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International Cuisine Conference on Traditional Asian Diet Panaji, Goa, September 2-5, 2007 - http://www.indologygoa.in Online Media Partner: http://www.goanet.org ------------------------------------------------------------------------ To get a more complete picture of the situation covered in this report, one can refer (as I did) to a few other articles both in OHeraldo and Navhind Times. SGF General Secretary Wilfred Misquita has a "slightly divergent view". He believes that Mopa will benefit the Maharashtrians (more than Goa) whose cause is being pushed by the NCP including the Civil Aviation Minsiter, Praful Patel. He (Wilfred) is credited with holding some "sarcastic" view about two airports in Goa which I found cryptic too. Meanwhile the UGDP "maintains that Dabolim has to be the only airport" of Goa. Elsewhere UGDP Secreteary General says "Present traffic at Dabolim neither warrants an airport or any other landing facility." But former CM Pratapsingh Rane claims that Mopa will benefit the people of "both North Goa and South Goa". Moreover, he considers that Mopa is a "necessity" for Goa's progress. Power Minister Alexeio Sequeira says he was "surprised" by Praful Patel's announcement. He is in favour of Dabolim. He adds, "I dont know what Mopa is about". On the other hand, former Union Mnister Ramakan Khalap says he was "not surprised" by the announcement saying, "This is nothing new. The decision was taken long time back". BJP MLA Laxmikant Parsekar welcomed the approval and hoped the state government would act fast after keeping the project in "cold storage" due to Churchill's earlier opposition. Finally, there is the editorial " Forward with Mopa: Possibilities galore". It is a long time proponent of the "two airport" formula for Goa. The editorial goes at some length into assuaging the chronic fears of an influx of migrants via the air route(s). It concludes by highlighting the "possibilities galore" for the state.