Goan Welfare Society, Nairobi, Kenya
The Goan Welfare Society, Nairobi, Kenya wishes our members, friends and supporters a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! For the newsletter click here.

	Lourenco’s amazing Goa. So far, we have come across innumerable cards of all sorts, but the “Amazing Goa Information Cards” produced by Jose FP Lourenco from Margao, are nothing like what one has seen elsewhere earlier. Because a tremendous amount of research has gone into their making.
The rare cards have an assortment of questions on Goa’s rich culture, tradition, history, geography and what-have-you, on one side and the corresponding answers on the other. Lourenco’s fascinating cards were released at the BPS Sports

Goa celebrates liberation day
The State is all set to celebrate the 42nd anniversary of Goa Liberation Day today. This year a special function will be organised where Vice President of India Bhairon Singh Shekhawat will honour 155 freedom fighters from outside the State for their contribution in the Liberation movement of Goa at the Azad Maidan, Panjim, at 11 am. Governor Kidar Nath Sahani, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, Cabinet ministers, Secretaries to the Government and freedom fighters will be present.

“Celebrate Panjim”, a unique programme conceptualized by wellknown journalist Ethel da Costa, was held at the Panjim Municipal Garden on December 19 and 20. Says Ethel, “For two days people are getting together to celebrate the unity of community, getting all the people like artists, musicians and others together.” The ceremony took off with the Christmas Tree at 11.00 am, and Retro Revive by Tidal Wave at the Bandstand.

Other programmes included Papier Mache workshop for kids at the Artists’ commune, Retro Revive by Forefront and L’Oreal ‘Sprax’ Launch party at the Fashion Mall. The Rhythm Blues was probably the best band that performed at the two-day event, with mellifluous-voiced Lulu at the mike. There was stalls for fashion wear, food, paintings, etc, while cartoonist Alexyz did caricatures.

Goan cashew nuts too good
Cashew harvesting needs to be done when the cashew apple along with the nut is fully ripe, stated Dr BB Sapkal, Dr BP Patil and RC Gajbhiye of the Regional Fruit Research Station, Vengurla, in their research paper on “Home/Small Scale Processing of cashew problems and prospects”, presented at a seminar in Panjim on Dec 12. Collecting the dropped apples along with the nut properly dried, is the practice generally followed in Goa, as ripe cashew apples are used for extraction of feni. The Goan cashew nuts being wholesome, fetch ten rupees extra in the market, the paper said.

To renovate Adil Shah Palace
Fundacao Oriente is willing to renovate the Adil Shah Palace (Secretariat) if the State government accepts its proposal. Dr Carlos Monjardino, President of Conselho de Administracao, Fundacao Oriente, Lisbon, told press persons at Hotel Mandovi on December 13 that the organisation would renovate the Secretariat with the help of experts from Portugal. He said that it was the general policy of the Fundacao Oriente to renovate the old heritage houses and expressed happiness over the renovation works carried out at Fontainhas. Referring to the funding procedure, he said that about Rs.1 crore is spent on various programmes in India every year. Portugal’s President Jorge Sampaio would visit India in March next year, he informed.