[GOANET] NEWS: Identity crisis -- passport racket is a new ticket to Europe
Ongoing: Exhibition of paintings, Art Chamber, Calangute www.goa-art.com Dec 13: Dance workshop, with Jaap Van Maanen. Tel 2275733 BB Cafe Dec 14 onwards: Shireen Mody's Goa 2002 exhibition, Arpora. Tel 2276759 Dec 14: Customer Relationship Mgt Seminar, Xaviers, Mapusa Tel 2262356 Dec 17, 18, 20: Lectures on Indo-Port. furniture, Fundacao Oriente Ph 2230728 Jan 18-19: Int't kite carnival at Morgim beach, Pernem I d e n t i t yc r i s i s --- A lucrative racket enables bogus applicants to assume identities of deceased Goans to apply for Portuguese citizenship, writes Devika Sequeira from Panaji --- Five centuries ago, Vasco Da Gama opened up the sea route to India with historic repercussions in the colonisation of Goa, Daman and Diu. Five hundred and four years on, a Portuguese citizenship facility available to Goans has given unscrupulous agents and touts a lucrative means to establish an illegal migration route to Portugal, and the economic opportunities of the European Union. A huge international racket in granting Portuguese nationality under a clause meant only for persons from Goa, Daman and Diu (which were former Portuguese colonies) has edged out genuine applicants from Goa, and is being grossly misused even by extremists, says former union minister for external affairs and Congress MP Eduardo Faleiro. Terrorist Masood Azad (who had been released by the Government of India during the Kandahar hijacking) and Abu Salem were both found with Portuguese passports. This in itself revealed the extent to which the system in Lisbon's Conservatorio dos Registos Centrais (the Central Registrar's office), responsible for processing applications, had been compromised, the MP points out. Most genuine applications made through the Portuguese Consulate General in Panjim have been mired in Lisbon's bureaucratic red-tape for years (one applicant said she has been waiting nine years). But a payment of $5,000 can fetch one a Portuguese passport (under the Goa clause) within three months in Lisbon, Mr Faleiro's investigations have established. The sub-system operates through agents and touts working in collusion with the registrar's office. What the Rajya Sabha MP finds particularly galling, is that the consulate in Goa, established during his tenure as external affairs minister to facilitate procedures for the people of Goa, Daman and Diu has been rendered totally ineffectual and has shut down the channel for new applicants here. Sources in the consulate confirmed that the decision was taken by the new Consul-General Miguel Calheiros Velozo. "He was so shocked by the extent of the racket, that he asked us to discontinue accepting applications," they said. 'Documentation agents' (those who can facilitate the recovery of crucial birth and residency documents from a Kafkaesque registrar's office here, and have them attested), once identified only by word of mouth, are openly advertising their services here today. Consular staff say though they know many applicants are fake, they have to just turn a blind eye to the racket. "We have seen Punjabis and even Bangladeshis and Pakistanis applying under assumed Goan identities, but can do nothing about it because we are no more than a sorting office to reroute applications to Lisbon." The consulate has handled 3,000 applications from the time it was established here in 1994. Yet 15,000 applications (received directly in Lisbon) are believed to be pending with the state's home department for the attestation of documents. Less than half of these would be genuine, sources say. Some agents are said to have resurrected the identities of dead Goans, recovered their birth certificates from the archives, and falsified records. "The entire process is based on Indian documentation that is easily falsified, making it all the easier for unscrupulous people to manipulate the system," consulate sources say. Since no co-operation agreement exists between India and Portugal in the matter, bringing the culprits to book becomes all the more difficult. When authorities in Diu wanted to book agents involved in falsifying documents there, the Portuguese authorities refused to part with the documents in their possession, sources said. Under Portugal's nationality law of 1975, those born in Goa, Daman and Diu before 1961 (when Goa was liberated) and their descendants upto a third generation are still entitled to Portuguese citizenship. A similar -- but time-bound -- option had been offered to former Portuguese colonies of Mozambique and Angola. Said to be under pressure from the European Union to wind up the option for Goa, Daman and Diu after the tide of traffic from here to Europe in recent tim
[GOANET] Suspended Goa police officer politically victimised
Goa's phone numbers change from Nov 10, 2002. Prefix old number with a 2. New numbers will be seven-digit 2XX (where XX is the old number). Suspended Goa police officer politically victimised From Devika Sequeira DH News Service PANAJI, Nov 19 A senior police official, who has been suspended by the Goa government on charges of misconduct, appears to have become the scapegoat in a cover-up to shield a politically connected businessman here. Deputy superintendent of police, Shirish Thorat, was on Monday suspended after a state home department inquiry concluded that he had slapped a hotel owner in the course of an investigation. Intriguingly, no complaint has been registered with the police against the DySP for his alleged 'misconduct'. The inquiry against Mr Thorat has been conducted purely on a verbal complaint made to Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar. The complainant, according to the inquiry report, is Mr Gaurish Lawande. Mr Lawande, who runs Hotel La Capitol, located in the heart of Panjim, is related to the wife of State Power Minister, Digamber Kamat (BJP). According to police sources, Mr Thorat is being grossly victimised by the BJP-RSS political lobby in Goa for attempting to register a case against Mr Lawande for illegally confining a 17-year-old from Calcutta to a room in his hotel for over a month. Mr Thorat chanced upon the girl while conducting a search for a murder accused suspected to have been hiding in the hotel with a dance girl. The deputy superintendent told the hearing that after the hotel owner was brought to the police headquarters, he received a phone call from the Power Minister warning him against registering a case against Mr Lawande. Police sources say pressure was also brought upon Mr Thorat by higher-ups in the police department to lay off the case because of its political implications. A frustrated Mr Thorat is believed to have given Mr Lawande a dressing down. So while Mr Thorat becomes possibly the first DySP in this country to be suspended for slapping someone, justice has eluded the 17-year-old, whose complaint the government has conveniently trashed. -- What's On In Goa (WOIG): Nov 06 Children's book exhibn opens, Walkabout, Anjuna... (all weekdays) Nov 06 ArtHouse, Calangute: Chaitali's acrylics on canvas till 19.11 Nov 07 Revision of electoral rolls (till Nov 30) See schedule. Dec 01 Two day conference, Goa Agenda. IT For Society. (Ends 2.12) Every Sunday: Music therapy sessions at Moira, 5 pm. 278, N.Portugal --
[Goanet] Parrikar vows to stop Malaprabha project
DECCAN HERALD * Saturday, July 13, 2002 =20 - Parrikar vows to stop Malaprabha project >From Devika Sequeira DH News Service PANAJI, July 12 Sandwiched between two Congress-ruled states, Goa BJP Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar appears set for a confrontation with both his neighbours, Karnataka and Maharashtra, on the contentious issue of the sharing of inter-state waters. Mr Parrikar who is to lead an all-party delegation to Union Water Resources Minister Arjun Sethi on July 26, to protest the Mahadayi diversion, made it plain that he would go all out to stop Karnataka from going ahead with the Malaprabha project because it lacked an environmental clearance. "I will use all the mechanisms at my disposal, including appealing to the Supreme Court and agitational methods to stop the project, which will cause irreversible damage to Goa's wildlife and its environment," he said. An ingress of saline waters would have a severe impact on Goa's forests, agriculture and fishing. The Goa chief minister argues that Karnataka's assessment of the Malaprabha project is based on "incorrect and outdated data", and accuses his neighbour of propagating an "artifical water scarcity" in the Hubli-Dharwad region, to force the Central government's hand on the issue. In April, Mr B N Nawalawa, secretary in the Ministry of Water Resources, granted Karnataka "in principle clearance" to divert 7.56 tmc of water from Kalsa/Haltar Nalla project and the the Bhandur Nalla project to the Malaprabha river.=20 Mr Parrikar has termed the decision "mischievous" and has sought the secretary's suspension for his "exceeding his authority". Goa has asked the Central ministry to withhold the in principle clearance till it presents its case to the Central Water Commission. The Goa government is also set to review the Tillari irrgation project it shares with Maharashtra. Goa which has so far spent Rs 280 crore on the project has not seen a drop of water flow into the canals. The project is shared on a 23:77 per cent basis between the states, with Goa having the larger share. The Goa government which was criticised by Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh for failing to pay up its share, would have to cough up another Rs 370 crore to see the project through. An annoyed Mr Parrikar said he had "no trust" in the Maharashtra government on the project's financial aspect.=20 "I have no way of knowing if our funds are being properly utilised." The project's parametres had also changed since its inception in 1991. -- =A9 Copyright, 1999 The Printers (Mysore)Ltd.=20 [E-mail to Editor] [Main Page..Text Version] [Main Page..Graphic Version] -- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-W-E-B---S-I-T-E-=-=-= To Subscribe/Unsubscribe from GoaNet | http://www.goacom.com/goanet === For (un)subscribing or for help, Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dont want so many e=mails? Join GoaNet-Digest instead ! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Help support non-commercial projects in Goa by advertizing!! * * * * Your ad here !!
[Goanet] Court directive to Goa on spending in public offices
DECCAN HERALD * Tuesday, July 9, 2002 =20 ---= - HC directive to Goa on spending in public offices DH News Service PANAJI, July 8 The Panjim bench of the Bombay High Court has hauled up the administration for the high spending of persons in key public positions in Goa, and has asked the State government to introduce guidelines to "arrest the misuse of public funds". The court's directive follows a writ petition filed by the Goa Tourism Development Corporation (GTDC) Employees Union against the excessive spending of its former chairman, Mr Viswajeet Rane.=20 Mr Rane who is the son of Congress leader of Opposition and former chief minister Pratapsingh Rane, was divested of his post by the Parrikar government before the May 30 election. The court noted that "the growing tendency to spend public funds without any accountability and transparency by persons holding public posts, or public offices due to political patronage has become the order of the day".=20 "The time has come to look into this aspect, as it involves public money," the division bench with Mr Justice V C Daga and Mr Justice P V Hardas remarked. They asked the State government to file an affidavit detailing the steps it will take to provide guidelines for expenses by persons in high public offices here.=20 According to the list of expenses provide to the court, Mr Rane is alleged to have spent Rs 32.48 lakh from 1999 to 2001 on travel, entertainment, telephone, fuel, a new Ford Ikon, a PA and a liaison officer among others. In Goa's unstable political climate, state-owned corporations and institutions have been completely misused by successive governments here to milk them either financially or politically. Mr Viswajeet Rane's is one such case. Appointed to head the GTDC after the collapse of the Congress government in 1999, the young Rane was pampered by the BJP government, given his father's crucial position as Speaker of the Goa House at the time.=20 But he soon found himself out of favour with the saffron lobby after his father spurned the BJP offer to switch over from the Congress before the election. --- =A9 Copyright, 1999 The Printers (Mysore)Ltd.=20 [E-mail to Editor] [Main Page..Text Version] [Main Page..Graphic Version] --- =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-W-E-B---S-I-T-E-=-=-= To Subscribe/Unsubscribe from GoaNet | http://www.goacom.com/goanet === For (un)subscribing or for help, Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dont want so many e=mails? Join GoaNet-Digest instead ! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Help support non-commercial projects in Goa by advertizing!! * * * * Your ad here !!
