Fishing ban in Goa till 31 July
PANAJI: The State Cabinet on July 14 approved the reduction of the period of the fishing ban during monsoon by a fortnight, from 15 August to 31 July. Similarly, the ban on fishing for canoes fitted with outboard motors has been also curtailed to 15 July. Chief Minister Pratapsing Rane told reporters that monsoon fishing ban ends on 29 July in Karnataka and Maharashtra while in Goa, it extends till 15 August.

As expected, Shantaram romps home
PANAJI: Congress nominee and former MP Shantaram Naik on July 14 was elected to the lone Rajya Sabha seat from Goa after he defeated opposition BJP candidate Sanjeev Dessai by 20 to 14 votes in an open ballot system adopted for the first time in the country.

Filmmaker bags national award
PANJIM: Laxmikant Shetgaonkar, a Goan filmmaker, has received national award amongst 120 entries in the non-feature category of 52nd National Awards for films. His directorial venture "Eka Sagar Kinaree", a seaside story, has also won a national award for its music direction by the music group Dhwani. The film has received critical acclaim and screened at various international film festivals and received the Golden Conch for best direction at the Mumbai International Film Festival 2005.

Parrikar literally gives 'talak' to National Award winning Konkani film
PANAJI: Director Rajendra Talak may laugh all the way to the podium to collect the National Award for the best feature film in Konkani, but he will not laugh all the way to the bank. Former Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, in his pre-IFFI euphoric enthusiasm, had magnanimously announced that the lone Konkani film to be entered for IFFI would be given all government assistance, 8 months later and Rs.45 lakhs poorer, Rajendra Talak still waits for the government. The amount is a pittance for the government considering it spent more than Rs.85 lakhs on accommodation and food for high profile celebrities who came to party in Goa during IFFI. Talak said he is on a high because he has got the National award for a film, which he was confident, had a meaningful theme. Talak now hopes that the National Award just might goad the government to dip into its pockets.

'Konkani Vars' celebrations commence today
PANAJI: The All India Konkani Parishad has decided to celebrate the Silver Jubilee Conference in Goa in February next year and in view of the conference, the Parishad has also decided to celebrate 'Konkani Vars' from July 2005 to July 2006. There will be various programmes connected with language, culture and literature in Goa, Karnataka, Kerala as well as Maharashtra. The 'Vars" will commence on 10 July with a programme at Menezes Braganza Institute at 3.30 pm.