News Clips from Goa
 

Central team arriving in Goa today A special team from the national capital will arrive in Goa on August 12 to monitor the HINI swine flu situation in the state. The Chief Minister, Mr Digambar Kamat told media persons on Tuesday evening that he was informed about the arrival of the team by the Union Health Minister, Mr Gulam Nabi Azad on Tuesday morning, during a telephonic conversation. [NT]

Dry spell yet to prick agriculture dept Although the total seasonal rainfall (194.48) up to now is just about the same as past averages, the state is witnessing an extreme dry spell which has now stretched to almost 18 days, worrying farmers and officials in the water resources department. According to the Met office at Altinho, a meager 5.48 cms of rainfall has been recorded till date since July 23. [GT]

Shubha Mudgal and Goa Almost everyone in Goa may have heard of singer Shubha Mudgal, the Indian classical singer par excellence. Her track 'Dholna' has been covered by just about every popular band in Goa. Not many may know that her band features two accomplished Goan musicians, keyboard wizard Merlin D'Souza and jazz bassplayer Colin D'Cruz. Merlin and Colin have been a part of Shubha Mudgals fusion ensemble called 'Koshish' for close to a decade. As the name suggests (Koshish means 'attempt' in Hindi), the band is all about an attempt push back musical boundaries. Different forms of improvised music like sufi, folk, Indian clasical and jazz comes together to create the eclectic sound of Koshish. The band has performed all over the world to rave reviews. The most recent concert was at the launch of the Indian Institute of Technology's golden jubilee celebration in Kanpur on the 8th of August. The first half of the concert featured sounds of indo-jazz fusion and the second half featured some of Shubha's most popular tracks like 'Dholna' and 'Ab Ki Sawan'. Shubha has expressed a desire to perform in Goa sometime towards the end of this year and is currently sourcing out event an organiser in Goa who would take on her act. Shubha can be contacted through her manager Mr. Nandu Nimbalkar on 9923550315.

Govt criticized for amending Panchayati Raj Act The Aquem Baixo village panchayat gram sabha witness protest against the amendment to the Panchayati Raj Act in the recently concluded session of the Goa Legislative Assembly. The members as well as the panchas felt that the government by this has curtailed the powers of the elected representatives giving sweeping powers to the panchayats secretary. [NT]

English versions of Konkani songs worry Tomazinho Would translating popular Konkani lyrics into English, with rhyme and meter, make expats lose the possibility of buildings links with home via language and culture? Former Speaker Tomazinho Cardozo, a man of Konkani stage and music world who even performed while he was in the Speaker’s chair, feels so. [GT]

Leaf insect, a true marvel of Mhadei wildlife Sanctuary When the attention is diverted from the beaches due to monsoons, Goa’s rural-scale has laid a green carpet for the enthusiasts who will see the nature at its best. Right from the Malabar gliding frog that is found only in Sahyadri hill to the tiny insects hanging on the trees, it’s entire a new adventurous world in the lap of Mother Nature. [H]

Salgaocar to donate ferry boat to govt The Sanvordem MLA and noted industrialist, Mr Anil Salgaocar will donate a new ferry boat, remodeled to work efficiently in the Goan conditions, to the state government. The ferry boat, which will carry passengers and two-wheelers, besides ambulances, is expected to ply on the Volvoi – Surla/ Maina route from December 19, 2009. [NT]

Twelve mines face closure Around twelve mines face closure for operating without mandatory permissions including those which are in close proximity to the wildlife sanctuaries in the state. Director of Department of science, Technology and Environment Michael D’Souza, through a letter, has directed the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB), to stop mines which have not obtained any clearances from the statutory authorities. [H]

Goa Government Propose to Monitor Returning Workers http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=World_News.xml Source: The Peninsula / Moiz Mannan With India’s central government dilly-dallying on some pressing NRI issues, including the proposed welfare fund for recession-hit returnees, some major manpower exporting states have taken the lead in taking substantive steps for the welfare of their diaspora. Of late, the tiny coastal state of Goa has been at the forefront of adopting welfare measures for its overseas workers. The Goa government has recently proposed setting up a cell for monitoring workers of Goan origin who have returned to the state from other countries due to the global economic meltdown. The Herald, quoting top government functionaries, said this would be done in coordination with the Commissioner of NRI Affairs. It has also been proposed to establish model overseas workers resource centres in Panaji and Margao to facilitate employment opportunities for Goans in Gulf countries and the rest of the world. According to the Goa Migration Study 2008, nearly 12 percent of Goa’s 1.4-million population has family members living and working abroad. Of this, nearly 60 percent are in the Gulf region. Under the Retrenched Workers Assistance Scheme, as of July 31, 2009, financial assistance to the tune of Rs7m has been provided to 244 retrenched workers hit by the global recession and other reasons. The Goa government has also initiated efforts to create a special fund to help such non-resident Goans (NRGs). It aims to put in place a mechanism to create such a fund along with a pension scheme, if possible, for the NRGs. For this purpose, the state’s NRI Commission has drafted the Goa (NRGs) Welfare Bill, 2009. Benefits of the fund would be available to NRGs who become members and contribute Rs300 per month for not less than five years. The level of relief to be given will depend on the expatriates’ contributions to the fund along with other criteria like experience, qualification and their designation. The commission has also decided to provide insurance of Rs100,000 to all Goan expatriates who hold the Goa Card issued by the commission. The card is available to NRGs on payment of Rs250 and is valid for two years and renewable thereafter. The insurance cover will be provided to card-holders without any further payment. The Goa government has also accepted the Commission for NRI Affair’s proposal to amend the Goa Registration of Tourist Trade Act, 1982 to bar travel agents from doubling as recruiting agents unless they are registered with the Protector General of Emigrants. The aim is to curb the growing instances of cheating by unscrupulous agents. To address the serious problem of property disputes involving NRGs, the Goa government has borrowed a law from Punjab for safeguarding the property of Goans working or settled abroad. Many of them have bought residential or commercial property through money earned abroad and rented it out. Recovering possession of the property has become a major issue. The Goa Buildings (Lease, Rent and Eviction) Control (Amendment) Act, that came into force in June, was largely modelled on the East Punjab Rent Restriction (Amendment) Act, which allows NRIs to recover possession of their rented premises through speedy summary trials. Other states too are addressing this and other issues pertaining to their diaspora. On its part, the Union Territory of Chandigarh has announced the formation of a special wing to deal with property disputes pertaining to NRIs. Kerala, the largest manpower supplier to the Gulf among Indian states, has recently worked out another initiative to help distressed non-resident Keralites (NRKs). Media reports said the government had begun the process of opening interest-free financial institutions on the model of Islamic banks. The interest-free institutions will also help those who return from the Gulf countries after losing their jobs. Interest-free loans will be provided to these people to help them find employment. The money invested in the institutions will be re-invested in other ventures and the profit will be distributed among the investors (according to their share). Talks are going on with institutions including the Reserve Bank of India in this regard. The institutions will run on investments, including those from the Gulf countries. Last year, the Kerala Assembly unanimously adopted the Non-Resident Keralites Welfare Bill providing for pension and other benefits for overseas contract workers as well as those who work in other Indian states. The bill proposed constitution of a welfare fund and promotion of companies, cooperatives or other organizations for the welfare of NRKs. The welfare scheme under the legislation covers non-resident Keralites and their dependents. Similarly, when the chips were down, the Andhra Pradesh government demonstrated it could take care of its own better than the central government. Almost 70 percent of those who had returned to Andhra Pradesh in November 2007 under the amnesty declared by the United Arab Emirates have got jobs. Most have found employment in the construction sector under a special state government programme. Other repatriates, mostly unskilled workers, have been rehabilitated through funds from the Rajiv Yuva Shakti Yojana used to procure agricultural implements. The Gujarat government’s NRI Division and Non-Resident Gujaratis’ Foundation are also offering a slew of facilities and benefits to Gujaratis overseas. The Foundation is issuing a ‘Gujarat Card’ to non-resident Gujaratis. The card-holders would get special attention from Gujarat government agencies dealing with them. In addition, the card-holders can avail of the facilities of the NRG Bhavan set up by the NRG Foundation in Ahmedabad. The government has formed NRG committees for resolving any problems and issues faced by the NRGs, included those related their property. Non-resident Gujaratis can directly contact the Member Secretary of the committee of the concerned district or can get in touch with the NRI Division or The NRG Foundation.

Goan Christians’ historic emigration continues http://www.deccanherald.com/content/18569/goan-christians-historic-continues.html Devika Sequeira in Panaji Migration from Goa,especially among Christians, started in the early 16th century and continues till today A curious but not surprising detail has been brought to light by the Goa Migration Study 2008. That seventy-four per cent of those who emigrate from Goa are Christian. Considering the size of the community, this is an “extreme concentration”, the study notes.. Catholics comprise only a quarter of the state’s population, but the emigration rate within the community is 42 per cent for 100 households compared to just five per cent among Hindus. Every third Christian home in Goa has an emigrant. Is there a reason for the established pattern of mobility in the Goan Catholic community? Historical circumstances and the Portuguese presence were perhaps the major contributory factors. Goa became the earliest territory in the non-western world to be exposed to western culture. Migration from here began in the early 16th century when Goans helped the Portuguese to penetrate the inhospitable territories in Africa, says the study. “Rich cultural syncretism endowed Goans with a more inclusive identity which facilitated their migration, adaptation and integration into new cultures.” Though the Portuguese spent 541 years in Goa – making it one of the longest colonial dominations in history – the regime unleashed its proselytizing zeal only on its ‘Old Conquests’ in the talukas of Bardez, Salcete, Tiswadi and Mormugao, leaving three-fourths of Goa predominantly Hindu. The ‘New Conquests’ were in fact annexed to Portuguese rule only in the last quarter of the 18th Century. The Old Conquests were densely populated, but the Portuguese did little to set up industries or generate employment in these areas. “Consequently, nearly one-tenth of the population was forced to migrate.” In the 1930s 70,000 Goans had moved out of Goa in search of work, 55,000 of them settled in British India. Hindus who resisted conversion initiated around the 1540s moved out to settle in Karwar, Belgaum and Mangalore. “Migration was preferred to abandoning traditional religious and cultural practices. Heavy taxation was another reason for leaving the land.” By the eve of Goa’s Liberation in 1961, 17 per cent of its 5.89 lakh population had migrated. The Portuguese sensed opportunity in the large outflow of Goans in search of employment, and began levying an ‘emigration tax’ on those leaving as also on those returning home on vacation. In 1933 the emigration tax of 10-12 tangas (approx Rs 1) per person fetched the colonial regime Rs 60,000 in revenue. Dismissing local protests, a ‘military tax’ was also imposed on those leaving the state, and a property tax on those who lived outside, but retained properties here. The property tax compelled entire Goan families to emigrate permanently selling off ancestral properties here. As a consequence, Goan settlements came up in Santa Cruz in Mumbai, in Kolkata, Karachi and Aden, highlights the study carried out by the Centre for Development Studies, Thiruvananthapuram for Goa’s NRI Commission. The established trend of Catholic migration from Goa and the pronounced inflow of people from other states in recent years has produced a demographic complexity that will require enormous adjustments as Goa approaches the 50th year of its Liberation in 2011. According to the 2001 Census, Goa’s Christians have declined from 38.07 per cent in 1961 to 26.68 per cent in 2001. The reason for this is attributed to the huge influx of people from other states. Based on the last census, Goa’s Economic Survey 2008-09 says migrants make a fifth of Goa’s population. That proportion would be closer to one-third today, given that the state’s ethnic population has reached a sub-replacement level.

Christians Want State Laws To Govern Assets Of Churches Church funds equal Indian Navy’s annual budget http://lists.goanet.org/pipermail/goanet-goanet.org/2009-July/180028.html August 3, 2009 Source: DH News Service http://www.deccanherald.com/content/16533/church-funds-equal-indian-navys.html Christians are a mere 2.5 per cent of the country’s population. But, the Church in India suffers from a case of plenty, says Remy Denis, All India Catholic Union President. Church authorities control funds equivalent to the Indian Navy’s annual budget. The Church is also the second largest employer after the government, he said. Eduardo Faleiro, a former Union minister and Goa NRI Commissioner, is among the growing number of Catholics like Prof Denis, who support a law to govern Church properties and a far greater degree of transparency in the way the Church manages its earthly assets. “The Church is not a symbol of power but service, and democratic laws must apply to it equally. All religions must be kept on the same footing,” Faleiro said at a conference called to debate the matter of bringing Church properties under state laws. The laws that govern Church properties in Goa were enacted during the Portuguese regime. The same laws have long since been repealed in Portugal, Faleiro said. Almost all other religions in India have laws enacted to administer their properties, K T Thomas, former Supreme Court judge, said. Hindu temples are governed by laws specifically enacted for each trust and their accounts are subject to judicial review. The Sikhs, one of the smallest religious groups in the country, have the Sikh Gurudwara Act. Muslim trust properties comes under the Wakf Act. “I feel the opposition from the Christians is on account of a fear that a provision for judicial scrutiny is likely to expose the expenses and magnitude of wealth of the denomination,” Thomas said. The head of the Believers Church had recently acquired a huge plantation in Kerala for Rs 123 crore. This was apart from the vast assets already held by the denomination, he said. The Church in Kerala also runs its own media network. Thomas said there was a misplaced apprehension that the Parliament, through legislation, would grab the properties of the churches. No such law could be passed by Parliament or State legislatures, he said. All religious denominations have the right to own and acquire properties, establish and maintain religious institutions. “But, in matters of administration of your properties you have to abide by the law,” he said.

Reliving Konkani's Greatest Hits http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/msid-4874926,prtpage-1.cms TNN 10 August 2009, PANAJI: Goans can now sing along with their preferred singers as all time Konkani favourites like Cathrina', Claudia', Bandra Festak', and other hit songs of the yesteryears have been put together in one book. Original hits of the last 50 years are available, in Konkani, besides some popular Portuguese and Swahili songs too, have been compiled by non resident Goans from Toronto, Canada, Francis Rodrigues. Unavailable music of the likes of Chris Perry, Frank Fernand, M Boyer, Alfred Rose and others is now available - transcribed note-for-note. The songs include Adeus Korchea Vellar', Lisboa', Kampala', Sacrament Zoddlo', Mollbailo Dou', Malaika,' Maria Isabel,' Encosta Tua Cabecinha', Cecilia', Mogacho Divo', Proud to be a Goan', and others. Besides the lyrics, the compiler has provided the chords for the songs. Not only have these been annotated to the music, but intricate chord-diagrams have been supplied for each song, making it easy for the musician. According to Rodrigues, himself a musician and a lawyer by profession, the songs can now also be accompanied by harmonic instruments without sheet-music like the piano, accordion, keyboard and guitar. For bands and musical groups worldwide, separate music in tablature form for the guitar have been included. Besides maintaining the originality and authenticity of the lyrics, there are cross-references from myriad sources, conveying the composer's intentions and the background of each composition. "Each song has not only been accurately translated, but the translations have been set to verse/rhymed. Not only can the songs be poetically resung in English, but can bring the original music to the doorsteps of the world," says Rodrigues. The book also includes programme notes, original and detailed historical liner-notes and anecdotes. "It has been painstakingly cross-checked and researched from numerous sources," said Rodrigues. Other than the book, which can come handy to any music lover, a free DVD is a priceless bonus. "All the songs have been filmed and performed by Canadian jazz pianist Victor Martins. So that can help anyone to observe closely how to perform the music." Greatest Konkani Song Hits (Vol I)' was released on Sunday by NRI commissioner Eduardo Faleiro, who lauded the efforts put in by Rodrigues for the book, which he said will help Konkani reach every nook and corner of the world. Konkani writer Tomazinho Cardozo said the book will boost the language across the globe and it will help keep alive traditional Konkani culture among Goans scattered worldwide. The book is being released worldwide for World Goa Day on 20 August.

Goa to ink power purchase pact with Ratnagiri Gas http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/blnus/02031170.htm PANAJI: Goa expects to pool about 21.5 MW of power from the ‘Ratnagiri combined cycle power project’ to meet its rising electricity demands, State Power Minister, Mr Alexio Sequiera, said. “In all, 21.5 MW power is allocated from Ratnagiri combined cycle power project, for which the power purchase agreement (PPA) is to be executed with Ratnagiri Gas and Power Project Ltd,” Mr Sequiera, told the State Legislative Assembly last week. In a written reply tabled on the Floor during the ongoing monsoon session, the Power Minister said the formalities to sign PPA with Ratnagiri Gas and Power Project Limited were in progress. This pact is likely to help Goa to meet increasing power requirement, which currently varies from 280 MW to 440 MW. – PTI