Few Facts on Uganda & EntebbeJuly 24, 2005 Geography Uganda

Area: 241,040 sq. km. (93,070 sq. miles. Cities: Capital--Kampala (1991 pop. 774,214). Other cities--Jinja, Mbale, Mbarara. Terrain: 18% inland water and swamp; 12% national parks, forest, and game reserves; 70% forest, woodland, grassland. Climate: In the northeast, semi-arid--rainfall less than 50 cm. (20 in.); in southwest, rainfall 130 cm. (50 in.) or more. Two dry seasons: Dec.-Feb. and June-July. Source: http://www.umsl.edu/services/govdocs/backgroundnotes/22.htm Elevated at 3782 feet above sea level, the airport is part of a peninsular bordering Africa's biggest fresh-water-lake, Victoria. Entebbe has a tropical climate all year round, ranging from between temperature of 17 0c and max of 27 0c in January and a min 16 0c, max 25 0c in July.The gateway to the "Pearl of Africa", Entebbe is forty Kilometers South West of Kampala City, Uganda's Capital. Until 1972, Asians constituted the largest nonindigenous ethnic group in Uganda. In that year, the Idi Amin regime expelled 50,000 Asians, who had been engaged in trade, industry, and various professions. In the years since Amin's overthrow in 1979, Asians have slowly returned. About 3,000 Arabs of various national origins and small numbers of Asians live in Uganda. Colonial History During the period in 1889 when Mwanga was kabaka, he was visited by Carl Peters, the German colonialist, and signed a treaty of friendship with Germany. Great Britain grew alarmed at the growth of German influence and the potential threat to its own position on the Nile. In 1890, Great Britain and Germany signed a treaty that gave the British rights to what was to become Uganda. Later that year Frederick Lugard, acting as an agent of the Imperial British East Africa Company (IBEA), arrived in Buganda at the head of a detachment of troops, and by 1892 he had established the IBEA's authority in S Uganda and had also helped the Protestant faction defeat the Roman Catholic party in Buganda. In 1894, Great Britain officially made Uganda a protectorate. The British at first ruled Uganda through Buganda, but when Mwanga opposed their growing power, they deposed him, replaced him with his infant son Daudi Chwa, and began to rule more directly. From the late 1890s to 1918, the British established their authority in the rest of Uganda by negotiating treaties and by using force where necessary. In 1900 an agreement was signed with Buganda that gave the kingdom considerable autonomy and also transformed it into a constitutional monarchy controlled largely by Protestant chiefs. In 1901 a railroad from Mombasa on the Indian Ocean reached Kisumu, on Lake Victoria, which in turn was connected by boat with Uganda; the railroad was later extended to Jinja and Kampala. In 1902 the Eastern prov. of Uganda was transferred to the British East Africa Protectorate (Kenya) for administrative reasons. PUTTING DOWN ROOTS (From Armand Rodrigues' Account) In those primitive conditions, our stalwart predecessors carved a niche that will remain forever Goa. On Monday, April 24, 1905 the community of thirty (30) souls got together and unanimously resolved to form a club. It was resolved that every member would pay one half of his month's income as Entrance Fee. Most paid on the spot; some paid more than called for. Goans scattered all over Uganda, and even as far as Kisumu in Kenya, immediately enrolled. Entebbe (meaning seat) understandably became the home port for all Goans in Uganda. By September 11.1905 our enterprising pioneers had acquired a lot on a 49-year lease, at peppercorn rent of one rupee per annum (about four Cdn. cents today). They then addressed themselves to the question of collecting funds for a clubhouse. In those days, all building materials -- including timber but excluding bricks -- had to be imported from Mombasa (Kenya) 860 miles away. The railway had just started. Those were the days when the man-eating lions of Tsavo had their heyday, dragging their human diet out of moving trains!

On Easter Sunday, March 31, 1907, the clubhouse -- a 30' x 18' single room, with veranda fore and aft -- was formally opened. It cost Rs.6,000 (about $200 today). It was a triumph for our brothers and equally-determined sisters. The club was originally named "The Goa-Portuguese Institute". But this was found to be misleading and somewhat incongruous. On January 1, 1912 the name was changed to Goan Institute, a nomenclature common to similar Goan clubs that had since sprung up in East Africa. With the forced exodus of Goans in 1972, an unforgettable era in Entebbe came to an abrupt and unexpected end. The abandoned clubhouse fittingly became a parting gift to the true sons of the soil. For the immeasurable benefits received by members, the consensus has to be that on a relative basis only a pittance was left behind in repayment. Read complete article at:

Rethinking immigration goals
CAROL GOAR
Canada brings in approximately 14,000 engineers a year under its highly selective immigration rules. Roughly the same number of engineers graduate annually from Canadian universities.
The country has more engineers than it can possibly employ.
Meanwhile, trucking companies are desperate for drivers; slaughterhouses can't get enough meat packers; and construction bosses knowingly hire carpenters, drywallers, electricians and heavy equipment operators who are in Canada illegally.
None of these workers qualifies for entry under the government's strict admission criteria.
If ever there was a made-in-Ottawa problem, this is it.
The good news is that Immigration Minister Joe Volpe knows about it and has a plan to fix it. The bad news is that it probably won't see the light of day.
The Liberal minority government is in its death throes. And Volpe has scarcely spoken about — let alone done anything about — the mismatch between Canada's needs and his department's policies.
But one recent afternoon, the 57-year-old Italian immigrant sat down for an hour or so and talked about what needs to be done.
Volpe left no doubt that he considers the current regime, put in place by former immigration minister Denis Coderre in 2003, elitist and ill-conceived. Not only does it keep out the kind of immigrants who built this country; it squanders the skills of those who get in.
"We secure — some would even say we steal — someone else's investment, then we don't even use it in Canada," Volpe said. "Let's do a mea culpa. We weren't ready for these people. We've got to put our political and moral muscles to work to make sure their talents can be utilized.
"At the same time, we've set the bar so high we aren't getting the people we need to fill the gaps in our workforce. We have skill shortages all over the country. You can't possibly draw up an appropriate immigration program if you don't know what the labour issues are."
Volpe then outlined his five-point plan to get the immigration system back into alignment with Canada's needs and traditions. Chances are it won't survive the political turbulence of the coming weeks. But it would be a good starting point for whoever ends up in charge of the nation's entry gates.

BMX Toronto Bursary' awards announced
From: http://www.goacom.com/news/getStory.php?ID=1630
PANAJI: The BMX Toronto Steering Committee announced 'BMX Toronto Bursary' awards to St Britto's and St Mary's students who have answered March 2005 SSCE of the Goa Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education and who wish to pursue their higher secondary school education at St Xavier's Higher Secondary School, Mapusa. The total value of this two-year inaugural BMX award is Rs.24,000 which will be divided between St Britto's and St Mary's High Schools. The purpose of the Bursary is to provide financial assistance to four deserving and needy students from the two schools, every academic year. (GT)

68 per cent of Canadian Drivers Obsessed with Gas Prices, New Poll Shows
OSHAWA, ON, May 25 /CNW/ - Warm weather and long weekends mark the beginning of another seasonal phenomenon for Canadian drivers: the fanatical observance of gas prices. According to the results of GM Canada's Fill it Up Poll, seven out of 10 Canadian drivers (68 per cent) say they monitor gas price fluctuations every day, while another 85 per cent remember the exact price per litre they paid at their last fill-up.
With gas prices expected to rise sharply this summer, the GM Fill it Up Poll shows that Canadians are willing to go to great lengths to find the best deals on gas. For example:
- A whopping 92 per cent say they would drive out of their way for a 20 cent/litre discount, with 10 per cent admitting they'd tolerate an extra 20-30 minutes to get there.
- Half of all drivers (50 per cent) would line up for 10 minutes or more for a similar discount, and one in ten (11 per cent) would line up for more than half an hour.