Did someone say that the rains this year could be rivalled only by the downpour ninety years ago? So, ninety years ago, Goa was a natural paradise and not the totally disorganised place it has been converted into today. Over the years it has progressed from an erstwhile Portuguese colony to a Union Territory to a separate State. Goa has achieved tremendous progress over the last ninety years...the government has been advertising it from the Secretariat rooftops...(and will soon shift to a higher altitude at the Penha-de-France hill). But can the State withstand or absorb even a 24-hour downpour without getting flooded?

All that Goa, safe under divine providence, had never experienced any time in the past the type of problems--natural and man-made--happens now. The State thirsts for water in summer and suffers floods (also thirst) in the monsoons now.

Anyway, we now have a new government led by Luizinho Faleiro, a dynamic Chief Miniter. In this issue we reproduce an interview given by the new Chief Minister to senior journalist Devika Sequeira. With fingers crossed, Goans hope for better governance under his leadership.

We regret the delay in this issue, which suffered some technical hiccups. Anyway, it appears to be quite good from our point of view. What about yours?