MOMBASA GOAN COMMUNITY MARK 'WORLD GOA DAY' IN GRAND STYLE
An event worth remembering - bring together the entire Goan community, both old and young

From Coastweek - - http://www.coastweek.com/2935-15.htm
Goan Community in Mombasa, over the weekend celebrated the annual World Goa Day at the Mombasa Institute, reports DIEGO D'SOUZA.

The extravanganza, which proved to be a great success, was held both at the hall and the lawns of the Mombasa Institute.

The highlights of the event was the Goan Food Festival, which was held under the chairmanship of Angelo Pereira and closely assisted by Charlie D'Souza and the entire members of the Mombasa Institute.

People from all walks of life, including non-Goans attended the colourful celebrations, as they made merry to observe the 'World Goa Day' that is celebrated globally.

For those who are not aware of the event, August 20th each year is significant to every Goan, for it was this day when Konkani-the mother tongue of Goans, was included in the 8th Schedule of the Indian Constitution.

Therefore, Goans throughout the world commemorate this day, which is earmarked as a recognition of Mai bhas, which simply means mother tongue.

Back to Mombasa Institute, the Goenkars" (Goans) danced under the beautiful moonlit sky to the beats of Goan musicians, Tony Remedios and Jam Sounds who gave the crowd popular Goan tunes.

The youths too were not left behind, as they performed a Portuguese dance followed by "Mandos" sung by members of the Goan Community after which guests took to the floor to dance and make merry in all sort of Goan traditional styles.

It was an event worth remembering, as it brought together the entire Goan community, both old and young.

There were over ten stalls, erected and effectively decorated with flowers and palm leaves, that served authentic Goan cuisine such as Goa's favourite Sorpotel, Shakuti, Ambotik, saanas, pickles, followed by an array of delicious Goan desserts.

Club official, Ms Brenda Abranches said that every year the Goan Community in Mombasa get together, on this day to show their solidarity to Goans around the world, as this marks an important day in the life of Goans. To make the event a success, members of the Goan community also volunteered in the catering and decoration of the hall. "Many thanks go to each and every person, you in some way or the other made this event a great success," said D'Souza.

India rules 30,000 UK IT Work Permits

Over 30,000 UK IT work permits have been granted to foreign computer experts within the last year-and-a-half, according to exclusive data obtained by Contractor UK under the Freedom of Information Act.

More than 80 per cent of the 30,090 permits approved between January 2004 and June this year went to Indian computer experts, flocking to British shores as software engineers, system analysts and ‘other IT related’ occupants.

The grand total of 24,764 Indian nationals arriving in the UK dwarfed the second highest number of entrants, who originated from the United States.

Just over 1,700 American IT managers, engineers and techies snapped up work permits within the same year-and-a-half period.

Labopharm Appoints Mark D'Souza as Chief Financial Officer
LAVAL, QC, Sept. 13 /CNW/ - Labopharm Inc. (TSX: DDS, NASDAQ:DDSS) today announced the appointment of Mark D'Souza to the position of Chief Financial Officer. Labopharm today also announced that Warren Whitehead is leaving the Company to pursue other opportunities.

James R. Howard-Tripp, President and Chief Executive Officer of Labopharm Inc. says "Mark's extensive international and public company expertise will play an important role as we continue to pursue the global commercialization of our once-daily formulation of tramadol and the further development of our pipeline and we welcome him to the team."

Mr. D'Souza has held a number of progressively senior financial management positions, most recently as Vice President, Finance with Quebecor Media Inc. In addition to several international positions with the Quebecor group of companies, he has served as Finance Director of the Société Générale de Financement du Québec and held corporate finance positions at the Royal Bank of Canada and the Union Bank of Switzerland (Canada). Mr. D'Souza is a member of the Quebec bar and began his career with Hemens Harris and Associatesas a Lawyer. He holds an MBA from the Ecole des Hautes Etudes Commerciales and an LLL from the University of Montreal.

Asians in East Africa
http://www.asiansinafrica.com/shop.htm

This book is an introduction in the history of South Asians in East Africa on the basis of photographs and images. History and facts are used in this book as a background to individual live stories and rare images and portraits of the Asian community in Africa. This unique collection of old postcards, paper money -like Indian rupees in German notes- family pictures and cabinet card pictures present a history which cannot be told in words. The history of South Asians is part of a larger project employed by Dr. G. Oonk, who is associate professor in the department of Non-Western history at the Erasmus University Rotterdam, Netherlands. He conducted extensive fieldwork in Kenya and Tanganyika during 2001-2003.