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OHERALDOThe Voice of Goa Since 1900
SHWETA KAMAT
PANJIM, JAN 4
Just five per cent of the total in-vestment is what you now
re-quire to start a business in Goa,if you have a Self Help
Group(SHG).
Fulfilling the promise madeduring his last budget speech,Chief
Minister Digambar Kamathas given his nod for the land-mark finance
scheme which willhelp the self help groups tobegin their
venture.
Under the scheme, whichwould be funded by IndustriesDepartment,
SHGs would begiven one time non-recurringgrant of 50 per cent of
the proj-ect cost to the extent of Rs50,000 as a seed capital.
The balance part of seed cap-ital to the extent of 45 per
centwould be made ava i lab lethrough village co-operative
banks, Economic DevelopmentCorporation (EDC), Nationalisedbanks
or other micro financecompanies, Sameer Salgaoncar,Chairman, Goa
Handicraft RuralSmall Scale Industries Develop-
ment Corporation (GHRSSIDC),said.
The self help groups will haveto invest just 5 per cent of
thetotal capital. The State has setaside Rs 40 lakh as an initial
cor-pus for this scheme.
Government officials claimthat the implementation of thescheme
would boost the tradeavenues for the self help groupsscattered
across the State.
Chief Minister on Mondaygave his nod for the scheme,which is
covering all the tradi-tional business ventures likeagro
processing, cashew roast-ing, coconut oil extraction, pro-duction
of chicky and biscuits,pickles, papads, home made em-broidery,
perfumes and handi-crafts.
Giving a full proof look to thescheme, the government will
Business: Sebi can seek info
of investors SC Pg 12Sports: Sachin scores
51st Test ton Pg 16
Goas Heartbeat: Swipe in to enter
Imrans wedding venue Pg 4
IN BRIEF
Visit us at:www.oheraldo.in panjim, wednesday, january 5, 2011
postal reg. no. Goa 101 priCe rs. 3.00 (air surcharge rs 2.00)
pages 16+6
Sorry, no newspapers! I only sell'leaked' Medicine papers. It's
amore profitable business.
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, JAN 4
Almost a year after the police-drug mafia nexus was exposedin
March 2010, a local channelhas telecast latest footage ofa former
Anti Narcotics Cell(ANC) police sub-inspector sell-ing drugs to two
foreigners.
The video-footage has beenshot at an undisclosed desti-nation
showing the policemanselling drugs to two girls. Thenationalities
of the girls arehowever not known as yet.
The report claims that theman on the spy-camera is PSISunil
Guddlar, who was instru-mental in arresting interna-tional drug
dealer DavidDriham alias Dudu with cock-tail of drugs in February,
lastyear.
The footage also exposesthe PSI convincing the girls topurchase
charas . Po l i cespokesperson Atmaram Desh-pande refrained from
speakingon the issue stating that they
will comment only after watch-ing the footage.
Goa ANC earned bad repu-tation after its former inspec-tor
Ashish Shirodkar wasnamed by Israeli drug baronYaniv Benaim alias
Atala as hissupplier of drugs. Followingthis expose by Atalas
formergirlfriend Lucky Amori Farm-house, seven policemen
weresuspended and arrested forcorruption and conspiracy.
Atala however managed toget a bail and jumped it leavingback to
his home town in Is-rael.
Ironically, PSI Guddlar whois named in the sting operationwas
earlier last year awardedcertificate by Director Generalof Police B
S Bassi for nabbingDudu. He had also arrestedShirodkar after his
links withAtala was exposed by media.
Guddlar recently chargesheeted Dudu before the Nar-cotics Drugs
and PsychotropicSubstances Court at Mapusa.
Video-footage trails policeselling drugs
FRANKY GRACIAS
PANJIM, JAN 4
From accommodation rates tofood prices to drinking waterrates,
Goa saw more than 100%increase during the Christmasweek and New
Year leavingmany of the domestic, low-in-come tourists fuming and
fret-ting over the exorbitant pricing,even as the authorities
con-cerned failed to have in place asound mechanism to keep acheck
over this day-light fleec-ing.
Many of the tourists, whocame on a low-budget and hadplans to
ring in the New Year inthe sunny climes, had to cutshort their
visit after Christmasto leave for their respective des-tinations.
The major reasonthese tourists returned was be-cause even the
lowly-pricedguest houses in Panjim hadjacked up their rates from
Rs600 per night to Rs 1,500 pernight.
The same was the situationin other tourism hubs and areas
hit with tourists. Some of therestaurants too didnt lag
behindwith many of them changingtheir menu for the season. Foodand
liquor prices in hotels inthe coastal belt went up enor-mously,
leaving the partyingtourists with a limited choice.
Says Roland Martin of GoaCivic and Consumer Action Net-work, In
regards to this sea-sonal rise in prices we aredealing with roughly
25 lakhtourists coming into the Stateduring the entire season,
includ-ing Christmas and New Year.
Martin mentions in 2009, 25lakh tourists holidayed in Goaand
there were only three com-plaints of cheating and defi-ciency in
service. This year, manytourists may have felt the needto complain,
but whom do theyapproach to address their griev-ances, he
questioned.
The Tourism Department hasno complaint format that couldbe kept
at hotels, airports, busterminals, railway terminals,etc., from
where any complaintcan be registered. These formatscan be pre-paid
ones withstamps affixed on them, sameon the lines of the ones that
arein possession of the Goa PoliceTraffic Cell, he adds.
The Director of Tourism
Tourists felt cheatedthis XMas, New Year
Now, self help groupsto get 95% govt grantHERALD REPORTERPANJIM,
JAN 4
Goa Governor Dr S S Siddhu onTuesday sought immunity
underArticle 361 of Indian Constitu-tion to absolve himself from
thecase against him with Goa StateInformation Commission (GSIC)for
not furnishing informationunder Right to Information (RTI)Act.
Governor has a privilegeunder Article 361 of Indian
Con-stitution which states that Gov-ernor cannot be personally
heldresponsible for the functions hedoes while discharging his
duty,counsel to the Governor, CarlosFerreira told reporters after
ap-pearing before the Commission.
State Information Commis-sioner Motilal Keny on Decem-ber 22,
2010 had issued noticesto Governor Dr S S Sidhu andSpecial
Secretary to the Gover-nor Dr N Radhakrishnan direct-ing them to
appear in personbefore the Commission on Jan-uary 4, 2011 in
connection with
the case.By virtue of Article 361 of
the Constitution, there is ab-solute protection, privilege
andimmunity to the Governor of aState for the exercise and
per-formance of the powers and du-ties of his office or for any
Actdone or purporting to be doneby him in the exercise and
per-formance of those powers andduties and hence the Respon-dent No
1 (Governor) could notbe arrayed as a party Respon-dent in these
proceedings,Narendra Kumar, Secretary toGovernor of Goa stated in
theAffidavit before the Commissionon behalf of Dr Sidhu.
The Governor failed to appearbefore the Commission since heis
playing host to President Prat-ibha Patil during her four-dayvisit
to Goa. But Dr Radhakrish-nan appeared before the Bench.
Advocate Aires Rodrigueshad filed a complaint againstthe duo for
not furnishing
RTI case: Governorseeks immunity
PTI
PURNIA (Bihar), JAN 4
Ruling BJP MLA from Purnia RajKishore Keshari was on
Tuesdaystabbed to death at his resi-dence here in full public
viewby a woman who had earlieraccused him of sexual
harass-ment.
Four-time MLA, 51-year-oldKeshari, was meeting visitorsfrom his
constituency at hisSipahi Tola residence here whenRupam Pathak
stabbed him fa-tally in the spleen, Director Gen-eral of Police
(DGP) Neelmanitold PTI in Patna.
The profusely bleeding MLAwas rushed to a nearby hospital,but
succumbed to his injurieson the way, doctors said.
Visitors caught 45-year-oldPathak, beat her up and handedher
over to the police.
The police admitted thewoman, who had lodged a sex-ual
harassment case six monthsago against the MLA, to a gov-ernment
hospital.
Neelmani ordered Purnia Su-perintendent of Police N H Khanto
ensure that the chargesheetin the case was filed within thenext two
days.
Additional Director Generalof Police (Hqs) P K Thakur saidthe
murder was premeditatedand not a result of anger byPathak that the
police did notlook into her complaint.
He said the woman had re-tracted her statement of
sexualharassment against the MLA be-
fore a first class judicial magis-trate and her husband too
hadrecorded his statement in sup-port of the MLA.
We are probing the casefrom all angles, he said.
Chief Minister Nitish Kumardirected the DGPs to constitutea
high-level probe team, reviewthe security of all legislators
andensure that those who visitedthem were frisked.
Kumar, who asked his deputySushil Kumar Modi to rush tothe spot,
said the BJP MLAs cre-mation will take place with fullstate
honours.
The chief minister also ap-pealed to the people and sup-porters
of Keshari in Purnia tomaintain peace.
State BJP president C P Thakurcondemned the killing and saidthe
case must be investigatedthoroughly.
We will like a thoroughprobe into the incident, Thakursaid.
He said, In his (Kesharis)death, we have lost a young
anddedicated soldier of BJP... wepray to God to give enoughstrength
to Kesharis family andfollowers to tide over the grief.
DIG Purnia will probe themurder.
Condemning the killing of hisparty MLA, Modi said the matterwas
being thoroughly probed.
All aspects involved in theincident will be looked into inthe
course of inquiry, he saidbefore leaving for Purnia.
Woman stabsBihar BJP
MLA to death
Dean confirms topolice of MBBSpapers leakage
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, JAN 4
Goa Medical College (GMC)Dean Dr V N Jindal has con-firmed to
Agassaim police thatthe medical exam papers Gen-eral Medicine I and
II - wereleaked to students prior to theexam.
Agassaim police is inquiringinto a corruption complaintmade by
three activists over theleak of two medical exam pa-pers.
The Dean has confirmed thatGeneral Medicine I and II paperswere
leaked, Inspector Vish-wesh Karpe told Herald.
In his statement, Dr Jindalsubmitted a conclusion that
theleakage could probably be attwo stages moderator
(internalexaminer) or examination sec-tion level of the Goa
University where each of the three setsof papers were
available.
Kashinath Shetye, Ketan Gov-ekar and Atish Mandrakar intheir
complaint letter allegedthat the papers were deliber-ately leaked
with the motive forwrongful and monitory gains.
Following this, the investigat-ing team sent letters to GMCand
GU to reply on the policecomplaint even as the case isyet to be
registered.
GU in its reply to the policestated that they cannot offerany
statement until the GU com-mittee completes its inquiry intothe
paper leak.
GU formed a three-memberinquiry committee following theleakage
of two question papersof MBBS final year and cancelledthe two
papers, hours beforestudents could appear for Gen-eral Medicine
II.
General Medicine-I paper
...to get mallat Margao
HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, JAN 4
Theres good news in storefor women Self Help Groupsin the
State.
The government has ap-proved a shopping-cum-ex-hibition mall for
the Self HelpGroups in the CommercialCapital at an estimated costof
Rs 3-4 crore.
If Chief Minister DigambarKamat is to be believed,
landadmeasuring 1000 sq meters
A video-footage shot at an undisclosed destination.
CBI seeks withdrawal of
case against QPTI
NEW DELHI, JAN 4
Pressing for closure of Boforspay-offs case against Italian
busi-nessman Ottavio Quattrocchi,the CBI on Tuesday contendedbefore
a Delhi Court there wasnothing new in the ITAT orderthat would
obstruct the with-drawal of the over two-decade-old criminal
proceedings.
I am not disputing what thetribunal has said. That is thecase of
prosecutor (CBI) also andi t i s ment ioned in thechargesheet.
There is nothingnew, Additional Solicitor Gen-eral P P Malhotra
told Chief Met-ropolitan Magistrate VinodYadav.
The court, which was to passits order on the politically
sen-sitive case, started hearing ar-guments again after
SupremeCourt lawyer Ajay Agarwal sub-mitted that the matter be
lookedinto afresh in the light of theIncome Tax
Appellate Tribunals order onMonday that kickbacks of Rs 41crore
were paid to late WinChaddha and Quattrocchi in theHowitzer gun
deal.
Christmas night was
chilliest: MetHERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, JAN 4
The night of Christmas in Goawas the chilliest for the year2010,
with temperature drop-ping down to 17.9 Degree Cel-sius.
The Indian Metrological Ob-servatory Goa in-charge K VSingh said
that the northerlywinds dropped the tempera-ture during the season.
How-ever, the mercury will remainconstant in January as thewinds
have started flowing
The partial solar eclipse cov-ered the sun by 30 per cent seen
at the historical DurgianaTemple in Amritsar on Tuesday.
Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan takes a jet ski ride with his
grandsonat Benaulim beach on Tuesday. Amitabh, who has a liking for
watersports, is on a brief holiday in Goa.
Plea seeks 2G licencescancellation
PTI
NEW DELHI, JAN 4
Janata Party Chief SubramanianSwamy on Tuesday moved theapex
court seeking cancellationof the 2G spectrum licences al-lotted
during the tenure of for-mer Telecom Minister A Rajaallegedly in
violation of all normsand procedure causing huge lossto the state
exchequer.
13 perish in NorthIndia cold waveAllahabad and the
nationalcapital on Tuesday shiveredunder the intense cold wavethat
claimed 13 more lives andcontinued to keep mercuryunder sub-zero
levels in thehill states of northern India. The mercury dipped
belowthree deg C, the first time inseven years in Allahabad,
leav-ing eight people dead due tocold in the district. Also,
fivemore deaths were reportedfrom different parts of UttarPradesh
two each in Pratap-garh and Jaunpur and one inBarabanki due to cold
sinceMonday, officials said. (PTI)
Governor shot deadin PakistanPakistan Peoples Party leaderand
Punjab Governor SalmaanTaseer was shot dead by oneof his guards who
was an-gered by his opposition tothe controversial blasphemylaw.
Taseer, 66, was gettinginto his car in Islamabadwhen the guard from
PunjabPolices Elite Force shot himwith an assault rifle pumpingmore
than 25 bullets at closerange. (PTI)
(Continued on page 2)
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2)
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SHAHENSHAH OF THE SEASSHAHENSHAH OF THE SEAS
-
Printed and published by Vinayak Pai Bir for and on behalf of
Herald Publications Pvt Ltd. Printed at Herald Publications Pvt
Ltd, Plot No: L-135, Phase II, Verna Industrial Estate, Verna,
Salcete, Goa. Published at PO Box 160, Rua Sao Tome, Panjim, Goa -
403001. Editor-in-chief: Mr R F Fernandes. Editor: Ashwin
Tombat(Responsible under PRB Act). Regd Office: St Tome Road,
Panjim, Goa. Tel: 2224202, 2228083, Fax: 2222475 (all Editorial);
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owners.
!OHERALDO
GOA, WEDNESDAY, 5 JANUARY, 2011
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-
GOAOHERALD
O
Pg4GOA, WEDNESDAY, 5 JANUARY, 2011
HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, JAN 4
Taking serious cognizance ofthe emerging situation in
theRumdamol Housing Board lo-cality vis--vis the demolitionnotice
issued to the Shri SwamiSamarth Temple, Chief Minister,Digambar
Kamat on Tuesdayasked the South Goa DistrictCollector, G P Naik to
immedi-ately intervene in the matterand work out a solution.
I have directed the districtCollector, South G P Naik
toimmediately intervene andseek details from the DeputyDirector of
Panchayats, Southfor issuing directions to theRumdamol Panchayat to
ini-tiate action against the tem-ple premises, the ChiefMinister
told Herald on Tues-day.
Kamat feigned ignoranceabout the whole situation andsaid he came
to know of the no-tice issued by the RumdamolVillage Panchayat to
the templecommittee only through themedia.
No sooner my attention wasdrawn to the issue, I have asked
the district collector to seek alldetails from the
panchayatdeputy director. I am confidentthat the district collector
willmediate into the matter and en-sure that a solution is
workedout after consultation with allthe parties, he said.
Sources in the know said thegovernment is wary about
thesituation going out of controlon two counts: First, any
deci-sion by the village panchayatbody to execute the
demolitionorder would only open flood-gates on religious structures
be-longing to other communities,some of whom stand on openspaces
and even governmentland.
Secondly, the ruling Con-gress party is cautious of thefact that
even though the dem-olition notice issued to thetemple committee is
done bya BJP-controlled panchayatbody, the issue would finallycome
to haunt the party gov-ernment for not interveningin the
matter.
Sources in the know informedthat party leaders have
alreadyconveyed their sentiments to
DeMoLITIoN NoTICe To rUMDaMoL TeMpLe
Intervene, work out a solution,CM asks South Collector
HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, JAN 4
District Collector, South G P Naik has wondered how the
DeputyDirector of Panchayats, South could direct the Rumdamol
Panchayatto initiate action against the Shri Swami Samarth Temple
whenthe temple structure is one of the many religious structures
alreadyidentified by the government as per the Supreme Court
order.
This temple figures in the list of structures which were
identifiedby the authorities as per the Supreme Court order. The
fate ofthese structures is pending before the Cabinet, but before
thegovernment could come out with a policy decision, the deputy
di-rector of panchayats has directed the Rumdamol Panchayat
toinitiate action against the temple structure, Naik said.
The district collector, however, exuded confidence that a
solutionwould be found to the problem at the earliest. It is learnt
that thedistrict collector spoke to the deputy director of
panchayats asper the chief ministers directions.
HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, JAN 4
Rumdamol Village Panchayat on Tuesdayhas said there are no plans
to raze downany structures of the Shri SwamiSamarth Temple after
the expiry of thedeadline on Wednesday and made itcategorically
clear that the body wouldmeet again in the future to take stockof
the situation.
Ruling BJP Panch member and formerSarpanch Ulhas Tuemkar
informed thatthere are no such plans to raze down thestructures
upon the expiry of the noticeperiod. There are reports doing
the
rounds that the Panchayat would razedown the structures after
the expiry ofthe notice period. I want to categoricallystate that
there are no such plans andthe Panchayat would meet again in
thefuture to decide the future course of ac-tion, Tuemkar
added.
Admitting that the Panchayats notice ofdemolition issued to the
Temple committeeexpires on January 5, he categorically statedthat
there is no plan in place to executethe notice, and added that the
Panchayatbody had to issue the demolition notice asper the
directions from the Deputy Directorof Panchayats, South.
Tuemkar and other members of the Rum-damol Panchayat body were
called by theMargao Sub divisional Police officer, DySPUmesh
Gaonkar to take stock of the situa-tion since the notice period
expires onWednesday. The Panchayat members toldDySP Gaonkar that
the Panchayat have notdrawn up any plans to initiate action
againstthe structures
Meanwhile, BJP Minority wing leaderShaikh Jina has asserted that
the RumdamolPanchayat would not demolish any religiousstructure in
the Housing Board, whether itbelongs to the Hindus, Christians or
Mus-lims.
Can dy director ofpanchayats direct VP
to initiate action?
the chief minister, promptingKamat to direct the district
col-lector to intervene and seek alldetails from the panchayat
au-thorities.
GPCC General Secretary VijaySardessai is also reported tohave
told the chief minister to
ensure that the authorities ex-ercise caution and respect
thesentiments of the people.
The Rumdamol Panchayat hadissued a demolition notice onthe
temple committee on De-cember 21 to raze down thestructures within
15 days.
No plans to raze down structures: pyat
HERALD REPORTER
VASCO, JAN 4
Property worth nearly Rs 3 lakh was destroyed, after a house
wasgutted in a fire at Headland Sada, Mormugao, on Tuesday
after-noon.
According to reports, no one was injured in the incident, as
thehouse inmates were not present in the house when the
incidentoccurred.
Electrical appliances like TV, washing machine,
refrigerator,cash and gold valuables belonging to tenant Vithoba
Dabolkar,who was residing in the rented house, were gutted in
thefire.
Dabolkar, who had gone to drop his child to school and laterfor
shopping, received a call at about 9.30 am stating that fireerupted
in his rented house.
However, before he could arrive, Dabolkars neighbours put
inefforts to extinguish the fire, fire brigade also rushed to the
site.However, due to the congested and narrow approach road to
thesite, the fire brigade was forced to attach as many as six
hosepipes to extinguish the fire.
After receiving a call from Panjim headquarters, myself
alongwith officer Rupesh Sawant and three fire fighters rushed to
thesite and extinguished the fire, said Vasco Fire Brigade Station
In-charge Bosco Ferrao.
He further said most of the electrical appliances like TV,
washingmachine, refrigerator and other electronic items, cash of Rs
10,000and gold chain worth Rs 50,000 and other furniture were
completelygutted in the fire.
Ferrao said the damage to property is estimated to be Rs
2.95lakh. The cause of fire is suspected to be a short circuit that
couldlead the fire, but the Fire Department would seek a report
fromthe Electricity Department.
House gutted at Headland Sada, property worth Rs 3 lakh
destroyed
Vasco Fire Brigade officials inspect the gutted house at
HeadlandSada, Mormugao. Photo by M Prabhav
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, JAN 4
Goa government-run Horticul-ture Corporation in its fresh ini-t
ia t ive has begun se l l ingimported fruits on its existingcart at
Panjim from today.
At least 10 types of fruitsalongside vegetables will be soldon
the same cart. The Corpora-tion has roped in a Mumbai-based firm to
supply fresh andhealthy fruits to these carts,which will be
chemical-free,Sankalp Amonkar, Chairman ofGoa State Horticulture
Devel-opment Corporation told Her-ald.
The franchisees of these cartswill be supplied fruits for
saledepending on the demand. Themenu includes oranges, sweetlime,
apples, bananas, custardapples, water melon, grapes,chickoos and
other varieties.
To start with, the corporation
will pour-in four-to-five tonnesof fruits daily at the outlets.
Thecorporation at present runs 336outlets and will open more
50outlets this year.
Corporations Managing Di-rector Orlando Rodrigues saidthat the
products would not besold as cheap as other vegeta-bles sold at
their outlets.
Not necessary that thefruits will be sold at cheaperrates
because ripening costsmore. We have ensured thatthese fruits are
ripened chem-ical-free, healthy and fresh,he said.
The Corporation will soonallot separate well-equippedcold carts
to sell these fruits.
Around 20 solar carts areplanned in the coastal belt be-ginning
with one cart which hasalready started functioning onexperimental
basis, Amonkarhad told reporters in December
2010.He said that the first ever cart
is based at their headquartersin Panjim, which is being
mon-itored. The Corporations initia-tive is pioneered in India
asthese carts harness solar energyto function. Each cart costsabout
Rs 80,000.
These solar-powered cartshave the facility to reduce
thetemperature of the storing fa-cility by 20 degree celsius
whichincreases the shelf life of thehigh-value exotic vegetables
andfruits.
Rodrigues had also said thatthese carts would be
providedfree-of-cost to the franchiseesand they will have to pay
mini-mum maintenance cost for theCorporation.
The new venture is an initia-tive by the Rashtriya Krishi
VikasYojna, which will bear 50 percent of the total cost.
Missing file: Lawpanel files
police complaint HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, JAN 4
Goa State Law Commission(GSLC) today filed a police com-plaint
into the formation of thecommissions missing docu-ments from the
Secretariat.
It has been brought to thenotice of the law commissionthrough
press reports that thefile related to constitution ofLaw Commission
has been miss-ing, Manohar Shetye, officeron special duty to
Chairman ofLaw Commission, has said in hiscomplaint letter with
DirectorGeneral of Police.
The Commission has said thatimmediate inquiry should beinitiated
into the matter.
The State government in areply to the Goa-based socialactivist
Aires Rodrigues had con-firmed that the file containingdocuments on
the formation ofthe Goa Law Commiss ionheaded by Ramakant Khalap
ismissing.
The Law Department has alsoinformed that all efforts to lo-cate
and trace the file were fu-tile. The department has issuedcircular
to heads of all depart-ments to see whether the filehad
inadvertently been receivedby their department with a re-quest to
return it at the earliest.
Khalap, when contacted hadtold Herald that a police com-plaint
should immediately beregistered in the case of missingfile. There
is nothing to hidein the file. It should be like anopen bookIts not
on any con-tract or promotion, but aboutformation of the
commission,Khalap said.
Horticulture Corp begins sale of imported fruits
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, JAN 4
Goa State Horticulture Devel-opment Corporation has limitedthe
supply of onion bags to itsfranchises in order to avoid mis-use of
the commodity which isin high demand.
To stop the misuse, we havelimited the supply of onions tofour
bags (200 kg) per outlet. Itis basically to avoid the possi-bility
of purchasing low-pricedonions from our carts and sellingit at
higher rates in the openmarket, Corporations Manag-ing Director
Orlando Rodriguestold Herald.
Goa Government on Decem-ber 28, 2010 had further slasheddown
prices of onions from Rs35 to Rs 25 per kg which aremade available
through all 336outlets and 246 mobile vans ofthe Corporation.
Soaring onions prices for thelast more than a month are
stillbrining tears to the commonman. The Goa market that
com-pletely depends on the importfrom neighbouring States is
sell-ing onions not less than Rs 70in the open market.
Rodrigues said that with goodquality onions being sold atlower
price at corporationscarts, the panicked consumersare purchasing
the commodityin bulk fearing rise in price.
There is a huge rush foronions at all horticulture outlets.The
sale finishes by afternoonas our outlets are selling onionsby half
a price that of open mar-ket rates. But we want to makeit clear
that we will not raisethe price until the Governmentsorder, he
said.
The corporation has in-structed its franchises that each
consumer is entitled for two kgonions.
Initially onions were availableat the wholesale rate of Rs 45to
Rs 51 when corporation wasselling it for Rs 35. Now sincethe prices
have crashed further,the corporation sells it for Rs25.
We now get onion for Rs 35per kg on wholesale rate. We de-cided
to pass on this benefit to theconsumer by making it available atRs
25, Corporations ChairmanSankalp Amonkar had said.
Goa gets 40 to 50 tonnes ofonions every day from Nasik
andBelgaum. The onion prices havemade several thousand peoplevisit
their outlets.
We were having 50,000 footfalls daily on an average butwhen we
began giving onionsat lower rates, the foot fall hasincreased to
75,000, he said.
limits supply of onion bags to its franchises
Meet on fire
hydrant system
at Vasco
market todayHERALD REPORTER
VASCO, JAN 4
Mormugao Municipal Council(MMC) Chief Officer GopalParsekar has
convened a jointmeeting with authorities onWednesday to take
immediatemeasures regarding the dilapi-dated fire hydrant system
atVasco Municipal market.
The meeting has been con-vened with the electricity, PWD,fire
and MMC officials.
Following a complaint fromDisaster Management In-chargeof
Mormugao and Deputy Col-lector Levinson Martins, VascoFire Brigade
along with Mormu-gao Municipal Council (MMC)official recently
inspected thedilapidated fire hydrant systemof Vasco Municipal
market.
Vasco Fire Brigade Station Of-ficer Bosco Ferrao along withMMC
CO Gopal Parsekar andcivic Engg John Abreu carriedout joint
inspection and noticedas many has seven shortfalls ofthe
dilapidated fire hydrant sys-tem and status of the congestedmarket,
which suggest that it isvulnerably exposed to fire.
Ferrao in his report has statedthat the main fire hydrant
linewhich is connected to the under-ground well with a pump near
themunicipal garage is found to benon-operational, while
municipalauthority had informed Ferraothat separate fire line has
beeninstalled by the PWD, which wasnon-traceable during
inspection.
HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, JAN 4
Commuters on the Margao-Pan-jim route now have the optionof
travelling in brand new KTCbuses, having FM facility and
hydraulic doors.The Kadamba Transport Cor-
poration has deployed fivebrand new buses on the Mar-gao-Panjim
route to cater to thegrowing needs of the travelling
commuters on the busy route.And, if KTC Managing Direc-
tor Venancio Furtado is to bebelieved, the KTC has placed
or-ders for 15 more buses to serv-ice other busy routes in the
state.Giving details of the features
of the new blue-colouredbuses, Furtado said each ofthe buses
have cost the KTCRs 22 lakh.
MBBS papers leakagewhich was already answered by the students on
Saturday was alsocancelled. Second year MBBS, final year MBBS part
I and part IIstudents are appearing for the slated exams that began
on January1.
The committee today submitted its preliminary inquiry
confirmingthat the papers were leaked. A detailed inquiry will be
carried outby another GU committee. Herald on Monday had exposed
thepaper leakage after which prompt actions were taken by the
GMCand GU.
The complainants meanwhile have complaint to the North
GoaSuperintendent of Police against Inspector Karpe of
threateningthem to withdraw the complaint.
Karpe threatened on the phone to withdraw the complaint orsubmit
the leaked question papers. From where we can producethe papers,
Shetye said.
Reacting to the allegations, Karpe said that the
complainantswere only asked to produce the leaked papers as they
have com-plaint against the leakage.
I am not the interested party and therefore it is not true thatI
have threatened the complainants, he said.
Governor seeks immunityinformation under RTI Act.
Ferreira said that Governor personally cannot be made party
tothe petition because he has not signed the order vis--vis
informationunder RTI.
Dr Radhakrishnan in his reply before the Commission said
thatGovernor is not a public authority and therefore he cannot
becovered under RTI. The Commission has scheduled the next dateof
hearing for arguments on January 21.
Strongly opposing this, Rodrigues submitted that the Governorhad
to be party to the case to explain to the Commission as tohow he is
not a public authority.
He also drew the Commissions attention that even the Presidentof
India as a public authority was complying with the RTI Act.
Rodrigues by an application on November 29, 2010 under theRTI
had sought from the Raj Bhavan details of action taken oncomplaints
made by him to the Governor against Advocate GeneralSubodh
Kantak.
He had also sought copies of noting sheets and
correspondencepertaining to the processing of his complaints
against the AG.
The reply letter undersigned by the Special Secretary on
No-vember 30 declined to furnish information stating that
informationunder RTI Act could not be furnished as the Governor is
not aPublic Authority.
The reply also mentioned that an Affidavit to this effect
wasfiled before the Bombay High Court at Goa.
At a public meeting in December 2010, the advocate demandedthat
Governor should not hoist the Tricolour on the Republic Dayon
January 26, 2011, if the latter claims he is not a Public
Author-ity.
SHGs to get 95% granthave arrangement with the customers of self
help groups, in case;they fail to repay the loan amount.
The applications under the scheme would be approved by
ap-praisal committee consisting of Chairman GHRSSICD, MD
NikhilDessai, and representatives from Industries Department and
othertrade bodies.
...to get mall at Margaonear the proposed Non-Conventional
Energy Park located meters
away from the South Goa District court, has been allocated to
theGoa Handicraft Corporation to build the mall.
As per the designs, the ground floor of the proposed mall willbe
fully utilised for exhibition of items produced by the Self
Helpgroups. The ground floor would be utilised for the display
ofhandicraft items produced by the SHGs. The SHGs would beallotted
small stalls on the remaining floors in the shopping mall,Kamat
told Herald.
He said the exhibition-cum-shopping mall would help
attracttourists visiting South Goa, thus giving a big boost to the
SelfHelp Group movement. I am happy that the MPs have also
offeredtheir support to the SHGs by chipping funds under the
MPLADscheme, the Chief Minister added.
Saying that the government is committed to promoting SelfHelp
Groups in a big way, Kamat said the government has beenproviding
funds to the tune of Rs 25,000 to the SHGs as part ofconcerted
attempts to empower women to become independentand appealed to the
women in the State to avail benefits of thevarious government
schemes for their welfare and upliftment.
Tourists felt cheated...Swapnil Naik said they had no set format
as such for receivingcomplaints, even as he adds there are other
price-controlling au-thorities to check into this phenomenon. We
have so many hotelsregistered with us and these give us a chart of
their rates. Thistime we never had a single complaint, he
mentions.
President of Travel and Tourism Association of Goa (TTAG)Gaurish
Dhond says prices shooting up during the crucial time ofChristmas
and New Year was a serious matter and stakeholderslike the Tourism
Department, Transport Department, etc., needto come together to
devise a strategy to keep prices in check.
Dhond, however, adds there is a need to have a strict
controlover the tariffs of hotel during this crucial time and they
wouldraise the issue with the director of tourism. This time
emptyrooms in some hotels, including the ones in Panjim, indicated
do-mestic tourists turned up in cars, but never felt the need for
aroom. After ringing in the New Year they used the Sulabh toilet
inthe morning to freshen up and left the State, he states.
Spokesperson of TTAG and Chairman of the Tourism Committeeof Goa
Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Ralph DSouza saysfor Christmas
and New Year there was a 7-8% increase in the arrivalof domestic
tourists. He, however, adds this year the jacking ofprices was not
that unruly as seen in the past.
DSouza says there were empty rooms in hotels even on thecoast,
some of them very affordable, but the tourists never reachedhere
because of the exorbitant rates of one-way flight tickets andthe
buses too raised their fares. It is here there needs to be
pricecontrolling more than anywhere else, he adds.
Those in the tourism trade feel Goa may lose out on tourists
inthe long run if the stakeholders involved dont sit together
andhave in place a mechanism to penalise the few people involved
indistorting the tourism image by jacking up prices to take
advantageof the situation.
Christmas night chilliesteasterly, he said.
The year 2011 has started at a little warmer note with
minimumtemperature dropping to 21 degree Celsius on January 3.
There may be drop in temperature sometimes as northern partof
the country is facing extreme weather, Singh said.
Goa had recorded minimum temperature on December 14,1945 when
mercury scored down to 14.1 Degree Celsius fol-lowed by 14.4 Degree
Celsius on January 3, 1991. The thirdlowest temperature 15.2 Degree
Celsius was recorded on Feb-ruary 9, 2008.
froM paGe1
Scribe nabs robber in VascoVASCO, JAN 4 (HR) -- A reporter
managed to nab a man, who hadallegedly robbed and threatened a flat
owner at knife-point inVasco city on Tuesday afternoon.According to
reports, PremchandMishra (27) from Palli-Rajasthan along with
another person managedto break into the flat of former Navy
officer, Balwant Saini, on thethird floor of Sonia Apartment in
Vasco city.
Transport chief
stresses on
safe drivingHERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, JAN 4
The Directorate of Transport onTuesday observed Traffic
SafetyWeek at the Margao KTC Busstand with a message to the
busdrivers on safe driving.
Transport Director Arun Desai,KTC Managing Director
VenancioFurtado and RTO officials, besidesbus drivers participated
in theprogram. In his address, theTransport Director said the
ob-jective behind observing thetraffic safety week is to conveya
message to drive safely andto observe then dos and dontswhile
driving. The message tothe drivers during this roadsafety week will
help reduce theaccident rate. Bus drivers needto take all
precautions and drivesafely. They should ensure theydont speak on
the cell phoneswhile driving. All these measureswill help reduce
the accidents,he added.
In his brief address, KTC Man-aging Director Venancio
Furtadosaid the posters distributed tothe drivers conveys message
tothe drivers to take precautionswhile driving.
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, JAN 4
A Herald expose of the MBBSpaper leaks had its full impactwith
the Goa University now de-claring examinations of GeneralMedicine
Paper-I and Paper-IIheld on January 1 and 3, respec-tively, as null
and avoid.
A press statement issued bythe Controller of ExaminationsG P
Prabhu Khanolkar NOTES,In view of the observations re-ported by the
Inquiry Commit-tee appointed by GU to inquireinto the alleged
leakage of thepapers, the examinations havebeen treated as null and
avoid.
The statement informs on thefresh dates for the examinationon
January 13 (General MedicinePaper I) and January 14
(GeneralMedicine Paper II). For both daysthe exam time is from 10
am to
1 pm.The examination for the re-
maining subjects of MBBS willbe held as scheduled, it notes.
When contacted AssistantRegistrar Rajesh Bhatikar saidthe report
was with the ViceChancellor and he may addressa press conference to
make itknown to the media.
Sources confirmed that thethree-member committee in theirreport
to the Vice Chancellor hasconfirmed paper leakage.
The committee was basicallyto conduct preliminary inquiryon
whether the medical paperswere leaked or not. The reporthas
affirmed leakage, said thesource.
After studying the first report,Vice Chancellor will form
an-other committee to probe intothe details of the leakage.
GU sets fresh datesfor two MBBS papers
5 KTC buses with hydraulic doors launched
-
GOAOHERALD
OPg5
GOA, WEDNESDAY, 5 JANUARY, 2011
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, JAN 4
Has there been fixing with re-gards to reservation of wardsof
the Corporation of the Cityof Panjim (CCP) which will gofor
elections in March?
Eyebrows have been raisedsince Taleigao MLA, BabushMonserrate
who floated hispanel Panjjim City CorporationDevelopment Front
(PCCDF) onJanuary 31, 2010. He has notonly declared his candidates
buthas also advertised which can-didate will contest from whichward
even as State ElectionCommission (SEC) is yet to issuea
notification notifying whichwards have been reserved forwomen and
OBC candidates.
When this reporter enquiredwith the office of SEC on Tues-day
afternoon, she was informedthat they are still in the processof
completing the exercise ofreservation of wards and noti-fication
will be issued later.
The officer, who did not wantto be named when questioned,said
they do not follow any setprocess in reserving wards. How-ever
wards which stand reservedwill be thrown open for generalcategory
in the coming election.
So, the ten wards which havebeen reserved for women andfive for
OBC candidates will bereserved for coming election.
This also means, in the absenceof a notification, one could
safelypredict only about 15 wards whichwill be reserved this
time.
However, it is reliably that learntthat SEC has tentatively
worked outwhich wards will be reserved andnotification to this
effect will be is-sued at a later stage.
On the other hand BJP whichhad also floated panel last
cor-poration election has not yetdeclared its candidates.
Whencontacted CCP Corporator Ru-pesh Haldankar said their panel
will be declared once the reser-vation notification is out.
In this background a pertinentquestion thats being raised ison
what basis has Taleigao MLAdecided who will contest fromwhich ward
for his panel? Orhas there been a fixing with re-gards to
reservation?
When Herald tried to contactTaleigao MLA for his comment,he
however was not answeringhis cell. So its interesting to seeif the
forecast of Taleigao MLApertaining to reservation ofseats for OBC
and women can-didates comes true? And it willbe known only after
the SEC is-sues its notification.
CCP ward reservationunder fixing cloud
n Eyebrows have been raised since TaleigaoMLA, Babush Monserrate
who floated hispanel Panjjim City CorporationDevelopment Front
(PCCDF) on January31, 2010. He has not only declared hiscandidates
but has also advertised whichcandidate will contest from which
wardeven as State Election Commission (SEC)is yet to issue a
notification notifyingwhich wards have been reserved forwomen and
OBC candidates.
A group of editors from local dailies called on the President of
India, Pratibha Devisingh Patil at RajBhavan on Tuesday.
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, DEC 4
Editors of prominent dailynewspapers made a courtesycall on
President Pratibha De-visingh Patil today afternoon.The President
is in Goa on aprivate visit along with herfamily.
Ms Patil enquired aboutthe media in Goa and saidthat she was
extremely happyto be in the State, especiallywhen the weather was
sopleasant.
The President is scheduled toleave Goa for Pune on
December6.
Editors make courtesycall on President
Khatib complainsagainst 4
for outragingwifes modesty
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, JAN 4
Nationalist Congress Party (NCP)Goa Youth President TanvirKhatib
today complained againstfour persons of outraging mod-esty of his
wife at KTC bus standon January 3 night.
In his complaint letter to Pan-jim Town Police Station,
Khatibaccused Swapnil Vaigankar ofMapusa and three others of
mis-behaving with his wife andthreatening his family.
The complainant furtherstated that the foursome alsoabused and
assaulted him aswell as his brother Shoaib andrestrained the
victims from leav-ing the spot.
A case under sections 323(voluntary causing hurt),
504(threatening), 354 (outragingmodesty of a woman), 341(wrongful
restraint) and 34 (com-mon intention) have been reg-istered against
the allegedculprits.
Inspector Sandesh Chodankarinformed that the issue trig-gered
after vehicular accidentand that Swapnil was arrestedand later
released on bail.
Saad appeals to Prezto stop sale of alcohol
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, JAN 4
Bailancho Saad, which has been protesting against the sale
ofalcohol and its promotion on Government premises, is trying
tocatch the attention of the visiting President Pratibha Patil to
takenote of its complaint against the annual wine festival, Grape
Es-capade, scheduled to be held from January 27 for three days
atthe INOX courtyard in the capital city.
In a press release issued here, Saad said Goa Tourism
DevelopmentCorporation had issued an advertisement inviting
application forstalls for festival at INOX which is a government
premise. Saad de-mands that alcohol sale and promotion on
government premisesbe stopped forthwith, it stated.
The release mentioned that Saad had sent a memorandum seek-ing
intervention of the President, who as the constitutional headwas
required to uphold the directive principles of the
Constitutionprohibiting State governments from promoting
alcohol.
Saad has appealed to Patil to direct the State Government
touphold the principles of the Constitution and stop the sale
ofalcohol on its premises. It reminded the President of one of
herpublic speeches where she had expressed her concern over
theeffect of alcohol on women and children.
Saad observed womens organisations have been protestingthe sale
and promotion of alcohol at INOX. Last year when thewine festival
was organised on Republic Day, Saad had called onthe Chief
Secretary who promised that hence forth no alcoholwould be sold on
government premises, the release states fur-ther.
However, it mentioned, at the International Film Festival heldin
November 2010 alcohol continued to be sold and promoted
ongovernment premises at INOX as well as Childrens Park
whereKingfisher village was set up.
2 more arrested for murdering Bihar native
HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, JAN 4
The Colva police have arrested two more accused persons in
con-nection with the gruesome murder of a construction worker
fromBihar at Pedda-Varca on Sunday morning.
The police said the two accused Mukhia Murmu (25) and
MunshiMurmu (25), both hailing from Jharkhand, were arrested
fromPanjim. The police have so far arrested three persons in
connectionwith the murder of the Bihari.Two more accused persons
whowere staying in the room when the deceased was axed to deathare
still at large.The Colva police are investigating.
HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, JAN 4
Why cant the government makeprovision for helicopters
andhelipads to transport VVIPs totheir destinations instead
ofclosing roads for hours together,was the common refrain as
thevisit of the President of IndiaPratibha Patils to a starred
hotelat Benaulim by road threw trafficout of gear and left fuming
mo-torists in the Commercial Capi-tal.
Movement of vehicular trafficcame to a complete halt alongthe
highway between Nuvemand the Old Market Circle forwell over half
and hour. Theentry and exit points of the KTC
bus stand was shut half an hourbefore the Presidents convoywas
to head towards Benaulimvia the Old Market Circle.
The situation only worsenedafter the convoy crossed the
OldMarket Circle. The city wasplunged into traffic snarls andit
took a long time for the trafficpersonnel to restore order.
The situation was no differentin the evening session when
thePresident returned from thehotel. All Traffic coming fromthe
internal roads to the mainroad came to a halt to make wayfor the
Presidents convoy tocross the Old Market-KTC standroad, once again
throwing trafficout of gear.
Motorists who tried to takethe internal roads to get to
thehighway were stranded in trafficjam. The narrow Nehru
stadium-KTC bus stand road witnessedtraffic bottlenecks as private
ve-hicles took the road as the OldMarket road was closed for
traf-fic.
The traffic arrangements leftmany a motorist fuming
withtwo-wheeler rider demandingto know why the President ofIndia
was not flown to Benaulimby a chopper instead of closingthe road
for hours together. Thepresident spent some time atBenaulim beach
amid tight se-curity cover and even enjoyeda short boat ride.
Prezs visit to Benaulim hotel throws traffic off gear
KTC drivers and members of the public seen waiting for the
Presidents convoy to cross Margao onTuesday noon. Photo by Santosh
Mirajkar
HERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, JAN 4
Claiming that passengers iden-tify the buses based on
theircolours, the private bus opera-tors out-rightly rejected
StateGovernments proposal of uni-colour for all buses.
The private bus operatorswho met today in Panjim underthe banner
All Goa Private BusOwners Association (AGPBOA)unanimously objected
to thegovernments proposal to havea similar colour to all their
buseson par with buses of KadambaTransport Corporation
Limited(KTCL).
AGPBOA General SecretarySudip Tamankar said that buseswith
similar colour can lead toseveral problems thus affectingthe
business.
Most of our buses travel inthe villages, where people iden-tify
buses based on the colour.People in areas like Sattari,Valpoi are
mostly illiterate. Theydont read the name plate butthey give
preference to colour,Tamankar told reporters.
Giving yet another reason forobjection, Tamankar claimed
thatthere are many operators whohave religious sentiments
towardsthe colour of their vehicles.
Many feel that having a partic-ular colour will spell good
omenfor them in the business, he addedsaying that asking such
people tochange colour of their buses is likehurting their
sentiments.
The government as part ofstreamlining private bus servicein the
State had offered that allthe private buses with All GoaPermits
should have similarcolour. The proposal was movedin the recently
held meetingwith Chief Minister DigambarKamat and Director
TransportArun Desai.
Tamankar, however, allegedthat government does not fol-low rules
when it comes tobuses with All India Permits. Asper Motor Vehicles
Act, all thebuses with All India Permits
Bus owners reject govts uni-colour proposal
should be white in colour withblue strips but these rules arenot
being followed, he statedadding that all such acts are by-passed
only after orders fromthe high command.
The Association will be soonwriting to the Chief Ministerasking
to take back the portfoliofrom the Transport MinisterRamkrishna
Dhavlikar.
HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, JAN 4
Labourers working at the con-struction of the approach roadto
the Majorda subway had amiraculous escape following ablast in the
underground powercable.
The incident occurred whena JCB was excavating the earthwhen the
machine hit an under-ground cable, causing a blast.
Contractor SummerwellDe Gama told newsmen atthe site that around
25 work-
ers who were working in thetrench had just come out forthe lunch
break when theblast occurred.
The incident could havecaused a major tragedy at thespot. There
were neither draw-ings nor plan given by the au-thorities when the
work wasunderway at the site, Gamasaid.
Taking serious note of theincident, which could havecost the
lives of the workers,Gama approached the Colva
police for registering a com-plaint, but the police told himthat
no case is made out sincethe blast caused no injury orloss of
property.
The incident has come as aneye opener since different agen-cies
have laid their cables un-derground close to each otherwithout any
coordination. In theinstant case, the undergroundpower cable was
found laid lessthan a meter inside the groundwhich has been left
damagedby the excavation work.
Labourers escape power cable blast at Majorda
The underground power cable that was exposed during the
excavation work on the approach road tothe Majorda subway under
construction. Photo by Santosh Mirajkar
Panch witness examined in
Russians rape case HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, JAN 4
A panch witness was examinedby the South Goa Sessions Courtin
connection with the Russianwoman rape case on Tuesday.
The panch witness was ex-amined in connection with theMuddemal
property attached bythe police as part of the inves-tigations.The
prosecution hasinformed that the victim Russianwoman will be once
again ex-amined in the court on the ques-tion of identification of
theMuddemal property.
The court has already issuedsummons to the Russian rapevictim to
appear in the courtvis--vis identification of the at-tached
property.
Meanwhile, arguments on thebail applications filed by thethree
accused arrested in theMoti Dongor attack case willcome up for
hearing in theSouth Goa Sessions Court onJanuary 7.
Kidnapping case registered
HERALD REPORTER
MARGAO, JAN 4
The Margao police have regis-tered a case of kidnappingagainst a
boy, major in age, forallegedly kidnapping a minorgirl, studying in
a higher sec-ondary school.
Police said the father of thegirl lodged a complaint statingthat
his daughter was kidnappedwhen she had gone to the highersecondary
school on Mondaymorning.
The boy Manu Singh hailsfrom Chodan, Old Goa, whilethe girl is a
resident of Curtorim,the po l i ce added .The Margao police are
investi-gating.
VHP meetHERALD REPORTER
PANJIM, JAN 4
The annual meeting of theBoard of Trustee of VishwaHindu
Parishad (VHP) isscheduled be held from Jan-uary 5 to 11, 2011 at
Ram-nathi.
Around 400 national and in-ternational VHP delegates willbe
participating in the conven-tion.
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Pg6 GOAGOA, WEDNESDAY, 5 JANUARY, 2011
SHORT TAKES
OHE
RALD
O
UPCOMING EVENTS
Talk on village studyPANJIM (HNB): The Xavier Centre of
Historical Research
(XCHR) will organize a talk and discussion on Studying
yourvillage: each tiny area holds a story by Dr Themistocles
DSilvaon January 7, at 5.30 pm.
Each of Goas tiny areas is packed with history, and
storieswaiting to be told. Thats the experience of scientist Dr
Themis-tocles DSilva, who has recently worked on a book focusingon
the village of Arossim.
US-based Dr Themistocles DSilva has spent several yearsof
collecting information from Goa and university libraries inthe
United States.
His efforts resulted in a book titled Beyond the Beach:
TheVillage of Arossim, Goa, in Historical Perspective. From
itspre-Hindu and Hindu past, to its Catholic present, DSilvatraces
the geography of his village, its etymology and somelocal social
organisations. The talk is open to the public.
St Francis Xavier feast PANJIM (HND): The annual feast of St
Francis Xavier at
Portais Chapel will be celebrated on January 16 with the
tra-ditional Fama (Maddi) on January 6 at 7 pm followed by Mass.The
novenas will be from 7 to 14 beginning with Rosary andlitany at
6.15 pm, followed by Mass, sermon and salve. OnJanuary 16, the
feast day, there will be two low masses at 6am and 8 am. The
concelebrated high Mass with sermon andprocession will be at 10 am.
The feast will be celebrated byMilton, Roy DCosta and family.
Three Kings feast PANJIM (HND): The annual feast of Epiphany of
Our Lord,
popularly known as the Feast of Three Kings will be celebratedin
the parish of Reis Magos, Verem, on January 6. The firstmass will
be held at 7.30 am while the solemn concelebratedfeast Mass will be
held at 9.30 am at which Rector of SaligaoSeminary Fr Tony Salema
will be the main celebrant. On January7, the feast of Our Lady of
Health will be celebrated by LorettaVelho at 8 am, near the chapel
of Our Lady of Health at thefoot of the church, with professor of
Saligao Seminary FrJoseph Estrocio as the main celebrant. There
will be mass inthe church at 5 pm.
Lok Adalat in PanjimPANJIM (HND): Lok Adalat will be held in the
court premises
of the Civil Judge Senior Division and Chief Judicial
Magistrate,Panjim on January 8 from 10 am onwards to take up the
civilcases and cases u/s 138 of Negotiable Instrument Act of
KotakMahindra Prime Ltd, pending in Tiswadi taluka for
settlement.
Advocates and concerned parties whose cases have beenreferred to
the said Lok Adalat may attend the same.
Restricted water supply PANJIM (HND): Due to inter-connection of
1400 mm dia MS
pipeline at Davorlim, there will be restricted water supply
toentire Salcette and Mormugao talukas on January 10 and 11.
Dikshit wins award
Dikshit Gopal Naik receiving the best Students AchieversAward
2009 (vocational) at Bhopal.
PANJIM (HND): Dikshit Gopal Naik presently studying in TY-BCom
in Dempo College of Commerce and Economics has re-ceived the Best
Students Achievers Award 2009 (vocational)at Bhopal recently.
PSS Central Institute of Vocational Education presented
thisaward to him. He was also given certificate and demand draftof
Rs 2000 at the function in Bhopal. NCERT Award for Excel-lence in
Vocational is presented to students, teachers and in-stitutions for
their performance in the vocational stream.Dikshit Naik is resident
of Bhatlem, Panjim.
Admissions openPANJIM (HND): Admissions are open for English
medium,
Madkaikar Navchaitanya KG and Primary School, Corlim,Tiswadi, in
nursery, KG I, KG II, std I and std II. Admissionforms are
available in the school office during school hours.The school is
run by Madkaikar Navchaitanya Trust.
Christmas festivities endPANJIM (HND): The week long Christmas
programme of St
Elizabeths Church, Ucassaim came to an end on Sunday withthe
Bible quiz competition, prize distribution, and the Parishdinner.
The winners of the crib competition were OlavioPereira, Margaret
Bosco and Clerance Carneiro. The winnersof the star competition
were Olavio Pereira, Charles Martinsand Amberly Noronha. The Bible
quiz competition was wonby Agatha Vaz and Manuel Leitao.
Crafts Mela inaugurated
Chairperson of Pernem Municipal Council Dr Vasudeo R Desh-prabhu
inaugurates Crafts Mela at Clube Nacional, Panjim.
PANJIM (HND): A crafts exhibition titled Crafts Mela or-ganised
by Poompuhar, a state government owned corporationof Tamil Nadu was
inaugurated at Clube Nacional, Vaglo build-ing, M G Road, Panjim,
on Monday. The Mela will be open tillJanuary 12, from 11 am to 9
pm, including Sunday.
Bronze icons, brass oil lamps, Tanjore paintings, wood
carv-ings, incense, perfumes, jewellery, terracotta,
Channapatnalacquereware, Moradabad brass ware, leather items,
Jaipurpaintings, Madurai sungadi sarees, Kancheepuram silk
sarees,Varanasi and Madhya Pradesh sarees, Rajasthan bed sheetsand
other attractive handicrafts and handlooms are on display.Discount
of 10% is offered on all items.
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HERALD CORRESPONDENT
MARCEL, JAN 4
The Kundaim Nagrik Kruti Samitihas condemned Kundaim Pan-chayats
decision to issue a pro-visional NOC to a proposed shipdockyard at
Mauzo Wado,Kundaim.
The annual general bodymeeting, which was attendedby about 100
villagers, resolvedto fight against the panchayatsdecision claiming
the proposedproject will have an adverse ef-fect on the
village.
It may be recalled that vil-lagers during a gram sabha hadraised
objection to the proposedproject at Mauzo Wado and hadrequested the
panchayat not topermit such type of projects inthe village. The
panchayat mem-bers had even signed in favourof the resolution.
However, thevillagers were surprised whenthey learnt that the
panchayatrecently issued a provisionalNOC to the project.
Villagers claimed that the
project will create health prob-lems and disturb village
envi-ronment. Villagers are nowplanning to challenge the
pan-chayats order to issue a provi-sional NOC to the
proposeddockyard project at MauzoWado in the court of law.
The panchayat has not re-spected our demand. We wereof the
opinion that the pan-chayat will think and work inthe interest of
villagers, but wewere wrong, said Kundaim Na-grik Kruti Samiti
PresidentRitesh Narvenkar.
We will not keep quiet andwill challenge this arbitrary
de-cision of the panchayat to issueprovisional NOC to the
shipdockyard at Mauzo Wado in thecourt of law. This project willnot
benefit our village and Idont understand why the pan-chayat is
favouring it, said Nar-venkar.
Few years ago, Kundaim vil-lagers had compelled the pan-chayat
to resign when they had
illegally distributed governmentland among their relatives.
Ifthe present body do not standby people wishes, then villagerswill
decide of their fate, warnedNarvenkar.
Refuting the charges madeagainst the Samiti, Narvenkarsaid: We
are selflessly workingand want to protect our village.There are
numerous allegationsagainst our committee, whichare incorrect.
We havent done nor will doanything wrong dont and willcontinue
working in the interestof our village. People with vestedinterest
spread false and fabri-cated news to which our vil-lagers shouldnt
fall prey, saidNarvenkar.
Meanwhile, Kundaim NagrikKruti Samiti President Narvenkarwill
retain presidents chair, ashe was unanimously elected aspresident
for the year 2011-12.Various other issues related toKundaim village
were also dis-cussed at the meeting.
Kundaim VP flayed overprovisional NOC for dockyard
HERALD NEWS DESK
PANJIM, JAN 4
Incumbent senior CCP corpora-tor Surendra Furtado has calledupon
the citizens of Panjim tounite and fight the multiplemalaises
currently engulfing thecity of Panjim.
Stating that the CCP electionsare an opportunity to makethings
right, Surendra opinedthat if the people make onemore mistake, the
city will bedoomed forever.
It is time that the people ofPanjim think and take a
decisionguided by their conscience, hesaid and added that he has
beenin the forefront in this fightagainst corruption and scamsin
the CCP and it now upto thepeople to decide very consci-entiously
and vote for peoplewith character and commitment.
The CCP has been indictedby the CAG continuously, but
nothing in the nature of correctiveaction has been taken
againstnor those guilty have been nailed.It appears that the ruling
combineat the CCP does not vouch fortransparency, he lamented
andopined that even when the CAGreport could rock the Parliamenton
2G scam, how come the samehas been kept in hiding by theruling CCP
combine, which onlyreflects their spirit in probity.
Me any my wife have workedrelentlessly to undertake devel-opment
in Ward 9 and 10, de-spite being in the opposition,he added and
hoped that thepeople will once again reposetheir faith in them.
Giving a call to restore Panjimto its past glory, Surendra
saidthat it is the duty of each andevery individual to use their
votejudiciously and not get fooledby empty promises of jobs whichis
currently the trend of cam-paign. Let those people prom-ising jobs
first show how manyjobs they have given till nowand also explain
the reason forthe promises at the times ofelections, he added.
Stating that Panjim has suf-fered enough, Surendra made afervent
appeal to elect cleanand honest people who are com-mitted to build
a clean, greenand beautiful Panjim.
Furtado calls upon Panjimites to fight against corrupt
n It is the duty ofeach and everyindividual to usetheir
votejudiciously and notget fooled by emptypromises of jobswhich is
currentlythe trend ofcampaign.
--- Surendra Furtado
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
SANGUEM, JAN 4
Citizens from Sanguem havecomplained of high turbidity inthe
drinking water supplied tothem by the Water Supply de-partment.
The drinking water which issupplied from the Xelpem
WaterTreatment Plant at times is notpotable and includes mud
par-ticles, complained a citizen.
Citizens also produced to thelocal reporters a sample ofmuddy
water collected directlyfrom the tap in the morninghours. The
supply of muddywater particularly takes place inthe early morning
hours and thecitizens feared of risking theirlives by drinking the
pollutedwater.
When local reporters con-
fronted an official at the XelpemWater Treatment Plant,
SubhashParab denied of there being any
possibilities for the supply ofmuddy water from the Plant.
Water released from theplant is clean and clear, claimedParab
and passed on the buckon the Division XX which dealswith the
maintenance work ofthe water pipeline.
There is a possibility of leak-age of foreign particles in
thepipeline due to a ruptured orbroken pipeline on the way andthis
could possibly the reasonfor supply of turbid water, in-formed
Parab.
When contacted, AssistantEngineer at PWD XX Yarnal as-sured to
look into the matterby conducting a thorough checkof the pipeline
supplying waterto the people in Sanguem. Yarnalsought a weeks time
to rectifythe problem.
Sanguem locals complain of high turbidity in drinking water
The bottle showing the turbidwater supplied to some parts
ofSanguem constituency.
Photo by Alfred Fernandes
HERALD NEWS DESK
PANJIM, JAN 4
The Great Royal Circus has beenin Goa, entertaining and
pro-viding fun moments to familiesand children alike.
The circus that has travelledglobe extensively and has
per-formed in 24 countries be-tween1962 to 1985, is a grandshow
with many acts that aredaring and entertaining.
It has been a treat to watchsince it has brought to Goa actswith
a local flavor as well as in-ternational acts. This ensuresthat the
circus conforms to in-ternational standards. The six-
Great Royal Circus to wind up on Jan 10
member African acrobat troupefrom Nairobi and the
Russianartistes are some of the inter-national acts that are a
treat towatch.
No circus is complete withoutthe balance-in-trapeze acts. Andthe
Great Royal Circus boasts ofone of the best performancesin the
country with Nepaleseartist Sushila Arya. Among thespine-chilling
acts is the globe-of-death performed by two mo-torcyclists.
The last day of the circus atMapusa is January 10.
Presently,there are three daily shows at 1pm, 4 pm and 7 pm at
GandhiChowk, Mapusa. The tickets arepriced at Rs 30, Rs 60, Rs
100and Rs 150. Advance bookingfor Rs 150 denomination ticketsonly
can be done from 9 am to6 pm daily at the venue.
8 projects from Goa at
national science conferenceHERALD CORRESPONDENT
MAYEM, JAN 4
Eight Scientific projects fromthe State have been selected
forthe National Children ScienceConference, which commencedat
Chennai.
The selection process was re-cently undertaken by Goa
StateScience and Technology Asso-ciation Saligao in associationwith
National Science and Tech-nology Association and Scienceand
Technology Department,New Delhi.
Different projects on subjectssaving and use of natural
re-sources were presented duringthe selection process, out ofwhich
projects by Akanksha Mad-kaikar (Spring Valley High
SchoolPorvorim), Pratima Tripathi(Adarsh Vanita High School
Mar-gao), Saloni Ghadi (MahalaxmiHigh School Kudne), Diksha
Ku-daskar (Shri Shantadurga HighSchool Bicholim), Apurva Naik(Wagle
High School Mangeshi),Pradnya Nasnodkar (BalbharatiVidhyamandir
Ribandar), RupaliGaikwad (Somnath English HighSchool Kirlapal) and
Steve Ro-drigues (Pope John High SchoolQuepem) have been
selected.
Teachers Swati Malik, JayasriJaan Sawaikar and Ganesh Joshihave
been also selected to ac-company the students.
HERALD NEWS DESK
PANJIM, JAN 4
Marpol achieved another mile-stone by commissioning a stateof
the art manufacturing facilityfor small volume powder coat-ings at
its Kakoda factory at thehands of Dr V A Pai Panandiker,the
executive chairman andmanaging director of the com-pany.
While there is growing de-mand for industrial paints, Mar-pol
has taken this step tosupport customers whose de-mand for high
value but low vol-ume powders is on the rise.
Marpol has also upgraded itssaturated polyester resin
man-ufacturing facility at its Kakodafactory by commissioning
aFlaker with the state of the art
technology from South Korea. Marpol has developed a dis-
tinct competitive advantage inIndia due to this in-house
in-digenous resin technology de-veloped by Kamlesh A PaiPanandiker,
its technical directorbased in the US. Marpol whichstarted
production in 1980s inKakoda Industrial Estate in Goa,has the most
advanced technol-ogy in powder coatings andresins.
This was based on a firm be-l i e f o f the A tmaram Pa
iPanandiker family of giving backthe benefits of advanced
knowl-edge and technology to thecountry while contributing tothe
state and national exchequeras well as providing employmentto the
Goan youth.
Marpol commissions small volume powder coating facility
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
CANACONA, JAN 4
Adarsh Yuva Sangh and BalramGram Vikas Sanstha,
Gaondon-grim-Cotigao, who is organisingthe IXth Lokotsav 2011,
con-ducted a daylong awareness rallyin Canacona taluka on
Sunday.
The rally was flagged off byPoinguinim MLA and ProjectChairman
Ramesh Tawadkar atMushifond, Amona-Poinguinim,the Lokostav 2011
venue. FatordaMLA Damu Naik was originallyscheduled to flag off the
rally.
The rally, which had over 50motorcycles, several four-wheel-ers,
visited several locations inPoinguinim, Loliem Shristhal
andCanacona municipality areas be-fore assembling later in the
dayat KTC bus stand at Chaudi.
The rally went through Coti-gao, Dabel, Amona, Hathipal,Dabel,
Chiplem, Poinguinim,Maxem, Galgibaga, Talpona, Or-dhofond,
Khalwade, Shristhal,Delem, Mastimoll, Ponsulem,Rajbag, Patnem,
Sawantwada,Palolem, Devabhag, Gulem andlater converged at the KTC
busstand.
At Chaudi, Canacona MLAVijay Poi Khot and CMC Chair-person
Ratnakar Dhuri ad-dressed the rally participants,as the two days
schedule ofLokostav 2011 to be held onJanuary 7 and 8 was listed
out.
The 9th Lokostav 2011 isbeing first time held at
Mushi-fond-Amona in Poinguinim vil-lage, where the location is
anadvanced stage of developingit as eco-tourism destination.
Mushifond, where over 1lakh of land piece is donated byTawadkars
36-different familiesfor developing it for eco-tourismpurpose will
henceforth will bea permanent venue for all futureLokostavs in
Canacona taluka,declared Poinguinim ML ATawadkar.
In his address, Canacona MLAPoi Khot declared support tothe
Lokostav 2011 and assuredlarge turnout of people from
hisconstituency as well.
CMC Chairperson Dhuri tooexpressed appreciation forTawadkars
vision of developinghinterlands and at the same timeproviding
employment oppor-tunities to local populace.
Let all the people know whatwe are doing at Mushifond,Amona and
through this rally, Iextend my invitation to all res-idents to be
part of this yearsunique Lokostav presentation,which will be
inaugurated byChief Minister Digamber Kamaton January 7. Opposition
LeaderManohar Parrikar, Jarkhand ChiefMinister will be in
attendancefor valedictory function on Jan-uary 8, he said.
Awareness rally held in Canacona
-
Pg7GOA, WEDNESDAY, 5 JANUARY, 2011
GOA OHE
RALD
O
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
PORVORIM, JAN 4
Residents of Porvorim havethreatened to launch an agita-tion if
the barricades laid at theOCoqueiro junction are not re-moved
within a week.
Given the heavy flow of trafficconverging at the
OCoqueirojunction during the Christmasseason and New Year, traffic
Po-lice had laid barricade to preventmovement of vehicles from B
BBorka r Road to Sa l i gao -Calangute.
Due to the barricades, vehi-cles coming from B B BorkarRoad to
proceed towards Sali-gao, Calangute and Mapusa arecompelled to go
to District In-stitute of Education and Training(DIET) and then
take a turn toproceed towards Mapusa. Alter-natively, they have to
route theirvehicles through DefenceColony via Porvorim Church.
Residents of Porvorim, par-ticularly those residing in De-
fence Colony and Alto-Torda,are agitated over laying the
bar-ricade again at OCoqueiro junc-tion.
Speaking to Herald, residentsof Defence Colony said
trafficpolice has laid barricade at O-Coqueiro junction to make
the
life of the police comfortable.It is dangerous to cross the
roads, both near the church andDIET junction, due to the
heavyflow of traffic along the high-way, said the residents.
The residents further in-formed that for Sunburn Festival
held recently at Candolim, theState government had postedabout
200 police personnel tomaintain law and order at thevenue.
If only four police personnelare deputed at the
OCoqueiroJunction for couple of days, thetraffic can be controlled
withoutany difficulty, said the residents.
It may be recalled that lastyear, the traffic police had laidthe
barricades at OCoqueirojunction stating that it was atemporary
arrangement to takecare of heavy traffic during theNew Year and
barricades wouldbe removed shortly.
But the police failed to re-move the barricades for
severalmonths and the people had toapproach higher authorities
toget the barricades removed.
If barricades laid presentlyare not removed within a week,the
residents will have to launchagitation again, warned the
res-idents.
Porvorim residents demand removal of barricades at OCoqueiro
junction
Barricades laid at OCoqueiro junction at Porvorim. Photo by Anil
Shankhwalker
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
CALANGUTE, JAN 4
Former chief minister LuizinhoFaleiro has called upon theschool
managements to impartquality education and moral val-ues to the
students.
He was addressing the gath-ering during the annual day ofSacred
Heart High School, An-juna.
The students should be im-
parted education in r ightearnest so that they excel notonly in
academics but even inother fields, thus bringing lau-rels to the
State and the coun-try, said Faleiro, CWC memberIn-charge of party
affairs in theNorth East.
Though I held various posi-tions in the government, I some-how
cherish the moments aseducation minister, where I tried
Luizinho urges school managements to impart quality
education
Former chief minister Luizinho Faleiro gives away the prizes at
An-juna. Photo by Thomas Fernandes
my utmost to bring in reformsin the field of education keepingin
mind the long-term benefitsof the Goan students, addedFaleiro.
Speaking further, he said itwas the duty of each and everyschool
to ensure good resultsby shaping the characters oftheir students
with good moralvalues and quality education forwhich the government
and of-ficials should also do their bits.
In todays society, educationis of utmost importance,
addedFaleiro and called upon the stu-dents to study well and
bringlaurels to their schools, familyand society as a whole.
Faleiro showered praises onthe Pilar Fathers for their yeo-man
service to the society andsaid that their good work willgo a long
way in shaping thesociety.
The students who excelled invarious fields were felicitatedon
the occasion by Faleiro. Jen-isha Dias, Anson Fernandes,Joslyn
DSouza, Sonia Dongrekar,Kajol Shirodkar and Carissa Pintowere
awarded the doctorate asis done at the University levelfor their
excellent academicrecords. The novel concept hasbeen introduced at
the initiativeof Fr Thomas Gonsalves.
The students of the schoolput up various cultural pro-grammes on
the occasion.
Earlier, School HeadmistressIrene Cardozo read out the an-nual
report, while Parish Priestof St Michael Church, Anjuna,Fr Thomas
Gonsalves sfx whois also the Principal of the schoolwelcomed the
gathering and in-troduced the chief guest. Fr Ro-mua ldo DSouza s j
a l soaddressed the gathering.
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
MERCES, JAN 4
With Taleigao MLA Babush Mon-serrate showing interest to
con-test in Panjim and deciding tofield his wife Jennifer
Monser-rate in Taleigao, the politicalequations have changed in
StCruz constituency and it hasopened up openings for
severalaspirants to jump the fray in theupcoming Assembly
electionsin St Cruz.
And one of the first aspirantsto take advantage of the
situa-tion is former MLA Victor Gon-salves who has announced
hisplans to contest from St Cruz,though he is yet to publicly
de-clare the same.
It may be recalled that in thelast Assembly polls, Victor
hadsupported Babushs wife JenniferMonserrate who had
unsuccess-fully contested on the UGDPticket.
Speaking to Herald, Victoradmitted that he will be one ofthe
candidates to contest in StCruz.
I have yet to publicly declarethe same, but I have already
in-formed my near and dear onesabout my intentions to contestthe
elections, he said.
When questioned whetherhis candidature is being sup-ported by
Babush Monserrate,as being rumoured, Victorreplied in the negative
and saidthat he has taken the decisionafter consulting his
family,friends and supporters.
If Babush wants to supportme, then I will definitely wel-come
his support, he furtheradded and informed that all like-minded
persons are also wel-come to rally behind him.
When asked what he woulddo if Babush changes his mind
and decides to contest in StCruz, Victor opined: The ques-tion
of Babush contesting in StCruz does not arise as he has al-ready
announced his plans tocontest from Panjim. If at all hechanges his
mind, then I will askhim to back my candidature.
Meanwhile, the decision ofBabush Monserrate has left
hiserstwhile supporters in St Cruzin the lurch and they are nowleft
to fend for themselves inthe changed political scenario.After
having waited for morethan three years, they had highexpectations
that Babush wouldcontest from St Cruz.
While some of Babushs sup-porters have already switchedsides
according to their likings,others have preferred to stayneutral as
they say that there isno probable candidate thus farworthy of their
support.
However, some ardent sup-porters, particularly from IndiraNagar,
still have faith thatBabush will surprise everybodyat the last
moment by jumpingthe fray in St Cruz.
One such supporter Shahbud-din Shaikh Iqbal from IndiraNagar
informed that Babush isknown to keep his cards closeto his chest
and that he will di-vulge his plans only at the fagend of the
election campaign.
Not only me, but several hun-dreds of voters from IndiraNagar
are eagerly waiting tosupport Babush, he further saidand
confidently added that hehas full faith that Babush willcontest
from St Cruz.
There are also several othersupporters who share the sameview
like Iqbal but they are notwilling to come out in the openas they
fear that they could bepolitically targeted.
Ex-MLA Victor plans to contest in St Cruz
Babushs supportersremain hopeful
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
CALANGUTE, JAN 4
Students and villagers of An-juna-Caisua organised a
rallyhighlighting the adverse effectsof unplanned development
cre-ating an imbalance at Anjuna.
The students of Sacred Heart
of Jesus High School and StMichael Convent High Schoolalong with
prominent person-alities and villagers of Anjunatook part in the
rally.
The rally was organised tocreate awareness on garbageand other
issues affecting the
environment. The Managementsof the two schools led their
stu-dents in the rally which had thesanction of the Education
de-partment.
The rally which commencedfrom the school premiseswended its way
through thestreets of Anjuna-Vagator andculminated in the premises
ofAnjuna-Caisua Panchayat.
The villagers of Anjuna alsojoined the students in the rallyto
highlight the global warm-ing.
The students carried placardsdisplaying the adverse effectsof
unplanned development, etc,while the theme for the rallywas
Together Lets Cool It.
The students later put up askit near the Panchayat
officedisplaying the ill-effects ofgarbage, which requires
urgentand systematic management.
Rally highlights adverse effects of unplanned development in
Anjuna
Students, teachers and villagers march through the Anjuna
streetshighlighting global warming. Photo by Thomas Fernandes
Don Bosco staff, students visit Hamara
SchoolHERALD NEWS BUREAU
PANJIM, JAN 4
Don Bosco College at Panjimcelebrated Christmas seasonwith a
difference, when staffand students visited HamaraSchool at Panjim,
a school forthe marginalized and poor chil-dren and Asha Bhavan at
Tivim,a home for children with HIV.
The students sang with thechildren and gave the groceries,food
items and sweets.
Over the years, Don Boscocollege has been visiting old-aged
homes and orphanages atevery Christmas.
The students are sensitized tothe needs of the poor, aged
andmarginalized in this manner, andbecome better human beings,said
the Principal Dr Marie Raj.
Added a student: If one is notliving with their grandparents
andhas no contact with senior citi-zens, this becomes an eye
openerand we thus become more sensi-tive towards the elderly.
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
CALANGUTE, JAN 4
Prasad Arjun Shirodker of Prab-huvaddo-Calangute was
recentlyfelicitated for his achievementsin LIC at Calangute.
Shirodker, who is workingas Investment and InsuranceConsultant,
LIC Mapusa, wasfelicitated by Senior DivisionalManager Goa Ashok
Mod-henkar for his achievement in
LIC. Shirodker achieved thelandmark of TOT (Top of theTable)
2011.
A special function was organ-ised in the Branch premises
tohonour Shirodker. Others pres-ent on the occasion were B
Maji(marketing manager), AgneloPacheco (sales manager), ChitraNaik
(senior branch managerMapusa) and Budhaji Arlekar(branch manager
Calangute).
Bicholimschool excelsat NCC camp
MAYEM (HC): The NCC unitof Radhakrishna High School Bi-cholim
secured the first twoplaces in different categories atan annual
camp of 1-Goa Bat-talion NCC, Panjim, conductedrecently at
Duler-Mapusa.
The high school excelled inthe cross country, firing, marchpass
and arranging items in thecamp, where it secured firstplaces, while
it stood second ingroup dance and volley ball con-test.
Suparna Kudalkar won thegold medal, while AbubkarShaikh and Amir
Shaikh won sil-ver and bronze medals in shoot-ing. Akash Jadhav won
the goldmedal in the cross country.
HERALD CORRESPONDENT
CANACONA, JAN 4
The twin turtle-nesting locationsat Agonda and Galgibaga is
play-ing host to six turtle nests duringthis breeding season of the
en-dangered and near to extinct seaspecies.
According to forest sources,there are four turtle nests
pro-tected by its specially engagedpersonnel at Galgibaga and
an-other two nests at Agondabeaches.
Besides, about 197 baby turtleshave already been released
intothe Arabian Sea.
Sources informed that of the117 of the 134 olive baby
turtleswere released into sea at Gal-gibaga, while 80 of the 96
babyturtles survived at Agonda andwere safely turned into the
Ara-bian Sea.
The mortality rate is high thisyear as compared to last
years70-75%, informed a forest officialwho did does want to be
identi-fied.
Incidentally, during last OliveRidley breeding season, 15
turtleslaid eggs on these two protectedshores.
The Olive Ridley turtle, whichhas been declared by world
gov-erning bodies as an extinct seaspecies, normally arrives on
beachshores from November onwardsfor procreation. It takes
between55 and 65 days for the hatchingperiod.
Agonda, Galgibaga play host to six turtle nests
The turtle nest in front of lifeguard watch tower at Galgibaga
coast. Photo by Kathy Periera
LIC felicitates Prasad
Prasad Shirodker being felicitated by Senior Divisional
ManagerGoa Ashok Modhenkar. Photo by Thomas Fernandes
Youth urged to participate
in sports HERALD CORRESPONDENT
MAYEM, JAN 4
Assistant Director of Physical Ed-ucation and Sports, Goa
Univer-sity, Milton Fernandes has calledupon the youngsters to
partici-pate in games and other sportsactivities to lead a healthy
life.
He was recently speaking asthe chief guest during the
prizedistribution of the sports meetof Narayan Zantye College
ofCommerce, Bicholim.
In his speech, Principal RajeshAmonkar urged the students
toinculcate good values and alsoto participate in different
sportsevents.
Shahnawaz Sayed was se-lected as best sportsman, whilePranita
Raut as best sportswoman. TY BCom A class wonthe championship
trophy.
Earlier Ramchandra Surlikarwelcomed while Satyawan Har-malkar
proposed the vote ofthanks.
Ponsulem club gets new
presidentCANACONA (HC): Bismark
Fernandes was recently electedas new president of United
BoysClub of Ponsulem.
Other office bearers electedare Lorry Fernandes (vice
pres-ident), Carlos Fernandes (secre-tary), Maxi DSouza
(jointsecretary), Sucorro Fernandes(treasurer), Domnic
Fernandes(joint treasurer), Rodolf Fernan-des and Josepie
Fernandes(sports secretaries).
Executive members are EdsonFernandes, Lawrence Fernandes,Gali
Fernandes and Roberto Fer-nandes. Benny Fernandes andMichael
Fernandes are on theadvisory panel.
HERALD NEWS DESK
PANJIM, JAN 4
A contingent of 144 scoutsand guides, scoutmasters andguide
captains of the BharatScouts and Guides-Goa statehave left to
participate in the16th National Jamboree tobe held at
Shankarapally, Hy-derabad.
The convoy was flagged offat the Mollem check-post bythe State
Chief CommissionerP R Nadkarni in the presenceof State Secretary
James Fer-nandes, Diogo Fernandes,Vidhya Shetkar and
YeshwantSinari.
The contingent will takepart in various activities likefolk
dances, cultural items,
Goa contingent leaves for National Jamboree
pageantry, exhibition of his-tory and culture of
Goa,handicrafts, march past, foodplaza before a national
gath-ering