[Goanet-News] NEWS: Goa carnival cancelled after school bus falls into river (TNN-Times of India)
Goa carnival cancelled after school bus falls into river Feb 18, 2012, 04.23PM IST PANAJI: Goa chief minister Digambar Kamat cancelled carnival celebrations in the state following the bus tragedy in which at least four passengers including two children died on Saturday. "It's a big tragedy. And we have decided to cancel carnival celebrations", the chief minister told TOI. The carnival parade was to begin in a few minutes before the announcement came. A large number of people have lined up the D B Road in Panaji - the floats parade route. The floats parade was to be held in Panaji today and next three days in Margao, Vasco and Mapusa. The King Momo was to declare his decree of fun and frolic for next four days. Four passengers lost their lives when a passenger mini-bus plunged into a river at Calvim, Aldona, 15 km from Panaji. The toll is likely to be higher as four schools bags were found in the bus. The chief minister has declared ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh per family. Kamat told TOI that he has instructed the chief secretary and DGP to rush to the spot and that he was monitoring the situation. The tragedy occurred when the bus, on reaching the ferry ramp at Calvim, suddenly fell into the water. The ferry boat had not arrived yet. Officials said the mishap occured due to human error. An alarm was raised and police and fire services were pressed into service their crane. The fire department's crane was, however, unable to retrieve the bus. As people gathered and the fire services panicked, a private crane was engaged. It took more than an hour before the bus was finally retrieved. Among the bodies recovered are two children, a man and a woman. Divers of the navy and Coast guard are continuing rescue operations along with a number of local youth and fishermen. http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/11939012.cms --- Protect Goa's natural beauty Support Goa's first Tiger Reserve Sign the petition at: http://www.goanet.org/petition/petition.php ---
[Goanet-News] Goanet Reader: Conversions, inciting sectarian hatred, and marginalisation (Eduardo Faleiro)
F r e e d o m o f r e l i g i o n CONVERSIONS, INCITING SECTARIAN HATRED, AND MARGINALISATION Eduardo Faleiro lokseva...@gmail.com Religion has emerged as a major source of conflict in the post cold war era all across the globe. A perceptive writer points out that ideological strife has now given place to the "clash of civilizations" and predicts that in the foreseeable future, religion will be a major source of conflict within and among nations. Samuel Huntington asserts that possibilities of conflict are greater in what he calls the "fault lines of civilization", those areas such as India where different cultures and religions do meet. Huntington also admits that such clashes can be prevented if appropriate strategies are formulated and implemented at an early stage so as to ensure religious harmony. Some years ago, I decided to study the issues that affect inter religious peace and harmony in India. In this connection, I visited several of our States and held meetings with leaders and organizations of different religions. Europe being the continent that pioneered the modern concept of secular democracy, I also attempted to study the subject with reference to some key European countries. European countries can be classified broadly into three categories for the purpose of freedom of religion. In Russia and Greece, the Russian and Greek Orthodox Churches respectively, are the "prevailing" religions. The two Constitutions provide for the right of all citizens to practice the faith of their choice. However, whilst Government generally respects this right, non-Orthodox groups face sometimes administrative obstacles or encounter restrictions on religious practice. Both the Constitutions prohibit proselytizing and stipulate that the right of worship may not disturb public order or offend moral principles. The second category consists of countries such as France, Belgium and Germany. The position in France is typical of this category of countries. The 1905 Law on Separation between Church and State makes it illegal to differentiate on the basis of faith. However, France pursues a restrictive legislation that stigmatizes minority religions and associates them with dangerous "sects". In June 1995, the French National Assembly established a Parliamentary Inquiry Commission also known as the Gest or the Guyard Commission (after the names of its chairman and rapporteur respectively). The purpose of the Commission was to study the new religious groups appearing in France and labelled as "sects". The Commission identified 172 groups as "sects". Several of them are Christian groups originating mainly from the United States but some are organizations closely related to the Indian cultural tradition such as ISKCON, Association of Shri Satya Saibaba, Brahmakumaris, Shri Ramakrishna Mission etc. The Justice Ministry issued a directive to all Government offices to be vigilant against possible abuses by "sects" and all government offices were instructed to monitor potentially abusive sect activities. In Germany, freedom of worship and conscience is safeguarded as a fundamental right in the Constitution. The Federal Republic has no official faith or State church and the State is constitutionally obliged to maintain a position of neutrality in religious matters. However, following a visit to Germany in 1998, the United Nations Special Rapporteur issued a report in which he found that a climate of intolerance affected Mormons, Muslims, Scientologists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Baha'is and members of the Hare Krishna Movement. Charismatic Christians have also been targeted. The Parliamentary Commission of the Council of Europe adopted a resolution in June 1999 giving priority to prevention of "dangerous sects". However the resolution states that "major legislation in this direction is undesirable" and points out that any such legislation might interfere with the freedom of conscience and religion guaranteed by the European Convention of Human Rights. The French Law is the most sweeping law on religious minorities which currently exists in Europe. It is feared that it may pave the way for religious intolerance in that country. The only redeeming feature is the widespread international condemnation which may reflect in the actual implementation of this law. The third category of European countries includes Portugal, Spain and Italy. Generally speaking and with few exceptions, religious freedom is being upheld in these three countries. In Portugal, the Constitution provides for the freedom of religion and forbids discrimination on religious grounds. More than 80 percent of the population identify themselves with the Roman Catholic Church and the Catholic Church receives some preferential trea
[Goanet-News] NEWS: Democracy's dance pace now hastens (Vijay de Souza, TNN)
Democracy's dance pace now hastens Vijay de Souza, TNN Feb 17, 2012, 04.08AM IST PANAJI: Goa is just two weeks away from deciding who will govern the state in the next five years. With a sudden spurt in the number of political parties contesting the polls, multi-cornered battles are on the cards though the main fight for power will be between Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). But with the general mood in the state looking for a change, Congress seems to be in trouble. A well-prepared BJP, waiting to capitalize on the anti-Congress sentiments on corruption and for lack of development in the last five years, has smelt power. The mood in the party is upbeat. BJP's confidence emerges from the fact that it has succeeded in forging an alliance with Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP)- Goa's oldest regional party-in an attempt to wrest power from the Congress. MGP has been allotted eight seats while BJP is contesting around 28 seats while supporting independent candidates in the remaining constituencies. On the other hand, Congress, as expected has tied up with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP). Congress is contesting 33 seats leaving 7 to its alliance partner. In the last assembly elections held in 2007, Congress had won 16 seats followed closely by BJP with 14 seats, NCP 3, MGP 2, Save Goa Front 2, United Goans Democratic Party 1 and two independents. The Congress-led government headed by Digambar Kamat was formed with the support of NCP and MGP and one independent Vishwajit Rane in June 2007. After a coup attempt by the BJP failed, SGF merged with the Congress and UGDP also joined the government. At the end of the four and a half years, Kamat proved to be the only chief minister to complete the full term since Goa attained statehood in 1987. Multi-party democracy! All the major political parties including Congress, BJP,NCP, in their desperation to win by all means, have given tickets to cashrich persons. Ignoring the sentiments of their cadre, the parties have gone to the extent of loaning candidates to their coalition partners, following the mantra of winnability. Of the 7 seats NCP is contesting, three candidates are from the Congress. MGP and BJP have also swapped one or two seats to facilitate side entry for their 'winnable' candidates. The richest candidate is Dinar Tarcar who has huge stakes in mining and real estate. In 2007 he was the main challenger to opposition leader Manohar Parrikar for the Panaji seat losing the battle by around 1500 votes. A few months ago, as chairman of Public Accounts Committee, Parrikar had named Tarcar in the illegal mining scam report. But going by the prevailing situation, Tarcar knocked on the doors of the BJP to contest from Santa Cruz constituency. To avoid embarrassment, the BJP gave the Santa Cruz seat which it was to contest as per the seat sharing formula, to the MGP and along with it came Tarcar. The political line-up has now crystallized, with 215 candidates remaining in the fray for the 40-member assembly. An extra ordinary candidate who made news recently is activist priest Fr Bismarque Dias. No doubt there are many independents and rebel candidates some of whom will withdraw on February 16. Congress, thanks to its mismanagement, will be more affected by rebels than other parties. So, why are there so many candidates in the fray? One reason is that many political parties are testing the Goa waters for the first time. Candidates have been fielded by Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress (TC), Mulayam Singh Yadav's Samajwadi Party (SP), Sharad Yadav's Janata Dal (U) (JD-U), Ram Vilas Paswan's Lok Janshakti Party (LJP), and the Socialist Democratic Party of India (SDI) backed by the Popular Front of India (PFI), a confederation of Muslim organizations. Besides, there are some regional parties like UGDP and the recently re-launched Goa Vikas Party of the mercurial Francisco (Mickky) Pacheco. There are also some organizations and village groups,many of which are linked to the saffron satellite organizations, which have also upped the ante against the Kamat government. The local organizations are expected to eat into the Congress' Catholic vote bank in Salcete, Mormugao and Bardez talukas. One following the other, parties have pitch-forked to seek a pie in the 40-seat assembly and are trying to cash in on the anti-Congress sentiments building up in the state. Issues such as the illegal mining, deeprooted corruption, controversial Regional Plan 2021, medium of instructions, lack of development, and infighting in the Congress are likely to hit the Congress hard. Family raj politics The latest decision of the Congress to give tickets to family members of the sitting MLAs has
[Goanet-News] GOA BUS-RIVER TRAGEDY: Some rather saddening visuals from Calvim (Aldona)...
[Initial reports put the deaths at 15. The number of bodies recovered by late Saturday was 7. But it is not clear if more persons are still missing...] The uploader (selvinaabraham) of these videos, who was at the venue, has commented: I am afraid of political people. they got a chance to blame each other and to get advertisement for their party. but nobody bother about tears, mourning and crying heart of people...very sad. Calvim Tragedy, Aldona Goa -2012-Removing the body of small girl. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c-_LsbIcXzg&feature=share Aldona Calvim bus tragedy-18-02-2012 (removal of the bus) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zt9LahKqT7g Tragedy in Calvim, Aldona-2012 (shifting the ill-fated bus) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6ixtqTotbY See also: Mini bus plunges into Calvim river at Aldona, killing 7 including 4 students http://www.goanews.com/news_disp.php?newsid=1890 -- FN +91-9822122436 P +91-832-2409490 http://twitter.com/fn --- Protect Goa's natural beauty Support Goa's first Tiger Reserve Sign the petition at: http://www.goanet.org/petition/petition.php ---
[Goanet-News] Goa news for February 19, 2012
Goa News from Google News and Goanet.org Visit http://www.goanet.org/newslinks.php for the full stories. *** Goa calls off carnival festivities after accident - The Hindu ews/Goa/6-die-as-school-bus-falls-into-river-in-Goa/Article1-813301.aspx">6 die as school bus falls into river in Goa http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNG42PZtEj6jrACgnxpNOfsq-hV1vA&url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/other-states/article2907172.ece *** Goa results will go the way of Mumbai civic poll: BJP - IANS esults-will-go-the-mumbai-civic-poll-way-bjp/231472-37-170.html">Goa results will go the Mumbai civic poll way: BJP http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNGz6MGIln4x8PwdrvNvspRN3rzebQ&url=http://www.ianslive.in/index.php?param=news/383835/NATION/1 *** Goa polls: JGP releases list of 12 candidates - IBNLive.com NLive.comPTI Panaji: A musician, a priest and an actor are among the 12 candidates offered by the Jagrut Goemkarancho Fauz, a conglomeration of civil society groups, for the March 3 Goa Assembly polls. Paul Fernandes, a musician who has been entertaining people ...http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNFnFoBk7xAoIHFa6c5A-DJZyLkOnA&url=http://ibnlive.in.com/news/goa-polls-jgp-releases-list-of-12-candidates/231477-37-170.html *** Programmes drawn, Goa set to scream out 'Viva Carnival' - Times of India ff on Saturday at 3.30pm. Entertainment programmes will begin ... http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNFY-YT3mE7Oo1o_LDypjJn1Y--OWg&url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/Programmes-drawn-Goa-set-to-scream-out-Viva-Carnival/articleshow/11934549.cms *** Israeli officials, Goa cops review tourist security - TwoCircles.net oCircles.netBy IANS, Panaji : A delegation of Israel embassy officials met top Goa Police officials here late Friday along with union home ministry officials to review security arrangements for Israeli tourists in Goa, a police official said.http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNHzjo6RDC4axfF2OO4cpFoJswrh0w&url=http://twocircles.net/2012feb18/israeli_officials_goa_cops_review_tourist_security.html *** Petrol pump robbery: Accused gets 7 yrs RI - Times of India ernem in 2008, the assistant sessions court, North Goa, sentenced Domnic D'Sa from Chimbel to seven years of rigorous imprisonment. The police had charged D'Sa and Mancio Dias, who has since expired, ...http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNHWwxzLZ5tPy1RipENXpthvq1vGAA&url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/Petrol-pump-robbery-Accused-gets-7-yrs-RI/articleshow/11945114.cms *** When the going got tough - Times of India mes of IndiaThe response was there, but the nature of the incident was unfortunate," said North Goa disaster management chief and North Goa collector Mihir Vardhan. "The police had arrived immediately, but a crane had to be brought to pull the bus out.http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNHM92LDznIgbycDjL1NEG-NzCK3hw&url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/When-the-going-got-tough/articleshow/11945201.cms *** Goa: School bus falls into river, 6 killed - Indian Express dian ExpressFour children were among six persons killed today when a school bus plunged into a river in Aldona village near here. Bodies of Priyal Salgaoncar (10), Diana Dias (8), Elvina Dias (11) and Nigel Gracias (10) along with Josephine Dias (58) and Dayanand ...http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNH-K45yxM9jLPHZ7EzNz84uPp1ixg&url=http://www.indianexpress.com/news/goa-school-bus-falls-into-river-7-kill.../913782/ *** All EVMs Braille-enabled to help blind voters in Goa - Times of India bled voters in Goa. There are 1095 such voters in North Goa and 1476 in the South. These include voters that are blind, ...http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNFYcM0vAQImM652RxkeaCrEDgqq-A&url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/All-EVMs-Braille-enabled-to-help-blind-voters-in-Goa/articleshow/11944980.cms *** Goa deserves better administration: BJP - Times of India oe5dP28M">and more » http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNEg09NDIbNnWjbwwguQltPSSFKDUg&url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/Goa-deserves-better-administration-BJP/articleshow/11945152.cms Compiled by Goanet News Service http://www.goanet.org/newslinks.php --- Protect Goa's natural beauty Support Goa's first Tiger Reserve Sign the petition at: http://www.goanet.org/petition/petition.php ---
[Goanet-News] NEWS: Parrikar eyes South Goa Congress bastion (TNN)
Parrikar eyes South Goa Congress bastion TNN | Feb 18, 2012, 06.58AM IST CUNCOLIM/MARGAO: Opposition leader Manohar Parrikar feels a "massive" anti-incumbency sentiment and voters' disenchantment with Congress' 'family raj' politics will propel the BJP to power in the March 3 polls. His feeling, expressed to media in Margao on Friday, followed his visit to the party's Cuncolim office where he met members of the Assolna-Velim-Cuncolim Seafarers' Association and welcomed three local leaders into BJP. To members of the association Parrikar promised that their demands for a raise in pension, a seafarer's commissioner and medical insurance would be attended to if the BJP comes to power. The group, in turn, assured him of their support in the polls. After the meeting, ex-chief of Cuncolim municipality Ramesh Desai, ex-sarpanch of Paroda village panchayat Gabriel Fernandes and ex-MLA Arecio D'Souza were welcomed into the BJP. "Besides the strong anti-Congress wave, people know our performance while in power and want the BJP back. I am confident the wishes of the people will override the political syndrome of Goa," Parrikar told the press. Stating that BJP attaches "great significance" to Salcete in its poll strategy, the Panaji MLA said BJP would make inroads into the Catholic-dominated constituencies of South Goa this poll. "Though a lot of Catholics have aligned with the BJP, we know we can't win (in Salcete constituencies) on our own as we don't have adequate organizational set up there to counter money power. We have decided to field good independents in some constituencies," said Parrikar. On the medium of instruction issue, he said BJP's manifesto will carry the party's views and blamed the Congress for creating a "legal mess" creating trouble for 105 Diocesan schools. On illegal mining, Parrikar said the BJP will support "legal, eco-friendly and people-friendly mining". "That's why we have promised mining corridors in mining-affected areas within 18 months of coming to power." He stressed that "multiple groups (formed along family affiliations) will get together to loot Goa". http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Parrikar-eyes-South-Goa-Congress-bastion/articleshow/11934432.cms --- Protect Goa's natural beauty Support Goa's first Tiger Reserve Sign the petition at: http://www.goanet.org/petition/petition.php ---
