News Clips from Goa
 

In Tourism, Goa Church Sees Great New Tool http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/uncategorized/in-tourism-goa-church-sees-great- December 15th, 2009 – Panaji, Dec 15 (IANS) The Roman Catholic church in Goa wants tourists in the state to spare the proverbial beach and booze and hit the Bible instead. This is articulated in a new book titled “The challenge and prospects of tourism in Goa today” compiled by Ranjan Solomon, consultant to the church-backed Centre for Responsible Tourism. “The church has to make her faith more alive, dynamic and challenging by encountering the reality of tourism,” it states. The book was released by Goa archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrao. This is a response to what it calls the fallout of tourism in Goa - namely “erosion of values, abuse of natural resources, growing disrespect to women and children”. Goa sees nearly two million tourists each year, a number which surpasses its population of 1.4 million. Christians, largely Roman Catholics, comprise about 30 percent of the state’s population. “Many people who are employed in the tourism industry are not in a position even to fulfil their Sunday obligation because of the workload and odd working hours, especially during peak season,” says the book’s concluding chapter. It tries to create a bridge between Christianity and tourism. The 87-page compilation, which is made available at church-run outlets across the state, also calls for Eucharistic celebrations in various languages to the visiting tourists. “Priests who are working in tourism- related areas should ensure that the religious needs of tourists are met. For this, appropriate measures should be taken so that visitors can participate in the Eucharistic celebration in their own language or with other expressions of their culture, always with respect to the liturgical dispositions in force,” the book states. Calling for moving away from the largely beach-oriented tourism pattern, the book calls for tour guides and escorts to be religiously sensitised and trained. “Tour guides and escorts should be properly trained, especially those accompanying tourists to the places of religious significance. They should be so trained that they not only explain the significance of the religious place but also inform them about the religious services,” it says. Urging the church not to focus on religion in isolation, the book emphasises on a “great need to monitor all the anti-social activities like drug marketing, paedophilia, sex tourism, etc, which are taking place in the parish community”. Read more

Salgaocar alleges every Goa minister is corrupt http://www.oheraldo.in/printerfriendlypage.asp?nid=31141&cid=26 PANJIM, DEC 14 Continuing his tirade against the Digambar Kamat ministry, Sanvordem MLA Anil Salgaocar today charged that every minister in the government is corrupt and there is a need of fresh elections to get rid of the “menace”. “Right from chief minister to the last council of minister and other members of the government, who are lending support in the assembly are all corrupt,” Salgaocar alleged at a press conference here. Elaborating further, Salgaocar alleged that right from the repair of ferry boats to the disbursement of ration quota there is corruption. “If you go to a ferry-boat repair yard, you will find at least 8-10 ferry boats tied up there, whose condition can only be for scrapping purposes,” he said adding “…but the River Navigation Minister Sudhin Dhavlikar does not want to scrap them for obvious reasons.” On recent purchase of new ferry boats, Salgaocar stated, “in purchasing the new ferry boats with 2 engines, which cost over Rs.70 lakh, the objective is same -- inflated expenses on diesel consumption providing regular and uninterrupted flow of money.” To further demonstrate that the government is claiming fraudulently to be an aam aadmi government, Salgaocar said, “Ministers are pocketing black money by diverting the ration rice and food-grain from the mouth of the hungry poor man and selling it in the open market.” He accused the civil supplies minister for the diversion of ration commodities into the ‘open market’. “I challenge the ministers to face an open debate in the above matters and also challenge them to file a defamation case as all the skeleton of the tenders will be brought out,” he said. “This is not an aam admi government but corrupt government and there is a need for fresh elections to get rid of this menace of corruption,” he said. He said the ferry boat he had spoken about in the last assembly session has been commissioned. Jai Goa Sevika has been built at a cost of Rs 30 lakh and is meant for passengers and two wheelers.

PWD looks to Japanese project to ease water woes in South Goa In order to cater to the needs of thousands of consumers in South Goa and prevent any water crisis in the future, the public works department has set its eyes on the much awaited Japan International Cooperation Agency (JAICA) project, funded by Japan Bank of International Cooperation, estimated to cost Rs 1,031 crore. The PWD, recently, had arranged a trip to the Selaulim dam for the media persons of Vasco wherein the executive engineer, PWD (water), Mr. Shrikant Paranjape briefed about the various factors that have resulted in the water crisis, especially in the South Goa. [NT]

'Tourists should dress, behave properly' Commissioner of NRI Affairs Eduardo Faleiro said tourists should dress and behave appropriately respecting the local sentiments and culture. In this context he mentioned foreign diplomats have to be advised to inform their citizens on the dressing and behavior when they come here. Faleiro was speaking at a conference on Goans in Europe and Europeans in Goa at a city hotel on Friday. [H]

Media obsessed with white skin: Churchill PWD Minister, Churchill Alemao yesterday took a pot-shot at the media saying it had an "obsession for white skin" and generally hyped reportage of negative happenings involving foreigners. In the context of the media's reportage of the alleged rape of a Russian by John Fernandes, who is his close supporter, Churchill demanded that several other rape cases in Goa were not getting the deserved coverage, simply because the media is "obsessed with white skin". [GT]

Govt plans to woo tourists from Scandinavain nations The tourism secretary, Dr. M Modassir has said the government has a proposal to promote the state aggressively in the Scandinavian countries beginning March, 2010 and a series of road-shows and other promotional activities have been planned to attract the tourists from there. In fact, the proposal has been supported by Mr. Ralph de Souza, the president of Travel and Tourism Association of Goa, who opined that the state authorities should aggressively promote the state in the rich Scandinavian and other European countries so as to make up for the loss of tourists from elsewhere. [NT]

Act before Goa gains notoriety as rape capital of India: Mickky Taking a dig at the Goa Police over the handling of cases involving foreigners and domestic tourists, Tourism Minister Mickky Pacheco has shot a letter to the Chief Minister Digamabr Kamat expressing fear that Goa could gain notoriety as rape capital of India."You are aware that over the past one year there have been several complaints by tourists in respect of assaults and rapes and such incidents have made headlines worldwide and have conveyed an impression that Goa is unsafe for tourists," Pacheco said in his letter. [H]

A pair of tigers is crowd-puller at Bondla zoo The state government's decision to modernize the Bondla wildlife sanctuary and adding a pair of tigers has paid rich dividends as the sanctuary has begun humming with activity once again, with around 20,000 people visiting it in the first three months (September to November) since the tigers were thrown open for public view on August 21, this year. The deputy conservator of forests, Mr. Debender Dalai informed The Navhind Times that the sanctuary used to attract around 50,000 visitors every year but the response of the people ever since the pair of tigers was added to it the response of the people has been tremendous and the total number of visitors is expected to cross 1 lakh, given the present trend with the tigers being the main attraction to the visitors. [NT]

Fake notes continue to flood banks There seems to be no stop to the circulation of counterfeit notes in the Commercial capital. Even as the South Goa sessions court sentenced a native of Malda, West Bengal for possessing Rs three lakh fake notes, counterfeit notes amounting to Rs 35,500 was detected by officials of a city-based private bank. Incidentally, the Margao police appear baffled as this the third time in recent times that the private bank has detected counterfeit notes in the bank. "It is surprising that fake notes are only found in large numbers in this particular bank. The bank staff should be extra cautious", remarked a senior police officer. [H]