News Clips from Goa
 

Mining in Western Ghats will be stopped, says Goa chief minister http://sify.com/news/fullstory.php?a=jh2w4sfgbfg&title=Mining_in_Western_Ghats 2009-07-28 22:30:00 Goa Chief Minister Digambar Kamat Tuesday said the ecologically crucial Western Ghats would not be allowed to be mined. The assurance from Kamat, who is also the minister for mines, came after sustained protests against illegal mining from the opposition members throughout the monsoon session of the state assembly. 'My government will see that there is no mining activity in the belt of Western Ghats,' Kamat told the state assembly Tuesday evening. The Western Ghats are a thickly forested mountain range covering the western fringe of Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Kerala, which spreads over 60,000 sq km and are regarded as one of the 10 best biodiversity hotspots in the world. Incidentally, most of Goa's 100 odd operational mines are located in the forests, which are a part of the Western Ghats' expanse. Replying to the debate on rampant mining - both legal and illegal - in the state, a beleaguered Kamat said he had already appointed a high-level committee to spot and immediately nip illegal mining activity in the bud. 'I have told them (the high level committee) that if they find any mines operating illegally, they can stop them right on the spot,' Kamat said. 'The animal cannot distinguish between these boundaries. Mining in such close proximity of forests pushes these animals further away,' Leader of Opposition Manohar Parrikar said. Mining of low-grade iron ore and manganese in the less glamorous Goan hinterland is a major industry in the coastal state, even as environmentalists have accused successive state governments of being hand-in-glove with the mining lobby, which extracts nearly 30 million tonnes of ore for exports annually. "© 2004 sify.com India Limited. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed"

Goa to sell off 5 casinos http://www.deccanherald.com/content/16278/goa-sell-off-5-casinos.html Panaji: Taking a tough stance against offshore casinos, the Goa government said five vessels were being sealed with immediate effect because their NOCs expired earlier this year. Pride of Goa, Casino Rio, Casino Royale, San Domino and Caravela would have to cease casino operations with immediate effect, Minister for Ports Micky Pacheco told the State Assembly on Monday after BJP leader Manohar Parrikar complained that the casinos were running even though the NOC from the Captain of Ports had long expired. Six floating casinos had been served notices by the Goa government to move out of the river Mandovi. The casino owners challenged the government order before the High Court. Last week the Goa government hiked the casino entry fee from Rs 200 to Rs 2,000 to discourage Goans from gambling. We don’t want Goan youth to fall prey to the vices of gambling, Chief Minister Digambar Kamat had told the House on Friday. He also announced a steep increase in the liquor licence fees for the floating casinos that will fetch an additional Rs 36.50 crore in yearly revenues. The government said it was in the process of framing a policy that would put in place regulations for casino operations in the State. DH News Service

Another controversy hits National Games 2011 at Goa http://www.headlinesindia.com/state-news/goa/another-controversy-hits-national Panaji: Alleging there was a massive scam in land acquisition for the National Games 2011, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today said a top sports official owned a huge plot of land to be acquired for the sports city in north Goa. The sports city is coming up at Dhargal in North Goa. Leader of Opposition Manohar Parrikar said the sports authority of Goa (SAG) executive director V.M. Prabhudessai's family owned 400,000 sq mt out of the 1.3 million sq mt project and that the official was aggressively pushing for acquiring the land. "The person who is in charge of the full National Games 2011 project also has land rights there. He automatically becomes an interested party because four lakh sq mt belongs to Prabhudessai," Parrikar said. The BJP leader and former chief minister was speaking during the question hour of the monsoon session of the Goa legislative assembly. Parrikar alleged that in the guise of a National games sports city, a real estate project was being slipped in. "Why should a sports city have a multiplex? This seems more like a hotel project more than anything else," Parrikar said. Refuting the opposition's charge, Sports Minister Manohar Azgaonkar said the site had been selected by a Delhi-based consultant agency appointed to prepare a detailed project report for submission to the Planning Commission of India and the union ministry of youth affairs and sports. The concept of the sports city has been mired in controversy from the time Goa was selected to host the 2011 National Games some years back. The site initially chosen was Neura in North Goa. However, the government was forced to relocate to Dhargal, in the sports minister's constituency, in face of public protest from Neura residents. The proposed sports city at Dhargal is expected to have hockey and equestrian stadiums, a cycling velodrome, and an indoor sports complex, among other sports facilities. (IANS)

'Specific Package' for Goa soon Goa may not get a special category status it has been seeking for but there's some hope that there will be some Goa-specific package to take care of its problems. Stating that the Centre is aware that Goa is among those which has been asking for special category status, Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee said that the government is seized of the matter and that a mechanism is being worked out in consultation with the Planning Commission. [H]

"Don't worry, CMZ policy will soon lapse" chief minister Digambar Kamat said on Tuesday that the Coastal Management Zone (CMZ) policy will lapse soon and coastal residents need not worry about it. While informing the House that he had taken up the issue with the Union environment minister Jairam Ramesh, Kamat said "He told us that the notification on CMZ will lapse. Ramesh also said that he will study coastal regulations of various coastal states and form a new legislation which will ensure that no injustice will be meted out to coastal residents. Our government will always support the cause of the small people." [TOI]

Cost of daily foods up by 60%: Parrikar Opposition leader Manohar Parrikar on Tuesday said that despite the government's efforts to help the common man combat the price rise of essential commodities, there has been an average of a 60% inflation in the price of daily foods needed by the people. Speaking after the tea break of the budget session, Parrikar rattled off the prices of essential commodities that have almost doubled in cost over the last few months. [TOI]

Salcete schools taking steps to end corporal punishment The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights has come out with more guidelines to the district collector on corporal punishment. The guidelines have directed the collector to hold block-wise meetings for all school headmasters on corporal punishment and convey to the schools that serious action would be taken against them for any act of violence against the children. [NT]

Tears & Cheers In Budget A ten-time increase in entry fee to casinos, imposition of tax on professionals and also salaried persons earning more than Rs 10,000 per month, levy of Green cess on mining rejects and construction of a bridge connecting Dona Paula to Vasco are the main features of the Additional Budget for the current financial year presented by the Chief Minister Digambar Kamat in the Goa Assembly on Friday. The Budget also lays stress on infrastructure building, measures to stimulate growth and mobilisation of additional revenue. [H]

Govt for scheme to help traditional occupations To arrest the trend of traditional occupations fading away, the government has decided to come out with a scheme to help sustain the occupational skills. The Chief Minister Digambar Kamat said the government intends to operationalise a scheme to give financial assistance to such small entrepreneurs who are keeping the traditional occupations alive. [H]

Govt goes high on beer ! As an additional resource mobilization measure, the Government has proposed to increase the duty on mid beer from the existing Rs 9 to Rs 10 per bulk liter. [H]

Israel army encourages soldiers to ‘get stoned’ in Goa? The Israeli Army, known by its official name of Israel Defense Forces (IDF) prefers that its demobilized soldiers travel to Goa to get stoned out of their minds, says a report by Amira Hass in the Israeli daily newspaper ‘Haaretz’. The report says that it suits the IDF that when they are released after three years of mandatory military service, demobbed soldiers travel to Goa, Peru or Colombia to bury their agonized memories or belated insights – as adults – before activists from the NGO ‘Breaking the Silence’ reach them. [H]

Parents feel mid-day meal scheme hyped up Although Mid-Day Meal Scheme launched by the state government for the students of Std I to Std VIII took off well in most parts of Salcete, some parents feel that the hype created about the scheme doesn’t match to the things dished out — a small plate of ‘sheera’ or a plate of ‘pulao’. [NT]