After my pointing out (pls refer *IGO funding* - 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5 on Goanet on Oct 8) to the patently false and absurd declarations by Rajan Narayan that his proposed Independent Goan Observer (IGO) would be:
1. *wholly owned* by the readers; 2. supervised by a Board of Trustees; and by 3. men of impeachable honour; and 4. structured as a Public Limited Company. www.rajannarayan.com has now quietly changed the tune (see *Stray Thoughts* and other writings of Oct. 12) - without a word by way of acknowledgement or appreciation credited to me: not that I expected, because, having known the man, I know he is capable of virtually stealing thoughts and ideas from others, without an admission of bare courtesy - as he did, if I err not, with the *Bolshoi the dog* (an original creation of the late Behram Contractor, a.k.a. Busybee, the famous Times of India/ Evening News of India humourist and later owner/editor of Mumbai's Afternoon Despatch and Courier.), to launch his now powerful *Stray Thoughts* in the early days of the Herald, Yes, the tune has now changed and the IGO now shall instead be: 1. Publicly owned, not *wholly owned* by readers ; 2. supervised by not *Trustees* but a Board of Directors; and by 3. men not of *impeachable* but impeccable character; and 4. structured not as a Public but a PRIVATE Limited company. Taking cue from my *IGO funding -4*, where I had suggested that it may be wiser to open a Land Conversion/Real Estate agency (to peddle influence in *property* matters) and open a liquor distillery (instead of Tourist and Foodie guides), Rajan also explains in today's Stray Thoughts that... *A multimedia organization because in the era of convergence, it is absurd to have only a print publication.* (Maybe, just maybe, that he hasn't yet given up on the liquor distillery/real estate agency ideas!) But he has, apparently, taken my idea for passing the hat round (a comment that my friend, Ben Antao, a former working journalist and now a financial consultant in Canada, dubbed *a silly knee-jerk reaction unworthy of a Valmiki*.) Rajan has started appealing (to Goan *Cristaos* and NRIs obviously) to *send your contributions in multiples of Rs.1,000 to Goan Observer Pvt.Ltd.* Note that minimum limit has been stipulated, not a maximum. No prizes for guessing what he is after - poor Indian Rupees, or Dirhams, Dinars, Pounds & $! However, he persists in misleading gullible people that contributions will give them *ownership* rights of the company, when he further writes, *If you want to see the print version of Independent Goa Observer soon, you reach out for your checkbooks and send us your contributions towards the setting up and functioning of your company, which will be owned by you, professionally managed and supervised by a board of directors committed to secularism.* All I can say is, Ben and all well-intentioned Goans, esp. those worldwide, beware! The wily man knows that gullible Goans will bite his bait of *secularism.* ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################
