Goa News Clips

Commissioner for NRI Affairs, Mr Eduardo Faleiro urges expats to act as bridges Posted on 2009-04-05 | NT NETWORK http://www.navhindtimes.com/story.php?story=200904056 PANAJI - The Commissioner for NRI Affairs, Mr Eduardo Faleiro urged Goans based abroad to act as bridges between India and their home countries, even while being loyal to their country of adoption.Mr Faleiro said expat Goans had a crucial role to play in this regard and reminded them of the approach taken by India’s first prime minister, Jawaharlal Nehru. He was speaking at a function organised to pay special tribute to anti-colonial campaigner, intellectual, journalists and academic, late Aquino de Braganza (1924-1986), who played a crucial role in networking the liberation movements in Algeria, Mozambique, Angola and other former Portuguese colonies in Africa. The function was held at the International Centre Goa to mark Braganza’s 85th death anniversary. Braganza’s widow, Ms Silvia de Braganza who is based in Mozambique also participated in the function. During the function, former joint editor of first English newspaper in Goa, Mr Lambert Mascarenhas, spoke about his second cousin, Aquino Braganza and narrated how they shared plans for the liberation of the former Portuguese colonies while Goa and Mozambique was still ruled by Lisbon in the late 1950s. ‘In a way, his birth in Goa was incident, he could have been born in Mozambique or Cabo Verde or Angola, as his involvement in the freedom of these diverse countries testified,’’ Mr Mascarenhas said while speaking of Aquino Braganza. Former deputy speaker of the Kenyan National Assembly, Mr Fritz D’Souza said that the system of colonialism implied the acceptance of racism in a hierarchical order, which placed man at different levels of unfairness. He narrated his first experiences in colonial and post colonial Africa and said that another great Goan fighting for Africa’s cause, Pio Gama Pinto wanted to move on to fight with Frelimo in Mozambique but unfortunately his life was cut short by an untimely assassination. Goa University Science department professor, Dr Areliano Fernandes praised the role of Braganza as a freedom fighter, humanist, journalist and academician. He said the younger generation of Goans, born in post 1961 times, experienced what a colonial situation was and hence needed to understand the same better. History lecturer, Mr Prajal Sakhardande spoke about Braganza and his connections to Goa and said that the state needed to recognise its high achieving sons and daughters regardless where they had spent their lives. Senior lawyer, Mr Jorge Colaco, who spent many years in Mozambique and Africa, narrated his first hand experiences with Aquino - the man and other students from colonial Africa then based in Lisbon.

Lent: Unique procession of Saints in Goa http://www.indiancatholic.in/news/storydetails.php/11736-1-1-Lent Published : April 06 2009 The traditional "Procession of Saints" held on the Monday preceding the Holy Week, at Goa Velha, in Goa-India. Statue of St Peter and devotees seen going under the "cherol" carried by the Confraria members. Started by the Fransciscans (1614-1617) with 65 life-size imags of Saints of the Franciscan Order. Probably unique, except the one held in Rome. Photo from Joel’s Photo Stream http://images.google.ca/url?source=imgres&ct=ref&q= http://flickr.com/photos/52243088%40N00/2324900818/&usg=AFQjCNGY8JVJ_ PANJIM, Goa (SAR NEWS): Every year, Monday of the fifth week of Lent is the occasion of a unique Procession of the Saints (Santanchem Pursanv in the local Konkanni language) in the Goan village of Goa Velha, about 15 km from the capital Panjim. This year, one more saint was added to the 30 statue procession – the statue of local Goan Blessed Joseph Vaz (1651-1711), the patron saint of the Goa Archdiocese. The Procession of the Saints dates back to between 1614 and 1617 and was started by the Franciscans – the first Order to reach Goa in 1517 – after the Portuguese conquest of Goa in 1510. They built their monastery on the hill dedicated to Our Lady of Pilar and started the procession of the laity belonging to the Third Order of Franciscans “as a Lenten penitential practice,” according to historian Rosario Rodrigues. Rodrigues donated the statue of Blessed Joseph Vaz this year, having the carved the face himself. It is said that the Franciscans had the image of a bruised face of a man on a fine cloth, which they believed to be the face of Jesus, the “Holy Face” miraculously imprinted on the towel that Veronica offered him on his Way of the Cross to his crucifixion on Calvary. The procession ends with this “Veil of Veronica” carried by the priest and covered by a canopy, with which a final blessing is given to the devotees. It is believed that the Veil of Veronica was originally the only object of veneration and the statues of the saints were added later. According to some historians, the procession could have been to counter the Hindu procession of palanquins. “I feel the procession could have had some connection with the Hindu palki,” opines historian Father Cosme Costa of the Pilar Society of St Francis Xavier. “Perhaps the people told the Franciscans of the earlier processions and the Franciscans added the other statues.” At one time there were as many as 65 statues in the procession, but the procession was stopped when Portuguese Prime Minister, the Marquis of Pombal, expelled all religious Orders from the Portuguese territories in 1835. Originally, the procession began from Pilar, the monastery of the Franciscans. But when the procession was restarted in 1868, it began from the Church of St. Andrew in Goa Velha, which is at the foot of the Pilar hillock. The procession begins from out of the main door of St. Andrew’s Church after the celebration of the Eucharist outdoors into the streets, with many devotees following the procession on foot or even crawling under the statues as penance. The Church bells keep tolling and the choir keeps singing throughout the procession. The saints, mounted on tableaux, commemorated in the procession even today, are mostly from the Franciscan and Dominican Orders, which came to Goa first. The lead tableau is the Tau and crossed arms, symbol of the Franciscan Order, followed by well-known saints like Anthony of Padua, Dominic, Clare, Rose of Lima and little-known saints like Paschal Baylon, a Franciscan lay brother, Philip of Jesus, the martyr of Nagasaki, Agnes of Assisi and others. The tableau of Francis of Assisi, who saw the vision of Our Lord Crucified and carried Christ’s wounds in his body (called the stigmata) comes just before the Veil of Veronica. “Over the years, the very purpose of the procession has gradually changed. Originally, it was a penitential procession held in Lent. But now, it has been converted into a feast with festive atmosphere,” moans Father Raul Colaco, the parish priest of Goa Velha.

New Chief Secretary Appointed in Goa http://www.navhindtimes.com/story.php?story=2009040814 2009-04-08 PANAJI- Mr Hauzel Haukhum, an Indian Administrative Service officer of the 1974 batch of Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram and Union Territories cadre, will take over as the new Chief Secretary of the Goa government on Wednesday. Mr Hauzel will arrive on Wednesday afternoon from Delhi and soon thereafter will assume charge of the post. He was financial commissioner of National Capital Territory of Delhi before his transfer to Goa. He also held posts of principal secretary, commissioner and secretary, in Mizoram from 1995 onwards. In August 2005, he was named as the Chief Secretary of Mizoram and held the post for four years before his transfer to New Delhi. Prior to that Mr Hauzel had also handled several posts in Delhi administration including that of managing director of civil supplies corporation, director of vigilance, district magistrate (North Delhi). He was also collector of Daman and Union Territory of Dadra and Nagar Haveli.

Political instability leading to job loss, says Goa Chamber of Commerce http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-4363293,prtpage-1.cms 6 Apr 2009, 0453 hrs IST, IANS PANAJI: The Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry has said that growing political instability and a 15% drop in the tourism sector have led to nearly 100,000 people in the state losing their jobs. Alongside, according to chamber president Nitin Kunkolienkar, "rising civic unrest" was proving to be a deterrent for setting up new industries in this picturesque state. "There is a 10-15% drop in the tourism sector. We have about one lakh unemployed youth in the state," Kunkolienkar said Saturday in his address at the closing ceremony of the year-long centenary celebrations of the chamber. "No major industries are coming to Goa, while we are busy protesting and agitating." Maintaining that a "handful of protestors were holding the state to ransom", Kunkolienkar said: "Protesting is becoming a fashion. Goa is getting a bad name because of drugs. People coming here on vacations are disappearing. And yet these protestors do not raise a voice against this." Kunkolienkar also said that special economic zones (SEZ) could be an answer to Goa's economic and employment woes. "But these SEZs should have non-polluting industries like IT or pharmaceutical companies."

Legislators in Goa’s ruling alliance continue feud http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/politics/legislators-in-goas-ruling-alliance April 4th, 2009 - 8:25 pm ICT by IANS Panaji, April 3 (IANS) Even as the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) have joined hands to field consensus candidates from Goa for the Lok Sabha polls, a running feud between two state ministers and a legislator of the ruling combine shows no sign of abating. Tourism Minister and NCP legislator Francisco Pacheco, who has been gunning for the disqualification of two Congress legislators over their questionable entry into the party, said that a recent Election Commission order in this regard had “vindicated” him. “This week’s ruling by the commission terming Save Goa Front’s (SGF) merger into the Congress as invalid only strengthens my case in the disqualification petitions against Churchill Alemao and Reginaldo Lourenco,” Pacheco told IANS. “The merger of the party with the Congress, as claimed by a certain group, cannot be held as valid merger as the said resolution was not approved by the requisite number of members of the general body,” the commission had stated in its ruling. Both Alemao and Lourenco were elected to the legislative assembly on a Save Goa Front (SGF) ticket, but later claimed to have merged their party into the Congress. Alemao was made a cabinet minister after the merger, while Lourenco was appointed chairman of state-run road transport corporation. While Pacheco had filed a disqualification petition with the Goa Speaker Pratapsing Rane against both the legislators in October last year, Anton Gaonkar, the president of the SGF, had filed a complaint against Alemao and Lourenco before the Election Commission. “I am going to pursue my disqualification petitions pending before the speaker. Their disqualification as MLAs (legislators) is a only matter of days now,” Pacheco said. While the respective party presidents chose not to comment on the feud, Lourenco, when contacted, said that vested interests were responsible behind the disqualification petitions. “As far as I know, the SGF was lawfully merged with the Congress. The speaker is yet to decide on the matter. There is no point in speculating right now. I am sure me and Alemao will come out with flying colours,” Lourenco said.

Lent procession, Goa From: Joel's Goa Pics' photostream http://www.flickr.com/photos/52243088@N00/ http://www.goacom.com/joel/news/2009/apr/

Sonia Gandhi to visit Goa April16 The All-India Congress Committee president, Ms Sonia Gandhi would visit the state on April 16 or 17 for campaigning in favour of the Congress and the Nationalist Congress Party nominees, Mr Francisco Sardinha and Mr Jitendra Deshprabhu. Ms Gandhi would address a rally at Margao during her visit to the state. She would be accompanied by the AICC general-secretary in-charge of Goa desk, Mr B K Hariprasad and some other Congress leaders. [NT]

Bodyguards for lifeguards While lifeguards on Goa's beaches will have their eyes on the surf, bouncers will be watching their backs. Shaken up after lifeguards were bashed by rowdy domestic tourists at Baga beach on Saturday, beach management company Drishti will employ musclemen to protect them. The bouncers will also be beach safety patrol drivers who will double up as first-aid helpers. "If tourists try to harm our lifeguards, the bouncers will step in and diffuse the situation. The same goes for any misbehaviour by antisocial elements on the beach," said Ankit Somani, Drishti vice president. [TOI]

84% Goa primary schools without headmasters Of the 1,121 primary and middle government and aided schools in Goa, 949 or 84.65% operate without a headmaster or a head teacher. This was revealed by data collected by the National University for Educational Planning and Administration (NUEPA) central government programme through the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA).

Dhempe student invents bacteria-powered battery Research by Natalie D'Silva, a student of Dhempe College of Arts and Science, Miramar, has led to the discovery of a means of power generation which will also help clean up cities. The research is based on the method of harvesting electricity with the help of microbes, generally bacteria, which feed on biomass for their respiration. This is referred to as Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) also known as Bacterial Battery'. The bacterial battery was carried out by Natalie, a student of the Miramar college's biotechnology department under the guidance of Arina Frank, lecturer department of biotechnology, sponsored by Dhempe's Charities Trust. [TOI]

Yellow pages on mobiles for free! Bluefrog Mobile Technologies Pvt Ltd, Goa, has released a ‘city contact’ mobile application completely free to mobile phone users in the State. City Contacts is a pre-loaded free software for mobile phones, which stores 5,000 telephone numbers and contact details of business information in the State on a mobile phone database.The service is completely free to the users,” added Pratap. The service is also available at its office at G1, Bldg I, Alcon Estates, Miramar-Panjim or through download at www.bluefrogindia.com. [H]

Rural Goa’s wood-fuel truth A headload of wood being carried home is once again become a familiar sight in rural Goa… The truth about fuel substitution in rural Goa places the state squarely amongst all the states in India – large or small – whose rural populations do not use LPG if their monthly per capita expenditure is low… And that is why rural families in Goa send so much of their productive time finding fuelwood to cook with, and that is the cycle that keeps them poor and invisible. It is much about LPG as it is about deliberate neglect. [Rahul Goswami, GT]

College lecturer ends life A lecturer from St Xavier’s college, Mapusa, committed suicide by hanging herself with a nylon rope at her maternal home in Ribandar around midnight on April 5, apparently due to domestic woes. Old Goa DySP Gajanan Prabhudesai said that Fatima Barreto, 35, was found hanging on the terrace of her mother’s home. Police said that Fatima had married one Julio Barreto from Santa Cruz in 2008. [TOI]

Woman held for cheating 10 husbands MUMBAI: The Sion police, on April 4, arrested Kausar Begam, a 32-year-old woman from Bangalore, for allegedly marrying and divorcing 10 Mumbai businessmen in 18 years, and blackmailing and threatening them. Her parents - father Iqbal Pasha and mother Gulnaz - who supported her in duping her husbands of lakhs of rupees, were also arrested. The matter came to light when a 35-year-old exporter from Powai, Sayyed Ahmed, complained to the Sion police that his wife and her parents had been blackmailing him for two years. [TOI]

Overstaying, nudity at Palolem beach Environmentalist in Canacona taluka have requested the authorities to make immediate inquiries into foreigners who are allegedly over-staying at Canacona coastal and municipality areas. Sources at Palolem and Patnem-Colomb have informed that night parties are arranged on every alternate night at the beaches, allegedly by the foreigners with the help of the local businessmen, but local police do not take any action in spite of information. They further alleged that sixty per cent of the restaurant in the coastal areas of Canacona municipality areas, are being run by the foreigners. [NT]