Church sets stage to install Archbishop Neri Ferrao
	Goa’s Catholic church authorities are setting the stage for the installation of its new head—Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrao—on Sunday, March 21, at the Se Cathedral at Old Goa. Some 18 bishops and archbishops are expected to attend the approximately two-hour long ceremony where Archbishop Ferrao will be installed by the Apostolic Nuncio, Pedro Lopez Quintana. Fr Olavo Velho Pereira, who heads the Diocesan Centre for Social Communications Media, says that the ceremony would be integrated with a Eucharistic celebration.
It will be indoors in the Se Cathedral, but arrangements outside and telecast of the ceremony on a close circuit television network have been made, he added.

Fun, frolic and colour
	Hard on the heels of the Carnival festival, Goa played host to another colour Indian festival, the Holi or Shigmo. Amidst the beating of traditional drums, the festival of colour was ushered in with the burning of “holika”, on the night of March 6.
Groups of enthusiastic Holi revelers appeared all over the place and street corners, smearing each other with colourful powders, to the accompaniment of drum beats and the clanging of the cymbals will take to the streets today smearing each other’s faces with gulal at the beat of traditional drums. As in the case of Carnival, there were float parades in the main cities in which large crowds gathered to witness the interesting tableaux based on mythological teams drawn from the Hindu puranas.

Parliamentary Poll
The BJP, which has declared the sitting MPs Shripad Naik and Ramakant Angle for the North and South Goa Parliamentary constituency for the forthcoming parliamentary polls, seems to be taking a lead over their opponents already. The Congress Party despite their decision to tie up with the Nationalist Congress Party and the MGP, are still stuck in their tracks. So far they have only declared Churchill Alemao for the South Goa seat, while the other candidate is yet to be decided, with Congress’ Party’s Ravi Naik not very confident of his victory, and NCP and MGP making their own respective demands. The BJP is wooing the minority Christian community in their attempt to return both their candidates in the April poll.

Church sets stage to install Archbishop Neri Ferrao
Goa’s Catholic church authorities are setting the stage for the installation of its new head—Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrao—on Sunday, March 21, at the Se Cathedral at Old Goa. Some 18 bishops and archbishops are expected to attend the approximately two-hour long ceremony where Archbishop Ferrao will be installed by the Apostolic Nuncio, Pedro Lopez Quintana. Fr Olavo Velho Pereira, who heads the Diocesan Centre for Social Communications Media, says that the ceremony would be integrated with a Eucharistic celebration. It will be indoors in the Se Cathedral, but arrangements outside and telecast of the ceremony on a close circuit television network have been made, he added.

Sebastiao, 108 years young
	Anthony Sebastiao Remedios has literally bridge the 20th century. Born at the turn of the 19th century, the Saligao resident has seen the last one tick by and is still alive and kicking in the 21st. He may be a little hard of hearing and unable to walk, but Goa’s arguable oldest citizen is not only in good cheer and health by also possesses a phenomenal passion for life at 108. Born in Salmona, Saligao, on 19 March 1896, he did his schooling in the village. He left for Uganda in April 1913.
He worked as a clerk in a bank and later took up a government job…He takes less of rice but eats more of dry food—bread and butter, biscuits, chips and cake and half of a Moira banana at every meal.

4 Goans In India football camp
Four Goans find themselves in the camp to pick the Indian team for preliminary round of 2006 FIFA World Cup against Oman on 31 March to be played at Kochi. Vasco’s defender Selwyn Fernandes, midfielder K Ajayan and Salgaocar’s skipper and midfielder Climax Lawrence and Jatin Bhist from Salgaocar have been picked of 24 players for the camp held in Kochi.

Panel formed to study IFFI plans
	A meeting to discuss issues regarding the plans to develop infra-structure for the upcoming International Film Festival of India 2004 in Goa decided to appoint a committee to collect data regarding the various projects and a technical committee to study their relevance to future planning and other aspects.
Even as the citizens questioned the massive investment in projects unilaterally by Goa State Infrastructure Development Corporation amidst a precarious condition of the state’s finances without participation of planning bodies and the people, it was also decided to arrange a meeting with Chief Minister and Corporation chairman, Manohar Parrikar.

'Touching The Toe’
	An excellent novel "Touching the Toe", penned by first-time writer Alexandre Moniz Barbosa was released last month at the hands of Goan MP Eduardo Faleiro, at the Fundacao Oriente in Panjim. In the a fictional account surrounding the religious hysteria that erupted in Goa on the arrival of the body of Saint Francis Xavier, Barbosa takes the reader down memory lane, to the early years of Portuguese advent and conversion.
The touching tale works up a mirage of the religious atmosphere that prevailed around Fr Francisco Xavier, who would several years later accorded the honour of the altar and acclaimed as “Goemcho Saib” by one and all. The book is priced at Rs.150.