[Goanet] CONGRESS PARTY NEEDS TO CONSOLIDATE
With Sonia Gandhi's foreign origin no longer an issue it is time the various off-shoots of the Congress party return home to strengthen the secular forces. With the world trying to wage a war against terrorism and Goa raging with garbage, India as a country has to make sure that the communal forces are never allowed to taste power again. The National Congress Party (NCP) should seriously consider winding up shop and come back to the Congress fold. They have a common ideology so there is no point to exist separately and split the secular voice and vote. It is time to think beyond Maharastra and Goa and barricade India from the communal, fascist and divisive forces. In Goa we saw it in the last elections. Had the NCP not played spoiler in the 3 constituencies the BJP would never have been able to usurp power and damage the secular fabric of our state by their evil malaise of saffronisation. On a national basis the NCP has a base in only some states and will reach a dead end sans Sharad Pawar. In Goa also they would face the same dilemma. After Willy what?. The party may have some good and experienced leaders but that would not suffice for the show to go on. It would also be nice to see Mamta Banerjee minus her tantrums back and PA Sangma too. The recently formed latest off shoot of the Congress party by the ageing and ailing Kerala veteran Karunakaran has been a non-starter and will die a natural death. The war against the communal forces has to be decisive. The stand of the left parties is not helping. They neither emit a green signal nor flag the red card. One cannot exercise authority without being ready to share power and take responsibility which comes with it. And this is exactly what the left parties are up to. This just gives the communal forces moments of joy and is not in our country's interests. Aires Rodrigues ___ To help you stay safe and secure online, we've developed the all new Yahoo! Security Centre. http://uk.security.yahoo.com
[Goanet] Re: India hung up on Flawed Education!
Cornel, I am not an educationist or any sort of authority on these matters. What I reproduced is the opinion and concern of top industry and educationists in India; as reported in the Australian press. 'The Age' in Melbourne is a leading newspaper as is Times of India to Bombay. I agree with you that there are many excellent 'products' as you call them; but they are few and far between; and they are mainly the effect of their own intelligence and background; and not the cause and effect of a viable educational system. I can only venture to suggest that the report is true in content and meaning; as there are ample examples of non accomplished and do-nothing 'civil sevants', 'civil engineers' and 'electrical engineers' etc. who are the cause of many a failures in Government and local Govt. endeavours. Nasci Caldeira
Re: [Goanet] Re: Monorail vs Skybus
--- Gabriel de Figueiredo <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > --- karmarkar d <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > > I think the posts by Averthan D'souza are really > > unfortunate. > > > Karmarkar and co do not know the meaning of third world situation. On the other hand Goans are brain washed with lofty projects. B. Colaço ___ How much free photo storage do you get? Store your holiday snaps for FREE with Yahoo! Photos http://uk.photos.yahoo.com
[Goanet] Agnelo Gomes, Good Buddy !!
I admit to not meeting one more genial than him, and generous to the core, besides. I am baffled by the other side he choses to display, but have decided that he entitled to his eccentricity. I chose to offer a friends counsel, i hope he accets it. India chose a direct solution to the political murders in the Punjab: some of the Canada based "patriots" have been missing for two decades now. Those who were extradited were treated to one meal and two daily whippings in a Bihar hell- hole. I continue to believe that there is more that binds us than cleaves, and feni has worked as an edible glue for Agnelo and me in the past. We have one more thing in common: both of us lost Clair !eric. __ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
Re: [Goanet] India hung up on Flawed Education!
<< I hope authorities ... take remedial action; instead of burdening srudents and the general population with multiple languages, bogus learning and ancient non useful culture. >> Nasci C **"bogus learning and ancient non useful culture"** Do you mean the *Bible*, Nasci? Lawrence -- PS: If you wish to have a *Gmail* e-mail address, do write to me. Will send you an invitation to open a *Gmail* e-mail account. :-)
Re: [Goanet] Re: Monorail vs Skybus
Gabriel, Know not what filters you use to read Averthan D'Souza's posts. I too, believe, the tone and content, are, to put it very mildly, * really unfortunate*. Yes, Averthan may be entitled to his opinion. But, should members of Goanet be subjected to having to read the rantings of those who seem allergic to anyone whose name is not of Portuguese origin? Lawrence -- PS: If you wish to have a *Gmail* e-mail address, do write to me. Will send you an invitation to open a *Gmail* e-mail account. :-)
[Goanet] A CALL FOR A CRUSADE
We Goans are aware that Goa has become a heaven for conmen. The reason being that Goans are not only sucegad by nature, they have come paranoid about making a fast buck, for they see everyone is on the take and rolling in money. Therefore it is but natural that conmen have found Goa a very lucrative destination. In the bargain, have Goans lost their life savings? You can say that again. More than paranoia, Goans by nature are trusting and therefore thus goes this live story that happened today.I happened to be visiting my colleague (in the Party), Mr. Mathias Vaz, more better known as 'Maureen Printers', Panjim. He took me aside saying that he had something confidential to discuss with me. So we sat in my car and he got talking. He told me that his son wanted to expand the business and wanted to purchase a new digital printing machine costing about 25 lacs. That he found this ad on the newspapers offering loans at 4% p.a. On his own the younster called up the company and was visited by the company's representative, Mr. Rocky Fernandes (not a Goan) from Mumbai. The financing plan was that the client shells out Rs. 2000/- up front as processing fees. Once the application is verified and accepted by the company (with xerox of financial details of the borrower), the financing company either sanctions the loan or does not. In that case, the client forfeits Rs. 2000/- if the loan is sanctioned (being processing fees) or gets back only Rs. 1500/- if the loan application is rejected. So far so good. But then there was, as is to be understood, a hidden cost to this transaction. The client pays 7% as brokerage fees to the representative on the loan amount sanctioned. Therefore the brokerage on Rs. 25 lacs is Rs 1.75 lacs. But this brokerage was to be paid upfront before the loan was sanctioned. By this time the father of the younster was involved and he told the company representative that the very fact that loan was sought was because there was no money. He told the rep he could go fly a kite. But the rep was very moved with the story of there being no money and reduced the 7% to 2% saying that he understood a genuine case when he saw one. The figure came down to Rs. 50,000/- from 1.75 lacs. Still my colleage cribbed that 50 grands was too much for him to get his hands on. The rep was moved further and reduced the amount to 1%, the figure now coming to Rs. 25 grands. Here, my colleague told me that he hasstalled the rep saying that he will need time to collect the 25 grands and has asked him to come by today at 11 a.m., just the time of the day as we were talking.Mathias, I said. This is a conman. He will fly when you give him the 25 grands. Lets go, I said. He asked me where to. To Bosco George, I said, the Superintendent of Police , the ACB (Anti-Corruption-Bureau). So we headed for Altinho. Bosco George contacted SP Bosuet D'Silva (Crime Branch) at the Dona Paula PS and requested him to take up the matter. We went there, had a brief interaction with him, fixed an encounter for the rep aka Rocky Fernandes at Mathias's shop at 4 p.m.The stage was set up. The rep walked in at 4 p.m. The cops were waiting outside. The leader cop in civies was introduced to the rep as a friend by Mathias, who also needed a loan on his flat. The rep readily agreed. He was nabbed and searched there and then. The Cop found many a rubber stamps of various denominations such as Director, Manager, General Manager in his bag which he could not explain. This guy was all in one with different names on different visiting cards. He was also found with about 12 or so other applications where he has transacted business already. In short this conman would have flown in a day's time after collecting on all his transactions. At the moment the rep is cooling his heels at the cop station with all the other gullible loan seekers being systematically contacted (Panjim, Mapusa, Margao etc). According to them the rep was supposed to see most of them during the course of the day to collect the money which was waiting for him. He will be produced in the court for remand tomorrow.Voila! This is the first of its kind, " THE GOASURAJ PARTY'S STING OPERATION". Public is hereby warned to be more alert. Goa has become a free for all for these conmen. Maybe these charlies are paying hafta to the politicians who count. Otherwise, the politicians would have cautioned the police a long time ago. And those politicians who are out of power now cannot be excused either.If it was Goa Su-Raj in the driving seat, each and every newspaper would be scanned for these hoax advertisements. The police party would be the first incognito client to approach the conmen. That would be the 'FINITO DE LA MUSICA" for the con game in Goa and Goans would be saved from the trauma of losing their life's savings.goasuraj ACTION ACTION ACTION The Goa Su-Raj Party has decided to embark
[Goanet] Top 10 colleges in India-- 2003 and 2004 surveys
http://indiaeducation.info/usefullinks/master-topcolleges.asp Top 10 colleges in India --- 2004 Survey Arts Top ten colleges in India 1- Loyola College, Chennai 2- St Xavier's College, Collates 3- St Xavier's College, Mumbai 4- St Stephen's College, Delhi 5- Presidency College, Kolkata 6- Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi 7- Presidency College, Chennai 8- Hindu College, Delhi 9- Miranda House, Delhi 10 - Madras Christian College, Chennai Delhi Commerce Top ten colleges in India 1 -Shri Ram College of Commerce, Delhi 2 -Presidency College, Chennai 3 -St Xavier's College, Kolkata 4 -Loyola College, Chennai 5 -St Xavier's College, Mumbai 6 -Lady Shri Ram College, Delhi 7 -Hindu College, Delhi 8 -Dept of Commerce, Osmania Univ, Hyderabad 9 -K.J. Somaiya College, Mumbai 10 -Madras Christian College, Chennai Science Top ten colleges in India 1- Presidency College, Chennai 2- St Xavier's College, Kolkata 3- Loyola College, Chennai 4- Hindu College, Delhi 5- St Stephen's College, Delhi 6- St Xavier's College, Mumbai 7- Presidency College, Kolkata 8- Madras Christian College,Chennai 9- Mount Carmel College, Bangalore 10 - Hans Raj College, Delhi Engineering Top 10 colleges in India 1- Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur 2- Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi 3- Indian Institute of Technology, Mumbai 4- Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai 5- Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati 6- Indian Institute of Technology, Guwahati 7- Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur 8- BITS, Pilani 9- Anna University, Chennai 10 - Delhi College of Engineering, Delhi Medical Tope 10 colleges in India 1- All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Delhi 2- Bangalore Medical College, Bangalore 3- Kasturba Medical College, Manipal 4- Madras Medical College, Chennai 5- Christian Medical College, Vellore 6- Armed Forces Medical College, Pune 7- St John's Medical College, Bangalore 8- Osmania Medical College, Hyderabad 9- JIPMER, Pondicherry 10 - Maulana Azad Medical College, Delhi - --- Top Ten colleges of India --- -Courtesy India Today, June, 2003 Top 10 Arts Colleges 1. Loyola College, Chennai 2. St. Xavier's College, Mumbai 3. Lady Shri Ram College for Women, Delhi 4. St.Stephen's College, Delhi 5. Presidency College, Kolkata 6. Madras Christian College, Chennai 7. Fergusson College, Pune 8. Presidency College ,Chennai 9. Miranda House, Delhi 10.St. Xavier's College, Kolkata TOP 10 Science colleges 1.Madras Christian College, Chennai 2.Presidency College, Kollata 3.Presidency College, Chennai 4.Loyola College, Chennai 5.St.Stephen's College, Delhi 6.St.Xaviers College, Mumbai 6.Fergusson College, Pune 8.Daulat Ram College for women, Delhi 9.Lucknow University, Lucknow 10.Hansraj College, Delhi Top 10 Commerce Colleges 1.Shri Ram College Of Commerce, Delhi 2.St.Xavier's College, Mumbai 3.St.Xavier's College, Kolkata 4.Loyola College, Chennai 5.Lady Shri Ram College for Women, Delhi 6.Pragathi Mahavidyalaya, Hyderabad 7.Presidency College, Chennai 8.Madras Christian College, Chennai 9.Christian College, Lucknow 10.Stella Maris College, Chennai Top 10 Law Colleges 1.National Law School of India University (NlSIU), Bangalore 2.Govt College of Law, University of Mumbai 3.Faculty of Law, BHU, Varanasi 4.University College of Law, Bangalore 5.Symbosis Society's Law College, Pune 6.Faculty of Law, AMU, Aligarh 7.Bangalore University for Legal Studies, Bangalore 8.Faculty of Law, University of Delhi, Delhi 9.Faculty of Law, Univ of Madras, Chennai 10.I L S Law College, Pune Top 10 Medical colleges 1.All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS),Delhi 2.Christian Medical College, Vellore 3.Armed Forces Medical College, Pune 4.JIPMER, Pondicherry 5.Maulana Azad Medical College, Delhi 6.Madras Medical College, Chennai 7.Kasturba Medical College, Mumbai 8.King Edward Medical College, Mumbai 8.Lady Edward Medical College, Delhi 10.Bangalore Medical Collge, Bangalore Top 10 Engineering Colleges 1. IIT, Kharagpur 2. IIT, Kanpur 3. IIT, Mumbai 4 .IIT, Chennai 5 Birla Institute of Technology & Science, Pilani 6 IIT, Delhi 7. IIT, Guwahati 8. Institute of Technology, BHU, Varanasi 8. REC, Tiruchirapally 10.Anna University, Chennai -- Regards, Carlos
[Goanet] U.S. Congress Highlights Human Rights Issues For Christian Dalits
Headline: U.S. Congress Highlights Human Rights Issues For Christian Dalits Source: The Christian Post. (San Francisco, CA). 13 Oct 2005 Court to Determine Granting of Equal Rights to Dalit Christians in India Dalit Christians will attend a court hearing next month to determine whether they will receive basic human rights that Dalits of other religions in the country now receive. Excerpts: A special conference held at the U.S. Congress last Thursday addressed the human rights issues surrounding India's caste system, expressing concern over the serious exploitation of some 200 million Dalits, particularly those following the Christian faith. The conference, titled "India's Unfinished Agenda: Equality and Justice for Victims of Caste System," was the first time Congress has held a hearing on the plight of the Dalits, Beneath India's four main castes is a fifth group, the Dalits, more widely known as the "untouchables." Dalits are discriminated against, denied access to land, and forced to work in degrading conditions ... The Indian government condones, ignores and in some instances, has even promoted massive catalogues of human rights violations ... Concerning religious freedom, India has been condemned by the United States for discriminating religious minorities such as Christians and Muslims ... Among the 25 million Christians in India, an estimated 18-20 million are Dalits. ... a pending case for extension of full civil rights to Christian Dalits has been brought before India's highest court ... the hearing originally scheduled on Aug. 25 was postponed after state Attorney-General asked for more time ... Christians presented a petition to the government, asking for "urgent insertion of a discussion about their situation." ... As of now, the Supreme Court of India is due to review the case on Oct. 18. The recent conference held by the U.S. Congress was held days prior to that important hearing. Full text, 879 words, at http://www.christianpost.com/article/missions/1809/14|24/us.congress.highlights.human.rights.issues.for.christian.dalits/2.htm
[Goanet] Goa Newspaper kiosks.
http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/life/2005/10/14/stories/2005101400080400.htm Newspaper kiosks set up by a former schoolteacher in rural Goa are grabbing headlines. They have not only triggered a reading habit, but are also slowly leading a literary movement. When Father Eusic wanted the youth in the villages of Assolna, Velim and Ambelim, about 45 km from Goa's capital Panaji, to read the Bible, he was in for a shock. He discovered that reading was not a habit with most and not many were literate in these villages — a fact that barely gels with Goa's image of an international tourist destination dominated by English-speaking tourists. Although Goa's literacy rate, according to the 2003 Economic Survey of India, is 82.3 per cent, children in the remote villages are still illiterate. A frustrated Father Eusic turned to Mumbai-born and bred Anthony D'Silva, a former schoolteacher, who had returned to his native village Assolna in 2002. In Mumbai, D'Silva taught mathematics at the Sacred Heart School and took tuitions at home for students of Class 8, 9 and 10. "You are so involved in education. Why don't you do something so our children can read," Father Eusic asked D'Silva. This was just the trigger D'Silva needed to initiate a mass knowledge movement in the villages through newspapers. Today, there are 14 newspaper kiosks across Assolna, Velim and Ambelim, at vantage points such as shops, bus stands, and even a chapel — places where people hang out. Says D'Silva, "The school dropout rate in this region is as high as 40 per cent and most of the youngsters (12-14 age group) end up in non-skilled or semi-skilled jobs when they grow up. I wanted to lure them back to knowledge. The newspaper seemed a good way to begin with." D'Silva spent Rs 25,000 from his personal savings to rig up his quaint stands, and initially he even provided the newspapers. His idea grabbed people's attention and he soon got a contribution of Rs 12,000 from the villagers. He used this money to pay for annual newspaper subscriptions. Some of the kiosks have a Konkani newspaper in addition to an English daily and in areas where Marathi is read there's a newspaper in Marathi. How did he hit upon the idea of using newspapers to spread literacy? "I noticed this concept was successful in the Shiv Sena shakhas (training groups) in Mumbai and I thought, why not give it a try in my own village," says D'Silva. He says just one kiosk serves about 700 readers every day! "I want to provide a kiosk for every kilometre in the three villages, which have a combined population of about 1.5 lakh." D'Silva also co-opted village elders such as Benjamin D'Silva, the local sarpanch, into his literacy `movement'. However, initially there was resistance to the idea. Many thought D'Silva was crazy, some even said so to his face. One old woman marched up to D'Silva and ordered him to pull down a kiosk. Today, her husband is among those who agreed to sponsor an annual subscription to keep it going. When D'Silva chose a chapel gate to place his kiosk, many looked at with disapproval. "Is this right," asked a devout churchgoer. But the teacher got the local priest to inaugurate the kiosk and the battle was won. In another instance, it turned out that the adults who hung around bars wanted to read a paper, but did not want to be seen at the kiosk. "Often I'd find the paper discarded in a bar. I would just go in and say — if you have finished it, I will take it back and return it to the kiosk," says D'Silva. The non-confrontationist approach worked. The newspapers are now rarely found in the bars. In fact, the residents of two waddos — small colonies of inhabitants — argued over where to place the kiosk, each side wanting to claim it as its own. Eventually, the dispute was settled and this particular kiosk is today in a very picturesque location overlooking the River Sal. The most enthusiastic about the project are the youth here. Eighteen-year-old Joena Pereira of Ambelim saunters by the kiosk after college at Cuncolim. "I grab a Coke and read the paper. Earlier, I used to check only the sports pages to read up on football; now I read the whole paper," he says. Branlio Romeo Pereira, an operator in a photo studio, is happy to go to the neighbouring shop to read the newspaper rather than the library further away. D'Silva hopes the kiosks will not only encourage the illiterate to start reading, but will also inculcate a regular reading habit among the literate. The youth can be more connected to the outside world through newspapers, he says, adding he will keep this project going for another year and hope that by then enough people will start buying their own newspapers. "I intend keeping a small cash box, wherein people can donate 50 paise for the facility," he says. "This way they will feel it belongs to them." Women's Feature Service -- Cheers, Gabe Menezes. London, England
[Goanet] Mr. Black Mr. White shooting in Goa.
http://www.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=56507 Arshad comes to the rescue damsel-in-distress IndiaFM News Bureau Posted online: Thursday, October 13, 2005 at 1439 hours IST Mumbai, October 13: Arshad Warsi recently played the role of a real-life hero and came to the rescue of damsel-in-distress, Rashmi Nigam. It so happened that Sunil Shetty, Arshad Warsi and Rashmi Nigam along with the other actors of Deepak Shivdasani's Mr. Black Mr. White were shooting for the film in Goa. The entire unit was having dinner, when a drunken man came and touched Rashmi. He was asked to leave the girl alone but he paid no heed. This infuriated Arshad and he punched the man in his stomach. And ultimately the hindrance was thrown out. It sure was a good lesson for the drunken man. We're sure he'll think twice before bothering any woman, again. IndiaFM -- Cheers, Gabe Menezes. London, England
[Goanet] Dussehra celebrated in Goa
http://www.navhindtimes.com/stories.php?part=news&Story_ID=101324 Dussehra celebrated in Goa NT Staff Reporter Panaji Oct 12: Religious ceremonies in temple towns, worshiping of vehicles, machines and farming tools, and launch of new establishments marked the Dussehra celebrations in Goa today. A colourful immersion processions of idols of the deities � Kalimata, Mahishasura Mardini, Mahalaxmi � were taken out in major towns amidst beating of traditional drums, thus ending the nine-day Navratra celebrations. Though there were rains in Panaji, the festive spirit of the devotees was not dampened as the immersion procession of goddess Kalimata went unhampered from the main streets of Panaji, accompanied with band. Many schools performed Saraswati pujan in their schools and other cultural institutions, where children presented colourful cultural programmes. PTI adds: Huge idols of goddess Durga were immersed in rivers and large effigies of demon kings Ravana, his son, and brother went up in flames marking the victory of good over evil as Dussehra, one of the most popular festivals, was celebrated all over the country. In eastern India, the day began with the dashami puja worship of Durga, with devotees offering flowers and smearing the idol with vermilion, before taking the goddess in a procession for immersion. The police in Kolkata had made elaborate arrangements for immersion of hundreds of idols as a sea of humanity converged on the banks of the Hoogly to bid farewell to Durga, marking the grand finale of the five-day Puja festival. Reports of immersion also came in from the capital and other cities with large Bengali population even as some people have decided to observe the festival tomorrow in view of difference in opinion over the last day of the Puja. In the north, a surcharged atmosphere of festivity pervaded all over as people attired in their best came out in large numbers to see the demon kings going up in flames to the chants of Jai Shree Ram at sunset. In southern India, where the day is celebrated as vidyarambham or initiation into the world of letters, thousands of children between three and five years of age were taken to temples and cultural centres where prominent people like former sprint queen, P T Usha led the ceremonies. After invoking the goddess of learning Saraswati, the kids were helped to write Hari... Sree... in rice-filled platters with the index finger. In some places in Kerala, churches also organised the vidyarambham ceremony as the ritual has over the years assumed a secular dimension. -- Cheers, Gabe Menezes. London, England
[Goanet] To be or not to be...Konkan Railway awaits verdict
See http://dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=5614 Shweta Karnik DNA [Daily News & Analysis] Friday, October 14, 2005 00:19 IST The future of the Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL) hangs in the balance. The KRCL, considered one of the best railway networks by the World Bank two years ago, is trying to figure out its very survival - whether it will continue as an autonomous entity or merge with the IR. Designed with the aim of connecting the four coastal states of Maharashtra, Goa, Karnataka and Kerala, making them a party to the agreement with the Indian Railways, the corporation now ceases to exist. The KRCL, founded in 1990, will be completing its intended tenure of 15 years this month. Now, the Railway Ministry will decide its fate. If the KRCL is merged with it, the the Indian Railways will have to not only take up the assets and intellectual properties owned by the corporation but also its accumulated losses - Rs 5,000 crore - and its debts with other liabilities. Sources in the KRCL told DNA: "The loss incurred due to the financing costs was made good by the ministry by extending non-interest bearing loans. But in 2003 the ministry started charging interest on these loans at seven per cent. If this is waived off, the corporation can reduce the extra costs." The ministry has instituted a review committee to study the aspects associated with the merger and also to design a revival package, which will be tabled before the Cabinet. Pending this, the KRCL has been granted one year's extension. National Railway Mazdoor Union assistant secretary Milind Tulaskar, who also is associated with the KRCL, said, "The KRCL has a low operating ratio in view of its low staff cost and multi-skilling practices. Therefore, it cannot generate enough surpluses to take care of the loan burden and build infrastructure in the future." At stake are the jobs of nearly 3,500 employees who are with KRCL since its inception. "The corporation has in its 15-year tenure developed and earned a lot for itself. Despite being criticised for the accidents, we have also been appreciated for the technologies invented and the international patents earned," said an official of the KRCL on condition of anonymity. So the big question is: will the merger of the KRCL with the Indian Railways affect its efficiency? Passengers who travel to their hometown by the Konkan Railway route think such a move would render it inefficient. -- PS: If you wish to have a *Gmail* e-mail address, do write to me. Will send you an invitation to open a *Gmail* e-mail account. :-)
[Goanet] Now that You Know Meat & Milk products are banned to import into UK (EU), what would you do?? (Ans)
Well, I will not give the answer this time. You please read this and find the answer yourself. Banning import of Meat products is not the new thing here infact, if you read my past mails/postings you will find that the ban was in place for about 10 years now. About 8 years ago, when i arrived at LGW, I was a victim too they confiscated about 2000 sausages and I was let of by giving few leaflets regarding ban on meat products imports. Since then I never carried sausages with me but see what happened during my this visit from Goa. Because I was never ever searched after that incidence, this time I got tempted to bring some sausages with me just about 300 only. I packed it in my handbag (used all pages of sunday navhind times + 3 separate plastic Tesco type bags packed tight to avoid any strong smell but can you really stop the smell? ) I boarded Virgin Atlantic Flight at Mumbai around 2.30pm and left the bag in my overhead locker. Few minutes later (airbone), there come a general annoucement both in English & Hindi saying meat or milk products are not permited to bring into UK if you do carry with you then please pass thru the RED CHANNEL and declare . They will simply take it away and destroy. No fines or penalties. And if you pass thru the GREEN channel and if meat products found then you will be fined or even sent to prison or both. On arrival, my heart was beating.. but I was lucky this time. I know they dont search all passengers but can we really afford to take the risk ? Read further.. If you do bring food items into the UK and are unsure whether they are allowed, go to the HM Customs and Excise Something to Declare or Red Channel exit for advice and to avoid any penalties. If you have items that are not allowed, they will be taken away and destroyed, and no further action will be taken. There are strict Customs controls in place. If you break the rules and Customs Officers find undeclared items you could face delays, be fined or even sent to prison. 2. What is an illegal import? The rules mean that if you travel to any country outside the European Union including USA, Australia New Zealand, it is illegal to bring meat and milk-based products for your personal use back into the UK. There are also limits on bringing back other food items, including fish, shellfish, honey, eggs and certain types of fruit and vegetables. It is illegal to bring back more than the permitted levels. 10. What are the penalties for personally importing plant or animal products? If you fail to declare at the Customs red point any personal meat, other animal products or plants and plant products, you may be liable to an unlimited fine and/or up to seven years imprisonment http://www.defra.gov.uk/animalh/illegali/allow/allowances_faq.htm == LetsGotoGoa] Now that You Know Meat & Milk products are banned to import into UK (EU), what would you do?? When we visit GOA, 90% of us bring back meat products like Goan sausages etc to UK and other countries. Now that you know meat & milk products are banned to import into UK, what would you do? A. Continue bringing sausages for us, friends and family as usual as this is allowed and not classified as 'Import'. B. Will only carry somebody else's sausages. If questioned, I wil say 'its not mine'. C. Will only carry some in my handbag or suitcase as i am sure this much quantity is permitted for 'personal consumption' only. D. I will bring no meat or milk products with me. Just answer A, B, C or D. for Goa & Goa Flights info.. http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/LetsGotoGoa GOAN NRI related.. http://in.groups.yahoo.com/group/GOAN-NRI/ ___ To help you stay safe and secure online, we've developed the all new Yahoo! Security Centre. http://uk.security.yahoo.com
[Goanet] *The CLEAN GOA Initiative*
Dear Cybergaonkars, This is the copy of Press Note announcing the programme for Monday, 17 October: PRESS RELEASE `` The Clean Goa Initiative—began with a petition written by two Goans seeking to draw attention at the Central Government level to the waste management crisis in Goa and requesting intervention, beginning with a rational and responsible waste management strategy for IFFI in Panjim this year. The initiative, which also calls for the State government to appoint an independent committee of qualified individuals to identify key problem areas and recommend cost-effective solutions for the State at large, has become a growing proactive people's movement, endorsed by numerous Goa-based NGOs and activists, hundreds of Goans and non-Goan residents of Goa, as well as by a number of film professionals and opinion makers from all over the country who consider Goa a national treasure and want to help. In culmination of the endorsement campaign, there will be a public demonstration of support for the Clean Goa Initiative in Panjim on October 17, 2005. The demonstration will begin with a solidarity march at 5:30 pm from the Panjim Church square to the Mermaid Garden. This campaign event is co-ordinated by Wendell Rodricks, Margaret Mascarenhas, and Ethel Da Costa, along with Goa-based activists and NGOs, in the public interest. It is managed by Think Geek Media and Productions. The theme is Goa Waste Management Issues and Solutions. Speakers at the Mermaid Garden will include Patricia Pinto, Sandesh Prabhudesai, Sanjit Rodrigues, Roland Martins, Wendell Rodricks, Sandeep Jarkis, and others. Chief Minister, Pratapsingh Rane, has been invited to address the public on the issue. A brief Q and A with the press will follow. Citizens and villagers from all over Goa who are concerned and want to be better informed about this issue are encouraged to participate. Those who attend are requested to bring their own food and beverages to the event and to take their garbage away when they leave. (ends) Please be there! M&M. -- PS: Kindly note our new e-ddress: Muriel & Mario <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> and make the change in your e-ddress book. - M&M. . there *is* anOTHERgoa - the garbage dump perched on a hill overlooking Saligao, for instance! ''' muriel & mario, 4/4 tabravaddo, opp. st. anne's chapel, saligao. bardez. goa. 403511. tel: 0832-2278276 / 240 <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> '''
Re: [Goanet] GOASURAJ STING OPERATION NO.1
<< If it was Goa Su-Raj in the driving seat, each and every newspapers would be scanned for these hoax advertisements. >> goasuraj Must caution you, here, that *reading newspapers while driving* is dangerous :-) But, tell me: Why do you have to be in the *driving seat* to scan newspapers for hoaxes and initiate action against scams? Lawrence -- PS: If you wish to have a *Gmail* e-mail address, do write to me. Will send you an invitation to open a *Gmail* e-mail account. :-)
[Goanet] The Right to Information Act, 2005 comes into force
- Documented by Goa Desc Resource Centre Ph:2252660 Website: www.goadesc.org Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Press Clippings on the web: http://www.goadesc.org/mem/ --- --- The Right to Information Act, 2005 comes into force from today BE INFORMED BE EMPOWERED RIGHT TO INFORMATION YOUR RIGHT, YOUR MIGHT Citizens now have the right to obtain any information (except those specifically exempted), from Public Authorities, which include Central/State Govts. Local Bodies & NGO's, substantially financed by the Government. Public Information Officers have been appointed in all Public Authorities to furnish the information requested within specified time limits. No fee payable by those Below Poverty Line. Only nominal fees for others. Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances & Pensions, Government of India For more information log on to www.persmin.nic.in Advert. in HERALD 12/10/05 page 9 === GOA DESC RESOURCE CENTRE Documentation + Education + Solidarity 11 Liberty Apts., Feira Alta, Mapusa, Goa 403 507 Tel: 2252660 mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] website: www.goadesc.org -- Working On Issues Of Development & Democracy === -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.344 / Virus Database: 267.11.14/131 - Release Date: 10/12/2005
[Goanet] 200-odd Languages Of Northeast India Find Beacon Of Hope For Survival
200-odd Languages Of Northeast India Find Beacon Of Hope For Survival By SAR NEWS GUWAHATI, Assam (SAR News) -- The more than 240 languages of Northeast India could get a new lease of life and fight the looming threat of extinction, if the communities join hands with three organisations that are striving to preserve and promote their endangered languages. The organisations are the Salesian-run Don Bosco Communications (DBC), Guwahati, a centre for promotion of communication, local languages and literature, the Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) International, a UN-affiliated NGO which works in about 40 countries, and the State Resource Centre (SRC), Assam, engaged in literacy and language promotion. Together with the participation of the communities, these organisations have launched a series of programmes in order to provide training, language promotion activities, gathering of data and setting up of local literature committees and financial assistance to support publications. DBC, SIL and SRC have sponsored four workshops during the last two years to promote mother tongue education, orthography and production of literature. These workshops were guided by literacy and language consultants from the SIL, with the assistance of the Department of Linguistics, Gauhati University, and other partners. Each of these workshops has enabled the participants to prepare primers, storybooks, spelling guides, number books, wordbooks and rhyme books in their respective languages. The books are illustrated by artists from the communities. The latest in the series of workshops was a two-week sessions for 29 participants from six languages of Northeast which concluded in Guwahati, October 8. Eunice Tan from Malaysia, the chief consultant at the workshop, said each language group had made three or four books in their respective languages, and they would take back copies to their communities for testing before they are approved for printing. The workshop, she said, was able to achieve much since the participants were highly motivated, creative and hard working. SIL’s team of resource persons included Nori Mastsura from Japan, Virginia Phillips, David Phillips, Karl and Sharon Koapish from the USA and Liza Guts from Russia. They were assisted by Salesian Father George Plathottam, DBC, Zeenath Tabassum from Gauhati University, Hyacinth Minj, Deepanjali Das, an artist, and Wilie Mathew, a printing and publishing expert. “Languages are people’s powerful property,” Father Plathottam, founder-director of Don Bosco Communications. “Language death,” he said, “is a serious threat as it leads to loss of culture and ethnic identity. Without our mother tongue we cannot sing our songs or tell our stories effectively. When languages die, our culture, too, will face extinction,” he added. Don Bosco Communications has organised several workshops and programmes for promoting indigenous languages, and published books in these languages. The centre is currently collaborating with the Bible Society for the publication of an ecumenical edition of the Assamese Bible. SIL representative for Northeast India, Dr. Erik Andvik, said the aim of the workshops were identifying and training writers and overseeing the development of appropriate norms and guidelines for writing hitherto unwritten languages. “We aim at meeting the needs and aspirations of the communities, and help the community in the process of bringing the manuscripts to a publishable form.” Dr. Borkatoky, director of SRC, said that the workshops had been able to deepen the knowledge and skills for promoting education in mother tongue and promoting literacy. The skills and attitudes of the writers, artists and the members of these communities have been enhanced through these workshops and fifteen language groups have participated in them. These include Aka, But Monpa, Thangsa, Galo, Nockte from Arunachal Pradesh, Lamkang, Thangkul, Maram from Manipur, Rabha, Hajong from Meghalaya, Deuri, Sadri, Tiwa, Karbi, Amri Karbi from Assam. More language groups are showing keen interest in joining hands with the three organisations in order to promote their languages. Northeast India has an estimated 240 languages and dialects spread across the seven states of the region. Most of these languages are spoken only by a few thousand speakers, and have no written form. T.K. Goswami from the Central Institute of Indian Languages, Assam, speaking at the valedictory function of a recent workshop, said CIIL would be happy to join hands with the efforts of the three organisations in promotion of Northeast India’s languages. He lauded the efforts of SIL, DBC, SRC and the various language communities for their work to promote indigenous languages. Father Joe Almeida, Salesian Vice-Provincial of Guwahati, gave certificates to the participants of the workshop.
[Goanet] Review of Arun Sinha's book on Post-Colonial Goa
Carving a Goan identity in the postcolonial period Ervell E. Menezes GOA INDICA : A CRITICAL PORTRAIT OF POSTCOLONIAL GOA by Arun Sinha. Bibliophile South Asia in association with Promilla & Co. Rs 495 BOOKS on Goa are being churned out at regular intervals these days with varying degrees of success, depending on their approach. Some just scratch the surface of the subject while others dwell on the writer's fetishes. Still others try to cover all aspects. Arun Sinha's Goa Indica : A Critical Portrait of Postcolonial Goa, belongs to the last category and for that reason it is likely to invite censure but being a non-Goan he is more objective. His extensive research shows in his findings and though his comments are at times categorical he also leaves something to the readers' imagination and perception. It is an honest search for the truth though some may aver that there are indeed different versions of it. Goa itself is not an easy subject to handle, for the Goan himself is complex creature, an amalgam of multiple forces and strains. The Portuguese conquest and rule for over 400 years cannot be wished away. Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru may have said, "There can be unity in diversity and Goans will be as much Indian as Marathas and Bengalis, despite the impact of the Portuguese on their culture". What Nehru did not specify was the time frame needed for Goans to turn truly Indian. Sinha goes into the genesis of the great Christian - Hindu divide that has been the single most significant factor in retarding Goa's progress. The impact of Christianity is there for all to see. "For almost four hundred years since he conquered Goa the Portuguese king acted like half-emperor, half-Pope. Not just the privilege of clerical appointments, the king even appropriated to himself the right to examine all the Papal Bulls, allowing their enforcement in his conquered lands only if he found nothing detrimental to Portugual's interest in them," says Sinha quite forcefully. And it merits such vehemence. Speaking about Goan identity he brings out the dichotomy. "Christians clung to their Indo-Portuguese identity. Hindus talked of pan-Indian identity. There was no group or organisation championing the native ethnic Goan identity," he points out. If the Portuguese Inquisition targeted the Hindus in no uncertain and near-inhuman terms, the Bandodkar Government's backlash in land reforms demolishing the existing feudal structure was understandable but not the utter neglect of Communidade lands which adversely affected agriculture. "Bandodkar ought to have brought in his government to fill the institutional vacuum caused by the removal of Communidades and landowners for the responsibility of maintaining irrigation works. Or provided them with sufficient finance to carry out the traditional responsibility," says Sinha and quite rightly so. He also traces the events that took place between the two communities, Hindu and Christian, be it the opinion poll, the Konkani language stir or the Konkan railway route realignment agitation and he doesn't mince words in hitting out at the Church which has invariably politicised issues. He also brings out the irony of the Konkani agitation which had to eventually surrender to the practicality of English. Or was their bluff called? Then there was the Church's role in the Carnival floats. But what Sinha could have done was update the role of religion and balance it with Hindutva and the BJP agenda of setting up little temples everywhere like the Portuguese set up crosses. After all, aren't all religions the same - possessive and even expansionist? Sinha goes in detail into the common Civil Code and highlights its uniqueness and also compares it with the Hindu and Muslim codes but it doesn't provide very readable material though one must admit it is academically sound. The ethnic fencing is candidly brought out, as is the Goan hostility to the outsider or baile. It is like the Germans not wanting to do menial work in Germany and still objecting to increasing Turkish presence. He has a hilarious anecdote to relate about this attitude to the outsider: How at a BJP meeting, at which Manohar Parrikar, now the chief minister, was present, and UP businessman D. P. Tiwari was snubbed by a BJP man saying: "You came here to do business, now you want to rule us?" The decline in agriculture coincided with the advent of world tourism (thanks to the hippies), which completely transformed the face of Goa. But it also had its negative aspects. The dropout rate in schools was as high as 70 per cent. This is a factor that must be immediately addressed. The Goans are very choosy about accepting jobs. Corruption also figures in his book. All this is candidly tackled as are a plethora of issues that graphically bring out the plight of Goans and also provoke thought. Why has Goa not really progressed after its liberation? Is the Goan psyche to blame?
[Goanet] GOASURAJ STING OPERATION NO.1
We Goans are aware that Goa has become a heaven for conmen. The reason being that Goans are not only sucegad by nature, they have become paranoid about making a fast buck, for they see everyone is on the take and rolling in money. Therefore it is but natural that conmen have found Goa a very lucrative destination. In the bargain, have Goans lost their life savings? You can say that again. More than paranoia, Goans by nature are trusting and therefore thus goes this live story that happened today. I happened to be visiting my colleague (in the Party), Mr. Mathias Vaz, more better known as 'Maureen Printers', Panjim. He took me aside saying that he had something confidential to discuss with me. So we sat in my car and he got talking. He told me that his son wanted to expand the business and wanted to purchase a new digital printing machine costing about 25 lacs. That he found this ad on the newspapers offering loans at 4% p.a. On his own the younster called up the company and was visited by the company's representative, Mr. Rocky Fernandes (not a Goan) from Mumbai. The financing plan was that the client shells out Rs. 2000/- up front as processing fees. Once the application is verified and accepted by the company (with xerox of financial details of the borrower), the financing company either sanctions the loan or does not. In that case, the client forfeits Rs. 2000/- if the loan is sanctioned (being processing fees) or gets back only Rs. 1500/- if the loan application is rejected. So far so good. But then there was, as is to be understood, a hidden cost to this transaction. The client pays 7% as brokerage fees to the representative on the loan amount sanctioned. Therefore the brokerage on Rs. 25 lacs is Rs 1.75 lacs. But this brokerage was to be paid upfront before the loan was sanctioned. By this time the father of the younster was involved and he told the company representative that the very fact that loan was sought was because there was no money. Told the rep he could go fly a kite. But the rep was very moved at with the story of there being no money and reduced the 7% to 2% saying that he understood a genuine case when he saw one. The figure came down to Rs. 50,000/- from 1.75 lacs. Still my colleage cribbed that 50 grands was too much for him to get his hands on. The rep was moved further and reduced the amount to 1%, the figure now arriving at Rs. 25 grands. Here, my colleague told me that he has stalled the rep saying that he will need time to collect the 25 grands and has asked him to come by today at 11 a.m., just the time that he was expected. Mathias, I said. This is a conman. He will fly when you give him the 25 grands. Lets go, I said. He asked me where to. To Bosco George, I said, the Superintendent of Police at the ACB (Anti-Corruption-Bureau). So we headed for Altinho. Bosco George contacted SP Bosuet D'Silva at the Dona Paula PS and requested him to take up the matter. We went there, had a brief interaction, fixed an encounter with the rep at Mathias's shop at 4 p.m. As staged, the rep walked in at 4 p.m. The cops were waiting outside. The leader cop in civies was introduced to the rep as a friend by Mathias, who also needed a loan on his flat. The rep agreed. He was nabbed and searched there and then. The Cop found many a rubber stamps of various denominations such as Director, Manager, General Manager in his bag which he could not explain. He was also found with about 12 or so other applications where he has transacted business. At the moment the rep is cooling his heels at the cop station with all the other gullible loan seekers being systematically contacted (Panjim, Mapusa, Margao etc). He will be produced in the court for remand tomorrow. Voila! This is the first of its kind, " THE GOASURAJ STING OPERATION". Public is hereby warned to be more alert. Goa has become a free for all these conmen. Maybe these charlies are paying hafta to the politicians who count. Otherwise, the politicians would have cautioned the police a long time ago. If it was Goa Su-Raj in the driving seat, each and every newspapers would be scanned for these hoax advertisements. The police party would be the first incognito client to approach the conmen. That would be 'FINITO DE LA MUSICA" for te con game in Goa and Goans would be saved from the trauma of losing their life's savings. Cheers goasuraj
[Goanet] Join the Clean Goa Initiative
The Clean Goa Initiative-began with a petition written by two Goans seeking to draw attention at the Central Government level to the waste management crisis in Goa and requesting intervention, beginning with a rational and responsible waste management strategy for IFFI in Panjim this year. The initiative, which also calls for the State government to appoint an independent committee of qualified individuals to identify key problem areas and recommend cost-effective solutions for the State at large, has become a growing proactive people's movement, endorsed by numerous Goa-based NGOs and activists, hundreds of Goans and non-Goan residents of Goa, as well as by a number of film professionals and opinion makers from all over the country who consider Goa a national treasure and want to help. In culmination of the endorsement campaign, there will be a public demonstration of support for the Clean Goa Initiative in Panjim on October 17, 2005. The demonstration will begin with a solidarity march at 5:30 pm from the Panjim Church square to the Mermaid Garden. This campaign event is co-ordinated by Wendell Rodricks, Margaret Mascarenhas, and Ethel Da Costa, along with Goa-based activists and NGOs, in the public interest. It is managed by Think Geek Media and Productions. The theme is Goa Waste Management Issues and Solutions. Speakers at the Mermaid Garden will include Patricia Pinto, Sandesh Prabhudesai, Sanjit Rodrigues, Roland Martins, Wendell Rodricks, Sandeep Jacques, and others. Chief Minister, Pratapsingh Rane, has been invited to address the public on the issue. A brief Q and A with the press will follow. Citizens and villagers from all over Goa who are concerned and want to be better informed about this issue are encouraged to participate. Those who attend are requested to bring their own food and beverages to the event and to take their garbage away when they leave. -
Re: [Goanet] India hung up on Flawed Education!
Nasci, Having read the material on Flawed Education, I began to wonder if this was the reason why Churchill Alemao sent his daughter to university in England. Do we know what course or university? Just curiosity really. It was my assumption that the colleges in Goa and the University provided sound education. I had arrived at this view on meeting some excellent products from there. Have I been mistaken unwittingly? Cornel - Original Message - From: "Nasci Caldeira" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Sent: Thursday, October 13, 2005 5:06 AM Subject: [Goanet] India hung up on Flawed Education! Hello Goanetters! Please read this news item; I hope authorities concerned will take remedial action; instead of burdening srudents and the general population with multiple languages, bogus learning and ancient non useful culture. Nasci Caldeira. http://theage.com.au/news/business/india-hung-up-on-flawed- education/2005/10/11/1128796525530.html India hung up on Flawed Education! India's poor education system is threatening the boom in outsourcing, writes Amrit Dhillon. IF INDIA is suffering from a massive shortage of skilled labour, one reason is that, according to industry estimates, only a quarter of all graduates are employable. Some in the IT industry say only one in 10 graduates is worth taking on. Just look at their communication skills, fumed a frustrated Mumbai-based call centre manager as he waved around some letters written by employees. One read: "As I am marrying my daughter, please grant a week's leave." Another went: "I am in well here and hope you are also in the same well." With half of its 1.2 billion population aged under 25, how can India possibly be short of workers? The problem is not quantity but quality. Virtually every industry from IT, outsourcing, retail, hospitality, manufacturing and biotechnology is struggling to find skilled workers and managers. The IT industry currently employs around 348,000 people. The IT body Nasscom (National Association of Software and Service Companies) says it needs 9000 more workers right now. It has failed to find them. Given its rapid growth, the industry will be short of 82,000 workers by 2007. By 2009, the shortfall will be 206,000. The shortages are reflected in the pay rises Indian industry is giving to retain staff. A survey by global human resources firm Hewitt Associates said that Indians in white collar jobs took home pay increases of an average of 13.7 per cent last year, the highest in the Asia-Pacific region. Indian companies lose nearly 15 per cent of their manpower annually to other companies, according to the same survey. The attrition rates for the outsourcing industry are far worse: from 20 to 40 per cent. A McKinsey report earlier this year said that only 25 per cent of Indian engineering graduates were equipped to work in multinationals. Graduates are really poor quality - it's only the cream of the cream who go to the excellent institutes of management and technology who have great potential. The rest are unemployable, said Nasscom president Kiran Karnik. Nasscom has warned that the shortage could stall India's call centre boom. If the industry fails to recruit workers at reasonable wages, it will lose its competitive edge to countries such as the Philippines and China. The prospect of the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry - the showpiece and pride of the Indian economy - losing its competitiveness arouses gloom. The industry needs more skilled staff not just to do the current back office work of taking calls, credit card processing and air ticketing but to move up into the new, high-value work it is seeking. This step up the value chain is not BPO but KPO - knowledge process outsourcing - where Western companies outsource legal work, medical and biotechnology research, financial analysis and market research. BPO work is entirely rules-based while KPO is purely judgement-based where human discretion plays a dominant role so top quality people are a must, said Nandan Nilekani, chief executive of Infosys Technologies, India's second-biggest software exporter. The smaller non-IT Indian companies are even worse off. Since the IT industry attracts the best graduates, it leaves the less glamorous companies stuck with mediocre manpower. This in turn pushes up their training costs. The root cause of the shortage of quality manpower is poor Indian education, from primary schools to higher education. Apart from pockets of excellence, most schools are sub-standard. Most of the 330 universities and 17,000 colleges are marked by mediocre teachers teaching outdated content. Last year, more than 100 private universities opened for business in small towns, each one worse than the previous one. "The word university has lost its sanctity," said New Delhi academic Dr Ashok Chauhan. The Government recently shut down many of them after complaints. If India has 4 million-plus unemployed graduates at a ti
[Goanet] RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT
Goans Everywhere, This is now an all-India ACT -- asper this act the Government Dept / Officer has to reply to your query -- afterpayent of specified fees -- within THIRTY days -- if he fails you can refer the matter to the Appellate Information Officer and he can obtainthe information from the relevant Dept / Official and penalise the Dept/Officer for not having replied in the specified thirty days How efective this will be -- we can only wait -- but unless people raise queries this Act cannot be tested Under the old State Acts there was good response and many officers and the Municipality of Bombay was taken to task -- Information made available was the basis for the filing of PUBLIC INTEREST LITIGATION cases. And the relevant Depts / Officials have been hauled up and in many cases hve individually had to pay penalties So ASK QUESTIONS AND DEMAND ANSWERS Cheers Aloysius D"Souza - Original Message - From: "Mary" To: Sent: Thursday, October 13, 2005 9:55 AM Subject: [Goanet] Re: RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT | Dear Sirs, | | Can you please tell me how effective the RIGHT TO INFORMATION ACT is going | to be. Do you think that citizens will now be able to get the information | from government departments such as police, municipalities etc. | | Please let me know something more about it. | | thanks | | Mary |
[Goanet] Dubai - All Goa inter-village soccer : Zuari scored a fluent win
Zuari scored a fluent 5-1 win over Calangute in the All Goa inter-village football tournament at the Iranian Club Sports Stadium and organized by All Star Entertainment in association with United Goans. The second match between Chinchinim UAE Exchange and SFX Old Goa ended in a 1:1 draw. Borgee __ Yahoo! Mail - PC Magazine Editors' Choice 2005 http://mail.yahoo.com
[Goanet] COMPETITION FOR DABOLIM IN CHARTER MARKET?
http://www.business-standard.com/common/storypage.php?hpFlag=Y&chklogin=N&au tono=202811&leftnm=lmnu4&lselect=0&leftindx=4 Agra on world aviation map Vishal Sharma / Agra October 13, 2005 International flights have started from Agra. On Tuesday, "Voyages Jules Verne", a UK-based tour operator struck a tie-up with SITA travels, a division of the Kuoni Travel group, India, for the operation of international chartered flights directly from the UK to this city. The first flight in this series of 32 weekly flights landed at Agra airport on Tuesday, carrying 189 tourists from the UK in an Astraeus Boeing 757 aircraft, which flew back to the UK the same evening, carrying 12 passengers on the return trip. The tourists arriving in Agra were welcomed at the Hotel Taj Khema of the UP tourism department yesterday by folk artists to the loud beat of traditional drums and other musical instruments, with the UP tourism hosting a breakfast in their honour. The beginning of international chartered flights in Agra after six years is being seen as a major breakthrough made by the tourism industry of Agra, which had been striving for international flights in Agra for quite some time now. Talking to Business Standard, Chetan Juneja, general manager, SITA Indian Trails, said this charter comprised two international tour packages, but the prime feature was the £395 "A Day in Agra" tour, in which the tourists got the opportunity of spending a full day at the Taj Mahal, returning to the UK the same evening. Besides these day-tourists, whose numbers are few, most of the tourists arriving in Agra will stay in the town for a week, visiting Fatehpur Sikri, Jaipur, Bharatpur, Gwalior, and Delhi. He said this was the first international flight to Agra from the UK after six years and such flights will be on till May next year, ferrying almost 6,000 tourists during the period. He said the most unique feature of the flight would be the tourists would be staying in the various hotels of Agra, giving them a chance to regain the business they had lost in the past few years. According to local travel industry sources, the Agra tourism industry is expected to earn Rs 60-70 crore from the operations of these flights and efforts were being made to bring in more chartered flights from other countries like France, South Africa and Germany, in this tourist season. FANTACY FLIGHT Chartered flights will be on till May next year, ferrying almost 6,000 tourists during the period Agra tourism industry is expected to earn Rs 60-70 crore from the operations of these flights Efforts were being made to bring in more chartered flights from countries like France, South Africa and Germany Is the military lurking anywhere in this serene picture? Must be!
[Goanet] Court orders attachment of old Secretariat in Goa
http://dnaindia.com/report.asp?NewsID=5465 Court orders attachment of old Secretariat in Goa Pushpa Iyengar Wednesday, October 12, 2005 23:04 IST PANAJI: It's not unusual for the court to attach assets in cases involving property. But in what could be the first time in India, an attachment notice has been pinned on the gate of the old Secretariat seeking to do just that in a land acquisition case filed by Jose Velho seeking a compensation of Rs 94,17,754.47 for five lakh square metres of land in Chorao island. The notice pinned on Wednesday at the behest of the fast track court, which has Goa's ministers and secretaries buzzing around, directed the government to show cause why the old Secretariat should not be sold to compensate Velho. The show cause also prohibited the government until further orders from transferring or charging the Secretariat by gift, sale or otherwise and simultaneously restrained anyone from purchasing it or receiving it. The government is expected to file its reply to the notice on Thursday. (October 13). The imposing building overlooking the Mandovi River was originally Adil Shah's Palace and went on to become the Viceroy's official residence. The first assembly was convened in this building in 1964. However, with Goa becoming a state and the strength of the assembly increased to 40, a new complex was constructed in Porvorim across the river. The new complex was inaugurated in March 2000. However, the old Secretariat continues to house the offices of the Chief Minister and the cabinet. During the first tenure of Pratapsingh Rane as the chief minister between 1980-85, the Goa government had acquired land belonging to Velho and his brothers which had been virtually taken over by squatters in Chorao island. The government acquired the land for prawn farming under the land acquisition act. A notification was published in the official gazette of April 26,1979 while the award was passed in 1982 at the rate of 50 paise per square metre for land measuring 5,35,429.30 square metre. Not satisfied with the rate, Velho made a claim for Rs 10 per square metre before the district court which fixed the rate of compensation at Rs four per square metre. The case which has been going on for over 20 years has been going through the lower courts and high courts as Velho pursued his award claim. Meanwhile, conservationists objected to prawn farming in the area saying mangroves would be destroyed. The then Lt Governor bowed to the opinion of conservationists. -- Cheers, Gabe Menezes. London, England
[Goanet] Re: TAIP
- Original Message - From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Wednesday, October 12, 2005 8:40 AM Subject: Contact email to webmaster Regarding the presentation on Transportes Aereos da India Portuguesa (TAIP), based on my visit to Dabolim Airport in July 1956 to see off my cousins who were leaving for Karachi en route to Aden, I am able to state from a then observation that TAIP was the first airline to have air-hostesses wearing the sari even while air-hostesses of Air India and Indian Airlines were still using the blouse and skirt. Dabolim Airport in those days was much more free and relaxed than it is today. The previous evening I was even taken to the hangar by my cousin who was working for TAIP and I was able to walk round and touch an aircraft without hindrance or observation as the system in Goa then worked on trust. John Menezes
[Goanet] Lyrics of Konkani song "DOULOT GOENKARANCHI" by M. Boyer!
Many of our Goan musicians lived in Bombay where they worked wonders, especially for the Hindi Film Industry. October 12, 2005 was the 64th birthday of the Indian living legend, Amitabh Bachchan. One of his most successful films in the 1970s was AMAR, AKBAR, ANTHONY (AAA). In this film, there is a song titled MY NAME IS ANTHONY GONSALVES and the name in the song belongs to none other than the 78-year old Goan maestro and living legend, Anthony Gonsalves from Majorda, Goa. It so happened that Pyarelal (of Laxmikant-Pyarelal fame), who had learnt violin from the Goan, was in the process of composing music for the film AAA, and grateful as he was to Anthony, he contacted and asked him if he could use his name for a song to be featured on Amitabh Bachchan. Since many Hindi movies have portrayed Goans as drunkards, Anthony agreed with the condition that his name should not be abused; Pyarelal agreed. He just clad the tall man in a suit and a top hat and made him leap out of a giant Easter egg and sing the song. The song became a sensation overnight and went on to become one of the best hits of the decade. Surprisingly, the real Anthony Gonsalves has never met the reel Anthony, as by 1965, Anthony quit the film industry and shifted to America. Kudos to Pyarelal for immortalizing his teacher in the song! I also salute him for following the ethics. As I said last week, M. Boyer always kept pace with the happenings in Goa and composed songs on varied subjects. Here are the lyrics of one of his songs Doulot Goenkaranchi which reveals the real identity of Goans working in the background of the Hindi Film Industry: DOULOT GOENKARANCHI I Amchem Goa xar bhorlam famad uxear muzganim Ami music xiktanv Goeam igorjen iskolanim Aiz Indiechea mapar musican poile ami Bombaim film industry gazoilea Goenkaranim Chorus Ugddas astolo sabar vorsam pattim, Bombaim Albela mhunn ek picture laglelem Tantun acting famad Baghwanan kelelem, punn music Goenkaranim gazoilelem Tem svadik music Goenkaran boroilelem, dekun Albela picture nanv zoddunk pavlelem Amchea Chic-Chocletan music tem ghatlelem, punn lokan nanv C. Ramchandrak dilelem II Vhodd-vhodd musician Goenkarank ditat vhodd man Mhunttat music assam mhunn Goenkaranchea rogtan Aiz Laxmikant-Pyarelal asat Director zavn Ekleak xikoila amchea Anthony Gonsalvesan Chorus Oi music ek doulot Goenkaranchi, thoddeank khobor nam eka uxear muzgachi Tannem soglleank vollok dovorlea apnnanchi, zoddun xebaski Nirmonn, Amchea Noxibachi To dis-rat filmank music boroupi, tannem xeva keli kitleanch directoranchi Ghevn mozot amchea Frank Fernandachi, aiz famad zalem Kalyanji-Anandji III Aslet dog music director tantlo eklo melo Shanker-Jaikishan mhuttlear konnui voukotalo Tanchem music borem mhunn lok kantaram mhunttalo Punn tancho sogllo vavr Goenkar Sebastian kortalo Chorus Ami Goenkar sodanch ugttea monanche, ami kuskeaponn soddun konnaichem soboita Ami amche Goenche Mandde-Dekhnneo ghalun, aiz kitlimxim Hindi pikcheram gazoita Punn filmanche director hem sogllem visron, Goenkar bebde mhunnon filmanim dakoita Ami uxear mhunn filmanim vazoupak apoita, punn ami uxear mhunn poddddeacher dakounk lipoita From Doms antique shelf! P.S. It was the title of this song that inspired my ganv-bhav, the renowned Konkani novel writer, Bonaventure DPietro, to write his 12th novel titled SONGIT Doulot Goenkaranchi! Moi-mogan, Domnic Fernandes Anjuna/Dhahran, KSA _ Don't just search. Find. Check out the new MSN Search! http://search.msn.com/
[Goanet] Goa folk utsav this month end at Kala Academy
Dears, You can enjoy Goan heritage at kala Academy this month end. Viva Goa. Miguel - Original Message - From: hetapandit To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] ; ; [EMAIL PROTECTED] ; [EMAIL PROTECTED] ; [EMAIL PROTECTED] ; [EMAIL PROTECTED] ; [EMAIL PROTECTED] ; [EMAIL PROTECTED] ; [EMAIL PROTECTED] ; ; [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Thursday, October 13, 2005 8:19 AM Subject: goa folk utsav this month Friends, I understand that the attachement did not reach some of you. Here's the full text of the programme for the Goa Folk Utsav. Its a unique festival in that there will be a ten minute talk on the dance form before the actual performance. Besides, we also have some unusual dances and music unearthed from the kitchens of Goa. Please do come and do pass on this invitation to everyone in your mailbox. Best, Heta This is the invite: Goa Heritage Action Group & Kala Academy Goa cordially invite you to Goa Folk Utsav 2005 A unique dance-drama-lecture programme on 29th-30th October 2005 from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at the Open Air Auditorium, Kala Academy, Panaji, Goa Programme Overleaf PROGRAMME 29th October 2005 6 p.m. to 8.10 p.m. 6.00 p.m. Presentation on Goa Heritage Action Group 6.10 p.m. Lighting of the Lamp 6.20 p.m. Ms. Maria de Lourdes Brav da Costa Rodrigues on Mando 6.30 p.m. Mando by Kepechim Kirnnam from Kepem 6.40 p.m. Dr. Pandurang Phaldesai on Talgadi 6.50 p.m. Talgadi by Mahendra Phaldesai Group 7.00 p.m. Break 7.10 p.m. Dr. Pandurang Phaldesai on Zagor 7.20 p.m. Zagor by Kanta Gawde Group 7.30 p.m. Dr. Pandurang Phaldesai on Goff 7.40 p.m. Goff by Mahendra Phaldesai Group 7.50 p.m. Dr. Pandurang Phaldesai on Ghode Moddni 8.00 p.m. Ghode Moddni by Kanta Gawde Group 30th October 2005 6 p.m. to 8.00 p.m. 6.00 p.m. Presentation on Goa Heritage Action Group 6.10 p.m. Lighting of the Lamp 6.20 p.m. Mr. Prajal Sakhardande on Kunbi Nach 6.30 p.m. Kunbi Nach by Avedem Quepem Group led by Amelbai 6.40 p.m. Mr. Rajendra Kerkar on Dhalo 6.50 p.m. Dhalo by Keri Sattari Group led by Purnima Kerkar 7.00 p.m. Break 7.10 p.m. Mr. Rajendra Kerkar on Chapay 7.20 p.m. Chapay by Sattari Group 7.30 p.m. Mr. Prabhakar Majik on Davli Mandi 7.40 p.m. Davli Mandi by Smt. Bhagirathibai Ganesh Majik 7.50 p.m. Mr. Prabhakar Majik on Ranmale 8.00 p.m. Ranmale by Nakul Veluskar Group from Sattari Programme anchors Mr. Prajal and Ms. Anju Sakhardande UTSAV PARTNER : TOURISM DEPARTMENT GOVERNMENT OF GOA Text for booklet and for the display panels Zagor Zagor literally means "staying awake" in Goa's lingua franca Konkani. Zagors are usually vigils of song and dance kept up all through the night and are intended to keep both people and village spirits alert and awake. A typical Zagor brings in performances that include flower sellers, village headmen, temple dancers (kolvonts), the village idiot or drunk and village guardian spirits called savangs. Ghode Moddni Goa's Ghode Moddni is a martial dance showcasing the fighting spirit of the Kshatriyas. Rooted in the history of the Ranes, the Rajputs and the Marathas this dance simulates a battle scene with dancers mounted on make-believe horses. Garlands of abolims adorn their necks as swords clash amidst whooping cries of victory in battle. Performed during the Shigmo festival, the dance is popular in the taluks of Bicholim, Sattari and Pernem, once under the hold of the Bhonsales of Sawantwadi and the Ranes of Sattari. Shigmo is the full-moon pre-Vedic festival that brings the cold months of winter to a close and heralds days of spring. It is a festival that requires mass participation, with participants bombing one another with balls filled with colour and water balloons and the Ghode Moddni fits in with this mood of sport and joy. Of all the Ghode Moddnis, the most reverberating is the one performed in the region of Sarvan-Bicholim and Tahne-Sattari. Goff Performed during the Shigmo festival, the Goff is remarkably akin to the English May Pole Dance. Shigmo is the full-moon pre-Vedic festival that brings the cold months of winter to a close and heralds days of spring. It is a festival that requires mass participation, with participants bombing one another with balls filled with colour and water balloons and the Goff fits in with the spirit of the Shigmo. Symbolic of the fraternal bonding between members of the gaunkari, Goa's traditional system of co-operative farming, this bonding is resplendent with colour, vigour and beautiful weaves of fabric around a pole. This pole is often a bamboo staff, the roof of a courtyard or the branch of a tree. The Goan Goff is a celebration of unity and a celebration of life itself. Talgadi Talgadi is an all-male dance that is performed at the time of the Shigmo festival. Shigmo is the full-moon pre-Vedic festival that brings the cold months of winter to a close and heralds days of spring. It is a festival that requires mass participation, with participants bombing one another with balls filled with
[Goanet] Say NO to the Bus Fare Hike
- Do GOACAN a favour, circulate this email to your family members, relatives, neighbours and friends. Help others be BETTER INFORMED, The time is come for the people of Goa to ORGANISE not AGONISE !! - --- Say NO to the Bus Fare Hike The authorities are set to raise bus fares consequent on the marginal increase in diesel prices. According to press reports, a committee has been set up. What is the make-up of this committee? Does it include members of consumer organisations and the ruling coalition? Because consumers and the fortunes of the ruling parties will take a direct hit if an upward revision is agreed to. Consumers in Goa have been reeling under ever-escalating prices and the image of the ruling combine is bruised by public squabbling and a poor performance on all fronts. Allowing a price increase will set in motion a dangerous spiral in inflation levels and will confirm the public perception of the government as pandering to all sorts of lobbies at the cost of the common man. Is there a mechanism in place to determine the price of tickets? Or like most things in Goa is it arbitrary, purely depending on the Transport Lobby's ability to satisfy the powers that be? Is our public transport functioning according to the Motor Vehicles Act? This Act alongwith the Motor Vehicle Rules mandates among other things that: 1.A fare table and route should be displayed. 2.A destination Board should be displayed 3.An Emergency Exit be provided. 4.Tickets should be issued to all passengers. 5.Fire extinguisher and First Aid Box be provided 6.The Driver & Conductor should be licensed, in clean livery, and wearing badges. In Goa, most of the buses do not display the fare table and route. Many buses including KTC do not display Destination Boards The Emergency exit is meaningless as it can never be opened. In an emergency, passengers are extricated by breaking the windows or remain trapped till cranes are brought. If they die in the meanwhile that's too bad. Are tickets issued to bus passengers? I've almost never got one except on KTC! Earlier buses did carry Fire Extinguishers and First Aid boxes, now we hardly see them. I they are there, the contents are beyond the expiry date and therefore useless. Many drivers are not licensed for driving public vehicles. Conductors most often are unlicensed, dirty-smelling, foul-mouthed street urchins who miss no opportunity to brush against lady passengers. They only hurriedly shrug into filthy, crumpled, khaki shirts when accosted by MV inspectors and don't display badges simply because an astonishingly 90% of them are not licensed! They prefer to pay the token fine. Besides this, most buses are vastly overloaded, have frequent breakdowns, do not adhere to timings and are not averse to running private marriage and other trips leaving route passengers stranded. Often after lunch drivers and conductors stink of alcohol. The vastly over-priced KTC shuttles are probably the worst maintained as on any given day at least three breakdown on the Margao-Panaji route putting passengers to grave inconvenience. It is because of this resultant bad public transport system that Goans even those who can ill afford it, are forced to use personal transport adding to traffic congestion, pollution and impoverishment of the middle class. The Congress-NCP alliance has come to power on promises of caring for the Aam Admi. Allowing an upward revision when the per passenger km increase in fuel works out to not even One paise, would be profiteering and exploitation of the worst kind of the common man and totally unjustified. When you consider that fares are fixed on the basis of bus capacity, and when we see grossly over-loaded buses which are making super-normal profits for their operators, this less than one-paise per passenger km increase can easily be absorbed. In any case no increase should be allowed until the operators abide by the provisions of the MV Act. Yours truly, Xavier Cota Betalbatim, Goa 403713 Email: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> --- GOA CIVIC AND CONSUMER ACTION NETWORK --- promoting civic and consumer rights in Goa --- GOACAN Post Box 187 Margao, Goa 403 601 GOACAN Post Box 78 Mapusa, Goa 403 507 Tel: 2252660 mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] website: www.goacan.org --- -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Anti-Virus. Version: 7.0.344 / Virus Database: 267.11.14/131 - Release Date: 10/12/2005
[Goanet] Breaking News
Information available from top Crime branch and ACB/Vigilance sources in Panjim as well as in Dona Paula indicate that Mr. Arun Sinha, the editor of Navhind Times, a Dempo Publication, is being questioned on two counts. One- Promotion of child labour and Two- Molestation case. It is believed that the child involved is a 11 year old female domestic engaged by Mr. Sinha, a Mishra from Bihar, who is also being interogated. Official news, whether it is a frame-up or authentic is awaited. goasuraj
[Goanet] Ray of hope for 34 Goans in overseas job racket
http://oheraldo.in/node/5307 Ray of hope for 34 Goans in overseas job racket MUMBAI, OCT 12 (UNI) –- There is some ray of hope for 34 Goans, among 437 others, who have been duped by a Mumbai-based recruitment 'firm' on a promise of overseas job. Mumbai city police have arrested two persons for cheating people, at Dadar, Mumbai. Addressing the media, Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Dhananjay Kamlakar said accused - Yusuf Sabir Sayyed (41) and Toufiq Ahmed Shaikh (54) - had opened an office at Hind Industrial Estate at Dadar for providing placements abroad. The duo had issued an advertisement in the newspapers in Goa, Gujarat, and Tamil Nadu for providing jobs in United Kingdom, the Netherlands and other countries. In response to their advertisement, 471 candidates including 145 from Andhra Pradesh, 172 from Gujarat, 50 from Maharashtra, 34 from Goa, 36 from Tamil Nadu, five each from Rajasthan, Kolkata and Karnataka and three from Delhi approached them for jobs. Mr Kamlakar said the accused took Rs 60,000 from each person and collected their passports. However, they failed to send a single candidate abroad. Later, one of the persons registered a complaint against them for cheating following which, the police nabbed them yesterday from their office at Dadar. Both were produced in the metropolitan court, where they were remanded to police custody till October 21, the DCP added. -- Cheers, Gabe Menezes. London, England
goanet@goanet.org
http://news.webindia123.com/news/showdetails.asp?id=135631&cat=India Govt, pvt institutions should join hands in R&D activity: Goa CM Panaji | October 12, 2005 6:45:01 PM IST The state government and private institutions should join hands together in the field of research and development (R&D) for the development of pharmaceutical industires in Goa, said Chief Minister Pratapsinh Rane. He was speaking after inaugurating the first phase of research and development centre of Ratiopharm India Pvt Ltd (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ratiopharm International Gmbh, Germany) at Verna in South Goa today. Mr Rane said the state government always welcomed non-pulluting industries in Goa, which is rapidly emerging as a hub for pharmaceutical industries. Ratiopharm India Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director Shyam Rohra said that the pharmaceutical R&D unit in Goa, situated on the plot admeasuring over 70,000 sq mt, is the largest. It will help boost production facility for tablets and capusles. Sufficent space has been reserved for larger production facility to be established in the next few years. Goa, in the long run, would definitely emerge as an ideal pharma hub for India, he added. Industries Minister Luizionho Faleiro and Oppostion leader Manohar Parrikar, Ratiopharm Group Chairman Dr Philip Merckle and Managing Director (Tecnical operation) Heiner Hoppmann were also present on the occasion. UNI SRN SSS AG1821 -- Cheers, Gabe Menezes. London, England
[Goanet] Goanet News Bytes * Oct 13, 2005 * Dusserah in Goa, Kadamba completes 25
[][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][][] / d8 Founded1994 e88~88e e88~-_/~~~8e 888-~88e e88~~8e _d88__ by Herman 888 888 d888 i 88b 888 888 d888 88b 888 Carneiro "88_88" | e88~-888 888 888 __888 888 - / Y888 ' C888 888 888 888 Y888, 888 www.goanet.org Cb "88_-~ "88_-888 888 888 "88___/ "88_/ Y8""8D GOANET NEWS BYTES * Oct 13, 2005 * DATELINE GOA - Compiled by Frederick Noronha [EMAIL PROTECTED] - o Right to Information Act comes into force in nation. (NT) o Global tenders for inviting EoIs for Mopa airport in Dec.NT o Employees urged to work for the progress of Kadamba. (NT) o Margao venue risky for PM's meet, say cops. (GT) o Nigerian escapee in black dollar racket arrested in Guwahati(H) o Shifting of Curca jail embroiled in legal tangle. (GT) o Ray of hope for 34 Goans in overseas job rack. (UNI) o Fontainhas fest now on IFFI schedule. (GT) o Governor Jamir to open Goa film festival Oct 17. NT o Assagao panchayat to oppose garbage dumping. (NT) o Ratiopharm India's R&D centre launched at Verna. (NT) o Land acquired for Tillari irri canal in Sal/Latambarcem. IFFI MEN IN A TIZZY: Preparedness for IFFI 2005 seem to be in the midst of mega-hiccups with the panic-striken organisers desperately searching for hotel accomodation. (H) 25 YEARS LATER: Kadamba Transport Corporation is in gear... despite the cash crunch. (H) o Mormugao voters fed up with old rulers. (GT) o BSNL floats free India Card offer. (H) o Special honeymoon package at Mayem lake. (GT) o Akhada bridge opened. (GT) o Henry's Music Cafe completes 15 years today. Communidade land cannot be used for construction activity, says advocate Andre Pereira, who is the secretary of the Association of Components of Comunidades, an organisation espousing the cause of the age-old comunidades in Goa. (GT) READING THE FINE PRINT: Has the presence of cable television, the Internet and mobile communication, replaced the good habit of reading books? Neeta Shenoy finds out how Goa is dealing with the information overload. (Gomantak Times) OCTOBER 12, 2005 o President Kalam coming to Goa on October 18. (H) o Assagao bent on halting garbage dumping. (H) o Sanjit Rodrigues appointed administrator of Panjim. (H) o Court admits write against Hotel Silver Sands in Calangute, owned by Cong MLA Agnel Fernandes. (H) o Salaulim dam evacuee pleas falls on deaf ears. (H) o Mayem lake gets a facelift. (H) o Halt for Matsyagandha express at Tivim sought. (H)ks o Dearth of Science books in Konkani. (H) o Home Science College to hold course on dyeing and batik crafts from Oct 24. (H) TALUKA VILLAGES TO BE KEPT out of SGPDA: People of Salcete may finally heave a sigh of relief over the government's decision to exclude taluka villages from the limits of the South Goa Planning and Development Authority (SGPDA), but the move isn't good news for the planning body. (H) - RELIGION - o Dussehra festival celebrated in Goa too. Religious ceremonies in temple towns, worshipping of vehicles, machines and farming tools, and launch of new establishments marked the festival in Goa. (NT) o Rains fail to dampen Dusshera festivities. (GT) o Our Lady of Rosary feast celebrated at Fatorda. (NT) Rickshaws in Panjim were seen decorated with flowers on the occasion of Vijayadashmi, a custom wherein the tools-of-trade are worshipped. (GT) AN APPEAL TO ALL OUR READERS: Want to continue reading Goanet News Bytes? Please help us create this newsletter. We still need more volunteer writers who watch what's being said from Goa and on Goa in cyberspace, and are then willing to share these precious links with everyone else. Please contact us if you'd like to help, or create/add to a section of this newsletter. If you have an idea for a good new section, that's welcome too. Contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] We need your help to reach more readers. Recommend Goanet News Bytes to others. To get a free subscription write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] with SUBSCRIBE GNB as your subject.