FOUR FEARED DROWNED OFF CALANGUTE BEACH
PANJIM: In one of the worst incidents of beach drowning in Goa, six persons were feared drowned while two were rescued from among members of three different groups, who had gone for a swim at the Calangute beach yesterday evening. Two bodies identified as Manish Trivedi, 23 of Lucknow, and Gurav Gulati, 23 of Delhi, have been recovered by the police so far while Vijay Dixit, 23 of Lucknow, and Anubhav Mishra, 23 of Hyderabad, have been admitted to the GMC, where their condition was stated to be critical. Amit Kumar Verma, Sushil Singh of Banaras, Sudip Jos and Vinod Srikumar, both from Kerala, are reported as missing. (GT)

Preparations in full swing to celebrate I-Day
PANJIM: The hectic preparations are on at Old Secretariat, panjim, to celebrate state-level Independence Day celebrations on August 15 at 9.15 am. CM Pratapsing Rane will hoist the national flag and address the gathering. Later, the CM will attend the function at Martyr Memorial at Patradevi at 11.30 am. (GT)

Chikungunya scare in Goulliwada
MARGAO, Aug 13: The Chikungunya scare has hit the Goulliwada area of Fatorda since August 10, but health officials maintained that people suffering from mild fever showed no symptoms of the disease. However, as a matter of abundant precaution, the Health Department will take blood samples of the 10-15 inhabitants of the locality and send the same to the Goa Medical College Hospital, Bambolim. (H)

GOA TOON by ALEXYZ

AICHEA DISAK CHINTOP

Zorui tum chintai apunn sogllem zanam, tuvem ras xikchem asa. (If you think you know everything, you have a lot to learn.) DOMNIC FERNANDES <jyodom@hotmail.com>

Konkani Ekvott to hold village-wise meetings
PANJIM: Strongly opposing any move to amend the Official Language Act, 1987, the Konkani Ekvott yesterday resolved to hold village-wise meetings to create awareness of Konkani movement in the state and to submit a memorandum to all MLAs urging them not to alter the act. Konkani Ekvott convenor Serafin Cota, KBM president Purnanand Chari, Sunaparant editor Sandesh Prabhudessai, Fr Jaime Cota, N Shivdas, Dr Oscar Rebello, Hema Naik, tiatrist Joaquim D'Costa, Shridhar Kamat, Nutan Sakhardande, Abhijit Gaonkar, Unnati Mandrekar, Chetan Borkar, Nilesh Panchwadkar, Ramesh Komarpant, Prashant Naik, Pradip Kakodkar and others spoke. (GT)

Vision India (Goa) launched
PANJIM, Aug 13: A new organisation – Vision India (Goa chapter) – was launched at a function held here on August 12 with the objective to promote national integration, brotherhood and fight corruption. Promising to make Goa a ‘role model’ State in the country and the world, national convenor Dr Sushrut Martins vowed to wage a relentless fight against corruption and to promote amity among communities. (H)

CEE ranking eludes Goans
PANJIM, Aug 13: In what may be seen as another classic example of Goan students lagging behind in the educational field nationally, not a single Goan has secured a place on the national level Combined Entrance Examination (CEE) in the last 15 years. The Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi conducts the CEE. Nearly 21,000 students from India appear for the CEE each year. (H)

Prison Ministry Day today
PANJIM, Aug 12: The Prison Ministry (Goa Unit) will celebrate the Prison Ministry Day on August 13 at the Holy Family Parish, Porvorim at 8 am. The main celebrant for the day will be Archbishop-Patriarch Filipe Neri Ferrao along with Fr Valeriano Vaz, Director of Caritas, Fr Maverick Fernandes, executive secretary of Council for Social Justice and Peace and Fr Anand Paes, parish priest of Holy Family Church, Porvorim. (H)

Man held for raping girl
VASCO, Aug 13: The Verna police arrested one Noel Carvalho (26), a resident of Cuelim, Cansaulim, on charges of raping an 18-year-old girl, who is said to be his neighbour. The police disclosed that the alleged accused went to the house of the victim at around 8 a.m. on August 3 as the victim was alone in the house and raped her. (NT)

Port town residents irked over discharge of sewage
VASCO, Aug 13: The residents of port town are irked over the discharge of sewage at various low-lying areas and have requested the Public Works Department Minister to take immediate steps to stop the same. It is learnt that the sewage treatment plant (STP) at Vasco is non-functional, resulting into discharge of raw sewage at various low-lying areas such as Mangor-Hill, Mestawada, Vaddem, Bhutembhat, besides other places. (NT)

Setting up of new architecture college opposed
PANJIM: The setting up of a new architecture college (in Benaulim) has been opposed by a section of the architects on the ground that there is no need for another institution at the cost of the 25-year-old Goa Architecture College amidst claims of a decline in demand for this discipline during the last five years. The Goa Architecture College had 22 seats at the outset and the intake capacity was later increased to 40, but was brought down to 30 in view of the dwindling admissions during the past few years, according to sources. (GT)

K’taka-Goa water war intensifies
BANGALORE: The Centre’s delay in taking a final decision on the Kalasa-Banduri Nala water project has forced Karnataka to go ahead with it, with or without Central nod. The state will start work on the project on October 2. However, political observers feel the Centre should immediately intervene in the matter to avoid unnecessary tension in the Karnataka-Goa border region. Karnataka had designed the project in 2000 to divert 7.56 tmc of water from Kalasa and Banduri tributaries of Mahadayi river to Malaprabha reservoir to meet drinking water needs in northern Karnataka. The river originates in Karnataka and passes through Maharasthra and Goa and finally flows into the Arabian Sea. Meanwhile, Goa has requested the Prime Minister to restrain Karnataka from proceeding. If Karnataka is not restrained, Goa may approach the apex court seeking directions for staying the project and the setting up of a tribunal. (Jaishankar Jayramiah, The Financial Express)

Ugly scenes at gram sabha
BICHOLIM, Aug 13: Forget about beneficiaries of the Below Poverty Line (BPL) Scheme, even the issue of BPL forms was enough to raise a storm at the recent Mulgao gram sabha. Angry scenes were triggered when one Ramesh Gad suggested that BPL forms be distributed in the gram sabha. Deputy sarpanch Vidhya Parab, however, complained that she was never given the forms and added that her ward was neglected. (H)

RIBANDAR TO FELICITATE ANTHONY BOTELHO
RIBANDAR, Aug 13: As part of the Independence day celebrations Ribandar will witness the finals of the 4th Annual All Goa Five a Side Football Tournament being organised by the Strikers Boys of Ribandar near the Ribandar Church at 15th August at 5.30 p.m. Director of Sports and Youth Affairs, V.M. Prabhudessai, will be the Chief Guest while Adv. Aires Rodrigues will preside. Former International football players Brahmanand Shankawalkar and Bruno Coutinho will be the guests of honour. On the occasion Ribandar will honour and felicitate its son Anthony Botelho for his outstanding and dedicated contribution to football in Goa. (GoaNewsClips)

E V E N T S

Broadway Books to release Tony Martin's Book
PANAJI: Broadway Book Centre will launch Tony Martin's new book "Life is Beautiful" and "Time Pass" at the hands of lecturer and theatre person Isabel Santa Rita Vaz on August 19 at 4 pm at Broadway Book Centre, Panjim. Fr J Loiola Pereira, Director of Diocesan Centre for Social Communications Media, will speak on 'Life is Beautiful'. Willy Goes, Goa Art College Lecturer, will speak on 'Time Pass'. Fr Loiola Pereira in his foreword to 'Life is Beautiful' says, "Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take but by the moments that take our breath away. I can assure the reader that each of the stories in this book will provide such a precious moment." (GT)

Anthonions to hold elocution competition
MAPUSA: The Anthonian's Past Pupils Association, ex-students of st Anthony's High School, Duler, mapusa, will organise its annual all Goa inter-school elocution competition in memory of former headmaster, late Dickson Pereira, on August 24, from 9.30 am to 1 pm, at the schools premises. The topics for the competition are "Terrorism: Is Goa Safe?" and "Garbage management is every citizen's responsibility". (GT)

Feast at Raj Bhavan chapel
PANJIM: The feast Mass at the Raj Bhavan chapel will be held on August 15 at 10 am states a press note issued by the Department of Information and Publicity. Devotees will be allowed to enter the Raj Bhavan gate from 8 am onwards and are requested to leave the premises by 1 pm.

Readers' Club opened
VASCO: The Readers' Club was inaugurated for the year 2006-07 at a solemn function in MES, College, Zuarinagar, by chief guest Rabindranath Pinto, vice principal of Dhempe College, Miramar, recently. Prof Pinto emphasised the triple-value of reading: reading for intellectual growth, mental stimulation and for a broader outlook of life. (GT)

B U S I N E S S

Godrej bets big on Jatropha
MUMBAI: Taking cue from the rising crude oil prices and great potential of bio fuels, Godrej Agrovet Ltd plans to bring one lakh hectares of land under Jatropha plantation over the next 5-10 years and is mulling over the idea to enter into bio-diesel production. Even if the prices of crude oil fall below US$50 per barrel, there is still a great potential for Jatropha to be used as a substitute, said Company Managing Director CK Vaidya. They will invest Rs.10 crore in next one and a half years to set up a Jatropha oil mill addressing its current cultivation targets of 6000-10,000 hectares. (GT)

Hutch to expand product range
PANAJI, Aug 13: Hutch, in its endeavour to become the number 1 cellular phone service provider in Goa has finished revamping of its equipments. According to the chief executive officer, Hutch for the Maharashtra and Goa circle, Mr Rajiv Kohli the company’s phone network is now comparable to the best in the world. Mr Kohli explained that Hutch would be putting up 15 to 20 new cell sites in the state within the next few months. The Hutch CEO expressed happiness with the response that he has received from Goa. Hutch currently has a presence in 16 circles. Quoting COAI figures for July-end, the CEO said that total connections stood at 18.4 million. Hutch would shortly launch a gallop of products in the near future. “These would mainly be GPRS-based,” Mr Kohli said. (NT)

Service with a smile
In Vasco, among the oldest electronic shops, Preeti Electronics has completed almost 25 years of existence. It was in 1982 that the Asian Games were being held in New Delhi. The business-minded husband wife duo - Simon and Felicity D'Souza - could not have started the business at a more lucrative period. Television was making its presence felt, the Asiad was being held in India, and people made a beeline to buy television sets... Simon D'Souza is an ex-MLA and ex-deputy speaker of the Goa assembly. He is also an active social worker. Felicity too does her part in social work and she has also been the ex-councillor of Mormugao Municipal Council. Simon has now added a spiritual angle to his activities by helping people travel for a retreat to Potta in Kerala. (Adelmo Fernandes, GT)

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