Goa News Clips
 

Goa Gets A New Governor NEW DELH (PTI): In a reshuffle of heads of Raj Bhawans in three states, Goa Governor SC Jamir was, on July 8, transferred as Governor of Maharashtra while Manipur governor SS Sidhu has been transferred to Goa. Seventy-six year-old Jamir, four-time Chief Minister of Nagaland, has been holding the additional charge of Maharashtra Governor since March this year. Sidhu, 79, a former Secretary General of International Civil Aviation Organisation, was also holding the additional charge of Meghalaya till July 1. Sidhu was an IAS officer of 1952 batch. [GT]

Book on Alexyz view on Goa Alexyz says, “Never before in the history of Goa has our red earth been devastated so blatantly as it is being done by our present-day politicians and builders of all shades, so much so that it has affected not only the State’s topography but also its geography. Simultaneously, our moral fabric too is on a continuous downslide.” Alexyz book "Goan, Goaing, Gone…? Cartoons Terse, Satirical Verse” depicts the traumatic and turbulent times that Goa is going through. It will be launched at the International Goan Convention 2008 in Toronto on July 24, and later on under the aegis of Goa Sudharop Inc at the International Community Centre at Milipitas, San Jose, California, on August 7, 2008. In Goa, “Goa, Goan, Goaing, Gone…?” will be released by the Lions Club of Arpora, Nagoa and Parra, on July 14,at 5.00 pm, at the Kala Academy Black Box, Panjim, at the hands of Padmashree Adv Norma Alvares with Wendell Rodricks being the guest of honour. [GoaNewsClips]

The whole world on their heads Seated in front of 'Prestige Corner' at Margao's municipal market, a group of women dressed in the traditional Goan working women's kapodd await work. Their work involves carrying headloads for as title as two rupees. India's only known women head load-carriers, called the bhaddel and operating at Margao, are going strong in a sense... but yet struggling for survival. After peaking at about on 130 a decade ago, they are just around 30 in number today. The bhaddel invariably are women from the hardy Kunbi tribe, considered the aboriginals of Goa. [Lisa Monteiro, GT]

Wooden homes (from Canada) to dot Goa soon MORMUGAO, July 4: Ramcon Wooden Homes has unveiled its range of wooden homes, which include studio homes, single bed-room villas and duplex bungalows. The wooden homes are made up of spruce-pine-fir, a kiln-dried white wood with little variation in colour. The specialty of the wood, imported from Canada, is that it is anti-termite and water resistant and can give a life span of over 100 years, according to Ramcom Director Bhavit Naik. [H]

'What will be left after they mine 80% of the village?' PANAJI: A gold rush is on. And many virgin territories in Goa are facing a threat from iron ore mining. Even those holding leases which are over 50 years old - but had never been used for mining - are now queuing up for permission to start operations. Colomba village in Sanguem taluka leads the race - 23 new mining concessions seeking clearance. If okayed, they will cover up to 80 per cent of the village's total land area. Two older mines are currently in operation... In Quepem taluka, four leases are seeking clearance... adjacent to each other and are in the immediate vicinity of springs, temples and a government-run high school. [Paul Fernandes, TOI]

'Beware of land sharks in guise of educationists' PANJIM: Land sharks in the name of establishing educational institutions in Goa are likely to grab vast tracks of land in the state and therefore Goa government have to be very careful in dealing with these neo-land grabbers, said MP Shantaram Naik at Canacona on Saturday at the inauguration of Girls Hostel at Jawahar Navodaya Vidyalaya. [GT]

Threat from within Few are aware that Goa has almost 785 sq km, about 62 per cent, of forest cover and 20 per cent of the total land area of state is now legally protected by one national park and six wild life sanctuaries. Yet, tourists who come to Goa never see anything beyond the coastal cities and the silvery beaches. Goa, which is situated between the Sahyadris and the Arabian Sea has gained fame around the world as a tourist paradise because of the Sahyadris. The ecological abundance supported by the Sahyadris, its rich bio-diversity and sensitive geomorphology add to the uniqueness of the state. [Rajendra P Kerkar, TOI]

Lithunian tourists make a beeline for Goa VILNIUS (Lithuania): Suddenly a lot of people from this tiny Baltic state of Lithuania want to visit India, the prime attraction for them being Goa, with its sun kissed beaches and promise of exotica. For six months starting in October, more than 3,000 Lithuanian tourists are expected to travel to Goa by chartered flights. [IANS, TOI]

Leopards on the prowl SATTARI: Leopards are now on the prowl in Hivrem village in Sattari. The residents are fear-stricken as the animal has reportedly already killed over 20 dogs. [GT]

Nuvem, Raia residents up in arms MARGAO: Around 200 villagers of Nuvem and Raia-Manora on Tuesday protested against illegal development of land without any authority or ownership and without necessary permission from the concerned authority. [NT]

Eduardo Faleiro to release Goykar a monthly magazine in Konkani NT Network PANAJI Goykar a Konkani monthly in Roman script will be released by Mr Eduardo Faleiro, commissioner of NRI, Government of Goa on July 14 at a special function at the conference hall, Secretariat, Porvorim. Mr Pundalik Naik, president, Goa Konkani Akademi and Mr Premanand Lottlikar, president, Dalgado Konknni Akademi will be the guests of honour. Mr Prabhakar Tendulkar, founder, Goykar will be a special invitee for the function. Goykar is edited by Mr Tomazinho Cardozo and published by Omor Prokaxon. A weekly by the same name was founded by Mr Tendulkar way back in 1979. During the language agitation in the 1980s Goykar played a stellar role in creating awareness among the Konkani people particularly among the huge section of Goans who used to read and write Konkani in Roman script. After serving Konkani for almost a decade, its publication ceased due to financial constraints.

Russia Warns Of Goa Alarm 7 Jul 2008, 0732 hrs IST, Preetu Nair,TNN http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-3204591,prtpage-1.cms Excerpt.. PANAJI: Alarmed by incidents of growing "racial intolerance" against their countrymen, the Russian consulate in Mumbai has threatened to issue a travel advisory to their citizens intending to visit Goa. In a letter to the state chief minister Digambar Kamat, the acting consul general of the Russian Federation in Mumbai Irina Bashkirova alleged that "Russian citizens were being assaulted on the basis of national or racial intolerance" in Goa and has requested the government to take "appropriate action". Hinting that the Russian authorities might take a strict view of such incidents, the letter said that it may "initiate considering a possibility of preparing some recommendations or travel advisory for Russian tourists who want to visit Goa," as such incidents harm Goa's image in Russia. It the letter, the Russian consulate has once again raised concerns over the security situation in Goa that may put in peril the safety and health of Russian nationals. "In view of numerous unlawful actions by Goan inhabitants against Russians, which have taken place lately, we would request you to see that appropriate actions will be undertaken to ensure the rights and safety of Russian citizens," the letter states. The letter was written on July 1, 2008. Confirming the receipt of the letter CM Digambar Kamat said that he has asked for a report from the police. "I am yet to get the status report from the DGP," he said. The letter to the chief minister and the tourism minister came after the Russian consulate received a letter from one from their citizens narrating an unpleasant incident.

Food crops in need of boost in Salcete by SHYAM ZAMBAULIKER NT Network: MARGAO — Boosting cultivation of rice and other crops has suffered a setback in South Goa due to inadequate measures to motivate the farmers and lack of proper incentives to promote agriculture. A farmer from Fatorda said the government must ensure that the incentives reach the real farmers. “At present we don’t even produce half of the paddy once we used to produce. As a result local good quality rice, which was available in the open market for Rs 18 till some months back, is now being sold at Rs 24 per kg in Margao market.”

Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages located at each taluka headquarters are being computerised But Registers at sub-offices in pathetic condition http://www.navhindtimes.com/articles.php?Story_ID=071112 by RAMNATH RAIKAR Principal Correspondent PANAJI — It is ironic that just as this year’s World Population Day celebrated on July 11 encourages activities, events and information which would help people to plan their families, especially for those who often have the hardest time getting the information and services they need, the Goan population faces tough time receiving documented information about birth, death and marriage. In fact, the mutilated, yellowing pages of the large hard-covered registers dating back to 1914, at the taluka level sub-offices of the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages are unable to provide necessary information about the three important aspects of a human life making procurement of related certificates a harrowing experience. The State Registrar, Mr V G Salkar however informed ‘The Navhind Times’ that the Rs 1.5 crore project of the state government for micro-filming the birth, death and marriage records and storing them in a digital form is nearly 80 per cent complete. “The rest of the work is expected to be over within the next 2 to 3 months,” he added, “And once the project is complete, people would face no problem in obtaining their birth, death and marriage certificates.” Interestingly, the Division Bench of the Bombay High Court on June 25, 2008, had directed the state to computerise the birth, death and marriage records by December 2009. The court had also directed that the records have to be posted on the Web. Speaking further, Mr Salkar said that the information as regards births, deaths and marriages has already been stored on magnetic optical discs and is now being transferred on the compact discs to match the latest technology. “The information will also be stored on hard discs which would be forwarded to the respective talukas,” he added. “Once that is done, a person seeking birth, death or marriage certificate can take benefit of the Metadata Entry System used and find the related information by going to any of the fields like say name of the person, father’s name, date of birth and so on,” he maintained. Mr Salkar also informed that presently records between 1914 and 1970 are being preserved in the digital form. The State Registrar further revealed that the eleven sub-offices of the Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages located at each taluka headquarters are being computerised. “The sub-office for Bardez taluka located at Mapusa would be used on a pilot basis for this project before taking up computerisation of all eleven sub-offices,” he pointed out. Mr Salkar noted that the use of record books would be discontinued once the digital data is made available to the sub-offices and placed in the custody of the directorate of archives and archaeology. Meanwhile, though the department of archives and archaeology has filed an affidavit that the physical records are being maintained as per the policy and re-construction/ restoration of records was undertaken by it, the department has just provided cosmetic face-lift to such mutilated record books and returned them to the respective sub-offices. To cite an example, the birth records of the persons registered in Tiswadi taluka for the year 1966 are in pathetic condition. To make the matters worse, the rooms storing these precious records are not equipped to preserve the old documents and are even found to be leaking during monsoon. Furthermore, the members of the general public are allowed to handle the ‘fragile’ records without proper care. Sources informed that the sub-offices are in possession of the birth and death records dating back to 1914 while have marriage records from 1921 onwards. The records prior to 1914 and dating back to 18th century are in the custody of the directorate of archives and archaeology and can be accessed by the public.