"Goa: Aparanta – Land beyond the end”
See also: http://www.goaaparantabook.com/index.php

Amitabh Bachchan formally launched the book “Goa: Aparanta – Land beyond the end” , put together and published by Dattaraj “Raj” V. Salgaocar at a glittering function held at the water front lawns of Goa Marriott Resort, Panaji,Goa on May 13th,2008. “Parents need to be remembered generously because they are responsible for what we are today,” remarked Bollywood star Amitabh Bachchan at the release

On the occasion, Speaker of Goa Assembly and Goa’s former Chief Minister Pratapsingh Rane, Vijayadevi Rane, Raj V. Salgaocar, Dipti Salgaocar and a galaxy of prominent personalities from diverse fields including Portuguese Consul Paulo Neves, Mario and Habiba Miranda, Bacchi Karkaria, Shobhaa and Dilip De, Remo Fernandes, Ivana Furtado , Wendell Rodricks,Dr Wilfred D’Souza, Dr Vissu Pai Panandikar, Mario Cabral e Sa, editor Victor Rangel Ribeiro, Uday Bhembre, Chandrakant Keni, Sesa Goa CEO P.K. Mukherjee, Farzana Contractor, Sushant Nadkarni, Zilman Coelho Pereira, Sarto Almeida, Mohandas Naik, writer Maria Aurora Couto, Alban Couto, Mohan Caculo and Fr Delio were present.

Speaking further, Amitabh said, “ I am most touched by what Raj ( Salgaocar) has done in memory of his father. It’s a wonderful example for all sons to follow. It speaks about his upbringing. Parents need to be remembered generously because they are responsible for what we are today. What we do in their memory is not enough for what they have done for us. “wherever he ( the late Mr. V.M.Salgaocar) is, he will bless you,” he told Raj at the gathering.

Amitabh also congratulated Raj Salgaocar for his great contribution for recording posterity for Goa by publishing such a book on Goa. Amitabh said that he had a long association with Goa and also recalled his challenging experiences as a young star when he visited the state for his maiden film shooting “Saat Hindustani”, produced by renowned filmmaker and journalist Khwaja Ahmad Abbas in 1969 with a very tight budget. He said that he had enjoyed wonderful and memorable moments in Goa shooting for some other movies after that . He also recounted some anxious moments he faced when the late Amjad Khan met with an accident while shooting in Goa and how the doctors and staff of Goa Medical college were most caring and supportive.

The first copy of “Goa: Aparanta – Land Beyond The End” was handed over to Pratapsingh Rane by the big B. Raj Salgaocar, the Publisher and industrialist ,welcomed the distinguished gathering to celebrate his dream of putting together a book on Goa and releasing it on his father’s birth anniversary. Raj said, “ My father loved Goa passionately and fought for Goa’s unique identity during the historic Opinion Poll, earning the anger of the local powers that be. His selflessness and courage has always inspired me and left a deep impression on me about Goa. My mother, too, was a staunch Goan who had a strong sense of values and principles. Both my parents greatly influenced me, and my book on Goa is dedicated to both of them.”

He futher elaborated, “Goa, to me, has always been a state of mind, a glorious ethos, a land of boundless energy and positive vibrations, a spirit that goes beyond its stunning beauty, its people and their habits, an East-West blend with an amazing ability to absorb the best in any culture,race and religion. All this and more forged the paradox and the dream land that is Goa, a land which perplexes the visitor and where Goans relish the good things of life and are among the friendliest people in the world, ever ready to welcome strangers and break bread with them. Goa, indeed, is unique. I therefore decided to put together a book that would give its readers this kaleidoscopic view of Goa.”

Concluding, Raj sais,”All our contributors were given free reign to express their views; between them, each in his or her own fashion, they bring Goa’s history and culture to life.We have presented Goa in all its glorious diversity in our book so that you get a feel of the true Goa.
Like a brilliantly-cut diamond – with each of its many facets shining in a particular light from each of its unique setting.” Writer Mario Cabral e Sa and fashion designer Wendell Rodricks, the teammates of Raj in this venture, US-based author Victor Rangel-Ribeiro, the editor of the book and Divya Thakur who designed the book, spoke on the occasion. Dipti Salgaocar introduced Amitabh Bachchan and Pratapsingh Rane to the audience. Rane honoured eight prominent Goans, young and old for their contribution in various fields during the book release with mementos on behalf of Goa Publications Private Limited, the publishing company of the book. They were Ravindra Kelekar, Mario Miranda, Dr. Vissu Pai Panandikar, Chandrakant Keni, Remo Fernandes, Prince Jacob and Humberto and Ivana Furtado. “Our book celebrates the vibrancy that is Goa,” said Raj Salgaocar. “So we have decided to honour eight well-known people, both young and old, whose actions have brought glory and recognition to Goa.”

The book on Goa involved the combined efforts of 51 contributors, many of them world renowned specialists in their fields. In the history section, for example, P. P. Shirodkar, former director of the Goa Archives, writes about rock carvings and mother goddesses and our prehistory; Teotonio de Souza points out that the imprint of four-and-a-half centuries of troubled Luso-Goan relations is precisely what earned Goa its statehood; Alban Couto goes behind the scenes during the transitional months that followed Liberation; Pratima Kamat examines the years that have elapsed since then; and Vissu Pai Panandikar, looking to the future, sees the need for Goa to develop a knowledge-based economy. Chandrakant Keni, Uday Bhembre and the late Manohar Rai Sardessai write eloquently about Konkani and its literature; Kiran Budkuley speaks of the Marathi contribution; Nina Caldeira and Eufemiano Miranda assess writings in English and Portuguese respectively. Yet other contributors of note include Maria Aurora Couto on the Mando, Victor Rangel-Ribeiro on Goans in International Music, Malbarao Sar Dessai on Goan exponents of classical Hindustani music, Tomazinho Cardozo on Konkani tiatr, Mario Cabral e Sa and Vasant Joshi on Goan cuisine, and Wendell Rodricks on costume and jewellery, 

The veteran artist Vamona Navelcar focuses on the flowering of Goan art; noted antiquarian Percival Noronha traces the history of our ancient handicrafts; Vinayak Khedekar explores folk arts; sociologist Pandurang Phaldesai writes about our Adivasis, and Chandrakant Keni and a roster of writers based overseas examine the issue of Goan identity, and the diaspora. Veteran librarian Maria Lilia de Souza provides capsule notes on over 300 eminent Goans, and also an extensive annotated bibliography.

Ace photographer Bharath Ramamrutham provided most of the nearly 200 brilliant images. The beautifully designed five colour Coffee table sized book runs to 250 oversized pages and is priced at Rs. 3500 a copy. The publisher is proud of the exhaustive contents. “When you pick up a copy,” Raj says earnestly, “It’s like you are holding Goa in your hands”.

“Goa: Aparanta – Land beyond the end” , put together and published by Dattaraj “Raj” V. Salgaocar

List of Contributors & Titles

Lakshmi Mittal tops UK's Richest Power list
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-3197270,prtpage-1.cms
4 Jul, 2008,

LONDON: Money and power being "natural bedfellows" is not necessarily true in the British business world, except for steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal who figures right on the top of a new 'Richest Power List', compiled after combining two separate rankings of the most powerful and the most richest in the UK.

Giving Mittal company on the new list, compiled by the Times newspaper, is another Indian-origin executive Arun Sarin, the world's top mobile firm Vodafone's outgoing CEO, who has made it to 24th in the combined list, even though he does not figure among the top 1,000 richest persons in the UK.

Mittal, with an estimated fortune of 27.7 billion pounds, had also topped this year the Sunday Times Richest List, which has been combined with the Times Power 100 list to make the "Richest Power List". The Sunday Times Rich List - and we discovered the opposite. In the world of British business at least, it seems that you don't have to be rich to be powerful," it noted.

Is music key to happiness?
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-3229559,prtpage-1.cms
14 Jul 2008, 0117 hrs IST,ANI

WELLINGTON: Humming tunes is known as a good stress buster. Now, a new research suggests that people who sing regularly are happier than their non-singing counterparts. In fact, choristers have a better quality of life than other people. The results of the study are based on a survey of more than 1,100 choral singers in Australia, Germany and the United Kingdom.

The research found that while people who join singing groups tend to be less healthy than the average person, they are in fact happier. "They're actually much more satisfied with their health overall and their life in general than everyone else," stuff.co.nz quoted Don Stewart, head of public health at Griffith University in Queensland, as saying.

"It's quite a remarkable find really, and quite inspiring," Stewart added.

The research, presented at a national public health conference in Brisbane this week, involved 21 choirs, including five from southeast Queensland. It found 51% of the choralists had long-term health problems, more than twice the Australian norm. They also scored below average on a WHO scale of psychological health and social functioning. However, 98% rated their quality of life as good or excellent, and 81% were satisfied or very satisfied with their health. "That's definitely above the norm so there's something special happening here," Stewart said.

Indian is Britain's youngest doctor
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-3226000,prtpage-1.cms
12 Jul 2008, 1405 hrs IST,PTI

LONDON: At the age of 22, Indian-origin Heenal Raichura has qualified to become Britain's youngest doctor and is all set to practice medicine. Daughter of Nalin and Shobhna Raichura, Heenal was accepted into university to study medicine in 2002 when she was 16. Six years later she has passed her degree and is all set to start work at University College London Hospital where she hopes to become a surgeon.

Heenal said: "It's quite a surreal feeling to actually, finally, become a doctor after six years of a degree. To finally come out at the end and say, 'I'm a doctor', my childhood dream, is an indescribable feeling.

"... My parents tell stories about how I would come over and put my head against their chest because I didn't have a stethoscope to play with. I was always interested in trying to figure out what was going wrong with the body." Her proud father Nalin, 65, said: "She encountered immense difficulty in finding universities that would accept her at the age of 16 because the minimum age at entry is 17 years 6 months."

She was offered a place to study medicine at St George's University in London where six years later she has graduated with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery degree. She received her degree at a presentation ceremony in June and is believed to be Britain's youngest doctor.

On top of the normal five years of medical study Heenal also spent an extra year to get a degree in Anatomy and Developmental Biology from the University College of London. She lives with parents, who run a wholesale business, and her 25-year-old sister Sonia.