OHERALDOThe Voice of Goa Since 1900

HERALD REPORTERMARGAO, MARCH 20

Chalo Panjim. That was the mes-sage that went around Salcetescountryside to participate in thepublic meeting at the AzadMaidan on Monday afternoonin support of the demand forEnglish as the medium of in-struction at the elementary ed-ucation.

The PTAs of schools and otherconcerned citizens have madea strong case for English as themedium of instruction withKonkani/Marathi as one of thecompulsory subjects.

Addressing a press conferencein support of the demands ofthe parents, former TourismMinister, Mickky Pacheco hasvowed to fight tooth and nailfor government grants for Eng-lish medium schools.

He said that efforts are onamongst the ruling MLAs topush the issue to the next aca-demic year given this is an elec-

tion year.I will fight tooth and nail for

grants for English mediumschools. The government cannotabdicate their responsibility.People will not forgive the MLAsif they take Goans for a ride,he said, while giving a call tothe parents to attend the March21 rally at Azad Maidan in largenumbers.

Saying he does not find anydifficulty for the government toextend grants to Eng l i shmedium schools, Pacheco de-manded to know why the gov-ernment had been grantingpermissions for new Englishmedium schools across theState.

If the government is reallyhell bent on teaching the chil-dren their primary education intheir mother tongue, then, howdoes the government justify thatin the government primaryschool category, only seven percent schools teach in Konkani

medium, whereas 89 per centteach in Marathi medium. Is thegovernment trying to say thatonly seven per cent of the stu-dents have Konkani as theirmother tongue? When the gov-ernment even gives in grant-in-aid to Kannada medium, why isthe government hesitating togive grant-in-aid to Englishmedium, he asked and re-quested the government to keep

(Continued on page 10)

(Continued on page 10)

IN BRIEF

The prickly thorn oftenbears soft roses.

Ovid

Visit us at:www.oheraldo.in panjim, monday, march 21, 2011 postal reg. no. Goa 101 pricE rs. 3.00 (air Surcharge rs 2.00) pages 16+4

i n s i d el Debate favours parents

choice for medium ofinstruction... Page 3

l Musings on English as medium ofinstruction... Page 4

l The RTE Act 2009... Page 6

l Boon or curse... Page 7

Biz: Gates, Buffett to persuade rich

Indians to part with cash Pg 13

India: Bollywood stars greet

fans on Holi Pg 7Sports: Saina claims

Swiss Open title Pg 15

Heart-

HERALD REPORTERPANJIM, MARCH 20

Goa government would takestern action against its employ-ees who fail to report for dutyeven as the latter is adamant togo on an indefinite strike fromMonday onwards.

The strike is likely to affectthe proceedings of the Legisla-tive Assembly.

On Sunday, Chief SecretarySanjay Srivastava made a re-newed attempt to resolve thecall given by the Goa Govern-ment Employees Association forthe indefinite pen-down strikefrom Monday.

But the talks failed followingwhich the government has de-cided that the employees ab-sence from work will be decidedas unauthorised.

All secretaries, head of de-partments, head of Public SectorUndertakings and autonomousbodies, joint secretaries andunder secretaries are instructed

to record the names of the offi-cials who refuse to function dur-ing office hours.

Employees disobeying thedirections and participates inthe strike will be viewed seriously.

If the strike intensifies, theprinciple of no work no paywill be invoked in all such unau-thor i sed absence , thespokesperson said.

The Government in a circularissued has urged all employeesto desist from joining the strikecalled by the Association as its

recognition itself is under cloud.It has also urged the employeesnot to be misled by instigatingtalks of the Association members.

Meanwhile Association Pres-ident Mangaldas Shetkar hassaid that they are firm on theindefinite strike. The CS hasasked us to hold back our de-mands till the Assembly sessionends. But we have waited foryears together and still ourdemands are not heed. We arefirm on the indefinite strike callfrom Monday, Shetkar said.

A dAY oF ReCKoninGChalo Panjim! meetfor medium today

Govt employees firm on

strike, ignore warning

VIBHA VERMAPANJIM, MARCH 20

Archeological Survey of India(ASI) has planned to introducetickets for the visitors at the13th century old Aguada Fort,which has been listed as a pro-tected monument.

The Central government runagency has also decided to postsecurity guards on this fort,which has been frequented bythe visitors. ASIs Goa Circle saidthat the security measures arerequired to curb the anti socialand immoral activity in the fort.

In its report to the ASI Direc-tor General Dr Gautam SenGupta, the Goa Circle has sug-gested that ticketing systemcould generate revenue asAguada Fort is a hot favouriteamongst tourists, filmmakersand even locals.

The place is frequented by

thousands of visitors everyday.We are losing revenue as we arenot charging any fees for theentry. As per the rules, we canfix a nominal fee, said ASI Su-perintendent Shivram Rao.

With the revenue collectionfrom this monument, the ASI

plans to put up basic infrastruc-ture like drinking water, toiletand others for the visitors. TheASI also intends to have wheelchairs for the physically chal-lenged visitors, who visit here.

Following ticketing, the ASIalso plans to deploy strict se-

curity vigil as in the past theyhave encountered several badexperiences.

Sources stated that some mis-creants broke open the fortsfrontal huge gate and damagedthe iron bars.

Rao said that the security willbe provided 24x7 for the fort,which has a historic importanceand also houses a light houseand jail beneath it.

The ASI has almost completedthe significant restoration of thefort by fixing grills on the moat,filling up the gap between thestones, while the thick vegeta-tion has also been cleared.

When asked about the crum-bling walls, the ASI chief repliedthat the fort is in healthy con-dition. The ASI received fund ofRs 1.5 crore from the CentralGovernment in the last fiscalyear for the restoration activity.

now, pay to visit Aguada Fort

Radiation levelsworry Japan

PTITOKYO/FUKUSHIMA, MARCH 20

Over 300 Japanese engineers onSunday raced against time tosalvage the quake-hit Fukushimaatomic power plant makingsome progress in their effortsto cool down overheated spentfuel rods but concerns spreadover rising radiation levelsand food and water contam-ination.

The plant operator TokyoE lec t r i c Power Company(TEPCO) said external power wasrestored to the No 2 reactor andover 2,400 tons of water werespread into buildings housingNo 3 and No 4 reactors, all hitby March 11, 9.0 magnitudeearthquake and tsunami, which

has left 21,000 dead or miss-ing.

A sudden rise in pressure in-side No 3 reactor sent jittersamong the technicians whoquickly prepared exigency planto release more radioactivegasses into the atmosphere toregulate it but the plans wereaborted after TEPCO said thatthe situation has been stabilised.

I think the situation is im-proving step by step, DeputyChief Cabinet Secretary TetsuroFukuyama told a news confer-ence. Some 300 engineers wereengaged to intensify efforts tocoo l the reac to r s a t theFukushima plant, 240 kmsfrom Tokyo, to avert melt-downs.

PTITRIPOLI/CAIRO, MARCH 20

The US and European forces onSunday unleashed over 100Tomahawk cruise missiles onLibyan military targets in Tripoliand along the Mediterraneancoast as their war planespounded forces of MuammarGaddafi who vowed to retaliateagainst western aggressionand the war on Islam.

At least 112 Tomahawk mis-siles were fired from Americanand British ships and submarinesin Operation Odyssey Dawn(OOD), targeting some 20 Libyanair and missile defence targetsin Tripoli and western city ofMisurata, US Navy Vice Admiral

William Gortney said at a Pen-tagon briefing in Washington.

India and Russia came outagainst the strikes. India said itregrets the air strikes that are

taking place and wanted meas-ures to be taken to mitigate andnot exacerbate the already dif-ficult situation for the Libyanpeople.

Us-led coalition pound Libya

A Transal, a French military transport plane takes off on Sunday at theaerial military base of Solenzara in Corsica.

2 Indians indetained ship

AFPROME, MARCH 20

Italy is ready to use all possiblemeans to free the 11-strongcrew, including two Indians, ofan Italian high-seas tugboatbeing held in the Libyan port ofTripoli, Defence Minister IgnazioLa Russa said on Sunday.

We are on standby for anevacuation of the detained tug-boat crew by a l l possiblemeans, he told Rai 3 television.

Armed men, including onewho claimed to be the harbour

n All secretaries, head of departments, head of PublicSector Undertakings and autonomous bodies, jointsecretaries and under secretaries are instructed torecord the names of the officials who refuse tofunction during office hours.

n If the strike intensifies, the principle of no work nopay will be invoked in all such unauthorisedabsence.

Govt pens it down

Bahrain oppn seeks UN, US intervention

APMANAMA, MARCH 20

Bahrains opposition asked forUN and American interventionin the government crackdownon the Shiite protests trying toloosen the monarchys grip, ina brief protest on Sunday in thecapital that disbanded beforepolice could arrive to break itup.

The 18 opposition legislatorsprotesting today at the UN of-fices in Manama resigned lastmonth to protest the crackdownon the month-long revolt, in-spired by the pro-democracy up-risings across the Arab world.

Bahrains king declared mar-tial law last week, and a Saudi-led military force from otherGulf nations is in the countryto back the Sunni monarchy.

In the five-minute protest, thelawmakers appealed to the UNto stop the violence against pro-testers and mediate talks be-tween the opposition and themonarchy; they asked the US topressure the Gulf force to leave.

They should return home.There is no need for them to behere since this a political, not amilitary problem, said JassimHussein, a former parliamentmember of Bahrains largest Shi-ite group Al Wefaq.

The Gulf force underscoresthe deep wor r i e s aboutBahrains stability among the re-gions Sunni kings and sheiks,who fear any s tumble byBahrains leaders could em-bolden challenges to their ownregimes and possibly open po-litical inroads for Shiite Iran.

Iran has condemned thepresence of the Gulf force inBahrain.

Equinoxtoday

PTINEW DELHI, MARCH 20

Marking the beginning of spring,the Sun will cross the plane ofthe Earths equator on March21 morning, making day andnight of approximately the sameduration.

The event known as equinoxis eagerly awaited by space en-thusiasts as it takes place onlytwice a year, on March 21 andSeptember 23.

On the equinox, the sunmoves across the celestial equa-tor, which lies directly above theEarths equator.

When the Sun crosses theplane, it rises exactly in the eastand sets exactly in the west.

This year the phenomenon(vernal equinox) will take placeat 4:51 AM (23:21 UT), SciencePopularisation Association ofCommunicators and Educators(SPACE) President ChanderBhushan Devgun said.

THE HEAT IS ON: Powered by a pain-staking 113 by Yuvraj Singh, India laboured hard in hot and humid conditions to win their last Group Bleague match against West Indies by 80 runs in Chennai on Sunday. India will now face the heat as they take on Australia in the quaterfinalson March 24 in Ahmedabad. (Report on page 16)

Yemeni Prezsacks govt

AFPSANAA, MARCH 20

Yemens embattled Presi-dent Ali Abdullah Saleh onSunday sacked his govern-ment in the face of massiveprotests demanding his res-ignation, the state newsagency Saba reported.

The president has dis-missed the government butasked the cabinet to remainin a caretaker position untila new one is formed, Sabasaid.

The announcement cameas tens of thousands of peo-ple turned out in Sanaatoday for the funerals ofmany of the 52 peoplegunned down by Saleh loy-alists two days earlier.

The victims were killedon Friday when snipersraked demonstrators nearSanaa University square withbullets from surroundingrooftops.

The protest movementagainst Saleh started in lateJanuary.

The opposition says thepresident a key US allyin the war against Al -Qaeda in the region must resign this year, buthe has refused to leave untilhis current term expires in2013. Saleh has been inpower since 1978.

High Tide: 1201; 2351

Low Tide: 0543; 1756

T I D E S T O D A Y

A girl casts her vote for the nextTibetan Prime Minister-in-exile inDharamsala on Sunday.

Tibetans vote fornew PM-in-exileThousands of Tibetans acrossthe world on Sunday voted toelect the prime minister of theTibetan government-in-exile,an exercise that may usher ina transition in the commu-nitys leadership following theDalai Lamas flat refusal toreconsider his decision to re-tire as its political head. (PTI)

(Report on page 10)

Holi turns tragic for4 Delhi families Holi celebrations turned tragicfor four families in the capitalas they lost their loved ones two teenagers drowned, alabourer murdered and ayoung couple crushed todeath in an accident leavingtheir two children orphaned. (PTI)

9 miners killed in PakistanNine miners were killed and41 others trapped when a coalmine in Balochistan provinceof southwest Pakistan col-lapsed following a blastcaused by methane gas. Theexplosion in the mine at So-rang, located about 30 kmfrom provincial capital Quetta,was caused by the accumula-tion of methane gas. (PTI)

GOAOHERALD

O

Pg 2GOA, MONDAY, 21 MARCH, 2011

CIVIC FORUMThe precarious dangle!

ADELMO FERNANDES, VASCO

The above picture shows this huge plastic advertisement bannerhung from a building near the Railway station at Vasco. Oneend has come off and it now hangs precariously with supportfrom the other end.

This is obviously a sight for sore eyes. What is more is thatit poses a danger to the general public as it can come downcausing injury to passers-by. The concerned authorities needto take necessary action before someone gets seriously hurt.

No stopping, no waitingPRAVIN U SARDESSAI, ADPAI

Private buses plying on various routes have been purposelyhalting at various strategic locations and wait for commutersto board them. For instance, buses proceeding from old bus-stand, Ponda towards Vasco, Margao and Sanvordem halt atthe sharp turn at Tisk. Buses proceeding towards the KTC bus-stand, Margao towards Ponda halt near the District and SessionsCourt at the old market. Similarly, buses proceeding from KTCbus-stand, Ponda towards Panaji often halt near the ferry bus-stop at Sao Pedro and Ribandar. So also, buses proceedingfrom Panaji to Ponda halt near the Kundaim gate which happensto be a major bus-stop.

However, the above practice causes great inconvenience andcommuters get delayed in reaching their respective destinations.The RTO authorities should take a serious view of this unfairpractice and initiate appropriate action against the bus-operators

Illegal roadside garagesMAHESH KUMAR, MARGAO

The Bolshe Big Foot Circle roundabout in Gogol Margaowith its impressive statues and decorations is a landmark pieceat Gogol. However, close to the approach of this roundabout,an illegal garage has cropped up. This illegal garage operatespartly on the road and partly on the kerb. The garage sprawlsonto the road by almost three metres when business is brisk.This illegal garage blocks traffic and has messed up the wholearea with grease, grime and rubbish, and in the process, hasdestroyed the beauty of Bolshe Big Foot Circle.

It is baffling that the concerned authorities like the Deputy-Collector of Margao, The Chief Officer of Margao Municipalityand the Chief Traffic Police Officer of Margao have turned ablind eye and have allowed this illegal garage to thrive on thislandmark area of Gogol. Just imagine what would happen ifeveryone set up such illegal roadside garages before many ofMargaos roundabouts? There has to some mechanism whereproper law and order is maintained. It is the duty of the au-thorities to enforce some semblance of discipline; otherwisesuch structures will mushroom everywhere. If the concernedauthorities do not take action, the

"Chaka Chak Team" should take the lead.

Goas rubbish

M MACBAIN, SCOTLAND

My wife and I have been spending our winter holidays inGoa for 12 years now, and like many of our fellow tourists, weare becoming more and more frustrated with the amount ofrubbish we see everywhere in Goa.

The above picture is a classic example. While it's true thatthere have been many improvements over the years, such asthe roads and the electricity supply, the rubbish situation seemsto be getting worse. The piles of rubbish behind the shacks inCandolim, Calangute and Baga seem to lie there all season sometimes the smell is sickening. Then there is the dumpingof rubbish along the new footpaths that were built at a) enteringCalangute from Nerul bridge and b) on the approach to thenew Baga bridge. I have heard it said that, it's the tourist's de-mand for bottled water on the beaches that causes the problemfor the shack-owners. However, the tourists can't be blamedfor what is dumped along the roadsides.

If things don't improve with regard to rubbish collection,then we like many others, will have to consider holidayingsomewhere in Thailand or Cambodia where the litter problemis under control.

(Do you have a complaint against some authority or service? Arethere any violations of the law that you would like to bring to thenotice of the public?

Do you have any suggestions for improvement and/or redressal ofservices? If you do, then write to us at editor@herald-goa.com. Withthe aim of improving the quality of our civic life, every Monday,Herald will publish the best letters on these subjects received duringthe week.

This is in addition to our regular Letters to the Editor column.)

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

MERCES, MARCH 20

Garbage is collected from 40spots in Chimbel village, out ofwhich at 10 spots garbage iscollected on a daily basiswhereas at 30 spots garbage iscollected every alternate day.

This is the information pro-vided by Chimbel Panchayat Sec-retary Prasad Shet under the RTIAc t to v i l l age r Tuka ramKunkolkar who had sought infor-mation regarding frequency ofgarbage collection in the village.

A rosy picture indeed! How-ever, the ground reality paintsa different picture altogether asforget about daily collection,there are several places cited inthe information where garbageis not collected even alternately.

And the picture gets evengrimmer as there are somep laces ment ioned wheregarbage collection does not takeplace at all.

When Herald questioned Pan-chayat Secretary Prasad on whatbasis he has given the informa-tion, he said that he has reliedon the resolution adopted atthe fortnightly meeting of thepanchayat wherein the detailswere prepared.

When asked whether he hasnot bothered to cross checkwhether the information is fac-tually correct or not, Prasad saidit is not his duty to cross check.

Interestingly, the said resolu-tion, on the basis of which the

Waste collection at Chimbel RTI info paints rosy picture, reality proves otherwise

REALITY CHECK: This is the way garbage is being disposed in Chimbel, by burning. This photo showsone point of collection (near Rajesh Tailor) in Ward 1, where RTI information states that garbage is col-lected daily. Photo by Manuel Vazinformation is provided, is pro-posed by Panch Manohar Shan-mugan and seconded byBhadrinath Jagannath, and ispassed 10-0 in favour of the res-olution.

Apparently, Panch Manoharrepresents Ward 1 in Indira-Nagar and the details state thatthere are four points of collec-tion in this ward namely nearBhau Bandekar Printing Press,

near Rajesh Tailor, near Borkarhouse and near Mahadev Tem-ple, where information claimsthat garbage collection is donedaily.

When Herald visited thesespots, it was seen that garbagewas burnt. Herald also ques-tioned some residents and askedwhether garbage is collecteddaily. And all those questionedsaid that garbage is not col-

lected even weekly and that thegarbage is disposed of by burn-ing.

While most of them did notwish to be named fearing ha-rassment from panchayat au-thorities, Anand Karnam cameforward boldly and said thegarbage at the spot (near RajeshTailor) is burnt daily and thatgarbage collection is done oncein a blue moon.

Again, in Ward 6, it is shownthat there are three points ofcollection, where collection isundertaken every alternate day.However, Tukaram Kunkolkarsaid as per his knowledge, tilltoday garbage has not been col-lected even once.

The information that is givenis only to mislead the higher au-thorities when the ground real-ity is actually the opposite, healleged.

In Ward 7, the picture is nodifferent either, as villager JohnPereira informed that garbageis collected once in a week andnot every alternate day as men-tioned. Two labourers comedaily and burn the waste, hefurther added.

Yet again, in Ward 11, it isshown that there are two pointsof collection, where collectionis done every alternate day. But,a resident of the area HussainChapparband said from the firstspot shown (near Kasim Mullahouse), garbage is not collectedeven fortnightly.

Hussain further said thatwhenever the contractor comesto collect garbage, only a smallamount is lifted while most ofthe garbage is being left behind.If the panchayat cant lift theentire garbage, it would be bet-ter to stop garbage collection,he added.

Interestingly, from the secondspot mentioned in Ward 11(near Rajaram House), garbageis not collected at all.

DSS pension of18,341 people

stopped: Sudin HERALD REPORTER

PANJIM, MARCH 20

The Department of Social Wel-fare has stopped pension of18,341 beneficiaries under theDayanand Socia l SecurityScheme pension scheme, Min-ister for Social Welfare Ramkr-ishna Sudin Dhavalikar said.

In reply to a question tabledon the floor of the LegislativeAssembly last week, the ministerexplained that pensions werestopped for various reasons de-tected during inquiry.

Pensions have been stoppedfor various reasons such as ben-eficiary expired, double sanc-tioned, receiving pension fromArt & Culture Department, re-tired government pensioners,husband & wife both receivingpension, non-eligible cases, ben-eficiaries surrendered voluntar-ily, Sudin said in a written replyto a question from Leader ofOpposition Manohar Parrikar.

Whereas, applications of 5101pensioners comprising of 4485senior citizens, 463 widows and153 handicapped are pendingas on date. No applications ofunmarried women are pending.

Sudin, in the reply has furtherstated that 1,31,367 applicationshave been sanctioned and 1,13,026beneficiaries are receiving the pen-sion under the scheme.

Among those who are availingthe benefit comprise of 77,235senior citizens, 28,055 widows,7667 handicapped and 57 un-married.

HERALD REPORTER

MARGAO, MARCH 20

Theres good news in store forresidents of Betalbatim village.

The Panchayat would soonundertake testing of drinking waterwells, both public and private, dot-ting the village Countryside.

At the Sunday gram sabhameeting, Sarpanch MinguelPereira said that the panchayathas received water testing kitsfrom the PWD to test water sam-ples of drinking water wells. Hepointed out that the exercisewould commence soon after ameeting with the Water Sanita-tion Committee.

Replying to a query from a gramsabha member, the Sarpanch saidthe exercise would cover all the 48wells, private and public.

The gram sabha also adopteda resolution to acquired landadmeasuring 42000 sq metersat the Tonwaddo beach to setup facilities for the visitors. Dur-

ing discussions, it was pointedout that the beach is frequentedby picnickers who face difficul-ties for want of any facilities.

The sarpanch informed the achildrens park, besides chang-ing rooms and other facilitiescan be set up on the acquired landfor the benefit of the visitors. In re-sponse to a query, the Sarpanchconfirmed that the panchayathas a valid subscription to theGovernment Gazette and they wereavailable for reference to any mem-ber of the Gram Sabha. It was alsoconfirmed that a file of all circularsreceived from the government wasavailable for inspection.

When pressed about the im-portant circulars received, theGram Sabha was told that oneof them contained instructionsthat henceforth all constructionplans were to be sent directlyto the TCP and would come to thepanchayat after all the clearances.

Members were up in arms

and immediately, it was unani-mously resolved that all con-struction plans should be routedthrough the panchayat first as wasthe practice. It was further resolvedthat a copy of the resolution be for-warded to the TCP and the ministeras also the local MLA.

The Sarpanch assured agi-tated members that he wasaware of the nuisance causedby a commercial piggery-cumgarbage collection centre and wastaking steps to solve the problem.

The Sarpanch also informedthat a new transformer wouldsoon come up in Chaul ward asthe ground work was complete.The medium of instruction issuetoo figured and it was unani-mously resolved that the Edu-cation Dept be urged to givegrants for primary education inEnglish whilst insisting thatKonkani the sole official lan-guage of Goa be made compul-sory from Std I to SSCE.

Betalbatim VP to test water wells in village

HERALD REPORTER

MARGAO, MARCH 20

The Gram sabha of Benaulim vil-lage panchayat on Sunday calledfor the ouster of both theSarpanch Carmelina Fernandesand her deputy Stanley Fernan-des from the posts.

The Sunday meeting was heldin the absence of both theSarpanch and her deputy. Themeeting was chaired by Panchmember Gilbert Fernandes afterthe Sarpanch abstained onhealth grounds.

Members called for the re-moval of the Sarpanch anddeputy Sarpanch on groundsthat they have not been workingin the interest and developmentof the village. Agitated memberspointed out that the Sarpanch

had lodged police complaintagainst them in December lastyear over the garbage issuewithout any valid reason.

Agitated members asked thePanchayat secretary to producethe copy of the affidavit field bythe Sarpanch in the high courton the garbage issued. Memberspointed out that the police com-plaint filed against some of themembers is also mentioned inthe affidavit filed in the courtand wondered why the affidavitwas not brought on the Pan-chayat record.

The police complaint filed bythe Sarpanch was deliberatedat the meeting, with gram sabhamembers demanding to knowthe Panchas whether theSarpanch had taken them into

confidence before lodging thecomplaint. The Panch memberspresent at the meeting repliedin the negative.

A resolution was also tabledto file appropriate proceedingsin the appropriate forum againstthe sarpanch for carrying outthe expenses without approvingthe budget.

Members pointed out thatthe audit has raised queries overthe failure to approve thebudget in the past and hencecalled for action against theSarpanch.

Questions were raised overthe panchayats decision to en-gage a new lawyer and de-manded to know from the Chairover the decision to replace theprevious advocate.

Meet calls for ouster of Benaulim sarpanch, dy

HERALD REPORTER

MARGAO, MARCH 20

The Sao Jose de Areal gramsabha on Sunday has adopted aresolution directing the Pan-chayat to challenge the orderof Additional panchayat Direc-tor regarding the mega hous-i n g p r o j e c t o f O m S a iDevelopers.

At the meeting held on Sun-day, agitated members told thePanchayat body to file an appealin the South Goa District Courtagainst the order of the Addi-tional Panchayat Director andto hold in abeyance inspec-tion of the project pendingdec i s ion by the D i s t r i c tCourt, South.

The members also demandedthat the Panchayat also take theinspection committee into con-fidence while inspecting theproject.

Members further demandedthat all illegalities such as thebuilding height, construction inCADA area etc be corrected first,while claiming that the builderhas submitted different plansciting different road width.

The meeting which waspresided by deputy SarpanchVincy Mascarenhas in the ab-sence of the Sarpanch wit-n e s s e d a n u p r o a r w h e nmembers alleged a fraud onthe question of deleting in-formation by the secretaryby applying white ink. Mem-bers demanded action in the

Sao Jose meet wants order on housing project challenged

Year Religion Rep. Det. C/S

2008 Hindu 12 4 1

Catholic 4 1 1

Muslim 1 0 0

Jain 1 0 0

2009 Hindu 9 3 3

Catholic 4 0 0

Muslim 0 0 0

Jain 0 0 0

2010 Hindu 3 3 3

Catholic 10 2 0

Muslim 0 0 0

Jain 0 0 0

Cops low in detecting desecration cases

HERALD REPORTER

PANJIM, MARCH 20

Goa polices insensitivity in in-vestigating sensational religiousdesecration cases is evident withlow detection level as againstthe total number of cases reg-istered from 2008-2010.

With 44 cases registered inthe last three years, Goa police

has detected mere 13 cases andcharge-sheeted eight cases sofar.

The reply tabled by HomeMinister Ravi Naik on the floorof the House last week, also re-vealed that police have achievedtwo convictions, two acquittalswhile four cases are pendingtrial.

Davorlim opposes land acquisition

HERALD REPORTER

MARGAO, MARCH 20

Agitated members of the Da-vorlim gram sabha on Sundayregistered their strong protestover the governments move toacquire Communidade land ad-measuring 1.15 lakh square me-ters for the proposed publicutility services.

The gram sabha demandedthat the government drop theland acquisition proceedingsand leave the land for the ben-efit of the villagers. They pointedout that the land in questionwas preserved and protected bytheir ancestors for posterityand urged the governmentto respect the sentiments ofthe people and drop the pro-posal.

Members pointed out thatthe government has gone aheadwith the land acquisition pro-posal despite a host of resolu-tions passed by the gram sabhaand the Panchayat body.

In this connection, agitatedmembers suggested that a mor-cha be taken to the office of theCollectorate, South and hold ameeting at the historic LohiaMaidan to make the publicaware of the government deci-sion.

matter and to write a letterto the BDO immediately.

Member also demanded thatthe Panchayat withdraw licenseto a factory Tech Force in the

village, claiming it was ille-gal.

The meeting witnessed acommotion when a gramsabha member accused theSarpanch, which was ob-jected to by the Panchayatmembers.

Amidst the commotion, agram sabha member suggestedthat the elected members bemade to swear on the Holy Bibleat the next meeting that theyhave not taken any bribe fromthe politicians, building andquarry owners.

Agitated members have alsocalled upon the Panchayat bodyto communicate with the con-cerned department for the re-lease of water in the irrigationcanal built over two decadesago.

nAgitated memberstold the Panchayatbody to file an appealin the South GoaDistrict Court againstthe order of theAdditional PanchayatDirector and to hold inabeyance inspectionof the project pendingdecision by theDistrict Court, South.

Thousands witness shigmo at Ponda

The floats that participated in the Shigmo parade at Ponda.Photo by Amresh Parab

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

MARCEL, MARCH 20

Thousands of people fromPonda and nearby areas con-verged at Ponda on Sunday towitness the annual Shigmo pa-rade festival.

Despite Holi celebrations andthe ICC World Cup Cricketmatch between India and WestWindies, the State level Shigmoparade at Ponda turned out tobe a big crowd puller.

Home Minister Ravi Naikalong with Shiroda MLA Ma-hadev Naik and Priol ML ADeepak Dhavlikar inaugurated

the Shigmo parade at Tisk-Ponda in the presence of Bolly-wood actor ChandrachurSingh.

In all, 32 floats, seven Lokn-rutya, five Romtamel along withnumerous fancy dress partici-pants took part in the paradethat commenced at about 6pm.

Police force was stationed atthe States cultural capital tomonitor security arrange-ments.

Traffic Police also managedin controlling the road traffic asper plans.

GOAOHERALD

OPg3

GOA, MONDAY, 21 MARCH, 2011

HERALD REPORTER

MARGAO, MARCH 20

A debate held at the BenaulimCommunity Centre on Sundayon the topic Should English bemade the Medium of Instructionin school concluded that thefuture of children should be de-cided by the parents and not bythe politicians.

The well-attended debatedwhich was hosted by Dr HubertGomes brought to the notice ofthe gathering that the Goa,Daman & Diu School EducationAct, 1984 and Rules 1986 clearlystates that the teaching in aschool at the primary level stage,shall, as far as practicable, bein the mother tongue of thechild, unless the parents orguardians of the child requestsotherwise in writing.

Dr Gomes emphasized thatthe Act clearly implies that ifthe majority of the parents ofchildren studying in a particularschool want the medium of in-struction to be in English, itshould be granted.

Almost every participant atthe debate agreed that themedium of instruction shouldnot be imposed on the children,but should be as per the wishesof the parents. Anxious parentsraised a host of questions overthe medium of instruction policy

from Std I-VIII and strongly de-manded that English should bemade the medium of instructionwith Konkani/Marathi as a com-pulsory subject up to Std VIII.

Some of the parents felt thatif certain schools want to con-tinue with Marathi or Konkanias their medium of instruction,they should be allowed to doso without denying the rightsof those who want to shift toEnglish. However, the partici-pants agreed that the EducationDepartment should give equalgrants to every governmentaided school, irrespective of themedium of instruction adaptedby that school.

CALANGUTE CORRESPON-DENT ADDS: Parents of coastalCalangute students will joinprotest march at Azad Maidanon Monday.

Speaking to Herald, the par-ents of the area are of the opin-ion that the decision to educatetheir child should be decidedby themselves and the politicalplay by self-centred politiciansshould be stopped.

The State government hasbeen dangling with a sword overCatholic-run institutions denyingthem grants if they do notswitch over to Konkani orMarathi medium of instruc-tions, they stated.

The parents are of the opinionthat the medium of instructionshould not be decided by thepoliticians, but the parent aloneand the State governmentshould have no discriminationwhatsoever if English continuesto be the medium of instructionas it is the sole language thatwill come handy throughouttheir lives.

The parents are also agitatedthat the Konkani/Marathi ghosthas not yet died down to decideon the grants for the schools.

The parents wondered whythe issue has cropped up againwhen it was settled long backwith medium of instruction asEnglish and Konkani/Marathi as

optional languages. The parentsalso do not rule out a big scam ora ploy to close down Catholic-runschools in the name of grants.

The medium of instructionshould be English as it is thesole language that comes handyall the while. The mother tongueKonkani should be given its dueplace with a compulsory sub-ject, said Simon DSouza.

Says Natty Lobo To imposeKonkani or Marathi language onstudents is madness. Englishshould be the medium of in-struction at elementary, whileKonkani or Marathi should bean optional compulsory subject.The present system should bemaintained without affectingthe students or the parents.

Valentine Pereira said: Thereshould be no changes whatso-ever in the medium of instruc-t i o n w h i c h i s p r e s e n t l yEnglish.

Majority of the teachers ofthe area alleged that the Stategovernment or the politicians haveulterior motives in making Konkanior Marathi the medium of instructionat elementary level.

The English language is easyto understand for the parentsas well as students, so whyshould the government playwith their educational careers,questioned teachers.

Debate favours parents choice for medium of instructions

nAnxious parentsraised a host ofquestions over themedium of instructionpolicy from Std I-VIIIand stronglydemanded thatEnglish should bemade the medium ofinstruction withKonkani/Marathi as acompulsory subjectup to Std VIII.

Property gutted in CurchoremHERALD CORRESPONDENT

CURCHOREM, MARCH 20

Property worth over Rs 5 lakhwas gutted in a fire at Baag-wada-Curchorem crematoriumlate Saturday night.

According to sources, overfive truck loads of fire wood wasstored in one of the godowns,which caught fire at about 11

pm.The local residents, who no-

ticed the flames coming outf rom t h e r o o f o f t h egodowns, immediately sum-moned the Curchorem FireBrigade.

The fire personnel under theleadership of leading fire fighterR V Pednekar had to fight for

about five hours to bring thefire under control.

Fire Brigade managed to savehalf of the firewood. However,the roof of the two adjacentg o d o w n s c o l l a p s e d a n dgutted in the f i re .

Besides, the walls also de-veloped cracks due to thefire.

Curtorim local convicted for rash driving

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

SANGUEM, MARCH 20

Judicial Magistrate First ClassQuepem Bela N Naik has con-victed one Conceicao MeninoFernandes of Grande Morod,Curtorim, for rash and negligentdriving and for causing injuriesto the car occupants.

In the judgement passed re-cently, JMFC Naik sentenced theaccused for one year rigorousimprisonment and a fine of Rs1,000 or in default to undergorigorous imprisonment for onemonth for offence under Section338 and six months rigorous im-prisonment and fine of Rs 500for offence under Section 279and six months rigorous impris-onment and fine of Rs 500 underSection 337 of IPC.

The Judge also held that ifthe amount of fine is realized,then the same is to be paid tothe injured persons.

In the instant case, the ac-cused on July 11, 2008 atXelvona drove his Mahindra jeep(GA-02-A-7464) in a rash andnegligent manner and dashedagainst oncoming Maruti Zen(GA-06-A-0449), which was pro-ceeding from Curtorim to Cur-chorem.

The car occupants, DomnicMendes, his wife Sandy and twoother occupants, were injuredin the accident.

HERALD REPORTER

PANJIM, MARCH 20

With rise in number of road ac-cidents, Goa Government claimsto have enforced road discipline& safety and different strategiesto reduce accidents.

In reply to a starred questiontabled in the legislative assemblylast week, Home Minister RaviNaik siad that traffic enforce-ment has increased by 1.34 per-cent.

In 2010, traffic police booked2,63,239 traffic offenders asagainst 2,59,752 cases in year2009.

Thus, in all 3,487 more per-sons were booked for traffic vi-olations in 2010 compared to

previous year.Moreover, the de-partment has col-l e c ted f i neamount o f Rs3 .50 c ro re a sagainst Rs 3.20crore for the cor-responding period in 2009.

Naik, in the reply, stated thatthe government has engagedexperts from the Central RoadResearch Institute (CRRI), NewDelhi to conduct a comprehen-sive study of Goa road trafficand transportation problems.

The experts have already vis-ited major accident spots, acci-dent prone zones and importantjunctions/intersections through-

out Goa. Speedlimits have beennotified. Variousmodern gadgetshave been pro-posed to be ac-qu i red underPolice Moderniza-

tion Scheme, the ministerreplied.

Naik further said that the traf-fic police have suggested forspeed breakers and rumblers atimportant places to controlspeeding vehicles which wouldin turn minimize accidents. Healso said that all special opera-tions are taken to ensure thattraffic rules are observed by roadusers

In 2010, 627 Goa and outsta-tion vehicles were involved inaccidents, as against 610 vehi-cles involved in fatal, seriousand minor accidents in 2009.

Even though various steps arebeing taken to reduce accidents,Naik told the House that the de-partment does not have a ded-i c a t e d C e l l t o m o n i t o raccidents and take correctivemeasures.

However, whenever anyfatal/grievous accident takesplace, traffic officers of respec-tive traffic cells visit the accidentspot and suggest correctivemeasures, if any to the con-cerned civic authority andPWD, the reply states.

Experts to conduct comprehensive study on traffic problems: Ravi

Year vehicles

challaned

2008 2,47,455

2009 2,59,752

2010 2,63,239

3 hurt in Vasco

HERALD REPORTER

VASCO, MARCH 20

Three people, including twoyouths, were injured in an acci-dent along the highway nearShantinagar Junction, Vasco, onSunday evening.

According to reports, the ac-cident occurred when AshishAshok Divkar (21) from New Vad-dem along with his friendVenkatesh (pillion rider) wereproceeding towards New Vad-dem on their motorcycle (GA-06-C-3559).

On reaching near ShantinagarJunction, the motorcycle riderlost control over the vehicle andfirst dashed against Chetakscooter (GA-02-L-1882) from therear, which was also proceedingin the same direction.

After hitting the scooter, themotorcycle skidded further andbanged against a stationary bus.

Motorcycle rider Divkar andthe pillion rider sustained in-juries, while scooterist ShivdharJadhav (42) sustained leg frac-ture.

Divkar, who had sustainedgrievous injuries, was operatedin a private hospital at Chicalim,while scooter rider Jadhav wasadmitted in GMC Hospital.

The motorcycle that went underneath a bus near Shantinagar-Vasco. Photo by M Prabhav

Valanka supporters demand Cong ticket

HERALD REPORTER

MARGAO, MARCH 20

Supporters of Valanka Alemaoon Sunday demanded that theCongress nominate her as theparty candidate in Benaulim con-stituency.

The demand was communi-cated to Youth Congress Electionofficial in-charge of Goa, J Sara-vanan at a meeting held outsideValankas office at Benaulim thisevening.

Saravanan did not make anycommitment on the party ticket,but make it quite clear toValankas supporters that effortsput in to strengthen the organ-ization through the Youth Con-gress membership will not goin vain.

In her address, Valankas sup-porter Catarine made an im-passioned plea to Saravananto impress upon the Con-gress leadership to allot theticket to Valanka to serve thepeople o f Benau l im con-stituency.

Describing Valanka as astrong, hardworking and dy-namic citizen, she said thepeople of Benaulim are allready to support her to winthe seat.

We are confident thatValanka will help the people toovercome all their difficultiesand problems, she said, adding

that Valanka had been fightingfor the poor and needy.

In his address, Colva PanchCalvert Gonsalves asked theYouth Congress leader toi m p r e s s u p o n t h e C o n -gress leadersh ip to g iveValanka a chance to ser vethe people.

She has already proved her-self. Give her one chance as theParty candidate and Valankawould not let the party down,Calvert said, while asserting thatthe people of Benaulim aresolidly behind her.

Saravanan, however, pointedout that his visit to Goa is notto decide the seat or candidatesfor the constituencies, but hascome down to the state to over-see the membership drive as asoldier of the party.

Conveying Rahul Gandhismessage to work hard tostrengthen the organization,Saravanan pointed out thatRahul will not let the Youth Con-gress down.

Saying that Rahul Gandhi hashonoured his promise made tothe Youth Congress in TamilNadu by allotting 16 ticketsto Youth Congress leaders,he said work to strengthenthe party organization andcontribute to the member-ship drive and your effortswould not go waste.

Margaoshigmotsav imbrogliocontinues

HERALD REPORTER

MARGAO, MARCH 20

The rival Margao ShigmotsavSamitis headed by Chief Minis-ter, Digambar Kamat and MLADamu Naik finally met in thecity here on Sunday to arrive ata compromise to hold a jointshigmo in the commercial cap-ital this year.

The Damu-led panel gave therival group a proposal on thecomposition of the Committeeand has given a deadline till 11am on Monday to decide on thecompromise.

As per the proposal, theDamu led Panel has suggestedthat the Margao ShigmotsavSamiti should be headed byChief Minister, Digambar Kamat,while the president of the Or-ganising Committee should goto Girish Chodankar of theKamat panel.

In return, the Damu panel hassuggested nomination of Ru-pesh Mahatme as the Samitigeneral secretary and VasudevVirdikar as the treasurer.

After coming out of the talks,Mahatme said that the ball nowlies in the court of the Kamat-led panel to accept or reject theproposal.

Anganwadis issue understudy: Govt

HERALD REPORTER

PANJIM, MARCH 20

Goa Government has said thatthe demand of the Anganwadiworkers and helpers to regular-ize them in government servicesis being examined.

However, the financial impli-cations to grant cash amountwith monthly pension to thoseretired is not yet worked out.

The statement released bythe Home Minister Ravi Naikwas in reply to a starred questionedtabled by the Leader of OppositionManohar Parrikar on the floor of theHouse, last week.

Goa has a total strength of1262 Anganwadi workers andthe same number of helpers,had also proposed the govern-ment that till their demands aremet, their payment should beon par with the pay of MukhyaSevika. Naik said that this de-mand is also being examined.

Pg4 GOAGOA, MONDAY, 21 MARCH, 2011

SHORT TAKES

OHE

RALD

O

UPCOMING EVENTS

Discriminated teachers dharna MARGAO (HR): Asserting that the Kamat government has

failed to take any positive steps on their long pending demands,the Discriminated Teachers Forum will go ahead with its pro-posed dharna at the Margao residence of Chief Minister Digam-bar Kamat on March 21 at 8.45 am.

Briefing newsmen, Forum President Neves Anthony Rebellosaid the Forum has been consistently demanding with the stategovernment to give them two lost increments, their salaryarrears for the two lost years and re-fixation of pension in theVIth pay Commission scales, but in vain.

We have decided to stage dharna at the residence of ChiefMinister so that the government takes urgent and immediatesteps to find a solution to our long pending grievances, at leastduring the present Assembly session, Rebello said, and madeit emphatically clear that their fight for justice will continue tillthe end.

On the financial implications, Rebello said only an amountof Rs eight crore would be required to settle their genuinegrievances once and for all, since most of their retirement ben-efits had been paid to them at the time of their forceful retire-ment We wish to remind our aam admi government that itcan afford a small sum of Rs eight crore when it can spend Rs100 crore on preparing the feasibility reports of non-feasibleprojects like the Dona Paula-Mormugao sea link, he added.

Stating that Chief Minister Digambar Kamat had assured theagitating teachers in September 2010 to convene a joint meetingof the Chief Secretary and the Finance Secretary along withthe Forum to find a solution to the problems, Rebello, however,lamented that the promised meeting is yet to materialize tilldate for reasons best know to the Chief Minister. It appearsthe Chief Minister has no time for discussing problems of pre-maturely retired teachers and finding a last solution to ourgenuine grievances, Rebello added.

Navy to hold firing exercisePANJIM (HND): Naval Coast Battery, Mormugao will carry out

40/60 and 105 mm IFG gun firing on March 30 from Mormugao,Headland, Sada, from 10 am to 1 pm. The danger zone lieswithin an area bounded by 200 to 260 from Marmugao Head-land Flag Staff position upto a distance of 20 nautical miles toseaward and flying height of 6500 m. Shipping, harbour craftsand other vessels should keep clear of the danger area on thestipulated time at the said location.

Cobras golden jubilee today VASCO (HC): One of the oldest and highly illustrious squadrons

of the Indian Naval Air Arm, INAS 310, nicknamed Cobras, willcelebrate 50 glorious years on March 21.

The squadron was commissioned on March 21, 1961 underthe Command of then Lt Cdr Mihir K Roy (since retired as aVice Admiral).

The squadron pioneered carrier borne operations, operatingfrom INS Vikrant with the Alize anti submarine aircraft.

The squadron is presently based at the Naval Air Station atDabolim and is operating various operational versions of theDornier 228 aircraft.

The 310 Squadron flew the Alize aircraft earlier and now flythe multi role and versatile Dornier aircraft. The squadron hasalso seen action during Kargil war and won accolades for theirperformance.

The Squadron participated in the Liberation of Goa, theIndo-Pak war of 1965 and in Op Pawan in Sri Lanka.

It is the most decorated squadron of the Indian Navy, havingearned one Maha Vir Chakra, two Vir Chakras, nine Nao SenaMedals, one Yudh Sewa Medal and seven mentioned in Dis-patches.

The Golden Jubilee celebrations will include a myriad ofevents ranging from a Seminar on Maritime Reconnaissance,Barakhana (Community lunch) and release of a Special DayCover by the Governor Dr S S Sidhu on March 21.

Homkund Utsav from todayMAYEM (HC): The annual Homkund Utsav of Bordem will be

organised with different religious rituals at Bordem-Wadakade,Bicholim, on Monday.

The celebration will commence with Kalsh procession at 7pm. A Konkani play Sapnatlyo Gajali will be staged at 11.30pm, followed by Homkundotsav in the late night.

The famous Godemodni festival of Bordem will be celebratedon March 22, while Hutashani Pournima will be held on Saturday.The Maand will be staged on March 25, while the celebrationwill conclude on March 29 with Dhulvandana.

BY FR EDMUND BARRETTO

With a great filial respectto my Mi Bhas Iwould like to ponder

over the pertinent question:Why shouldnt English be alsoallowed as one of the languagesto be the medium of instructionin our aided Primary schools? Iam encouraged to realise that Iam not alone in this ponderingof mine but that there are thou-sands of parents in this State ofours whose minds are gripedwith similar pondering.

From the tsunamic vibrationsof the parental aspirations fortheir children, that are felt inGoa for the last couple of weeksand from the pulse of the con-cerned parents pertinentlydemonstrated in the media, onecomes to the realisation that,parents who know what is bestfor their children, are havingaversion to State Governmentsdysfunctional adherence to thepolicy of forbidding the inclu-sion of English as a medium ofinstruction along with Konkani/Marathi and regional languagein the aided primary Schools.

It is becoming crystal clearthat the parents are not againstKonkani, Marathi or any regionallanguage which in fact they maybe speaking in their homes.What they are against is the gov-ernments puerile decision tocurtail their freedom to instruct

their children in the medium ofinstruction of their choice whichmay include English, along withKonkani / Marathi and regionallanguage. They, in fact, with thesame enthusiasm are demand-ing that Konkani / Marathi bemade compulsory throughoutthe elementary education.

The Right of Children to Freeand Compulsory Education Act,2009 ( RTE ) as well as GoaSchool Education Rules 1986state that Teaching in a schoolat the primary stage shall, asfar as practicable, be in themother tongue of the child.Now who is the better judge ofthe practicability enshrined inthese rules? Is it the govern-ment, educationists or the par-ents? The above mentioned ruleof Goa School Education Rules1986 continues to emphasizethe parental option in the choiceof medium of instruction whenit states: unless the parentsor guardian of the child requestotherwise in writing. The Ques-tion is: why should the govern-ment rob the parents of theirfreedom of choice so wisely en-visaged by these rules?

Thousands of parents wholove their mother tongueKonkani / Marathi or any re-gional language for that matter,have unanimously and withoutany compulsion but of their ownfree -wi l l have demanded

through their resolutionsthroughout the State of Goa andconfirmed through their signa-tures that English be includedas medium of instruction alongwith Konkani / Marathi and re-gional language at primary level.If the educational rules providethe parents with a right tochoose the medium of instruc-tion for their children and if par-ents do exercise this right onbehalf of their children, than Ibelieve the government has abounden duty to fulfil the rightof the people it represents.

My real worry is: Are our rep-resentatives, who come beggingfor our votes and constitute thegovernment on our behalf, lis-tening to us? Are our concernstheirs too? Do they enact poli-cies that further their self-ab-sorbed interest at the cost oftrampling upon the aspirationsof the very people who gavethem the power to rule?

We are living in a progressiveworld where the winds ofchange are blowing and we arecompelled to look ahead andnot to revel in sterile attitudeof susegad Goemkar . Myearnest plea to our elected rep-resentatives is to feel the vibesof the people they represent,feel their pulse and judge care-fully the people-power lest thefate of the inconsiderate rulersof Egypt, Libya... be theirs.

Musings on English as medium of instruction

HERALD REPORTER

MARGAO, MARCH 20

The parent members of the Loy-ola High School PTA ExecutiveCommittee, Margao said on Fri-day that the statement made bythe Education Minister on thefloor of the House vis--vismedium of instruction lacks clar-ity and direction.

The members met th i sevening and discussed Monser-attes statement that the gov-ernment will take a policydecision on the medium of in-struction issue before end ofthe Session after consulting allthe stakeholders.

The members also demandedto know who the governmentwould consider to be stakehold-ers is this important process.The people called to be part of

this policy decision should benamed and though we supportthe decision of the governmentto take a swift decision in theprocess, we demand that the gov-ernment ensures transparencyand participation of all stakehold-ers, primarily the parents, in thisregard, the members said.

The parent members of theLoyola PTA has also called uponall parents in Goa to participatein the rally on March 21 at AzadMaidan, Panjim at 2.30 pm inlarge numbers to bring forththis issue strongly and vocifer-ously before the government.

Members present at the meet-ing were Colin Savio Coelho,Bruno Gomindes, Sandra DSa,Dr Agostinho Misquita, JoyceFernandes and Evelyn Lourenco.

Meanwhile, in a separate

statement, Valanka Alemao hasrequested the government totake into consideration theviews of all stakeholders on themedium of instruction, partic-ularly views and opinions ex-pressed by the parents and PTAsince any action taken by thegovernment to force anymedium of instructions or acompulsory subject on the childat the elementary educationlevel is going to have a directbearing on the future of the chil-dren. I personally feel that Eng-l i sh med ium w i th onecompulsory Konkani subjectcould be one of the option easilyacceptable to the major stake-holders because this optiontakes care of immediate and fu-ture needs of the children,Valanka added.

Babushs statementlacks clarity on medium

HERALD REPORTER

VASCO, MARCH 20

Handcarts have been increasingalong the busy roads and streetsof Vasco, but authorities seemto have turned a blind eye tothe menace.

In the inspection report sub-mitted to the Comptroller andAuditor General, Mormugao Mu-nicipal Council (MMC) has clearlystated that in all, 111 mobilehandcarts are registered withthe council, of which only 24handcarts pay Sopo, while 87are illegally operating and owenearly Rs 13.57 lakh to the coun-cil.

However, information soughtunder RTI from Chief OfficerGopal Parsekar seems to con-tradict the inspection report, asParsekar has given the totalnumber of mobile handcarts as169.

Though, council has 169 mo-bile handcarts registered with

them, only 27 handcarts haverenewed its license for financialyear and the rest are operatingillegally.

Be it the fish market, newvegetable market, city area orany prime location in Vasco cityor along the FL Gomes road, il-legal handcarts are mushroom-ing with each passing day tofurther congest Vasco city.

It is learnt from municipalstaff that handcart operatorsduplicate licenses by printingsingle license number on differ-ent handcarts.

Pedestrians are forced towalk on roads due to mobilehandcarts, which are placed asper their whims and fancies incity areas to congest the traffic,said Uday Morajkar from New

Vaddem.When media had sought an

action from the chief officer, hehad fixed March 16 as the dateto commence a drive to seizeillegal handcarts and illegal en-croachments of vegetable ven-dors in new vegetable market.

However, municipal staff didact to crack whip on violators,but the action seems to be amere eye wash, as only fourhandcarts were lifted from thefootpath, when entire footpathnear fish market is occupiedwith illegal handcarts.

Drive will continue till all il-legal handcarts are lifted fromVasco city and surroundingarea, said Parsekar.

Sources in MMC informedthat when council staff com-menced the drive to seize illegalhandcarts, they have been pres-surized by politicians and mostof the handcart owners enjoypatronage of local politicians.

Handcarts add to Vasco congestion

Illegal handcarts near Vasco fish market. Photo by M Prabhav

PANJIM (HND): Shri Shiv Temple at Satt-Adhar complex,Karaswada, Mapusa celebrated its third anniversary recently.

Chief guest Dr Pramod Salgaokar, Samiti president Arun Bi-cholkar, Secretary T Shashikumar were present.

Dr Pramod Salgaokar spoke on gender discrimination, birthcontrol and the rights of women.

Later the chief guest presented prizes to following winnersof various competitions.

Fancy Dress (Jr Group): 1st Saitej Gauns, 2nd KaushishChopdekar, 3rd Ayush Bicholkar, Consolation Richa Haldankar,Revonkar, Ruturgi Shinde and Sarthak. (Sr Group): 1st SohanNaik, 2nd Saideep Gauns. Dance competition -- Samiksha Ped-nekar, Konkani act Tanishka Tilve, Sejal Kalangutkar andgroup, Special Dance Shruti Nerulkar, Vishwaja Naik andDiveta Harmalkar. Vithu Polle proposed the vote of thanks.

Mapusa temple anniversary held

Dr Pramod Salgaokar distributing prizes to the winner of thecompetitions on the occasion of Shiv Temples 3rd anniversaryat Karaswada-Mapusa.

Konkani telefilm releasedPANJIM (HND): A Konkani telefilm Punn Tum Goykar de-

picting the fight for reclaiming the lost treasures of Goa wasreleased by the Superior General of the Society of Pilar, FrTony Lopes in the Pilar Monastery on Thursday.

Fr Lopes said that Goans need to preserve their values andbe more others-oriented. We are losing our Goan identitynot merely because we are selling our properties, but more sobecause we are slowly losing our values in the society, headded.

The writer-director Fr Lucas Rodrigues, stated that thethoughtless selling of our ancestral resources for quickmegabucks and indiscriminately imbibing western ethos for aseemingly easy life have had the alarm bells ringing. Obviously,there needs to be an attitudinal change in the mental make-up of a Goan, wherever he or she may be, if our Goa and Goan-ness has to be preserved for the future generations. Punn...Tum Gykar will communicate this message.

The film features Antonette De Calangute, Jessica, Anil Ped-nekar, Antush, Roseferns, Jr Nelson, Willy, Comedian Nato andJohn DSilva.

Mario Fernandes (Babit) who organizes shows for PilarFathers in London and Swindon stated that what motivated FrLucas to produce a film of such topical interest was a sinceredesire to arrest the ominous winds sweeping across the Goancommunity, both within and outside the state of Goa.

PANJIM (HNB): Goa Medical College Staff Society in associationwith MEC organised a lecture on recent advances in the diagnosisand management of Alzheimers disease.

Prof Ralph Martins, director of research, Sir James Mc CuskerAlzheimers disease research Unit, Western Australia, who wasthe resource person for the day highlighted the recent devel-opments in the field of Alzheimers disease and the promisingresearch in reversing the damage caused by the deposition ofBeta Amyloid in the brain which is mainly responsible for thedisease.

Prof Martins is Goan in origin and is the founder of thestate-of-the-art research center in Western Australia. He iskeen on developing linkages with Goa Medical College andthe Dementia Society of Goa and expressed his desire to starta similar center of excellence for dementia research in Goa.

Lecture on Alzheimer delivered

Prof Ralph Martins (4th from right) with Dr V N Jindal, Dean,GMC and members of Staff Society & MEC.

PANJIM (HND): Over a 100 delegates attended the two-daynational symposium on microbial diversity and its applicationsin health, agriculture and industry, organised by ICAR Complexfor Goa, recently.

Rasik Ravindra, Director, National Centre for Antarctic andOcean Research, Vasco-da-Gama, inaugurated the symposium.Prof D K Arora, Director, National Bureau of Agriculturally im-portant Microorganisms, Mau, Uttar Pradesh, presided overthe function.

Rasik Ravindra gave an account of microorganisms of Antarcticregion. He also spoke on the use of microbes from Antarcticfor the benefit of humans. D K Arora highlighted the evolutionof microbes and their association with humans and role of mi-crobes in bio-geochemical cycle.

Vice President of United Breweries, Govind Tiwari gave anaccount of importance of microorganisms in industry andcalled on the microbiologists to make use of industrial facilitiesfor research.

Presentations on molecular analysis of microbial diversity,microbes in health and industry, microbes in agriculture andmicrobes in animal rearing were held.

Symposium on microbial diversity

Farmers told of their rightsPANJIM (HND): A farmers training-cum-awareness programme

on Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers Right 2001, or-ganised by ICAR Research Complex for Goa in collaborationwith Protection of Plant Varieties and Farmers Rights Authority,New Delhi, concluded recently. The programme was inauguratedby speaker Pratapsing Rane.

Rane said that many plant and rice varieties are on the vergeof extinction and need to be protected.

Dr P K Singh, Registrar PPV and FRA, New Delhi; Satish Ten-dulkar, Director, Dept of Agriculture and Dr N P Singh, Director,ICAR Complex, presided over the function.

Dr N P Singh emphasised the importance of rules and reg-ulations with respect to the plants varieties protection. Thereis scope for registering a number of farmers varieties in Goaespecially in rice, cowpea, green gram, coconut, cashew,mango, brinjal, chilli and bhendi. Farmers attending the pro-gramme should educate other farmers in their villages withrespect to these developments, Dr Singh added further.

Be responsible,youth urgedHERALD CORRESPONDENT

MAYEM, MARCH 20

Transport Minister Sudin Dhav-likar has called upon Goan youthto shoulder the responsibilityof the State, which is beingheading towards destructiondue to value-based political sys-tem.

He was addressing the gath-ering during the felicitationfunction of senior citizens fromBicholim. The function was or-ganised by MGP Bicholim unit,Bhausaheb Bandodkar BirthCentenary Anniversary Commit-tee and Senior Citizens Associ-ation Bicholim at Hirabai ZantyeMemorial Hall on Saturdayevening.

Speaking further, Dhavlikarsaid: The existing scenario inthe State has tarnished theimage of Goa which was createdby Goas first chief ministerBhausaheb Bandodkar withgreat pains.

He also called upon the peo-ple to save from Goans sellinglands to outsiders, drug traffick-ing, illegal mining business andcorruption.

The function was presidedover by senior citizens, TanajiPal, while Ratnakant Mardolkar,BMC Deputy ChairpersonShashikant Halrankar, RamakantShetye, Aappa Teli and AdvNarayan Sawant were presenton the occasion.

Tanaji Pal, Ramakant Shetye,Gaurish Ghadi and Saili Gardespoke on the occasion.

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

MAYEM, MARCH 20

District Governor of Rotary Dis-trict 3170 Mahesh Raikar do-nated two wheelchairs and apaediatric walker to Keshav SevaSadhana School for special chil-dren at Bicholim.

Raikar also announced a grantfrom District fund towards theschool. A matching grant projectwas also sanctioned for supply-ing musical and physiotherapistequipments and other items re-quired by the school.

It will go a long way in facil-itating the training and educa-tion of mentally challengedstudents and in making thesestudents self-reliant. The KeshavSeva Sadhana School has beenadopted by the Rotary Club ofPanaji Riviera.

The District Governor alsodistributed scholarships to threeneedy students of National As-

sociation of Blind Goa andHamara School.

The public function for theDistrict Governors official visitwas held at Hotel Mandovi onFebruary 26. Rotarians fromclubs all over Goa attended thefunction.

Dr Pradeep Naik, head of theOphthalmology DepartmentGMC, was felicitated for his self-less service. Dr Naik helped theRotary Club of Panaji Riviera inconducting an eye camp at Bi-cholim, where 300 patientswere examined and 10 cataractoperations were later con-ducted.

A film showcasing projectsundertaken in the past sixmonths by the Rotary Club ofPanaji Riviera was screened onthe occasion. The event alsomarked the release of the Janu-ar y issue of Rivulet , themonthly club bulletin.

Wheelchairs, paediatric walkers donated

Mahesh Raikar donated two wheel chairs to Keshav Seva SadhanaSchool Bicholim in the presence of Nitin Kenkre, Pallvi Salgaonkarand others. Photo by Vishant Vaze

People urged to adopt ayurveda

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

MAYEM, MARCH 20

Bicholim Taluka Block CongressCommittee President NareshSawal has called upon the peo-ple to adopt ayurvedic medicalmode to cure the diseases per-manently even if it takes time.

He was addressing the gath-ering after inaugurating theayurvedic medical diagnosis andtreatment camp organised byKrida Sanskritik SrujanatmakNivrutt Karmachari MandalUmmid Kendra, Mulgao-Mulgao,Bicholim.

On the occasion, about 60 pa-tients above 60 years were di-agnosed and t rea ted byAyurvedic Dr Kiran Joshi and DrKumari Karpe. The patients weregiven free medicines. M K Patilproposed vote of thanks and alsogave an introductory speech.

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

CANACONA, MARCH 19

The Canacona ShigmosthavCommittee has decided to pres-ent this years Shigmo floatswith a difference in Chaudi.

Addressing a press conferencein his cabin, Canacona Shig-mosthav Committee 2011 Pres-ident and Canacona MunicipalCouncil (CMC) Chairperson Rat-nakar Dhuri informed that thisyears Shigmo will be held witha difference and including vari-ous competitions during andafter the floats, an informativesouvenir will be released on theoccasion.

We will also felicitate fivefolk artistes from Canaconataluka for their valuable contri-butions in the field of culture,informed Dhuri.

The folk artistes are AnantSatarkar (Welwada-Poinguinim),Sandesh Pa ingu inka r(Poinguinim), Malkum Gaonkar(Gaondongrim), Manohar Jadav(Palolem) and Dattu Pagui (Sa-

leri-Khola).Dhuri further said this year,

the Samiti has also decided togive recognition to the all thepast presidents of CanaconaShigosthav Committees fortheir meritorious organiza-tional abilities of the annualevent ever since the Shigmofloats have been introducedfirst time in 1989 at Chaudi-Canacona.

Former ministers Sanjay Ban-dekar, Isidore Fernandes, ex-

MLA Jagdish Acharya, teacherBalaji Dessai, CMCs ex-chaiper-sons Sameer Dessai, RanghanathNaik Gaunkar, Konkani activistand social worker Ramesh BaboyKomarpant forms the list of pastpresidents of Canacona Shig-mosthav Committee.

During the prize distributionof Shigmo floats, the committeewill also recognize contributionof CMC driver Pradeep Gayakfor his contribution towards or-ganization of floats at Chaudi,informed Dhuri.

Incidentally, the decision toregister Canacona ShigmosthavCommittee with the authoritieshas been deferred for the timebeing.

According to sources, therehave been different opinions bydifferent section of people overthe composition of member-ships for registering the bodyand hence the decision for reg-istration of Canacona Shig-mosthav Committee has beenput-off as of now.

Canacona Shigmo panel pledgesunique floats this year

Provide aid to needy, credit societies told

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

CALANGUTE, MARCH 19

Calangute MLA Agnelo Fernan-des has stated that credit soci-eties should come forward inproviding financial assistance tothe needy.

He was addressing a gather-ing after inaugurating the newpremises of Jana Utkarsh UrbanCo - op C red i t Soc ie t y a tCalangute. Others present onthe occasion included AssistantRegistrar of Co-op SocietiesRamdas Pednekar and Chairmanof the Society Narayan Karekar.

In his address, Ramdas Ped-nekar urged the directors of thesociety to work wholeheartedlyfor the growth of the society soit reaches greater heights. Healso advised the directors tobuild trust among the share-holders.

Others who spoke on the oc-casion were the first shareholderof the society in Calangute, Gu-rudas Shirodkar and RajendraKorgaonkar.

Pg5GOA\REGIONOHERALDO

GOA, MONDAY, 21 MARCH, 2011

HERALD REPORTER

PANJIM, MARCH 20

Chief Minister Digambar Kamathas said that bridges at Talpon,Galjibag and Zuari will be takenon priority once National High-way Authority of India (NHAI)takes up the project to widenthe existing National Highway17.

Kamat conceded that thesethree bridges are of utmost im-portance and their completionis required for smoothening ofthe traffic on the highway.

All these three bridges are onthe national highway and theNHAI had refused to give NOC tothe state government to constructthem, the chief minister told theState Legislative Assembly.

He was responding to the pri-

vate member resolution movedby Poinguinim MLA RameshTawadkar on the floor of thehouse demanding constructionof Talpona and Galjibag bridgeson priority bases.

Kamat said that the NHAI hasdecided to take up constructionof these bridges on priority oncethey start widening of the na-

tional highway.Tabling the resolution, Tawad-

kar said that the road traffic be-tween Mashem to Poinguinimcan be decongested only afterconstruction of Talpona andGaljibad bridges.

There is a demand that thesebridges should be completedon priority, he said recallingthe fatal accident reported re-cently in which one UlhasPoinguinkar was crushed undertruck wheels to due recklessdriving.

Tawadkar pointed out thatits been almost 25 years sincethe proposal is pending. 19years back the procedure of landacquisition was completed. Buttill today work has not bestarted, the MLA said.

Talpon, Galjibag and Zuari bridges will get priority: CM

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

MARCEL, MARCH 20

Hundreds of revellers took partin the annual traditional Shig-motsav which was celebratedon the Chathurdas day at Mar-dol.

It is an annual Shigmotsav pa-rade, where about 18 Romtamelfrom Ponda taluka participatevoluntarily since the last manyyears. There are no prizes forthe best performer, but the Rom-tamel takes part to offer prayersand to seek blessings of God-dess Mahalasa.

The troupes after dancing tothe drum beats and Kasale, visitMahalasa Temple for prayers.

There is altogether different

mood among the people whotake part in the Romtamel. It istradition of several years andwe should preserve it for futuregenerations, said Veling-Priolpanchayat member Satish Mad-kaikar.

We are proud that this eventis happening in our Mardol vil-lage. Though, earlier there weresuggestions to keep prizes, butwe turned down the idea, as itwould change the celebrativemood of this festive tradition,added Madkaikar.

In competitions, one wontget to see such type of peoplesparticipation. This event is notcompetitive and we are againstsuch an idea, he said.

In olden days, there wereabout 25 troupes but since thelast few years, the number hascome down to around 18, in-formed Madkaikar.

Gududa Naik of Savoi-Veremsaid: Every year, our Romtamelcome first to take part in the pa-rade and is followed by otherRomtamels. We have been fol-lowing this tradition since 1961.

First, we offer prayers at ourvillage, to Shree Anant andGodess Sateri and on theChathurdas day, we offer prayersat Mahalasa Temple Mardol. Andfrom here, we take part in com-petitive Romtamel competitionswhich starts from Ponda, he in-formed.

Mardol revels in Shigmotsav

Romtamel of Shree Madanant Shigmotsav Savoi Verem. Photo by Amresh Parab

HERALD REPORTER

VASCO, MARCH 20

Chief Minister DigambarKamats announcement in theBudget 2011-12 to give boostto the tourism by making a pro-vision for Helicopter Tourismhas been welcomed by the pri-vate sector.

Incidentally, Venture Avia-tion had commenced a similarservice four years ago to boosttourism in the State. But lackof government support andpoor infrastructure forced themto ground the service shortlyafter it started.

It may be recalled that Vasco-based Venture Aviation (op-erated by Bandekar Group) hadcommenced Helicopter Serv-ice in Goa for aerial joyridesand sightseeing, air taxi serv-

ices, corporate travel, aerialphotography, videography,news, gathering, advertisingcampaigns, film production,aerial reconnaissance surveys,police and law enforcements,etc.

Its a welcome move, asState like Goa requires Heli-copter Tourism since it is con-sidered to be a viable ventureand most of the northern statesand hill stations have excelledin it, said Sanjay Shetye ofVinson World.

Four years ago, Venture Avi-ation had started similar serv-ice in Vasco, but due to lackinfrastructure and unwilling-ness to provide a landing facil-ity at Goas Taj Helipad, Aguada,Venture Aviation was forcedclose the service, said Shetye.

Presently, Venture Aviationis operating such service inPune and Mumbai route, hesaid.

He further said that the gov-ernment should create an in-frastructure and then this newventure would certainly excel,as the ratio of high-profiletourists and foreigners in Goais satisfactory.

It is learnt that the helipadat Aguada remained unutilizedfor the purpose for the lastmany years and even privateplayers willing to commenceHelicopter Tourism are deniedlanding permission.

Besides a Helipad at Taj Goa-Aguada, a starred resort atCanacona has its own privatehelipad to cater to the needsof their guests.

Private sector hails provisionfor Helicopter Tourism

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

CANACONA, MARCH 20

Hundreds of people convergedat Agonda to seek Kovul (bless-ings) of Avtar Purush.

Incidentally, Chief MinisterDigambar Kamat missed the rit-ual for the first time in the pastfour years apparently due to theongoing Assembly session. How-ever, Kamat was represented byhis wife Asha, who took theblessings on his behalf.

It was Asha Kamat who alongwith large presence of otherdevotees first watched theunique ritual performance of sixAvtar-Purush (priests believedto be filled with Gods spirit)carrying colourful Tarangas andlater invoked their blessings forbetter health and protection.

This is a customary annualceremony held at Voile-Agondin Agonda as part of Shigmo cel-ebrations and during this timemost villagers having their rootsin Agonda, besides relatives and

friends makes it a point to con-verge and take Kovul (Blessing)of Avtar Purush.

Invoking Gods at the playingof drums in unison, first, all thesix tarangas carrying Avtar Pu-rush gets filled with Gods spiritin unique manners, before theyrun to a small temple site situ-ated in the same locality andimmediately begins to giveblessings.

Interestingly, three years agoChief Minister Kamat for thefirst time participated in the rit-uals invited by his close well-wishers from the village at atime when he faced political tu-mult to overthrow his govern-ment.

After that he along with otherfamily members including sonand son-in-law continuously re-mained present for the next twoyears.

DySP Mahesh Gaonkar, whohails from Agonda and presidentof Shri Agondeshwar Temple,

was seen assisting Asha Kamatensuring she is given preferencefor Kovul and regularly playingthe role of cameraman by click-ing her photographs every nowand than.

Several other prominent peo-ple including Kritesh Gaonkar(former MMC chairperson) tookthe blessings.

Interestingly, this is one ofthe rituals in the village whereirrespective of castes and creedmost Hindu devotees havingorigins of the village, includingthe one staying in far off placesespecially married off daugh-ters along with their familymembers makes it a point topartake in this rituals annuallyto take Kovul of Shri Mallikar-jun God.

The Kovul also given in theform of blessed rice is thentaken back home and preservedin the respective households in-voking Gods protection againstany evil, says sources.

Hundreds seek blessings of Avtar Purush at Agonda

Chief Minister Digambar Kamats wife Asha accompanied by DySP Mahesh Gaonkar before takingKovul from Avtar Purush at Agonda. Photo by Kathy Pereira

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

BELGAUM, MARCH 20

Miscreants pelted stone on themain gate of the St JosephsConvent High School, here,damaging the watchmanscabin.

This is for the seventh timethe incident has repeated hereand has brought fear amongstthe Canossian nuns, who run

the school.According to principal of the

Convent Sr Thangam, the inci-dent took place at 3 am whentwo-three motorcycle bornemiscreants indiscriminatelystoned from the rear gate ofthe Convent.

By the time the watchmancould reach the gate, they man-aged to vanish, Sr Thangam

said.In a similar incident, miscre-

ants had pelted stones twiceon the Divine ProvidenceSchool, causing damage to theclassrooms. We are shockedand are feeling insecure as de-spite lodging several com-plaints with the police, culpritsare still at large, Sr Thangamsaid, urging the authorities to

protect the nuns and girl stu-dents in the Convent.

Meanwhile, the Christian com-munity is shocked as the incidenthas taken place during the pres-ence of the Chief Minister B SYeddyurappa in the city.

The miscreants have man-aged to repeat the act despitethe heavy presence of policein the city.

Catholic school stoned in BelgaumHERALD CORRESPONDENT

BELGAUM, MARCH 20

Political leaders and officialsmight be basking in the successof the recently held World Kan-nada Meet at Belgaum.

Though everyone associatedwith the three-day meet is walk-ing on cloud nine due to thephenomenal success achieved,no one seems to have time toponder about wha t wasachieved after holding the his-torical meet.

The aspirations of many indifferent aspects might havebeen served, however, partici-pation of IT conglomerate N RNarayana Murthy of Infosys hadraised the expectations of thepeople of Belgaum.

Based on Belgaums proximityto Goa and the available com-bined infrastructure, manythought that Narayana Murthywould make an important dec-laration of setting up of an ITpark at Belgaum.

But, the people of Belgaumand the region however whowere carrying great expectationsregarding some concrete dec-larations have now been left dis-appointed. Barring MLA AbhayPatil, it seems no serious at-tempts were made in that di-rection.

People of Belgaum had ex-pected that presence of IT ty-coon N R Narayana Murthywould bring greater opportuni-ties in the IT sector for the ben-efit of the region. There was a

buzz around that Murthys whohad the greatest honour of in-augurating the historical meet,would make some important an-nouncement regarding spread-ing of his IT empire in Belgaumand leave a permanent mark ofthe meet. But this did not hap-pen.

Even leaders including Kar-nataka Chief Minister B S Yed-dyurappa did not urge theMurthy couple to consider Bel-gaum for further investmentsand activities of the InfosysFoundation.

Dr Prabhakar Kore had earlierstated that he was in touch withthe Murthys in this regard, buthe along with other leaders didnot even make a mention aboutthe IT in the inaugural and vale-dictory speeches, dashing thehopes of thousands of Belgau-mites who since last couple ofyears have nurtured dreams ofhaving an established IT industryhere.

Meanwhile, MLA Abhay Patilin his speech during the In-vestors Meet on March 12, hadappealed the investors fromIndia and abroad to invest inBelgaum as the city offers thebest of infrastructural set up.

Belgaum with its full-fledgedairport, good roads, health, en-gineering and other institutionsand ever-increasing hospitalityindustry is the only city afterBangalore, suitable for invest-ment in IT, textile and sugar in-dus t r i e s , ML A Pa t i l ha s

emphasized.But to his greater disappoint-

ment, not a single announce-ment was made regardinginvestment in Belgaum.

People along with a certainsection of leaders are totally dis-appointed as Murthy did notmake any announcement regard-ing investment in Belgaum,MLA Patil said.

I do appreciate that a varietyof topics including Kannada lit-erature, culture, language, etc,were widely discussed and de-bated during the meet. Themeet was successful, but one ofthe main purpose of holding themeet at Belgaum of getting in-vestments to Belgaum and cre-ating better opportunities wasrather defeated, Abhay Patil as-certained expressing disappoint-ment on this aspect.

In case Murthys are seriousabout working for the rural poorand the marginalized, then Bel-gaum with its large rural hin-terland offers them to pursuetheir cause, as they can investin Belgaum that would generategreater employment and otheropportunities, said MLA AbhayPatil.

We have perhaps not madethe best of the opportunitiesavailable to us to persuade thelikes of NR Narayana Murthy toconsider Belgaum for their ex-pansion plans, said Patil addingthat the efforts would continueto get an IT and Textile parks inBelgaum.

Infosys leaves Kannada meetparticipants disappointed

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

BELGAUM, MARCH 20

Work on the dilapidated Dhar-wad-Panjim road connecting theNH4-A at Ramanagar that hadcommenced since a couple ofdays ago is being carried out ona war footing.

However, commuters mighthave to wait a little longer asthe work along the Panjim-Ram-nagar-Alnawar-Dharwar roadhas been delayed due to delayed

clearance from the forest de-partment.

Thousands of commuters willnow breathe easy as the shortestroad to reach Hubli-Dharwadthat had become entirely un-motorable since several years,will soon be available for thepeople of Goa and Londa area.

The work on the 60-km road,which is one of the importantlinks between Karnataka andGoa, is being carried out at an

estimated cost of Rs 230 crore.The road will be 15 mtrs wideand have five major bridges in-cluding several culverts.

The 60-km road betweenDharwad Cross and Ramnagarhad totally deteriorated due tothe heavy movement of theoverloaded mining trucks. Peo-ple from the area had put up astrong and sustained agitationdemanding immediate repairand reconstruction of the road.

The authorities who hadturned a blind eye to this roadused to only carry out the tem-porary patch work, which couldnot hold the heavy movementof the mining trucks, damagingthe road again.

Being constructed on a pub-lic-private partnership, the con-tribution from the Centre andState is 20 per cent each whilethe remaining 60 per cent isbeing contributed by the con-

tractor who will be operatingthe road on BOT basis.

Apart from several villages inKhanapur and Dharwad talukawhich lie on the either side ofthe road, commuters from Goareaching Dharwad were theworst sufferers all these years.

To reach Dharwad, commutersfrom Goa had to either go viaKhanapur-Yellapur highway orvia Belgaum, travelling about 70-80 kms of extra distance.

Work on Dharwad-Panjim road begins on war footing

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

BELGAUM, MARCH 20

The Rani Chennamma Universityof Belgaum which was developedinto an independent universitylast year for the benefit of thestudents from Belgaum, Goa andneighbouring Maharashtra, hasdecided to introduce newcourses in Criminal Justice andCriminology from the next aca-demic year.

According to University ViceChancellor Prof B R Ananthan,this is for the first time in entireSouth that this course has beenintroduced.

The university also plans tostart post-graduate courses inScience and English subjectsfrom the next academic year,he said.

Launching the Universitys em-blem at a press meet in Belgaumon Thursday, Ananthan said sev-eral experts and senior officialsin various government depart-ments, police training academiesand Central Bureau of Investiga-tion (CBI) have agreed to takeup lecture sessions for coursesin Criminology and Criminal Jus-tice to be introduced by the Uni-versity.

He said that there is amplescope to conduct research andstudies in criminology and crim-inal justice in south India.

The University also plans tostart a Masters course in MediaStudies shortly in associationwith various institutions, he saidadding that the University is yetto decide whether to run this

course for two years or more.It will include several issues

and subjects related to masscommunication and journalism,he said.

The University presently has306 Colleges from Bijapur, Bel-gaum and Bagalkot districts and33 new colleges have appliedseeking the universitys affilia-tion.

The University is making wayfor PG Centres in private collegeswhich already have all the basicfacilities on campus, he saidadding that the university hasreceived 18 applications for set-ting up of PG centres.

Meanwhile, the University de-clared its first semester resultsfor all the courses for 2011 inwhich 19,939 students of thetotal of 31,921 who appearedfor the examinations have passedwith the majority of passed stu-dents being girls.

The results of the first semes-ter courses may be browsed fromwww.resultsgallery.in (Univer-sitys website).

Belgaum varsity offerscriminology course

Job mela held at

AmbaulimHERALD CORRESPONDENT

QUEPEM, MARCH 20

An awareness programme anda job mela for BPL rural youthof Goa was conducted at HolyCross Convent Hall, Ambaulim-Quepem, on March 15 and 16.

The programme is an initia-tive of Ministry of Rural Devel-opment under one of its ruraldevelopment scheme Swarna-jayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana(SGSY) in collaboration with NISSparta and Indira Gandhi OpenUniversity New Delhi. The pro-gramme was conducted by theDistrict Rural DevelopmentAgency.

The programme commencedwith inaugural address by SaritaPatil of Goa Institute of RuralDevelopment, followed by Ek-nath Shirodkar (Nodal officerDRDA North Goa), AmbaulimSarpanch F X Cardozo and Suc-corina Fernandes (DRDA SouthGoa).

The session was handled byRelha Sankla, Aryan Thapur andVilas Gawankaskar from NISSparta.

The target group of the pro-gramme was rural youth ofBelow Poverty Line between 18and 30 years and educationalqualif