GOA
HELD HOSTAGE TO TAXI TERRORISM
MARGAO: Around 400 South Goa taxi operators today
stopped tourists and blocked tourism in a brute show
of force, that has sent terror signals to the tour
operators and others in the business of tourism in
Goa. Around taxi operators, operating from the starred
resorts, kept their taxis off the road. The taxis
were supported by the All Goa Tourist Taxi Operators
Association affiliated to the All India Trade Union
Congress. As a fallout boat trips, excursions, and
other activities in North Goa were severely affected
leading to cancellations, loss and anger. Now, North
Goa taxi operators, who were not allowed to take their
taxis to the south and tour operators who lost business,
are threatening to agitate near the Zuari bridge,
that divides North and South Goa and prevent South
Goa cabs from coming up North. The divide is clear.
South Goa operators want sons of the soil to get business
for themselves. (GT)
Foreigners
bear the brunt...
MARGAO, Nov 15: Caught in the cross-fire between the
taxi operators and the tour operators were foreign
tourists put up in starred hotels dotting Salcete's
coastline. Many of these tourists had to cancel their
planned sightseeing tours and instead spend the day
in the hotels as the bitter struggle between the taxi
and tour operators to control the share of the tourism
cake intensified today. (H)
|
Sinquerim-Candolim
beach goes while River Princess stays
BY ANDREW PEREIRA
SINQUERIM: The
reason why tourist flock to the
beautiful  Sinquerim-Candolim
stretch of the beach belt will soon be non-existent
if the Mother of all Eyesores - MV River Princess
- continues to squat in her unmarked grave that has
resulted in a disappearing shoreline at Sinquerim beach.
John Rodrigues, proprietor of the Dolphin-Inn shack
situated on the cusp of Sinquerim-Candolim, says that
if the tourists do not find space on a particular beach,
they move onto the next beach. "Even if the ship
is removed, we do not know the extent of the damage
it has caused and how many years
the beach will take to recover. The hollow portion left
by the ship will be a very dangerous area to swim,"
he said. On a lighter note, Rodrigues said that locals
and tourist were so used to seeing the River Princess
that they have forgotten how the beach looked like before
the ship grounded. (GT) |
 AICHEA
DISSAK CHINTOP
(Thought for the Day)
Tukach
khuxal korunk dusreank koronddai korinaka; tontto
korchea fuddem, tanche sonkestaiechem chint!
(Don’t trouble others to please yourself; think
of their difficulties before you even begin to trouble
them!)
"domnic
fernandes" <jyodom@hotmail.com> |
Transport
operators complain of government inaction
PANAJI, Nov
15: Goa is fast becoming a favoured tourist destination.
However, the prevailing conditions in the public
transport system may put a spoke in the wheel of
the tourism industry. As of now, with no uniformity
in the rates charged by tourist taxis, yellow cabs,
rickshaws or motorcycle pilots, everyone charges
as per his whims and fancies leaving visitors complaining.
The government is yet to formulate a fare policy
unlike in other states. (NT)
|
|
Church
gives filmi jhatka to shake AIDS campaign
BY PREETU NAIR
PANJIM: The Catholic Church (in Delhi) is all set
to take the AIDS epidemic head-on. And, for the first
time ever they will venture into the mainstream Bollywood
scene with a Hindi film - Aisa Jyon Hota Hai
- with AIDS at the heart of its story line. Come January
and the film will hit the marquee worldwide. Talking
exclusively to GT, Rev Dr Dominic Emmanuel, Executive
Producer, said, "Film is the most powerful and
popular medium in India. It is the only medium that
washes away all inequalities, because all kinds of
people watch movies. (GT)
Three
markets and a sickening mess
BY JOAQUIM
GRACIAS
VASCO: It would be a crying shame if the port town
ever attempts to boast of having three markets, considering
the nauseating mess they are in. Most residents blame
Vasco's past and present politicians for the sickening
scenario, as it all started way back in the '90s.
At the time, over political differences between heavyweight
John Manuel Vaz and Herculano Dourado, there was a
split among the fish vendors who had been occupying
the market municipal market. (GT) |
'Goa
as a safe destination in danger'
PANJIM: Travel and Tourism Association of Goa president
Charles Bonifacio alleged that law and order situation
had totally collapsed in South Goa's coastal areas
with the police failing to provide protection to
tour operators to carry on their legitimate business
and he feared that Goa's credibility as a safe destination
itself was in danger. (GT)
Water
sports body to create rescue system
BY JOAQUIM FERNANDES
MAPUSA, Nov 15: In a novel idea aimed at improving
beach safety, the Water Sports Association of Goa
has volunteered to create a quick response rescue
system that will ensure safety of swimmers and those
indulging in water sports along the Sinquerim-Calangute-Baga
coast. All that the association needs is an official
nod from the government. (NT)
Govt
to introduce English from Std II
PANJIM: The school advisory board yesterday decided
to introduce English as one of the subject from
Standard II in the schools and also increase the
working hours of the school from five to six hours.
The first meeting of the school advisory board was
held under the chairmanship of Education Minister
Luizinho Faleiro at the Goa Board Hall, Porvorim.
(GT)
|
Illegal
cattle slaughter raises alarm bells
QUEPEM, Nov 15: Quepem
Councillor Rahul Pereira has raised concern over the illegal
cattle slaughter at open places in Quepem and dumping of
cattle waste in the Kushawati River and Paroda Canal. In
a press note,
Pereira said the government has banned cattle slaughter
at the local market, as the slaughter is being carried out
at the Goa Meat Complex at Usgao. "But today, things
have changed. Cattle are being slaughtered in full swing
specially on Sundays at Tank-Ambaulim, Raobhat Sirvoi and
at Cusman in Quepem town," alleged Pereira. (H)
|
Calangute
villagers hold morcha, force PWD to release water
MAPUSA, Nov
15: The new tourism season has hardly begun but
the water shortage problem, simmering in Calangute
for some time, today erupted in public anger. More
than 100 angry villagers
from all wards of Calangute and led by the Calangute
sarpanch, Mr Joseph Sequeira, today took a morcha
to the office of the Asst Engineer, water supply,
Porvorim, and forced him to release water valve
in front of the Nagoa church that sent water gushing
into Calangute taps. (NT)
Lecturer
placed under suspension
PANJIM, Nov
15: The State government has placed a lecturer of
the Government Polytechnic, Mr A Hebbalikar, under
suspension after completing the inquiry into the
charges made in a complaint received from staff
members of the institute. The Secretary (vigilance)
Mr Ashvini Kumar, said the complainants have mentioned
three major allegations against the lecturer which
includes running of hardware shop in Panaji, using
filthy language and abstaining from duty. (NT)
Ivana
creates history
PANAJI: Ivana
Furtado created history, becoming the first Goan
to emerge a joint winner at a national chess tournament
(U-7) at Aurangabad, according to a Goa State Chess
Association press note. Ivana and her brother Keegan
Furtado will represent India at the Asian Championships
next month in New Delhi. (NT)
|
Airport
will snuff out springs in Mopa, fear residents
PERNEM: Mopa's
biggest treasure, the numerous natural springs, may
soon disappear as a result of the Mopa airport project.
This has upset the residents of this spring-blessed
village no end, and also those that live in the villages
clinging to the slopes that lead to the fodder-rich
Mopa plateau.(GT)
A
cultural threat
Earlier, the
village panchayat of Assagao despite strong protest
from the villagers
approved the proposal of shifting the Saturday Night
Bazaar to Assagao hill from Arpora and now the comunidade
of Assagao has refused to consider the request of the
promoters. A week back, when a number of residents of
Assagao came out to oppose the move of Comunidade and
the village panchayat, they were probably not aware
that their opposition was interpreted in certain quarters
as misuse of liberalisation; the residents perceived
in the project the dangers of cultural degeneration
and threat to peaceful living. In fact, the people's
protest has raised the question which has much bigger
dimension: what should be the nature of development?
Just when the promoter was planning to shift the bazaar,
the peoples' opposition to it underlined the need to
redefine the priorities: development versus the degeneration
of culture and environment. (Edit, NT)
|
Kala
Mogi's THE VERDICT beats a new path
 PANJIM,
Nov 15: An entirely refreshing experience enthralled
the large audience that gathered at the Kala Academy
yesterday evening. The Verdict, an English
adaptation of Tomazinho Cardozo's Konkani play Orth,
was staged by Kala Mogi, Candolim, today evening.
In The Verdict playwright-director Tomazinho
Cardozo brings alive the fact that quite often people
put up a hypocritical act and merely pretend to
be religious while abdicating their real duties
and often use religion for their their ulterior
purposes. (DGNC)
|
Histrionics
of the unknown
BY NEETA
SHENOY
Musicians from across the world travel to Goa to
perform in live shows. Artists of international
calibre showcase their paintings in various art
galleries. Konkani tiatr is the hearbeat of Goa
and its people. So why is it that English theatre
is marginalised?. Rudy Camara, a theatre lover and
director of Ideas Unlimited, said, "Unlike
Konkani tiatr, Goa has absolutely no prominent English
theatre artists." Theatre lovers,
actors and seasoned artists don't even venture into
English theatre. Camara has brought several English
plays to Goa. But all of them have been from Mumbai
or Bangalore, and have been established theatre
groups and big-wigs of the stage...It's time that
Konkani tiatr and English theatre join hands and
flourish together. (GT)
|
Nigerian
held for possessing drugs
The Anti-Narcotic Cell arrested one
Nigerian on charges of drug peddling and seized from his
possession drugs worth Rs.1.33 lakh during a raid at Fuldem
Vaddo, Nagoa. Acting on a tip off, police raided the rented
room and arrested Nigerian resident Felix Okoro. (GT)
Science
Fair at Miramar
PANJIM: State Institute of Education and Goa Science Centre
will organise a Goa State Level Science Fair for selecting
the team for participating in the Western India Science
Fair from November 16 to 18, at Goa Science Centre, Miramar.
Students will display their projects in individual and team
categories, based on Science and Technology and display
new ideas and innovativeness of the young students. (H)
|
Sports
tourism must be encouraged
BY SAVIO MESSIAS
Goa, thanks to an earlier Sports minister, Francisco
Monte Cruz was blessed with the PNJ Stadium in Fatorda,
a venue specifically built for football. And Goa,
perhaps due to the erstwhile influence of the Portuguese
developed over the years a unique soccer culture...The
government spends huge sums of money on promotion
of Goa as a tourist destination, but has it ever given
a thought to football tourism? When Japan played India
in Kolkatta for the World Cup qualifiers, over 1,000
high spending Japanese fans visited the city of joy.
(GT)
|
Goa
makes sorpotel of Assam
BY ARMSTRONG VAZ
KOCHI: Striker Anthony Pereira unleashed a four-goal
blitz at FACT ground, Kaloor, to give Goa yet another
resounding 6-0 win over Assam in the air India Express
Trophy National Football Championship here. It was
one-way traffic for Goa all the way. Assam entered
the Goa penalty area only four times in the match
giving an indication of the hold that Goa had over
the proceedings. (GT)
|
Feast
at Divar on Nov 20
OLD GOA, Nov 15: The annual feast of
Our Lord Redeemer will be celebrated with traditional fervour
in Lord redeemer's Chapel, Piedade, Divar, on November 20.
In the evening, Roseferns tiatr Dhoni will be staged at 7
pm at the Asilo grounds. (H)
|
15 Nov: Chinchinim-Secramvaddo:
MEENA DE MELO: Wife of Anthony Philip, sister of
late Savio/late Luizinho, late Arlinda, late Alba/Levin,
late Filomen
15 Nov: Gogol: VENANCIA FILOMENA SALDANHA:
Wife of John, mother of Aldina/Savio, Alfonso.
15 Nov: Pomburpa: FERMINA ZEFERINA FERNANDES
E PINTO: Wife of late Caridade, sister of Romana, Inacina
D'Souza, John/Thereza Fernandes (Canada)
|
Weather: Bright and refreshing weather
in Goa this morning.
Max. temp: 30.3
DegC; Min. temp: 25.0 DegC (Yesterday);
Humidity: 60%.
|
|
|
COURTESY:
WE=Weekender;
GT=Gomantak Times;
H=Herald; NT=The Navhind Times |
|
16
NOV 2005