OHERALDOThe Voice of Goa Since 1900

PTI

AHMEDABAD, MARCH 1

Nine years after the Godhra traincarnage, 11 people were Tues-day sentenced to death and 20awarded life imprisonment bya special court here for the 2002incident that left 59 karsevaksdead and triggered communalriots in Gujarat killing over 1200people, mainly Muslims.

Terming the incident asrarest of the rare, special judgeP R Patel awarded death sen-tence to 11 of the 31 convictsand ordered they be hangedby the neck till dead.

This is perhaps the first casein the country in which 11 peo-ple have been awarded capitalpunishment, special public pros-ecutor J M Panchal said after the

court pronounced the punish-ment inside Sabarmati Jail. Thedeath penalty will have to beconfirmed by the High Court.

The court while sentencing20 others to life imprisonmentsaid, The sentence of impris-onment shall run concurrently...The accused shall be entitled tobenefit of set-off, of the periodof their detention as an under-trial prisoner during the inves-tigation and trial.

The court also imposed a fineof Rs 17,000 on each of the 31convicts under various IPC sec-tions.

On February 22, the courthad convicted 31 people whileaccepting the prosecutionscontention that there was a

HERALD REPORTER

PANJIM, MARCH 1

The 12-hour-long ordeal of theresidents from Cavrem inQuepem taluka in the capitalcity of Panjim was capped withthe order of Goa State PollutionControl Board (GSPCB) whichordered to cease all the activityat the controversial mining site.

The order which was issuedlate night by GSPCBs assistantenvironment engineer has askedQuepem police to strictly ensurethat all activities including de-velopmental, remedial, extrac-tion activity at M/s Devapan ouDevadongor Iron and Man-

ganese mine are stopped or sus-pended with immediate effect.

Around 150 residents underthe banner `Cavrem AdivasiBachao samiti had refused tomove from the Mines Depart-ment office till late night de-manding a sealing order fromthe department along with theinstructions to shift the machin-ery immediately.

Earlier in the day, the protes-tors had met Chief MinisterDigambar Kamat at his private

residence in Margao and laterarrived in Panjim to meet GSPCBofficials.

The residents who were nothappy with the replies given byGSPCB marched to the office ofMines and Geology Departmentand laid siege there for almosteight hours.

The protestors had claimedthat inspite of closure order onDecember 2, 2010, the mineowner was carrying out extrac-tion of ore under the guise ofcomplying with the directionsby GSPCB, which were issuedon February 01, 2011.

in BRiEF

Visit us at:www.oheraldo.in panjim, wednesday, march 2, 2011 postal reg. no. Goa 101 price rs. 3.00 (air surcharge rs 2.00) pages 16+4

Business: Diesel price deregulation

to depend on inflation Pg 13

Goas Heartbeat: Salman the

most expensive Khan Pg 4Sports: Malinga hat-trick

helps Lanka win Pg 16

Councillor, M.M.C.

It is easier to suppress the first desire than

to satisfy all that follow it.

Franklin

Pollution board orders closure of Cavrem mine

SHWETA KAMAT

PANJIM, MARCH 1

A firm that provided softwareto the Power department onTuesday said that departmentsreluctance to renew contractwith them coupled with thelack of trained staff with thegovernment is creating prob-lems in the billings.

Our contract with the In-fotech Corporation of Goa(ITG), which has provided thesoftware to the Electricity De-partment, expired on March2010, Sanjiv Nadkarni, VicePresident (Sales) NE Technolo-gies India Private Limited toldHerald.

He said that ITG had askedthe Electricity Department toextend the contract but thedepartment delayed to renewthe contract following whichNE Technologies withdrew

their support on April 19,2010.

The software developed byNE Technologies was commis-sioned in the department inJune 2009. Nadkarni said thatalthough the agreement signedwith the ITG was just to installthe software, the firm wentahead and even trained thestaff.

Herald had exposed con-sumers from Panjim and sur-

rounding localities were get-ting excessive bills due to soft-ware e r rors . E lec t r i c i t yDepartment had shirked offtheir responsibility claimingthat it was ITG and softwarefirm that was to be blamed.

Nadkarni said that till March2010 when NEs engineerswere deputed at Electricity De-partment, there were no com-plaints of excess billing orsoftware error. All the prob-lems were reported only afterwe withdrew the support, headded.

The firm had trained 20 Elec-tricity Departments staff tohandle the software and theywere led by a coordinator, at-tached to the department. Butthe main coordinator wastransferred from Panjim divi-sion to elsewhere and she was

Software firm blamesgovt for shock bills

PTI

NEW DELHI, MARCH 1

West Bengal will have six-phasedassembly polls beginning April18 and the two-phased electionsin Assam will be held on April 4and 11 while voters in Kerala,Tamil Nadu and Puducherrywould exercise their franchiseon April 13.

Counting of votes in all thefive states will take place onMay 13.

With parts of West Bengal af-fected by Maoists activities andfrequent clashes between rivalpolitical groups, the polling inthe state have been staggeredApril 18, 23, 27, May 3, 7 and 10.

Asked why EC has gone for asix-phased polls in West Bengal,Chief Election Commissioner SY Quraishi, who announced thepoll schedule, said a decisionwas taken keeping in view theground realities. EC had al-ready sent two teams to thestate to study the law and ordersituation.

While Tamil Nadu, Kerala andPuducherry will have a single-phase polling on Apri1 13,Assams two-phased poll isscheduled on April four and 11,according to the schedule an-nounced by the Election Com-mission setting in motion the

largest electoral exercise since2009 Lok Sabha polls.

The model code of conducthas come into force immedi-ately, Chief Election Commis-s ione r S Y Qura i sh i s a idannouncing the schedule.

While West Bengal has 294

assembly constituencies, TamilNadu has 234, Kerala 140,Puducherry 30 and Assam 126.

The elections would involveover 14.39 crore electorate inthe five states with West Bengalhaving the largest number of

Five states go to polls in April-MayDeaTh for 11,lifer for 20

PTI

NEW DELHI, MARCH 1

Unveiling the toolbox ofcounter measures to check blackmoney, the government Tuesdayhas said the payments made toentities located in countries andtax jurisdictions which refuseto share tax-related informationwill attract a TDS(Tax Deductionat Source) of 30 per cent ormore.

...any payment made to aperson located in the notifiedjurisdictional area shall be liableto deduction of tax at the higherof the rates specified...or at arate of 30 per cent, says thetoolbox of counter measureswhich will be incorporated in

the Income Tax Act.The G20 leaders at Seoul sum-

mit last year had asked eachcountry to develop a toolbox ofcounter measures against non-cooperative jurisdictions.

Under proposed provisions,the government will notify thecountries and jurisdictions

which are reluctant to sharebanking information and otherdetails with it.

The provisions, proposed byF inance Min i s te r P r anabMukherjee in the Budget for2011-12, are in line with thecommitments made by India atG-20 meetings that it would

come out with its own toolboxof countermeasures to deal withtax havens.

These measures are aimed atdiscouraging transactions by aresident assessee with personslocated in any country or juris-diction which does not effec-tively exchange information withIndia, said the Memorandumexplaining the provisions of theFinance Bill 2011.

It further said that the per-sons dealing with entities in no-tified jurisdictions will not beentitled for any tax benefit un-less they authorise the CentralBoard of Direct Taxes (CBDT) toseek financial information fromthe overseas bodies.

Govt unveils toolbox to counter black money

HERALD REPORTER

PANJIM, MARCH 1

Goa University (GU) will join aleague of Indian universities thathas embarked on the missionto curb increasing trend of pla-giarism of PhD thesis.

Dr Jagdish Arora, Director, IN-FLIBNET (Information and Li-brary Network), an initiative ofUGC, said that GU will soon signa Memorandum of Understand-ing (MoU) with them.

As a part of MoU, the anti-plagiarism software will be in-stalled in GU, which will enableit to have access to various PhDthesis. The University will alsohave to upload its thesis in D-mat format on the software.

The director said that cur-rently there are 1250 thesis on-line which are uploaded in theD-mat format. Goa Universityhas 468 thesis which will nowbe the part of the data base.

Arora was talking to the presson the eve of 8th internationalCaliber 2011 (Convention on Au-tomation of Libraries in Educa-tion and Research) conferenceschedule to begin at NIO audi-torium Dona Paula from March2 to March 4.

He said that in all 14 univer-sities have already signed a MoUand more are in pipeline. UGCchairman has already asked allthe universities to be the part

of the initiative, which will actas a deterrent for the plagiarismin the PhD thesis.

Arora opined that plagiarismhas been a prime worry for theacademicians. Till now the dataextending upto bibliography ofthe thesis is available for theacademicians while the researchdetai ls are not accessiblethrough conventional systems.

At times, there are severalPhDs on the same subject. For

instance there are 300 thesis onwriter Nirala (Suryakant Tripathi)and even four thesis on ShobaDes writings, Arora said point-ing out to the complex problemsin the tracking of the plagia-rism.

The issue is that you justdont know whether same thesisis already worked on. The guidejust certifies it as a virgin topic,he said adding that once thesisis available online the studentsthemselves will be able to knowwhether someone has copiedtheir research.

He said that INFLIBNETs ini-tiative of `shodhganga doesnot only help to track down thethesis but also enables onlinesubmission of thesis and disser-tations by research scholars inthe digital repository set up.

UGCs another ambitious ini-tiative ` National Library and In-

Testing time for plagiarism of PhD thesis

THE cURB...any payment made to aperson located in thenotified jurisdictional areashall be liable to deductionof tax at the higher of therates specified... or at a rateof 30 per cent.

Ed confiscates2 plots fromBrit national

HERALD REPORTER

PANJIM, MARCH 1

Enforcement Department hasconfiscated two properties be-longing to a British national andhas slapped a penalty of Rs 5lakh under the Foreign ExchangeManagement Act (FEMA).

The information procured byRTI activist Rajan Ghate showsthat Carol Elizabeth Ashby hadpurchased two plots of land total area 1,525 sq mtrs and1,775 sq mtrs respectively at As-sagao village in Bardez taluka.

ED deputy director SamirBajaj penalised the Britisher forhaving purchased agriculturalland and that she purchased itwhile on tourist visa.

On investigation it was foundthat the purpose of her stay inIndia was for a definite periodof six months or one year whichwas periodically renewed andshe was on tourist visa. It ap-peared that the purpose of hervisit to India was not for an un-certain period and it did not

P E O P L E S P O w E R P R E v A i L S

Panel for death rapto hijackersSupporting death penalty forhijackers, a parliamentarycommittee has said capitalpunishment must be awardedto conspirators and abettorswhose actions result in deathof hostages or security per-sonnel. At the same time, itraised questions as towhether opportunities forany negotiation or settlementto save lives would be fore-closed if the hijackers knewthey would in any case getcapital punishment for the of-fence. PTI

CBI searches banklockers of KalmadiA CBI team from Delhisearched some bank lockers offormer chairman of Common-wealth Games OrganisingCommittee Suresh Kalmadi,sources close to the CongressMP said. An officer at CBI of-fice in Pune, however, refusedeither to confirm or deny thereport, saying we are notaware of this. There is an on-going investigation... and ourDelhi team functions inde-pendently. PTI

SC refuses stay disqualifying MLAsThe Supreme Court refused tostay the disqualification of fiveindependent Karnataka legis-lators for allegedly violatingthe anti-defection law or per-mit them to vote during theMarch 4 Rajya Sabha electionin the state. A bench of jus-tices Altamas Kabir and CyriacJoseph, however, issued no-tices to the Speaker and thechief whip of the states rulingBJP party on the plea by thefive MLAs challenging a Kar-nataka High Court rulingwhich had upheld theSpeakers action. PTI

Colleagues killedJoshi: Chargesheet RSS activist Sunil Joshi waseliminated by fellow Hinduhardliners including Malegaonblast accused Sadhvi PragyaSingh Thakur for his high-handedness and the fear thathis arrest would unmask right-wing plotters of explosions inseveral parts of the country.This has been stated in the432-page chargesheet filed bythe police before Judicial Mag-istrate Padmesh Shah. PTI

On PAGE 2l Locals march to cMs

residence (Continued on page 11)

(Continued on page 11)

Yoga students offer a garland onthe statue of Lord Shiva duringthe inauguration ceremony of theinternational Yoga festival at Par-ma r th N i ke t am Ash ram a tReshikaish on Tuesday.

GOdHRA TRAin cARnAGE

RAREST OF THE RARETerming the incident asrarest of the rare, theSpecial Judge awardeddeath sentence to 11 ofthe 31 convicts andordered they be hangedby the neck till dead.

(Continued on page 11)

(Continued on page 11) (Continued on page 11)

Cavrem locals in Panjim demanding closure of the controversial mine. Photo by Sachin Ambadoskar

(Continued on page 11)

GOAOHERALD

O

Pg 2GOA, WEDNESDAY, 2 MARCH, 2011

From e-ticketing to inter-state buses, KTC goes hi-techHERALD REPORTER

MARGAO, MARCH1

Planning a trip to the Pilgrimagecentre of Shirdi or the City ofgardens in Bangalore by the KTCbuses. Hold on. You need notvisit the ticket counters at thedepots any more, but can bookthe bus tickets well from your home.

For, the Kadamba TransportCorporation went hi-tech onTuesday, with Chief Minister,Digambar Kamat launching thee-ticketing project, the Corpo-rations website, besides luxuryinter-state buses at Margao.

The Chief Minister also inau-gurated spanky Volvo buses onthe Goa-Shirdi route, besides aMercedes Benz on the Goa-Mumbai sector. Besides, brandnew buses were inaugurated onthe Margao-Panjim route tocater to the growing require-ments of passengers.

The introduction of luxurybuses will benefit the public andhelp the KTC compete in thismodern age with modern vehi-cles, the Chief Minister said,while offering his governmentsfull support to the Corporationto not only tide over the finan-

The CM inaugurating a new Volvo bus on the Goa-Shirdi route in the presence of MLA Damu Naik andKTC officials. Photo by Santosh Mirajkarcial problems, but to replace theageing buses.

Saying that attempts aremade to make the KTC standon its own legs, the Chief Min-

ister appealed to the workersand staff to think that thesebuses and the corporation be-longs to them.

KTC Chairman Deepak Dhav-

likar said the Corporation is seton the course to replace theageing buses and introduce lux-ury buses on inter-state routes.Besides, he said air conditioned

buses will be deployed on theshuttle service between Margaoand Panjim.

We have set up two countersat the Margao bus stand. AnATM will take shape at the busstand shortly, he added.

Expressing his gratitude tothe Chief Minister for extendingfull support to the Corporation,Dhavlikar said the KTC coulddeploy 40 buses last years andplans are afoot to bring in 50additional buses in the comingfinancial year.

Within three months, pas-sengers will feel the differenceon various routes, includinginter-state routes, he said,adding that the Corporation hasasked the governments nod tohike the fare of the shuttle serv-ice by one rupee.

On the nuisance posed by thegarbage at the KTC bus stands,the KTC chairman said that theMargao Municipality has beenentrusted with the responsibilityto lift garbage generated at thebus stand. An arrangement isbeing worked out with the Mar-gao Municipal Council to solvethe garbage menace, he added.

HERALD REPORTER

PANJIM, MARCH 1

Kadamba Transport CorporationLimited (KTCL) launched its e-ticketing service on the inter-state bus routes from Tuesdayonwards, which according tothe officials received encourag-ing response.

KTCL managing director Ve-nancio Furtado said, The firstday of the e-ticketing registered

around 16 tickets for inter-statelong distance route especiallyfor Mumbai.

The online ticket reservationis available from Panjim, Margao,Ponda, Vasco, Mapusa Pune,Mumbai and Banglore bookingoffices.

Furtado said the corporationsonline services will provide atransparent and convenient tariffstructure to the customers as

against the fluctuating farescharged by the private bus op-erators.

Online booking throughKTCL website will enable thepassenger to book the seatseven from remote places wherewe dont have our offices oragents, he said.

The buses plying within thestate are seen advertising thenewly launched website of the

c o r p o r a t i o nwww.goakadamba.com.

Soon, the same will be dis-played on inter-state buses, hesaid.

Meanwhile, the corporationtoday re-introduced its Goa-Mumbai service with the firstMercedes Benz A/C bus leavingthe state from Margao, thisevening.

Apart from this, the KTCL

has introduced new Volvoand Mercedes benz buses forShirdi.

Furtado said that the corpo-ration has now set its sight onextending its services to Hyder-abad and Tirupathi besides non- stop services to Karwar andBelgaum.

Services on the Goa - Hyder-abad route were suspended in2009, he stated.

KTCs e-ticketing gets good response

No plans ofPPP model for Margaobus stand

HERALD REPORTER

MARGAO, MARCH 1

Firmly ruling out building anultra modern bus stand for Mar-gao on the Public Private Part-nership model, Chief MinisterDigambar Kamat on Tuesday as-serted that the governmentwould bui ld the proposedb u s s t a n d w i t h i t s o w nfunds.

The proposed bus stand atMargao will be one the best notonly in Goa, but the entire coun-try. It will be built on land ad-measuring 60,000 sq mts. Thisis prime land whose value runsinto crores of rupees. The gov-ernment certainly has no plansto go in for the PPP model, hesaid emphatically.

The Chief Minister said theensuing state financial budgetwill provide an indication on theallocation for the proposed busstand at Margao.

He said once the ultra modernbus stand is put in shape, theKTC can hope to earn handsomerevenue from the activities.

HERALD REPORTER

PANJIM, MARCH 1

In the backdrop of indisciplinedperformance by the Escort Cellof Goa police, Prisons depart-ment has suggested that per-sonnel assigned duty to handleprisoners be on rotation basis.

It has also asked Goa policeto deploy competent police per-sonnel, so as the past incidents ofprisoners escape are not repeated.

The suggestions were setforth a week ago when four con-stables attached to Vasco EscortCell were suspended for derelictionof duty in treating two undertrials.

On February 22, hours beforetwo Escorts personnel werecaught sharing ice-cream withmurder undertrial Balesh Desai,notorious gangster Michael Fer-nandes escaped from the Escortscustody while being ferried inpolice van from Sada sub-jail toGoa Medical College.

We have asked Goa policeto deploy competent officers onthe job while treating jail in-mates outside the jail jurisdic-tion, Inspector General ofPrisons Mihir Vardhan told Her-ald. Vardhan said that they havealso asked the police departmentto regularly monitor the performanceof its Escort personnel.

Highly placed sources saidthat senior Jail and police offi-cials will shortly convene a highlevel meeting to review the fre-quent escape incidents.

The discussion will also becentered on the correspondentsof jail authorities which havegone unanswered by Goa policein few of the recent escape in-cidents. On January 5, 2011

noted criminal Ralph Fernandesescaped from the GMCH in theday-light right under the noseof the guarding policemen.

Prisons officials had soughta detailed report from the Su-perintendent of (Training) Policeon whether Ralph was traced ornot and whether any action wastaken against the responsibleEscort team. But there has beenno reply till date.

Goa police had recently con-tended that lack medical facili-ties within jail premises werean issue and that prisoners weretaking undue advantage of medicalreferral facilities to flee from the jail.

Senior police officers also saidthat undertrials are not hand-cuffed on their way to Court ormedical examination, which alsogives them scope to run away.Many such issues are likely tobe discussed at the meeting.

When questioned, IGP Vard-han refused to admit that there isany communication gap betweenthe Prisons and Goa police.

Highly placed sources statedthat when Michael dramaticallyescaped from police van, theprison authorities were in-formed three hours later. Police claimedthat they tried to search accused beforeinforming to the authorities.

As long as prisoners are inthe jail premise, they are ourresponsibility but soon as theystep out, it becomes the respon-sibility of the police. Michaelsescape and ice-cream exposewere police responsibility.Nonetheless we had registered acomplaint after which action wastaken against the erring policemen,he said.

Escort Cell men to work on rotation

A youth working on a float in Panjim which will parade at the canival festival which begins from Saturday. Photo by Rozario Estibeiro

BATTLE FOR PANJIM WARD 15

Voters have no problems, candidates differ HERALD REPORTER

PANJIM, MARCH 1

Ward 15 falls in the middle ofthe city and appears alienatedbut no so with respect to prob-lems and issues that afflict otherwards of the city. Nevertheless,the residents of this ward lo-cated which is in St Inez areawith voter population of 853,hardly find anything wrong withtheir ward.

When enquired with twothree residents about the prob-lems in the ward and what kindof development they expectfrom their elected member, verysurprisingly, they had nothingto say.

In fact, two-three residentswith whom we enquired saidthere are no problems in theward as they set idly in theevening.

Singbal who has been stay-ing in this ward for numberof years when asked had toreally think hard to remem-ber if anything was wrongwith her ward.

Interestingly, the candidatescontesting from this ward ap-peared to be more concernedthan the vo te r s . Sheka rDegvekar, a BJP support candi-

date who is contesting from thisward, is apparently, very clearas to what is lacking.

This ward needs retainingwalls as the area is locatedon the slope. Also, many ofthe old houses do not haves e w a g e f a c i l i t i e s , s a y sDegvekar.

Mangaldas Naik, a candi-

date from Babush panel, alsofound that the ward has tohave more retaining walls asalso sewage problem has tobe dealt with effectively. Infact, absence of adequatesanitary is a major problemhere like many other wardsof the city.

According to Degvekar rain

drains of the area needs to beimproved and repaired whichhe said have not been touchedfor ages.

While some residents of thearea are content to believe thatevery thing is perfect in theirward - the candidates contestingfrom here believe otherwise andrightly so.

HERALD REPORTER

PANJIM, MARCH 1

Last election of the Corpo-ration of the City of Panjimhad been literally a cake walkfor Taleigao ML A, BabushMonserrate panel -Corpora-tion of the City of Develop-ment Front (CCDF) when it wonnineteen of the thirty seats.

But this time around, it ap-pears, Monserrate panel willhave to struggle to keep up withits last tally as forces have ganged-up against Monserrate to defeat hisnon-performing panel.

Panjimites Initiative forChange (PINC), an initiativeof prominent citizens of Pan-jim has flexed its muscles insupport of candidates whichit believe sincere and non-corrupt.

It has identified and declaredsupport to candidates contest-ing from panels other thanBabush panel, and some inde-pendent candidates, to defeatthe ruling panel.

We have identified sincere,upright and dynamic individualsfor all wards to clean the augeanstables and the rot that has sunkin our capital. These are candi-dates who in our opinion are inthe best position to defeat theBabush panel. We promise tokeep them on a tight leash, ifelected, to obey peoples man-date, announced Dr Oscar Re-bello along with Dr ArvindBhatikar at a press conferenceon Tuesday here.

He said they are concernedabout the condition of Panjim.Citizens are disillusioned andcompletely disgusted at the

state of affairs. During the entire tenure of

the erstwhile Babush panel, de-spite repeated and sincere at-tempts by the citizens of Panjim,we have comprehensively failedon the issues of garbage, sewagedisposal, parking, traffic con-gestion, planning and zoning.Add to that naked abuse ofpower in various scams and ourdespair is completed, said DrRebello. A list of twenty-nine can-didates which they have selected tosupport will work for the better-ment of Panjim, claimed PINC.

This include Kiran Zam-baulikar ward I, Evaristo Fer-

nandes ward II, Barreto Se-bastiano ward III, PrabhakarDongrekar ward IV, SheetalNaik -- ward V, Alez Felizadoward VI, Shweta Lotikar VII,Tukaram Chinawar ward VIII,Surendra Furtado ward IX ,Ruth Furtado ward X, AshleyRosario ward XI, Veidehi Naik ward XII, Seema Pednekar ward XIII, Ashok Naik ward --XIV, Shekar Degvekar ward XV,Nina Silimkhan ward - XVI,Nilesh Khandeparkar -- ward --XVII, Sameer Chari ward XVIII,Deodita DCruz ward XIX,Avinash Bhonsle ward XX, Ma-hesh Chandekar ward - XXI,Maya Ta lkar ward XXI I ,Shailesh Ugadekar ward XXIII,Diksha Mayekar ward XXIV,Shubhada Dhond ward -- XXV,Oscar Cunha -- ward XXVI, Shub-ham Chodankar - ward XXVII,Nivedita Chopdekar ward 28and Aires Rodrigues ward 30.

The PINC, however, is not en-dorsing any candidate in ward29.

PINC takes up cudgels for clean CCP candidates nWe have identified sincere, upright anddynamic individuals for all wards to clean theaugean stables and the rot that has sunk in ourcapital. These are candidates who in our opinionare in the best position to defeat the Babushpanel. We promise to keep them on a tightleash, if elected, to obey peoples mandate.

-- Dr Oscar Rebello

Cavrem locals march to CMs house, force closure of mine

Cavrem villagers stopped by Margao police outside the Margao residence of Chief Minister, Digambar Kamat. Photo by Santosh MirajkarHERALD REPORTER

MARGAO, MARCH 1

Agitated residents of Cavremvillage descended at the Margaoresidence of Chief Minister,Digambar Kamat on early Tues-day morning, demanding an im-mediate closure of a mine in thevillage.

The residents, including alarge number of women ac-tivists, took out a morcha to theresidence of the Chief Ministerand impressed upon him theneed to close down the illegalmine.

After giving the residentsa patient hearing, the ChiefMinister reportedly called upofficials of the Goa State Pol-lution Control Board to issueorder for the closure of the

Cavrem mine.After the Chief Minister tele-

phonically issued instructionsto the Board to close down themine, the residents headed toPanjim and promised waitingnewsmen that they would notleave the Capital city till themine is closed down by theBoard.

The Chief Minister told theBoard official to issue an ordertoday itself to close down themine. Earlier too, orders wereissued in that directions, butthe mine was started within twomonths, informed activistNilesh Gaonkar.

He said that Cavrem villagewill be destroyed by the rampantillegal mining activities andthreatened to resort to an in-

definite hunger strike to pressfor their demand for the closureof the illegal mine.

Incidentally, the activists toldthe Chief Minister that they willnever return to him again withtheir long pending grievances,but will chalk out their futurecourse of action in their ownway.

The activists alleged that thecontractor has deployed goonsand bouncers at the site andcame down heavily on miningofficials for turning a blindeye to the illegal mining ac-tivities.

Last season, the mining of-ficials did not initiate actionagainst the mine. Even the ma-chinery attached by the officialswas later released for reasons

best known to the authorities,the activists maintained, addingthat no authorities have showedinterest in curbing the illegalactivity.

Another protestor Anish Veliptold newsmen after the meetingwith the Chief Minister that il-legal mining activity wouldcompletely destroy their vil-lage and its rich natural re-sources if the mine is notclosed forthwith.

Our village will be totally de-stroyed within two years. Thegovernment should act todayor we will be forced to take ourown action from tomorrow,she warned, adding that pa-tience is running out in the vil-lage since the future of thechildren is at stake.

Photo by Sachin Ambadoskar

Juveniles escape report submitted HERALD REPORTER

PANJIM, MARCH 1

Superintendent of the State-runprotective home on Tuesdaysubmitted a report to the DirectorWomen and Child Welfare into thetwo subsequent escapes of juveniles fromApna Ghar in Merces.

Disciplinary action will followonly after studying the prelimi-nary report, Director Sanjiv Gad-

kar told Herald. Apna Ghar is facing constant

embarrassment as juvenileshoused there often flee fromthe remand home. The sus-pected attitude of the staff issaid to be one of the reasonsresulting in the series of escapes.

The friendly relation be-tween the remand home staffersand inmates is lacking. This could

be one of the reasons for frequentescapes, Gadkar admitted.

The director had ordered aninquiry into the recent escapeson Saturday. We will certainlytake disciplinary action againstApna Ghar officials dependingon the preliminary findings. Adetailed inquiry will subse-quently follow, he said.

Official figures reveal that

eight juveniles have escapedfrom this remand home in thelast six months.The latest escapein a row was reported on Fri-day-Saturday, last week, whenthree boys managed to slip awayfrom Apna Ghar premise.

Two were caught by policelater on. One juvenile is believedto be the same who had earliertried to escape from the home.

GOAOHERALD

OPg3

GOA, WEDNESDAY, 2 MARCH, 2011

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Comba wells contamination not due to petroleum factor: Expert

HERALD REPORTER

MARGAO, MARCH 1

In a new twist to the Combawell water contamination row,the Assistant Professor, Biolog-ical Sciences, BITS Pilani DrSrikanth Mutnuri has concludedthat the scum that is seen ontop of well waters in Combaarea is not due to any petroleumproducts, but is due to iron bac-teria and iron content in water.

In his observations submittedto inquiry officer, Deputy Col-lector, Margao Johnson Fernan-des after a day-long inspectionof the wells on Monday, Dr Mut-nuri has recommended treat-ment of the affected wells byaeration and shock chlorinationas the initial step, adding thatthe af fected wel ls can beanalysed again after above initialtreatment to decide upon re-quirement of further treatment.

Saying that the problem isnot very serious as initiallythought and can be resolvedeasily, Dr Mutnuri observed thatoil like layer was found in wellnot in use in recent times, whileno oily layer was noticed in wells

HERALD REPORTER

MARGAO, MARCH 1

The Comba Residents Forum has urged Chief Minister DigambarKamat to look into the water contamination issue and initiatenecessary action against those responsible for the pollutionas per law.

Demanding that the well be restored for the use of futuregenerations, the Forum has asked the Chief Minister to probeinto the suspected leakage of petroleum products from apetrol pump.

Once the source of this pollution is investigated andstopped, there is urgent need to clear these wells of contam-ination. Health department has found bacteria and Goa Pol-lution Control Board has found contamination of petrol andgrease in the well water, the Forum said while calling earlysteps for cleaning of wells and treating it chemically.

Forum asks CM to probe

which are in use.When samples were taken

in sampling bottles, precipitatewas observed after 20-30 min-utes. The precipitate was foundin the samples from unusedwells and not in used wells, hesaid.

Reasons: The above obser-vation indicates the presence ofiron bacteria which was ob-served as slime on the ousterwalls of the container withwhich water from contaminatedwells were drawn, he said,adding that iron bacteria are red

orange in colour and causedsmell that resembles fuel oil orsewage or that of some decayingmatter and are greasy to touch.These bacteria are common inwells which has been idle for awhile.

Saying that the source of ironin these wells might be due tolaterite soil, Dr Mutnuri saidthis might occur naturally aspa r t o f rock wea the r ingprocess, adding The wallso f the we l l s a re l a te r i tewhich are rich in iron.

The reason for observingprecipitate in sample bottleswhen well water (contaminated)was drawn is due to oxidationof dissolved iron which settleddown as precipitate, he ob-served.

Inquiry officer, Johnson saidthe panel appointed to probethe well contamination will treatthe wells as recommended bythe Dr Mutnuri, adding thatthe panel is also awaitingreport from the Goa StatePollution Control Board onthe joint inspection earlynext week.

Official suspended for water shortage in Bicholim taluka HERALD CORRESPONDENT

MAYEM, MARCH 1

Taking serious cognizance ofacute water shortage in Bicholimtaluka, PWD Minister ChurchillAlemao on Tuesday suspendedthe technical assistant (TA) ofthe Padoshe water purificationplant.

Besides suspending SambhajiRane, Alemao also repimandedthe workers for negligence intheir duty, during his visit to in-spect the water problem at thePadoshem Plant.

Residents of Bicholim contin-ued to face acute water shortageon Tuesday. Moreover, most ofthe wells here have also becomedry, causing severe hardship toresidents.

Villagers from Bicholim havedemanded the immediate sus-pension of Executive EngineerKamladini, who they claimedwas negligent in his duties.

Meanwhile, the issue of work-ers working at Padoshe plantwas later handled by BJP youthwing, where BJP State YouthPresident Dr Pramod Sawantalong with Opposition LeaderManohar Parrikar, Bhagwan Har-

PWD Minister Churchill Alemao interacts with workers at Padosheplant at Assonora. Photo by Vishant Vaze

malkar, Bhalchandra Narvekarand delegation of four workersvisited Principal Chief EngineerRego and informed him aboutthe state of affairs of the work-ers.

After giving a hearing to thedelegation, Rego assured to lookinto the matter. Rego assuredthat the workers will be paidwage arrears from January2011 along with implemen-tation of ESI, PF and other

facilities.Pale MLA Pratap Gawas was

also present at the Padosheplant who requested Alemao totreat the workers on humani-tarian basis.

Meanwh i l e , about 100women from Bicholim took outa rally at PWD office Bicholimin protest against scarcity ofwater and demanded with theofficers to release the water asearly as possible.

Sonia told ofNRI censusomissions

HERALD NEWS DESK

PANJIM, MARCH 1

A delegation of Congressmencomprising General Secretaryof GPCC Altinho Gomes, VicePresident of Goa Khadi BoardDr Ulhas Parab, and Chief Or-ganiser of Goa Congress SevaDal J T Vaz met Congress Presi-dent Sonia Gandhi in New Delhion Tuesday and complained thatcensus authorities in Goa are refusingto record the names of Goans work-ing on board ships, in the Gulf andin other countries.

They told Gandhi that thisclass of Goans are out of theirhomes only temporarily, andthere is no reason why theyshould not be counted as partof Goas and Indias population.

Gandhi said that she had notbeen informed by anyone of this,and asked the delegation tosend her a note on the subject.Parliament has amended theRepresentation of the PeoplesAct, 1951, to confer voting rightson citizens of India who are ab-sent from their place of ordinaryresidence in India owing to em-ployment, education or other-wise, whether temporary or not.

Coconutplantation

gutted HERALD CORRESPONDENT

CANACONA, MARCH 1

Coconut plantation worth aboutRs 50,000 was gutted in a fireat Galiem-Loliem on Tuesday.

According to Canacona fireservice personnel, after they re-ceived intimation at about 1.30pm on Tuesday from CanaconaPolice that fire engulfed a coconutplantation at Galiem-Pedem inLoliem, they rushed to the site.

The fire assisted by driedgrass had already destroyed anumber of coconut trees, be-sides causing destruction ofwater pump and supply pipesin the plantations.

However, the fire personnelcontrolled the further spread offire and stopped more damagesin the area. According to fireservice personnel, the plantationbelonged to one Lydia Alfonsoand the expected losses is inthe range of Rs 50,000.

It is however not known howthe fire has reached the planta-tion, informed the fire person-nel.

Goa third in number of enemy properties SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT

PANJIM, MARCH 1

Goa has the third-largest num-ber of enemy properties (for-mer ly known as evacueeproperties) in the country afterUttar Pradesh and West Bengal.Out of a total 3,329 enemy prop-erties in the country, Goa has122. While UP has 2,462, WestBengal has 386. This informationwas given by Minister of Statefor Home Gurudas Kamat in awritten reply to a question inthe Lok Sabha today.

State-wise distribution of theother enemy properties is:

Andhra Pradesh-25, Assam-17, Andamans-1, Bihar-41,Chhattisgarh-1, Delhi-67, Diu-1, Goa-122, Gujarat-53, Haryana-2, Jharkhand-3, Karnataka-15,Kerala-26, Madhya Pradesh-28,Maharashtra-25, Meghalaya-17,

Rajasthan-14, Tamilnadu-7,Tripura-1 and Uttarakhand-15.

Seven enemy properties inDelhi were fraudulently soldfor Rs 5 lakh with the con-nivance of officers in theDelhi government, and an in-quiry is on, the minister dis-closed.

He said the central govern-ment has written to Chief Sec-retaries of all states last February

nSeven enemyproperties in Delhiwere fraudulently soldfor Rs 5 lakh with theconnivance of officersin the Delhigovernment, and aninquiry is on.

regarding preservation and man-agement of enemy propertiesin India.

There should be no registry/mutation of any transfer or gen-eral power of attorney for

enemy properties, and the nameof the Custodian of EnemyProperty for India should beentered in all revenue andother property records, theminister said.

Canacona BJP MLA to join Congress soon?

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

CANACONA, MARCH 1

There has been hectic politicalactivity in Canacona taluka, amidreports that one of the twoCanacona BJP party MLAs islikely to resign and join theKamat-led ministry sometimenext week.

Even though the ML A isknown to be very close to ChiefMinister Digambar Kamat, hisclose family members are learntto have finally given their nodto resign and become a ministerin the present ministry beforethe State plunges into assemblyelections.

March 7 is reportedly chosenas an auspicious date for resig-nation of the concerned MLA.

It is learnt that the MLA con-cerned has been assured thathe need not fight a bye-electionto get re-elected, as a generalelection will be called sometimebetween September-October2011 period. He would then beallotted the Congress ticket to

contest assembly elections ofthe delimitated Canacona con-stituency.

Interestingly, the politicalbuzz became active since Sun-day when a BJP delegation vis-ited the MLA, apparently ongetting wind of the latest polit-ical moves.

What exactly transpired inthe meeting is not known, butit is reliably learnt that whenthe issue was raked up and dis-cussed by the visitors, the localMLA reportedly agreed to therumours.

He apparently claimed that ifthe BJP ticket is not likely to beallotted to him, anything couldhappen.

However, when this corre-spondent contacted both MLAsof Canacona, they denied anysuch moves to resign and jointhe Congress ministry.

Canacona MLA Vijay Poi Khotsaid: There is no such moveand you must be habitual inhearing such stories in the past

as well, so nothing should betaken seriously.

However, the MLA declinedto answer whether a BJP teamhad visited him or the otherMLA in the taluka on Sunday.

When told that past reportswere true but had only not takenplace due to circumstances, theMLA said: There is no truth inthese reports now also.

Poinguinim MLA RameshTawadkar was however straight-forward in responding to thequestion, saying: I am notaware of any such moves now.In the past, I was indeed ap-proached by present govern-ment emissaries to switch sides,but not now and Im completelyin dark over any such develop-ments in recent times.

Some party functionaries andclose aides of the MLAs also re-fused to divulge further details,but one person said: Wheneverit happens, it will take place infull knowledge of BJP partybosses.

Rs 8 lakhstolen from

car in Panjim HERALD REPORTER

PANJIM, MARCH 1

Unidentified persons stole hugeamount of money from a busi-nessmans car, which wasparked in the Kala Academyparking lot, on Tuesday af-ternoon.

Vasant Naik, a resident fromBogmalo was in a rude shockto see that his cars window-panes were broken and envelopcontaining cash of rupees eightlakhs was missing from under-neath the car seat.

Earlier, Naik withdrew thecash amount from a private bankat Mala and proceeded for abusiness meeting with one ofhis clients at Kala Academy dur-ing the lunch hours.

Police sub-inspector BabanPowar said that the complainanthad parked his car in the parkingarea and on returning back afterfew minutes, he saw that some-one had stolen the envelop con-taining cash by breaking his carswindowpanes.

A complaint was filed at thePanjim town police station. Thepolice is investigating the caseunder sections 427 (mischief)and 379 (theft) of the IndianPenal Code.

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

BICHOLIM, MARCH 1

The ongoing tussle between theSanquelim cricket players, San-quelim Municipal Council (SMC)and the Pale MLA has threatenedthe Apraant Maand event onthe Bodke Ground, Sanquelim.

The GHRDC is scheduled toorganise a 15-day ApraantMaand on the Sanquel imground from March 4. The localsand cricket players from San-quelim have strongly opposedthe move of Pale MLA PratapGawas, who has stated that theexhibition would be held on thesame ground despite the oppo-sition.

Addressing a press conferenceon Tuesday, SMC ChairmanAnand Naik said they are notagainst the exhibition, but itsvenue.

We a r e n o t a g a i n s tAprant Maand to be held inSanquel im, but we don twant it at the Bodke ground.SMC has already revoked theNOC given to the exhibition,but the Pa le ML A i s s t i l l

adamant and want to haveit on the ground, said Naik.

We will not stop it, but ifthe people create any problemon the day, then we should notbe held responsible as the play-ers and all the people from San-quelim are against the exhibitionbeing organised on the ground,stated Naik.

The MLA was communicatedabout the decision, but he didnot pay heed to the pleas of thepeople, added Naik.

It may be recalled that theBodke ground at Sanquelim isused by the people to playcricket and other matches. TheSMC received two applicationsfor March 4 concerning theground, one was that of theAprant Maand moved by thePale MLA, while the other wasthat from a local club.

But instead of calling boththe part ies, Chief Off icerBhanudas Naik allegedly underthe pressure of the MLA gaveNOC for the exhibition and thecontroversy started.

The women and all the self-help groups should know thatwe are not opposing the projectand we want that their talentsshould be displayed, but weonly demanded that the ex-hibition be held on a differ-ent venue, said CouncillorSunita Verekar.

Meanwhile, Pale MLA PratapGawas through a meeting hasalready declared that the exhi-bition would be held on thesame ground from March 4 to15, which would give expo-sure to the artistic items pre-pared by women from selfhelp groups.

Row over venue threatens Apraant Maand exhibition

nWe are not againstAprant Maand to beheld in Sanquelim, butwe dont want it at theBodke ground. SMChas already revokedthe NOC given to theexhibition, but the PaleMLA is still adamantand want to have it onthe ground.

-- Anand Naik

GOA, WEDNESDAY, 2 MARCH, 2011GOAOHERAL

DO Pg 4sHORt tAKes

UPCOMiNG eVeNts

March 2

High tide: 0922; 2231

Low tide: 0353; 1539

tides

Bro Anils retreatPANJIM (HND): Bro Anil of Salvation Ministry will conduct a

retreat on March 3 at Emerald Lawns, Parra, from 10 am to5.30 pm. The service will stress on the Word of God, Healing,Deliverance, Word of Knowledge and Prophecies. For furtherinformation, call 9226387098 / 9763553575. Free transportcan be availed by calling 9823055659.

Salvation Ministry services can be watched on Rophe TVdaily from 7 am to 7.30 am and 6 pm to 6.30 pm and on Sat-urdays from 9.30 pm to 10 pm.

Cotton, silk fairPANJIM (HND): Exhibition cum sale organised by Sarthak

Silk Handloom Welfare Society New Delhi is underway atClube Nacional, MG Road, Panjim, till March 6. Weavers andcrafts persons have come from various parts of the countryto display and sell their handlooms and handicrafts at the ex-hibition.

Sarees of various fabrics and designs are a special attractionalong with other traditional prints and apparels such as batikprints, Lucknow chikan, Kota doria suits, tops, suits, Jaipurikurti, bed sheets, Bombay chicken material. Handicrafts includePolki jewellery, Hyderabad pearls, Jaipur stone, lac jewellery,intimation jewellery and more.

20 per cent discount on handloom and 10 per cent on hand-icraft is being offered. All debit and credit cards are accepted.

Sarthak Silk Handloom Welfare Society, New Delhi, is reg-istered Society that helps artisans by reducing the intermediarycost and eliminating middleman.

Workshop on Right to Information PANJIM (HND): Associacao Academica de Moira and Asha

Family Responsibilities & Rights Association will conduct aWorkshop on Right to Information in Konkani and English,on March 6 at AA Moira Club Hall, from 5 pm to 6.30 pm. Reg-istration is free. For any details contact: Mob-9822166876,9623454450 Email: trustasha@yahoo.co.in.

HERALD NEWS BUREAU

PANJIM, MARCH 1

The committee for the aposto-late of Inter-Religious dialoguein the Archdiocese of Goa andDaman organised a seminar onInter-Religious Dialogue in themission of the church at PilarRetreat Centre on February 26and 27.

Over 45 participants, threefrom every deanery participatedin the inter-religious seminar.

In fact, I was very reluctantto come for the seminar, but itwas an eye opener how to dealwith other religions. The littlebias I had towards other reli-gions was removed and now Ihave a much boarder vision forIndia and the world, stated aparticipant, Eutemia Fernandes,an assistant professor at NirmalaInstitute of Education (BEd Col-lege).

Another participant, a house-wife, Nirmala Andrade, said: Ifound the inter-religious semi-nar was very relevant and needof the hour. To promote har-mony in society specially be-

cause there are people who aretearing apart religion and soci-ety.

Main resource person, Fr IvonAlmeida, a Pilar Father, currentlypursuing his doctoral studies ininter-religious dialogue at Uni-versity of Madras, Chennai,spoke on the What, Why andHow of Dialogue and pointedout to Mary as a model for dia-logue.

Pointing out that Jesus wasengaged in dialogue with per-

sons of other faiths such asSamaritans, Canaanites and Ro-mans, Fr Simiao Fernandesspoke on Jesus the Dialogist.

Glimpses of CBCI and SynodGuidelines were presented byFr Mario, while Fr Agnelo Pin-heiro focused on the CatholicChurch Teachings on Dialogue.

Speaking on the occasion forthe inaugural ceremony, Fr Aman-dio Valadares, the Episcopal Vicarof North Zone for the Archdio-cese of Goa and Daman, said: Itis not enough to know our faith,we must live and practice ourfaith, we must enter into dia-logue. All of us are marching to-wards this end. We must notfight but respect other religions.

Fr Agnelo Pinheiro, the con-venor of the committee, statedthat the purpose of this seminarwas to form lay-leaders whoeventually would promote inter-religious dialogue in their re-spective parishes and deaneries,thereby collaborating in buildinga society of peace, harmony andlove respective parishes anddeaneries.

Pilar seminar stresses on religious tolerance

n I found the inter-religious seminarwas very relevantand need of thehour. To promoteharmony insociety speciallybecause there arepeople who aretearing apartreligion andsociety.

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

PORVORIM, MARCH 1

Headmaster of GovernmentHigh School, Keri, Shivaji Patilhas stated that Science is thepowerful way of investigatingand understanding the world.

He was speaking after inau-gurating the Science and Mathsexhibitions organised by DEdtrainees of District Institute ofTechnical Education (DIET) atPorvorim.

The purpose of organisingscience exhibitions is to developscientific attitude in the younggeneration, to make them real-ize the interdependence of sci-ence, technology and societyand the responsibilities of sci-

Science exhibitions help youth to be creative

entists of tomorrow, said Patil.Patil further said that science

exhibitions provide a forum foryouth to pursue their naturalcuriosity and inventiveness toquench their thirst for creativityand to develop critical thinkingabout global issues to maintainhealthy and sustainable societiesin todays environment.

While addressing the teach-ers, Patil stated that all childrenare not good at studies. There-fore, it becomes the responsi-bility of the teacher to unearthhidden talents in the studentsand motivate him to pursue thecareer in the field he is passion-ate about.

The role of the teacher is tomake the student sensitive andresponsible citizens by impart-ing quality education, said Patil.

Prof Pradeep Masurkar saidPsyco-Science Laboratory ofDIET in collaboration with theDepartment of Science and Tech-nology conducted 22 pro -g rammes o f s c i encepopularization all over the Statealong with DEd trainees.

The programmes were or-ganised in schools in six talukas Sattari, Canacona, Bicholim,Pernem, Mormugao Harbourand Salcette. The aim of theseprogrammes was to eradicatesuperstitions prevailing in thesociety about various things,said Masurkar.

Earlier, DIET Vice PresidentGovind Hawaldar welcomed thegathering, Archana Gawas com-pered the programme, while Su-varna Gaonkar proposed thevote of thanks.

The students view the exhibition. Photo by Anil Shankhwalker

Nisha attends parade at Delhi

R D Sahay, Director, Central University, Ministry of HRD, Depart-ment of Higher Education awarding the certificate to Nisha.

PANJIM(HND): Nisha Pereira, who hails from Aldona and aMSc, BEd teacher at St Thomas Boys High School, Aldona,was invited to view the Republic Day parade at Rajpath, Delhifrom the Prime Ministers Box.

She topped BEd Examination in Goa and earned her degreefrom Nirmala Institute of Education, Altinho, Panjim, in April,2010. For this honour, she was awarded a certificate by R DSahay, Director, Central University, Ministry of HRD, Departmentof Higher Education.

She felt humbled by the rare opportunity and honour. Shehopes that many more students are motivated to work hardand they will be rewarded for their sincere efforts one day.

HERALD REPORTER

MARGAO, MARCH 1

Bollywood actress Amisha Patelwill attend the Fatorda CarnivalFest organized by the VijaySardessais Charity Foundation`We For Fatorda on March 8 atthe SGPDA grounds.

Amisha Patel, who has alsowon critical acclaim for her per-formance in "Gadar Ek PremKatha" alongside Sunny Deol in-cluding several other Bollywoodblockbusters, will grace the oc-casion as a guest for the CarnivalFest. In addition to a musicalbonanza featuring Goa's topmusic bands, the Fatorda Car-nival Fest will also have pro-grammes related to womenempowerment to commemo-rate the International's Women'sDay on March 8.

Sardesai accentuates that re-viving age-old Goan traditionwhilst planning varied pro-grammes for adults and childrenalike will be the focus of thisyear's Carnival Fest. An attempthas been made to revive thenow-abandoned Adeus Carnivalwhich was a regular traditionalfeature of Goa's carnival festiv-

Amisha to be star attraction at Fatorda Carnival fest

ities on the final day of Carnivalfor the past several years. Mu-sical performances by Forefront,Sonia Sirsat & Status Four,

Archies and Swingers willbe held to entertain theaudience during thenight. Performance bypro fes s iona l dancetroupes "The One, thefire dancers from Ma-nipur and acrobats fromAfrica will also be partof the schedule, he said.

Since 8th March iscommemorated as theInternational WomensDay, a program to felici-

tate outstanding women leadersof Fatorda has a l so beenplanned.

HERALD NEWS DESK

PANJIM, MARCH 1

The Department of Pathologyin collaboration with the IndianAcademy of Cytologists has re-cently released a Medical Re-search Publication at the GMC.This has been edited by Dr R GWiseman Pinto and Dr F Couto.

This publication contains ar-ticles written by Dr Aileen Wee,Professor and Head of Pathology,National University of Singapore,Singapore, Dr M Z Rahman, Pro-fessor and Head of Pathology,Chittagong Medical College,Chittagong, Bangladesh, Dr APradhan, Assistant Professor ofPathology, B P Koirala Instituteof Health and Sciences, Dharan,Nepal, Dr K K Prasad, Professorand Head of GastroenterologicalPathology, Post Graduate Insti-tute of Medical Education andResearch, Chandigarh, Dr P Agar-wal, Professor in TransfusionMedicine, Sanjay Gandhi PostGraduate Institute ( SGPGI ),Lucknow Dr A Verma, Professorof Transfusion Medicine, SGPGI,

Lucknow, Dr R K Chaudhary, Pro-fessor of Transfusion Medicine,SGPGI, Lucknow, Dr M Suresh,Assistant Professor of Pathology,Sri Ramachandra University,Porur, Chennai, Dr K Susheela,Head of Pathology Department,Indo Americaln Cancer Hospital,Hyderabad and Faculty and Res-idents of Medical Colleges fromAhmedabad, Delhi, Mumbai,Pune, Guwahati, Ambala, Ujjain,Mangalore Aligarh, Nagpur, Uj-jain, Bilaspur and Goa.

The Publication contains ar-ticles on the topics, Liver Biopsy,Liver Fibrosis, Myopathies of theGastrointestinal Tract, Pancy-topenia, Filaria, Hydatid Cyst,Breast, Ovary, Thyroid, Tha-lassemia screening, scrape cy-tology, brush cytology, LiquidBased Cytology, Angiogenesis,Round Cell Tumors, AuramineRhodamine staining in TB, Burnsand Blood Banking Techniques.The Medical Research Publica-tion is available in the GMCPathology Department Office,Bambolim.

Research publication released at GMC

HERALD NEWS DESK

PANJIM, MARCH 1

The new Kapoor lamp store inMerces has on display one ofthe widest ranges of lightingproducts in Goa. There are nu-merous designs of wall lights,ceiling lights, table lamps, floorlamps, picture and mirror lamps,chandeliers, outdoor lightingetc, for homes, offices and ho-tels.

CMM Megastore is open fromMonday to Saturday from 10 amto 8 pm and on Sundays from11am to 6 pm. The megastoreis located in Renovadi, Merces,1km from the Panjim Kadambabus stand.

The venture was launched byPoonam Desai, the lifestyleshead of CMM Retail, who whenquestioned said that "Goa willfinally have a lighting store tomatch the elegance of ourhomes. Our customers expectquality products from CMM andwe believed that Kapoor lamp-

shades was perfect for theirneeds"

Kapoor Lampshades is notonly a renowned brand in India,but it has also carved a nichefor itself in the European andAmerican markets as well. Thecompany is a leading manufac-turer of lamp holders, lightingaccessories and brass compo-nents.

The organisation is a mem-ber of Lighting Association ofIndia for two decades and itsproducts are certified by CE,UL and ENEC are full ROHS com-pliant. Also, the products areproduced in state-of-the-art,computerized machines as partof a Danish joint venture com-pany - which follows a compre-hensive system of qualityassurance under ISO 9001:2000(DNV) certification for lampsand shades.

For more information e-mail:poonam.dessai@cmmgroup.inor call 6456296/9850951266.

CMM opens Kapoor lamp store in Merces

HERALD NEWS DESK

PANJIM, MARCH 1

The results of the auditions of AllGoa Singing contest held at St AlexHall Curtorim on Saturday for shortlisting 10 finalists for the grand fi-nals to be held on March 8 at Cur-torim Market Square from 7 pmonwards are as follows: In the AllGoa Singing competition, thewinners are Abraham Fernandes,Anselmen Fernandes, SnehaketaShet, Divino Almeida, John Ro-drigues, Melbon Noronha, TaviaMachado, Rossane Fernandes,Evola Marcelo, Roy Colaco.

The winners of All Goa JiveDancing competition are Vivian& Jason, Anthony& Penny, Roy& Florence, Staci & Roque, Tanya

& Samuel, Melvin & Nisha. In Voice of Curtorim Junior,

the winners are Chrisen Es-tiberio, Kelly Fernandes, ShenonSequera, Rienne Barretto, Leon-dra Katleen, Samantha Dias

In Voice of Curtorim Senior,the winners are Merle Dias,Lester Mascarenhas, ChrysanneDias, Marvin Noronha, StacyMascarenhas, Santana Menezes.

Dancing Stars of Curtorim:(Seniors) Niz Goenkar, Wacky,Devil Dancers.

Dancing Stars of Curtorim:(Se-niors) Rising Stars of Trinity,Elson Quency, Ida's group. Thecontest is organised by CurtorimCultural Committee as part oftheir Carnival celebrations.

Curtorim singing audition results

KR to run special trains

HERALD NEWS DESK

PANJIM, MARCH 1

In co-ordination with WesternRailway, Konkan Railway will runSpecial Trains between Ahmed-abad - Madgaon during Sum-mer. Train No 09401 will runfrom Ahmedabad to Madgoanon 10 Fridays starting from April1 till June 3. The train will leavefrom Ahmedabad at 4 pm andarrive at Madgaon at 2.30 pm.

Train No 09402 will run fromMadgaon to Ahmedabad for 10 Sat-urdays starting from April 2 till June4. The train will leave from Madgaonat 3.20 pm and reach Ahmedabadthe next day at 1.35 pm.

The train will halt at Vadodara,Surat, Valsad, Vapi, Vasai Road,Panvel, Roha, Khed, Chiplun,Sangameshwar, Ratnagiri, Rajapur,Kankavali, Kudal, Sawantwadi Rd,Pernem, Thivim and Karmali.

Roque Alleluia Alphonso after his re-election as the Sarpanchof Village Panchayat Avdem-Cotombi-Chaiffi.

Youth giving colourful touches to their carnival float prepara-tions in Quepem.

BY HERALD REPORTER

MARGAO, MARCH 1

GOACAN is observing a Con-sumer Rights Awareness Fort-night which is underway with thetheme "Assert Rights, PursueRemedies" The Awareness Fort-night will conclude on World Con-sumer Rights Day on 15th Marchon the eve of the Budget sessionof the Goa Legislative Assembly.

During the fortnight GOACANwill highlight the need for "Con-sumer Literacy" in the Towns,Villages and Campuses of theState so that consumers make adetermined effort to read their

rights and write their complaints. Special focus will be given dur-

ing the fortnight to the grievanceredressal mechanisms of publicsector undertakings providing forLPG, Posts & Telecom and theState Govt. service providers ofRoad transport, ferry services,electricity and water supply.

Consumer Forum volunteerswill organise a 'phone in' withthe Departments of Civil Supplies& Consumer Affairs, Legal Metrol-ogy, Food & Drug Administration,Reserve Bank of India, Goa PoliceEconomic Offences Cell and thePublic Works Department.

GOACAN awareness drive

Sound of Music

Four guitar-playing English boysfrom Liverpool joined together in1960, and went on to become inter-nationally famous. They were theBeatles, and their songs are stillconsidered rock classics.

From 1962 the band primarily con-sisted of John Lennon (rhythm, gui-tar and vocals), Paul McCartney(bass guitar and vocals), GeorgeHarrison (lead guitar and vocals)and Ringo Starr (drums and vocals). Arguably, one of the most successfulentertainers of the 20th century,they made significant contributionsto music, film, literature, art, andfashion. They made a tremendousimpact on popular culture andlifestyle; an influence that lingersthrough several generations.

In early performances the Beatles in-cluded popular songs from the 40sand 50s. They played rock-n-roll andR&B-based pop songs, while theygradually worked on developing astyle of their own. Their mixture ofrock-n-roll, skiffle, blues, country,soul, and a simplified version of1930s jazz resulted in several multi-

genre and cross-style songs. Some oftheir influences included BuddyHolly, Elvis Presley, Little Richardand other entertainers of the 40s,50s and early 60s.

By 1965 their style had also ab-sorbed ethnic music influences fromIndia and other Oriental cultures,

and later

expanded into psychedelic experi-ments and classically-inspired com-positions. Their creative searchcovered a range of styles from jazzand rock to a cosmopolitan cross-cultural and cross-genre composi-tion.

The Beatles made impact on humanhistory, because their influence hasbeen liberating for generations ofmen living in misery beyond the IronCurtain. A certain quality in theirsongs and images appealed to peo-ple yearning from freedom. Theirsongs carried powerful ideas of loveand peace, while firing the imagina-tions and evoking creativity.

The band broke up in 1970 and eachmember went on to be individuallysuccessful. Even after the break-updecades ago, their music still in-spires musicians today and, forsome have become the embodimentof ideals associated with cul-tural transformation.

The Lads from Liverpool

Pg 5GOA GOA, WEDNESDAY, 2 MARCH, 2011

OHE

RALD

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BY HERALD REPORTER

MARGAO, MARCH 1

After many an unsuccessful at-tempts in the past, the MargaoMunicipal Council on Tuesdayevening once again embarkedon collection of hotel wastedoor-to-door on an experimen-tal basis.

The latest drive kicked offfrom the restaurant of C P Jaggi,the president of the South GoaHotel Owners Association atComba this evening, with theformer offering full cooperationto the Civic body to lift the hotelwaste door-to-door.

A municipal truck along withfive daily wage workers wentround the hotels, collectingwaste. These workers will bepaid overtime for the next onemonth before a system is putto place to collect the waste ona regular basis. The drive willbe carried out on a daily basisbetween 6.30 pm to 11 pm.

While thanking Margao Mu-nicipal Chairperson Sushila Naikfor reviving the door-to-doorwaste collection from the hotels,Jagi said that the hotel ownerswill revert back to the systemof dumping waste in the bins ifthe Civic body fails to streamlinethe system.

We will extend all our coop-eration to the Civic body. We

Door-to-door hotel waste collection begins in Margao

MMC workers collecting waste from a restaurant on day one of thedrive to collect door-to-door hotel waste collection from the city.

Photo by Santosh Mirajkar

have been told that the Civicbody has sought the assistanceof contractor undertaking sim-ilar work at Panjim and Vascoto implement the scheme inMargao, he said, adding thatthe waste collection fees will beworked out within one month.

The MMC Chairperson so-licited support from the hotelowners and citizens alike forthe success of the scheme. Mymotto is to keep the city cleanand green. Let us all join hands

to achieve the objective, sheadded.

Door-to-door hotel waste col-lection scheme was being im-plemented by the Margao Civicbody for over a decade now, butin vain. Last year, outgoing Mar-gao Municipal Chairperson SavioCoutinho had worked out ascheme with the assistance ofthe hotel owners, but thescheme was shot down by un-scrupulous Municipal officialsbefore it could take off.

HERALD REPORTER

MARGAO, MARCH 1

PWD Minister Churchill Alemaohas lashed out at former ChiefMinister, Luizinho Faleiro atAquem-Baixo village, blaminghim for the neglect of the con-stituency for the last 25 years.

Alemao took the platform ofa Mahila Mandal function to takepot shots at Faleiro saying whathe has done in Navelim duringthe last three years and half wasnot seen in Navelim during thelong tenure of the former Nave-lim MLA and charged him forputting spokes in the develop-ment of the constituency by fil-i ng ca ses th rough h i ssupporters.

The PWD Minister also an-nounced cash of Rs 50,000 fromhis pocket to the Mahila Mandal

Faleiro neglected Navelim, says Churchill

and urged women to form SelfHelp Groups to avail variousgovernment schemes which willmake them independent in life.

Speaking at the Mahila Man-dal melavo at the Aquem Baixohall, Alemao said that womencan achieve a lot through the

self help groups and promisedto give the second installmentof the funds to the mandalsshortly.

On the occasion, former MLAFarrel Furtado e Gracias was fe-licitated at the hands of the PWDMinister.

HERALD REPORTER

MARGAO, MARCH 1

Supporters of Avertano Furtado have given him the go-aheadsignal to contest the forthcoming Assembly polls from Navelimconstituency.

At a get together held at Navelim to celebrate Furtadosbirthday last night, the supporters from Navelim constituency,mostly from Navelim, Sinquetim and Nagmodem told him notto look back and offered their full support to his candidaturefor Navelim constituency on grounds that he is the son of thesoil.

Former Tourism Minister, Mickky Pacheco is also believedto made his presence felt at the birthday celebrations and of-fered his best wishes to Furtado.

Sources in the know said the supporters told Avertano thathe should contest the polls against the PWD Minister ChurchillAlemao, irrespective of whether former Chief Minister, LuizinhoFaleiro is in the fray or not.

The Furtados from Navelim have been the close ally of theformer chief minister over the years. It is believed that youngAvertano has started preparing his ground for the electoralbattle in Navelim after Faleiro reportedly showed no interestin contesting the elections.

Furtado given greensignal to contest polls

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

BICHOLIM, MARCH 1

Aldona MLA Dayanand Narvekarhas called upon the people fromBicholim and Sattari talukas toremain alert and not to allowgovernment hospitals from thetaluka to fall prey to PPP proj-ect.

Narvekar was addressing apublic meeting at Amona-Bi-cholim to oppose mining andPPP projects in the State.

Be alert and oppose any suchmoves by the health ministerand the State government toprivatize hospitals from Bi-cholim, Sanquelim and Valpoi,stated Narvekar.

These projects are comingup only because I am not in theministry. There are plans to pri-vatize the famous Mayem Lakeand if this happens, then theentry fees will soar high, saidNarvekar.

The lake belongs to theGoans and the government hasno right to privatize it for itsown purpose, added the Al-dona MLA.

He also came down heavilyon the government and said hegovernment has no moral rightto be in power.

In Margao, Rs 200 crore isspent on development, but whynot even Rs 40 crore spent inPale constituency even if the

Oppose govt moves to privatise hospitals: Narvekar

Aldona MLA Dayanand Narvekar addresses the meeting at Amona-Bicholim. Photo by Samir Umarye

MLA is that of the Congress,he asked.

S p e a k i n g o n m i n i n g ,Narvekar asked the governmentto increase the transportationcess and divert that income forthe development of the com-mon people. He termed thegovernments move to fine thetrucks a drama and that onlycommon people suffered dueto it.

If the government is re-ally concerned about the en-vironment and mining, thenthey should fine the mineowners . Why there is nocomplaint registered againstthe mining company for ille-gal transportation of ore

worth crores of rupees, heasked.

In his speech, NCP Vice Pres-ident Prakash Phadte said thereis at least one case againstevery Congress minister andthe government is against thepeople.

They claim that the govern-ment is of the aam aadmi, butno government benefit goes tothe people and this is the reasonwe see agitations everywhere,said Phadte.

Former Velgaum sarpanch Di-nesh Sahastrabuddhe, ex-MLAAdv Vishnu Rama Naik, AmonaSarpanch Shankar Naik andKhemlo Sawant also spoke onthe occasion.

HERALD REPORTER

VASCO, MARCH 1

Power consumers in Vasco havebeen facing hardship at the elec-tricity department in the ab-sence of an elevator in thebuilding.

It has been more than four-and-half years since the electric-ity building behind Kadamba busstand was inaugurated by thenpower minister Digambar Kamatwith much fanfare. However, in-stallation of elevators is yet tosee the light of the day due tofaulty designing of the buildingby the PWD (building division).

As per the plans, the contrac-tor built the elevator room onthe terrace of the five-floor elec-tricity building, but installationof heavy machinery of elevatorsis yet to materialise.

The electricity departmentwas reluctant to take over thebuilding without the elevators,but the department had to bowdown to ministerial pressurethat the building cannot be keptidle in the absence of elevators.

Surprisingly, the PWD (build-ing section) is yet to install theelevators, as they had recentlycommenced the work after con-stant reminders from the elec-tricity department.

The material for the elevatorsbrought long ago has been col-lecting dust, while few heavymaterials have showed signs of

Vascoites endure hardships for want of elevator in Power dept

The non-functional elevators in the electricity department.Photo by M Prabhav

corrosion.Most of the consumers, es-

pecially the elderly people, whocome to pay electricity bills,complained about the inconven-ience they have to face, as theyhave to climb three floors tocome to the electricity depart-ment, informed Assistant En-gineer Gopinathan Pillai.

By the time the consumersreach the cabin, they are out ofbreath and have to sit for sometime to regain from the tired-ness, said Pillai.

PWD recently constructed ad-ditional area to fit the pulley inelevator room, as till date theyfailed to assemble and operate

the facility.He further said there was no

provision to take elevator ma-terial in the elevator room,which has been constructed onthe terrace. Recently, the PWD(building section) broke downthe terrace slab of the buildingto make access to the elevatorroom to install the machinery,he said.

When contacted, AssistantEngineer PWD (building divi-sion) Nagarchie said since therewas no access to lift the materialto the elevator room, but nowthe work has commenced andit would be completed in an-other few months.

FREDDY REBELLO

POINGUINIM, MARCH 1

This remote village in Canaconataluka may lack conventionalelectrification, but Nadkem hasan unusual distinction of beingthe first village in the State tohave solar energy and a windmill to provide power supply to15 houses.

According to sources in elec-tricity department, the cost ofthe project is estimated at aboutRs 8 lakh and has a generatingcapacity of 2 kilo watts.

Each house has been giventwo electricity points and theywill be provided with watt hourmetres.

Nadkem is one of the re-motest places of Goa and fallsin the wildlife sanctuary of Coti-gao in Poinguinim constituency.This village, inhabited by about80 people and residing in a ham-let, consists of people from theSchedule Tribe (ST).

They are predominantly intoagriculture and had been de-manding a bridge to connectthem from Eda in Cotigao totheir village since decades.

However, officials in the forestdepartment did not understandthe hardships faced by villagersresiding on the hilly terrain.

In 1999, then MLA IsidoreFernandes took the task of link-ing the people with a concretebridge after learning that twoschool going children hadslipped off a bridge made ofdried wooden planks and haddrowned in the waters at Nad-kem.

His letters to forest officials

fell on deaf ears and it was dur-ing a visit by then chief ministerFransisco Sardinha that the hur-dles were cleared.

Then chief conservator of for-est Richard DSouza cleared thefiles and paved the way for theconstruction of the concretebridge.

The bridge was tendered ata cost of Rs 15 lakh and the con-tractor did a shoddy job takinginto advantage that the tribal

community who are mostly il-literate would not take note.But while laying the concrete,two labourers fell down and suf-fered grievous injuries.

After a report in Herald, thebridge was reconstructed butno action was taken on theerring persons.

Thereafter, when DigambarKamat was the power minister,he ordered for electrification ofthe village and RCC poles were

laid in 2004 to link this villagewith electricity power.

Once again the forest depart-ment refused permission statingthat it was in wildlife sanctuaryzone.

After mediation by IsidoreFernandes, a way was found toelectrify this hamlet with a NonConventional Energy Source.

Solar energy technology isemployed now with batteriesand a wind mill has been in-stalled in the village to providepower connection to 15 houses.

However, while power supplythrough Non Conventional En-ergy Source is already functional,it is awaiting an official inaugu-ration.

Nadkem is the first village tobe electrified by this methodand according to the Chief En-gineer of Electricity Nirmal Bra-ganza, other villages in thedarkness will also be undertakenunder a phased manner.

However, locals are apprehen-sive over the capabilities of thepower supplied to them throughNon Conventional Energysources.

The 2,000 watts of powerfor these 15 houses will not besufficient, said the locals, whofeel that only two bulbs of 10watts will not suffice their needs.

Says the village elder, BhairoGaonkar, When RCC poles andconductors were dumped alongthe road from Eda-Cotigao, wehad brought mixers, TVs andother electrical equipment. Wewere eagerly anticipating full-fledged power supply to our vil-lage.

Nadkem first to have solar energy, wind mill

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

BELGAUM, MARCH 1

With the dense jungles borderingKarnataka, Goa and Maharashtraencouraging the movement ofelephants, Belgaum Deputy Con-servator of Forests Girish Hosurhas claimed there are about 20elephants moving in herds offour to five each.

According to Hosur, theirmovement is between Dandeli,Londa, Castle Rock, Chorla,Kankumbi, Jamboti and Tilaricovering a distance of about 200kms in three states.

The issue was discussed atBelgaum during a recent meetingof the three senior most forestofficials from three neighbouringjurisdictions, Hosur said addingthat fresher initiatives are nec-essary to control the encroach-ment of the tuskers as earlierattempts did not yield much re-sults. They proved to be smarterthan the humans, he added.

The farmers in Khanapur andWestern Belgaum taluka whohave already suffered heavylosses due to delayed rainy sea-son are going through turmoilagain due to the rising menaceof the elephants that are en-croaching in their fields andmaking merry on the lush greensecond crops.

While crores of rupees ofcrops are being destroyed bythe tuskers, thousands of farm-ers in the region are facing thequestion of their livelihood.

Though Karnataka Ministerfor Agriculture Umesh Katti tried

Elephant herd moving in dense jungles bordering Goa, Ktaka

to review the situation in therecently held KDP meeting atBelgaum, no concrete stepswere ascertained to save thefarmers from the elephant men-ace.

Situated in the rich biodiver-sity region of the Western Ghats,Khanapur taluka bordering Goais known for as the paradise formany of the wild and richspecies of flora and fauna.

The Bhimgad Wildlife Sanc-tuary set amid dense forests isknown to house some extinctspecies of animals, birds andtrees. Apart from Bisons, leop-ards pugmarks indicating exis-tence of tiger have been alsotraced by the forest departmentin the forest region where theboundaries of three states meet.

Meanwhile, the menacecontinues to haunt the farm-ers in the region as rigorousinitiatives must be initiatedby the state authorities in thisregard to avoid further com-plications that may lead to a

Anti-corruptionmeet held

at BicholimHERALD CORRESPONDENT

MAYEM, MARCH 1

The special anti-corruption pub-lic meeting held recently unan-imously resolved to make theCentral Government pass theLokpal Bill in the Parliament toretain the universal strongholdof India.

The meeting was called byBharat Swabhimaan, PatanjaliYog Samiti, Sanatan Prabhat andother associations at Shri Cha-trapati Shivaji Maharaj MaidanBicholim.

The meeting was attended byDr Madhav Lele, Kanta Patnekar,Amrutsingh, Govind Chodankar,Parish Khanolkar, J itendraSawaikar and others who unan-imously resolved to teach a les-son to the corrupt politicianswho are keen to sell the nationto the corrupt people withoutbothering to the hardships facedby the common men.

The speakers at the meetingunanimously resolved to rootout corruption on all levels bythrowing out Congress partyfrom ruling the nation and alsoto bring back the black moneywhich has been deposited in theSwiss Bank, thereby helping thenation to gain the original sta-tus.

Earlier, a protest rally wasstaged throughout the townwhich culminated at ShivajiMaidan.

Mapusa couplearrested

for trespassing HERALD CORRESPONDENT

PORVORIM, MARCH 1

Mapusa Police have arrested a

couple from Feira Alto-Mapusa

on charges of trespassing into

a flat belonging to a builder at

Alto Duler, Mapusa.

In a complaint filed with Ma-

pusa Police on February 15, San-

jay Yeshwant Nayak had stated

that Lawrence Dias and his wife

broke open the lock of the front

door of his flat on the ground

floor at Xavier Complex, Feira

Alto, and took possession of the

flat illegally.

On conducting the investiga-

tion, Mapusa Police arrested

Lawrence Dias and his wife and

were later produced before the

Judicial Magistrate First class,

who released them on bail of

Rs 5,000 surety each. Police In-

spector Rajesh Kumar is inves-

tigating the case.

Police registered the com-

plaint under Section 448 of In-

dian Penal Code.

87-year-old diesin road mishap

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

PORVORIM, MARCH 1

An 87-year-old pedestrian died,after he was knocked down bya speeding car near VrundavanHospital at Mapusa on Mondaynight.

According to Mapusa Police,the accident occurred when SPathan, who was proceeding to-wards Gujarat in his Swift car,knocked down pedestrianBhima Shinde and then dashedagainst Alto car near VrundavanHospital at about 8 pm.

However, instead of shiftingthe injured to the hospital, theSwift car driver tried to fleefrom the site. But a youth fromDharagal, Sayeed Ismail, noticedhim and followed him on hismotorcycle and managed to nabthe driver at Insuli-Maharashtra.Driver S Pathan was handedover to Mapusa Police latenight.

Meanwhile, the injuredpedestrian Bhima Shinde whowas shifted to GMC Hospital atBambolim for treatment suc-cumbed to injuries.

Police have registered an of-fence against Pathan on chargesfor rash and negligent drivingand have obtained 14 days po-lice remand. Police InspectorRajesh Kumar is investigatingthe case.

Golden jubilee celebration

HERALD REPORTER

VASCO, MARCH 1

Our Lady of Candelaria HighSchool, Baina-Vasco, will celebrateits golden jubilee on March 3.

In June 1961, then ChaplainFr Jose Lourenco Vital dos ReisFernandes took the initiative toorganise a primary school inPortuguese medium for the ben-efit of the local population withan enrollment of 68 students.

After liberation, the Por-tuguese language began loosingits ground to English, which wassteadily becoming the linguaFranca of Goans. Fr Vital Fernan-des, having grasped the pulseof the times, decided to changethe medium of instruction fromPortuguese to English.

This proved to be a decisivemove in the progress of theschool, as a number of admissionsincreased gradually with 700 stu-dents presently pursing educationin the school. The school has pro-duced professionals, including pi-lots , engineers , doctors ,architects, politicians and the like.

Success could not be achievedwithout the backing of its head-masters Oscar Gonsalves, M JJoseph, Reginald Diniz, RudolphDMello, Fr Antonio Fernandes,Argentina Gomes, OrlandoMadre Deus and present head-master Ramila Barros.

Efforts of Fr Simpliciano Fer-nandes bore fruit in completionof the new bu i ld ing thatpresently houses the students.

man versus animal conflicts.

Peoples powerAllwyn George, Carmona

The recent events in Egypt and the presentsituation in Libya, Bahrain, Yemen and otherArab countries is an eye-opener to all gov-ernments that peoples power is supreme.Governments of these states were func-tioning in an autocratic manner and democ-racy was simply not existent. Anyoneexpressing dissent is put behind bars, with-out any trial, and in many cases, peopledisappear without any trace. India shouldpraise the martyrs of these countries whohave sacrificed their lives in revoltingagainst oppressive regimes and openly sup-port the revolution in these countries.

Governments of these countries mustrealise that the time has dawned to sur-render to the will of the people.

Why Ban Ratol?Willie Severes, Majorda

Churchill Alemao has called on the CM fora ban on the sale of Ratol in the state,citing reasons that this poisonous substancehas claimed the lives of many youth lastyear.

Drugs, a silent killer that it is, has beensold and consumed openly in the state.Many Goan families have been destroyedby drugs, as it is used rampantly in collegesand schools. Drug lords have been captured,and have escaped, thanks to the Goa police.However, our government has been lack-adaisical in its approach, over this issue.

If Ratol is the cause for suicides, so iskerosene, ceiling fans and nylon ropes. CanChurchill call for a ban on these items too?

Drunk Swimmers: Wrong mixAdelmo Fernandes, Vasco

The authorities concerned are making alot of effort to see that people are educatedon the fact that it is dangerous to driveafter a drink. The slogan used is Drinkingand Driving Do Not Mix. But then itmust be said that it is equally dangerousnot to venture into the sea for a swim,after a drink. Most of the tourists who diedfrom drowning probably went into thewater after being high on drinks. It seemsnecessary for the government to put upwarning boards on our beaches which readDrinking and Swimming Do Not Mix.The life-guards stationed at beaches shoulddissuade inebriated tourists from goingfor a swim. Or, better still, hand them overto the police.

Census falloutAyres Sequeira, Salvador do Mundo

It is presumed that the census of India2011 isnt going to be informative. Certainflaws have been pointed out to make it in-complete. But the whole exercise has crip-pled administrative work, be it at thepanchayat level or at the mamlatdars office.No staff is in place, as it has been forcedto do field work. Irate citizens visit the re-

spective offices only to return home frus-trated with no work done. The governmentstaff too complains of extra work and ex-press helplessness to deliver services.

The government has enough funds towaste on unwanted entertainment, cele-brations and hi-fi projects forced on thepeople. The same must be utilised to employtemporary staff when needed for purposesof enumeration, election process, etc.

Black bovine nightmareMichael Vaz, Merces

The problems encountered by the com-muters in manoeuvring the stray cattle onour dangerous roads has been pinpointedendlessly. The authorities, however, seemto be least bothered about this hazard.

The fatal accident on the road at Naibagin Pernem, which claimed the life of a mid-dle-aged person when his vehicle dashedagainst cattle squatted on the road, is yetanother grim reminder of the sordid stateof affairs dominating our roads. Needlessto say, that after sunset it becomes difficultto spot the cattle on the roads particularly

if the illumination on the roads is poor.

Vote, and the M-factorIrineu Gonsalves, Verna

The GPCC president Subhash Shirodkar hasconfirmed Aleixo Sequeiras ticket for theNuvem constituency. In Aleixos case, thedegree of success will depend on the M-factor.

At a function in in Nuvem, I was quiteamused to know that Aleixo and MickkyPacheco pitched in with a sum of money.Let them spend as much as they desire.But we the voters have to recognise thatthe right to vote gives one the privilegeand power akin to that of a king.

One should be proud of ones identityas a voter and ensure that it is preservedrather than sold for a price.

We are with you, ChurchillMarcos Alemao, by email

My heartiest congratulations to ChurchillAlemao, Hon PWD Minister and MLA ofNavelim constituency for the construction

of one of the three bridges. He lived to hispromise thereby making the dreams of thepeople of Varca and Telaulim come true.Mr Churchill Alemaos actions has greatlybenefited the people of his constituencywhich even his predecessor couldntachieve. It is hoped that the two other re-maining bridges will be completed beforethe next Assembly election to be held in2012.Thank you Chuirchill Alemao, carryon with the good work.. We, the people,are with you.

Addendum to GRA demandsJose Maria Miranda, Margao

There is nothing strange about Portuguesepassport holders names being deleted fromthe electoral list in Goa, since it is only Indiancitizens who are entitled to vote. But onewould expect the same zeal that is beingseen here to be witnessed also in case ofmigrants who are enrolled both here as wellas in their original place of residence.

Far from this being done, politicians areknown to be directing the Mamlatdars toenroll migrants. Mamlatdars are known tooblige for fear of delay in promotions. Willthe Mamlatdar of Salcete, tell us that thenew entrants in the voters list, who are notoriginally from Goa, are being scrutinisedand that they are no longer voters elsewhere?Will the Electoral Officer do likewise? Thisis another demand that the GoencheaRakhondarancho Avaz needs to make at therally on 15th March.

Goan v/s outsiderJerry Fernandes, Saligao

This is with regards to the letter The realoutsider, yaar! by Srikantha Rao (Herald,21 Feb). Well, if people from Punjab,Haryana, Maharashtra and Karnataka hadreally sacrificed and laid their lives (asbeing claimed by Srikantha Rao) during50s and 60s, then why did the Indianarmy liberate Goa?

Goans have definitely settled in someIndian states from 1510 to 1600, but havewe eve