DR WILLY OPPOSES: Dr Wilfred D'Souza is opposed to the proposed construction of a modern market complex at the site of the old GMC hospital in Panjim. Dr Wily told presspersons on February 1 that the old GM hospital, built in 1700, is of heritage value. In 1840, it was the first Medical Surgical School in India. Chief Minister Parrikar subsequently denied that the government intends to demolish the old Goa Medical College complex in Panjim to set up a market complex. Parrikar said that the 300-year-old building will be kept as it is a monument for certain people's memories.

DOCUMENTING STATE'S BIO-DIVERSITY: Goa Foundation's Director Claude Alvares said at a press briefing on February 1 that the government of India has realised the need to document the bio-diversity of Goa in a scientific manner, which in turn would help the government to formulate policies to protect the same.

ABOUT "RIVER PRINCESS": The two criminal revision petitions filed by M/s Salgaocar Mining Industries Ltd, challenging the proceedings against them in connection with their ship MV RIVER PRINCESS which ran aground at Candolim-Sinquerim on June 6, 2000, were dismissed by the Additional District and Sessions Court on February 2. The company has, however, filed an application praying for the continuance of the interim relief granted for staying the proceedings initiated by the District Magistrate.

A 388-DAY ORDEAL: A tiny white coffin was buried at the St Inez cemetery in Panjim on February 3, helped by trade union leader Christopher Fonseca and watched by a few, sad citizens. The coffin contained the body of 8-month-old infant Swizel, abandoned in Vasco by someone who claimed to be her mother when the infant died of ant-bite at the government home for homeless kids, Bal Bhavan, in Panjim. The unwanted infant's body remained at the GMC mcomue for 388 days, until the Goa High Court Bench, following AITUC's application, ordered that Swizel be laid to rest.

STATE TREASURY ON RECOVERY PATH: Since taking over as the Chief Minister of Goa on October 24, 2000, Manohar Parrikar, claims to have steered the State's treasury out of the finance crunch, and today it stands at around Rs.32 crore plus. Parrikar acknowledges that the "infrastructure bonds", launched by the Sardinha government, brought in nearly Rs.50 crore, out of which the treasury got Rs.32 crore after clearing the EDC debts and statutory payment to the agency which raised the funds. He also said that there was a perceptible improvement in the functioning of the government machinery.

LETTER-WRITING: Dr Leo Rebello, a Mumbai-based Goan, believes that the letters column is the 'soul' of any newspaper. In his 328-book on active letter-writers, Rebello has included Goans: Melson F M Louis from Velim ( who has written 330 letters), California based surrealist painter cum poet Dom Martin from Socorro, Ayres Sequeira from Salvador do Mundo, John Eric Gomes from Porvorim, M K Jos from Panjim and the late Dr Sharad Vaidya.

THE CHORAO QUIZ: The Goa government has identified five sites for the proposed bridge connecting Chorao to Bardez: Chorao to Pomburpa (near ferry point), Chorao Belbhat Church to Ekoshi Bhatel, Choral Madel Church to Salvador do Mundo Church, Chorao Church to Char Manas, and Chorao ferry point to Penha de Franca. But all the Chorao islanders don't seem to agree on one particular site and the Chondan Nagrik Samiti demands a bridge, on the Mapusa river, from Chorao Church to Salvador do Mundo church.

PENDING PILE: A total of 14,907 civil and criminal cases are pending in various courts of South Goa, 11,204 of which are of civil nature and 3,703 criminal ones.

ARPORA'S SALT PANS: Local youth prefer to take up other professions by turning their backs on traditional occupations. At Arpora in Bardez, the people have given up the traditional and lucrative occupation of salt-extraction, in favour of tourism, leading to the collapse of the entire salt-extraction industry in the village.

CHOPDEM-SIOLIM BRIDGE BY END MAY: Chief Minister Parrikar told a gathering at Mandrem on February 4 that the long pending Chopdem-Siolim bridge will be completed by May-end 2001.

'RAVE' RULES: Ms Nirmala Sawant, president of the Goa Pradesh Congress Committee has alleged that the "rave" parties are being held in the Anjuna-Caisua coastal belt since December 20 with the blessings of the local supporters of the BJP party. Along with a delegation of the Mahila Mandal, Ms Sawant called on the Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar and submitted a memorandum demanding an immediate ban on the rave parties, which continue from 10.00 pm till the early morning, disturbing the village with music amplified to 10,000-watt.

BANK LOAN DEFAULTERS: The statistics reveal that in South Goa nearly 1,122 recovery proceedings against loan defaulters have been initiated in the District Recovery Officer's court to recover a whopping amount of Rs.4.51 crore due to the banks, EDC and KVIC.

FALEIRO'S OFFER: Rajya Sabha MP Eduardo Faleiro has said that he would institute a scholarship and sponsor one candidate every year, making available reference material and coaching facilities to appear for the All India Civil Service Examination of the Union Public Service Commission.

REVENUE FROM FINES: The Enforcement Cells of the Directorate of Transport in Panjim and Margao have booked in all 656 cases and recovered Rs.4,24,250 by way of fines and Rs.25,260 by way of overdue taxes in January 2001.

SKY BUS METRO: Governor Mohammad Fazal told the press on February 12 that the preliminary report and estimates for the sky bus metro in Goa has been prepared by the Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd. An amount of Rs.480 crore would be spent on the completion of its first phase from Panjim to Mopa (30 kms). The second phase will extend it to Margao and Cavelossim.

RISING DRUG ARRESTS: Nearly 65 persons were arrested in Goa on the charge of possessing illicit drugs from January 1999 to January 2001. Out of the 65 arrested 48 were Indians, 4 Nepalis and rest Westerners. A Nigerian national, Charles, was hospitalised after he swallowed a plastic capsule, possible stuffed with cocaine, in a desperate bid to avoid arrest at Arpora on February 9.

AVERTING FISH FAMINE: At the ongoing six-day national workshop on Fisheries Monitoring, Control and Surveillance at the Goa International Centre, Dona Paula, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said on February 12 that there are 1,400 mechanised boats for Goa's small coastline. Since these could damage the aquatic life, there is a need to preserve the depleting marine resources and avert a potential fish famine, the Chief Minister added.

HOLIDAY AT WHOSE COST? The 'State guests' visiting Goa seem to prefer the luxury beachside resorts to the Circuit House and government-run hotels. During the nine months last year, 142 such 'guests' visited Goa and they cost the taxpayer at least half-a-million rupees towards their 'Boarding", and that too with quite a few bills yet to be submitted. One of the Judges, who came with the family, left behind a bill of Rs.28,488 after spending four days at a luxury hotel at Miramar.

STATE BACKS OUT FROM CARNIVAL, SHIGMO: The BJP-led government decided at a Cabinet meeting on February 13 not to participate in the Carnival and Shigmo celebrations beginning on February 24 and March 7 respectively, and to donate the funds thus saved to the Gujarat Relief Fund. Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, however, said that the government has no objections if citizens go ahead and comanise the float parades on their own.

APEX CO-OPERATIVE BANK: At its Cabinet meeting on February 13, the government has withdrawn two notifications dated Jan 3, 2001 , and Feb 8, 2001, vide which the Apex Co-operative Bank for Urban Bank of Maharashtra and Goa Limited, Mumbai, as declared as the apex bank for co-operative societies in Goa. The two notifications had also raised a storm since they neutralised the role of the Goa state Co-operative Bank.

GROUND WATER BILL OPPOSED: S V Balaram, the president of the Travel and Tourism Association of Goa told presspersons in Panjim, on February 14, that the government should hold back the Goa Ground Water Regulation Bill, 2001, which seeks to control and regulate the use of water in Goa's coastal belt, until the government is able ensure a regular water supply to the hotel industry. Balaram said that most of the hotels are concentrated in the coastal belt and the Calangute-Candolim area itself has 6,000 rooms in residential hotels, with each room requiring 500 litres a day. He felt that the bill would spell a doom of the hospitality industry.

SOUZA & PAUL IS 117: Panjim's premier photo lab, studio and store--"Souza & Paul"--celebrated its 117th anniversary recently. A virtual landmark of the city centre, catering to every need of photography in Goa, the establishment has progressed briskly over the years. Their timely collaboration with Kodak provides superior and quick photo processing at the computerised lab at the M G Road, near Azad Maidan. They will soon launch digital processing to beef up the range of their reliable goods and services, which have retained the trust of the photographer community for more than a century. More details at website http://www.goacom.com/business/souzapaul

SALGAOCAR COLLEGE SHINES: V M Salgaocar College of Law bagged the Adv K B Kayastha moot court competition at the Latthe Education Society's N S Law College in Sangli, on February 10. The triumphant team comprised of Garish Agni, Ninad Laud, Christabel Afonso, Amit Dhume and Yogesh Naik. The team also lifted the "best written memorial" award and Gaurish Agni was adjudged the "best advocate" of the competition.

MASSIVE ENCROACHMENT: The South Goa Administration of Comunidades has come across the statistics which indicate that nearly 68 lakh sq meters of Comunidade land has been encroached upon in the southern talukas of Canacona, Sanguem, Mormugao, Quepem and Salcete. The Revenue Minister, Jose Philip D'Souza, however, appears to be eager to legalise encroachments on comunidade land.

PERNEM SEEKS REVERSION: The Legal Aid Cell, Pernem, has submitted a memorandum to the Urban Development Minister, Digambar Kamat, demanding the reversion of the Pernem Municipal Council to a village panchayat. The cell claims that the Council had a population of merely 5,000 and there was neither any industry nor a petrol pump in the area.

RIVER PARK AT PATTO: If all goes well, and a proposal for a river park fructifies, Panjim residents, tourists and others will access to an angling area overlooking the Mandovi river, a marine museum, public park, a boat club with two jetties and a ramp, public toilets, a garden restaurant and self-service cafetaria.

DE-LINK: Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar says that the Centre should de-link small states like Goa from the Central planning process in the forthcoming Union budged because centralised planning had failed to take care of the specific needs of smaller states, often neglecting their genuine demands in order to cater to the larger states.

E-GOVERNANCE ECHOES: The Goa government has identified 10 educational institutions in the State to train the first batch of 300 government employees, to undergo a 5-day training in the use of computers, as part of its information technology policy and e-governance, during the summer vacation. The target is to train 3,600 employees by June 2001.

AID FOR ARTISTS: "Goenchim Fultim Fulam" has been set up by businessman and promoter Erlick Ferreira, to revive the traditional Konkani tiatr by sponsoring or finding sponsors for performances, shows, instituting awards for talented artistes and by other means.

DIMINISHING FISH CATCH: The fish cash has fallen from 1,03,975 tonnes in 1993 to 68,000 tonnes in 2000 despite the increase in fishing vessels. The decline has put the traditional fishermen into a predicament since they cannot repay the bank loan availed for purchasing trawlers

DELIMITATION PETITION ADMITTED: The Panjim Bench of the Bombay High Court admitted a petition filed by Ramesh Silimkhan, the chairman of the Panjim Municipal Council (PMC). It will come up for hearing within six months. However, the court did not stay the government's order of the delimitation of the wards of the PMC from 16 to 18, which will go to the polls on March 25.

RS.30-CRORE M O U: EGCL, a government of Goa undertaking, Cincom Ltd , US, and Shyam Telecom Ltd, Delhi, have entered into a memorandum of understanding, on February 21, to set up a call centre and information technology enabled services joint venture project.

GERMAN HELP FOR SIOLIM SCHOOL: Altes Gymnasium, a school from Oldenberg in Germany, collected donations to the tune of Rs.40,000, to give better facilities to the students of Siolim's Keerti Vidyalaya, through the good offices of German national Rudolph Swchwartz., who is the founder of the Indian Students Educational Aid Foundation, Siolim.

INFOTECH SUPPORT: The government of Goa has set up an I T department, and though much still needs to be done, the State's five-point programme needs the support of infotech professionals, to make Goa an "intelligent State", said Information Ramakant Khalap at the launch of a two-day conference of the Computer Society of India in Panjim on February 22.

DRUGS HAUL: The Customs and Central Excise arrested Bimal Singh of Bihar and Satyawan Pagri from Palolem and seized 8.5 kg of hashish, worth around Rs.20 lakh. The duo, who were fleeing on a motorcycle, were chased and caught near the Kadamba bus stand in Margao around 6.30 pm on February 23.

DISASTER MANAGEMENT LEGISLATION: Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar said that there is a need to enact effective legislation to handle disasters, particularly the man-made ones which increase the magnitude and intensity of natural calamities as in the case of the earthquake in Gujarat. The Chief Minister was speaking at the inauguration of the two-day national seminar-cum-exhibition on disaster management in industries and management of aviation fire safety and emergency, in Panjim, on February 23.

BIO-TECH PARK: The government proposes to set up a biotechnological park and a research and development part (particularly in the pharmaceutical sector) in Goa, to promote industry and attract investments in the industrial sector, according to Industries minister Shaikh Hassan. The minister said that a high powered co-ordination committee has cleared seven industrial projects with a total investment of Rs.183 crore, and expected to provide employment for 573 people.

SCIENCE SHY: The five-day international meet on science, technology and maths education for human development, which concluded on February 23, came to a conclusion that Indian students are shying away from the sciences and teaching needs to be more interesting if educators are to capture the imagination of young minds.

DIFFERENT STROKES: Crescendos, the cultural troupe promoted by the Pilar Music Academy, presented "Different Strokes:, a wonderful programme of vintage music, dance and song, at the Hanuman Theatre in Mapusa on February 21. The first session was dominated by the orchestra whereas the choir took over after the intermission, both being conducted by maestro Fr Peter Cardoso.

NOT THE RIGHT CODE? A book claiming to be a translation of the original 17th century Code of Comunidades is being clandestinely sold to the public at Rs.300 per copy. The components of Comunidades, who swear by the original code, are agitated by the clandestine sale.

BATTERY-OPERATED BUS: A battery-operated 16-seater vehicle, manufactured by Bharat Heavy Electronics in Bhopal and called the Electro Van, is the first of its kind in Goa and is scheduled to roll on Goan roads, specifically to tourist destinations (Panjim-Old Goa, Panjim-Miramar or Margao-Colva). Ten such non-polluting buses are plying in the Taj Mahal vicinity in Agra.

JAPANESE MISSION: Nippon Steel Corporation, the biggest steel mill in the world which imports 21 per cent of Goa's total export of 8.5 million tonnes to Japan, has sent a Technical Mission to Goa under the leadership of Kenichi Nagano. Goa exports 16 million tonnes of iron ore annually, with 41 per cent being shipped to Japan.

CHILDREN EXPLOITED: The law making education compulsory for children upto 14 years of age is not implemented property in Goa, and despite laws child labour continues unabated besides children being exploited for immoral activities, said Speaker Pratapsing Rane while inaugurating a 3-day workshop on Child Labour at the Caritas Complex in Panjim on February 25. The workshop has been comanised jointly by the International Labour comanisation and the Child Rights' Cell of the All India Trade Union Congress.

OPPOSITION TO ECONOMIC ZONE: At its 11th meeting, the South Goa Zilla Parishad passed a resolution on February 26 demanding the immediate withdrawal of the government's decision approving the creation of a separate economic zone at the Mormugao taluka and the land acquisition proceedings for the coast guard at Chicolna in Chicalim.

GOA, A STATE OF EXCELLENCE: The focus in the tenth Five Year Plan will be on achieving very high standards of development, high quality and efficiency in the delivery systems, state of the art infrastructure facilities and excellence in human development sectors. This approach was discussed at the first meeting of the reconstituted planning Board of Goa, on February 27.

GOA'S "GANVTTI VOKOT": A section of the forthcoming report on "The State of Goa's Health", by the Sangath Society of Porvorim, emphasis the fact that "Ganvtti vokot" (herbal medicine) provides major health remedies in Goa's rural areas. The report is likely to be published shortly by the Voluntary Health Association of India, New Delhi.

ROMA IS STILL MISSING: On February 25, 2000, Ms Baby Mahato from Vasco had reported to the police that her daughter Roma Mahato, a 16-year-old student of St Andrew's Higher Secondary School, was missing because she did not return home. Six months later Roma's father received a telephone call demanding Rs.1 lakh to know the whereabouts of his daughter. Vasco police then arrested nearly five persons in this connection, only to come to the conclusion that the arrested persons knew nothing of Roma but were only out to extort money. Roma is still missing and the police haven't helped much to make any attempt to solve the mystery.

COPS GO KHAKI AGAIN: Unable to impress the public in their blue and white uniform which they had begun wearing from August 15, 1997, the Goa cops will don good old khaki clothes with effect from March 1, 2001. This will help them maintain their well established identity of police personnel as in the rest of the country.

MAN BITES MAN: One Ravi Naik, who was drinking with another person at a bar in Curchorem, got incensed when he was told to leave because it was time to down shutters, allegedly bit Ganesh Pundalik Adpaikar, the bar owner's son.

PRIVATISATION FAILS IN MARGAO: The failure of the Komex garbage treatment plant at Sonsodo, the beautification of the municipal garden, the multi-crore pay parking project, the SGPDA's market complex, are examples indicating that privatisation has not served the desired result in the bustling city of Margao.

RAVE FOR LIVELIHOOD: When the Chief Minister was asked by presspersons on February 28 regarding the proliferation of rave parties in some coastal villages, he said that the government was planning to evolve a scheme for those involved in them, since many people were depending on the rave parties for livelihood in the villages.