bail granted to Is-raeli drug dealer David Drihamalias Dudu.
On February 3, Special JudgeP V Sawaikar had ordered
Dudusrelease after he spent over 11months in custody, on
conditionof furnishing a personal bondof Rs one lakh and two
local
sureties in like amount. TheCourt also restricted Dudu
fromleaving the State.
State representative MaheshAmonkar said that they will
nowapproach the High Court seek-ing to cancel Dudus bail.
During the hearing of thecase, Adv Amonkar submittedto the Court
that the Judge didnot consider merits of the casealthough there was
sufficientevidence against the Israeli forprosecuting him, as he
wasfound with commercial quantity
of narcotics. On this ground,the State had approached theNDPS
court requesting the can-cellation of Dudus bail.
Raju Poulekar, counsel appear-ing for the alleged accused,
ar-gued that Dudu was grantedbail on technical grounds andhe abided
by all his bail condi-tions.
A team of Anti Narcotics Cell,on February 21, 2010 arrestedDudu
with several kilograms ofnarcotics near his rented bun-galow at
Anjuna.
Kudemmining firmgets GSPCB
notice HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, APRIL 27
The Goa State Pollution ControlBoard (GSPCB) has issued
showcause notice to a mining firmat Kudem in Sanquelim for
con-ducting mining activity withoutfollowing water and air
pollutionnorms.
In a notice issued to J Srinivasof Noor Mohammad Ladji mines,the
GSPCB has said that thereare several complaints that oredumped at
the plots are causingdust pollution and health hazardin the
vicinity.
The notice was issued onApril 20, 2011. The pollutioncontrol
board had directed themining firm on March 18, 2010to furnish the
details of theiractivities, which they preferredto ignore and
instead continuedto operate.
GSPCB has said as per theirrecords, the mine has not ob-tained
consent to operate theplot for stacking ore as requiredunder the
Water (Prevention andControl of Pollution) act, 1974and Air
(Prevention and Controlof Pollution) Act, 1981.
The mining firm has beenasked to show cause within 15days as to
why appropriate ac-tion as per the provisions of theacts should not
be initiatedagainst them for operating inthe plots without
obtaining con-sent to operate.
It can be recalled that earlierlast month, the board had given60
days ultimatum to 41 mines,operational in talukas likeSanguem,
Sattari and Qupeme,to submit all the documents in-cluding forest
clearance, wildlifeclearance and other documentsbefore applying for
renewal oflicences.
HC stays SPCA probe in Ciprianos death case
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, APRIL 27
The High Court of Bombay atGoa on Tuesday ordered to
stayproceedings of the State PoliceComplaints Authority (SPCA)
intaking cognizance of offensesin the sensational Cipriano
Fer-nandes death case.
The Division Bench compris-ing of Justices S C Dharmad-hikari
and F M Reis was hearinga petition filed by a suspendedpoliceman
Sandeep Shirvaikarchallenging that SPCA has noright to take
suo-motto pro-ceedings in the matter.
In his petition, Shirvaikar alsosaid that the SPCA has no
powerto record statements of wit-nesses under the oath. SPCAhas no
power to punish but rec-ommend departmental enquiryand direct
filing of an FIR, fur-ther reads the petition.
SPCA has taken Suo Motocognizance of the news reporton the
38-year-old seafarersdeath on January 9. SPCA chair-man Justice Dr
Eurico Santana
da Silva had directed its officeto register the news reportdated
January 12 on Herald asSuo Moto Inquiry Proceedingsagainst Panjim
police officers ofgross misconduct.
The SPCA during its inquirylast month found that there wasenough
material suggesting di-rect involvement of eight po-licemen in the
custodial death.
Cipriano, 39, a seafarer backon a holiday in Goa was arrestedon
January 7 after his lady friendGeorgina complained against
him of threatening her with aknife. Later he died on January9
while being in the police cus-tody.
The crime branch is investi-gating the custodial killing,which
has been confirmed bysub divisional magistrates(SDM) report.
Three officials inspectorSandesh Chodankar, Sub Inspec-tor
Radhesh Ramnathkar andShirvaikar were suspended forprocedural
lapses.
Meanwhile, the SPCA, in itsorder dated April 19 has primafacie
found serious misconductin the conduct of the Panjim po-lice while
investigating the case.
The SPCA was hearing a pe-tition filed by an activist
thatAgassaim police inspector wasnot registering his case
againstthe Panjim police staff on dutyon the fateful day.
Justice Silva observed thatpolice should have compliedwith the
legal mandate and di-rections of the Supreme Courtand get the case
registered.
nCipriano, 39, aseafarer back on aholiday in Goa wasarrested on
January 7after his lady friendGeorgina complainedagainst him
ofthreatening her with aknife. Later he died onJanuary 9 while
beingin the police custody.
Illegalstructures demolition
delayed HERALD REPORTER
VASCO, APRIL 27
Thirty-three illegal structureson a private land at
Adarshna-gar-Chicalim got a lease of lifefor two more weeks, after
theencroachers asked MormugaoMunicipal Council (MMC) chiefofficer
to grant them two weeksextension to vacate their houseson their
own.
It may be recalled that on March18, 2011, while dismissing on
en-croachers appeal, the urban devel-opment minister had asked
MMCto demolish all the illegal structures,which had cropped up in a
shortspan of time on a private land ofone Mahadev Naik.
After Naik produced the ordercopy last month, MMC had set
April28 and 29 as the demolition dateand had sought assistance
fromDemolition Squad and Vasco Police.
The municipal staff dealing withcouncils legal matter informed
thatthe encroachers had sought twoweeks time from the chief
officerand had requested him to extendthe demolition date for the
anothertwo weeks.
Farmers demand hike in purchase price of milk HERALD
CORRESPONDENT
MARCEL, APRIL 27
Members of Akhil Goa Dudh Ut-padak Utkarsh Sanghatana
onWednesday met Goa DairyChairman Madhav Sahakari todemand a hike
in the purchaseprice of milk.
Milk farmers said the GoaDairy had hiked selling price ofthe
milk by Rs 3 since February21 after a rise in purchase priceof milk
in neighbouring states.
However, the State farmersfrom whom the dairy purchasesmilk were
not given any rise.Goa Dairy sells about a lakh litreof processed
milk everyday inthe Goan market. Goa Dairy pur-chases half of the
total raw milkfrom the neighbouring states.
On Wednesday afternoon,about 50 members of Akhil GoaDudh Utpadak
Utkarsh Sanghatanamet Goa Dairy Chairman MadhavSahakari and
demanded for a pricehike in milk purchase prices.
Members claimed that on twodifferent occasions, the Sang-hatana
had approached GoaDairy with the demand, but didnot yield any
result.
When the dairy hiked milkprice on February 21, we learntfrom
media reports that thefarmers will also be given pricerise from
April 1. Since Goa Dairydidnt act in the matter, we metthe Goa
Dairy chairman request-ing him to look into the matter,Akh i l Goa
Dudh UtpadakUtkarsh Sanghatana PresidentBabu Komarpant said.
We made another represen-tation on April 25, but there wasno
specific assurance. However,we have gain come today withthe same
demand and wants toknow why we have been neg-lected, said
Komarpant.
The members during themeeting demanded an assur-ance from Goa
Dairy ChairmanSahakari, to which the chairmansaid that it will
decided by theBoard of Directors. Sahakari alsoinformed that the
decision ofthe board will be informed tofarmers by May 31.
Since the time I took over asboard chairman, whenever therewas a
price hike, it was also extendedto farmers, which was not
happeningearlier, he said.
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GOAOHERALD
OPg3
GOA, THURSDAY, 28 APRIL, 2011
We will continue with existing system of admissions: Jindal
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, APRIL 27
Goa Medical College and Hos-pitals Dean Dr V N Jindal
onWednesday said that guidelinesof Medical Council of India
(MCI)for national entrance test are inthe draft form and they
wouldcontinue with the existing sys-tem as state government hasnot
informed them about anychanges.
Jindal said that they will holdGoa state entrance test for
theMBBS as being done in the pastyears.
We will continue with ourexisting system which has statelevel
CET and for Post Gradua-tion we take the merit list, hesaid.
MCI in its recent decision hassuggested that National En-trance
Test should be made com-pulsory for students seekingadmission in
for graduate andpost graduate courses in med-ical science.
The Draft notification has al-ready been uploaded on the
MCIwebsite which will be notifiedin the month of August,
thisyear.
The medical fraternity in thestate has said that the state
gov-ernment should give its opinionon the draft before its taken
upfor finalization.
Once its finalized, then itwill be difficult to modify andGoa
will have to follow whatcentral policy decides, a seniordoctor
said.
Dr Jindal confirmed that thestate government is yet to formthe
committee to study the mat-ter. Chief Minister DigambarKamat during
the demands on
the Health department had as-sured that a committee of ex-perts
would be formed to studythe issue.
As per the draft placed byMCI during national meet
onimplementation of reforms inundergraduate and post gradu-ate
medical education, the Na-tional Eligibility-cum-EntranceTest for
Post Graduates (NEET-PG) will be held from 2012. Thesame would be
notified in Au-gust 2011 with applications col-lected from
September end.
Candidates who have com-pleted internship or those ex-pecting to
complete by March31, 2012 will be eligible to takethe
examination.
The admit cards will be dis-patched by middle of
November2011.
In case of national Eligibility-cum-Entrance Test for
SuperSpecialties (NEET-SS) for 2012,the candidates who have
com-pleted post-graduation (MD/MS)or those expecting to
completepostgraduate by June15, 2012will be eligible.
The same will be notified inFebruary 2012 .
nDr Jindal confirmedthat the stategovernment is yet toform the
committee tostudy the matter. ChiefMinister DigambarKamat during
thedemands on theHealth department hadassured that acommittee of
expertswould be formed tostudy the issue.
GARD backs suspended doctor Praises her for saving life of
mother HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, APRIL 27
The Goa Resident Doctors As-sociation (GARD) has come outin
support of suspended seniorresident doctor Vanita Pereirawho was
accused of botchingup caesarean deliveries resultingin injuries to
the baby and thechild.
They have instead chosen topraise the doctor for her
timelyintervention, which has savedthe life of the mother.
In the said incident, the cae-sarean section was performedas an
emergency at the 7thmonth of pregnancy in the in-terest of saving
the motherslife and uterus after taking aninformed consent of the
patient.Since the patient had already
undergone a caesarean sectionin the past, she had a high riskof
uterine rupture during thispregnancy which posed a greatthreat to
her life. The situationwas further complicated bybabys
pre-maturity, with an es-timated weight of 900 grams),abnormal
dorsoposterior posi-tion of the baby encounteredon table and low
lying placentawhich separated promptly ongiving uterine incision,
leavingvery little time for the operatingsurgeon to deliver the
baby(within three minutes) to avoidbabys death, a press not
re-leased by President of GARDDheeraj Lambor said.
As it is a known surgical com-plication of the caesarean
sec-tion in the literature, it does not
amount to negligence. We ap-preciate the sincere efforts ofthe
concerned senior residentdoctor to save the mother andthe baby, the
press note reads.
The association has condemnedthe criticism, the doctor faced
andhas in the past threatened to go ona strike demanding that the
doctorbe reinstated.
Meanwhile, in a press release,GARD has said that the suspen-sion
of Dr Vanita Pereira wouldbe revoked soon. This followsan emergency
meeting with theHealth Minister Vishwajeet Ranewherein GARD
presented all thetrue facts of the case before theminister.
The minister has assured usto revoke the suspension soon,the
release adds.
22-yr-oldbooked for rape
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, APRIL 27
A 22-year-old youth was onWednesday arrested for al-legedly
raping a teenaged girlat her residence, police said.
DySP Deu Benaulikar said thatShabbir Maulana Saab Walikar,a
resident of Panjim has beenarrested and remanded for cus-todial
interrogation.
The victim girl (20), who liveson the outskirts of the city,
wasalone at home when the accusedentered her house and raped
her.The incident is one month old.
According to the police, thevictim and the accused werefriends,
and were supposed totie-knot shortly.
Families from both sides hadagreed to the marriage. Fewdays
later, the accused went ona vacation to his native in
Bijapur(Karnataka) and severed contactswith the girl. She made
repeatedattempts to get in touch withhim, but he ignored her,
whichprompted the girl to file a com-plaint, the officer said.
The accused has been bookedunder section 376 (rape) of theIndian
Penal Code.
MPT yet to receiveore from Karnataka
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, APRIL 27
Mormugao Port Trust (MPT)has said that they are yet toreceive
ore from Karnatakaalthough the Supreme Courthas already lifted the
ban onexport of iron ore from theneighbouring state.
The exports of ore fromMPT, which had faced a com-parative s
lump af ter Kar-nataka ban, were expectedto take off this
month.
Traffic Managers office atthe Port confirmed that theyare yet to
get ore from Kar-nataka.
Dont ask me why. I canjust say that we are not get-ting the ore,
traffic managerreacted.
Supreme Court order hadcome as a respite for themining firms in
Karnataka,who were also exporting theore through MPT besidesseveral
other ports in NorthKarnataka.
Of the total 50 odd millionmetric tonnes ore exportedfrom Goa,
almost eight mil-
lion metric tonne was fromKarnataka as per the
roughestimates.
While Goa Port is waitingKarnataka ore, as per the re-ports from
the neighbouringstate, after SC giving its nodfor the export of
iron ore ac-cumulated at major ports,around 27,000 tonnes of
ironore was loaded and left forexport to China from theNew
Mangalore port.
The lifting of ban are showingsign of recovery for many ironore
firms. Sesa Goa has an-nounced that they expect theirsales volume
to go up anywherefrom 15 percent to 20 percent,this year.
In the March quarter, the com-pany went down by 21percentdue to
the ban of exports fromthe southern state.
In July last year, Karnatakabanned shipments of ironore from 10
of its ports inorder to fight against illegalmining and a general
needto keep raw materials withinthe state for local steelmak-ers to
make use of.
Implement RTE soon: KaziHERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, APRIL 27
Goa State Commission for Pro-tection of Child Rights has
urgedGoa Government to implementRight to Education (RTE) Act inthe
state as soon as possible.Talking to reporters, Commis-sion
Chairperson Sameera Kaziconfirmed that the letter hasbeen forwarded
to the govern-ment demanding immediate im-plementation of RTE in
the state.The commission has been re-ceiving several complaints
fromthe parents that their kids aredetained in the same
standard,she said adding that there werealso complaints of few
schoolsdenying admissions for the kids. Kazi said that government
needsto take firm decision over im-plementation of this act,
whichwill come as respite to manyparents.
We have also come across thecomplaints that childrens
arescreened before admissions inthe school, which is banned bythe
law, she added.The Education Department,which is planning to
implementthe act in phase manner has putup a proposal before the
min-istry that no student would bedetained in the same class
fromfirst to eighth standard.The RTEs section 16 reads that,no
child admitted in the schoolshall be held back or expelled
from school till the completionof elementary education.
Thedepartment officials had saidthat no detention policy envis-aged
in the RTE would be im-plemented in Goa, possibly fromthe
forthcoming academic year.With the implementation of thispolicy the
criteria for the ad-mission or promotion of a childwould be based
on age and noton merit.
St Augustine Tower: Activists decry restoration worksVIBHA
VERMA
PANJIM, APRIL 27
Archaeological Survey of Indias(ASI) project to restore 16th
cen-tury old St Augustine Tower hasmet with the skepticism by
thelocal heritage activists, who haverued the concretization of
thisstructure.
ASIs Goa Circle has pulled upits sleeves to restore this
towerwhich has crumbled thrice inpast. But the heritage
activistshave said that the way centralgovernment agency plans to
re-store will snatch UNESCO affil-iation of this structure.
ASI Superintendent Shivdas
said that they will be carryingout lime concrete flooring ofthis
tower, this year, for easymovement of several lakhtourists visiting
it. The expertshave decided to concrete floor-ing where the
movement oftourists is more.
The work would also in-clude consolidation of thestructure,
which is locatedat Old Goa.
ASI, which has been lookingafter upkeep of this tower, saidthat
the structure has gone weakand it had collapsed under pres-sure
thrice earlier. Shivdas saidthat the work proposed at thistower is
a part of their contin-uous restoration process.
We are strengthening thestructure so that there is no fur-ther
collapse. We have takencare to such an extent hesaid
State level heritage activists,however, are wary of
ASIsmoves.
Noted historian and heritageactivist Prajal Sakhardande saidthat
the world heritage site can-not be destroyed in the nameof
renovation.
The activity by the ASI is ablatant destruction of the
WorldHeritage monument and thiswould lead to de-recognizationby the
UNESCO, he feared.
The ASI has said that they aretreating St Augustine tower
withutter care as they know the im-
portance of this place.In the last fiscal year, the ASI
team had cleaned the debris andconsolidation of structures.
The incomplete work wouldre-start this financial year soonafter
they are allotted funds,Shivdas said.
The work last year also in-cluded pointing work (filling inthe
gaps between the bricks)and some missing portion ofthe walls were
reconstructed.
The tower and the churchwere built in 1602 by the Au-gustinian
friars who arrived inGoa in September 3, 1572. Theyfounded a small
convent on thehill and built the convent andthe Church and
completed in1602.
With the religious suppres-
sion in 1835, the Augustiniansdeserted the church and
theconvent.
The latter was used forsome time by the charitableinstitution of
the Misericor-dia. The buildings fell intoneglect resulting in the
col-lapse of the vault on Septem-ber 8, 1842.
The Government appropri-ated the property, selling thematerials
the following year.The facade and half of thetower fell in 1931 and
somemore parts of it collapsed in1938.
ASIs Mini Circle conductedconservation work in the St.
Au-gustine Church complex. Thecrevices found in the exposedwalls,
pillars and pilasters wereconsolidated. Water-tighteningwas also
carried out on the ex-posed walls of the adjacent con-vent.
During the conservation workcarried out by ASIs Mini Circle,on
one of the side altars of theSt. Augustine Church complex,a burial
chamber was discoveredbelow the floor in front of thealtar.
The chamber with a flight offive steps was built of
lateriteblocks and plastered in lime-mortar and had a vaulted
roof.A grave pit, which containedbones in three places, was foundin
the chamber which was alsolime-plastered.
Two held at Dabolim airport
nKazi said thatgovernment needs totake firm decision
overimplementation of thisact, which will comeas respite to
manyparents.
HERALD REPORTER
VASCO, APRIL 27
Immigration Police at Dabolim airport on Wednesdaydetained
Nigerian and Tamilian in separate incidents,while they were trying
to board flights to the Gulfwith fake documents.
According to reports, the Nigerian,Ferdinand Luchi Onyeoziri,
who hadarrived in India on fake visa and resi-dential permit, had
landed in Hyder-abad few days ago. However, he wasdetained while he
was leaving thecountry from Dabolim airport.
While undergoing immigrationclearance to board a Goa-Doha
flighton Wednesday morning, the accusedwas caught as his visa and
residentialpermit were found to be fake. Immi-gration Police
detained Onyeoziri andlater handed him over to Vasco Po-lice.
Later in the afternoon, ImmigrationPolice detained one more
person fromTamil Nadu on charges of possessinga fake passport.
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GOAOHERALD
O
Pg 4SHORT TAKESUPCOMING EVENTS
POWER SHUTDOWN
We have all watched the devas-tation caused by the
tsunamirecently in Japan, and in Indonesiain 2004. So what exactly
is atsunami? And how does it hap-pen?
Tsunami is a Japanese word mean-ing harbor wave that refers to
aseries of large ocean waves that hita shoreline. These waves may
beas long as 100 km and travelacross the ocean at speeds of up
to800 kmh. There may be a constantstream of waves that that
batterthe shore between 10 and 60 min-utes. Tsunamis are caused by
sud-den movements of the earth thattake place under the sea. Often
themost destructive tsunamis arecaused by earthquakes but causescan
also include vol-canic eruptions, land-slides or even a
comethitting the sea.
The earth sits on about a dozentectonic plates. These are
largefloating pieces of hard rock thatare constantly moving, and
fit to-gether around the world like a jig-saw. Undersea earthquakes
occurwhen one of these plates rubsagainst another at a plate
bound-ary. The two plates may get stuck,as the heavier plate tries
to slideunder the lighter one. This causesa build up of pressure in
a processknows as Subduction.
As the heavier plate continues toslide beneath the lighter
plate, itcauses the lighter plate to benddownwards with the
pressure. Itreaches a point when the lighterplate can no longer
take the in-tense pressure and suddenlysnaps back up to the
surfacewhere it had been before. The in-credible force of the
Earths plateshooting upwards in the watercauses huge rise in sea
level anda vast body of water moves up-ward, very much like a
hugemountain of water in the sea.
Everybody knows that what goesup must come down. This is
partic-ularly true for water which alwayslikes to form a nice flat
surface. Soonce the mountain of water hasrisen up the next step is
for the seato level itself out causing atsunami.
As the mountain of water comesback down, it pushes the waterthat
was underneath it outwards.The force of the water movesthrough the
ocean causing an un-derwater force that travels for hun-dreds of
kilometers. The force ofthe water can reach speeds of up to800 kmh
as it surges through theocean.
A tsunami causes considerabledevastation to a country. It
de-stroys every thing in its path andcompletely levels a countrys
infra-structure. It isstrong enoughto move housesand cars, andeven
breakbridges.
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What is a Tsunami?
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GOA, THURSDAY, 28 APRIL, 2011
Yuva Gaurav award for ParabBICHOLIM(HC): The Shiksha Vikas
Parishad (SVP) has selected
Shrirang Arjun Parab from Bi-cholim for the prestigiousState
level Yuva GauravAward in the field of educa-tion for 2011.
The SVP is a State and Na-tional Awardee Teachers As-sociation.
Shrirang has beenawarded for the same, as atthe age of 16, he has
com-pleted his Masters Diplomain Computer Engineering,Software
Developing, Hard-ware and Networking. He hasalso completed Diploma
inMovie Editing and Diploma in 3D MAX.
The award will be presented to Shrirang in October 2011on the
occasion of the 17th National Level Educational Con-ference to be
held in Karnataka. The award includes shawl,shripal, memento and a
certificate.
GRAs public rallyPANJIM (HND): Goemchea Rakhondarancho Awaz
(GRA) will
organise a massive public rally on April 29 at 2.30 pm at
LohiaMaidan, Margao, to give opportunity to the people of theState
affected by the mal-governance to express their angerand press for
corrective actions to redress chronic woesplaguing them.
Panelim feast on May 8PANJIM (HND): Novena of Our Lady of
Miracles Panelim -
Sao Pedro will start on April 29 at 6 pm. The feast will be
cel-ebrated on May 8. There will be only one mass on the FeastDay
at 5 pm.
Priyanka Dance Academy function
PANJIM (HND): Priyankas Dance Academy, Mapusa will cel-ebrate
its 14th annual function cum Anandotsav on April 30at Hanuman Natya
Graha at 4:30pm. For entry passes, call9657107721.
Language quizPANJIM(HND): Communicare Cultural Centre will
organise
Kaleidoscope a language quiz in Konkani, Hindi, Portugueseand
French for the students of Higher Secondary Schools,where the final
round of the Portuguese quiz will be aired onApril 29 at 2 pm with
repeat telecasts at 4 pm and 10:30 pmon Prudent. Quizmaster Clifton
Afonso will take the four par-ticipating teams through a series of
questions based on gram-mar, culture, and spelling skills.
The four participating schools for the second round of
thePortuguese leg of Kaleidoscope are Our Lady of Rosary
HigherSecondary Dona Paula, Fr Agnel Multipurpose Higher
SecondarySchool Verna, Chowgule College Higher Secondary School
Margao, St Xavier Higher Secondary School Mapusa.
Anti-rabies drive vaccinationCURCHOREM(HC): A free anti-rabies
vaccination and free
sterilization programme will be conducted at the Animal
CareCentre in Curchorem.
Dr Jayram Dessai of the Goa Animal Welfare Trust,
Bansai-Curchorem branch, told Herald that healthy male and
femalepuppies would also be available for adoption at the
AnimalCare Centre in Curchorem.
Further details of the programme are available with DrDessai on
Ph: 2653677 from 10 am to 6 pm.
Hindi workshop organisedPANJIM (HND): Directorate of Census
Operations recently
conducted a Hindi workshop in its premises. Joint
Director(official language) office of the Registrar, New Delhi,
DineshKumar Pandeya, was the chief guest while Devkinandan
Pathak,Pradhyapak, Hindi Teaching Scheme, Panjim, presided overthe
function.
Pandeya, while speaking on the occasion, stressed on
theimplementation of official language Hindi in the
day-to-dayofficial work. He also talked on official language rules
andregulations. Devkinandan Pathak given a lecture on Hindigrammar
and also highlighted the importance of noting anddrafting and
letter writing.
Hindi translator Raghoba R Sawant, welcomed the guestsand
proposed the vote of thanks.
APRIL 28
KUMBARJUA: From 9 am to 2 pm. Areas affected are
Kumbarjuavillage, St Estevam village and Gaudalim.
SIRIDAO: From 9am to 2pm. Areas affected are Modlo waddo,Jeju
Nazareth, Firguem Bhat, Sea view bar and restaurant,
Zuarivillage.
DONA PAULA: From 9 am to 3 pm. Areas affected are Raj
Bhavan,Marvel colony, Marvel village, Dona Paula and surrounding
areas.
KERIM: From 9 am to 2 pm. Areas affected are VP Paliem and
VPKerim.
PORVORIM: From 9 am to 2 pm. Areas affected are Bhutki
wado,Sangolda Morod, Mae de dues Sangolda and surrounding
areas.
PORVORIM: From 2.30 pm to 5.30 pm. Areas affected arePorvorim
Bazar, Waddem, Kharrem, Ticlo petrol pump and sur-rounding
areas.
PWD Minister Churchill Alemao and wife Fatima along with
TonyGonsalves, promoter of Goan cultural shows in Europe, tiatr
or-ganiser Rafael and others on the occasion of staging of DaddyHi
Tuji Sun tiatr in Dubai, written and directed by comedianSally.
Fatimas birthday coincided on the same day.
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, APRIL 27
Several representatives ofwomens organizations and in-dividuals
deliberated on the in-creased trend of insultingwomen through di f
ferentmedium.
The members also discussedwhether under the freedom ofexpression
one can infringe onthe rights of others.
The meeting took strongobjection to the language andcontent of
writers who vio-la te the human r ights ofwomen. More particularly
incase of persons holding po-sitions and availing govern-ment
grants.
In this context, the writingsof the President of Goa Konkani
Academy came in for critique.The meeting unanimously con-demned
his objectionable writ-i n g s n a m e l y, t h e p o e t r yCheddi
which is a local abusein Konkani and the poetry itselfis against
commercial sex work-ers.
Former chairperson of GoaState Commission for WomenPramod
Salgaoncar, academician
Radhika Nayak, and otherwomen activists including ShailaDesouza,
Tara Kerkar, Auda Vie-gas, Jyoti kunkolienkar, SabinaMartins,
Hyacinth Pinto, AdvSwati Kerkar, Adv Shanti Fon-seca, Adv Caroline
Collasso,Monica Dias, Amol Morajkar,Afrose Shaikh, Suman Naik
andothers were present for themeeting.
Speakers deliberate on insult to women through writings
nThe writings of the President of GoaKonkani Academy came in for
critique. Themeeting unanimously condemned hisobjectionable
writings namely, the poetryCheddi which is a local abuse in
Konkaniand the poetry itself is against commercialsex workers.
NCP plans to aid SHGsHERALD NEWS DESK
PANJIM, APRIL 27
NCP Mahila Congress met at Por-vorim office of Mahila Front
onTuesday.
The meeting was attended byNCP President Surendra Sirsat,Vice
President Pandurang Raut,Mahila President FermeenaKhaunte, Goa
Mahila Observer,Bharti Chavan and Ganjanan NaikTari. Around 400
women partic-ipated in the meeting that washeld to encourage Self
HelpGroups. It was informed thattraining will be conducted in
bak-ery, jute bags, home science,poultry farms, dairy farming
tohelp women to achieve self re-liance.
Chavan elaborated on allschemes of State and CentralGovernment,
while ProfessorSurendra Sirsat praised theMahila Wing President
Fer-meena Khaunte.
HERALD NEWS DESK
PANJIM, APRIL 27
In order to improve the qualityof Konkani films, the
producersand directors must take themaking of a Konkani film
seri-ously so that the Konkani filmmaintains a certain standardsaid
Rajendra Talak, producerand director of one of the com-mercially
successful Konkani filmO Maria. He was speaking asthe chief guest
on the occasionof Konkani Cinema Day jointlyorganised by Tiatr
Academy Goa(TAG) and Dalgado KonknniAkademi (DKA) on Sunday atTAGs
Conference Hall, Campal,Panjim.
Speaking further he appealedto all involved in the productionof
Konkani films to shed off thecrab mentality and work to-gether for
the development ofKonkani Cinema.
President of DKA, Prem-anand Lotlikar in his welcomespeech
stated that the sacri-fices of the pioneer of KonkaniCinema A L
Jerry Braganzawho is known as Father ofKonkani Cinema for
produc-ing and releasing the 1stKonkani film Mogacho An-
vddo in 1950, should not goin vain and that he should
beremembered for his efforts topromote Konkani Cinema indifficult
times.
Tomazinho Cardozo, Presi-dent of TAG stated that KonkaniCinema
has not become com-mercially successful not becauseall of them are
below standardbut because of the negative at-titude of Goans
towards Konkanicinema. If we love Konkani andlove Goan culture,
then it is theduty of every Goan to witnessKonkani cinemas by
paying tick-ets. When this attitude is im-bibed in us then only
KonkaniCinema will rise to greaterheights. He also proposed thevote
of thanks.
Earlier Rajendra Talak gar-landed the portrait of A L
JerryBraganza as a mark of respectto the Father of Konkani
Cinema.Walter Menezes compered thefunction.
The formal function was fol-lowed by a cultural programmeof
songs from old Konkani Cin-emas. The immortal songs wererendered by
Socorro de SantaCruz, Sonia Fernandes, Clarissaand Maria
Cardozo.
Maintain standard of Konkani films: Talak
Rajendra Talak, producer and director of Konkani film O
Mariaspeaks as the chief guest on the occasion of Konkani Cinema
Dayat TAGs Conference Hall, Campal, Panjim, recently.
HERALD NEWS DESK
PANJIM, APRIL 27
Around 300 contract workmenemployed by Bharat SancharNigam Ltd
(BSNL Goa) in its var-ious divisions and exchanges allover Goa held
a protest demon-stration and Dharna at KrantiCircle, Opp KTCL Bus
stand, Pan-jim, on Wednesday morningpressing their demands for
im-mediate implementation of re-vised Minimum Wage, coverageunder
provident fund scheme,ESI scheme and implementationof other
Statutory WelfareLabour Legislations.
According to a press release,the protest which was heldunder the
banner of All IndiaTrade Union Congress (AITUC)was addressed by Com
Christo-pher Fonseca, R D Mangueshkar,Suhaas Naik, Govind
Pednekarand others, according to a pressrelease issued here.
Though the Central Govern-ment has enhanced and revisedthe
minimum wages of contractworkmen vide Notificationdated 25.03.2010,
BSNL GoaManagement still pays these
workmen much below the pre-scribed Minimum wage. BSNLGoa is now
in the process ofinviting tenders from variouscontractors for
continuing theseworkmen who have been askedto quote for rates below
theminimum wage prescribed bythe Central Government.
BSNL being the principal em-ployer is statutorily liable to
ensurethat these contract workmen aregiven benefits and welfare
meas-ures that they are legally entitledto under Labour
Legislations. De-spite the assurances of Ministerfor Human Resource
Developmentand Union Minister for TelecomKapil Sibbal, these
contract work-men are denied the benefits of re-vised Minimum Wage
and otherStatutory Labour Welfare Legisla-tions referred above.
The contract workers afterholding demonstration at KrantiCircle,
proceeded to the officeof Asst Provident Fund Commis-sioner, at
Patto, Panjim andhanded over a representation de-manding immediate
coverageunder Provident Fund Schemefor all the contract
workmen.
BSNL contractworkers hold dharna
Piles cure at Apollo Victor hospital PANJIM(HND): Apollo Victor
Hospital, Goa launched a new
Proctology Clinic which offers services of a leading
procto-surgeon Dr Ashwin Porwal from Ruby Hall clinic and
PoonaHospital who is the first procto-surgeon in Maharashtra
toperform the STARR surgery, a surgical treatment for
chronicconstipation. This surgery is performed through the
naturalroute without any cut outside. Also the patient is
dischargedwithin 24 hrs and can join on duty from 3rd day.
Dr Ashwin Porwal has successfully treated over 450 hem-orrhoid
patients with the advanced and relatively painlesssurgical
technique MIPH, popularly known as Stapler Surgeryfor piles.
Ashwin Porwal will be available for consultation on
piles,prolapse and constipation on last Friday of every month
atApollo hospital, Margao, from 9 am to 11 am.
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
MAYEM, APRIL 27
Speaker Pratapsing Rane hasstated that Internet has
offeredvariety of benefits for the com-mon man and the biggest
ben-efit of it can be seen in theeducational sector.
He was speaking during thefunction organised to release
asouvenir by Parents Teachers As-sociation of Shri Bhumika
HigherSecondary School.
Highlighting the importanceof Internet, Rane further saidthat
educators can obtain learn-ing material from the Internet.
Educators can preparecourses online and deliveraudio/visual
information to thestudents. For instructors, it is avaluable source
for referencematerial, he added.
Rane stressed the need toprovide WiFi connection to theschools
and colleges in theState. He lauded the efforts ofPTA committee
members fortheir dedicated service for thebetterment of Shri
BhumikaShikshan Sanstha.
Rane released the souvenirBhumika in the presence ofPrincipal Dr
Sadanand Hindeand PTA President KashinathMajik.
Shivaji Rane, school manager,Shankar Chari, secretary,
TanujaKhanolkar, treasurer, HarshaRane, Bhimrao Rane, Jackie
Fer-nandes and other committeemembers graced the function.
Ratnadeep Verekar comperedthe function, while BhimraoRane
proposed the vote ofthanks.
Benefits of Internetvisible in educational
sector, says Rane
Speaker Pratapsing Rane releases a souvenir at Poriem.Photo by
Vishant Vaze
Two eminent Women Lions, Ezilda Sapeco, Chairperson, GoaState
Womens Commission and Nelly Rodrigues, chief of GoaMahila Shakti
Abhiyan felicitated for outstanding service to thecommunity at the
35th Lion Ladies Axillaries District Conven-tion of District 324-
D2. Also present are Kiran Bhatkule, FirstLady of District Ln Rita
Maganlal, Leticia Belchoir, SunitaSawant, Aurea Noronha, Aparna
Palekar and Madhushree Tim-ble
Funds for cultural institutionsHERALD NEWS DESK
PANJIM, APRIL 27
Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi has made operational itsscheme
for the year 2011-12 for the grant of financial assistanceto
cultural Institutions engaged in training activities in
music,dance, drama and in developing new theatre productions. It
alsoprovides for assistance to folk and tribal performing groups
invarious regions and supports works such as community
singing,childrens theatre, research and survey in music, dance or
drama,purchase of stage and other technical equipments.
Application forms should be submitted at the office of
KalaAcademy, Panjim, by May 25 so that the same can be forwardedto
Sangeet Natak Akademi, New Delhi by May 30.
The details of the scheme and application forms are availableon
Sangeet Natak Akademys websites www.sageetnatak.org
andwww.sangeetnatak.gov.in.
-
GOAOHERALD
OPg 5
GOA, THURSDAY, 28 APRIL, 2011
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
CANACONA, APRIL 27
The motorized fishing canoeswill net enhanced kerosene sub-sidy
of Rs 30,000 from currentfinancial year as against previousyears Rs
18,000 subsidy perannum.
According to extension officer(fisheries) Anand D Mhalshi
inCanacona BDO, the subsidy forpurchase of fishing nets is
alsoenhanced from Rs 8,000 to Rs20,000 in the current
financialyear, besides financial assis-tances (subsidies) for
purchaseof new canoe (Rs 40,000), mo-torization of canoe
(purchaseof new motor) Rs 30,000 andother horde of existing
benefitsto fisher folks of Canacona.
According to Canacona BDOsources, there are approximately4,000
fishermen families inCanacona alone eligible for var-ious
government benefits.
Approximately, 369 fishingcanoes are registered in Cana-cona
taluka since the last 8years, sources informed.
Of which, 160 canoes are mo-torized, while 209 canoes
arenon-motorized (manually oper-ated for sailing and other
fishingactivities).
Henceforth, each motorizedcanoe is eligible for kerosenesubsidy
of Rs 30,000 per yearfrom the financial year 2011-12as against the
present Rs 18,000(2010-11).
Mhalshi further informed thatgovernment is extending sub-sidy of
Rs 40,000 each for newcanoe construction (but only be-tween the
lengths of 26-36 ft).
Kerosene subsidy for motorized canoes enhanced from this
fiscal
Left out fishing community aggrieved
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
CANACONA, APRIL 27
Some aggrieved residents from Canacona have pinpointedgovernment
delinquency in clear violation of constitution ofthe country in
implementation of various schemes meant forfishing occupation in
the State.
According to sources in Canacona BDO office, governmentis
extending schemes and benefits only to OBC communitymembers and no
other community people (even though theyhave attained the fishing
trade as part of their occupation) areeligible for these government
doles.
An OBC caste certificate besides a letter of confirmationfrom
the fishing community association is prime necessity forany citizen
of Goa to avail benefits of subsidy and schemesmeant for fishing
occupation, informed the source at CanaconaBDO.
Interestingly, the same criterion is not followed by the
Stategovernment if any citizens of Goa want to purchase
fishingtrawlers or enter into a large-scale mechanized fishing
activ-ity.
According to sources, the only criterion is that the
applicantshould be a citizen of Goa and no caste certificate or any
as-sociation is required.
Then, why discrepancy only to low income and hard-working common
men Aam Admi', questioned sources.
Residents demanding the extension of these facilities to allwho
are already in trade or wants to enter fishing occupation,feel that
the discrepancies of demanding OBC caste certificateand other
related documents are untenable and unconstitutionalin nature as
any citizen irrespective of his caste or creed canearn his/her
livelihood by adopting any occupation of his/herchoice.
So far, 37 fishermen from Cana-cona have benefited from
thescheme in the last three financialyears - 2008-09 (13),
2009-10(11) and 2010-11 (13), he said.
Mhalshi informed that 33 fish-ermen had also availed
benefits
of Rs 30,000 each subsidy forcanoes under motorization,
forpurchase of new motors 2008-09 (9), 2009-10 (13) and 2010-11
(11) and the scheme is stillavailable for grabs.
Fishermen in the taluka are
also eligible for subsidy of Rs20,000 enhanced from previousRs
8,000 for purchase of fishingnets. So far, only 17 fishermenfrom
Canacona have availedthese subsidy benefits - 2008-09 (8), 2009-10
(6) and 2010-11(3).
Sources in Canacona BDOhowever informed that there isa lukewarm
claim for housingscheme to fishermen, wherethey get Rs 50,000 after
com-pletion of their house.
It is learnt that so far onlyfour have reaped housing ben-efits
and the poor response isreportedly attributed due to var-ious CRZ
restrictions, as the fish-ermen community houses aremostly situated
on the talukascoastline.
Fishermen are also reapingthe saving-cum-relief schemebenefits,
where beneficiary hasto pay Rs 75 per month for 8months (Rs 600)
and get Rs1,800 in return and 1,500 fish-ermen from Canacona are
ben-efiting from the scheme.
Besides, fishermen between18 and 60 years can also benefitfrom
group insurance scheme.The returns are Rs 70,000 foraccidental
death and Rs 30,000for natural death cases.
Government is also extend-ing 75% subsidy for those fish-ermen
purchasing insulatedboxes for their day-to-day usageand the subsidy
is eligible forpurchase of boxes of capacityof 50 ltrs (for fish
vendors), 100ltrs (canoe holders) and 220 ltrs(to boat owners of 3
and 4 cylin-ders).
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
PORVORIM, APRIL 27
Some culprits from Mumbaiduped a goldsmith from Be-naulim of Rs
18.50 lakh atKaraswada-Mapusa on Tuesdayevening.
In h i s compla int , D i l ipVernekar from Benaulim toldMapusa
Police that one JagdishGovekar from Margao told himabout a party
from Mumbaiwho is selling gold cheaperthan the market value, if
boughtin kilos.
Vernekar decided to buy onekilo of gold from the party at aprice
of Rs 18,60,000, the cur-rent market price of which is
Rs22,20,000.
Accordingly, Jagdish Govekarcontacted the Mumbai party andfixed
an appointment at Mapusaon Tuesday afternoon, statedthe
complainant.
Vernekar along with his col-leagues arrived at Mapusa.Jagdish
Govekar contacted theparty and informed him thatVernekar has
arrived along withthe cash of Rs 18.50 lakh and itwas decided to
meet at aDhabha near petrol pump atKaraswada.
Benaulim goldsmith duped at Mapusa
The representative of theMumbai party alighted from hiscar and
went to the Dhabawhere Vernekar was sittingalongwith Jagdish
Govekar. Therepresentative showed Vernekara gold bar and also
informedthat remaining gold is in thecar, states the complaint.
Satisfied with representa-tives explanation, Vernekarhanded over
the bag containingcash and proceeded towards thecar to collect gold
from theMumbai party. In the meantime,a Scorpio suddenly came in
andstopped between them and thecar, adds the complaint.
The representative of theMumbai party entered the carswiftly
along with the bag andfled from the site.
Realizing that he has beenduped, Vernekar later filed acomplaint
with Mapusa Police,who registered the complaintunder Section 420 of
IPC againstunknown persons.
Meanwhile, Mapusa Policehave detained Jagdish Govekar,who had
fixed an appointmentwith the Mumbai party for saleof gold.
Mapusa Police on Wednesdayproduced Govekar before Judi-cial
Magistrate First Class andobtained seven days remand
forinterrogation.
Bethora residentdies from tree fall
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
MARCEL, APRIL 27
A 65-year-old man from Kodar-Bethora died, after he
acciden-tally fell from a coconut tree atKodar on Tuesday
morning.
According to Ponda Police,Baburao Gaude had climbed acoconut
tree to pluck coconuts.However, he reportedly lost hisbalance and
fell on the ground.He was rushed to ID Hospital inPonda, where the
doctors de-clared him dead. PSI Sachin Lokreis investigating the
case.
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
CURCHOREM, APRIL 27
Swami Ramdev along with hisfollowers will stage an
indefinitehunger strike in New Delhi fromJune 4, to press the
central gov-ernment to enact laws to checkcorruption and black
money.
Swami Ramdev announcedthis during his Yoga camp at Cur-chorem on
Wednesday morning.The Yoga camp was held at Gov-ernment Complex
Ground, Cur-chorem, and was organised byBharat Swabhiman Trust,
SouthGoa. Thousands of people at-tended the camp which startedat 5
am and ended at 7.30 am.
During the camp, SwamiRamdev demonstrated variousYoga positions,
Asonas andPranayama, which if practicedregularly, will keep one
free fromdiseases and sicknesses, saidSwami Ramdev.
Yoga and Ayurveda maintainsthe body energy which keeps 99%
sickness away and avoids medi-cines. Black money, corruptionand
corrupt system are the ill-nesses of our country and inorder to end
this illness, enact-ment of stringent laws is the needof hour,
stated Swami Ramdev.
A death sentence or life im-prisonment should be the pun-ishment
for corrupt persons.Only then will one stay awayfrom corruption,
said Ramdev.
I dont want politics or pres-tige. But we have to save
thecountry at any cost. The politicalsystem and the education
sys-tem left behind education whichwill create right Samskaras
onthe children is to be imparted.Rastra Dharma is above all
dhar-mas, said Swami Ramdev.
Interacting with media afterthe camp, Swami said presentlyabout
10 crore people are involvedis his movement which is goingon
throughout the country.
Indirectly, it will be the in-
volvement of hundred crorepeople through indefinitehunger
strike. We shall force thegovernment to concede to ourdemands of
enacting stringentlaws to end corruption, he said.
Iron ore was the strength ofGoa, but it has now become
theweakness of the State, he added.
He further said that as far asthe work of Bharat SwabhimanTrust
is concerned, Goa has be-come an ideal State.
Earlier, the camp was inaugu-rated by businessman and
socialworker Nilesh Cabral in the pres-ence of several
dignitaries.
Quepem MLA Babu Kavlekar,CCMC Chairperson Alifa Fernan-des,
Vijayan Menon of ACM andseveral other dignitaries soughtblessings
of Swami Ramdev.
Later, Swami Ramdev inter-acted with the donors and Yogateachers
and entertained theirsuggestions and heard the griev-ances.
Death for corrupt: Ramdev
People participate in the Yoga at Curchorem. Photo by Suresh
Naik
One arrested for assaulting
Agonda womenHERALD CORRESPONDENT
CANACONA, APRIL 27
Canacona Police on Tuesday ar-rested a retired gram sevak
oncharges of assaulting a womanfrom Agonda.
In her complaint, Urmila Velipof Agonda told Canacona Policethat
she was assaulted by ShashiNaikgaunkar while she was re-turning
from Devalaya cashewplantations which she hadrented for this
season.
According to sources, Velip,who reportedly suffered bruisesand
some injuries on her body,complained of unprovoked assaultat an
isolated spot by the accused.
Acting on the complaint, po-lice arrested Shashi
Naikgaunkarunder Section 151 in connectionwith the assault. He was
laterreleased on bail bond on theorder of SDM, informed Cana-cona
PI Raju Raut Dessai.
PI Dessai further informed thatNaikgaunkar during the courseof
investigation informed thathe had caught hold and pushedVelip for
stealing cashew nutsfrom his plantations and deniedany sexual
assault in the case asmade out in some quarters.
However, it is learnt that Velipstrongly denied the
allegationsand charged that she had noteven gone closer to
Naik-gaunkars cashew plantations.
She said that she along withanother girl was walking backto her
home after daylong workin her rented cashew plantationswhen she was
assaulted andpushed by Naikgaunkar simplyon his wild imagination
that shehad stolen cashew nuts from hisplantations.
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
CURCHOREM, APRIL 27
Curchorem MLA Shyam Sa-tardekar recently inauguratedthe three
vehicles purchased byCurchorem Cacora MunicipalCouncil (CCMC).
The three vehicles include aluxurious car for the council, avan
with crane and ladder tomaintain street lights and a vanto catch
the stray dogs.
MLA Satardekar inauguratedthe vehicles in the presence ofCCMC
Chairperson Alifa Fernan-
des, Vice Chairperson BaburaoFatto Dessai, councillors,
ex-councillors and citizens.
Speaking on the occasion,Satardekar said the much re-quired
vehicles are now withthe council and hence all thecouncillors
should unitedlywork for the development ofmunicipal area.
Councilor Pradip Naik said:Though we have political dif-ferences
with the ruling group,we are with them as far as de-velopment is
concerned.
Newly purchased CCMC vehicles inaugurated
Curchorem MLA Shyam Satardekar inaugurates the three new
vehi-cles purchased by CCMC.
CM to openKonkani
Sammelan atKarwar
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
POINGUINIM, APRIL 27
Chief Minister Digambar Kamatwill inaugurate the three-day20th
Akil Bharatiya KonkaniSahitya Samelan at Sadashivgad-Karwar on
April 29 at 3.30 pm.
Various programmes in thefield of art, culture and
literaturewill be organised and the artisteswill perform will be
from Goa,Karnataka, Maharsthra, Kerala,Gujarat and other places of
India.
Konkani Sanskrit Mandal ofSadashivgad-Karwar is the or-ganizer
of the mega event andthey expect about 50,000 par-ticipants for the
event.
According to the organizingSecretary Adv Ramkishna Naik,noted
Konkani writers, poetsand traditional artistes from allover the
country will be on stageto show their talent and en-lighten the
people in preservingtheir rich culture and traditionof the
Konkani-speaking peoplespread all over the world.
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Discrediting CMTulsidas Malkarnekar, Margao
The ministers in Goa Government are airingviews in public which
is in bad taste. It re-duces the credibility of the government
ofwhom they are a part. This gives a badname to the CM. Earlier,
one minister castdoubts on the working of CBI and now an-other
minister is publicly accusing the chiefsecretary of Goa. The moment
these bu-reaucrats do not entertain the whims ofthe ministers they
become useless. If at allthere was a genuine issue, the same
shouldhave been brought to the notice of CM inthe cabinet meeting
held on 28th instant.The minister should have been sensibleenough
to adhere to ethics before airingthe views which brings discredit
to the
Chief Minister.
FORCE is a farceAllwyn George, Carmona
Misleading and conflicting media reportsfrom politicians and
FORCE inaction hasput parents into a quandary. Deadlinesfrom FORCE
and Mickky have expired with-out any end result or action. It looks
likethe parents are let down by FORCE andonly fooled by certain
politicians from Sal-cete. The same politicians are buying timeas
the next academic year will commencesoon and everyone will forget
the issueand FORCE will slowly fade away.
The same politicians will rake up theissue during the elections
by promising toSave Goa from enforced Konkani mediumto polarise
Goans. With time running out,the struggle of FORCE seems to have
be-come just a farce.
Radiation riskRoger Fernandes, Candolim
This is with regards to the US nuclear sub-marine USS La Jolla
which has docked inGoa.
A few months ago, our so-called freedomfighters had protested
against the arrival ofthe Portuguese ship NRP Sagres which wason a
goodwill visit. Why? Because, it was thePortuguese, eh? USS La
Jolla is a nuclear pow-ered submarine. A similar nuclear
poweredaircraft carrier USS Nimitz was in India, andthe people of
Tamil Nadu protested againstit. This was a protest for a good
cause.
Where are the people of Goa and the free-dom fighters? Dont they
realise the dangersof having a nuclear submarine docked in Goa?Or
would they carry out the exercise of goingto Khariwado and
purifying the sea with HolyWater, after the submarine has
departed?
Wise decision, butAdelmo Fernandes, Vasco
In a major decision, Kadamba TransportCorporation Limited (KTCL)
has decidedto take private buses on contract and runthem on a trial
basis from May 1. It is un-derstood that the bus crew would be
fromKTCL and the buses would display theKadamba logo. This is a
win-win situation
for all stakeholders. The KTCL will add rev-enue to its
depleting resources. The privatebus owners, who were crying hoarse
overthe financial losses being incurred, willalso get a steady
income. More importantly,commuters will heave a sigh of relief
sinceprivate bus owners often go on strike.However, KTCL should
ensure that theseprivate buses are road-worthy. In hindsight,it
would be prudent if KTC purchases theseprivate buses instead of
taking them onrent.
Bury the pastMarcos Alemao, by email
Like the Portuguese, India was ruled bythe English for some
300-odd years. Thereare lakhs of freedom fighters in India
whofought the English along with MahatmaGandhi. However, India and
Great Britainmaintain good relations, post independence.But in Goa,
it is not understood as to whythe so-called freedom fighters
Naguesh Kar-mali and Prabhakar Sinari are against the Por-tuguese.
Report entitled ( Close twoPortuguese institutes or face action :
FreedomFighters, Herald, 27 April).
Today, Portugal is a democratic countryand maintains good
relations with its erstwhilecolonies. The two institutions Fundacao
Orienteand Institute Camoes are doing very good job
in Goa. They unite all the people of Goa. Theassociation has
embarked on a senseless mis-sion to demand the closure of
PortugueseConsulate in Goa.
Senseless diatribeD Justin, Panjim
The Goa Freedom Fighters Association whoare in cahoots with the
corrupt Congress gov-ernment say that Those Goans who opt
forPortuguese citizenship should not be allowedto Goa. The chamchas
also said that if thegovernment doesnt close the two
Portugueseinstitutes, then they will come on to thestreets and
prevent the Portuguese consulatefrom functioning.
The reality is that they should come on tothe streets and fight
the government injusticeto the people.
Did these individuals ever realise whyGoans opted for Portuguese
citizenship andwork abroad? The Goa government shouldthank the
Portuguese government for allowingGoans to get Portuguese
citizenship.
System addictMahesh Kumar, New Delhi
Becoming a hero is of no interest to me. Iwork because I believe
in working to improvea system. I cant get away simply with
writing
letters and complaining says Rahul Gandhi.Rahul is already a
hero, even more than ahero, though not a filmi hero. The
rottensystem can be improved by politicians onlyif they wish as
they have the power, butsadly, the will is lacking, since they
takeadvantage of a rotten system and a weaklaw. They do not wish to
have strong laws;as otherwise, they will be caught in thetrap of
law.
Accord justice to allJonas Correia, Aldona
This refers to the letter Justice needed byElsa Borges (Herald,
26 April). I would liketo state that whatever I have written in
myletter Govt ploy (Herald, 18 April) is basedon facts and figures
on the basis of inter-views with government employees, MLAsand
ministers.
The contract workers were employedfor a specific purpose over a
certain periodunless it was envisaged in the contract thatthey
would be absorbed in regular service.What does the writer mean that
new postswere created for them in various Healthdepartments? You do
not employ someonefirst and then create the post. What doesthis
signify? And why only personnel fromone constituency (and
community) weretaken? Arent citizens from other Goanconstituencies
worthy of employment? Isthis democracy?
Finally, what about justice to the thou-sands of Goans some of
whom are wellqualified and enrolled in the employmentexchange but
await placements. Shouldntjobs be created for them too?
The RTI twistFrancisco A Soares, Santa Cruz
The Right to Information Act 2005 is a verypowerful tool for a
citizen to collect infor-mation from various departments to
stopcorruption.
If information is not given within 30days, one can appeal before
the State In-formation Commission.
But there is no judge for the last sixmonths in court rooms
allotted. Who is tobe blamed?
This arduous wait renders RTI seekerspowerless.
People living in Goas urban and semi-urbanareas besides those
residing in mining lo-calities face serious health hazards a
plenty,
because the air contains a variety of toxic gaseswhose effects
are intensified during a dry season.Officials from the Goa State
Pollutions ControlBoard (GPCB) say that their periodic air
monitoringhad shown a high level of air pollution in thestate,
caused mainly by motor vehicular emissionsand dust.The Board
measured the air quality index value(AQIV), an indicator of the
daily levels of pollution.From December 2010 till March this year,
theAQIV in the state ranged from 170 to 200. AnAQIV of above 100 is
considered unhealthy.
Officials say the air is very unhealthy and un-likely to improve
till the monsoons. In a dry sea-son, the air remains stationary and
dust as wellas other toxic pollution levels increase. At
present,the air has high levels of carbon monoxide, hy-drocarbons,
sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxide, ben-zene, etc. Most of these gases
are emitted bymotor vehicles.
Thousands of ill-maintained vehicles ply Goasroads, turning it
into a virtual gas chamber. Poorlysupervised construction sites and
haphazard min-ing activities are constantly spewing dust intothe
atmosphere.
Various mining units that operate mainly duringthe dry season,
contribute to the creation ofharmful smoke and tremendous amount of
dustpollution. As a result, a large quantity of gaseousand
particulate waste constantly enters into theatmosphere.
GSPCB officials say rapid and unplanned ur-banisation is turning
the state into huge concreteslab, engulfing green areas and water
bodies.When particulate matter falls on earth or wet-lands, it gets
absorbed quickly. But when it fallson concrete, vehicular movements
make it air-borne, this affects the respiratory system of peo-ple,
particularly of children, an official said.
Goa, with a population of more than 14 lakhpeople, is an
environmental disaster zone. TheStates chock-a-block roads are
clogged with ap-proximately six lakh vehicles and that figure
risesby 200 every day.
About 60 per cent of these are really to blame,since they spew
more than their share of carbonmonoxide and other pollutants into
the alreadytoxic air.
As a pollution-control measure, the Goa gov-ernment laid down
and implemented PollutionUnder Control (PUG) regulations.
PUG centres were opened in various places inthe state, but
pollution levels continue to increaserapidly. The primary reason
for this is negligenceon the part of vehicle owners.
The other reasons are the bogus certificatesissued by the PUG
centres to vehicle owners with-out actually checking the exhaust
levels of thenumerous tourist vehicles as well as the trucksthat
bring goods from various other parts of thecountry, that enter the
state.And the condition gets only worse, as the in-creasing levels
of pollution in Goa has made theentire state akin to that of gas
chamber.
Data available with the st