OHERALDOThe Voice of Goa Since 1900

VELSAO, JAN 9

Pleasure and pain are strangebedfellows. In the coastal villageof Velsao, on the edge of Mor-mugao on one hand and thetaluka of Salcete on the other,32-year old Domingo Goes isstruggling to come to termswith this strange piece of justice.The draft Coastal Zone Regula-tion (CRZ) notification 2011, al-lows for structures of traditionalcoastal dwellers to be protected.For Goes, though the Govern-ment axe had already fallen. Fol-lowing the High Court orderdirecting that all structures builtpost February 19, 1991, all Goeshas is a demolished shed wherehe used to keep his fishingequipment and a house partlytrimmed by 15 square metres,in 2009.

Sure, Goes did not have allthe paper workto protect hisdwelling or hisfamily. He felt that his traditionalstructures would never betouched. In his coastal village,

where life still revolves aroundfish and toddy, documentationdoesnt quite go with the ter-rain. Trust does.

Goes fortunately had electric-ity and water bills to prove that

his main houseexisted in 1978.That spared me

from being houseless. The Pan-chayat never educated us onthese issues. If we were not toconnect electricity, we would

not have known that our housesneed registration, he said.

Goes isnt alone. 200 otherstructures in his village weresimilarly razed as a debate ragedon protecting traditional fish-erfolk. Many people saw theirancestral huts being pulleddown by Government machinerysince they did not have adequateproof, that their homes werebuilt before the all important

PTI

BANGALORE, JAN 9

Reputations counted for littleas former India captain SouravGanguly and several other bignames found no takers for thefourth edition of the IPL evenas unheralded AustralianDaniel Christian was boughtfo r an a s tound ing USD900,000 (Rs 4.14 crore approx)on the second day of the auc-tion here today.

Veteran Sri Lankan batsmanSanath Jayasuriya also failedto find a buyer today joininga high-profile list of unsoldplayers which included amongothers West Indies battinggreat Brian Lara, Chris Gayle,Mark Boucher and GraemeSwann.

Gangulys name, in fact, didnot even come up in the sec-ond round of bidding, theplayers for which were hand-picked by the franchises,prompting angry fans to stageprotests against his formerteam Kolkata Knight Riders inthe Bengal capital.

A total of 241 of the 353

players in fray went unsold inthe first round of auctions,which spanned over two days.28 players came up for a re-auctioning on the request ofthe franchises but again someof them strangely went un-

sold.New Zealands hard-hitting

batsman Jesse Ryder (Pune,USD 150,000), spinner MuraliKarthik (Pune, USD 400,000)and Mohammad Kaif (Banga-lore, USD 130,000) were

among the lucky 12 who man-aged to sneak through intothe cash-rich event.

At the end of the two-dayauction all the franchises stillhad some money left from theUSD nine million cap on arather dull second day consid-ering that Gautam Gambhirhad gone for a record Rs 11.04crore to KKR on the first day.

In a relatively low-key day,it was Christian who hoggedthe limeligh t a s he wasbought by Deccan 18 timesmore than his base price ofUSD 50,000.

No one could have evenimagined that the 27-year-oldfrom New South Wales will gofor such a high price. He hasplayed just three Twenty20 in-ternationals for Australia andis primarily a fast bowler whocan hit a long way in the lowerorder.

We believe Dan Christianis a good buy. He is good fastbowler and a decent batsman.He is also a brilliant fielder,Deccan Chargers owner Gay-athri Reddy said.

HERALD REPORTER

PANJIM, JAN 9

The Goa Police were in for somebig news on Sunday. The much-wanted Israeli drug dealer YanivBenaim alias Atala, who hadgiven them a big slip leaving thewhole force embarrassed andred faced, was finally nabbed in Peru.

Deputy Superintendent of Po-lice Crime Branch ChandrakantSalgaonkar confirmed the newsto Herald. Yes, Atala, for whoman Interpol notice was issued,has been arrested in the SouthAmerican country. We receiveda written communication to thiseffect from the Interpol today,he mentioned.

It is reportedly learnt the drugdealer, who had jumped bail inthe State, was nabbed by thePeru police in Lima. A top officerof the Goa Police said theprocess to extradite him to Goawould begin soon.

The Israeli was arrested onMarch 11, 2010, after his star-tling spy-cam disclosures on anetworking site. His revelationsof close contacts with policemenin the State had led to the arrestof seven of them. All seven, whohave got bail are under suspen-sion and a departmental inquiryis on against them.

The arrest of Atala comes ata time when the State is rockingwith the news of shocking rev-elations from another Israelidrug dealers sister, who has dis-

closed the name of a top officer,SP Veenu Bansal, now servingout of Goa. This Israeli, DavidDriham alias Dudu, is lodged atSada sub-jail in Vasco.

Dudus sister, Ayala, claimsshe carried out a hidden oper-ation of shooting PSI Sunil Gud-lar who is also under the scannerof the Crime Branch after localmedia highlighted spy-camvideos shot by her. She said Gud-lar had asked for bribes fromher at the behest of Bansal tofacilitate her brothers bail.

Sports: Rohit, Raina set up

Indias T20 victory Pg 18

Business: I-T offices in several

foreign countries soon Pg 12India: Swayamvar a dream

come true Rajpoot Pg 11

(Continued on page 14)

IN BRIEF

Visit us at:www.oheraldo.in panjim, monday, january 10, 2011 postal reg. no. Goa 101 priCE rs. 3.00 (air Surcharge rs 2.00) pages 18

Strange justice: Protection comes after destruction

ON THE SPOT

Herald reporter VIBHA VERMA travels to the coastal village ofVelsao after the new CRZ notification to discover that for many who

have lost their stuctures, the damage has already been done

HERALD REPORTER

PANJIM, JAN 9

Even as things dont appear clearon where the political turmoilwithin the State Nationalist Con-gress Party is headed, top partysources said two of the MLAs Jose Philip DSouza and NilkantHalarnkar who have beenasked to resign as ministers areunlikely to attend the partysfirst executive committee meet-ing under its new presidentSurendra Sirsat on Monday at5.30 pm in the Panjim office.

Sources said Benaulim MLAMickky Pacheco, was also un-likely to attend the meeting toavoid a face-off with his betenoire Jose Philip DSouza. In thelast few months the MLA hasntbeen able to attend a singlemeeting, they mentioned.

However, when Herald con-tacted Pacheco on his cellphone, he said the party wasabove everything and he wouldmost probably attend tomor-rows meeting. He confirmed tohave received the notice of themeeting via fax.

Speaking to Herald NilkantHalarnkar appeared unsure of

his attendance for the meeting.I am aware of the meeting butI havent seen the intimation.May be my office has receiveda fax; will have to see what isthe agenda.

Halarnkar said the mood inthe NCP camp was different nowthen what it could have been ifthe meeting was convened justa few days after the high com-mand had demanded their res-ignations. It has been close toa month and Sirsat is calling themeeting now. We look more likeenemies now because we havenot resigned, he stated.

Jose Philip was unavailablefor comment.

The State NCP PresidentSurendra Sirsat said he has sentthe notice of the meeting to allthe three MLAs. They are theex-officio members of the Ex-ecutive Committee and I expectthem to come.

Sirsat said, Besides discus-sion on the political situation,which is the main issue, themeeting will also take up partyprogrammes and look at thepartys prospects for the forth-coming assembly elections.

All eyes on NCPmeet todayWILL THEY ATTEND?

MICKKY JOSE PHILIP NILKANT

Bar tainted MLAs frompolls: EC

PTI

NEW DELHI, JAN 9

The Election Commission wantsthe Government and Parliamentto revisit the issue of criminal-isation of politics and take ur-gent steps to bar candidatesfacing serious charges of murder,rape and extortion from con-testing elections.

The Commission also favoursdisqualification of incumbentMPs and MLAs on conviction incases involving serious charges.

Worried that criminalisationof politics or politicisation ofcriminals is an ill plaguing theelectoral system, the Commis-sion says the issue needs to berevisited to enhance the faithof citizens in democracy and toimprove the quality of elections.

I would like to reiterate thatsuch temporary debarment willbe in the larger public interest,Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi told PTI in a wide-ranging interview.

It covered issues ranging fromelectoral reforms to mushroom-ing growth of political partiesto independent functioning ofthe Commission.

The fact is that power to dis-qualify anyone is not with ECbut with Parliament. Under theexisting law, a person is disqual-ified for contesting election onlyon conviction, he said.

He recalled that the Commis-sion had recommended that per-sons facing serious criminalcharges like murder, rape, ex-tortion etc, where punishmenton conviction may exceed fiveyears, should be debarred fromcontesting elections during thependency of their cases beforethe courts.

US shooting spree leaves

six deadPTI

HOUSTON/WASHINGTON, JAN 9

A prominent US lawmaker wasin critical condition after beingshot in the head by a gunman,who also killed six other personsincluding a federal judge in ashooting rampage in Arizona,sending shock waves across thenation.

A nine-year-old girl wasamong those killed and 12 oth-ers were injured when the gun-man fired a volley of bullets fromhis semi-automatic handgun asthe Congresswoman was meet-ing with her constituents in Tuc-son.

The 40-year-old Democraticlawmaker Gabrielle Giffords, aHouse Representative, was incritical condition following asurgery late last night for whatdoctors called a through andthrough injury.

The bullet that was fired atclose range entered her headfrom the front and exited fromthe rear, and police believes shewas the target of the attack.

The 22-year-old man, whosprayed bullets at the event, hasnot been named by the policebut media reports said he wasidentified as Jared Lee Loughner.

The man is being held at thePima County Jail and police isyet in the dark over what hismotives were.

Five people, including ChiefJudge John Roll of the US DistrictCourt for Arizona and Gabe Zim-merman, a Giffords staffer, diedat the scene. The sixth victim, a9-year-old girl, was pronounceddead at a hospital.

President Barack Obamatermed the incident as an un-speakable tragedy and said Gif-fords was gravely wounded inthe attack.

Atala nabbed in PeruExtradition process soon: cops

Yes, Atala, for whom an Interpolnotice was issued, has been

arrested in the South Americancountry. We received a writtencommunication to this effect

from the Interpol today.

DySP Crime Branch

BIG GUNS BITE DUST

Models posing during final audi-tion of Mr & Miss Bihar at Vidya-pati Marg in Patna.

SURPRISE IPL CATCH

` 4.14 croreDaniel Christian

6 Cong MLAs with Jagan for fast Accompanied by about half-a-dozen Congress MLAs, formerCongress MP Y S JaganmohanReddy left for New Delhi toundertake his one-day fast tohighlight the plight of farmersin Andhra Pradesh.Jagan, the MLAs and a largenumber of farmers left forDelhi by a special train fromSecunderabad. (PTI)

Bofors leads to Sonias door: BJPBJP declared an all out waragainst Sonia Gandhi bringingthe Congress first family in theline of fire on the Bofors kick-backs issue.The Congress, particularly itsfirst family is faced with thepower of truth. Truth has thehabit of coming up at an in-convenient time. Misusing theCBI to undermine this case,each time and at every level,the party ensured that OttavioQuattrocchi was enabled toflee the country, the partysaid in its political resolution. (PTI) Report on pg7

CBI to probe banks in 2G scamWidening its probe in the 2Gspectrum scam, the CBI hasregistered a preliminary en-quiry to probe the role of cer-tain public sector banks,including the State Bank ofIndia, for providing loans tocertain companies allocatedthe 2G Spectrum in 2007-08. (PTI)

The residence of one Domingo Goes at Velsao beach which was partlyrazed prior to the CRZ 2011 notification. Photo by Vibha Verma.

Ganguly, Lara, Gayle, Jayasuriya find no takers

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GOAOHERALD

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Pg2GOA, MONDAY, 10 JANUARY, 2011

civic foRumPathetic signboard

ADELMO FERNANDES, VASCO

The condition of the signboard, on the main street, as oneenters the city of Vasco, is truly pathetic. The signboard, inquestion, badly needs a fresh coat of paint. It bears mute tes-timony to the deplorable state of the port town, and sends amessage that politicians are no longer concerned about thecivic needs of the city.

Margao garden and migrantsJAMES MORAES, CUNCOLIM

The famous Aga Khan garden, better known as the Margaogarden, in the heart of the city of Margao, is exploited by mi-grants, and used as a place of rest. Tourists, visiting the city,get the first view of the garden, where so many individuals arefound sleeping in broad daylight. Almost all of them are mi-grants, but the tourist, who is unaware of Goan culture, mayactually consider these migrants to be Goans. This gives a badimpression of Goans, when projected from outside. We havea Municipal council, the police station and the collectorate inthe vicinity, but everyone seems to be oblivious to the situation.Moreover, the Municipal administration has employed securityguards to take care of the garden. Are they doing their duties?They themselves may be non Goan, for all you know, and willdefinitely have a soft corner for their buddies.

This place should be rid of all such elements so that peoplecan enjoy the gardens beauty and surroundings. The Municipalbosses need to keep a check on their staff. The policemenshould deal with migrants strictly, so that the garden is notused as a place of rest.

Rooms sans bathroomsPETER CYRIL ANDRADE, VASCO

The above picture shows small children defecating on the roadleading to the Baina Church from Mangor hill. This is becausetheir Goan landlady has only provided rooms, sans toilets.She, however, regularly collects the rent. The parents of thesechildren also use the road during early morning hours, for thesame purpose. It is suspected that the street lights are regularlydamaged by these persons, which leaves the street dark, thusrendering it difficult for those who wish to go to church. Rob-beries, (snatching of gold chain from the neck) have occurredon this stretch, on two occasions.

Remove the rubber tubePRAVIN U SARDESSAI, ADPAI

A rubber tube has been tied to the live electrical wire adjacentto the high mast at upper bazaar, in Ponda. This is risky andthe tube needs to be removed, at once. One such rubber tubefastened to a live electrical wire at Queula village (also inPonda) for quite sometime, was recently removed by the Elec-tricity department, after the matter was published in the localdailies.

I hope the Electricity department does likewise. So also, aplastic bottle has been tied to an earthing wire, at the electricalpole existing adjacent to the residence of Subhash Naik atGholiwada-Talaulim (in Ponda). The bottle is placed at the ex-treme top. Travellers/pedestrians, proceeding through this lo-cation, wonder about the purpose of the same. A clarification,in this respect, from the Electricity department, would enlightenthe public at large, to a great extent.

Mining trucks create havoc JOSEPHINE GOMES, CURCHOREM

Recently, illegal mining activities in the Sanguem and Quepemtaluka have witnessed a phenomenal rise with mine ownersflooding the Curchorem roads with tippers, the owners ofwhich were, once upon a time, anti mining activists. The trucksply from 6am till 11pm, although they are supposed to ceaseoperations by 6pm.The law enforcing authorities like thepolice, deputy collector Quepem, Asst director of transportQuepem are helpless, for reasons best known to them. Mostof the mines are operated by the ruling coalition ministersand MLAs. Who will maintain Curchorems law and order prob-lem now? If the general public comes out on to the streets toget justice, then it shows the incompetence of our law enforcingauthorities, who should resign on moral grounds.

Dou have a complaint against some authority or service? Arethere any violations of the law that you would like to bring to thenotice of the public? Do you have any suggestions for improvementand/or redressal of services?

If you do, then write to us at editor@herald-goa.com. With theaim of improving the quality of our civic life, every Monday Heraldwill publish the best letters on these subjects received during theweek. This is in addition to our regular Letters to the Editor column.

HERALD REPORTER

MARGAO, JAN 9

The gram sabha of RumdamolVillage Panchayat on Sundayhas resolved to ask the gov-ernment to regularise the ShriSwami Samarth Temple in theHousing Board.

A resolution tabled by a ladygram sabha member requestedthe authorities to regularisethe temple as per the resolu-tion adopted by the Panchayatin 2008 as a special case tobring peace and harmony inthe village.

The resolution asked thePanchayat body to forward thedecision taken by the gramsabha to the Town and CountryPlanning department for nec-essary action.

Announcing the passing ofthe resolution unanimously,deputy Sarpanch Damu Naik,while addressing the meeting,clarified that the Panchayat isnot against the temple, butsaid the Panchayat body wasforced to issue the demolition

notice as per the correspon-dence from the Deputy Direc-tor of Panchayats, South.

The Deputy Director of Pan-chayats pressurised the Pan-chayat to issue the demolitionnotice or face dissolution ofthe body. We had only followedthe process. The panchayatmembers are not at all againstthe temple and will stand bythe villagers to get the religiousstructure regularized, he said.

Naik appealed to the vil-lagers and the gram sabhamembers to united make astrong case before the gov-ernment for the regularisationof the temple and assured thePanchayats full support forthe regularisation. No onein the village and outsideshould think that the Pan-chayat is against the templeor has worked against thetemple, Naik said, and re-called the letter made by thePanchayat body to the GoaHousing Board in the past toget the temple regularised.

Making an appeal to thetemple committee to cooper-ate in the process to regularisethe temple, Naik said Let ustogether ensure that the tem-ple is regularized.

Former Sarpanch and Panchmember Ulhas Tuemkar saidthe government has the pow-ers to regularise the templesince the religious structurefalls in an open space.

Stating that the governmenthad in the past regularised ahotel in Bambolim despiteSupreme Court order for itsdemolition, Tuemkar said thegovernment should come outwith an ordinance to save theShri Swami Samarth Templefrom demolition.

Assuring the villagers thatthe Panchayat would not de-molish the temple, Tuemkarsaid the Panchayat would soonwrite to the Governor, ChiefMinister, local MLA and PWDMinister, besides the ChiefSecretary to get the templeregularised.

Regularise temple, demandRumdamol villagers

Rumdamol gram sabha members at the meeting on Sunday which has resolved to ask the governmentto regularise the Shri Swami Samarth Temple at the Housing Board. Photo by Santosh Mirajkar

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

MERCES, JAN 9

The Chimbel gram sabha on Sun-day witnessed a heated ex-change over a project near theDevi Chimbelkarin well withsome villagers fearing that theproject will spell doom for thewell which is being revered forcenturies by the locals.

Others supporting the projectasked the panchayat authoritiesto see to it that the builder pre-serves the well and keeps thetradition alive.

Initiating the discussion, vil-lager Nagesh Bodke sought anexplanation from the panchayatwhy it has stopped the projectand chided those opposing theproject as spreading false ru-mours in the village that thewell has already been filled withmud for construction activity.

Nagesh further said that theplot owner is only trying to re-vive the past tradition by re-building the house that existeddecades ago and in which houseDevi Chimbelkarin was broughtfirst when she visited the Chim-bel village.

Nagesh then suggested thatthe panchayat should give a go-ahead to the project providedthe construction plan adheresto the norms and also preservesthe well.

However, Tukaram took ex-ception to Nageshs suggestionand said that the project consistsof 12 flats and giving license tothe project would result in con-tempt of court since the HighCourt has already passed a judg-ment that the panchayat shouldseek permission from it beforegiving nod to any project be-yond 10 tenements.

Tukaram further said that theassurance of the builder to pre-serve the well would never bekept and he feared that oncethe project comes up it wouldlead to contamination of thewell due to the construction ofsewage and septic tanks.

On these two grounds ,

Tukaram made an appeal to thepanchayat not to give licensefor the project.

Replying to the discussion,Sa rpanch Chandrakan tKunkolkar, however had a dif-ferent opinion and said that thevillagers are resorting to sillyexcuses to halt the project.

He further said that the proj-ect would only help in revivingthe past heritage of the villageas the owner would not onlypreserve the well but also con-struct a separate hall for keepingthe idol of Devi Chimbelkarinwhen it visits the village.

On the issue of 12 flats, thesarpanch said that the panchayatwould first study the projectand ask the owner to reducethe number of flats keeping inview the HC order. However,Chandrakant fell short of givinga personal assurance that the

well would be preserved.When Tukaram questioned

the sarpanch whether the proj-ect has already been issued li-cense, Chandrakant replied inthe negative. However, to thesurprise of everybody, Tukaraminformed that under RTI reply,the panchayat has itself men-tioned that the license has beenissued, to which the sarpanchinformed that NOC has been is-sued to phase-I of the project.

Later, Tukaram raked up theissue of health city and de-manded to know what steps thepanchayat has taken to see thatthe health city is not set up atKadamba Plateau.

Sarpanch Chandrakant saidthat the panchayat has alreadysought the help of the local MLAVictoria Fernandes, who had as-sured to take up the issue inthe forthcoming Assembly.

Chimbel locals divided onproject near Chimbelkarin well

Demand demolition of structure near

proposed police outpostHERALD CORRESPONDENT

MERCES, JAN 9

In the last gram sabha, Chim-bel Sarpanch ChandrakantKunkolkar had assured that apolice outpost would be setup in the Child and WomenWelfare Centre at Indira Nagarat a cost of Rs 32 lakh.

However, in the interveningperiod, an illegal structure hascome up very close to thearea, which is being used toundertake gambling activities.

Raising the issue at thegram sabha, villager RumaldoCarvalho sought to know whataction the panchayat has takenagainst the said structure andurged the panchayat to actswiftly towards its demolition.

Chandrakant said that thepanchayat has already issuednotices to the concerned per-son and also to the BDO for

information and action.When Rumaldo questioned

why the structure is still stand-ing tall despite a written com-plaint given to the panchayatmore than a month back, thesarpanch replied that the legalprocess is a lengthy one and itwould take time in the matter.

Joining the discussion, In-dira Nagar resident M Vaz ex-pressed surprise that whenthe panchayat is finding it dif-ficult to find a place for anoutpost, those indulging in il-legal activities are having afield day.

Later, Vaz moved a resolu-tion demanding that the pan-chayat should immediatelydemolish the structure andalso begin the process of ac-quiring the area so that a spa-cious police outpost could bebuilt.

A foreigner enjoys her reading while relaxing on an inflatable bed at Palolem beach, on Sunday morning. Photo by Rozario Estibeiro

Bus knocks down

pedestrian to death

HERALD REPORTER

VASCO, JAN 9

A 47-year-old pedestrian fromMangor Vasco died, after he wasknocked down by a speedingbus near SBI Bank along the F LGomes Road, Vasco, on Sundayafternoon.

According to reports, Mo-hammed Nikodi, who was cross-ing the road, was knocked downby speeding bus (GA-02-V-4664).

Nikodi, who was working asa daily wage labourer in Vasco,was rushed to Chicalim CottageHospital, but he was declaredbrought-in dead.

It may be recalled on Saturdayafternoon, George Mayday (55)from Tamil Nadu, but residingat Galinth-Bogmalo was killed,when a speeding car rammedhis parked scooter along theBogmalo road at Alto-Dabolim.

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

PORVORIM, JAN 9

Chief Minister DigambarKamat will inaugurate themodern bus stand at Assnoraon January 11 at 5 pm.

The bus stand, which hasbeen built at a cost of Rs 13crore, is ready and will be in-augurated in the presence ofTourism Minister NilkantHalarnkar, Transport MinisterSudin Dhavalikar, KadambaTransport Corporation Chair-man Deepak Dhavalikar andIndustrial Development Cor-

poration Vice Chairman Fran-cis Silveira.

S p e a k i n g t o m e d i a ,Halarnkar said that he ishappy that the project hasbeen completed during histenure as Tivim MLA and thushe has fulfilled the assurancehe had given to the electorateat the time of assembly elec-tion.

This bus stand will haveshopping complex, hall, RTOoffice, rest room, parking fa-cilities for state and inter-state buses, stated Halarnkar.

Russian complains ofmolestation

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

PERNEM, JAN 9

A 23-year-old Russian womanwas allegedly molested by a 20-year-old youth from AndhraPradesh at the Arambol beachon Sunday evening.

One Sai Kiran was arrestedby Pernem Police in this con-nection.

According to Pernem Police,the incident took place at about4.30 pm when the accused SaiKiran and his two friends wereplaying on the Arambol beach,while the woman was alone.

Police further informed thatwhen the trio was playing foot-ball, the ball reached near thewoman.

Sai Kiran, who went to bringthe ball, allegedly tried talkingto the tourist in a friendly atti-tude. He requested her to givehim a cigarette. Later, Kiran al-legedly molested her.

Hearing the woman shoutingfor help, the victims husbandand police, who were nearby,rushed to help the woman.

Pernem Police nabbed SaiKiran, while his two friends fledfrom the site. Police is investi-gating the case.

It may be recalled that on Oc-tober 1, a 27-year-old Britonwas allegedly molested by ayouth from Sawantwadi-Maha-rashtra at the Arambol beach.

CM to open modernbus stand at Assnora

HERALD NEWS BUREAU

PANJIM, JAN 9

Agonda Panchayat organised atwo-day workshop on January8 and 9 focusing on economicdevelopment, sustainabletourism, and planning and de-sign guidelines.

The workshop marked the re-newal of the Panchayats andcommunitys commitment to-wards sustainable developmentand sent a positive message byleading the way in participatoryplanning.

This initiative could serve asa pilot model project to buildand strengthen the capacitiesof other Panchayats to meet theobjectives of the 73rd and 74thConstitutional Amendments.

The workshop was organisedin association with the Councilfor Social Justice and Peace (CSJP),and facilitated with help of GoaCollege of Architecture of Panaji(GCA), and Pratt Institute of NewYork which is recognised for itsenvironmental and community-based planning programmes.

Undeterred by the recent no-tification of the Regional Planwhich neglected the input pro-v ided by the Panchaya t ,Sarpanch Milagrina Fernandesinvited the participants to de-termine the parameters for sus-tainable development.

Last year, the community de-veloped a vision for Agonda andguiding principles for sustain-

able development which aresummarised in a framework re-por t a va i l ab l e on l i ne a twww.sustainabledevelopment-works.com.

Substantiating those efforts,this year the focus was on iden-tifying ways to protect Agondastangible and intangible naturaland built heritage, while simul-taneously exploring economicdevelopment opportunities inappropriately diversified sectorsbesides tourism.

Students from GCA and PrattInstitute conducted interactiveexercises to draw informationfrom the participants and as-sisted with the development ofrecommendations. The eco-nomic development exercisesfocused on exploring employ-ment opportunities in Agonda.

The sustainable tourism ex-ercises focused on capacitybuilding through a stewardshipprogramme relying on voluntaryrules and responsibilities for allstakeholders. The Planning andDesign Guidelines work groupfocused on land-use character-isation, green-infrastructure in-cluding traffic and pedestriancirculation, and solid-waste man-agement policies and pro-gramme.

It was noted that there aremany levels of engaging a com-munity ranging from simply in-fo rming the pub l i c toempowering and collaborating

with stakeholders as partners.The former may be viewed as aform of Tokenism. ParticipatoryPlanning strives for the latter.

Towards that goal, the Pan-chayat organised two days ofward-level meetings to explainthe process and invite everyoneto the workshop.

Besides listing problems andneeds, the participants tackledthe subject of Agondas identityand perceived image.

There was a strong sentimentabout maintaining the villagecharacter protecting its naturalenvironment. Any sustainabletourism programme must posi-tion Agonda appropriately, con-veying a clear and consistentmessage in all media and mar-keting materials.

Communicating expectationsand cultivating stewardship pro-motes a healthy tourism experi-ence for all involved includingthe residents, the tourism indus-try work force and the visitors.

At the workshop, it waspointed out that decision mak-ers need to be able to evaluateseveral alternatives and the as-sociated environmental impactsbefore incorporating themwithin a Plan.

The outcome must be moni-tored and evaluated against theoriginal intent. Plans may bemodified periodically to meetthe stated intent and stay cur-rent with changing conditions.

Agonda workshop focuses on sustainable development

Assnora bus stand. Photo by Anil Shankhwalker

Artistes urged to retain

traditional music culture

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

MAYEM, JAN 9

Hari Bhajani Pandit UdaybuwaFadke has called upon youthartistes to worship music to re-tain traditional music culture ofthe nation.

He was addressing the gath-ering during the inaugural func-t ion o f Hemant U t savcelebrations organized by ShantSwarbrahma Sangeet Sanstha atSri Siddhivinayak Temple Naik-nagar-Bicholim.

Association President SantoshBhat, Dr Gauri Nayak Bhat, Jag-ganath Pethkar and Mahabalesh-war Hedge were present.

On the occasion, SaritaUmarye, Sunita Chari, PratibhaMunde, Raksha Patil, SweetySawant, Geetgandha Gaad andApurva Ukalkar presentedsinging recitals. They were ac-companied by Shailesh Shirod-kar and Kaustabh Karapurkar onTabla while Nitin Shirgaonkaron Harmonium.

GOAOHERALD

OPg3

GOA, MONDAY, 10 JANUARY, 2011

HERALD REPORTER

MARGAO, JAN 9

Residents of Fatorda woke upon Sunday to hear the shockingnews of a burglary in the NagTemple.

In fact, after lying low forsome time, temple thieves havestruck once again, this time atFatorda, when they burgled theNag Temple last night.

The miscreants managed tolift away cash of around Rs15,000 from the donation box,but could not lay their handson a gold and silver itemshoused in the cupboard.

Margao PI Santosh Desai in-formed that the miscreants ef-fected entry into the temple bybreaking open the latch of themain door. Once inside, the mis-creants opened the donationbox with the help of a lever andlifted away the cash.

Temple committee memberKrishnath Pandari Naik said thata gold chain besides some silver

items were housed in the cup-board, which were left un-touched by the miscreants.

Fatorda MLA Damu Naik, whovisited the temple, said it is hightime the government initiatessome strong measures to stopthe burglaries. He disclosedplans to raise the issue in theensuing session of the Goa Leg-islative Assembly.

It is indeed sad that tem-ple thefts have continued inthe New Year. The Chief Min-ister and the Home Ministershould pay attention to thesensitive issue. If required,additional force should be de-ployed to tackle the situa-tion, he said.

Naik said the police shouldintensify patrolling pointing tothe burglary that had takenplace in an apartment in Fatorda.

He also demanded that thepolice should concentrate in cer-tain areas of the city to flushout anti-social elements.

Burglars target Nag Temple at Fatorda

Rob Rs 15K from

donation box

(TOP): The doorlatch whichwas broken bythe miscreantsto enter intothe Nag Templeat Fatorda. (RIGHT): Thedonation boxwhich was bro-ken into to liftaway cash. Photos by San-

tosh Mirajkar

Install CCTVsat check poststoo: AGPBOA

HERALD REPORTER

PANJIM, JAN 9

Welcoming the move to installclose-circuit television (CCTV)cameras at the seven RTO officesacross the State, the All Goa Pri-vate Bus Owners Association(AGPBOA) said it was necessarythe same should also be set upat RTO offices on the bordercheck posts.

P re s i d e n t o f A G P B O Aclaimed there were innumer-able complaints received byhim of corrupt practices bymotor-vehicle inspectors sta-tioned at the four border checkposts at Dhargal, Dodamarg,Molem and Polem.

Secondly, Tamankar, main-tained most of the inspectorsat all these four check postshave been stationed in one placesince 2008. Our demand fortheir transfer every six monthshas fallen of deaf ears.

He said installation of CCTVcameras, which is an expensiveaffair, was a welcome move, butat the same time we feel it willnot root out corruption fully. Ifan officer wants to indulge incorruption he will do it anyways,he added.

Tamankar said they had learntthere was a move to give thecontract of installation of CCTVcameras to an assistant direc-tors son. We oppose this andcall for a tender to award thesame, he stated.

He said AGPBOA was seizedof many corrupt practices withinthe Transport Department. If atender is not issued for awardingthe CCTV contract we will openup corrupt practices by seekinginformation under the RTI Act,he warned.

HERALD REPORTER

MARGAO, JAN 9

The Madgaon Urban Coopera-tive Bank added another featherto its cap when it ventured intocore banking on Sunday and hasdrawn up ambitious plans toopen ATMs across the state.

The online banking was com-missioned at the Aquem branchof the bank at the hands of for-mer bank chairman RamakantAngle in the presence of Chair-man Kishore Narvekar, board ofdirectors, staff and employees.

We have taken the Bank onCore Banking platform to extendthe benefits of anywhere bank-ing to our esteemed customers.Customers can now walk in anybranch of the bank to carry outtheir depository and withdrawal

transactions, besides inquireabout their account information,irrespective of the branch wherethey have an account, informedMadgaon Urban Cooperativebank Cha i rman K i shoreNarvekar.

He said the bank has plans toopen delivery channels likeATMs in the near future, addingthat additional channels likeweb banking, SMS bankingwill be also implemented in duecourse of time.

The bank has built their ownData centre adhering to thebest practices of data centre de-sign, taking care of all requiredparameters to ensure maximumuptime, he said.

Narvekar said as part of thegolden jubilee year of Goa lib-

Madgaon Co-op Bank begins core bankingeration, the bank has decidedto offer one per cent additionalinterest on their deposits.

The Bank Chairman furthersaid the bank as a mark of re-spect to all the freedom fightersin the Golden Jubilee year ofGoa Liberation has offered oneper cent additional interest ontheir deposits. He further saidthe Bank will open as many asseven more branches at Pernem,Bicholim, Mapusa, Porvorim,

Vasco, Verna and Canacona inthe near future

Former Bank Chairman Ra-makant Angle said the bank hasset a vision to become the No.1 bank in the state. Madgaonurban cooperative bank alreadyoccupies the number one statusin South Goa. We have now seta target to achieve the status asno one bank in the state withinthe next 4-5 years, Angle said.

Angle said the Single Infor-

mation Window allows manage-ment to view online MIS re-por t s to make s t r a teg i cdecisions. Automation shallmake staff available for market-ing and recovery purposes thatshall facilitate potential en-hancement in profit, he said,adding that customer conven-ience counters will facilitate easyunderstanding of banks prod-ucts and also attend to any postmarketing queries.

GOA, MONDAY, 10 JANUARY, 2011

GOAOHERALDO Pg 4

short takes upcoming events

State level music competitionPANJIM (HND): Goa College of Music will conduct a State

Level Competition in Indian Classical Vocal and InstrumentalMusic - Tabla and Harmonium on January 27 and 28 in DrT B Cunha Educational complex, Altinho, Panjim

The Competition will be held in two Categories: Junior(above 12 years and below 18 years), and Senior Category(above 18 years and below 30 years). For both the groupsthere will be three disciplines, Vocal, Tabla and Harmonium.There will be 5 prizes in each category.

The competition is organised to encourage the talent ofyouth. A copy of rules and prescribed application forms areavailable in Goa College of Music (Phone 24325287 2232507).Application forms must be submitted by January 21.

Friday BalcaoPANJIM(HND): Friday Balcao the fortnightly discussion

event will be held on January 14 will focus on the Palestinianstruggle for Human Rights.

The presentation will be made by David Albuquerque, aGoan presently based in Australia who is an active memberof Justice for Palestine, Brisbane, a Palestinian rights advocacygroup.

Friday Balcao will be from 4 pm to 6 pm at the Goa DescResource Centre

No.11 Liberty Apartments Feira Alta, Mapusa and is opento members of the public.

Interested citizens wanting more information on FridayBalcao can email to goadesc@gmail.com.

Twilight at KAPANJIM(HNB): The Goa College of Home Science will or-

ganize 'Twilight - Mini Festival, 2010-11' at the Open Air Au-ditorium in Kala Academy, Panjim, on January 10.

'Twilight' is an Inter Collegiate event with competitionssuch as fashion mania, RDX - Rhythmic Dance, X-Plosion andMr and Ms Twilight on stage and side events like Nail Art,Mehndi Design and Nutri-Hair Style. Further details are avail-able in with the college office on Ph: 2425254/2227603.

Civil law certificate coursePANJIM (HND): VM Salgaocar College of Law in association

with the Faculty of law, Lisbon University will conduct a 6week civil law certificate course, course commencing fromJanuary 17. Six senior and experienced faculty from Lisbonwill conduct the course. Those who wish to attend maycontact the college office and register by January 14.

DKA polls on January 30PANJIM (HND): Dalgado Konknni Akademi (DKA) will hold

elections to elect its new President and 6 executive membersfor the period 2011 to 2014 on January 30 between 10 amto 1 pm at Tiar Academy, Goa Conference Hall, Second floor,Campal Trade Centre, Campal, Panjim. The counting of voteswill be held on the same day at 3 pm.

According to the DKA Constitution, anyone who is regis-tered as member of DKA from 2008, is eligible to contestthe elections. For members desiring to contest the elections,nomination forms are available at Akademis office, AF-6,First Floor, Campal Trade Centre, Panjim. Filing of nominationswill be done on January 22 between 10 am to 4 pm. Thescrutiny will be on January 24 from 10 am to 12 noon andwithdrawal will be allowed on the same day between 2 pmto 5 pm. DKA has appointed Vincy Quadros as a ReturningOfficer and Joy Fernandes as the first Secretary and TimothyDias as second Secretary.

Comments or queries? Bouquets or brickbats? Talk to us!Email Junior Herald at junior@herald-goa.com or join our Facebook fan page.

Our readers are invited to rave, rant, chat or even contribute. No message will go unanswered!

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Around the World

AlbaniaIn the early times, Alba-nia used to be known asIllyria, and the capitalcity of Albania has beeninhabited since Neolithictimes and was developedin the 17th century.

AndorraThe country of Andorraboasts of a 100% literacyrate.

AustriaIn German language,Austria is referred to asOsterreich, whichmeans Eastern Empire.True to its name, this tinybeautiful country of Aus-tria was once an Empirein Eastern Europe includ-ing the present Austria,Belgium, Czechoslovakia,Hungary, the Nether-

lands, Spain, and alsoparts of Yugoslavia andItaly.

BelarusIn 1986, a nuclear con-tamination at Cher-nobyl, contaminatedmost of the populationat the time, some severesome not much; 25% ofthe country is inhabita-ble, because of radia-tion of the land andswamp lands.

BelgiumOne of the interesting

facts about Belgium thatis noteworthy is the an-nual production of choco-lates. Approximately220,000 tons of chocolateare manufactured in Ger-many each year. The Na-tional Airport in Brussels,Belgium, is the worldsbiggest selling point ofchocolates.

Bosnia and HerzegovinaStecak, a medieval tomb-stone is a religious mon-ument that can be seenthroughout the country-side of Bosnia and Herze-govina.

BulgariaLactobacillus Bulgaricus,the bacterium that is re-sponsible for giving Bul-garian yoghurt its uniqueflavour and consistency,can be found only in Bul-garian air.

CroatiaThe White House wasbuilt out of Croatianstone, from the island ofBrac. This same stonehad been used to buildDiocletians Palace inSplit.

Czech RepublicTogether with Polish andSlovakian, Czech belongsto the West Slavian lan-guage family. Remarkableabout Czech language isthe usage of many conso-nants in succession.

Fun Facts about Countriesin Europe (Part 1):

POWER SHUTDOWN

JANUARY 10

PONDA: From 9 am to 2 pm. Areas affected are Nr KapileshwarDoctor clinic, Bhanushali Apts, Upper Bazar, Mankame Bhat, Fishmarket, Goa Bagayatdar, Sukhtankar Apts, Goa State Co-op. Bank,Ponda.

JANUARY 11

GUIRIM: From 9 am to 2 pm. Areas affected are Jackniwaddo,Brittowado, Lingabhat, Saliswado, Bokache Aradi, Fondawaddo,Abbaswaddo Canca, Sonarwado Verla, Freitaswaddo Verla, ParpoliGuirim, Sonvem, Kumayamarod Guirim, Vanciowaddo Guirim, St.Anthony Waddo, Prerxetwaddo, Agniwaddo and surroundingareas.

PARRA: From 9 am to 2 pm. Areas affected are Jackniwaddo,Brittowado, Lingabhat, Saliswado, Bokache Aradi, FondawaddoAbbaswaddo Canca, Sonarwado Verla, Freitaswaddo Verla, ParpoliGuirim, Sonvem, Kumayamarod Guirim and surrounding areas.

JANUARY 13

PARRA: From 9 am to 5 pm. Areas affected are Jackniwaddo,Brittowado, Lingabhat, Saliswado, Bokache Aradi, FondawaddoAbbaswaddo Canca, Sonarwado Verla, Freitaswaddo Verla,Parpoli Guirim, Sonvem, Kumayamarod Guirim and surroundingareas.

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

QUEPEM, JAN 9

The BJP Quepem Mandal organ-ised Quepem taluka level Christ-mas Crib competition to markthe Golden Jubilee celebrationof Goas liberation.

The crib presented by StarBoys of Condi Quepem won thefirst prize of Rs 5,000, while theSmart Heads of Igramol won thesecond prize of Rs 3,500. Thethird prize of Rs 2,500 was

awarded to Borimol Youth.Consolation prizes of Rs

1,000 each were awarded to JoyCrib of Zoglamordi, VagornaChapel and Crib of Tolcotto.

Special prizes of appreciationof Rs 1,000 were awarded toCarmu Fernandes of Ambaulimand Ro je to Fernandes o fCopelabhat. Each of the partic-ipants will be awarded a cashprize of Rs 500, informed BJPsources.

Star Boys win crib contest

The crib which was awarded the first prize. Photo by John Fernandes

Vasco teacher awardedVASCO(HR): Retired teacher

from Vasco, Budan Shaikh,was recently awarded Maha-rashtra Ratan award at Yesh-wantrao Chauhan Ha l l ,Nanded-Maharashtra.

Shaikh, who was earlierawarded as the best teacherand best social worker, hasbeen awarded with Maha-rashtra Ratan award, whichwas bestowed by the KantiGuru Lavuji Salve National As-sociation Maharashtra.

Shaikh was short listed forthe award for his educationaland social contribution for the downtrodden people in Vasco.

Idol installed at BicholimMAYEM(HC): The installation ceremony of new idol of Lord

Hanuman was organised recently at Sudha Colony, Bicholim.The idol was installed during the 19th anniversary celebration

of Hanuman Temple. The programme started with Dsabodhreading, Abhishek, Mahapooja, Laghurudra and Bhajan, followedby classical singing by Bindiya Vast. Various competitions werealso organized on the occasion. Siddesh Marathe, DevasriKavlekar, Adnya Parmekar, Siddhi Shetye, Aditya Parmekar andAdav Narvekar emerged winners in the fancy dress contest,while Janvi Sawant, Adnya Parmekar, Aditya and Shashankwon the prizes in dance contest.

Milinda Alvi, Uma Alvi, Neha Sawant, Anisha Parmekar, DishaShetye and Aditi Parmekar were awarded for best cooking forthe items prepared out of milk.

Naresh Sawal, BMC Councilor Narayan Betkikar, KamlakarTeli, Aruna Patnekar, Milinda Alvi, Jaidev Prabhugaonkar andNaresh Kadkade were present for the prize distribution cere-mony. Earlier, Ramnath Desai welcomed the gathering, DeepakMarathe introduced the guests, Atul Parmekar compered thefunction, while Dattaram Shetye proposed the vote of thanks.

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

MAYEM, JAN 9

Bicholim Deputy CollectorNarayan Gad has appealed toteachers to impart education insuch a manner which would helpeven a common student to man-age their studies.

He was addressing the gath-ering after inaugurating annualsocial gathering of KG and pri-mary section of Rotary Charita-

ble Trust Bicholim, recently.School Chairman Vallabh Salkar,Ramanad Natekar, SandeshBurye, Milin Karpae, PradeepPanjikar and Anwar Shaikh werepresent on the occasion.

Ramanad Natekar welcomedthe guests, Shilpa Chari read theannual report, Poonam Buryeand Priya Kotkar compered theprogramme, while Vallabh Salkarproposed the vote of thanks.

Teachers urged to resort to simple teaching

Deputy Collector Narayan Gad addresses the gathering at Bicholim.Photo by Vishant Vaze

GPCC Secretary Milan Burman along with son Rajiv and daughterPriyanka greeting the President Pratibha Patil during her visit to theState.

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

PORVORIM, JAN 9

H indu Jana jagrut i Samit iSpokesperson Rajendra Shindesaid the temples are the faithcenters for the Hindus, butthere are growing instances ofdesecration of Hindu deities andthefts in the State.

He was speaking after inau-gurating the Gomantak Mandirand Dharmik Sanstha Ma-hasangh at Gadgemahraj hall,Porvorim.

The need to form a commonforum called Gomantak Mandirand Dharmik Sanstha Mahasangharose to protect the sanctity ofthe temples, said Shinde.

Speaking further, Shinde said

Need to maintain sanctity of temples: HJS

in Goa during the course of lastsix years, over 50 deities of Godand goddesses have been des-ecrated and numerous theftshave occurred.

However, the police depart-ment has not been able to nabthe culprits nor the governmentworked out any effective solu-tion to stop attacks on temples,added Shinde.

Spokesperson of Hindu Jan-gajagruti for Maharashtra andGujarat Ramesh Shinde statedthat peace exists in Goa becauseof the temples, but the govern-ment instead of promoting Goaas the State of temples is en-couraging casinos and liquor sale.

It is the prime duty of the

government to provide protec-tion to the temples and maintainits sanctity. The government stilldoes not have the record of thetemples in Goa and GomantakMandir and Dharmik sansthaMahasangh should take initia-tive and prepare the directoryof temples, opined Shinde.

Kirtankar RamakrishnabuvaBarve, Rajkumar Dessai andChandrakant Pandit also spokeon the occasion.

During the occasion, resolu-tions unanimously adopted weretemple protection squad be es-tablished at the taluka level,government should not demol-ish any unauthorized temple un-less the temple committee ofthe respective temple and theMandir Mahasangh have beentaken into confidence, losses in-curred due to temple thefts anddesecrated idols should be re-imbursed at the earliest, not asingle temple from Mayem beconsidered as unauthorised,government should declare thetemples which are declared asunauthorized as authorized andgovernment should direct thepolice department to investigateseriously and booked the cul-prits involved in desecration ofthe temples and thefts in Goa.

Earlier, Hindu JanajagritiSamiti Coordinator Jayesh Thaliwelcomed the gathering, whileGiriraj Prabhudessai comperedthe function.

Rozarios photo expo

in cityHERALD NEWS DESK

PANJIM, JAN 9

Photo-journalist Rozario Es-tibeiros second photo exhibi-tion will be inaugurated onJanuary 11 at ESG Art Gallery,Maquinez Palace, Panjim at 11am. The expo will remain opentill 6 pm.

The inauguration will be fol-lowed by the release of his cal-endar designed with love anddedication.

Rozario has been into photog-raphy for the last 20 years.

The year 2011 being theGolden Jubilee year of Goas Lib-eration, he has dedicated his cal-endar to all Goans as he feelsthat it is his endeavour to protectand preserve the rich Goanbeaches, some of them which arenot so popular, but yet glam-ourous.

Rozario says that he has cap-tured glamourous poses of someGoan beauties adorning the eye-catching beaches in his calendarand expects a good responsefrom the public.

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

CORTALIM, JAN 9

Thousands of devotees are throng-ing to the Sanctuary of Patron ofGoa, Blessed Joseph Vaz for nove-nas, which began on January 7.

Pilgrims from various parisheshave been attending the novenas,where they are being given insighton the works and miracles per-formed by Blessed Vaz in Goa,Mangalore and Sri Lanka. The feastwill be celebrated on January 16.

On January 12, an inter-reli-gious meet will be held at theSanctuary at 10.30 am. The meetassumes significance sinceBlessed Vaz had cordial relations

with all religious communities Buddhists, Hindus, Muslimsin the Island nation.

Museum displaying the worksof Blessed Joseph Vaz is also ondisplay at the Sanctuary.

Meanwhile, Sunday morningwitnessed traffic jam for aboutan hour on the Sancoale-Birlaroad as the authorities failed tocontrol the traffic.

Admitting that there were onlytwo traffic cops to control thetraffic, Shamba Dessai said thatit was not possible for two ofthem to control the traffic. Weneed more personnel to controlthe traffic, Dessai told Herald.

Thousands throngnovenas of Bl Joseph Vaz

Vehicles caught in the traffic jam on way to the Blessed Joseph VazSanctuary, Sancoale. Photo by Alvaro Colaco

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

CURCHOREM, JAN 9

Curchorem Super School Com-plex I presented a programmerecently to depict the culture,tradition, history of Goa underPortuguese.

A mass drill and integrationsongs in Konkani, Hindi andMarathi were presented to paytribute to martyrs and free-dom fighters and a salute tothe State by the students ofmember schools of the com-plex.

President Vaman Bhadri saidits objective was to arouseawareness about Goas freedomstruggle and develop under-standing and integr i ty inyounger generation.

Chief guest local MLA ShyamSatardekar inaugurated the func-tion. CCMC Chairperson AlifaFernandes was the guest of ho-nour.

In his speech, Dr NarayanDesai hoped for the golden daysin the State. He recollected thecontribution of freedom fightersand called upon the students tovoice against injustice and use

education as an instrument insolving the problems.

Undoubtedly, the land is freefrom Portuguese rule, but arewe really free, he questionedand stressed that correct use oflaw and power would free theland in true sense.

Two freedom fighters, ShivajiKudchadker and Ramesh FonduNaik, were felicitated on the oc-casion. M N Prabhu highlightedtheir contribution in the free-dom struggle.

MLA Shyam Satardekar calledupon the students to carry themessage imparted by the teach-ers for the development of theland and the nation.

Traditional dances and a skitbased on freedom struggle werepresented. Musical dance, Kunbidance, Phulkara dance, Dhangardance, Shigmo, Dhalo and Fugdi,Goencho Ek Chaar were per-formed by Sarvodaya HighSchool, Government HighSchool, Savargal, Smt Chandrab-haga Tukoba Naik Higher Sec-ondary School, Curchorem, NewEducational Institute, Chur-chorem, respectively.

Function depictingGoas history held

at Curchorem

Awareness programme heldVASCO(HR): Vinayak Kala Sangh Baina organized an awareness

programme on the theme Keep Goa Clean and Green.On the occasion, Vinayak Kala Sangh distributed about 80

kgs of Nirmalaya (Vermi compost) to the people free of cost.MMC Chairperson Suchita Shirodkar distributed the Nir-

malaya in the presence of Shyam Nayak, Jayant Jadhav, LankeshBakshi, Pallavi Shirodkar and Yeshwant Gadekar, Ravi Gorla,Shekar Murgaokar and Suraj Waghmode of Vinayak Kala Sangh.

It may be recalled that on the occasion of Ganesh festival,Nirmalaya collection was carried out in Vasco city from fourGanesh Visarjan emersion sites -- Baina Beach, Khariwado,Vaddem Lake and Bogmolo Beach, where the devotees hadwillingly offered Nirmalaya to the volunteers.

This project was possible with the collaboration of MMC,ex-chairperson Shekhar Khadapkar, concerned citizens andorganizations like Bharat Swabhiman, Vinayak Kala Sangh, Ro-tary Club of Dabolim and Daji Salkar, Shami Salkar, Lalita Joshi,Kevin DSilva, Pallavi Shirodkar, Alka Damle, Jayant Jadhav, Nee-lima Parulekar, Renu Rao, Dinesh Heda, Amit Tapadia, AmitBandekar, Charuta Mehta, Roshan Gunjal and Rupa Bandekarof Earthworm Eco Store.

GOA / REGIONGOA, MONDAY,10 JANUARY, 2011

Pg5OHERALD

O

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

BELGAUM, JAN 9

The BJP emerged as a strongforce in the biggest ZP of thestate registering a landslide vic-tory in Belgaum with 63 seatsto its credit out of 86, leavingCongress at 17 seats and Inde-pendents at six.

For the Congress and JDSwhich had entered into a localtie-up with the sole aim of de-feating the BJP, the results havecome as a disaster. The Congresswhich was in power in BelgaumZP with 43 seats was hoping torecord a hat trick this time, butmiserably failed to get votes inmost of the constituencies.

While coming to power forthe first time in Belgaum ZP, BJPalso dumped MaharashtraEkikaran Samiti (MES) in severalpro-Marathi constituencies ofBelgaum.

The MES which had 10 seatsto its credit has managed to winonly five this time with four inBelgaum taluka and one inKhanapur.

Of the total of 86 seats, BJPwon 63, Congress 17 and Inde-pendent six (including five MES-supported candidates).

In several years, the JDS has

failed to open its account in Bel-gaum first time despite its de-cision to fight the elections inmost of the constituencies inBelgaum with the support ofCongress party.

The JDS also was supportedby the disqualified MLA Bal-achandra Jarkiholi in Gokaktaluka and Congress was sup-ported by another disqualifiedlegislator Raju Kage in Athanitaluka, where Congress couldwin only two seats against BJPsnine.

The brisk campaign launchedby Chief Minister B S Yeddyu-rappa from Arbhavi constituencysaw all the top BJP party leadersaddressing election rallies inBelgaum district, where the elec-tions had become a bone of con-tention between Congress/JDSand BJP due to the disqualifica-tion of two MLAs.

The chief minister had chal-lenged during the launch of hiscampaign at Arbhavi that hisparty would sweep the polls inthe district, particularly in Gokaktaluka. He had announced thathe will be in-charge of Arbhaviconstituency due to the disqual-ification of Jarkiholi.

At Hukkeri taluka, where

money, l iquor, sarees andwatches were allegedly distrib-uted in a large scale during elec-tions, BJP won all the eight ZPseats. Minister Umesh Katti andMP Ramesh Katti who representthe constituency had assuredthe party that all the seats intheir taluka will be won by BJP.

The Congress party which re-newed its party ranks at thegrassroots including its districtand taluka units was hoping towin about 50 seats.

A mega campaign also wasorganised by the party at Gokaktaluka in which several of its topleaders including Gulam NabiAzad, Mallikarjun Kharge, DrParameshwar attended lastweek. None of the Congressparty s strategies or plansworked this time as BJP success-fully broke into the Congressbastion.

After winning a highest of 11of the 18 assembly seats andboth the parliamentary seats inthe district in the last elections,the BJP has never looked back.

The BJP leaders feel that thevictory of the party in BelgaumZP will make way for the totaldevelopment of the entire ruralBelgaum.

BJP emerges victorious in Belgaum ZP polls

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

BELGAUM, JAN 9

Belgaum Police in its attemptsto make the district crime-freeshowed an outstanding im-provement in 2010.

According to Belgaum PoliceChief Sandeep Patil, majorityof the cases that includedcrimes like pirated CD trade,fake currency, opium and ganjatrade were solved by the po-lice.

Last year witnessed 607 majoraccidents in which 671 personswere kil led. Traffic policebooked a total of 62,723 casesagainst offenders, collecting atotal fine of Rs 98,78,475 fromthem. As many as 1,740 caseswere booked under IPC Act,whereas 352 cases were bookedunder Special Act in the districtlast year.

Divulging further details at apress conference here, Super-intendent of Police Sandeep Patilsaid in 2010, police seized 2.915kg gold ornaments, 354.835 kgsilver ornaments, 142 two-wheelers , 43 cars and 13tempo/tractors in connectionwith different cases.

Three country-made pistolsand two foreign pistols with-out license were also recov-

Belgaum police top performance chart in 2010

SP Sandeep Patil addresses the press conference in the presence of Additional SP S H Gangareddy.

ered and four persons includ-ing one person from Goa werearrested in connection withthese cases.

The police in a bid to controlto control the cr ime ratebooked three persons for caus-ing communal tensions. Sri RamSena activist Dhananjay Jadhavand two others were bookedunder Goonda Act recently, headded.

Speaking further, SP Patil saidtwo cases of fake currency trade

were booked and nine personswere arrested with Rs 6,450 fakecurrency.

Police also recovered ma-terial used for printing fakecurrency from them. Policeraided Durgappa Kallappa De-mattis place and recovered9,500 pirated CDs worth Rs12.20 lakh, said Patil andadded that pirated CDs worthRs1.5 lakh were also recoveredrecently.

In all, 17 cases in which 1.90

kg opium worth Rs 2.9 lakh wasrecovered, while 16 cases werebooked in which 147 kg of ganjaworth Rs 3.55 lakh was recov-ered. As many as 23 personswere arrested in connectionwith these cases, informed SPPatil.

The Belgaum Pol ice isadopting innovative measuresto prevent and control crimein order to maintain tranquil-ity in Belgaum district, hesaid.

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

BELGAUM, JAN 9

The Cantonment Board of Bel-gaum, in its bid to give a NewYears gift to the citizens of Bel-gaum, has planned an Eco Park.

This unique kind of park inthe region spread across about3.2 acres has been planned nextto the Queens Garden at Camp.The inauguration of the venuewas carried out by planting me-dicinal herbs by Brig PJS Pannu,VSM, the outgoing StationCommander of the MLIRC andpresident of the CantonmentBoard.

Lauding the project thatwould be a blessing to the citi-zens of Belgaum, Brig Pannusaid the project should be de-veloped in such a way that along

with becoming an eco park, itwould also attract the childrenand tourists as well.

He also rendered certain valu-able suggestions to make thepark more attractive and eco-friendly.

Giving details about thepark, Chief Executive Officerof Cantonment Board VijayRajak said a large number oftrees and herbs having medic-inal values, ornamental shedtrees, flowering trees, etc,would be planted around thepark. For the convenience ofthe morning walkers, a walkingt rack wi l l be deve loped .Benches will also be put up allalong the park for people toperform yoga and for the con-venience of the senior citizens

who can spend leisure time inthis park.

This is the unique project ofits kind and will be developedin phases, CEO Rajak addedseeking the co-operation fromthe citizens and organizations,who could come across to de-velop this park that would addto the greenery of Belgaum.

Saplings were also planted byCEO Vijay Rajak, Vice PresidentDeepak Bhati and Col Mishra,the Adm Commandant of theStation Headquarters.

Members of the CantonmentBoard Dr Madan Dongare, Chan-drashekhar Savadi, Thangraj Kr-ishnan, Dr Rahi la Shaikh,Vandana Rao, Assistant EngineerSatish Mannurkar and otherswere present.

Cantonment Board plans Eco Park in Belgaum

Brig PJS Pannu plants a medicinal sapling at the proposed Eco Park in the presence of Sajid Shaikh, LRodrigues, Dr Rahila Shaikh, Dr Madan Dongare, Vandana Rao, Thangraj Krishnan, Deepak Bhati, SatishMannurkar, Vijay Rajak, Chandrashekhar Savadi and others.

K'taka MLAsdisqualification

case hearingresumes today

PTI

BANGALORE, JAN 9

A full bench of Karnataka HighCourt will tomorrow resumehearing on petitions filed by fiveindependent MLAs challengingtheir disqualification from theAssembly membership in Octo-ber under the Anti-DefectionLaw.

The resumption of hearingcomes in the backdrop ofSupreme Court dismissing a pe-tition by BJP chief whip D N Jee-varaj last month.

Jeevraj had challenged thehigh court order allowing theMLAs' plea for making AssemblySpeaker K G Bopaiah and ChiefMinister B S Yeddyurappa as par-ties in the case.

D Sudhakara, P M Naren-d ra swamy, M Venka ta ra -manappa, Goolihatti Shekar andShivaraj Tangadagi were disqual-ified on October 10 by Bopaiahafter they, along with 11 BJPMLAs, withdrew support fromthe Yeddyurappa government.

The 16 MLAs were disquali-fied on the basis of a complaintfiled by Yeddyurappa on October7. The disqualifications cameon the eve of the BJP govern-ment seeking a trust vote onthe floor of the House.

PTI

MUMBAI, JAN 9

Close on the heels of arrest ofa couple of Kashmiris, MumbaiPolice has issued an advisory tovarious police stations askingthem to keep a watch on peoplefrom the state, especially driv-ers, as some of them are sus-pected to have been carryingout recce for terror groups.

The advisory, which was circu-lated among various police stationsof the megapolis, was issued afterthe arrest of two Kashmiris in No-vember last year, based on a spe-cific intelligence input providedby Jammu and Kashmir police.

The J-K police had also in-formed the Union Home Min-istry about the possible sinisterdesigns of some terror groups,especially Lashkar-e-Taiba, tocarry out a recce exercise be-tween Mumbai and Ahmedabadfor which services of some driv-ers were used, sources said.

Maharashtra Anti TerrorismSquad (ATS) had on November29 last year arrested two Kash-miri youths - for allegedly tryingto recruit members for LeT andobtaining details of military andoil installations in Maharashtra,Rajasthan and Gujarat.

Mohammed Shareef Makhan-deen Thakkar (33) and Mo-hammed Isak MohammedRasheed Kumlakh (29), both work-ing as oil tanker drivers, were ac-cused of trying to recruit membersfor the LeT outfit after receivinginstructions from their handlersin J-K and across the border.

"Terror outfits like LeT andIndian Mujahideen is trying torecruit Kashmiri youths and driv-

ers to conduct recce of sensitiveareas including defence estab-lishments. Any police stationunder whose jurisdiction thereare oil depots or defence instal-lations should ensure proper se-curity both inside and outsidethe place," the advisory reads.

It further states if any private se-curity agency is employing any Kash-miri men as security guards, policeshould conduct proper scrutiny ofsuch men. "A watch should also bekept on any foreign national foundroaming in a suspicious manner incrowded places," it says.

Efforts to seek comments fromDirector General of MaharashtraD Sivanandan, Mumbai PoliceCommissioner Sanjeev Dayal andATC Chief Rakesh Maria couldnot fructify as SMS and calls re-mained unanswered.

Mumbai police issuesadvisory on Kashmiri

youths and drivernThe J-K police

had also informedthe Union HomeMinistry about thepossible sinisterdesigns of someterror groups,especiallyLashkar-e-Taiba,to carry out arecce exercisebetween Mumbaiand Ahmedabadfor whichservices of somedrivers wereused.

HERALD REPORTER

VASCO, JAN 9

Though the election campaignis yet to kick off in the State,Cortalim BJP Block has kickedoff its preparation with theopening of its office at Shim-pal-Sancoale.

Opposition Leader ManoharParrikar on Tuesday opened theoffice on the occasion of birth-day of Sancoale Panch TulshidasNaik.

Former MLA Rajendra Arlekar,BJP Vice President (South Goa)Jayant Jadhav, Cortalim BlockPresident Sanjay Naik, formerBJP candidate Anthony Vaz, Ma-lika Arjun and Shilpa Naik werepresent during the occasion.

Addressing party workers,Parrikar asked Anthony Vaz andTulshidas Naik to start prepa-r a t i o n s . B J P h a s b r i g h tprospects to come into powerthis time, as people of Goa areinfuriated with present govern-ment inefficiency to deliver,said Parrikar.

Parrikar in his typical style oforatory compared the Kamatgovernment with famous Eng-lish rhyme If wishes werehorses, beggars would ride.

Cortalim BJP block opens office in Sancoale

This government only wishesthat development should takeplace, but nothing is deliveredto the people of Goa, exceptrampant corruption, stated Par-rikar.

He further said people havebeen asking if BJP field its can-didates from Cortalim, thenwhat would happen to MathanySaldanha. Let Saldanha decidehis election prospect, party willdecide on it, said Parrikar.

There is feeling among com-mon man that BJP governancewas one of the best governance

seen by people of Goa. Peopleshould judge the performanceof present government andbring the BJP back to power,added Parrikar.

Earlier, Tulshidas Naik whilewelcoming the guests requestedParrikar to take up the projectthat is coming in the backyardof Sancoale with cutting ofmango groves, which would bedisastrous for Sancoale village.

Rajendra Arlekara and JayantJadhav also spoke on the occa-sion. Damodar Naik comperedthe function.

Opposition Leader Manohar Parrikar inaugurates Cortalim BJPBlock office in the presence of former MLA Rajendra Arlekar andothers. Photo by M Prabhav

MP Shantaram Naik and Beena S Naik seen with the President Pratibha Patil and her husband Devis-ingh Patil.

HERALD NEWS DESK

PANJIM, JAN 9

Governor, Dr S S Sidhu had afree interaction with the groupof 23 students from Rajouri andPooch areas of Jammu and Kash-mir, who called on him alongwith their teachers at Raj Bhavanon Sunday morning. The stu-dents studying in vi to xii stan-dards were on the Sadbhavnaeducational tour of Goa organ-ized by the 38 Rashtriya RiflesBattalion.

The students told the Gov-ernor that they were very happyto visit Goa for the first timein their lives and that theywould carry back with themgood memories from this land.Some of them stated that theywanted to become doctorswhile others wanted to join theengineering courses or becometeachers.

Dr Sidhu complimented thestudents for setting beforethem high ambit ions andwished they would succeed intheir endeavors. He also ob-served that some of them couldalso rise to the status of Gov-ernors provided they were con-sistent in their efforts and

Students from J&K interact with Governor

thinking to become great andoccupy high positions.

You are the future of Jammuand Kashmir and you are thefuture of Mother India, he re-marked. He further observedthat such Sadhbhavana edu-cational tours would certainlyhelp them to acquire wideknowledge and thereby broadentheir horizons.

To the teachers accompany-ing the students, the Governorstated that they had the oner-ous task of shaping the mindsand outlook of the young citi-zens.

The Governor briefed the stu-dents about the socio-economicprofile of Goa and added thatthis State had made tremendousprogress because the peoplecherished the ideals of commu-nal harmony, peace and broth-erhood. This is the messageyou can carry with you back toyour State, he told the stu-dents.

The students were led byMajor Yograj Ingle, Mrs Ingle,four NCOs, two teachers andone young Rifleman MithunGawas, who belongs to Shanti-nagar, Ponda but who has been

posted 38 RR in Jammu. ShaukatKhan, teacher, while proposinga vote of thanks, stated that thestudents were grateful to theGovernor for providing an op-portunity to them to meet andinteract with them.

Two seriously injured in mishap at Canacona

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

CANACONA, JAN 9

Two persons from Canacona were seriously injured, after thescooter in which they were traveling was reportedly knockeddown by an unknown vehicle at Mastimoll-Canacona late Sundayevening. According to Canacona Police, the accident occurredwhen Nikson Fernandes (24) of Mastimoll and Gururaj Dale (26)of Sadolxem were proceeding on Honda Dio (GA-08-H-3266).

Police further informed that the injured duo have been shiftedto Hosipico in Margao.

PTI

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, JAN 9

In a major step to strengthenIT learning in shools in Kerala,the state government haslaunched a scheme to distributelaptops and netbooks to 50,000teachers at a fair price underthe IT@School Project.

Under the plan, computerswould be distributed at the ratewhich is as less as one third ofthe market prices.

The teachers could purchaselaptops at a price of Rs 17,770and netbooks at Rs.11,450each respectively, availing a re-duction of as much as 37 percent and 36 per cent of marketr a t e s o f R s . 2 8 , 0 0 0 a n dRs.18,000.

Top th ree compan ies - -Wipro, HCL and RP Infosys-temshave been seleted forthe supply of laptops and net-books through techon-commer-ical tenders.

As per the tender conditions,teachers would get opportunityto review the pieces of all threecompanies at the District Officesof the Project.

Over 7500 laptops have al-ready been provided to vari-ous schools till 2009-10 underthe IT@school programme.This year, another lot of 8000laptops and 6000 netbookswould be provided to theschools.

The approach of using laptopsand projectors in class roomsrather than the conventional'Computer Lab' method has beenwell accepted by the teachingcommunity.

"There have been constantrequests from the teachers aswell as Teachers' unions thatlaptops may be provided to theteachers at lower rates, so that

Kerala to supply 50,000 laptops for teachers

they are well equipped to makeuse of ICT in their teachingprocess.

We are sure that this newscheme of providing laptopsand netbooks to teacherswould create new waves in theeducational scenario of theState," said K Anvar Sadath, Ex-ecutive Director, IT@SchoolProject.

After evaluating the progressof this scheme, we could expe-dite the possibility of givingother equipment like Multime-dia Projectors, Printers, scan-ners , handycams , d ig i ta lcameras also to teachers at re-duced rates, he said.

Unclaimed RC booksAdelmo Fernandes, Vasco

It is understood that there are 12,000registration certificate (RC) books lyingunclaimed with the transport depart-ment. This means that a total of 12,000vehicle owners who use their cars andtwo wheelers without the mandatory RCbooks. A registration certificate book isa very important document as it is theonly proof of the ownership of the vehi-cle. Not being in possession of one, is avery serious offence. This alarming num-ber of vehicle owners without the RCbook also means that there has been in-adequate control by the police in check-ing the documents of vehicles. A strictvigil needs to be maintained against of-fenders as we could even have a terroristin the state, driving in a stolen vehicle,sans the necessary documents.

In appreciationMelson F M Louis, Margao

The organisers of the traditional NewYears Eve ball of some leading hotels,institutions, sports and cultural associa-tions in Goa, must be congratulated as

they have refrained from burning the ef-figy of an old man, which is meant tousher in the New Year. Senior citizenshave appreciated this gesture.

In South Goa, the organisers of the NewYears eve crystal ball, held in Margao, havechanged the tradition of burning the effigyof a 12 foot giant old man. Instead, burningthe effigy of an evil man has been arrangedto get rid of the evils of the previous yearand ushering in of the New Year 2011, withclean thoughts.

It is hoped that others will follow thisexample, and respect senior citizens inGoa.

Cleaning the rotJonas Correia, Aldona

The clarion call given by Heralds Editor-in-chief, Raul Fernandes in both the ap-peals, is probably the last straw to saveof whatever is left of Goa. This is notthe first time Herald has made such anattempt. In the past Herald has boldlysent a message to the electorate on theeve of each and every election.

Unfortunately, those messages werenever taken seriously, nor spread amongthe voters particularly the iliterate ones.

As Goas famed pop star once said that ourelection focus lies on who will tar the road,or put an electric pole or legalise the illegalconstruction and we vote for that personor party. With such selfish attitude of eachone for himself, we will continue to driftand lose all control over our destiny.

We also need to change our electoralsystem as democracy, they say, is for theaffluent, and not the effluent. Otherwise,we will continue to have a majority of foolsthat will keep electing the same tyrants.

Rotten political systemSidonio Mendes, Chandor

That Goa abounds with 6,000 MT of goldlying deep from the surface, as claimedby renowned microbiologist NandkumarKamat, is heartening news. Then, whythis menacing rush to dig our low grademines to dump ore, in another country?Should other countries reap the benefitof our mineral export in the long run?

Earlier, the minimum grade of ore re-quired, for processing it into metal andnot for dumping, was 65 per cent. It revealsthe political system of the state, which has

become rotten and despondent.

Piece of truthPaulo Menezes, Panjim

Dr Joe de Souza in his article Who willaccount for this daylight treat? (WeekendSplendour, Herald, 2 Jan) said that it ispoverty that drives people into stealingand that he resigns to the belief that itis Gods will as He has plenty to give byHis own ways, like burglaries of religiousinstitutions in Goa, as most religious in-stitutions preach.

This goes as a small piece of truth andwisdom of Dr. Joe. The historical encyclicalletter Rerum Novarum of Pope Leo XIIIseems to be followed only by the rulers ofthe nations. Today, everyone has forgottenthat justice and charity begins at home.

Maneka, leave us alone Jerry Fernandes, Saligao

This has reference to the article Theprinciples of Justice by Maneka Gandhi(Herald, 3 Jan). Well, Mrs Gandhi is not ahistorian, prophet or a religious leader.She is an Animal rights activist. She,

therefore, has no right to interpret someselected passages from the Holy Bibleand draw her own funny conclusions toprove her point. She says that animalshave a life like humans, yes they do, butwhat about the different plants whichproduce vegetables? Dont they have alife too? If we follow that logic, thenwhat are we going to consume?

Please do not try to ruin our eatinghabits, but allow us to live in peace andenjoy our distinct spicy cuisine. Just leaveus alone, Maneka.

Upgrade municipal schoolsCajetan Peter DSouza, Mumbai

The state government, along with theeducation department must look intoupgrading all municipal schools whichwill help in providing better educationfacilities for students below povertylevel. There is a need for the gov-ernment to convert these schools intonational open schools where these stu-dents will be taught not just the regulareducation but also methods to have abetter living. These schools should alsobe upgraded to Std XII level.

Sibals claim untrueMathew Oommen, Pune

Communication and IT minister KabilSibals claim that the country did notlose any money in the 2G spectrum al-location during 2007, is a departurefrom the truth. The ministers state-ment is not in the best interest of thenation and is highly inappropriate.

At this stage, Kapil Sibal should notbring in the theory of welfare vizrevenue, in his efforts to sweep cor-ruption under the carpet. Kapil candispute the figures on how much theexchequer had lost on account of 2G,but the amount of Rs 1,76,000crorehas got embedded in the mind of theIndian citizens.

The government should now focuson bringing the culprits to book,rather than offering justification tothe public, that they are quite comfortablewith tackling corruption.

Erroneous CAG?P L Fernandes, Old Goa

The recent remarks of Union MinisterKapil Sibal, make it look like the CAGhas run out of its usefulness. If there wasa simple answer as this, then why wasprecious time wasted in hanging up theparliamentary proceedings. In theprocess, a minister was made to resign,which followed a hullabaloo and an at-tempt to deceive the population at large,besides the Opposition benches? It ap-peared as if rabbits were pulled out ofthe proverbial hat, in the hope that theproblem might be shooed away.

The chairman of the PAC, has ridiculedhim by saying he may have not read thereport of the CAG, because they used threemodels in order to arrive at the figures.

When many of our premier agencies areseized of the matter, why is there a necessityto compound this matter, thus making itworse for everyone? Such wild statementsfrom a person occupying a higher position,is inappropriate.

Inefficient governmentCroydon Medeira, Margao

The Congress Government in Goa has shownits inefficiency in controlling not only theprice rise of essential commodities but lacksdirection, conviction and willingness to beable to live up to its slogan of being a gov-ernment for the masses.

The recent statements issued by thechairman of the Goa State Horticulture De-velopment Corporation that the BJP in Kar-nataka is irked over the supply of vegetablesto Goa, and wants it stopped is the mostabsurd excuse, seen till date. This showsthe hollowness of the ruling dispensation.

Government should encourage farmers andprovide them with either free or subsidisedseeds, fertilisers and impart training on how toimprove productivity. Instead, governmenthas gone on a land acquiring spree. Landof farmers has been taken over and con-verted into settlement areas. If the governmentis unable to make the state self-sufficient in theproduce of vegetables, then its elected repre-sentatives have no right to continue, at thehelm of affairs.

He came, there he saw and alas, he was con-quered. If Hariprasad, the Congress Observer,as well as the fund raiser for the Congress inGoa, now feels, that he has comfortably quelledthe growing anarchy in the political system inGoa, he is sadly mistaken. The only achievementof the Delhi emissary is that he has delayedthe malignant growth of coteries based gov-ernance, directed to incapacitate the ChiefMinister and marginalise the influence of HighCommand, be it of the NCP or that of theCongress itself.

Today, it is Sharad Pawar of the NCP, who ap-parently appears to be on the receiving end. TheCongress bosses in New Delhi should realise thatthe family business of running the governmentin Goa has assuming cancerous dimensions inGoa, ever since the 2007 elections to the Goa as-sembly were held. The ever increasing role of afather, son, daughter, wife, sister and a brotherin political governance of Goa, is assuming per-nicious levels to the detriment of the holisticgrowth of Goan society. Notwithstanding, evenin-laws are figuring in the son-shine and son-in-law shining conspiracy in the Goan politicalscenario. The Des Ka Daam will transform intovees ka kaam, wherein twenty like minded thieves,essentially consisting of husbands, wives, brothers,sisters, fathers, mothers, sons and daughters ofa few politically ambitious families in Goa, wouldchallenge the Sonia, and Rahuls authority to un-dermine the sanctity of austerity, in governance.

The increasing use of the family label to gen-erate funds through extortion, exploitation, co-ercion, and arm-twisting tactics, may giveDigambar Kamat a brief respite, and an uncom-fortable stability. But it must be realised that thepatron saint of Goas political opportunism anddefection, is grooming up to assume power muchsooner than expected, by the hapless Goan society.There is hardly anyone in the Goan political sys-tem, truly committed to the cause of society. Itis I, me, myself, and mine as more and more ofGoa is facing degradation, deterioration and de-struction, in the wake of rampant corruption, ex-ploitation and manipulation. For the short sightedGoan citizenry, it is drinking, dancing, and gam-bling all the way, as long as adversities do notpersonally touch oneself.

Today, 20% contracts, 10% licence, 15% com-mission, 5% accounting charges , 3% cheque clear-ing charges, 15% tender approval payment, 8%expression of interest settings are today unwrittenor the illegal ways by which politicians, bureau-crats and those involved in managing publicmoney administer. While Goans are sleeping,dancing or drinking, many outstation bureaucratshave not only amassed wealth, but acquired prop-erties for a price, through their acts of omissionsand commission. It is an exercise in absurdity,that we blame those in governance alone for therapid increase in crime.

Isnt Goa soon turning into a perfect hole-a-day destination? Each day the aam admi is avictim of having a hole in his pocket, as individ-uals, or as a society, at large. Our religious insti-tutions are under pressure from a series of theftsand burglaries, our youth are scorched by sun-burns and varied aspects of drinking, dancingand gambling. The youth have burned out theparental savings. The energy and character ofelders in Goan society has been drained out, asthey are either fighting the rising prices on anempty stomach or quenching their worries, overa spirited drink.

The issue in Goa is not the smaller picture ofmarginalising Micky-mouse, but of strangulatingthe growth of NCP, as the election year in Goa, isfast approaching. But the wider and the real mo-

tives of all those who are preparing to marginalisethe NCP, are not the exercise to strengthen thesecular Congress forces under the leadership ofSonia or Rahul, but to use the Sonia-Rahul equa-tion to promote the vicious and harmful dynasticrule in Goa, which would be disastrous and harm-ful to the growth of healthy Congress in Goa.

Can the presence of Sonia and Rahul in a pop-ulation of 110 crores, over a vast country likeIndia, compare well with family based Congressrule in Goa, which appears to be looming largein the state?

The presence of Mickky, surely, is advantageousto the NCP. Sharad Pawar did a blunder, by pri-marily asking the NCP stalwart to resign fromthe Digambar ministry, in the first place. But toassume that marginalisation of Mickky wouldstrengthen the Congress, is absolutely fallacious.Mickkys presence is not a threat to the Congress,but specifically, he is a deterrent to those aspiringand dreaming of using Congress in Goa, to fosterfamily rule in Goan politics and establish syco-phancy, corruption and political manipulationsin the governance of the state.

It is gratifying, although the distracters of theBJP, in general, and those of Manohar Parrikar, inparticular, would tend to brush aside the gestureof the Leader of the Opposition of selling onionsat Rs30 a kilo, as a political gimmick, or a worthlessexercise. Instead of purifying the Arabian sea, as

a result of the visit of Sagres III from Portugal,Parrikar has done well to establish that price riseis due to corruption and maladministration, andnot only due to crop damage and onion shortages,Parrikar could do more on this front, to help healwounds of the aam admi, due to the rampantgrowth of corruption and lethargy, by the presentGoan politicians in power. Today, not only thepoliticians, but bureaucrats have amassed wealthand as well as properties all around Goa, outfrom the ill-gotten wealth.

It is not the issue as to how Kiran Dhingra, JPSingh, Pal or Surya-Narayan acquired or sold prop-erties in Goa, but as to how Kalmadi, NarayanRane and a host of other political figures centredin mega cities like Delhi, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hy-derabad, or Chennai happen to control the realestate businesses in Goa, and allegedly participatein mega construction, industrial and commercialventures on the fly, by mode of night operation.

It is a disaster and calamity in the making, thatGoan parents are oblivious to the fact, that theirchildren, or the youth, by and large, are tendingtowards burning out energies, as well as hardearned money in mega festivals, gambling densand drugs.

The politicians, police, press, priests and thepeople at large, are under the pseudo spell ofpseudo prosperity of Goa, which is neither dueto vibrant agriculture or fisheries, nor is it dueto stable industrial growth, but sadly it is thefeel good factor due to drugs, drinks, dope,dupe, deceit and dacoities, mushrooming andflourishing in Goa, as law is made into an ass byour politicians functioning in denial mode, be itRavi Naik or Dayanand Narvekar.

Hariprasad, the Congress Observer from Delhi,apparently, has calmed a storm in a tea cup ofCongress woes in Goa, by acceding to the demandof the Des Ka Daam. But Congress High Com-mand must be ready to stem the rot, which isdue to follow wherein Dynastic Ambitions wouldbe in the open, to rock the Congress in Goa. IsGoa getting ready for the husband, wife, father,son, daughter, brother, sister and the in numerousin-laws, running as a family business? Only timewill tell whether it is making hay while the sunshines, or in-laws grind.

OPINIONwww.oheraldo.in

Pg6Vol No CXI No: 009

Goa, Monday, 10 January, 2011

Letters to the EditorLetter of the Day

UPA-2: Shore up your

credibilityS Kamat, Alto Betim

Our Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee when confronted with the 18 per centplus inflation on food items last week, wanted to look at the monthly figures.He should, like any Bengali common man, pick up his shopping bag and shop forfish/meat, vegetables and other essential commodities. In that manner, he willwitness, for himself, the spiraling cost of essential items. By asking for figures,he clearly does not want to confront the issue and tackle it head-on.

The government at the helm is showing its inefficiency, incompetence and downrightcallousness in not taking the aam admi into confidence.

One wonders why the Opposition particularly the Left parties, have not resortedto championing the cause of the oppressed aam admi in the face of rising priceswhich has persisted over the last 18 months