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*Mining Malaise -2* September 2-8, 2013 Pushpa Iyengar Mining leverage On Thursday, the mother of all rallies was held in the capital where politicians, trade unions and workers came together to get “legal mining” in Goa started soon. Panaji’s Azad Maidan reverberated with “start mining, save Goa” by a huge rally attended by truck owners, barge owners, machinery operators and a slew of others indirectly employed in the mining industry which has been suspended since last September after the M B Shah Commission’s report that mining had bled and plundered Goa to the tune of Rs 35,000 crore (1 crore = 1,00,00,000). But as environmental activist Ramesh Gauns remarked, “Why is it that nobody spoke against the miners and even those who committed illegalities, even without naming them? Is it the environmentalists who are the culprits? It is those who committed the illegalities who have got them into this mess.” Read Full Story: http://www.goanspirit.com/index.php/lead/366-mining-malaise-2 Pushpa Iyengar *Just desserts * Her warmth and word of mouth have been Melissa’s two secret weapons that have helped her evolve from baking cakes at home 20 years ago to cooking up a storm (five snacks and 12 main courses) when St Teresa School in Vasco celebrated its golden jubilee in 2008 and 1,000 students, former students, teachers and former teachers descended to help celebrate the milestone. “There was a time some years ago I fulfilled a 2,000 cupcake order and it covered virtually every inch of the house, it was unmanageable,” she laughs explaining why she opened her workshop in 2000 on the ground floor of the block of flats she lives in Vasco. Read Full Story: http://www.goanspirit.com/index.php/travel/371-just-desserts *Mali on their mind* Gita Krishnan When your kid flies the coop, you are entitled to dream big dreams. Perhaps she will make a path-breaking discovery, or find a cure for cancer or build striking architectural marvels. Becoming First Lady of a country rarely, if ever, makes it to that list. Post elections in the West African country of Mali, the Goa-born, Bahrain-bred Marissa Coutinho Samake is no longer a contender to the title – at least not for now. But a few weeks ago it was a very real possibility and it could well turn into a reality in the future of the land-locked sub-Saharan country. Read Full Story: http://www.goanspirit.com/index.php/writer-s-flow/368-mali-on-their-mind Team GS *Going, Going, Gone* Last week, Goa’s dream of getting Special Status became a blur on the horizon. One input came from Delhi when the Rajya Sabha was unmoved by MP Shantaram Naik’s argument on August 30 that Goa deserves Special Status to restrain migrants from buying land and other properties in Goa and to stop the indiscriminate influx of migrants. Finally, Naik withdrew his private member’s bill, when he got no support from BJP MPs although the BJP government here had unanimously passed a resolution in June demanding Special Status. Talk of politics! Read Full Story: http://www.goanspirit.com/index.php/contact-us/letters/111-the-week-that-was/372-going-going-gone Team GS *The fading halo* Successive governments have spent millions on junkets for their tourism ministers and tourism department officials on this fanatical mission to sell Goa abroad. The craziest we can think of was Francisco Sardinha’s (he was chief minister then as I recollect) holidaying in Australia a decade or so ago when he shot of this “we need rich tourists to come to Goa” and Victoria Ferenandes’ trip to Nepal some years ago to sell Goa to international tourists. And yes we did say Nepal, it is a country on our northern border which supplies us an endless number of dance girls and so-called Chinese cuisine cooks. But several decades of frenetic travelling by our ministers (one minister even took is his live-in partner) and officials documented in *Lion Roars* Goa (see the archived section) has gone down the drain as they say. Read Full Story: http://www.goanspirit.com/index.php/bits-bytes/369-not-in-my-backyard-you-won-t *Lion Roars – 21* September 2-8, 2013 *Is the MPT chairman also Goa’s shadow tourism minister?* Has the Mormugao Port Trust (MPT) chairman P Mara Pandiyan totally exceeded his brief as well as his authority because when I last checked Goa had a tourism minister and also a Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC) headed by a chairman, but somehow Pandiyan who incidentally has never complained in the past about his job description, appears to have taken over the jobs of both the tourism minister and GTDC chairman. And no one seems to be complaining. Read Full Story: http://www.goanspirit.com/index.php/lion-roars/lion-roars-2013/367-lion-roars-21 -- Lionel Messias Editor, *Goan Spirit*, *Goa's Spirited Online Weekly Magazine.* ** Website:www.goanspirit.com Worked for the best: Goa Today, Gomantak Times, Herald, Mid-Day, The Pioneer, Indian Express (Bangalore), Economic Times (Chennai, Hyderabad), Newstime (Hyderabad), Gulf News (Hyderabad) 125-E, Bellem, Velsao, P.O. Cansaulim, Goa 403712 Tel: 0832-2884484 Mob:9822152164