11 MAY 2011 HERALD PUBLICATIONS PVT LTD

O HERALD O

Goa’s Heartbeat: Anushka dons bikini for next film Pg 4

There is no grief which time does not lessen and soften.

— Cicero

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ADVANTAGE CONG

Counting in West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry on Friday HERALD CORRESPONDENT NEW DELHI, MAY 10

With the last phase of the Assembly elections over in West Bengal, all eyes are set on the counting simultaneously on Friday for the new Assemblies in West Bengal, Assam, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Puducherry. Barring Assam, all four Assemblies are certainly set to have change of guards.

The Congress appears to be in a position of advantage. It appears all set to retain power in Assam and snatch it away from the Left Front in Kerala and get a big boost from a landslide ally Mamata Banerjee is expecting in West Bengal. It is, however, still not sure to retain hold in Puducherry union territory.

The only State where a disappointment is in store for the Congress is Tamil Nadu where its ally DMK appears all set to lose power to the AIADMK of J Jayalalithaa who went to polls

Green signal for Mamata

in alliance with matinee idol Vijaykanth. Union Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, incharge of the Congress affairs in Tamil Nadu, however, is still not ready to concede defeat as he is counting on impact of Karunanidhi’s populist schemes of free television sets and rice at Rs 2 a kilo.

Analysts say the Tarun Gogoiled government in Assam has come out relatively unblemished from its last tenure, gaining from its success in bringing almost all factions of the ULFA, barring the Paresh Baruah faction, on table for talks. It also had the advantage of the state witnessing the lowest ever violence in the last four years.

In West Bengal, Mamata is boasting to stop the score of the ruling Left Front at double digit and ride on the popularity wave to take over as the chief minister. Her Trinamool Congress stood as a negation of everything the CPI(M) ever stood

PTI NEW DELHI, MAY 10

Trinamool Congress-Congress alliance is set to sweep the assembly elections in West Bengal, according to post-poll projections on television channels.

According to research agency C-VOTER exit poll, the TMC alliance to win a mammoth victory in West Bengal.

In the 294-member assembly in West Bengal CNN-IBN survey gives Trinamool Congress alliance 222 to 234 seats. It suggests that the Left Front government is heading for its worst-ever performance in three decades with the Front set to get only between 60 and 72 seats.

In the 2006 elections, the Trinamool Congress-Congress alliance had only 40 seats while the Left parties had more than 230 seats.

(Continued on page 8)

Mining scam: case against Deshprabhu, minister’s son HERALD REPORTER PANJIM, MAY 10

CID/Crime Branch on Tuesday registered an offence against Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Jitendra Deshprabhu, son of a senior cabinet minister and top bureaucrats in the illegal mining scam worth Rs 50 crore, following directions from Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) Pernem on Saturday.

Superintendent of Police, North Goa and Anti-Corruption Bureau were directed either jointly or separately to register

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an FIR by JMFC based on a complaint by activists Pradeep Kakodkar, Kashinath Shetye and Ketan Govekar.

On February 11, the activists had filed a police complaint alleging that the NCP leader and others cheated the State Government to the tune of Rs 50 crore.

Director of Industries and Mines, Director of Transport, Chairman of Goa State Pollution Control Board, Chief Conservator of Forest Department and other officials from the respec-

HSSC results likely next week, SSC May-end HERALD REPORTER PANJIM, MAY 10

tive departments and Korgao Village Panchayat were named as being involved in the illegal mining scam in the complaint letter.

They have been booked for conspiracy, corruption, cheating and other sections of Indian Penal Code, various sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act, Town and Country Planning Act, Mining and Minerals Act, Goa Prevention of Illegal Mining and Transportation and Storage of Mineral Rules, Forest Act, and

Results of Higher Secondary School Certification (HSSC) examinations are likely to be declared next week, while the results for Secondary School Certificate (SSC) will be declared in last week of May. Sources from Goa Board stated that the board officials will meet on Thursday or Friday to finalise the dates for the results, which have been delayed due to grading system and sports policy.

A total of 13,765 students in the science, arts, commerce and

(Continued on page 8)

(Continued on page 8)

Headmasters to oppose ‘no detention’ for 2010-11 HERALD REPORTER PANJIM, MAY 10

Goa Headmasters Association (GHA) has said that they will ask schools not to adhere to Education Departments circular ‘not to detain students from just concluded academic year’ as there is no proper ‘criteria and modalities’ prescribed by the department.

Talking to Herald, GHA President Sanjiv Sawant said that the association has decided to stick to earlier guidelines, as prescribed by the Goa Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education (GBSHSE) and the directions are also issued to various schools.

“The circular should have come prior to declaration of (Continued on page 8)

Diesel, LPG rates to follow PTI NEW DELHI, MAY 10

The government may hike diesel and domestic LPG rates next week while an increase in petrol prices may happen later this week.

“The Empowered Group of Ministers (EGoM) headed by Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee (on fuel price hike) was to meet tomorrow evening. It has been put off,” Oil Minister S Jaipal Reddy told reporters here.

EGoM was to meet tomorrow to consider raising the diesel price by Rs 3-4 a litre and domestic LPG rates by Rs 20-25 per cylinder.

“It has been postponed to accommodate some ministers... It could be anytime on (May) 17 or 18,” he said.

State-owned oil firms, however, are likely to get the goahead to raise the price of petrol, which they have not revised since January on informal ‘advice’ from the government in view of Assembly elections in five states.

“Petrol prices may be raised

HERALD REPORTER PANJIM, MAY 10

Anna Hazare, a Gandhian and social activist, who awakened the nation against corruption will start his nation wide campaign from Panjim on May 13, with a public meeting at Azad Maidan at 5 pm.

India Against Corruption activist Satish Sonak said anti-corruption crusaders such as Kiran Bedi, Swami Agnivesh, Arvind Kejriwal and Manish Sisodia will accompany Hazare on his Goa trip and will be addressing the

public meetings.

Swami Agnivesh and Kejriwal will be addressing meeting at Margao on the same day at 10.30 am, while Sisodia and

25 25

Education Minister Babush Monserrate will meet Chief Minister Digambar Kamat on Thursday, on the crucial issue of implementation of Right to Education (RTE) Act. Monserrate said that the meeting could not take place since chief minister was busy with a wedding engagement

PTI NEW DELHI, MAY 10

Today, all sorts of things like 80 per cent of the subordinate judiciary are corrupt are being said, which is very shameful.

- Two-member SC Bench

ditional District Judge Archana Sinha for defying its order and stayed the eviction proceedings against the tenant Udham Singh Jain Charitable Trust, Central

Kiran Bedi will be addressing gathering at Vasco at 4 pm.

Hazare, who was supposed to visit Goa on May 7, had to postpone his trip due to ill health.

Sonak said that Hazare has recovered and is now in good health and will hold nationwide meetings. “His campaign will begin from Goa,” he added.

Sonak said that issues such as Jan Lokpal Bill and Goa’s Lokayukta Bill would be discussed during the meeting, which will be attended by thousands of people.

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Babush to meet CM on Thursday HERALD REPORTER PANJIM, MAY 10

as early as Thursday-Friday night,” an official said, adding a steep hike of up to Rs 3 per litre of petrol is on the cards.

The government had freed petrol prices from its control last June, but state oil firms continue to be guided by informal advice from the government.

The hike needed to take petrol prices to international parity is about Rs 8.50 per litre, but the entire burden will not be passed on to consumers in one go.

“Oil companies will be asked to stagger the hike over a couple of months,” the official said.

Reddy said the day EGoM meets on fuel prices, a separate Group of Ministers (GoM) that is vetting London-listed Vedanta Resources’ USD 9.6 billion acquisition of Cairn India, may also meet.

“I think when the next date is fixed on that day itself we will deal with both questions – the question of under-recoveries of oil companies and the question of government approval to Cairn-Vedanta deal,” he said.

Hazare’s campaign to kick off from May 13

Students, who had failed during the academic year 2010-11 have already taken admission in new schools and are now in a dilemma whether the new school will admit them to a higher class as per the new circular or keep them in the class where they had sought admission.

- GHA President Sanjiv Sawant

and will be free either tomorrow or day after. “I will meet him on Thursday,” he said.

The minister said that Director of Education Celsa Pinto is also away in Delhi because of which the meeting was postponed.

Monserrate said that the Education Department is firm on implementation of RTE Goa. (Continued on page 8)

Corrupt members of subordinate judiciary should be thrown out: SC Holding that corrupt members of the subordinate judiciary should be “thrown out”, the Supreme Court Tuesday came down heavily on a woman judge calling her a “super Supreme Court” for defying its order.

“You can’t take the Supreme Court as a joke. People are looking at judges with suspicion.

Today, all sorts of things like 80 per cent of the subordinate judiciary are corrupt are being said, which is very shameful”, fumed a two-member bench of the apex court comprising Justice Markanday Katju and Justice Gyan Sudha Misra.

The bench directed disciplinary action against Delhi’s Ad-

Petrol prices may go up Rs 3 a litre

Delhi, despite the fact that the Supreme Court in an order on October 6, 2010, had dismissed the tenant’s plea.

“Archana Sinha had no business to defy our order and she has become a super Supreme Court”, the bench said.

The apex court said it was constrained to say that a certain section of the subordinate judiciary is bringing the whole judiciary into disrepute by passing orders on extraneous considerations.

“We do not wish to comment on the various allegations which are often made to us about what certain members of the subordinate judiciary are doing but we do want to say that these kind of malpractices have to be totally weeded out.

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New changes not reflected in Sattari, Ponda, Quepem land-use maps: GBA HERALD REPORTER PANJIM, MAY 10

The delay in releasing three newly notified land-use maps of talukas, under Regional Plan 2021, has hardly been fruitful, since the new changes in taluka boundaries are not reflected in these maps.

It may be recalled that Town and Country Planning Department had notified land-use plans of three talukas – Sattari, Ponda and Quepem on April 28 and displayed maps. However maps displayed at the TCP office were quickly withdrawn after a cabinet decision taken on the same day to exclude Usgao from the newly formed Dharbandora taluka.

The maps released now are no different from the ones that were released two weeks earlier leaving activists wondering regarding the state of affairs.

“They have kept it as it is... it is the same thing. They have told us that whatever corrections are necessary will be made later,” Sabina Martins the convenor of the Goa Bachao Abhiyan (GBA) told Herald.

“The GBA is of the view that there must be no corrections after notification. We have been demanding that the plans be kept open for public one month prior to its notification so that all corrections can be done then.

If one correction is allowed then so many ‘corrections’ will come in,” she said.

She also questioned what would happen once the term of the State Level Committee (SLC) is over and if government continues making ‘corrections.’

“The SLC has been drafted to get the plan notified. Once that is done they will be disbanded.

What will happen thereafter?

Will there be more corrections?

And this time it will be done within the government departments itself. Who will keep a check on it,” she asked.

Senior Town Planner Putturaju, however said that the decision was taken hoping that there would be no corrections later.

“We decided to withdraw the plans after the government took that decision (to exclude Usgao from newly formed Dharban-

Where does Usgao lie?

HERALD REPORTER PANJIM, MAY 10

The fate of Usgao village is pretty much in limbo. A cabinet decision taken towards the end of April says that Usgao should remain in Ponda taluka and should not be transferred to Dharbandora as earlier envisaged.

However a notification to that effect is yet to be published leaving it in ‘no man’s land.’ For the purposes of TCP department however, Usgao will be treated as part of Dharbandora taluka and its maps will be released along with Dharbandora taluka, but it will lie in Ponda, at least once the notification is out. dora). But then the notification is yet to come out so we decided to release the plans,” Putturaju told Herald.

However two weeks since the cabinet decision, there is no sign

of official notification, making it difficult for officials of Town and Country Planning Department to know what will be the exact boundaries.

“We were hoping the official notification would come immediately after the decision. But there is no point waiting any further in the face of growing public discontent,” Putturaju said.

Sabina Martins however sought to know why the decision to withdraw and publish the plans was not an official one.

“I asked for a copy of the letter withdrawing the plans and the letter deciding to make them public. However, I was told that this was an internal communication. We would like to know why decisions such as these are made through internal communications. This means there is nothing official about withdrawal and release of plans.

There should have at least been some circular. The public now knows nothing about what has happened and there is no official document stating what has happened,” she said.

Goa Police force one of the best, says Bassi HERALD REPORTER PANJIM, MAY 10

Goa’s outgoing Director General of Police Bhim Sain Bassi while praising Goa Police, especially the Bomb Disposal Squad said “Goa Police is one of the best police force,” while addressing his last press briefing in Goa, Tuesday.

Bassi who takes over charge of Delhi police, said he had pleasant experience and had no regrets heading the 5000odd strong police force in his two-year tenure.

The police chief while listing challenges faced by him during his tenure, said Margao bomb blast tops the chart. He commended efficiency of the Bomb Disposal Squad in defusing the

improvised device during Narkasur competitions on October 16, 2009.

“The Bomb Disposal Squad not only detected but also defused the explosive without depending on any other agencies, whereas in other States which have massive police strength, police depend on specialised agencies for any such emergency,” Bassi, who has been serving as DGP since March 18, 2009, said.

He further enlisted creation of Quick Response Teams (QRTs) with the existing resources, a well-equipped Central Police Control Room (which will be launched shortly), motorcycle patrols – code named Robins, intensive and compet-

itive trainings being imparted to police personnel within the State and outside, as developments within the police force.

Goa’s first forensic science laboratory would be operational soon and this would greatly help in detecting cases such as unnatural deaths, murder and others offences.

“The unit is in the final stages of its completion and it will be launched by June-end.

We have already appointed its consultant and appointments of other experts is underway,” he said.

Goa has been in the news for wrong reasons ranging from rapes, murders, offences against foreigner, drug related offences and other cases being

reported very often. The police chief however denied that Goa is unsafe.

“Goa is not at all unsafe.

Please go to Tito’s lane and Anjuna after midnight, and you will find that people move freely. We will also find women with children moving in and around the place and entering shacks. Nowhere, except in Goa, women can go out late in the night and are safe,” he claimed.

DGP also boasted that the department is equipped with modern arms and had almost rooted out notorious elements and that controversial night events such as Sunburn and Saturday night markets are now smoke-free and drug-free.

…Labels drugs scene in State as ‘insignificant’ HERALD REPORTER PANJIM, MAY 10

Outgoing Director General of Police Bhim Sain Bassi has labelled the drugs scene in Goa as ‘insignificant’ and said, that Goa is not Columbia which is known for its powerful drug cartels.

Despite major crackdown on the drug trade, record number of narcotics seizures made by the ANC and the police-drug nexus exposed a year ago and the arrests of two international drug lords in the State, Bassi, in his last press briefing reiterated, “The drugs scene in

Goa is insignificant. We are not in Columbia.”

The police chief also said that it is difficult for any place to be free from crime. “No place where there is large influx of tourists can be free from unscrupulous elements who push drugs into the society. It’s the same with Goa as our record number of drug seizures would show,” he said.

The police chief further said that Goa Police have zero tolerance towards crime and drugs. “There have been so many arrests including that of policemen. Nobody can doubt

Govt depts propose restriction on mining truck trips HERALD REPORTER PANJIM, MAY 10

State government departments have proposed that mining truck trips should be restricted to 600 per day per route so as to avoid pollution and traffic congestion enroute.

A high level meeting held in the secretariat, chaired by Chief Secretary Sanjay Srivastava, has placed this proposal before Goa government, for final approval. The meeting at Secretariat was attended by Mines and Geology Department Director Arvind Lolienkar, Transport Director Arun Desai and other officials, who deal with truck traffic regulations The mining firms and state government are battling the issue of frequent public agitation against mining trucks. On routes such as Columb-Rivon-Kapse and Cauvre-Maina-Kapse, truck movement has come to a standstill due to agitations by locals.

At Cavrem, over the last one month, people have been keeping day long vigil by the road to ensure that not a single truck loaded with the ore passes. It was felt at the meeting that if the number of trips are restricted, then it will also arrest the uncontrolled mining truck movement in the region.

Sources stated that the Transport Department has also submitted a list of 50 habitual offender trucks to the Mines Department.

These trucks have been found overloading and violating laws. The Mines Department is expected to speak to the concerned mining firms and inform them about these trucks.

Meanwhile, implementing the rules of Mines and Minerals Development and Regulation (MMDR) Act, the State Mines and Geology Department is likely to begin the registration of mining trucks from May 16, onwards. Similarly, the department will distribute stickers to each mining truck within next two days, displaying the name of the company for which they are plying.

our integrity,” he added.

Commenting on the three narcotics cases being handed over to the CBI, Bassi said that investigations by the CBI into the nexus would vindicate investigations conducted by the police.

“A probe by the central agency would only justify our investigation. The CBI probe will only vindicate our own investigation. I have no doubt about it,” he said.

The officer however refrained from speaking on how Israeli drug dealer Yaniv Benaim alias Atala’s escaped from India. When asked on Atala’s

extradition to India, he only replied that once the judicial forum in Peru - where he is currently under detention, gives an appropriate order, Goa police will act on it. After jumping bail in September last year, Atala was arrested at Lima International airport in December 2010.

The international media as well as the Opposition have already linked Home Minister Ravi Naik’s son Roy to Atala.

While Naik has been refuting the charges, Goa police is tightlipped and so was Bassi during his last press briefing here.

Stop fooling seamen with false promises: Churchill HERALD REPORTER MARGAO, MAY 10

PWD Minister, Churchill Alemao on Tuesday took on South Goa MP Francisco Sardinha on his assurance of retirement benefits to Goan seamen and urged the MP to stop fooling the seamen with false promises.

Alemao said Sardinha had made similar promise to legalise dhirios on the eve of Lok Sabha polls with an eye on the votes of dhirio lovers and owners of fighter bulls, but failed to honour the promise.

He appealed to seamen not to fall prey to false promises made by the MP and said he would be happy if Chief Minister Digambar Kamat includes seamen in the pension scheme meant for motorcycle and rickshaw operators.

‘I would be happy if all retired seamen are given pension by Goa government. If the Chief Minister can provide them with benefits, I would welcome the gesture of the government”, he said.

Alemao, however, said that he has requested the general secretary of National Union of Seafarers of India, Abdulgani Serang to take up the issue of retirement benefits for seamen with Union government. “Ghani has assured me that he would make a request to the Centre to sanction Rs five crore to create a fund to help retired seamen avail benefits post retirement”, he added.

Describing Sardinha as an opportunistic politician who would make false promises with an eye on election, Alemao demanded to know the fate of Sardinha’s

promise made to bull fight lovers on legalizing bullfights in the state. “To legalise dhirios, a Bill needs to be passed in Parliament. Why is Sardinha not pursing the Bill in Lok Sabha?”, he asked, while admitting that it’s difficult to legalise dhirios so long as there’s opposition from activists like Maneka Gandhi.

Alemao said he would have secured all the benefits for retired seamen, but NUSI general secretary has categorically said that it is not possible to enhance the monthly ex-gratia relief from Rs 200 to Rs 1,500.

The garbage which was leftover since Monday next to Welfit’s Silhouette showroom, Rua de Ourem, Panjim remained uncollected on Tuesday evening.

Photo by Rozario Estibeiro

2 maids held for theft at Comba HERALD REPORTER MARGAO, MAY 10

Margao police on Tuesday arrested two maid servants in connection with the theft of gold and diamond ornaments worth Rs seven lakhs from a house at Comba-Margao.

Margao PI Santosh Desai said the two maids have been taken into custody after the owner of the house suspected their involvement in the theft of ornaments.

The police had on late Monday night registered a case of theft against the two maid servants following a complaint received from one Sudin Naik.

In his complaint, Naik claimed that jewellery consisting of diamond earrings and other items, worth Rs five lakhs, besides two gold necklaces valued at around Rs two lakhs were stolen from his house.

Replying to a question, the police said the case is being investigating and the two maid servants would be interrogated in connection with the theft case. The police are investigating.

Collector issues memo of demands to MMC HERALD REPORTER MARGAO, MAY 10

Though monsoons are round the corner, government agencies are yet to initiate work on desilting of city’s nullahs and drains on a war footing, prompting the District Collector to issue a memorandum of demands to the Margao Civic body.

Even as work on desilting the old market nullah has begun, on the stretch behind the Ravindra Bhavan, work on other nullahs and drains is yet to shift into high gear.

Meanwhile, District Collector, G P Naik has submitted a memorandum of demands to the Margao civic body to take up construction of a new drain along old market area to prevent flooding during rains. The Collector has further directed the MMC to cover the drain as and when constructed, with slabs.

GOACAN resolves to make road safety a people’s movement HERALD REPORTER MARGAO, MAY 10

GOACAN has resolved to intensify its efforts to make Road Safety and Traffic Management a people’s movement on the launch of United Nations Decade for Action on Road Safety on May 11.

GOACAN Coordinator Roland Martins said the NGO will adopt a multi-pronged strategy to involve people at village panchayats and municipal councils through Road Safety & Traffic Management Committees for planning, participation & implementation.

During the forthcoming academic year GOACAN will promote the importance of the Road Safety Patrol (RSP) on the campus and garner support for State Road Safety Week to be observed in the first week of J u l y.

He said GOACAN will also promote the Traffic Warden Scheme at the Village & Municipal Council level to ensure citizens participation in making Road Safety a priority in the neighbourhood.

“With the formation of State & District Road Safety Councils, GOACAN will seek the assistance of teachers, Headmasters, Principals of High Schools, HSS and Colleges to maximise the awareness programs for students, he said.

Martins said a special program will be launched this year to highlight the importance of pedestrian safety with a focus on the 90 pedestrians who lost their lives in 2010.

Barad orders deletion of Carmona Panch’s name from voter rolls HERALD REPORTER MARGAO, MAY 10

In an interesting development, the Electoral Registration Officer for Benaulim constituency, Pravin Barad on Monday has ordered the deletion of name of Carmona Panch member Jerson Figueiredo from the electoral rolls on grounds that he is a Portuguese passport holder and not a citizen of India.

Commenting on the order passed by the ERO, Pravin Barad, Figueiredo maintained that he has already resigned from the membership of the Panchayat body and that his resignation has been accepted by the panchayat authorities.

He said that if Portuguese passport holders or Overseas

Citizen of India cannot enjoy political rights, than the same criteria should extend to all others, who have acquired Portuguese passports, including elected representatives and their wives.

Barad passed the order following a complaint received from one Francisco Fernandes by the District Collector, South stating that Jerson is an unauthorized person under the People’s Representation Act on grounds that he is holding Portuguese passport.

In his petition, Francisco called for Jerson’s disqualification and deletion of his name from the electoral roll. His lawyer, Adv Julius Gomes argued that Jerson is a Por-

Garbage collection deadlock continues in Margao

Hoteliers enlist their rates HERALD REPORTER MARGAO, MAY 10

The deadlock between the Margao Municipal Council and the South Goa Hotel Owners Association over the implementation of door-to-door garbage collection continues over the question of collection fees.

The rates quoted by Margao Municipal Council are not acceptable to hotel owners, who have enlisted their own rates before the civic body.

Association President C P Jaggi on Tuesday called on Margao Municipal Chief Officer Prasanna Acharya to discuss the implementation of door-to-door garbage collection, but the two sides could not agree on rates.

While the civic body has decided to charge Rs 80, Rs 60 and Rs 20 for various categories of hotels depending on their classification, the hoteliers were willing to pay rates of Rs 50, Rs 30 and Rs 10.

At one stage, the Chief Officer is believed to have warned that the civic body would go ahead with door-to-door garbage collection from the hotels with its rates, but Jagi said that any unilateral decision on the part of the Civic body would not help in waste collection exercise.

After much discussion, the Chief Officer told Jaggi that the civic body would get back to the hoteliers after discussing the issue with the municipal engineer.

“The rates fixed by the civic body are too high. I have requested the Chief Officer to climb down on the rates to make them more attractive for the hoteliers to pay to the civic body”, Jagi told Herald.

The impasse over the waste collection rates has virtually delayed the tendering of door-to-door waste collection from city hotels till date.

Presently, Margao Municipal Council is collecting waste, doorto-door from the city hotels on an experimental basis without charging the hoteliers varying rates. The civic body, however, had made it amply clear to hoteliers that this free lifting of waste directly from hotels cannot continue forever and has asked the hoteliers to contribute towards the success of door-to-door waste collection scheme.

tuguese passport holder and drew attention of the Electoral Registration Officer that an Overseas Citizen of India cannot enjoy political rights in the country.

The panch member, however, has strongly objected to the complaint, submitting that he is an Overseas Citizen of India passport holder and is entitled to stay in India life long and enjoy all the rights of an Indian citizen.

Saying that he was elected from Ward No V of Carmona Village Panchayat in the last elections, Jerson said he cannot be disqualified nor can his name be deleted from the electoral roll since he is a dual passport holder.

Beggar squats on road in Margao HERALD REPORTER MARGAO, MAY 10

In a shocking development, a migrant beggar literally held up traffic on the old station road near Pimpalkatta, Margao till the vehicle owner coughed up money, on Tuesday .

The beggar was squatting right in the middle of the road, literally obstructing movement of four-wheelers and ignoring all pleas to vacate the road.

The beggar demanded that the car owner cough up Rs 10 before he moved away from the road. Pleas by passersby to the beggar to vacate the road fell on deaf ears.

Finally an infuriated car owner alighted from his vehicle and literally lifted the beggar and placed him on the roadside, clearing traffic. The beggar, though down apparently was not out, as evident by the fact that he was seen pointing a danda at the car owner, who by that time drove down on the old station road.

In spite of relevant act against begging in Goa, beggars have a field day at markets and streets of the commercial capital, causing severe nuisance to shoppers and tourists. Previously an organized begging racket operating with the help of agents was exposed in Panjim, under the very nose of authorities.

Dr Mashelkar calls for preserving State’s natural beauty HERALD REPORTER MARGAO, MAY 10

Eminent Scientist Dr Raghunath Mashelkar has said that Goa would achieve great heights in all spheres of life if the state preserves its natural beauty, ensures economic growth, strikes a balance between development and environment and ensure peace and happiness.

“Goa is God’s gift to India.

We have to preserve the natural beauty of the state”, Dr Mashelkar said, while replying to his felicitation by eminent nuclear scientist, Dr Anil Kakodkar after being conferred with the second Lokmanya Matrubhumi Award for his immense contribution to the nation, at the Ravindra Bhavan here on Tuesday.

Dr Mashelkar, who is heading

the Goa Golden Jubilee Development Council, said the panel will take into account all the five principles while preparing the road map and the vision document ‘Goa 2035’.

“To achieve the goal, peace – both internal and external — is very important.” he said.

Dr Mashelkar, however, said that young people in Goa are concerned about corruption and admitted that it is indeed a big challenge how to eliminate corruption. “Nothing is impossible for human achievement. A revolution can be based on Facebook. Ana Hazare has shown the way”, he added.

“Every Goan should think of “Goa First and my Goa”. This will help achieve many a goal.

Goa is a loving and an open

minded society”, he added.

Saying that India would be an affluent country by 2035, Dr Mashelkar, who is the president of Global Research Alliance, said that conditions in Goa would be better than economic conditions in rest of India. “Fiftyfive per cent of India’s population is less than 25 years of age. This gives the country an advantage”, he said.

On the occasion, Dr Mashelkar announced the constitution of an Inclusive Innovation Award and Gifted Indian Scholarship to lend a helping hand to students to pursue education. He turned emotional while announcing the Gifted India scholarship, while recalling his student days when he had to undergo difficult situations while pursuing education.

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Vigilance Dept closes file against HC stays illumination of turtle beaches suspended dy collector HERALD NEWS DESK PANJIM, MAY 10

Issues ‘non-recordable warning’

HERALD REPORTER PANJIM, MAY 10

Deputy Collector Agnelo Fernandes who was suspended following a vigilance inquiry in due to alleged irregularities committed in the mutation and sale of 2.25 lakh sq mt property at Ashvem in Pernem taluka, has been issued “nonrecordable warning” and his file has been closed by Vigilance Department.

Chief Minister Digambar Kamat who is the highest disciplinary authority observed that disciplinary action against Fernandes should be dropped in

n It was alleged that Fernandes during stint as deputy collector and SDO of Sub Division at Pernem in 2009, while passing a judgment under Section 14 (3) of Land Revenue Code, regarding removal of ownership, had shown undue haste in disposing of the case in favour of the applicant. view of opinion of Law Department. The Law Department had opined “Wrong interpretation of law cannot be made ground for misconduct unless it is deliberate.”

Subsequently, Vigilance Department passed an order clos-

ing the file saying there is no substance against the officer even as there are procedural lapses which cannot be dismissed. It was alleged that Fernandes during stint as deputy collector and SDO of Sub Division at Pernem in 2009, while

Stop Delhi trips, take Cabinet decision on MoI issue: Willy HERALD REPORTER PANJIM, MAY 10

Former Chief Minister Wilfred de Souza, has called on PWD Minister Churchill Alemao to stop shedding crocodile tears and take a cabinet decision on the issue of medium of instruction, instead of rushing to New Delhi.

Dr de Souza who addressed a press conference on this issue, on Tuesday here questioned the need to have discussion in Delhi when cabinet can take the decision here while referring to invitation given to Savio Lopes of FORCE and others for meeting in Delhi.

“Go into cabinet (meeting) and take a decision – there is no need to take bus load of people to Delhi. Let them come here and have discussion,” said Dr de Souza Dr de Souza also pointed

n “Go into cabinet (meeting) and take a decision – there is no need to take bus load of people to Delhi. Let them come here and have discussion.”

— Dr Wilfred de Souza out that twenty-one years ago when he had argued that English medium primary schools too should be given grants a l o n g w i t h Ko n ka n i a n d Marathi medium schools Alemao had opposed him in Goa assembly.

Throwing his weight behind the right of parents to decide the issue, he reiterated that their right can’t be taken away. He also pointed out that medium of instruction in Kendriya

Vidyalayas as well Bal Bhavan schools that receive grants from the government is English.

Agitating voices have been momentarily silenced thanks to an assurance from Congress emissary that solution to the medium of instruction tangle would be arrived at by May 20, but former chief minister Wilfred de Souza has questioned the wisdom to defer the decision till May 20 and need to have talks in Delhi.

Cardinal Dias retires as Vatican’s ‘Red Pope’ Archdiocese expresses gratitude HERALD NEWS BUREAU PANJIM, MAY 10

Cardinal Ivan Dias HERALD NEWS BUREAU PANJIM, MAY 10

Cardinal Ivan Dias, a prelate of Goan origin, retired on Tuesday as Prefect of the Congregation for the Evangelisation of Peoples (CEP), one of the most important dicasteries in the Vatican.

Pope Benedict XVI accepted the resignation of Cardinal Dias (75), who traces his roots to Velsao, on “having reached the age limit”.

The Pope has appointed Archbishop Fernando Filoni, formerly substitute for General Affairs of the Secretariat of State, to succeed Cardinal Dias.

Cardinal Dias is one of the four cardinals of Goan origin, who have been elevated to key positions in the Vatican. The others are Cardinal Oswald Gracias of Mumbai, a native of Orlim, late Cardinal Valerian Gracias of Mumbai and late Cardinal Joseph Cordeiro of Karachi.

The Archdiocese of Goa and Daman has expressed its deep gratitude to Cardinal Ivan Dias, who retired as a key Vatican official on Tuesday.

“Being a son of Goa, it is a matter of pride for us Goans that he occupied senior most posts in the Vatican and also served the Vatican’s envoy in different countries,” said Fr Francisco Caldeira, spokesman for the Archdiocese.

“We thank him for the interest shown to the Archdiocese of Goa and Daman and we wish him all the very best in his future work as leader of the church,” Fr Caldeira added.

Born in Mumbai on April 14 1936, Cardinal Dias was ordained priest in 1958.

He entered the Holy See’s diplomatic service in 1964 and was posted to the Nordic countries, Indonesia, Madagascar, La Reunion, the Comorros, Mauritius and the Secretariat of State.

Cardinal Dias was elevated as bishop in 1982. He was immediately appointed Apostolic ProNuncio to Ghana, Benin and Togo.

Cardinal Dias, who holds a doctorate in canon law from the Pontifical Lateran University (Rome), later served as Apostolic Nuncio in Korea (1987-91) and Albania (1991-97).

In 1996, he was appointed Archbishop of Bombay and was elevated as cardinal in 2001.

He was appointed prefect of CEP in 2006, one of the most important dicasteries in the Vatican, to direct and coordinate

the spread of the Gospel and missionary activity around the world. Its prefect has commonly been known as the “Red Pope” due to the importance of the post.

According to reports, the prefect of CEP has considerable authority, with responsibility for the appointment of scores of bishops.

Cardinal Dias, who participated in the conclave in 2005 to elect a pope (Benedict XVI) to succeed Blessed John Paul II, was one Indian cardinal who had even emerged as strong contender to be the next Pope.

Besides serving as Grand Chancellor of the Pontifical Urbanian University, Cardinal Dias served as member in various congregations, councils and commissions in the Vatican.

Cardinal Dias is a multilinguist and is reportedly fluent in 16 languages.

CMC Mayor submits resignation to DMA HERALD CORRESPONDENT CANACONA, MAY 10

With the submission of resignation by one of the four players, the game of musical chairs has begun in Canacona Municipal Council (CMC).

According to sources, CMC Mayor and Tarir Councillor Ratnakar Dhuri on Tuesday submitted his resignation as chairperson to the Director of Municipal Administration (DMA).

Sources in the Canacona municipality confirmed the developments.

Dhuri submitted his resignation papers exactly six months af ter he was unanimously elected to the post on November 11, 2010, in an agreement

n Dhuri submitted his resignation papers exactly six months after he was unanimously elected to the post on November 11, 2010, in an agreement with the ruling councillors. with the ruling councillors.

Immediately after the CMC elections, the ruling group agreed to rotate the chairperson’s post among four councillors and the post of deputy with the remaining two-three councillors.

It may be recalled that CMC had made history when an OBC and a ST candidates were together elected as chairperson and deputy chairperson, in the absence of any constitutional obligations or reservations to

the two posts.

Kindlem Councillor Ramakant Naikgaunkar is tipped to be the next chairperson in the second round for a period of 14 months.

Palolem Caouncillor Simon Rebello and Chaudi Councillor Hemant Gracias are also awaiting their turn in that order to serve as CMC mayor.

Councilor Sandesh Gaonkar, who occupies the post of deputy chairperson, will continue to do so for a full two-year term, informed the sources.

passing a judgment under Section 14 (3) of Land Revenue Code, regarding removal of ownership, had shown undue haste in disposing of the case in favour of the applicant.

He was charged with failure to obtain required concrete documentary evidence and authentic translation of Portuguese documents submitted in the case before disposing off the same.

Alleged irregularities had come to light when Pernem Deputy Collector Rajendra Mirajkar conducted inspection of mutation file of the property. It was found that nearly 84,387 sq mts of government land along with the land of a private party, both admeasuring about 2.25 lakh sq mts, were entered in the name of one Anton D’Souza and his 16 successors. The legal heirs of D’Souza had asserted that the land was in their possession, occupation and enjoyment and that they had been paying the tax since 1944.

A division bench of Bombay High Court at Goa comprising Justice S C Dharmadhikari and F M Reis stayed till further notice on Tuesday a Rs 25 lakh proposal of the Tourism Department to illuminate public beaches in North Goa. The order was recorded in a PIL filed by the Goa Foundation in the wake of news reports that the Tourism Department had sanctioned the money to the Electricity Department for the purpose. According to the petition, the Department did not appear to be aware that some of the North Goa beaches were declared as turtle nesting sites under the new CRZ Notification of January 6, 2011.

After copies of the petition were ser ved on the Chief Wildlife Warden of the State and on the GCZMA, both authorities issued letters to the Tourism Department, highlighting the fact that artificial illumination of the said beaches would have negative impacts on turtle nesting sites.

After the High Court was informed that the GCZMA had issued a set of directions to the Tourism Department in the matter, the Court stated that no illumination of the beaches would be done and the matter was posted for further hearing in

June, post vacations.

The Court directed issue of notice to the Wildlife Institute of India and to the Ministry of Environment and Forests.The writ petition has asked for appropriate directions to the authorities to

produce a survey and conservation plan for the turtle nesting beaches as required under the 2011 CRZ Notification.

The petition has also challenged the approval of beach beds, beach umbrellas and

shacks on these specific beaches on the grounds that they are no longer legal in view of the 2011 CRZ Notification declaring beaches of Galgibag, Agonda, Morjim and Mandrem as protected turtle nesting sites.

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UPCOMING EVENTS Blood donation camp CALANGUTE(HC): Lions Club of Nagoa-Arpora-Parra in collaboration with the Goa Medical College Blood Bank will org a n i s e a b l o o d d o n a t i o n c a m p a t Re s o r t R i i o , Tambudkar-Arpora, on May 11 from 9.30 am to 12.30 pm.

Those desirous of donating blood may do so directly at the Resort Riio venue or assemble at the Community Hall of Holy Trinity Church, Nagoa-Arpora, where transport would be available to proceed to the blood donation camp venue at Arpora.

Six more residential houses demolished in Anjuna

Buyao to rock Konkani in Europe PANJIM (HND): Sidhanath Buyao, is all set to rock Konkani songs in Amersfoort Jazz festival to be held in Netherlands from May 13. Goan Jazz band comprising of Sidhanath Buyao, Monserrate Brothers, Singer Veeam Braganza, Konkani pop star Olavo Rodrigues and tabla player Yatin Talaulikar will perform at this festival. Sidhanath will sing Konkani songs penned by Bakibab Borkar, Ulhas Buyao, Adv Uday Bhembre, Shridhar Kamat, John Aguiar and a special English song on Goa and Amersfort relation penned by Sanjay Borkar.

CEO of Heriatge Jazz Armando Gonsalves has been instrumental in providing opportunity to Goa’s musicians to represent their music first time ever through such festivals held in Europe.

Workshop on RTI PANJIM (HND): Asha Family Responsibilities and Rights Association in collaboration with Lions Club of Aldona will conduct a free Workshop on ‘Right to Information (RTI)’ on May 15 from 4.30 pm onwards, at Aldona Parish Centre Hall. Learn how to avoid delays in getting your work done in government departments, village panchayats and municipal councils etc.

Fo r d e t a i l s c a l l 2 2 5 6 4 4 5 / 9 8 2 2 1 6 6 8 7 6 o r e - m a i l trustasha@yahoo.co.in.

Meetings against corruption PANJIM (HND): Activists of India against Corruption Arvind Kejriwal, Swami Agnivesh and Manish Sisodiya will address a youth meet on May 13 at 10.30 am at Ravindra Bhavan.

Kiran bedi will address a public meeting on May 13 at 3 pm at Vasco at Santoshi Mata temple at New Vaddem. All four will address a public meeting on May 13 at 5 pm at Azad Maidan, Panjim.

Workshop for media persons PANJIM (HND): The Directorate of Health Services (DHS) will hold a workshop for media personnel on May 13 on EMRI- 108 ambulances in the Conference Hall of DHS, Panjim, from 10.30 am to 12.30 pm.

The demolition squad razes a house in Anjuna.

HERALD CORRESPONDENT CALANGUTE, MAY 10

The Demolition Squad led by Block Development Officer Shivprasad Naik demolished six more residential houses violat-

ing CRZ norms at Anjuna on Tuesday.

So far, 10 houses have been demolished in the past two days, while others have succeeded in obtaining a stay on the demoli-

AITUC demands ban on pesticide Endosulfan HERALD NEWS DESK PANJIM, MAY 10

The Goa State Committee of All India Trade Union Congress (AITUC) has demanded for state and national ban on the pesticide ‘Endosulfan’ as several scientific studies have proved beyond doubt the life threatening effects of Endosulfan and UN's Stockholm Convention had appealed for its ban.

While more than 85 countries have already banned the use of Endosulfan, Central Government has postponed the ban for over 10 years, clearly putting Endosulfan manufacturers' profit above

public health, according to a press release issued here.

India is the one of the 26 countries which is persisting with the use of Endosulfan which is one of the most toxic pesticides. Endosulfan is known to cause cancer, respiratory disorders and genetic deformities. It also causes menstrual irregularities in women and impotence in men. These consequences have been studied by the Kerala Agriculture University, Manipal Medical College and other expert committees.

The State Government of Kerala and Karnataka have already banned this pesticide.

Literature and Language

What is a Dead Language?

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ormally only living organisms can be considered either living or dead, but languages can die as well. A dead language is one which is no longer learned as a native language. Because they form a part of human history, some dead languages are topics of study because of their cultural, linguistic, or social importance. People mistakenly believe that dead languages have no speakers, and are therefore considered ‘dead’, but some dead languages actually have more speakers than those of modern or ‘living’ languages -languages which are learned as native tongues.

Well-known examples of dead languages include Coptic, Ancient Greek, Latin, and Sanskirt; however there are numerous other dead languages from regions around the world - including huge numbers of Native American languages which died out with European colonialism. The most common process leading to language death is one in which a community of speakers of one language becomes bilingual in another language, and gradually shifts allegiance to the second language until they cease to use their original language. This process may be voluntary or may be forced upon a population, through colonization.

Speakers of some languages, particularly regional or minority languages may decide to abandon them based on economic or utilitarian grounds, in favor of languages regarded as having greater utility, prestige or even convenience.

The process of transmission is essential for the survival of any language. This process occurs when the children are initiated into the language by their parents/ teachers. Once a language is no longer a native language, that is, if no children are being socialized into it as

their primary language - the process of transmission has ended and the language itself will not survive past the current generation. This is rarely considered a sudden event, but a slow process of each generation learning less and less of the language, until its use is relegated to the domain of traditional use, such as in poetry and song, or prayer even. Typically the transmission of the language from adults to children becomes more and more restricted, to the final setting that adults speaking the language will raise children who never acquire fluency. And the following generations may never learn the language at all and the language is officially considered dead.

You can learn a lot about a certain culture from the language spoken by its people. This holds especially true in the modern sense; although several mysteries about ancient cultures were revealed through dead languages. In instances where written languages were developed, knowing a dead language allows people to read contemporary accounts of historical events. However many academics are conflicted over the specifics of a dead language, which is to be expected considering that a point of reference would be difficult to find.

The study of the structure of a language can provide clues into how people see the world, and their relationships with other people, animals, and objects and why they acted a certain way. It reveals cultural secrets and differences and also throws light on how certain modern languages came to be. This is why the study of dead languages is interesting to so many people, and sometimes can lead to heated debates over personal views and standpoints.

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Photo by Thomas Fernandes

tions.

In all, 29 houses violating CRZ norms were earmarked for demolition. Anjuna Police provided security cover for the operations.

HERALD CORRESPONDENT CANACONA, MAY 10

A 11-year-old girl from SuratGujrat was rescued from the Palolem beach on Tuesday.

The incident took place at about 10.30 am on May 10, when the girl, Ruchita Devtole, was in the water along with her father. The father took his eye off his daughter when she slipped and fell into the water.

SLSG Lifeguard (Captain) Ramesh Velip spotted the danger and immediately ran towards the victim and brought her ashore. The girl faced some difficulty in speaking and was later taken in a 108 ambulance for further medical attention.

Fireworks are expected at the Loliem-Polem gram sabha on Sunday over the panchayat's decision to grant permission to a mobile tower in the village.

It is reliably learnt that many residents in Loliem have been opposing a mobile tower in the area and are upset with the panchayat's decision to grant the NOC to construct the tower.

Many residents plan to raise this issue during the gram sabha on Sunday.

The gram sabha, which will be chaired by Sarpanch Pranali Prabhudessai, is also likely to address issues of developmental concerns, besides attending to other queries from members.

"Members who have issues to discuss in the gram sabha are advised to submit them to the panchayat office on or before 12 pm on Thursday (May 12), informed Deputy Sarpanch Elvis

PANJIM (HND): Geebee Education will hold free counselling/guidance on admissions and visa processing for studying and settling in Canada, USA, UK, New Zealand and Singapore, on May 12 from 10 am to 4 pm.

The counselling will be conducted by Ritesh Savla. Contact Geebee Education on 6655197/ 9764007643

Ixtt marks 78 yrs of Konkani journalism HERALD NEWS BUREAU PANJIM, MAY 10

Vavraddeancho Ixtt will celebrate 78 years of vernacular journalism at the Black Box of Kala Academy on May 12 at 10.30 am.

The special highlight of the event will be the annual award ceremony. Fr Manuel Gomes will be conferred the Xennoi Goybab Puroskar for immense contribution to Konknni for over last two decades.

Stanley Vaz will receive the Fr Lactancio Almeida Puroskar as an outstanding writer of Vavraddeancho Ixtt for the year 2010, while the Fr Nicolau Pereira Puroskar for the student who scores highest marks in Konknni in the MA (200910) will be awarded to Priyanka Prabhakar Parab from Saligao.

Zagruti (Awakening) of St Elizabeth's Church, Ucassaim will receive the Firgojechem Potr Puroskar for being the best parish bulletin of the year 2010.

Noted environmentalist Rajendra Kerkar will be the chief guest, while Valanka Alemao, advocate and social worker, will

Loliem-Polem meet likely to be stormy

HERALD CORRESPONDENT CANACONA, MAY 10

Free counselling on overseas education

Friday Balcao at Mapusa PANJIM (HND): Friday Balcao the fortnightly discussion of event of Goa DESC to be held on May 13 from 4 pm to 6 pm, will focus on ‘People’s Preparedness & Participation in Disaster Management in Goa at the Goa Desc Resource Centre No 11 Liberty Apartments Feira Alta, Mapusa. Balcao and is open to public. For more information on Friday Balcao email to goadesc@gmail.com.

Gujarat girl saved from drowning at Palolem beach

n The special highlight of the event will be the annual award ceremony. Fr Manuel Gomes will be conferred the Xennoi Goybab Puroskar for immense contribution to Konknni for over last two decades. be the Guest of Honour.

Fr Tony Lopes sfx, Superior General of the Society of Pilar, will preside over the occasion.

Launched in 1933, Vavraddeancho Ixtt (The Worker's Friend), the most popular and only Konkani weekly continues to be the voice of Goans.

Vavraddeancho Ixtt now reaches 15,000 homes, in Goa, Mumbai, other parts of India and overseas. The online edition is read in over 50 different countries.

Anti-corruption drive in govt offices of port town

n It is reliably learnt that many residents in Loliem have been opposing a mobile tower in the area and are upset with the panchayat's decision to grant the NOC to construct the tower.

Fernandes.

"We also request members to attend the meet in large numbers to know activities undertaken by the Panchayat and in a way, to assist the local body by addressing genuine issues and concerns of the village," Fernandes added.

S H O RT TA K E S Puppies for adoption at PAWS PANJIM(HND): There are lot of puppies available for adoption at PAWS and animal lovers can take them home free as pets.

Interested persons may walk into PAWS at ST Inez, Panjim and walk out with a warm, loving, affectionate and loyal companion for life. Beautiful little puppies at PAWS are looking for little love and a warm, cozy home. Paws offers free medical treatment for a year, free vaccinations and free sterilisations to all puppies adopted from them. For further information call PAWS at 2225850.

Agriculture review PANJIM(HND): The Deputy Director of Agriculture (PP) gave a presentation on the State preparedness for Kharif 2011 season during the National Conference on Agriculture for Kharif Campaign held recently at New Delhi. 19 school dropout rural youth were trained for a period of two months in skill development in agriculture at Farmers Training Centre, Ela, Old Goa. After the completion of the training certificates and training kits were distributed to the trainees.

Macro Management of Agriculture Scheme was reviewed

by Government of India and plan for Rs 50 lakh was finalized for the State for year 2011-12 to take up National Watershed Development Programme on Rainfed Area (NWDPRA) Scheme.

The land preparation work for Kharif season has begun, especially for paddy cultivation. The mango crop and cashew crop has arrived and though the crop is delayed, production is normal.

According to Directorate of Agriculture, Rabi paddy crop has matured and harvesting is in full swing. The overall crop condition of Rabi paddy is stated to be good. Adequate quantity of HYV paddy seed has been made available to the farmers for forthcoming Kharif season at various outlets of Goa Bagayatdar Society and Pernem Taluka Farmers Society.

Courses at Chowgule College PANJIM (HND): Chowgule College will conduct short-term certificate courses starting from next week at Tiger’s Studio, the institute’s post production studio in the field of photography, photoshop, video editing, sound editing, videography, graphic designing, video production and mores.

The courses do not require participants to have any prior educational background in the chosen subjects. The fundamentals and basics of the respective subject will be taught during the seven-day course which will end with an exciting project. Tiger’s studio operates on Mackintosh and Windows platform and utilizes state-of-the-art equipment including a JVC 700 HD camera for videography and Mark-2 camera for photography. With software like Adobe Premier and Final Cut Pro students can avail of the excellent infrastructure and latest technology in use at the studio.

Visit the college at www.chowgules.ac.in or call the Tiger’s Studio on 2759504/2759531 for more details. For more information one can also contact Pintu Biswas on 9503228755 or Frezeo Fernandes on 9850190667.

Le Passage to India celebrates successful charter season HERALD NEWS DESK PANJIM, MAY 10

Mormugao Union of Journalists and Art of Living Activists affix badges on RTO officials in Vasco during the 'India against Corruption' campaign.

Photo by M Prabhav HERALD REPORTER VASCO, MAY 10

As part of the 'India Against Corruption' campaign, Mormugao Union of Journalists (MUJ) along with Art of Living (AoL) activists on Tuesday undertook a drive to affix badges in various government offices in the port town.

MUJ members and AoL activists began their drive from the Mormugao Planning and Development Authority office and later proceeded to the Mormugao Municipal building, that houses most government offices, police station, PWD and electric department.

Most government officials and workers welcomed the drive, while a few questioned the motive of the initiative.

"When someone's values and principles are lost, people get involved in corruption and evil activities. This badge "I am Against Corruption" would certainly bring some change to

remind them of their values," said AoL activist Dr Rajiv Powar.

"All government offices showed a positive response to this drive and we hope that this drive will bring some change in the bureaucracy and politicians," said MUJ President Dayanand Rane.

Mormugao Municipal Council Chief Officer Meghnath Porob appreciated the drive and said: "It is good that some have taken the initiative to fight against corruption."

Digamber Savoiverekar, Assistant Director of Transport at Vasco RTO office, also expressed happiness and said the badge would force people to think twice before offering or accepting bribes.

Incidentally, many bureaucrats requested the MUJ members and AoL activists to place big banners outside the offices of all political parties in the port town.

Le Passage to India and Coral Travel hosted a very special ‘Thank You Evening’ recently for the Goa travel fraternity on April 28, celebrating the first successful season of Coral Charters. The evening saw felicitation of their bestselling travel industry partners and recognition of 9 hotel partners for their support – The Leela Kempinski, Park Hyatt Resort & Spa, Alila Diwa Goa, Heritage Village Club Goa, Holiday Inn Goa, Sea Breeze Hotels, Nanu Beach Resort, Del Sol and Villa Fatima.

With 35,000 room nights produced in the first season, Coral Travel announced that the next season would see a substantial increase in the number of charter arrivals from Russia and Ukraine to Goa and the longterm strategy is to make the

n Coral Travel is a part of the OTI Group that handles over 1.2 million tourists in 20 key tourism destinations around the world.

Goa a favorite holiday spot of Asia and a key hub for India round trips.

Coral Travel is a part of the OTI Group that handles over 1.2 million tourists in 20 key tourism destinations around the world. With a reputation of being the most reliable tour operators in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus, Coral Travel has over 30 offices in the region and handled 120,000 clients from the area in 2010.

POWER SHUTDOWN MAY 12

PORVORIM: From 9 am to 2 pm. Areas affected are Resicom Home Elite, Sabnis Park, Gauri Apts, Khana Khazana, PDA Colony, Tarun Bharat, part of Teen Building, O’ Coqueiro and surrounding areas.

PORVORIM: From 2.30 pm to 5.30 pm. Areas affected are Pundaliknagar, Majestic Hotel, Journalist Colony, Sai Service and surrounding areas.

MAY 13

BRITONA: From 9 am to 2 pm. Areas affected are Britona, Virlosa, Haliwada, RND-Slipway, Malim Tourism Complex, Ice Factory, Malim and surrounding areas.

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oPinionated US has told Pak to act against LeT: Timothy Roemer ‘Wots Cool’ among youth?

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BY BABITA ANGLE PRABHUDESAI

ometime back I read an article on the internet regarding corruption and selling of sex among kids in America. Curiously, I went through the article and was shaken up as it was speaking not just about kids in America but about kids in India and anywhere else.

Today, the ghost of globalisation is extending its tentacles into every possible field to every target group. How can kids be left out from the clutches of corporates, that look at the ever increasing youth force as a most lucrative market? In the bargain, we have a ‘uniform’ population of urban youth all over the world who think the same about fashions, music, trends, etc.

I would not be truthful if I comment on rural youth; I am sure a different and slightly better psyche prevails there. May be the good old values are still adhered to in rural areas.

I have often heard a remark that this is the lost generation, a very materialistic generation or a generation beyond repair.

Well, why is it that today’s youth feel a need to conform (even if by rebellion) and what is it that exerts this irresistible pull or temptation?

Like schools or the military, today’s youth too wears ‘uniforms’ – tight jeans with low waistlines, revealing colourful and expensive brands of boxers, slim fit T-Shirt or shirts of a brand whose advertisements are very alluring and, last but not least, top-of-the-line slippers or sneakers.

No, the attire is not yet complete – what about the expensive waist belts required to hold the jeans in place? Then hair bands, body piercing, tattoos and some funky jewellery sortof complete the dress code. I am deliberately refraining from writing about the gadgets that are flashed in the name of technology.

More than school uniforms, this global ‘uniform’ is visible everywhere today. The school or military uniform is worn as a symbol of loyalty, a mark of obedience, and discipline. But the ‘uniform’ worn by today’s youth represents allegiance to defiant music, a different world of social, sexual and cultural values, and the ever increasing culture of the virtual world, which is engulfing millions and millions of children in its mysterious realm. What is it that drives the youth to values which are so hollow and materialistic in their core?

‘Merchant of Cool’ was the term coined for corporate America in a documentary that exposes major American corporations that run the music industry for tempting kids and selling goods that corrupt and degrade. These corporations also own controlling stakes in TV networks. As a result, they become master manipulators and their marketing campaigns set new trends, define new values and create a subculture of what is ‘cool’.

They spend billions of dollars studying/spying and infiltrating every aspect of the social settings of youth, just to find out what sells, how it can sell and how manipulative they can be to introduce new products. Their weaponry is expensive gadgets, CDs, music, internet access, shoes, accessories, clothes, sports and anything that is trend setting.

MTV is just another inseparable part of most of teenagers’ entertainment. It has a language of its own as well as definitions of what is ‘cool’ and what ‘sucks’.

There is little that is informative and nothing non-commercial about MTV. Each time these corporations turn ‘innovative’ and aggressive in their marketing campaigns, pump huge sums of money, and come up with more shocking, more degraded versions of what is ‘cool’.

It’s a new culture that has wrapped up our youth into a fascinating virtual world. Something I am truly amazed about is the dictionary they follow. New short forms, abbreviations, words and what not. It’s like solving a crossword with cryptic clues. It fits neither into creole nor pidgin by Oxford Dictionary standards.

But one has to hand it to them. The youth are being very creative. Who knows, maybe centuries later this kind of cryptogram would prove to be an important anthropological specimen!

I had the opportunity of listening to Chetan Bhagat, who is supposed to be the icon of the young Indian intelligentsia.

He appealed to young minds to follow their passion in the career they opted for. He highlighted very frankly and with no remorse the mistakes he made. But why does he feel the need to do so on a public platform and for whose benefit?

Our youth have been engulfed by a one-point agenda: “What’s gonna be my annual package?” And as a natural corollary: “Which academic stream is going to take me to my golden dreams?” Most don’t follow their passion, and end up getting burnt out by the age of 35, slaving in soulless conglomerates.

Materialism is a value only so long as it remains in balance with other values of family, friendship, spirituality, health and work ethic. It becomes a problem when it become the sole focus and overrides other values that are so important in civil society.

I may sound alarmist, as though we are on the brink of a point of no return. But the fact is that about 80 per cent of our urban youth follow this pattern. The other 20 per cent are fortunate and follow a path which they think they want to tread on, have a conviction about what they want to do.

But it’s a serious situation for the rest.

We will have a more fractured population of youth – both physically and mentally – in the years to come. Things can be different only if we build a different sub-culture – an alternate to the consumer culture; in which we engage our youth in non-consumption activities, in creative activities, where they can take pleasure in expression, may be theatre, sports, wildlife, art, music, etc.

It should not be looked upon as a competitive or exam-oriented indulgence, but only aim at rebuilding a healthy generation and redefining a lost culture.

PTI AHMEDABAD, MAY 10

The US has told Pakistan that it now needed to act against the Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), US ambassador to India Timothy J Roemer said Tuesday while stressing that his government had been building enormous pressure on Islamabad to target terror havens in its territory.

Roemer, who went around Sabarmati Ashram, which was home to Mahatma Gandhi for years, said the US shared India's "targets and goals" on the LeT, whose leaders have been charged with the 26/11 terror attack in Mumbai.

"We share the targets and goals in terms of the LeT and have communicated to Pakistan

AGENCIES

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday arrested Bhag Singh, an aide of Punjab cabinet minister Swarna Ram, in a Rs 1.5 crore graft case over a land deal. "We had called him (Bhag Singh) for questioning. His role in this case has come to our notice and he was arrested by the investigati ng team," CBI Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Mahesh Aggarwal said in Chandigarh on Tuesday.

The CBI on Monday questioned the state's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ministers Manoranjan Kalia (industries and local bodies) and Swarna Ram (social welfare and justice) in connection with the case.

Bhag Singh is Ram's personal secretary.

Ram was questioned for nearly two hours by the CBI officials for his role in the controversy over a land deal near Zirakpur, on the outskirts of Chandigarh, belonging to a mechanics association in Punjab.

Chief Parliamentary secretary (CPS) and BJP legislator Raj Khurana, who submitted his resignation on Sunday, was earlier arrested by the CBI along with an ex-government official Devinder Singh Bittu.

The CBI had raided Khurana's official residence in Sector 39 in Chandigarh on Wednesday and recovered Rs 15 lakh in cash, cheques running into millions of rupees and an expensive

We share the targets and goals in terms of the LeT and have communicated to Pakistan that it now needs to act against the LeT as well as individuals ernment had been building immense pressure on Pakistan to go after safe havens in their country and target the Al Qaeda.

Refuting that the US was practicing double standards on 9/11 and 26/11, he said Washington and New Delhi had come to-

gether to share intelligence in unprecedented ways in the last two years.

"There is vibrant day to day, hour to hour and minute to minute sharing of information.

We are sharing information with India on Afghanistan, Africa, did

so on security during the Commonwealth Games, World Cup cricket. We even shared David Headley (the alleged LeT operative accused in the 26/11 strike).

"Our president has also supported India for a permanent seat in the UNSC," he added.

"We are now working under the directions of the US and India to help build capacity here in India, forensic capabilities, the possibility of new national counter terrorism centre, share best practices and expertise as to how to prevent the next terrorist attack."

The FBI, he said, had helped India convict Ajmal Amir Kasab, the only terrorist to be caught after the Nov 26-28, 2008 terror attack. "The FBI's cooperation

on GPS, statistics and data helped convict Ajmal Kasab."

Roemer evaded questions on whether he would be meeting Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, saying he was here to meet common people.

"The president of the US has asked me to connect to the people of India, not just the top brass. Connect to the hearts and minds of the people, the aam aadmi, the regular men and women of India, which is what I am doing."

He said about 20 percent of Indian Americans in the US come from Gujarat. He added that the state was growing fast with over 10 percent annual growth but evaded a question on when the US would do business with Modi.

Laxmi in Aussie swimwear ad sparks legal battle AGENCIES ALLAHABAD, MAY 10

Girls cover themselves during a heavy dust strom in Mathura on Tuesday.

Valley elects first Kashmiri Pandit woman sarpanch PTI TANGMARG, MAY 10

In a first for Kashmir, a 52-yearold Kashmiri Pandit housewife has been voted as a panch by a predominantly Muslim village.

Wussan, a small village on way to the famous Gulmarg tourist resort, has come into spotlight after it voted for Asha Ji, the lone Kashmiri Pandit candidate for the post of Panch, against her opponent, a member of the Muslim community which forms nearly 90 per cent of the electorate in her constituency.

Abdul Hamid Wani, a neighbour, says while there was no deliberate intention of making a statement through Asha’s election, it should remind people that “humanity is still the best virtue.”

“Other consideration like religion and region should be subservient to it,” he says.

An estimated two lakh Kashmiri Pandits fled the Valley after outbreak of militancy in late 1980s. Wussan village, which had 10 Kashmiri Pandit families before militancy erupted, has only five left now but Asha, a mother of two who came from Doda in Jammu region after she married Radha Krishan in 1984, says she never felt like an outsider.

“In fact, the relations between the two communities are so strong in our area that we never felt the need to migrate out of the Valley,” she says.

“Our Muslim brethren assured us that we were as secure as they are and they will take on any problem coming our

Punjab minister’s aide arrested in graft case CHANDIGARH, MAY 10

that it now needs to act against the LeT as well as individuals," Roemer told journalists, days after US forces killed Osama bin Laden in his hideout in Pakistan's Abbottabad town.

On Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani absolving intelligence agency ISI of any wrongdoing, Roemer said President Barack Obama had in the last 48 hours made it clear that the targets that US and India shared in terms of the LeT and individuals being indicted were more and more common.

"The commonalities and goals with regard to world security and intelligence sharing are very close between the US and India," he added.

The envoy added that his gov-

Porsche car (valued at over Rs 1 crore) from there.

The CBI probe is related to the alleged bribe Khurana and Bittu sought over the land deal case. The money, they allegedly said, was meant for the two ministers.

Ram had written a note to Kalia April 7, 2011 to look into the land deal case, about which he was questioned by the CBI. "My PS (personal secretary) Bhag Singh had told me to issue that note and I did the same, asking the concerned ministry to look into the matter. He also told me to write to the chief minister regarding the case. But I did not do so as I was not aware about it," Ram told reporters after the CBI questioning Monday.

Kashmiri Pandit Asha Ji (right) who won the panchayat elections from the Wussan block of Kashmir's Baramulla district being garlanded by her Muslim supporters on Tuesday.

way,” she says.

Asked if she felt scared in view of militant threats to people contesting panchayat elections, Asha said she was a firm believer in destiny.

“Life and death is in the hands of God and a person dies only once. If I die for truth and on the right path, I will have no regrets,” she says.

Asha says she was never inclined to get into electoral politics but the local leaders egged her on to contest the polls.

“A lot of people came to me asking me to contest the polls.

Initially, I was little nervous but I decided to contest after more support poured in,” she says.

Out of 98 votes polled in her constituency, Asha got 54 votes while her opponent Sarwah

Begum got 43. One vote was rejected. “We have lived like a family all these years in this village and I have never felt different from other people.

“The people have reposed trust in me and now it is my turn to serve them,” Asha says.

The jubilation is evident on the faces of her neighbours.

“We supported her because we felt she can serve the area better. We will continue to support her in her endeavour to serve people,” Halima, who campaigned for Asha, says.

And the gritty Asha’s message to the community — “We would want all Pandits to return to Kashmir... not to the camps or colonies set up by the government but the places which they called home.”

Court allows two-day exemption to Kanimozhi

AGENCIES NEW DELHI, MAY 10

The CBI Trail Court has given exemption from personal appearance to Kanimozhi and Sharad Kumar for two days.

However, it rejected Shahid Balwa's bail plea and will continue to hear the same on May 18, reports Rituparna Bhuyan of

CNBC-TV18.

Since, Kanimozhi and Sharad had to appear before the I-T department on May 12 and 13 in Chennai they moved an application to the CBI special judge asking for an exemption from personal appearance.

The CBI Trail Court allowed the same after the CBI said that they had no problem regarding the exemption.

The CBI however, rejected Shahid Balwa’s bail plea putting forth its counter arguments which said that Vinod Goenka and Shahid Balwa were in charge of Swan which benefited from the entire scam. They also went on to the details and facts of the second charge sheet.

Meanwhile, Vijay Agarwal, the lawyer of Shahid Balwa said that he had not gone through the 2G charge sheet.

Images of the Hindu goddess of wealth displayed on swimwear at an Australian fashion show have sparked a legal battle in India.

The Allahabad High Court has issued notices to the Hindustan Times for publishing the photos that show female models wearing the swimwear.

Images of the goddess, Laxmi, were displayed on the garments.

The fashion show attracted worldwide media attention and was held in the Australian city of Sydney last week.

Pictures of the controversial swimwear were published in many newspapers, leading to protests in towns and cities across India.

Protesters belonging to radical Hindu groups such as the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Shiv

Khandu cremated with State honours PTI TAWANG, MAY 10

Former Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Dorjee Khandu , who was killed in a chopper crash, was cremated with full state honours at Shepedung near his native village in Tawang District.

Thousands of people turned up to attend the last rites of Khandu, who was cremated as per Buddhist traditions of the Monpa community.

Khandu and four others - crew members Captain J S Babbar and Captain K S Malick, Khandu''s security officer Yeshi Choddak and Yeshi Lamu, sister of Tawang legislator Tsewang Dhondup were killed in the chopper crash on April 30.

The bodies were retrieved from the crash site at Lobothang near the 13,700 feet Se La in Tawang district on May 5 after six days of intense search operations.

Sena and Bajrang Dal took to the streets of Delhi on Monday, shouting slogans against the Australian government and swimwear designer Lisa Blue.

Protester Jai Bhagwan Goyal told the Reuters news agency that those who organised the Australian event should be arrested.

"The sentiments of billions of Hindus have been hurt and this issue will not get resolved by presenting an apology. We feel this is a deliberate act to get cheap publicity."

The court on Tuesday issued notices to the Press Council of India and the state and central governments requiring them to explain their position over the issue.

It said that the Indian government should convey to the Australian government how the swimwear display had offended

the feelings of the Hindu community.

Last week one of those petitioning the court wrote a letter complaining about the publication of the photos in newspapers.

The letter demanded action against the publisher of the newspaper and Ms Blue.

Lawyers have argued that the newspapers should not have published such offending photos and the Indian government should urge the Australian government to take action against Ms Blue. The matter will be addressed again in the courts within six weeks.

In the meantime some newspapers have published a statement by Ms Blue saying the production and sale of the swimwear had been stopped.

The company has apologised for hurting the feelings of the Hindu community.

India to Pak: disclose Dawood’s whereabouts PTI NEW DELHI, MAY 10

India today demanded that Pakistan disclose the whereabouts of Dawood Ibrahim, dismissing its interior minister Rehman Malik's contention that he was not in his country.

Home secretary Gopal K Pillai said the Pakistan interior minister should disclose where Ibrahim was living if he was not in Pakistan.

"If the minister is so sure that Dawood is not in Pakistan, he

should tell us where is he.... According to our information, Dawood is in Pakistan," he told reporters here.

Pillai said the India's most wanted terrorist, who carried out the 1993 serial bombing in Mumbai, has houses in Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad.

"We would welcome any more information (about Ibrahim)," he said.

Earlier, Malik said in an interview that Ibrahim was not in Pakistan.

OHERALDO

Pg 6

www.oheraldo.in

O HERALDO

Whoever wants a MoI solution?

Vol No CXI No: 130 Goa, Wednesday, 11 May, 2011

New land acquisition policy: A step ahead

L

and is a very sensitive issue in Goa. It can turn blood brothers into sworn enemies and ignite violent agitations. The issue of land has united all the MLAs of the Goa Legislative Assembly to put aside party affiliations and differences, and pass a unanimous resolution that this state be granted special status, so it can prevent sale of land to outsiders. Land acquisition issues have shot down Special Economic Zones (SEZs) and brought the urgently-needed widening of the national highways in the state to a grinding halt.

But, if the new policy for land acquisition proposed by the Goa Law Commission is accepted by the government, the days of strident opposition to development projects might well be over. Law Commission Chairperson Ramakant Khalap – who was former Union Law Minister – and members Advocates Mario Pinto Almeida and Cleofato Almeida Coutinho have studied in detail the land acquisition and rehabilitation and resettlement (R &R) policy of Haryana, and suggested that Section 11 of the Land Acquisition Act be suitably amended. Why Haryana? Because that is the one state in India where, despite acquisition of huge stretches of land for the expansion of Delhi’s new suburbs, there has no disturbance and little, if any, discontent. Obviously, the government of the state is doing something right.

In a move that is bound to strike a chord in the heart of every Goan, the Law Commission has proposed that if land is acquired by the government for a public purpose, then one member from the family that loses land should be given a government job. The government should also give people who lose land compensation and an annuity. Besides, it recommends that those who lose their houses or industrial establishments be provided house sites, commercial sites and industrial plots at concessional rates, apart from the monetary compensation determined under the land acquisition and R&R policy. The compensation payable should not be less than that determined in terms of the notification issued by the government fixing the minimum market value of similar lands and other benefits.

Another remarkable suggestion is that incentives be paid to a land owner losing land for not moving the court. The Law Commission has recommended a ‘no litigation incentive’ equivalent to around 20 per cent of the basic price of the land, apart from solatium and interest as per law. This will help to bring down the chronic delays in public projects that result from endless litigation. What is more, while 20 per cent more is a handsome incentive for the land owner, it is much less than the cost to the government in terms of time and cost overruns for the project.

The Commission has submitted its recommendations to the government on Monday. We hope that the Goa government will have the sagacity and maturity to accept it in large measure at least, if not entirely.

I

Right education?

t is called the ‘Right to Education’ (RTE) Act. It promises free and compulsory education for all from the age of 6 to 14. And it hopes to accomplish this by compulsorily passing students till they reach Std VIII. Students will now be admitted to their ‘age-appropriate’ class, regardless of their actual educational level, and will be automatically promoted till Std VIII. What happens then? Who cares? India will ‘wipe out’ illiteracy (on paper) and instead have ‘educated’ (also on paper) Indians who are Std VIII passed. Isn’t it wonderful?

Impossible is nothing Bronson Coutinho, London Hats off to the Americans. They proved that they are the best to take out enemies of the US, but what about us Indians? Our spineless leaders do not have the guts to go after Dawood Ibrahim or the perpetrators of 26/11. He is wanted for the 1993 Mumbai bomb blasts and many other crimes. Successive governments have not been able to do anything. ‘Nothing is impossible’ is a general saying. The word when broken up itself says ‘I’m possible.

Ludicrous visa rules Tony Leevers, via email Thank you for your editorial “Schizophrenic visa system” (Herald, 9 May). We have been visiting Goa for 15 years and have been long term vacationers for the past 7 years.

We have suffered under the new two-month

100 Years Ago

PRIMEIRO DIARIO NAS COLONIAS PORTUGEZAS

11 May 1911 Spain to run Consulate

In the absence of the Portuguese Consul at Bombay, Mr Casaabeyro, and the Spanish Consul in that city will be entrusted to hold the reins of Portuguese Consulate.

Guv visits Calangute beach

Our Governor, who was mildly affected with viral influenza, on having being recoverd, decided to take a holiday to the warmth of Calangute Beach.

Appointment of physician

Was appointed the Physician of the Railway Company from Mormugao Dr Mouzinho Lopes.

Judge requests transfer

Requested to be transferred to the District of Bardez Salcete judge Dr Joao de Melo Sampaio.

OPINION

F

The congress has been pushed into a corner, and its base could get eroded, says FReDeRicK NoRoNHA

or the ruling Congress, this is a Catch-22 situation. The stuff the Opposition loves to have have on its plate. The Medium of Instruction imbroglio is one which the ruling party simply can’t win. Or so it seems.

Public opinion has been so polarised, that the issue has been converted into a serious threat to the interest of Konkani and Marathi. Not just that, the former antagonists of the 1985-87 language agitation have actually joined hands. Politicians within the Congress are vertically split, depending which constituency they cater to. Those who are open to English are pulled down by the pro ‘regional language’ colleagues, and vice versa.

Hidden behind this debate is the reality of the death of largely inefficient government-run primary schools. Or the demise of the regional language (mainly Marathi) education at the middle school and high-school level in Goa. The Konkani campaigners seem least concerned about how their obdurate position is pushing away their section of their own allies. So much so, that many in the Romi Konkani camp have taken up an unambiguous position favouring English.

For now, the Congress is pushed into a corner.

The opposition have placed the ruling party in a convenient heads-you-lose, tails-we-win position.

If the Congress fails to find some solution for parents pushed to the wall by a 1990 Shashikala Kakodkardrafted policy, the party could see its support base being eroded. On the other hand, if the Congress allows English to be a state-funded medium at the primary level, there could well be a hue and cry from the ‘regional language’ supporters. Campaigning on fear, as politicians in Goa are quick to do, this would be used to polarise support against the Congress. Either way, a rather unhappy position. But then, does anyone really want to solve this issue?

Education is indeed big business in Goa, as the scholar-campaigner Dr Claude Alvares noted way back in the 1970s. He made this comment in an article, after a campaign against a controversial Calangute school. And not without reason. Politicians have their own schools they manage. They’re sometimes acting in the interest of these schools, or taking rather hypocritical positions themselves.

Yet problems such as these might be easier to undo, if Goa really wishes to. The first steps needed would be to retrace the misjudged actions that led to the mess in the first place. One solution obviously

Tongue in Cheek

DeviL’s ADvocATe would be for the government to stop being bullheaded in blocking schools which want to start English medium primaries without government grants.

On the one hand, the grants are not given to English-medium primaries. But, more seriously, the government has been going out of its way to placate vested interests and even block those schools which are willing to set up unfunded primaries. Given the approach of parents here — regardless of which religion they hail from — it is quite clear that students would be willing to a reasonable monthly fee of say Rs500 to set up English medium primaries, and pay teachers from their own resources. This would any day be preferable to having to study in an alien script and dialect, that is anyway hardly used in the everyday world of today’s Goan society.

A year or two ago, a school in Margao was given permission to start a single unaided primary class in the English medium. This was made to appear as if it was a big favour being done to them.

It is time that politicians and bureaucrats stop distorting State policy to suit vested interests, and just stay out of the way. The illogic of the entire situation needs to be underlined. Very conveniently, the target is first drawn, and then arguments are found to justify a position. If English is harmful as a medium of instruction till Standard IV, how does it suddenly become acceptable in Standard V? Today, almost every single school in Goa has given up on “regional” languages as their medium in the middle and high school. This is definitely true for college and university education too.

The Bin Laden we never knew

T

here is this joke doing the rounds over the net. An angry George W Bush announces that the United States will bomb the place where Osama bin Laden is found to be hiding.

Hearing this, Vajpayee looks under his bed, pauses, and with a characteristic flick of his wrist says: “Thank God! He isn’t here!”

Over in Rawalpindi, General Musharraf looks under his bed, sighs in relief, and says: “Thank God! He is still here!” Pakistan realised it would have been foolish to give Osama Bin Laden over to the United States. It would have been like killing the goose that laid the golden egg.

Be that as it may, there was another side to the life of the most wanted man on the face of the earth. Nobody knew (and the Americans did not want to believe) that Bin Laden had actually retired from active terrorism.

He was now spending much of his time watching cartoons on television and playing with his grandchildren, I mean his children.

He had retired to a quiet life and never came out from the now famous million-dollar-mansion.

This was probably because the 12-feet walls surrounding the mansion were too high for him to climb. Here it must be said that

away rule this year. We are seriously thinking of changing our destination next year, because of the inconvenience and extra expense of travelling. We still love Goa and its people. Your editorial has revealed that we have got someone to support us.

If you can keep it in the news perhaps the politicians and local business people may realise what they could lose and help us out, before it is too late.

So who murdered Dattu?

Glestone Fernandes, Cuncolim The acquittal of the two policemen (Shripati and Madhu Desai) by the Bombay High Court in Goa for the custodial murder of Dattu at the Cuncolim police station, a decade ago, implies that the murder never happened. If it did happen, then according to the Bombay High court in Goa it wasn’t Shripati and Madhu. It also means that the Margao session court judge erred in sentencing the two accused to life imprisonment in 2008.

So who murdered Dattu? And why was Shripati and Madhu serving jail for a murder they did not commit? Can the Bombay High Court in Goa initiate a fresh investigation to establish the truth behind Dattu’s murder?

Absolute democracy Shipra Gracias, Chicalim I, as a humble secondary school teacher, congratulate all the people in Goa on the implementation of the democratic provision of the RTE. I am now in a temporary state of psychological non-reaction owing to the mammoth task awaiting the school heads. They should consider breaking down the classroom walls and accommodating the ninth graders in one big dormitory for the time being.

My sympathy goes out to all the eighth grade teachers who invariably complain of spondilitis by the time of the preparation of the final results. And yes, all the grading assures that the task falls not a breath short of being a pain in the neck! If the provision of the act is to be implemented, in retrospective effect, then it would only imply the promotion of the sizeable number

If English is good enough for private schools, which attract the children of the upper middle classes and the rich, why should parish-run schools — where children of less affluent classes flock to — be blocked from access? The government needs to acknowledge that primary not receiving government grants should not be expected to pay salaries at government scales. This would be only fair and just. In no other segment is the private sector expected to pay salaries at government scales. Schools which get government grants would naturally be expected to do so. But, non-grant receiving schools too? This is illogical and nonsensical. Today, language politics are being played by adopting such illogical positions that we have seen in place since 1990.

We need to recognise that the legacy we’re dealing with has much to do with the history of those times, the political opportunism and instability, and communal-caste politics played out then. Language politics did play its role. We saw resolutions speedily emerging from Konkani “literary” conferences that have come to haunt a generation and more of young children in Goa. Politicians known for their communal games also took an anti-English stance. And others who were willing to sell out long-term interests for their personal short term gains — especially in the notorious PDF experiment of 1990 — went along with them at that time. There are other options that need to be looked at too. Bilingual education involves teaching academic content in two languages, in a native and secondary language with varying amounts of each language used in accordance with the program model.

Would even this not be more acceptable than a policy to push an unpopular script and dialect in the name of “education in the mother tongue” in Goa? Given the complex language mix here — dialects, scripts, out-migration, in-migration and differences in our history and geography — wouldn’t such approaches be more realistic?

This is being implemented in diverse parts of the globe – Andalusia (Spain’s southernmost region), Spain (taking into account the co-official regional languages), Australia (for non-English speaking children), Belgium (Dutch-French-German), Canada (English-French), and minority languages including Chinese, Hindi and Punjabi), China (Mandarin, Uyghur or Tibetan), Hong Kong (English and Cantonese), European Union (11 languages), France (French, Corsican, Occitan, and Breton), Republic of Ireland (Irish, English), Northern Ireland, Japan (Japanese, English), the Arab World (with history, grammar, literature and Arabic taught in Arabic, Maths and Science taught in English or French), Israel (Hebrew, Arabic and compulsory English), Netherlands (first language Dutch and second language English, in around 100 bilingual schools), Philippines (English and Tagalog), Thailand, Malaysia and the USA. Even the UK is realistic enough to acknowledge that it needs to mix English education with several endangered languages — Welsh, Manx Gaelic, Cornish, Scottish Gaelic, and the Scots language — to cope with its diversity.

Whatever the outcome of the current debate, another issue which needs attention is the difficulty with which students in Goa make the language switch.We have lessons to learn from elsewhere. Structured English Immersion (SEI) is a technique for rapidly teaching English to English Language Learners. Educators would be better placed to tell us the role this could have in a place like Goa, but much could be done.

SEI includes dedicating significant amounts of the school day to the explicit teaching of English, giving academic content a supporting but subordinate role, keeping English as the language of instruction, treating English as a foreign language, teaching students discrete English grammar skills, setting rigorous time-lines for students to exit the programme, and offering students support services till they are reclassified as “fluent English proficient”. It’s time to acknowledge that playing politics with education is no substitute for creating a sound pedagogy.

Osama is used to entering by climbing walls and not through the main gate. Walls may have ears but Osama knew that gates had eyes, as the Americans were keeping a close watch on the main gate of the mansion. Bin Laden did not appear like the devil that everyone made him out to be. He was soft-spoken and had a very gently voice. His is a riches-to-rags story. Son of a billionaire, Osama preferred the life of a caveman.

So he spent most of his life in the Tora Bora caves. But he did all this because he had a mission in life, or rather an after-life mission.

He wanted to enter paradise. And he strongly believed that the only way to enter paradise was to kill people on earth. He believed that the more people one killed the quicker one could get to paradise.

Osama was indeed a ‘family man’. He had about eight to nine wives and probably about twenty four children at the last count.

It only shows his love for children.

Therefore, he had as many children as he possibly could. The more the merrier, as they say. Procreating was his second passion, killing people, his first.

No wonder at the age of fifty-two he fathered a child. It is understood that he had a two-year old son at the time of his death.

By Adelmo Fernandes

He was a loving father and a faithful(?) husband. Unlike a cat, Bin laden appeared to have more than nine lives. Every time the world thought he was dead, Osama would resurface, alive and kicking, kicking the Americans where it hurt the most.

Therefore, it comes as no surprise that, even this time around, there are many in the world who believe that the terror mastermind is not dead. Many say “Don’t be surprised if one fine day you hear of one of those by-now-famous CDs warning the US of more attacks.”

But, for his followers, who believe that Osama is indeed dead, he died a martyr. It hardly matters whether he died on the battlefield or on his bed. The US forces gave him a sea burial since they believed that if buried on land, his followers could probably build a shrine at the spot which would only serve as a jihadi rallying point. Here is one more joke that is doing the rounds: US President Barack Obama asked the Pakistani Prime Minister whether Pakistan would prefer to take the credit for the death of Osama Bin Laden.

“No credit please. We would like it in hard cash (read as funds)” the Pakistani Prime Minister replied.

Letters to the Editor

Letter of the Day

Why celebrate Osama’s death?

department. IPS officers should be bold, fearless and courageous, but in Goa, they are exactly the opposite.

There is this DGP who inaugurated a Marine commando unit that took 25 minutes to swim across the Mandovi river.

Ironically, on many occasions, small children took just 15 minutes to swim across the same river.

Svatantra Sarjano, Vagator

MoI and govt tactics

I feel saddened and embarrassed by the joy expressed everywhere over the killing of Osama bin Laden. I believe that nobody should be happy for someone’s murder, and Osama was shot down like a dog, without a proper trial or public judgment.

I firmly believe that even the worst of criminals deserves a fair trial. Why not Osama?

Please let me tell you a little story on the subject, and perhaps you will see things in a slightly different perspective: When Osama was in the eye of the cyclone for the Twins Towers destruction, I used to play a little game with my friends; people from different countries with different beliefs and attitudes.

I would ask: “Imagine that you were on a sinking ship, and managed to save yourself by holding on to a piece of wood. With you are two other people – Osama bin Laden and George W Bush.

“But the piece of wood cannot sustain three people, so one of them has to be made to let go. There is no other solution in sight, except the hope of landing on a desert island, where you may have to live the rest of your life with the person you save.

“Who will you save, Bush or Bin Laden?”

Everybody I asked seemed quite embarrassed at this point. But after I pressed them for an answer, not a single person said they would save George W Bush…!

So, please stop celebrating Osama’s killing. It is certainly not very Christian...

The struggle for English as a MoI, seems to have been repeatedly bogged down by deadlines. The March 27 deadline did not yield any results, but it gave the BBSM enough time to plan their counter-moves.

Another seven-day deadline set by Mickky has vanished into thin air. The May 7 deadline of FORCE expired and it is now been extended to May 20. As time is running out and the next academic year is just staring at parents faces, one wonders whether it’s English or Konkani? FORCE has to be ready for the worst case scenario and give a clarion call to the Goan parents to rise up in unison as the May 20 deadline is surely not going to meet the parents’ aspirations. This is a government tactic to buy time.

of dropouts in the middle/high school in 2010-11.

I conclude by complimenting the state for striding graciously towards the zone of absolute democracy in juvenile education.

Role of Panchayat Marcos Alemao, by email I refer the statement of Orlim Sarpanch that the panchayat has no role to play on the construction plans approved by TCP (‘Orlim against filling of low-lying areas’ Herald, 9 May). If that is the case, what is the need for a panchayat to function? It is wrong on the part of the TCP to approve construction plans without going through the panchayat. Gram Sabhas have been formed to stop illegalities in the village.

Recently, the Chief Minister who is also

the Minister of Town and Country Planning, has ordered the flying squad not to file police complaints in case of tree felling, but instead, seek permission of the TCP. The Chief Minister’s ruling lends more teeth to the TCP. They will now be even more corrupt. This dirty role will terminate at the time of the election because it is uncertain that the Congress will emerge victorious in the ensuing polls.

Unfit IPS officers Julius Carvalho, Dubai Finally, Goa’s DGP Bhim Sain Bassi is being transferred back to Delhi. Indeed, it was too late. However, it has given an opportunity for the department to improve its battered image. It is very ridiculous on the part of the central government to send unfit IPS officers to manage the Goa Police

Allwyn George, Carmona

Right to self-defence Mathew Oommen, Pune General Ashfaq Pervez Kayani’s messages of warning for India, while addressing his corps commanders, are reflections of Pakistan’s feeling of guilt or fear psychosis. It is high time for Pakistan to exercise political magnanimity and to dispense with its Indiacentred terror policies.

The terror elements, including Dawood Ibrahim, who are in the wanted list in connection with crimes in India are well entrenched in Pakistani soil.

Pakistan is fully aware that the Indian military capability can also mount a similar raid to capture the perpetrators of the Mumbai attack. India too has a right to self defence.

The Chief of the Pakistani Army should realise that India has actionable evidence against those people who committed dastardly crimes in India from Pak soil.

Paths of Wisdom Two Beggars

By Sri Chinmoy There was once a Muslim mendicant, Makdun. Makdun used to roam from one place to another, all the time praying and meditating. Even while walking he would pray and meditate. He was very poor and depended on the generosity of kind hearted people.

One day, whilst walking on a street, he saw thousands of people gathered before a beautiful mosque. “Why are so many people there?” he wondered. Then someone told him, “The Emperor is coming today to offer a special prayer here.”

When the Emperor came, the mendicant went into the mosque and devotedly watched him pray to Allah.

Then the Emperor said to the crowd, “Now come and take anything that you want from me.” He started giving away money, clothing and everything, showing magnanimity and generosity.

All the people stood in line, and took whatever they needed. Each one went away satisfied. Makdun watched, and when everybody had taken what they wanted, he started to go away. The Emperor called out, “What are you doing?

Why are you going away and not taking anything from me? What is wrong with you?”

With folded hands Makdun said, “Forgive me, O Emperor, but how can I take anything from a beggar? Just an hour ago, you were begging God to give you more name, fame and earthly possessions.

I don’t need anything from a beggar.

You are begging to the same person for name and fame and I am begging for peace, love, joy and inner satisfaction.

The things that you yearn for, I do not need, and perhaps the things that I aspire for, you do not need. So you pray to Almighty Allah for what you want and let me pray to Him for the things that I need. You and I are just two beggars.

Let us beg for our respective things to the One who has them.”

Printed and published by Vinayak Pai Bir for and on behalf of Herald Publications Pvt Ltd. Printed at Herald Publications Pvt Ltd, Plot No: L-135, Phase II, Verna Industrial Estate, Verna, Salcete, Goa. Published at PO Box 160, Rua Sao Tome, Panjim, Goa - 403001. Editor-in-chief: Mr R F Fernandes. Editor: Ashwin Tombat (Responsible under PRB Act). Regd Office: St Tome Road, Panjim, Goa. Tel: 2224202, 2228083, Fax: 2222475 (all Editorial); 2230535, Fax: 2225622 (Advertising); Margao: 2737689. Mumbai Office: 16-A, Bell Building, 2nd Floor, 19 Sir PM Road, Fort, Mumbai - 400001 (Tel: 22840702/22844908). RNI No: 43667/83.

HOW TO CONTACT US: mail@herald-goa.com — For press notes, general queries. junior@herald-goa.com — Junior Herald; junioryouth@herald-goa.com — Careers. heraldmirror@herald-goa.com — Sunday Mirror. reporters@herald-goa.com — For Reporters. business@herald-goa.com — For Business news. editor@herald-goa.com — For Letters to the Editor. sports@herald-goa.com — For Sports news. advt@herald-goa.com — For Advertisements. 2day@herald-goa.com — For Herald 2day. tiatr@herald-goa.com — For Tiatr Reviews and Reports. Disclaimer: Except for the editorial above, articles and letters in Herald represent the views of the concerned authors, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Herald editor, publisher, and/or owners.

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INDIA

GOA,WEDNESDAY 11 MAY 2011

UPA trying to make PAC a puppet, charges Joshi PTI LUCKNOW, MAY 10

The United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government is trying to make the PAC a “puppet” in its hands and divide it on party lines when the mandate of the panel is to be bipartisan, Murli Manohar Joshi, chairperson of the parliamentary committee that examined the 2G spectrum scam, today said.

“It is shocking that four ministers were sitting in the parliament office of the Congress and sending chits and giving directions to their members in the PAC to do this or do that.

In a way they are making PAC a captive committee,” Joshi told reporters here.

He maintained that the PAC is not supposed to work on party lines.

“They (union ministers) want to make PAC a puppet. They want to run it on directions of the government and the party (Congress). A probe against corruption cannot be held with

these big hurdles,” Joshi said.

Union Ministers Kapil Sibal, P Chidambaram, Pawan Kumar Bansal and N Narayansamy were present in Parliament on April 28 when the PAC meeting was on. Joshi has alleged that they were sending directions to Congress members while the proceedings were on.

“It is as if they (Congress members) are actors and these people (ministers) are producers. This is a serious insult to the parliamentary process,” he said.

The senior BJP leader said while Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had said that immediate action should be taken against those indulging in corruption, his own ministerial colleagues were making all efforts to stop the probe against corruption.

“Is there no effect of his advice on his council of ministers?

The parliamentary affairs minister told a PAC member from another party to be on his side.

In PAC there are no parties.

. They want to run it on directions of the government and the party (Congress). A probe against corruption cannot be held with these big hurdles.

-Murli Joshi What is this or that side? PAC is above parties and is bipartisan,” Joshi said.

Alleging that SP and BSP had changed sides on the 2G spectrum probe, he asked the two parties to clarify why they did so.

“I want to ask SP and BSP to clarify whether they want to stop the probe against corruption to what it to continue? In Uttar Pradesh, they fight against each other and at the Centre

they are together. What is the mystery behind it. People want clear answers as to which party is with and which against corruption," Joshi said.

He wondered how SP and BSP had changed their stand on the 2G probe towards the end of the last PAC's term when all along they had supported the probe.

Joshi also said the bank drafts for applying for the 2G license were made a day before the an-

nouncement and that too in Mumbai.

Joshi alleged that efforts were being made to get the PAC report rejected because names of the prime Minister and ministers have been mentioned in it.

“An effort is being made to neutralise efforts to stop corruption,” he said.

He said that much thought had been given while constituting PAC, now it was being said that its report would be thrown in the basket.

“This is a question of safeguarding the democracy and punishing the scamsters,” he said.

Joshi said that the PAC has recommended that CBI be freed from government control and a separate law be enacted for the agency.

“Public Accounts Committee, which probed 2G spectrum case, has recommended that CBI should be freed from the government control and a separate

Kin tried to sell me, says ‘dead’ girl PTI BIJNOR, MAY 10

- School children participating in ‘Ice-cream Khao Garmi Bhagao’ contest during summer camp at Montessori school in Patna on Tuesday.

West Bengal records 83 p.c. voter turnout PTI KOLKATA, MAY 10 The decisive battle in West Bengal to decide whether the Left Front will extend its 34-year-old rule or the Trinamool-Congress alliance grab power was finally sealed in the EVMs today, as the State recorded an overall turnout of around 83 per cent during the assembly polls.

The sixth and last phase of elections, which recorded 84.8 per cent turnout during the day in 14 seats in the three Maoisthit 'Junglemahal' districts of West Midnapore, Bankura and Purulia ended peacefully, as did the other five phases preceding it.

Counting will be held on May 13.

The polls were held absolutely peaceful and totally incident free,” Deputy Election Commissioner Vinod Zutshi told reporters in Delhi at the end of polling today.

Asked whether the poll percentage in the State this time was the highest ever, he said it could be termed :maximum” compared to the 2006 assembly and 2009 Lok Sabha polls.

Over 300 persons boycott polling Over 300 people of Belgaria village under Taldangra constituency in the district today boycotted polling for the sixth and final phase of the West Bengal Assembly elections, claiming they faced logistic problems in reaching the polling station.

“The polling station is located about 2.5 km away from the village. It is very difficult to go there without a vehicle to cast votes because of the distance.

For this reason we have decided to boycott the poll,” a spokesman of the villagers Dilip Singha Mohatpatra said.

The Block Development Officer (BDO), Saugata Maity confirmed the villagers' sentiment and said because of logistic problems, no vehicle could be arranged for thevillagers.

According to Election Commission's Khatra control room, which is in-charge of polling in

the locality, not a single vote was cast since polling began from seven am in the polling booth set up for Belgaria villagers.

Polling was held today for three Maoist-hit constituencies of Bankura district along with 11 other seats in Purulia and West Midnapore districts in the sixth and final phase of Assembly election in West Bengal.

Never before, since 1977, has an assembly election been so keenly contested since the results from the 2008 panchayat elections, Lok Sabha elections the following year and others in the State, have seen the Left Front facing repeated electoral reverses.

Trinamool chief Mamata Banerjee, who coined the ‘Ma, Mati, Manush' slogan after tasting success in her movement against “forcible land acquisition” was the key mover and shaker for her party during the election campaigns.

Home Minister P Chidamabaram's caustic comments on law and order in the State gave

an aggressive note to the wrapup of the high profile campaign for the Congress-Trinamool alliance by Prime Minister Manm o h a n S i n g h , C o n g re s s PresidentSonia Gandhi, AICC general secretary Rahul Gandhi and Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee.

For the Left Front, campaigners were CPI(M) general secretary Prakash Karat and politburo members Brinda Karat and Sitaram Yechuri.

As far as the BJP were concerned, its president Nitin Gadkari and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi hit the campaign trail.

The elections though, were not without its share of controversies, with CPI(M) leader and Housing Minister Goutam Deb alleging that Trinamool had used black money to fund its election campaign.

In reply, the Trinamool Congress filed criminal and civilian defamation suits.

Farmers’ stir scene tense, but in control; BJP calls for a bandh PTI

GREATER NOIDA/AGRA, MAY 10

The situation was today tense but under control in parts of western UP hit by farmers' unrest over land acquisition as police released sketches of 24 trouble-makers who incited violence in Agra and maintained a strict vigil.

The BJP has, meanwhile, called for a bandh in Greater Noida and Noida to protest police action on farmers. BJP workers were seen visiting markets and requesting shopkeepers to down their shutters in the two areas.

“The situation is normal and completely under control. To avert further trouble in Bhatta Parsaul village, where four persons, including two policemen were killed in clashes on Saturday, heavy deployment of force continues,” a senior police officer said.

Along with civil police and Provincial Armed Constabulary, two companies of Rapid Action

Force is also camping in the area.

In Greater Noida, police were making efforts to arrest Manveer Singh Tewatia, who allegedly instigated the farmers, and his five aides. Tewatia, who has more than 20 cases against him, has been leading the farmers' agitation at Bhatta-Parsaul since January 17. The State government has announced a reward of Rs.50000 for the arrest of Tewatia.

The Agra Police released posters of the trouble-makers based on the video footage of the violence in the district.

“We have released posters of 24 trouble makers so far which have been pasted in the village.

Of them 15 have been identified by the villagers,” DIG Agra Aseem Arun said.

He said the administration and police officers yesterday held a meeting with the villagers in Chalesar. “Four FIRs have been lodged in which 24 people have been named, but we are investigating throughly as some objections were raised by the

villagers over the names," the DIG said.

After the police action on protestors in Greater Noida, several villagers were seen moving out of Bhatta village.

“All our male members are either missing or injured and admitted to hospital. To avoid ‘harassment' from policemen it is better to move to our relative's place at a nearby village,” said a woman who was going with her daughter to her relative's home.

The district administration has sent a medical team to Bhatta village to provide medical aid to the needy. Chief Medical Officer Vijay Deepak Verma said a three-member team of doctors has been sent to Bhatta village.

With many incidents of fire reported in the village, the Fire Department has stationed two fire tenders in Bhatta village.

Four persons were killed when villagers clashed with security forces during an operation to rescue three roadways employees on Saturday last in Greater Noida.

A girl, declared dead and even buried by her kin near here, suddenly appeared before a local court accusing her family of trying to sell her.

18-year-old Chandani left home on May 5 and was missing since then, her mother Rashida Khatoon had claimed.

After the incident, body of a young girl was recovered from a lake by the police on Nehtaur-Noorpur road on May 6 and Rashida identified it as her daughter's, officials said.

Police, after getting the post mortem done, handed over the body to her family who gave it a burial. However, on Monday, Chandani appeared in the court of Acting Chief Judicial Magistrate Dinesh Kumar and said that she was alive.

The girl alleged that the FIR lodged by her family about her eloping with a youth named in the case was false.

Chandani said that she had left her house on her own and alleged that her parents had planned to sell her to an elderly person for money.

The girl said that when she resisted, her parents thrashed her and so she ran away from her home in anger. After reading about her death in the newspapers, Chandani returned.The acting CJM has sought a report from the Nehtaur police in the case on the next hearing in the case on May 11.

30 bombs found

Police today recovered 30 live bombs from a farmland in Chulhaichak village under Rupaspur police station area in Bihar's Patna district, police said. Police seized the haul of bombs from the farmland belonging to one Satyendra Sigh, the sources said.

APPPOINTMENTS

act should be enacted for the agency,” he told reporters here.

At present the CBI was working under the provision of Delhi Police Act. “Under the new Act provision should be made wherein the agency should report to parliament every six months about status of cases and number of prosecution,” Joshi said.

He said that its director should be appointed on the line of Central Vigilance Commissioner by a committee and the agency should get powers for transparent investigation.

Joshi said that people should not make efforts to direct the PAC from behind the curtains.

“Speaker is there to oversee the functioning of the PAC and this is not the work of the ministers,” he said.

The PAC chairman said that no ministry was ready to tell the quantum of loss in the 2G spectrum scam.

Maoist eve surrenders

A 40-year-old woman Maoist, carrying a cash reward of Rs five lakh surrendered before the police here.

According to Karimnagar District Police Superintendent N Shiva Shankar Reddy, the outlaw, identified as Burra Vasantha belongs to Nallamala Forest Area Protection Committee and surrendered yesterday.

She hails from Togarrai village in Sultanabad mandal and joined the then PWG at the age of 14 years. Vasantha has been working with the group since 1987 and is a undergroundMaois, a police official said. (PTI)

APPPOINTMENTS

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WORLD GOA, WEDNESDAY, 11 MAY, 2011

F R O M PAG E 1 Advantage Cong

for and got the advantage of roping in a large number of retired administrators, police officials, eminent lawyers, doctors, and educationists to campaign for it.

Sensing it impossible to stop Mamata’s roadroller in West Bengal, the Left concentrated with full force in Kerala to reverse the trend of the people never voting the same government to a consecutive term. The CPI(M) politburo even brought back the elderly V S Achuthanandan to lead and made Pinarayi Vijayan to forget enmity and jointly campaign. But still the front led by the Congress appears all set to win.

Mining scam

other offences.

It may be recalled that Deshprabhu was fined Rs 1.72 crore for illegal mining of iron ore in Goa, according to documents sourced from the State Mining Department. Deshprabhu had claimed that while the land where illegal mining was being carried out was owned by him, he was not behind the mining operations.

Mining department officials in turn had said that son of a senior cabinet minister, who is not named in the FIR, had been awarded the contract to extract iron ore from the mining pit.

HSSC results...

vocational streams have appeared for Standard XII examination which concluded on

Headmasters to oppose

results not after closure of the academic year,” Sawant said adding that the department has also failed to explain the criteria, which could be implemented for promoting students, who failed during academic year 2010-11.

He said that the government will have to withdraw its earlier policy, based on which students have failed.

“Just by quoting one section of Right to Education Act, 2009, the department cannot force the schools to promote all those who failed. There is need for some modalities,” he said.

Sawant said that in many cases, students, who had failed have already taken admission in new schools and are now in a dilemma whether the new school will admit them to a higher class as per the new circular or keep them in the class where they had sought admission.

A memorandum over the issue has also been forwarded to heads of Education Department including Chief Secretary and Secretary Education. Through their memorandum, the association has also urged State government to take some immediate steps towards implementation of the RTE Act, in totality.

The State Education Department vide a May 6 circular, had implemented Section 16 of RTE, directing all the schools in Goa not to hold back or expel a student till the completion of elementary education from I to VIII. The circular was made effective from academic year 2010-11.

“Let the department come out with proper criteria’s for promotion of these failed students,” Sawant said. He however, said that the association will go ahead with ‘no detention’ policy, from the forthcoming academic year, onwards.

“It’s part of RTE, so we cannot object. We feel that by and large, it will benefit students,” he said.

The Education Department’s sudden directions to promote all those students, who failed during last academic year, seems to be the result of intervention by Goa State Commission for Protection of Child Rights, who after receiving several complaints from sections of parents, approached State government demanding not to detain those students, who failed during academic year 2010-11.

The department which plans to implement RTE Act in a phased manner is also likely to implement Section 14, along with this new system. “No child shall be denied admission in a school for lack of proof of age,” Section 14 reads.

Babush to meet CM

DEATH

Born 19.10.24

March 28. Similarly, 16,775 students had answered SSC examination, which ended on April 9.

The Goa Board’s decision of implementing grading system from this academic year onwards, had received criticism from sections of parents. After intense pressure, the Board finally decided to modify the system. Being the first year, they have decided to consider marks and grading together as assessment of a student.

Similarly, in the case of Goa sports policy, which was mired in controversy over clause 8 reads ‘in case of proper procedure laid down in the Goa Sports Policy 2009 is not followed by State sports associations, merit marks will be allotted to the first level of participation.’

Many sports organisations in the State had objected to this clause, which had forced the Board, to drop the controversial clause.

He said that the circular issued recently asking the educational institutes not to detain the students for the previous academic year 2010-11, will also have to be implemented by the schools.

“No school can give an excuse and not implement the circular,” he said when asked about resistance and unhappiness expressed by some schools over the circular.

Died 10.5.11

CECILIA MASCARENHAS SILVEIRA STO. ESTEVAO - PANJIM Relict of Joven Da Silveira.

Most loving Mother / Mother-in-law of Gil / Yvonne, Alexandre / Elsa, Benny / Eula, Richard / Jocelyn, Maria Vina / Babush, Doting Grandmother of Ana Paula; Braden, Neiza; Carissa, Euben, Roanna; Kyle, Drynan, Aaron and Bradley.

Loving Sister / Sister-in-law of Late Arlinda / Late Amadeu; Late Rosita / Late Eric; Late Bernadette / Late Filipe; Late Martinha / Late Sebastiao.

Expired peacefully on 10.5.2011.

Funeral will leave from her residence at Fontainhas-Panjim for Eucharistic celebrations at St. Sebastian Chapel, Fontainhas (TODAY) 11th May, 2011 at 4.00 p.m. followed by burial at Sta. Inez Cemetery.

Relatives, Friends and Neighbours kindly accept this as the only intimation.

NO CONDOLENCE VISITS PLEASE

Obama was willing to risk military confrontation with Pak PTI WASHINGTON, MAY 10

President Barack Obama was willing to risk a military confrontation with Pakistan in the covert operation to capture or kill Osama bin Laden and had insisted that the special US assault force be large enough to

fight its way out if engaged.

Revealing additional details about planning for the dramatic Abbottabad mission on May 1, senior Obama Administration officials were quoted by New York Times as saying the President did not want to take anything to chance.

OHERALDO

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BIZ

Pg9

GOA, WEDNESDAY, 11 MAY, 2011

‘EU’s zero duty proposal for Pak will damage WTO rules’ textile lobby Euratex and European textile and apparel industry, have opposed the EU’s trade-related concessions for Pakistan, as it would affect their own textile industry.

Further, EU Commissioner Karel de Gucht is going to reconsider today at a meeting of commissioners in Strasbourg whether to offer trade concessions to Pakistan, following the discovery that Osama bin Laden was living in an Islamabad suburb, sources said.

At the WTO, India, along with Brazil, Vietnam, and Peru, among others, have opposed the waiver on the ground that it would set an unhealthy precedent by allowing industrialised countries to distort global trade rules, particularly the most-favoured-nation treatment under which all countries are treated on par.

They argued that while any generous assistance from the EU or other rich countries to

Pakistan’s flood-victims is to be welcomed, members must refrain from changing well-established trade rules with divide-and-rule intentions, said a trade official from these countries.

“The EU proposal, as currently framed, appears deeply flawed, both in terms of its likely potential to help the flood-affected victims and help in the reconstruction effort, as well as the near certainty of its causing collateral systemic and commercial damage to the MFN principle and the poor workers in other developing countries respectively,” India said during a meeting of the Goods Council last year when the EU raised the issue for the first time.

Apparently, Pakistan’s Commerce Secretary raised the issue of India’s continued opposition to the EU’s waiver at the WTO during a meeting with his Indian counterpart last week.

India is understood to have maintained that the waiver would raise serious “systemic” implications in global trade, suggesting that the two countries must work together in strengthening multilateral trade rules, sources said.

Sri Lanka had also criticised the EU for grave distortions that Brussels caused in the global trade in textiles, suggesting that there are only some ten countries that get MFN access to EU markets.

Sri Lanka, however, said it will not block the waiver for Pakistan even though it is flawed, a Sri Lankan trade official told PTI. Bangladesh, which is another major textile exporting country in South Asia, said it is prepared to support the waiver on the ground that the EU promised a compensatory mechanism to provide relief for the loss suffered on account of the waiver, sources said.

Race to make cheaper cars will harm environment: Book

Templeton Strategic invests Rs 80 cr in Apar

PTI GENEVA, MAY 10

The EU’s proposal for zero duty on the import of 64 textile items from Pakistan and other concessions with a view to help last year’s flood victims could cause irreparable “systemic” damage to global World Trade Organisation rules, trade diplomats have said.

Brussels’ largesse to Pakistan would not come into force without an approval from the WTO’s Council for Trade in Goods (CTG), which is expected to meet on May 26th.

But the EU’s initiative, which is more than one year after the Pakistan floods, is only a shortterm trade measure for two years instead of being longterm developmental relief, sources said.

The scheme is facing rough weather within the EU member states.

Some member states – Italy, Spain, and Portugal – as well as

PTI NEW DELHI, MAY 10

The race among Indian automobile manufacturers to make cheap cars, initiated by Tata’s Nano will further create pollution, road congestion, global warming and health problems, says a new book.

“The lure of speedy progress and big money is simply intoxicating for the Indian lawmakers, bureaucrats and corporate houses that they choose to adopt an extremely myopic vision as if there will be no tomorrow. It ignores all warning signals of environmental degradation,” says the book, “Trees Incredible: Life Sustaining Lives”

by Madan Mohan Pant, a former Indian Forest Service official.

“Tata motors has now the unique distinction of making the world’s cheapest, Rs 1,00,000, pioneer Nano car. It has set in motion a competition for the production of cheap cars. The increased demand for fossil fuels, roads and infrastructure would further create environmental problems,” says the book.

Apart from discussing the necessary linkages and interactions between natural elements and trees in a life sustaining environment, the book also shares interesting information related to trees.

It says that on an average, a living tree contributes vital services worth more than Rs 40,000 per year for our survival in India. However, if tree’s in-

trinsic spiritual, cultural and rejuvenation values, its air conditioning, temperature moderating and soil building services are added, this amount would be much higher.

The book, published by Rupa & Co refers to a research finding by the United States Dept of Agriculture, which states that over a 50-year lifetime, an average tree provides us services worth USD 162, 000.

The book says the British had adapted environment governance practices from the best European schools, to suit the diverse types of forests and conditions of rivers in India but in the twilight of independence, there was a kind of ‘loot of the vast and unlocked’ forest.

“Tree-cutting gave cash and land, almost instantly. This was because forestry was controlled by state governments who had limited staff and no political will to implement the National Forest Policy (NFP),” says the book.

According to a report submitted to the UPA government by the first National Forest Commission in 2006, the country has already lost 41 per cent of its forest cover.

Pant hails former Prime Ministers of India, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi as “green political pioneers” in India and says after their demise, India lost the political will essential to conserve forests.

The author has worked with the FAO as Chief Technical Ad-

visor, Consultant Coordinator, team leader in Bhutan, Bangladesh, Afghanistan, Ethiopia and Jordan.

The compulsions of coalition politics since 1991, after the death of Rajiv Gandhi, have sounded the death knell for forests and natural resources in the country, according to the author.

A candid introspection and retrospection, says the book, reveals that we have violated Article 48A and Article 51A(g) of the Indian constitution by failing to protect our natural environment including trees, lakes, rivers and wildlife.

This in turn, has jeopardised citizen’s fundamental right to life, clean air, water and health guaranteed under Article 21 of the constitution.

Stressing that the survival of everything depends on the well being of the environment, the book expresses the need for a people’s movement to make a coordinated effort for ensuring a healthy environment.

Interestingly, it has a role for spiritual gurus in sustainable development of the country.

“In today’s materialistic society, people still listen to spiritual leaders with great devotion. Their discourses and sermons eulogising trees would surely make an impact.

The euphoria and grip of religion on the psyche of Indian people should be used for a better environment,” says the book.

PTI MUMBAI, MAY 10

Templeton Strategic Emerging Markets Fund III LDC (TSEMF III), today said it has concluded a USD 17.8-million (around Rs 80-crore) investment in Apar Industries Limited.

Apar Industries is the country’s largest manufacturer of transformer oils and the second largest manufacturer of conductors. It exports transformer oils and conductors to over 50 countries.

TSEMF III, which invests in listed as well as unlisted companies in emerging markets, is the third strategic equity fund managed by Templeton Emerging Markets Group.

“Templeton’s investment will fund the company’s ongoing capacity addition program and strengthen its working capital. This investment fits well with our global exposure to the infrastructure sector and we look forward to working with Apar’s management and promoters to make this a landmark relationship,” Templeton Emerging Markets Group Executive Chairman, Mark Mobius, said in a statement.

Apar’s Managing Director, Kushal Desai, said, “We look forward to Templeton’s support and involvement in making our business standards truly global.”

Tata Motors launches Magic IRIS, Ace Zip

Visitors look at the Magic Iris during its launch in Mumbai on Tuesday.

PTI MUMBAI, MAY 10

Tata Motors today launched its four-wheeler small passenger carrier--Magic IRIS and 600-kg smart micro truck--Ace Zip, priced at Rs 1.95-lakh and Rs 1.90-lakh (ex-showroom Thane near Mumbai), respectively.

The company’s magic IRIS is a 3-4-seater, small passenger carrier and is a better substitute for passenger-carrying

three wheelers.

“Magic IRIS is a better alternative to the auto rickshaws and other similar three-wheeler passenger carriers. This small passenger vehicle segment is doing well and we hope people accept this vehicle,” Tata Motors’ President, Commercial (CVBU), Ravi Pisharody, told reporters here.

The IRIS is equipped with a 611 cc, water cooled engine

Punjab government today said it would come out with a new grain storage policy to deal with foodgrain storage problem and wastage of foodgrains.

The cabinet would approve the policy at its next meeting.

Reviewing the progress of crop procurement and storage, Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal asked Secretary Food and Supplies D S Grewal to frame the policy. He said silos should be constructed in the Mandis itself wherever space was available.

The average size of silos should be in the range of 25,000 to 50,000 tonnes. The Deputy Chief Minister said the

PTI THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, MAY 10

Citing “violation” of pollution and environmental safety rules, Kerala State Pollution Control Board today ordered closure of Hindustan Insecticides Ltd--a major Endosulfan producer--amid a mounting demand for a total ban of this pesticide.

HIL, the Public Sector Unit at Elur, near Kochi, had persistently violated rules laid down to check air and water pollution and environmental hazards, PCB Chairman K Sajeevan said.

The undertaking did not remove stocks of Endosulfan and other hazardous chemicals at its disposal despite the Board enforcing a ban on its manufacture and sale about a year back, he said.

“We have given sufficient time to take steps on these matters. Again and again, the company authorities have been told about the violation of rules. But they chose to ignore them,” Sajeevan said.

He said the Board had some time back asked an experts’ team to look into the matter and the order to close down the factory was taken on the basis of its report.

Kerala has been at the forefront of a campaign demanding a nationwide ban on Endosulfan as its use has allegedly led to a

construction of silos has to be taken up on a war footing so that wastage of grains in open could be checked.

Punjab has been facing a shortage of over 70 lakh tonnes of foodgrains.

Union Minister of State for Food K V Thomas had last week said the Centre planned to create 2 million tonnes of silos for foodgrain storage in the country.

Badal also asked Deputy Commissioners to come out with a viable policy to expedite lifting especially during heavy crop arrival.

He said Punjab has an average lifting and labour capacity for 5 lakh tonnes grain per day and the problem arises only during four-five days of peak season when the arrival

Mumbai Indians posts loss of Rs 15.42 cr PTI NEW DELHI, MAY 10

Indiawin Sports Pvt Ltd, the owner of Mumbai Indians IPL team that is currently leading the tally in the ongoing 20-20 cricket tournament, has posted a net loss of Rs 15.42 crore for the fiscal year 2010-11.

Sachin Tendulkar-led Mumbai Indians (MI) team is owned

by IndiaWin Sports Pvt Ltd, a subsidiary company of RIL. The financial details of the IPL franchise has been disclosed by industrialist Mukesh

Ambani-led Reliance Industries Ltd (RIL) in its annual report for the financial year ended March 31, 2011.

RIL further said that Indiawin’s total assets stood at Rs 65.28 crore at the end of year ended March 31, 2011, while its turnover or total income for the fiscal was Rs 112.80 crore.

In the ongoing fourth season of IPL tournament, MI is currently ranked on the top and has won most of its matches so far.

Speaking about the team,

RIL said in its annual report that “MI registered the most number of wins in Season III of the Indian Premier League, and reached the finals. MI has been the most followed team in the IPL and enjoys a huge global fan base”.

RIL has listed Indiawin as

one of its subsidiary companies with a 98.3 per cent stake. The remaining stake is also held by associate companies of the RIL group.

Till the previous financial year 2009-10, RIL had listed Indiawin as an associate/joint venture company, and not as a subsidiary, with a 50 per cent direct stake.

RIL further said that it did not give any loans during the year 2010-11 to Indiawin Sports Private Limited, as against a loan of Rs 44.60 crore

neer in creating and growing the small commercial vehicles market in India with the Tata Ace and the Tata Magic. With the introduction of Magic IRIS and Ace Zip the company will more comprehensively address the burgeoning need of public transportation and goods movement,” Tata Motors’ Managing Director (India Operations), P M Telang, said in a statement.

Kerala pollution board orders closure of Endosulfan making unit n We have given sufficient time to take steps on these matters. Again and again, the company authorities have been told about the violation of rules. But they chose to ignore them --- PCB Chairman K Sajeevan large number of deaths besides posing serious health problems to hundreds of people in Kasargode district.

Chief Minister V S Achuthanandan has himself spearheaded the campaign and undertook a day’s fast recently seeking a nationwide ban on the pesticide and has written to his counterparts in other states asking them for their support.

CPI(M)-led LDF had also organised a statewide hartal a few days ago on the issue.

Meanwhile, HIL management said the board’s decision was “unilateral”.

Personnel Manager, K K Mohan, told PTI that the company had received a showcause notice on April 26 by fax and a registered letter on April 28 asking them to clean up the lagoon where it was dumping its waste.

Punjab to come out with foodgrain storage policy PTI CHANDIGARH, MAY 10

with 11 HP power. The vehicle comes with a warranty of one year or 36,000-kilometres. It will be available in four colours--arctic white, ruby red, school yellow and jet black.

The company’s Ace Zip comes with a warranty of 36,000 km/12-month and is the only vehicle in the sub-600 kg category to be powered by a water cooled engine.

“Tata Motors has been a pio-

in the previous year. Prior to this, RIL had given a loan of Rs 57.73 crore to Indiawin during the year ended March 31, 2009.

Mumbai Indians was the most expensive franchise in the first three seasons of the IPL. During the IPL Player Auction 2011, MI retained Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh, Kieron Pollard and Lasith Malinga with the team’s other notable signings at the auction being Rohit Sharma (USD 2.1 million), Andrew Symonds (USD 850,000) and Munaf Patel (USD 700,000).

exceeds 5 lakh tonnes per day.

He asked the Chief Secretary to constitute a five-member committee of Deputy Commissioners which would point out bottlenecks at the grassroot level in areas of allocation of tenders for labour, transport, lifting , storage and suggest practical solutions.

Asking the Irrigation Department and Deputy Commissioners to gear up machinery to strengthen bundhs at all vulnerable points , Badal said that flood protection measures have to be completed before the onset of monsoon. He asked the Chief Secretary to sanction Rs. 101 crore immediately so that flood protection measures could be taken up at the earnest.

“We replied to the showcause notice today explaining the progress of the work,” he said.

Even before receipt of the reply, the PCB has issued a closure notice, he said, adding the progress of the work was apprised to them in person on May 2.

“Being a chemical factory, we have to follow normal procedure to shut down the plant. The shutting down process will take a week to 10 days,” Mohan said.

The Central government plant at nearby Udyogamandal, manufactures various pesticides and insecticides, including Endosulfan, DDT, Mancozeb, and Dicofol.

Endosulfan’s annual production is 1700 tonnes which is mainly exported.

The PCB had today ordered the company to close down all operations in the plant with immediate effect as it had “violated” provisions under the Water (Prevention and Control of Pollution) Act 1974 and the Environment (Protection) Act 1986 and Hazardous Waste (Management, Handling and Transboundary Movement) Rules 2008.

PCB said the company had failed to transfer the sludge with immediate effect from the lagoon and there was chance of seepage of toxic sludge into water bodies through the storm water.

HDFC Q4 net jumps 23% PTI MUMBAI, MAY 10

Mortgage major HDFC today said it has posted a 23 per cent surge in net profit to Rs 1,142 crore in the fourth quarter ended March 31 on a standalone basis, and gave a guidance of maintaining profitability even in the high interest rate scenario and expects to grow its advances by 20 per cent.

The housing finance lender’s net profit for the corresponding January-March period last year had stood at Rs 926 crore.

For the 12-month ended March 31, 2011, its net profit stood at Rs 3,535 crore, up 25 per cent.

The core net interest income (NII) of the lender grew 17 per cent during the reporting period to Rs 1,511 crore as compared to the same period last year.

It recorded a 24 per cent growth in the gross loan book during the year with the individual segment showing higher

growth numbers, HDFC ViceChairman and Chief Executive Keki Mistry told reporters here.

For FY 12, the private mortgage lender is confident of achieving a loan growth of 20 per cent, he said.

The net interest margin widened to 4.39 per cent during the quarter versus the year before period’s 4.27 per cent as HDFC has been able to pass the burden of repeated rate hikes to the borrowers, Mistry said.

It expects to maintain the NIM number on the back of stable spreads in interest paid and interest earned, he added.

The average size of new loans increased to Rs 18.60 lakh for the year, while individual loans constituted for 67 per cent of the loanbook.

HDFC also witnessed a marginal fall in commercial real estate exposure which is at around 12 per cent, Mistry said.

Kozhikode BSNL to provide 1.20 lakh mobile connections PTI KOZHIKODE, MAY 10

Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited, Kozhikode, was targetting to provide 1.20 lakh mobile connections during the current financial year 2011-12, a top official of BSNL said today, Speaking to mediapersons here, G Muraleedharan, General Manager, BSNL, Kozhikode, said it was planning to provide 15,000 land line connections, 50000 Broad Band connections and 1200 WiMAX connections.

Village Broad band Kiosks were opened at 17 stations in

Kozhikode and Wayanad districts, from where high speed broad band could be browsed at Rs 5 per hour, he said.

During the last financial year 2010-11, 2 lakh mobile connections, 15788 Landline connections, 14522 Broad Band connections were provided, he said.

Under the NMEICT (National Mission on Education through Information and Communication Technology) Project, Broad band connectivity was provided to 53 colleges and NIT, Kozhikode.

A new plan ‘Mithram’ was in-

troduced in pre-paid mobile sector from March 23, 2011 in which the customers could make calls to any five telephone numbers of any network at reduced rate, he said.

The speed of all broad band plans have been enhanced and usage charges reduced upto 10 paise per MB from Feb 1, 2011.

A new broadband plan named BB combo UL-850 was introduced from February 1, 2011 allowing 350 free calls per month and unlimited internet usage with a speed of 1Mbps to 8GB, he said.

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Nirma’s cement plant approval quashed HERALD BUREAU NEW DELHI, MAY 10

The Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) of the Environment and Forests Ministry has struck down construction of a cement plant at Padhiarka village in Bhavnagar district on the ground that it will adversely impact the ecology and aquatic flora and fauna flourishing all around.

It recommended revocation of the approval granted in December 2008 to Nirma Limited for setting up the 1.9 MTPA (million tonnes per annum) cement plant, along with a captive 50MW power plant and a coke oven plant.

The review was undertaken here last week in the light of a Supreme Court order on March 18 and the EAC concluded

after hearing out officials of the Gujarat Government and the company that the approval was “initially founded on undisclosed and incorrect postulates.”

Declaring that the plant can not be allowed close to a “wet land” and a “water body” as established by an expert body, the EAC suggested to look for alternative sites in the vicinity as “no fresh water sanctuary needs to be razed to pitch a cement plant therein.”

It rejected the Gujarat government officials’ vehement contention that the land was and is wasteland as per their revenue records and it was duly allotted to Nirma Limited on that basis. The EAC asserted that what the area was in records in 1952 or might be in

reversion is not of relevance.

The EAC agreed with the expert body, headed by Prof C R Babu, that the site is, and ought to have been appropriately reclassified as wet land or water body at least after the construction of the Bhandhara fresh water reservoir in the lower reach of drainage of rivulet Shen Shuri to prevent salinity spread in the coastal area.

Minutes of the EAC’s meeting held last week were put on the ministry’s website on Tuesday, detailing its recommendation on the ground that “the site supports aquatic flora and fauna besides species that thrive in fresh water tracks” and hence “it is now a wet land and a water body” where a cement factory cannot be allowed.

BIZ

SBI loans to be costlier PTI MUMBAI, MAY 10

Heavy Industries and Public Enterprises Minister Praful Patel, German Ambassador to India, Thomas Matussek (right) and Andreas Schaaf (left), President, BMW India during the unveiling of the company's vision efficient dynamics concept car in New Delhi on Tuesday.

Country’s largest lender SBI today announced a hike in lending rates by 75 basis points (bps), making housing, auto and other loans dearer for both new and existing borrowers.

State-owned SBI has increased the base rate, or the minimum lending rate, by 75 bps (0.75 per cent) to 9.25 per cent. The new rate is effective from May 12, the lender said in a statement.

The hike in State Bank of India’s (SBI) lending rates comes a week after the Reserve Bank raised its lending and borrowing rates by 50 basis points.

SBI has also increased its benchmark prime lending rate (BPLR) by 75 basis points which would mean that existing borrowers will also have to pay more for their loans. With this, BPLR goes up to 14 per cent.

SBI has also raised deposit rates by up to 225 basis points on select four maturities.

Galaxy Surfactants IPO opens SKS Micro to focus on gold on Friday, targets Rs 200 cr loans, mobile phone financing PTI MUMBAI, MAY 10

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key shakes hands with Minister of Commerce and Industry Anand Sharma during a meeting in Wellington, New Zealand on Tuesday.

Chemicals manufacturer Galaxy Surfactants today said it will raise up to Rs 200 crore from an initial public offer (IPO) that opens on Friday.

The issue, which has been in the works for 18 months, has been priced in a band of Rs 325-340 per share and will see the company issuing 59.3 lakh fresh equity shares and the promoters will dilute 25.07 per cent. Post issue, promoters’ stake in the company will come down to 56.92 per cent, its Managing Director Unnathan Shekhar told reporters here.

Depending on the price band, the 31-year-old company will be able to garner between Rs 192.72 crore and Rs 201.62 crore from the IPO that closes on May 19.

The company, which clocked a Rs 42.8 crore net profit for the nine month period ended

Microsoft to acquire Skype for USD 8.5 bn

Gokul elected ICEX Chairman

PTI NEW YORK, MAY 10

In one of its biggest buyouts in over three decades, Microsoft will snap up Skype for USD 8.5 billion in cash, a move that would bolster the software major’s presence in the highly competitive Internet market.

The deal, announced today, would be a shot in the arm for cash-rich Microsoft in competing with strong rivals such as Google and Apple apart from strengthening its footprint in the consumer markets.

“The companies have entered into a definitive agreement under which Microsoft will acquire Skype, the leading Internet communications company, for USD 8.5 billion in cash from the investor group led by Silver Lake,” the two firms said in a joint statement.

The transaction has been approved by the boards of directors of the two companies.

Skype, a popular communications software, uses of voice over Internet protocol technology that makes international voice and video calls cheaper.

Microsoft is estimated to have cash worth USD 48 billion and the Skype deal would become its largest acquisition in around 36 years. The software major’s last big-ticket deal was the USD 6 billion purchase of advertising firm aQuantive in 2007.

“Skype is a phenomenal service that is loved by millions of people around the world.

Together we will create the future of real-time communications so people can easily stay connected to family, friends, clients and colleagues anywhere in the world,” Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said.

Post acquisition, Skype would become a new business division within Microsoft, and Skype CEO Tony Bates would become President of Microsoft Skype Division, reporting directly to Ballmer.

Skype would support Microsoft devices such as gaming console Xbox, Kinect as well as a wide array of Windows applications. Microsoft will connect Skype users with Lync, Outlook, Xbox Live and other communities.

Microsoft will continue to invest in and support Skype clients on non-Microsoft platforms, the release added.

“Together, we will be able to accelerate Skype’s plans to extend our global community and introduce new ways for everyone to communicate and collaborate,” Skype CEO Tony Bates said.

Founded in 2003, Skype was acquired by eBay in September 2005, and then acquired by an investment group led by Silver Lake in November 2009.

“We are excited about Skype’s long-term future with Microsoft, as it is poised to become one of the world’s most dynamic and comprehensive communications platforms,” Silver Lake MD Egon Durban said while speaking on behalf of the investor group that sold Skype to Microsoft.

The acquisition is subject to regulatory approvals and other customary closing conditions.

The parties hope to obtain all required regulatory clearances during the course of this calendar year.

Last year, Skype reported a revenue of USD 860 million on which it posted an overall loss of USD 7 million, and a longterm debt of USD 686 million.

Sensex down 16 pts PTI MUMBAI, MAY 10

The BSE Sensex closed on a flat note for the second day today after a highly volatile trading, slipping 16 points on selling in banking and refinery stocks amid investor concerns over high inflation and interest rates. Consumer durables, capital goods, oil & gas declined, while FMCG and realty firmed moderately.

The 30-share Bombay Stock Exchange index, Sensex, opened higher at 18,564.95 and moved in a wide range of 18,689.37 and 18,429.06 before closing at 18,512.77, down 16.19 points or 0.09 per cent. The broad-based National Stock Exchange index Nifty closed with a loss of 9.85 points at 5,541.25. It touched the day’s low of 5,514.55 and a high of 5,592.90.

December 2010, supplies chemicals used in manufacturing personal care and home care products to FMCG companies. It claims to enjoy a market share of 60 per cent in the niche segments and counts Dabur, Emami, Hindustan Unilever, Procter & Gamble, Henkel, ITC and L’Oreal, among others as clients.

The MD said it shares a “special relationship” with the Godrej Group, who are competitors, suppliers and clients all rolled into one.

Presently, 57.7 per cent of the company’s revenues come from the 70 international countries it sells to.

The MD said most of the IPO proceeds will be utilised for its Rs 342 crore expansion plan which involves setting up units in Egypt and Gujarat.

“Our plant in Egypt will help us to penetrate in Africa and other Middle Eastern coun-

tries,” Shekhar said, adding that the Egyptian authorities have given the company a lifetime tax exemption for the plant.

The Rs 212 crore plant will be set up in a phased manner, with the Rs 130 crore first phase operating from August, and the second during the same time next year.

The second manufacturing facility, a Rs 71 crore unit in Gujarat, will also be operational from August this year.

The company is targeting to more than double its total manufacturing capacity to over 3 lakh tonnes by 2013, once the expansion is over.

Going forward, the firm would aim to sell more of the high margin specialty chemical products, which constitutes 15 per cent of the firm’s revenue.

Motilal Oswal and Centrum Capital are the lead managers to the issue.

PTI HYDERABAD, MAY 10

Expecting pressure on company financials in the near term, SKS Microfinance today said it will start focusing on non-core activities like gold loans and mobile phone financing in places other than Andhra Pradesh, Executive Chairman of the company Vikram Akula said today.

The company suffered a net loss of Rs 69.77 crore in Q4 (FY11) largely due to the situation in Andhra Pradesh where the company’s loan collection has plunged to 10.5 per cent and expects the pressure on financials would continue over the next couple of quarters.

SKS has outstanding loans of Rs 1,285 crore in Andhra Pradesh alone and it is not able to extend fresh loans.

According to AP Micro Finance Institutions (Regulation of Money Lending) Act- 2011,

said Dilli Raj, CFO, SKS microfinance.

“Today our book is Rs 4,111 crore and roughly we can go up to Rs 600 crore (for non-core business).So in FY12 we don’t think we will cross that limit. In FY13, based on the business models we will cross that and look at the step-down subsidiary,” Dilli Raj said.

He said the pressure on financials will continue for one or two quarters going forward.

“Probably there would be near-term pain for a quarter or two. If you are talking medium term it is highly positive. Long term it is absolutely bullish,” Dilli Raj said.

He said the company has five branches dealing with gold loans and they will be ramped up to 100 by the end of the current quarter and 500 by the end of the fiscal.

“Gold loan portfolio at the end of the year could be in the range of 150 crore,” he hoped.

Travelocity India launches lowest price guarantee PTI MUMBAI, MAY 10

PTI MUMBAI, MAY 10

The Indian Commodity Exchange (ICEX) Board of Directors has elected Gokul Patnaik, as the Non-Executive Chairman of the company.

Patnaik is an Independent and Public Interest Director on the Board of the Exchange and has served in senior positions both with the Government of Punjab and Government of India, an exchange release said here.

He has been the President of the All India Food Processors’ Association, a member of the National Council of Confederation of Indian Industries (CII) and a member of the Task Force on Agriculture of Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry.

every loan application has to be approved by the State Government officials.

SKS filed 73,163 loan applications after the new rules were introduced last October of which only 1648 applications were approved by the Government as eligible for loan.

“We have been struck a blow by external forces. Now we reinvent our company and microfinance. That’s what we are going to focus in this year.

Reinvention of microfinance will focus on consolidations of existing customer base, diversifying product offerings and continuing to build consensus to resolve issues in Andhra Pradesh,” Akula told reporters here.

As per Reserve Bank norms, revenues from non-core areas of a microfinance company should not cross 15 per cent.

SKS has plans to start a subsidiary once that limit crosses,

Adi Godrej (left), Chairman of Godrej Group interacts with Graham Hales, CEO of Interbrand, UK during the announcement of brand valuation results in Mumbai on Tuesday.

Travelocity India, owned by Sabre Holdings Corporation, today launched lowest price guarantee on all flights and hotel rooms booked through its site covering 400 airlines and 100,000 hotels across the world.

“We have the technology that enables us to tap into various airlines as well as online travel agents and offer the best deals to our consumers... We offer the triple benefits of speed, convenience and Lowest Price Guaranteed to make an irresistible offer to savvy travellers,” Travelocity India Managing Director Himanshu Singh told reporters here.

This guarantee is made pos-

sible by Travelocity’s powerful search engine that trawls multiple travel service providers, including airlines and online travel agency (OTA) websites and highlights the lowest rate available.

“Last year was an extremely good year for Travelocity India.

We outpaced the market growth rates to become the OTA with the highest growth rate in traffic 256 per cent, year on year as per comScore data.

With this new initiative we look forward to a quantum leap in both, visitors and transactions on our site,” Singh added.

With gross booking of USD 10 billion annually, the company expects 100 per cent growth in bookings year-onyear, he said.

Royal Sundaram GWP ‘Haier Experience Centre’ opened in Margao up 25 pc in FY 11 PTI MUMBAI, MAY 10

Private sector general insurance company Royal Sundaram has posted 25 per cent growth in its total premium collection at Rs 1,147.09 crore in FY 11 compared to the year-ago period.

The Company has also recorded a healthy Profit Before Tax (before contributing to the motor pool) of Rs 60.93 crore, registering a growth of 18 per cent over the last year.

The total Gross Written Premium (GWP) in 2009-10 was Rs 915.56 crore, Royal Sundaram Alliance Insurance Company said in a release issued here.

Out of the total premium of Rs 1,147.09 crore, personal insurance contributed Rs 749.48 crore registering a growth of 31.8 per cent over the previous Aban Offshor, 611.2, 624.65, 601.8, 608.7 Abb Ltd., 897, 897.7, 868.25, 874.15 Abg Shipyard, 370.05, 372.5, 355.1, 357.25 Acc Limited, 991.5, 1010, 990.1, 999.9 Adani Enterp, 622.3, 629.9, 610.65, 621.55 Aditya Birla, 826.05, 849, 826.05, 832.1 Allahabad Ba, 204.3, 205.75, 201.6, 203.15 Alstom Proje, 603.4, 603.4, 582.8, 584.45 Ambuja Cemen, 140.5, 141.7, 138.65, 139.4 Andhra Bank, 141.4, 144, 139.6, 140.55 Ashok Leylan, 49.5, 50.35, 48.5, 48.65 Asian Paints, 2722.45, 2768, 2717, 2743 Axis Bank Li, 1260.1, 1268.55, 1231.25, 1237.75 Bajaj Hindus, 72.9, 72.9, 70.1, 70.6 Bank Of Baro, 873.85, 891.4, 871.7, 886.1 Bank Of Indi, 422.1, 428, 402.55, 413.2 Beml Limited, 651, 684.9, 651, 665.8 Bharat Elect, 1805.05, 1815, 1783, 1792.7 Bharat Forge, 340.25, 348, 335.15, 344.1 Bharat Petro, 669, 669.9, 650.1, 655 Bharti Airte, 352.8, 366.85, 352, 365.2

year.

Commercial insurance contributed Rs 156.24 crore registering a growth of 8.5 per cent over the previous year, while commercial vehicle insurance accounted for Rs 241.37 crore during the financial year 201011, registering a growth of 18.9 per cent over the previous year.

“Our overall performance is encouraging and our commitment and conscious focus on retail business has given us positive results. Every year, even during the challenging times, the company’s performance has observed a constant growth,” Royal Sundaram Managing Director Ajay Bimbhet said.

Going forward, he said, the company’s emphasis will be on building its book by tapping the underlying opportunity in the ever growing retail market.

Bhel, 2076.5, 2076.9, 2041, 2052.15 Bhushan Stee, 480.05, 485, 451.05, 455.1 Biocon Limit, 351.7, 363.75, 351.7, 362.4 Bombay Dyein, 345, 356.55, 343.4, 346.75 Bosch Limite, 6697.95, 6798.7, 6600, 6641.3 Brigade Ente, 89, 92.5, 89, 89.35 Cairn India, 339.95, 345.1, 338.3, 342.9 Canara Bank, 586.7, 587, 573, 581.75 Central Bank, 130.5, 131.75, 127.85, 128.3 Century Text, 332.05, 341.5, 322.5, 339.15 Cesc Ltd, 287, 293.45, 284.1, 287.6 Chambal Fert, 83.6, 84.15, 82.3, 82.9 Chennai Petr, 214.2, 215.5, 210.2, 211.55 Cipla Ltd, 305.3, 307.9, 302.4, 303 Colgate Palm, 881.2, 900.05, 881.2, 898.15 Container Co, 1179.95, 1179.95, 1127, 1133.45 Crompton Gre, 244.3, 260, 237.6, 239.45 Cummins Indi, 694.95, 696.9, 685.15, 688.95 Dabur India, 102.85, 103.4, 100.75, 102.4 Deccan Chron, 76.2, 79.1, 75.05, 76.95 Dish Tv Indi, 67.05, 69.2, 67.05, 68.15

HERALD REPORTER MARGAO, MAY 10

The second ‘Haier Experience Centre’ of Haier India was inaugurated at Reliance Atria, opposite Hotel Gold Star, Margao by Hirabai G S Talaulikar of Talaulikar Electricals in the presence of Haier India president Eric Braganza, on Monday.

The products on display includes entire range of refrigerators, washing machines, ACs and a wide range of LED and LCD TVs and Spa range of water heaters.

Braganza said that Goa is one of the important markets for Haier India and the company plans to strengthen its network in the city and bring the people of Goa in proximity with Haier’s premium products.

Haier had also announced

Divi’s Labor, 690.3, 706, 690, 699.05 Dlf Limited, 221.95, 222.25, 217.4, 218.9 Dr. reddy’s, 1624, 1624, 1586.7, 1597.05 Edelweiss Ca, 34.5, 34.95, 34.15, 34.35 Educomp Solu, 446, 449.5, 437.25, 441 Eih Limited, 84.8, 85.4, 83.3, 83.65 Engineers In, 286, 290, 282.1, 283.5 Essar Oil Lt, 129.2, 130.8, 127.55, 128.65 Essar Shippi, 89.95, 91, 88.55, 89 Exide Indust, 153.1, 154.65, 152.4, 153.75 Federal Bank, 409, 421.4, 409, 419.3 Financial Te, 811.35, 829, 800.85, 816.65 Gail (india), 452, 459, 451, 456.6 Gammon India, 107.1, 108.85, 105.3, 106.3 Glaxosmithkl, 2255.75, 2307.95, 2255.55, 2293.4 Glenmark Pha, 285.15, 289.8, 282, 283.8 Gmr Infrastr, 37.5, 37.75, 36.5, 37 Godrej Indus, 189.1, 191.25, 187.4, 188.15 Grasim Indus, 2335, 2368.8, 2325, 2331.35 Great Offsho, 238.6, 238.6, 226.4, 229.6 Gtl Infra.Lt, 35.5, 35.6, 35, 35.3 Gujarat Mine, 133.6, 138.35, 133.6, 137.85

Gujarat N R, 48.15, 49.45, 48.15, 48.9 Gujarat Stat, 97.8, 99, 97.1, 97.7 Gvk Pow. & I, 22.95, 23.6, 22.5, 23.5 Hcl Technolo, 497.5, 508.9, 497, 499.4 Hdfc Bank Lt, 2302, 2315, 2248.4, 2278.85 Hdfc Ltd, 670, 670, 656.6, 664.55 Hero Honda M, 1752.1, 1765.5, 1728.35, 1742.8 Hindalco in, 202.5, 206.25, 200.75, 202.6 Hindustan Co, 34, 34.15, 33.45, 33.7 Hindustan Ma, 63, 63, 59.45, 59.95 Hindustan Pe, 415, 415, 384.75, 387.95 Hindustan Un, 275.15, 288.7, 269.9, 284.75 Hindustan Zi, 132, 135.3, 130.6, 134.9 Housing Dev, 142, 146.15, 140.3, 143.45 Icici Bank L, 1093.4, 1093.4, 1066.25, 1083 Idea Cellula, 62.1, 65.85, 62.1, 65.25 Ifci Ltd, 49.65, 50.1, 49.1, 49.25 India Cement, 91, 92.4, 90.05, 90.75 India Infoli, 71, 75, 70.6, 74.35 Indiabulls F, 160.8, 164.2, 160.25, 161.9 Indiabulls R, 118.5, 118.7, 115.6, 116.05 Indian Bank, 238, 239.7, 229.6, 230.85

Hirabai G S Talaulikar inaugurates the Haier Experience Centre at Margao in the presence of Haier India President Eric Braganza.

Photo by Santosh Mirajkar

complimentary inaugural offers for its customers which includes a 4-year warranty and Indian Hotel, 80.15, 80.8, 79.2, 79.6 Indian Oil C, 355.7, 356.2, 342.5, 344.2 Indian Overs, 156.8, 158, 152.1, 153.2 Indus Dev Ba, 138.6, 138.65, 134.2, 135.65 Indusind Ban, 255, 259.75, 245.05, 254.45 Infosys Tech, 2910, 2917, 2867.5, 2908.55 Infra. dev., 138.25, 138.4, 135.05, 135.85 Ispat Indust, 22.3, 22.5, 21.75, 22.35 Itc Ltd, 183.95, 186.8, 182.1, 184.45 Ivrcl Infras, 76.2, 76.45, 73.65, 75.8 Jai Corp Lim, 164, 164.3, 160, 160.55 Jaiprakash A, 86.95, 86.95, 84.05, 84.8 Jet Airways, 496, 496.35, 474.2, 478.35 Jindal Saw L, 188.05, 193.95, 187.25, 189.05 Jindal Steel, 632, 640.8, 629.05, 638.15 Jsw Steel Li, 900.9, 907, 877, 896.9 Kotak Mahind, 435, 435.85, 422.8, 428.9 Lakshmi Mach, 2324, 2324.5, 2250, 2253 Lanco Infrat, 34.75, 35.6, 34.75, 34.9 Larsen & Tou, 1550, 1560.65, 1530.5, 1550.85 Lic Housing, 207, 209.8, 205.75, 207.95 Lupin Limite, 422, 431, 421.1, 428.6

Haier LCD TVs with a discounted price of Rs 39990 and also announced special price

Mahanagar Te, 46.9, 46.9, 44.25, 45.6 Mahindra & M, 720, 724, 704.5, 710.25 Maruti Suzuk, 1276.5, 1279.9, 1240, 1245.5 Max India Lt, 166.15, 167, 164.6, 165.95 Moser-baer (, 42.5, 43.4, 41.7, 42.1 Mrpl, 72.55, 76.65, 72.55, 75.25 Nagarjuna Fe, 30.15, 30.3, 29.75, 29.85 National Alu, 88.8, 90.35, 88.1, 89.45 Neyveli Lign, 103.8, 104.8, 102.35, 103.1 Ntpc Ltd, 175.5, 175.6, 172.3, 172.8 Oil And Natu, 307, 307.85, 298.25, 304.2 Omaxe Limite, 132, 132.9, 130.65, 131.85 Oriental Ban, 337, 338.9, 323.65, 328.55 Pantaloon Re, 252.95, 253.1, 248, 248.9 Parsvnath De, 39.15, 41.9, 39.15, 41.8 Petronet Lng, 131, 134.8, 130.05, 133.65 Power Fin Co, 210.25, 212.8, 205.65, 210.95 Power Grid C, 103.15, 103.8, 102.5, 102.7 Praj Industr, 76.7, 77.35, 75.65, 76.55 Punj Lloyd L, 63.5, 63.6, 61.8, 62.75 Punjab Natio, 1107.3, 1116.8, 1072.85, 1078.55 Rajesh Expor, 88, 88.95, 87.15, 87.35

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Tata Communi, 221.1, 225.85, 220.1, 222.15 Tata Consult, 1150, 1151.95, 1124.5, 1135.55 Tata Motors, 1199, 1202.4, 1168.9, 1176.85 Tata Power C, 1230, 1262.5, 1230, 1257.3 Tata Steel L, 598, 600.8, 590.1, 595.1 Tata Teleser, 16.7, 16.9, 16.4, 16.65 Tech Mahindr, 675.75, 675.75, 662.5, 666.5 The Ge Shpg., 285, 285.05, 268.15, 271.3 The Phoenix, 214, 219.8, 207, 210.85 Thermax Ltd, 601.2, 608.5, 600, 605.75 Titan Indust, 3970, 3977.7, 3918.8, 3944.85 Torrent Powe, 257.8, 258, 252, 256.45 Triveni Engg, 40.1, 40.5, 38.9, 39.65 Tv18 India L, 79.55, 81.75, 79.55, 80.1 Uco Bank, 101, 101.75, 97.75, 98.25 Ultratech Ce, 1044.85, 1066, 1031.2, 1038.65 Union Bank O, 318, 325.65, 311.2, 321.1 Unitech Ltd, 35.95, 36.35, 34.8, 35.05 United Phosp, 156.75, 160.3, 154.25, 157.9 Videocon Ind, 192.5, 194.7, 189.2, 191.65

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OHERALDO

Pg 13 GOA, WEDNESDAY, 11 MAY, 2011

Rights group: 757 civilians killed in Syria AP BEIRUT, MAY 10

A Syrian human rights group says 757 civilians have been killed in Syria since an uprising against President Bashar Assad's regime began in mid-March.

Ammar Qurabi, who heads the National Organization for Human Rights in Syria, said the group has lists of names, age, cause of death and the area where those people were killed.

Qurabi added that thousands of people have been detained in the past two months, including about 9,000 still in custody.

He spoke to The Associated Press on Tuesday as Syrian forces conducted operations in several hot spots throughout the country.

Assad has dispatched troops and tanks to many areas to crush the seven-week uprising that poses the most serious challenge to his family's 40-year rule.

Earlier on Tuesday, Syrian troops backed by tanks entered several southern villages near the flashpoint city of Daraa as the government pressed its efforts to end a nationwide uprising, an activist said.

The activist said heavy gunfire was heard when the troops entered Inkhil, Dael, Jassem, Sanamein and Nawa after midnight. It was not clear if there

Demonstrators rally against the Syrian regime’s crackdown on protesters, outside the Syrian embassy in Cairo, Egypt on Tuesday.

were casualties, he said.

He spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of government reprisals.

In recent weeks, army troops carried out an 11-day operation in Daraa that killed more than 80 people, residents and activists said. The city, near the Jordanian border, has been cut off for the past two weeks.

President Bashar Assad has dispatched troops and tanks to

US gets access to bin Laden widows PTI WASHINGTON, MAY 10

Pakistan has agreed to grant US access to the three widows of Osama bin Laden, who were detained soon after the killing of the al-Qaeda chief in his Abbottabad hideout last week, media reports said today.

The US investigating agencies would be given "direct access" to the three widows of bin Laden, meaning the US government agents will be able to interview them, and not just submit questions, CBS news reported.

With this, Islamabad has met one of the major demands of the Obama Administration.

"A United States official said that American investigators would soon be allowed to interview bin Laden's three widows, now being held by Pakistani authorities," The New York Times reported.

While there was no official confirmation of this news from the White House, CNN said Pakistan will allow the US to question or take into

custody the apparent wives of bin Laden only if their "country of origin has been asked for permission," according to a senior Pakistani intelligence source.

Earlier in the day, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said the US is in consultation with the Pakistani government at many levels about access to bin Laden's wives.

"We will continue those conversations. We believe that it is very important to maintain the cooperative relationship with Pakistan precisely because it's in our national security interest to do so," he said.

In another news report, The New York Times said, CIA Director Leon Panetta would soon meet ISI Chief Lt Gen Ahmad Shuja Pasha "to discuss the way forward in the common fight against al-Qaeda."

On Sunday, Admiral Mike Mullen, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called Pakistani Army Chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani as part of the continued dialogue.

many areas to crush the sevenweek uprising that poses the most serious challenge to his family's 40-year rule.

The regime appears determined to crush the uprising by force and intimidation, despite rapidly growing international outrage and a death toll that — according to rights groups — has topped 630 civilians since the unrest began.

Human rights activist Mustafa

CIA station chief to stay in Pak despite expose AP WASHINGTON, MAY 10

The US has said it will not withdraw the CIA station chief in Pakistan, despite his name being leaked to local media last week.

But officials quoted by US media said the name published in Pakistani news outlets was spelt incorrectly.

Relations between the countries have been under severe strain since a US raid killed Osama Bin Laden last week.

Last year the former head of the CIA in Islamabad had to be withdrawn after his identity was revealed in the media.

On Friday, the private TV channel ARY broadcast what it claimed was the current CIA station chief's name. The Nation, a right-wing newspaper, then reported the story on Saturday, according to the Associated Press news agency.

Some US officials said that the latest leak was a deliberate move by the authorities in Pakistan, which they say was intended to divert attention from questions over Bin Laden.

Osso said some of the most intense operations were taking place in the Damascus suburb of Maadamiyeh, which has been sealed for days. He said telecommunications have been cut and checkpoints were preventing anyone from entering or leaving the area.

"Maadamiyeh is isolated from the rest of the world," Osso said.

The army was also conducting operations in the coastal city of

Banias, the central city of Homs, and the northern city of Deir elZor, Osso said.

"Any area where there are demonstrations, the government is sending the army," he said.

Rights groups said hundreds of people have been detained over the past few days in different areas.

Also Tuesday, a religious leader who resigned last month in disgust over the killings of protesters in the province of Daraa withdrew his resignation.

Sheikh Rizq Abdul-Rahim Abazeid, mufti of the Daraa region, resigned April 23 after shootings by security forces killed scores of people.

"I cannot tolerate the blood of our innocent sons and children being shed," Abazeid told The Associated Press after stepping down. But in an interview with a Syrian satellite TV channel, Abazeid said his resignation was a result of "severe pressure and intimidation," including death threats.

In neighboring Jordan, Jordanian taxi driver Shadi Zouebi said he was mistreated while in Syrian custody for three weeks.

The man, who ferries passengers and goods between Jordan and Syria, refused to provide details.

Mubarak detention extended REUTERS CAIRO, MAY 10

Egypt's General Prosecutor Abdel Maguid Mahmoud on Tuesday decide to renew the detention of former President Hosni Mubarak for another 15 days pending investigations, his office said in a statement.

Mahmoud said the third 15day detention term of Mubarak will begin when his current detention ends on Thursday, according to the statement.

The general prosecutor also renewed on Monday for the third time the detention of Mubarak's sons, Alaa and Gamal, for another 15 days.

Mubarak and his two sons were ordered on April 13 to be put under custody, facing charges of killing protestors and embezzlement of public funds among others.

Mubarak was forced to resign on Feb. 11 after 18 days of protests against his 30-yearlong rule. He is now in a hospital in Egypt's Red Sea resort Sharm el-Sheikh.

The top prosecutor said Mubarak will be moved to a military hospital if his health conditions are stable.

Killings overshadow Ivory Coast recovery AFP ABIDJAN, MAY 10

A month after his dramatic arrest, Ivory Coast's fallen president Laurent Gbagbo remains under house arrest as his successor vows reconciliation amid the ruins of their deadly conflict.

Gbagbo faces a raft of criminal charges after his five-month fight for the presidency and President Alassane Ouattara has promised justice after a conflict that killed around 3,000 people and forced a million to flee.

But as the vital cocoa sector is set to resume exports and normal routines return, new evidence of mass killings has emerged and bodies and skeletons were recovered as recently as last week in parts of battlescarred Abidjan.

Gbagbo is being held in the far-northern town of Korhogo, nearly 600 kilometres from Abidjan where he was dramatically hauled from his home on April

11 after a 15-day battle that drew in UN and French forces.

"I'm happy we caught Gbagbo and that he's here in Korhogo.

Gbagbo can't escape from here," said a resident, Fatou Kone.

The 65-year-old, who refused to accept he lost an election in November after 10 years in power, was visited on Saturday by state lawyers investigating charges of abuses and misappropriation of public funds.

Similar allegations have been levelled against his wife Simone, being held in Odienne in the northwest, and nearly 200 figures in the former regime, who are also under house arrest in various parts of the country.

Abidjan has largely opened up for business again: banks have reopened, civil servants have received two months of outstanding pay, students are back at school and even the morning traffic jams have returned.

Egyptian press fears communal chaos AGENCIES CAIRO, MAY 10

Egyptian newspapers have published angry comment on the Muslim-Christians clashes in recent days in Egypt. More than 180 people were wounded in clashes on Saturday after conservative Muslims attacked a Coptic church in the Imbaba area.

Both official and independent newspapers fear that remnants of the ousted Mubarak government, religious extremists or unspecified foreign forces are trying to undermine moves to democracy by stoking communal violence.

Several papers accuse the authorities of leniency towards "thugs", and one demanded the death sentence for desecration of places of worship.

The Al-Akhbar daily said "Egypt is in serious danger…

What Egypt is currently witnessing is the normal result of chaos, slackness, carelessness and softness towards thugs and extremists... It is no longer a secret that harming national unity and

Philippines storm death toll climbs to 22

driving a wedge between the sects of the nation is… the strategic goal of external enemies… They do not want to see Egypt standing on its feet once again as a strong and dignified country which restores its civilization and which is capable of resisting those who have ambitions and want to control and dominate our Arab and Islamic nation."

The official daily Al-Ahram said: "What is going on will take Egypt to the abyss of chaos and turn it into another Somalia or a new Afghanistan... those who tamper with Egypt's safety and security... are committing high treason against religion and the revolution."

The Al-Jumhuriyah daily said: "Throughout history, Egypt has always resisted all conspiracies and conflicts which targeted its national unity… But here are the forces opposed to the glorious 25 January Revolution trying once again, but they will never succeed due to the awareness of the Egyptian people and the strength of their unity."

Boat from Libya capsizes, hundreds missing AGENCIES TRIPOLI, MAY 10

Fifty-four Somalis trying to escape Libya are dead or presumed dead after an overcrowded boat with hundreds on board capsized off the coast of Tripoli, the Somali ambassador to Libya said Tuesday. Abdelghani Mohamed Oweys said the boat that capsized Friday was carrying more than 600 asylum seekers of various Arab and African nationalities -- 240 were Somali.

GOA STATE POLLUTION CONTROL BOARD

An aerial view of flooding brought by tropical storm Aere in Camarines Sur province, central Philippines, on Tuesday.

AGENCIES MANILA, MAY 10

Philippine authorities on Tuesday accounted for several more deaths in connection with tropical storm Aere, raising the death toll to 22.

"We now have 22 deaths. We hope that there will no more

additional. We hope that this will be the final count," said Josefina Timoteo, operations chief of the Office of Civil Defence.

Of the fatalities, 16 are from the worst-hit Bicol region, four in the second worst-hit eastern Visayas, and one apiece from

the National Capital Region and central Luzon, said Timoteo.

The number of affected population rose to 40,286 families or 209,621 individuals who are now being served by various agencies such as the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

A total of 117.8 million pesos (2.74 million U.S. dollars) worth of agricultural products have been damaged in the calamity, statistics showed. The figure is expected to rise in the coming days as damage assessments in the affected areas are still ongoing.

Japan scraps plan for new nuclear plants AP TOKYO, MAY 10

Prime Minister Naoto Kan said Tuesday that Japan would abandon plans to build new nuclear reactors, saying his country needed to “start from scratch” in creating a new energy policy.

Mr. Kan’s announcement came as Japan allowed residents of evacuated areas around the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant to briefly revisit their homes for the first time since the devastating earthquake and tsunami in March caused the nuclear accident.

Tuesday’s decision will abandon a plan that the Kan government released last year to build 14 more nuclear reactors by 2030 and increase the share of nuclear power in

Japan’s electricity supply to 50 percent.

Japan currently has 54 reactors that before the earthquake produced 30 percent of its electricity.

The cancellation of the planned nuclear plants is the second time that Mr. Kan has suddenly announced big changes in Japanese nuclear policy without the usual endless committee meetings and media leaks that characterize the country’s consensus-driven decision making. Mr. Kan appears to be seeking a stronger leadership role after criticism of his government’s sometimes slow and indecisive handling of the Fukushima accident.

Last week, Kan asked a utility company to suspend operations at the Hamaoka nuclear plant, which sits atop an active

earthquake fault line, about 120 miles southwest of Tokyo. After three days of delays, the company, Chubu Electric Power, finally agreed on Monday to shut down the plant until a new wave wall was built and other measures could be taken to strengthen it against earthquakes and tsunamis.

Kan said Japan would retain nuclear and fossil fuels as energy sources, but vowed to add two new pillars to Japan’s energy policy: renewable energy and conservation.

While Japan has been a global leader in energy conservation, it lags behind the United States and Europe in adopting solar and wind power, and other new energy sources.

“We need to start from scratch,” Kan told reporters.

PATTO, PANAJI GOA. No. 11/15/08-PCB/Vol.VII/173 Dated: 09 /05/11 NOTICE FOR THE ADJOURNED ENVIRONMENTAL PUBLIC HEARING The following project proponent has proposed for enhancement in the production capacity of Pig Iron (de-bottlenecking) project in North Goa District. The proposed industry attracts revised Environmental Impact Assessment Notification dated 14/09/2006 notified under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986, by the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Government of India. Hence, as per the said Notification, the Goa State Pollution Control Board has proposed to conduct Environmental Public Hearing. The details of the project, date, time and venue of the said Environmental Public Hearing is given below: Survey no./Village / Date, time and Sr. Name of the project venue Taluka / District 1. Pig Iron (de-bottlenecking) Survey nos. 29/1, 39 (Part), 14h June, 2011, 11.00 p r o j e c t ( e n h a n c e m e n t i n 31/2, 39, 41, 42/1, 42/2, 43/2, am onwards at Shree production capacity from 54/1, 56/17, 27(Part) of Amona Shantadurga 292,000 TPA to 500,000 TPA) of Village, Bicholim Taluka, North Devasthan, Amravati, M/s Sesa Industries Limited, Goa District.

Amona, Bicholim Amona Village, Bicholim Taluka, Taluka, Goa. Goa The Public Hearing is conducted for ascertaining the concerns of the local affected persons who can express their views or seek information or clarifications from the project proponent.

The other concerned persons having plausible stake in the Environmental aspects of the project or activity can send their suggestions / objections in writing on or before the scheduled date of Public Hearing to the Ministry of Environment and Forests, New Delhi or the Goa State Pollution Control Board, Patto, Panaji Goa..

Copies of the Executive Summary containing the salient features of the project in Konkani / English and Rapid EIA / EMP report submitted by the Project proponent is made available for reference at the following offices: 1.Office of the District Magistrate, North Goa 2. District Industry Centre – Office of the Director of Industries, Trade and Commerce, Panaji Goa. 3. Office of the Chief Executive Officer – Zilla Parishad, North Goa 4. Office of the concerned Village Panchayat 5. Office of the Goa State Pollution Control Board, Patto, Panaji Goa 6. Regional office of the Ministry of Environment and Forests, Southern th th nd Zone, 4 floor, E and F Wing, 17 Main Road, 2 Block, Kormangala, Bangalore 560034.

The proceedings of the Public hearing shall be forwarded to the Ministry of Environment & Forests,.

Govt. of India for appropriate action in the matter.

Sd/-

Member Secretary For Goa State Pollution Control Board

Size:12 x 12 cms

Pg 14

SPORTS

GOA, Wednesday, 11 May 2011

Vasco pay heavily for missed chances HERALD SPORTS REPORTER PANJIM, MAY 10

Bottom-placed Southern Samity shocked Vasco SC 1-0 in 2nd Division I-League at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Shillong, Tuesday. Man-of-the-match Francis Xavier’s right-footer in the 71st minute made the difference between the two teams.

The result throws open the rat-race for qualification to the I-League. Southern, who are not in the race to qualify, move to 4 points from 5 matches while Vasco, who have been hard hit by the result, stay on 10 points

Soccer tourney at Nuvem Thanks to:

U.K./ Raia

l Southern Samity win 1-0

from 6 matches.

Two red cards and a flurry of missed chances didn’t help Vasco’s cause. A red card for Remus Gomes in the 27th minute reduced Vasco to tenmen. But Southern were not able to cash in on the numerical superiority as Vasco never let the momentum slip and muffed three clear chances in the first half.

The easiest chance of the day was muffed by Vasco’s Joy Ferrao in the 38th minute when he

failed to head into an empty net after Sachin Gawas’ centre caught rival goalkeeper Binod Mallick on the wrong foot. And, in the 44th minute, Koko Sakibu blasted it over when he had Mallick at his mercy.

This apart, in the 18th minute, Koko, after splitting open the rival defence with a solo diagonal run, stayed guilty of holding on to the ball for a shade too long allowing Madhav Das to clear from the goalline.

Changing over, Southern got

their defensive organisation right. Vasco did go all out but were unable to get past the two stoppers Madhav and Anandvasan. Much against the run of play, Southern went into the lead in the 71st minute - Francis Xavier’s right footer beating a diving Milagrio Medeira, who till then had just been a spectator.

More was in store. In the 79th minute, Vasco's Jerose Oliveira was flashed the red card and then in the 87th minute, South-

ern’s Suman Dutta was given marching orders.

Southern next play Royal Wahingdoh on May 12 while Vasco play their last match against United Sikkim on May 14.

In the other match, riding on Musibau’s brace, Royal Wahingdoh rallied to hold Kolkata’s Mohammedan Sporting 2-2.

With both teams already out of the championship race, a 7000-odd crowd were treated to some entertaining football with Sporting enjoying territorial domination in both sessions.

Victory or it’s curtains for Dempo

HERALD SPORTS DESK PANJIM , MAY 10

BY JOVITO LOPES

Married Stars of Pateapur, Nuvem will organise their 7-aside inter-ward football tournament at Pateapur ground from May 15.

Details may be obtained from Contancico Rodrigues on 9822125403.

Dempo go into Wednesday’s crunch AFC Cup clash at Shiv Chhatrapati stadium, Balewadi in Pune against Al Ansar of Lebanon at 6.30 p.m. knowing only victory will see them stand any chance of reaching the last 16.

Dempo lie fourth in Group A table with 4 points and a minus 14 goal difference while Al Tilal are third also with 4 points and a minus three goal difference.

Al Ansar have six points and a

PANJIM, MAY 10

minus three goal difference and are second. Al Tilal play Nasaf who have the maximum of 15 points and a plus 20 goal difference.

Al Ansar need just a draw to finish second in the group.

With Nasaf having already captured one of the two qualifying spots for the last 16 from Group A, Dempo and Al Ansar are battling out to join the Uzbekistans in the next stage.

Dempo head coach Armando Colaco believes his team can shake off their recent poor form after suffering the worst, biggest and record 0-9 defeat and reach the knock-out stage by beating Al Ansar.

“This is our best chance to qualify and we cannot allow this opportunity to pass,” Colaco said. “I believe a win will take us to the knock-out stage of the AFC Cup, which has always been our aim.”

It remains possible that a win would not be sufficient, as Dempo are relying on group winners Nasaf beating Al Tilal, who have a slim chance of jump-

ing to second place with a surprise success.

Colaco added: “It’s difficult for Al Tilal to get anything out of their game against Nasaf.

Nasaf are a very strong side and I will be surprised if they cannot win this one comfortably.”

Colaco stated he had been toying with the idea of selecting a weakened team. “Since the ILeague is at a crucial stage and we have the best chance to retain our title, I was wondering if it would be fair to send my best players against Al Ansar,” Colaco said.

“I thought some players deserved rest so that they are fresh

Sai Avataar beat Arpora HERALD SPORTS REPORTER MAPUSA, MAY 10

A goal in each half, gave Sai Avtaar Sports Club a fluent 2-0 victor y over 10-man Arpora Sporting Club in the 5th Siolim Sodiem Super soccer tournament, at St Anthony’s church ground, Siolim, Tuesday.

Arpora had Gary Pereira sent off in the second half for a tackle from behind, preventing the Sai

Avtaar forward from reaching the goal.

In the 18th minute, Saprem Diukar produced a defence splitting pass, which Julius D’Souza latched onto and finished with class.

After the lemon break, Julius returned the favour by dribbling through the Arpora defence before laying the ball off for Saprem to tap home.

Calangute rout Saligao United HERALD CORRESPONDENT CALANGUTE, MAY 10

Calangute Association trounced Sinquerim Sports Club 3-0 in Saligao United Cup Soccer 9-aside inter-village football tournament organised by Saligao United at Saligao Seminary ground, Tuesday.

Calangute shot into the lead in the 10th minute through Alban Gonsalves.

Francisco Fernandes doubled the lead for Calangute in the 25th minute.

Changing over, Ratos increased the tally in the 40th minute.

Ambelim pip Betalbatim HERALD SPORTS DESK PANJIM, MAY 10

Ambelim Sports Club, Ambelim defeated Betalbatim Sporting Club 5-4 via the tie-breaker after a 1-1 draw to make it to the finals of 15th Holy Cross intervillage football tournament organised by Holy Cross Sports Club in memory of Albert J Fernandes at Vodlemoll Kakoda ground, Tuesday. Ambelim led 1-0 at the lemon break.

Ambelim opened their scoring through Maxwin Fernandes in the 20th minute.

Crossing over, Betalbatim equalised when Malcolm Fernandes’ snap shot entered the nets in the 44th minute.

In the tie-breaker, Tiburcio Fernandes, Clayton D'Silva, Romeo Fernandes, Sensor Fernandes and Maxwin Fernandes found the target for Ambelim while Desmond Fernandes, Luis Rogtao, Dickson Rogtao and Bradly Rogtao netted for Betalbatim.

for the I-League challenge, but then I told myself we have won the League four times in the last six years, but qualifying for the knock-out stage will be something special.”

“We are extending our arms beyond India, and it is imperative that we qualify,” remarked Colaco.

A draw could be enough to seal second place for Al Ansar, but coach Jamal Taha is leaving nothing to chance. “We have come here looking for a win and I am confident we can do just that,” said Taha, whose side won 2-0 at home against Dempo earlier in the group.

“It will be difficult against Dempo here. They have always been a strong side and since we played them last year as well, they know our style. It will be a difficult game. Dempo have a good mix of foreign and Indian players. We have come here without three of our players, one of who is a reserve goalkeeper, but we feel confident that we can get a positive result and qualify from this group.”

Goan eves beaten HERALD SPORTS REPORTER MAPUSA, MAY 10

Goa suffered a 0-3 loss to group leaders Manipur, in the 19th Senior Women’s National championship in Chattisgarh, Tuesday.

Manipur opened the scoring five minutes before the breather.

They added two late goals in the 85th and 89th minute to secure victory.

Goa have one crucial match left against Assam on May 12 as both teams are currently on three points each from two matches and the winners are certain to qualify for the semi-finals. Manipur are on six points from two matches and are in the driving seat. Jharkhand are yet to pick up points after two matches.

Pilerne edge past Siolim HERALD CORRESPONDENT CALANGUTE, MAY 10

Pilerne Sports Club got the better of Football Club of Siolim 42 via the tie-breaker after a goalless draw to move into the semi-finals of 20th V M Salgaocar Trophy inter-village football tournament organised by Saligao Sporting Club at Saligao ground, Tuesday.

In the tie-breaker, Agnelo Monteiro, Xavier Clemente, Michael D'Sousa and McDavid Dias netted for Pilerne while Ryan D'Souza and Francis Fernandes found the mark for Siolim.

Sieko up HERALD SPORTS DESK PANJIM, MAY 10

GFA U-16 North play-off finals: Brasil Futebol Academia v. BAFF, Duler Stadium, Mapusa, 4 p.m.

Frank Pires memorial soccer: Verna SC v. Don Bosco Oratory, Fatorda, Siridao church ground, 4.30 p.m.

5th Siolim Sodiem Super soccer: FC Siolim v. Adarsh Yuvak Sangh, Saligao, St Anthony’s church ground, Siolim, 4.45 p.m.

15th Holy Cross inter-village football semis: St Anthony SC, Colva v. UC Nerul, Vodlemoll Kakoda ground, 4.30 p.m.

V M Salgaocar soccer: Saligao SC v. Pax of Nagoa, Saligao Sporting ground, 4.30 p.m.

Saligao United Cup soccer: Goa Velha SC v. Candolim SC, Saligao Seminary ground, Saligao, 4.30 p.m.

St Anthony’s Super soccer semis: Parish Youth, Nuvem v.

Wilred Leisure SC, Colva ground, 4.45 p.m.

Andrew Julio Fernandes memorial volleyball: Gauchem Bhat v. Vaddi Boys, Molloca court, Merces, 7 p.m.

Sieko beat Curchorem Youth Club by 140 runs in GCA A Division quarter-finals at BITS Pilani ground, Zuarinagar, Tuesday.

Seiko won the toss and elected to bat, setting a target of 251 for 3 in 35 overs (Sawan Faterpekar (97), Prasant Laindor (52), Vishant Khandeparkar 50 not out with 5 sixes).

Curchorem’s Vikas Rane, Rajdeep Naik and Salman Chopde claimed a wicket each.

In reply, Curchorem were 111 all out in 21.3 overs (Manish Desai (26), Nikhil Kakodkar (18) and Harish Kutti (15).

Vedant Naik 13 for 4, Yogesh Moratikar 15 for 3, Rohit Borkar 22 for 2, Niraj Yadav 22 for 1.

Football camp at Merces HERALD SPORTS DESK PANJIM, MAY 10

Sixty children from parts of Merces, Santa Cruz, Ribandar and Chimbel in the age group of 7 to 15 years participated in the summer football coaching camp organised by Rudolph Fernandes, Santa Cruz, at A Lua ground, Merces, recently. The camp was held under the guidance of DLisence coaches Allan Nazareth, Ryan Cardoso and Zeena Soares.

Pg 15

SPORTS

GOA, Wednesday, 11 May 2011

Rodriguez treble boosts Liverpool’s Euro charge

Liverpool's Luis Suarez falls after Fulham's Brede Hangeland fouled him at Craven Cottage football stadium in London on Monday.

Fulham 2 Liverpool 5 AFP LONDON, MAY 10

Liverpool boosted their late challenge for a top four finish in the Premier League as Maxi Rodriguez's hat-trick fired the

Reds to a 5-2 victory against Fulham on Monday.

Kenny Dalglish's side romped into a three-goal lead within the first 16 minutes at Craven Cottage, with Rodriguez scoring twice before Fulham goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer allowed Dirk

Kuyt's weak shot to squirm into the net.

Moussa Dembele got one back for Fulham but Rodriguez struck again for his second hattrick in three games and Luis Suarez bagged the fifth goal to complete the demolition.

Rayudu, Badrinath favourites to earn call-up for Windies tour for the shorter version.

Sachin Tendulkar, who nowadays only plays selective matches in the shorter version and veteran speedster Zaheer Khan may want to give their tired bodies much needed rest after a rigorous World Cup and an equally arduous IPL campaign.

Even skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni is reportedly keen to take a break before the Test series in the Windies followed by an important two and half month long tour of England.

Whatever be the scenario, Rayudu who has so far scored 349 runs from 10 games with a strike rate of nearly 120 has a

good chance to board the flight to Caribbean.

"His (Rayudu) wicketkeeping abilities is another advantage for him. With Robin Uthappa not doing well, Rayudu's case is even more stronger. Whether Dhoni takes rest or not, Rayudu can be considered a second 'keeper in shorter versions as Indian teams over the years have always had a second option while touring the Caribbean," a BCCI source said.

For Badrinath who had a fantastic Ranji season scoring a whopping 922 runs at an average of 131 followed it up with 294 runs in the IPL so far at a strike-rate of 135.

Vijender in semis

Somdev stunned at Zagreb Open

AGENCIES CHENNAI, MAY 10

Young Ambati Rayudu and veteran Subramanium Badrinath are two players who are likely to be rewarded with national call-ups for their good show in the ongoing IPL when the selectors meet in Chennai on Friday to decide on the ODI squad for the tour of West Indies.

Pune Warriors leg-spinner Rahul Sharma, who has had an astonishing economy rate of less than six through 10 matches, is likely to be another beneficiary.

It is still not clear as to how many seniors apart from Virender Sehwag who will undergo shoulder surgery will be rested

AGENCIES NEW DELHI, MAY 10

Star Indian boxer Vijender Singh assured himself of at least a bronze medal in his very first international competition in the light heavy weight (81kg) category by advancing to the semifinals of the Arafura Games in Darwin, Australia on Tuesday.

Vijender, the world number one in middleweight (75kg) division, has jumped a division for this event on an experimental basis and started off pretty well by beating Australian Jeremy van Diemen 18-6 in his opening bout.

The 25-year-old Olympic and

World Championships bronzemedallist took a 5-2 lead in the opening round before widening the margin to 10-3 in the next three minutes.

"My first international event in the light heavy weight division and I am so happy to have won. It is very satisfying because my opponent was a powerful guy," Vijender told PTI from Darwin.

The Asian Games gold medallist, competing in his first event after a five-month break, did not give any chance to his rival in the final three minutes as well and sealed it 18-6 to start his campaign with a bang.

AGENCIES CROATIA, MAY 10

Second seed Somdev Devvarman suffered a shock first round exit from the singles event of Zagreb Open, an ATP Challenger tournament, after losing in straight sets to local wild card Antonio Veic.

The world number 68 went down 3-6, 2-6 to his rival, who is ranked as low as 232 in the ATP charts.

It was first meeting between the two players.

Somdev would now look to do well in the doubles event, for which he has paired with Swiss player Yves Allegro.

MRF, Calangute emerge champs

Steve Sidwell's late strike meant little to Fulham and Liverpool's five-star display lifted them above Tottenham in fifth place and within four points of fourth placed Manchester City in the race for the final Champions League spot.

With only two matches left, Liverpool are more likely to have to settle for Europa League qualification, but a slip by City in their game in hand against Tottenham on Tuesday will have the Anfield faithful dreaming of a return to Europe's elite club competition.

Whatever the outcome of their European charge, Dalglish has surely done enough to persuade Reds owner John W Henry to hand him the manager's job on a permanent basis.

Liverpool's record signing Andy Carroll was missing again after suffering an injury in training, but the Reds arrived in west London in fine form and took the lead in 31 seconds.

Manchester United may be about to take Liverpool's record of 18 league titles, but even Sir Alex Ferguson's team haven't scored such a fast goal this season.

serie a

AFP ROME, MAY 10

Juventus hopes of qualifying for next season's Champions League were virtually erased on Monday after Chievo fought back from 2-0 down to force a 2-2 draw with the Turin side.

The draw - which saw the Juventus players booed off the pitch by their home fans - leaves the 'Old Lady' five points adrift of Udinese, who occupy the fourth and final Champions League spot with just two matches remaining.

Juventus coach Luigi Delneri

MRF, C a l a n g u t e d e f e a t e d Punola Sports and Cultural Club 2-1 in the hockey tournament organised by Punola Sports and Cultural Club at Ucassaim, Tuesday.

Following individual prizes

were awarded: Best defender Jowlyn (Punola). Promising player Alfee (Margao United).

Man of the finals Dattesh. Player of the tournament Wency (Punola). Best goal Januario (MRF, Calangute).

The winners were richer by Rs 6,000 while the runners-up

had to be content with Rs 4,000.

Ramakant Parab was the chief guest and gave away the prizes in the presence of guest of honour, Sashikant Shetgaonkar, club president, Prakash Bandekar and vice-president, Zeena Soares.

In all, nine teams participated.

Myron, James star for Salgaocar HERALD SPORTS DESK PANJIM, MAY 10

Salgaocar Sports Club Juniors clobbered Guirdolim Sports Club in the semi-finals of GFA’s U-16 football at Curtorim, Tuesday.

T h e s c o re w a s 1 - 0 a t t h e breather.

Myron Borges excelled scoring a hat-trick while James Fernandes netted a brace.

Salgaocar dominated from the start and enjoyed good ball control. They shot into the lead

when Myron scored in the 3rd minute off a cross from Bipin Mallick.

Changing ends, Myron doubled Salgaocar’s lead in the 50th minute off a solo effort.

A little later, James netted one after the other in the 55th and 58th minutes respectively beating Guirdolim’s keeper hands down.

Guirdolim got their consolation goal in the 75th minute when Salgaocar keeper Reyhan

Mujawar tried to save an aerial ball but collided with a Guirdolim striker and surprisingly the referee awarded Guirdolim with a penalty, which they converted through Ivon Pinto.

Myron rounded off the tally for Salgaocar just a few minutes later.

Klins Mendes played an excellent game feeding the strikers with good passes alongwith Constancio Rodrigues, who defended well for Salgaocar.

FIFA was rocked by new allegations of corruption on Tuesday as the former head of England's 2018 World Cup bid accused senior officials of demanding cash and honours in return for votes.

British lawmaker Damian Collins told a parliamentary committee members had received evidence FIFA vice-president Issa Hayatou from Cameroon and Jacques Anouma from the Ivory Coast received bribes to vote for Qatar's 2022 bid.

"The Sunday Times' submission, and this is to be published by us later, claims that 1.5 million dollars was paid to FIFA executive committee members Issa Hayatou and Jacques Anouma who went on to vote for Qatar," Collins said.

Collins said the submission claimed Qatar employed a fixer to arrange deals with African members for their votes.

In separate testimony, Lord David Triesman accused FIFA executive committee members of "improper and unethical" behaviour in the run-up to last December's vote in Zurich, which decided the hosts for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups.

Triesman highlighted incidents involving four FIFA officials which had given him cause for concern.

"These were some of the things that were put to me per-

said his side had suffered a momentary blackout when they conceded the two goals in just over a minute.

Juventus had looked to be coasting to the three points after veteran Alessandro Del Piero scored from the penalty spot in the 13th minute, after Gennaro Sardo had fouled Simone Pepe.

They doubled their lead 10 minutes into the second-half when Del Piero set up Alessandro Matri.

However, Chievo refused to surrender and scored twice in a minute to level the match and all but assure themselves of another season in the elite.

Vaz, Hede undergo fitness training HERALD SPORTS DESK PANJIM, MAY 10

Goa’s Donovan Vaz and Avdumber Hede participated in a Volkswagen Motorsports India intensive, three-day fitness camp in the picturesque hill station of Lonavala.

The drivers were taken through a number of sessions designed to provide them with the fitness tools to become wellrounded racing professionals.

The camp was based on an international fitness format that focused on all-round fitness development of drivers. It marked yet another milestone of the Volkswagen JK Tyre Polo Cup programme to aid drivers in their preparation for the season ahead.

The camp was conducted by professional trainers from ABS Fitness and Wellness Club, which included experts from nutrition management, kick-boxing, aerobics and power yoga.

Sessions on rock climbing, archery and recovery yoga were some of the added sessions this

HERALD SPORTS DESK PANJIM, MAY 10

HERALD SPORTS DESK PANJIM, MAY 10

AFP LONDON, MAY 10

Fatal blow for Juventus CL hopes

Wilred Leisure advance

Ramakant Parab, Sashikant Shetgaonkar and Prakash Bandekar alongwith the team at Ucassaim, Tuesday.

FIFA rocked by corruption allegations in UK

Wilred Leisure Sports Club, Curtorim overcame Clube Sao Minguel de Taleigao 3-2 in St Anthony’s Super soccer at Colva ground, Tuesday. Wilred Leisure led 2-0 at the break.

Wilred Leisure opened their scoring in the 5th minute when Sertorio Monteiro hit the target.

Minutes later, Sao Minguel could have equalised, but their forwards Ramiro Estrocio and Gautam Kankonkar wasted a good opportunity after clashing with each other.

Wilred Leisure doubled their lead through Peter Pereira’s curling free kick that left Sao Minguel’s keeper in a daze.

Changing ends, Sao Minguel netted two goals in quick succession in the 40th and 42nd minutes off Jesuvil D’Sousa and Dabhay Gawas.

Wilred Leisure netted the match-winner when Melwin Fernandes shot on target in the 58th minute.

Wilred Leisure’s Sertorio Monteiro was adjudged manof-the-match.

year. Throughout, the young drivers attended sessions on power yoga – to increase strength, mental focus and flexibility and aerobics – to correct their posture and increase concentration. Besides the importance of fitness in racing, the drivers were also briefed on sponsor management and data logging.

One of the drivers expressed, “Fitness is very important for any race driver. This is my first ever season and I am really grateful to Volkswagen for conducting this camp. I now know the correct techniques to prepare my body and mind for the Polo Cup India 2011. I really enjoyed the outdoor-training sess i o n s l i ke ro c k c l i m b i n g , rappelling, archery and especially the paint ball session.”

sonally, sometimes in the presence of others, which in my view did not represent proper and ethical behaviour on the part of members of the executive committee," Triesman said.

He revealed that Jack Warner, the influential head of the North and Central American federation CONCACAF, had demanded to be paid directly around £2.5 million (4m dollars) for construction of schools in Trinidad.

"He was concerned he had nothing he could regard as his legacy, he had in mind some kind of school of educational establishment," Triesman revealed.

Triesman, who had met Warner along with England 2018 deputy chairman Sir Dave Richards, said the request was rejected immediately.

"I said immediately the proposition was out of the question.

Sir Dave said 'You must be joking Jack. You're probably talking about £2.5 million.'

"Jack nodded at that. He said that the money could be channelled through him and he would guarantee the funds would be appropriately spent."

In a second incident involving Warner, Triesman revealed how the Trinidadian official had con-

tacted him following the devastating Haiti earthquake in Janu-

ary 2010 which claimed the lives of more than 300,000 people.

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2 DIV nd

GOA, WEDNESDAY, 11 MAY, 2011

Vasco pay heavily for missed chances Pg 14

SPORTS

Rodriguez treble boosts Liverpool’s Euro charge Pg 15

Contact us on: sports@herald-goa.com

www.oheraldo.in

Dada, Marsh star in Pune victory

A spectator touches the feet of Pune Warriors batsman Sourav Gunguly in a sign of respect after running onto the pitch at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Tuesday.

AFP HYDERABAD, MAY 10

Mitchell Marsh grabbed four wickets and Sourav Ganguly hit an unbeaten 32 on comeback as Pune Warriors beat Deccan Chargers by six wickets in the Indian Premier League on Tuesday.

Australian paceman Marsh, 19, finished with 4-25 as Pune restricted Deccan to 136-8 before achieving the target with 10 balls to spare for their fourth win in 11 matches of the Twenty20 tournament.

Former India captain Ganguly, who went unsold at the player auction before being signed up

by Pune as a replacement for injured seamer Ashish Nehra, looked impressive during his 32-ball knock, hitting one six and three fours.

Opener Manish Pandey topscored for Pune with 49, while New Zealander Jesse Ryder smashed a 20-ball 35 with the help of two sixes and five fours.

Both the teams are virtually out of contention for a place in the semi-finals, with Pune having

secured eight points and Deccan six.

Mumbai have already made sure of a place in the last four with 16 points. They are followed by Chennai (14), Kolkata (14), Bangalore (13), Rajasthan (11), Kochi (10), Pune (eight), Delhi (eight), Deccan (six) and Punjab (six).

Marsh, son of former Australian opener Geoff Marsh and younger brother of batsman Shaun, and left-arm spinner Yuvraj Singh were instrumental in restricting Deccan to a modest total.

Deccan made a strong start after electing to bat when Ravi Teja (30) and Shikhar Dhawan (24) put on 51 for the opening wicket before skipper Yuvraj struck with his fourth delivery.

The spinner broke the stand when he bowled Dhawan before finishing with 2-17 off four overs.

Marsh also got a wicket in his opening over when he bowled Teja before dismissing South African JP Duminy (30), Sunny Sohal and Amit Mishra in the space of five balls in his fourth and last over.

Deccan Chargers: S Dhawan c Ryder b Yuvraj 24, Ravi Teja b Marsh 30, K Sangakkara lbw b R Sharma 12, JP Duminy c Sharma b Marsh 30, D Christian lbw b Yuvraj 10, B Chipli not out 18, S Sohal c Uthappa b Marsh 0, Amit Mishra c Kumar b Marsh 0, D Steyn c Ferguson b Parnell 11, Ishant Sharma not out 0. Extras: 1. Total: 136 for 8. Fall of wickets: 51-1, 56-2, 76-3, 98-4, 119-5, 124-6, 124-7, 135-8. Bowling: B Kumar 3-0-24-0, S Wagh 1-0-8-0, W Parnell 4-0-38-1, R Sharma 4-0-24-1, Yuvraj Singh 4-0-17-2, M Marsh 4-0-25-4.

Pune Warriors: J Ryder b Ojha 35, M Pandey lbw b Mishra 49, S Ganguly not out 32, R Uthappa c Sangakkara b Christian 1, Yuvraj Singh b Christian 2, C Ferguson not out 15. Extras: 3. Total: 137 for 4. Fall of wickets: 551, 93-2, 96-3, 119-4. Bowling: D Steyn 4-0-30-0, Ishant Sharma 3-0-250, P Ojha 3-0-13-1, JP Duminy 2-0-22-0, D Christian 3-0-21-2, Amit Mishra 3.2-0-26-1. Man-of-the-match: M Marsh

Cheerleader thrown out for secret blogging AGENCIES DURBAN, MAY 10

An Indian Premier League cheerleader's secret blogging has led to her ouster from the tournament after her identity was revealed.

Gabriella Pasqualotto (22) from Pietermaritzburg, South Africa, was blogging about the fun behind the scenes in the IPL. She was among the 40 local cheerleaders who were sent to India for the cash rich Twenty20 cricket league.

Part of the Mumbai Indians' troupe, Gabriella was living the glitzy party life until her web presence cost her dear.

When she began the tour, she began to tweet comments about her experience. She was then approached by a website that asked her to blog for them.

But her colourful dream soon started to fade

as after only two of her published blog posts, there started to grow concerns in the Mumbai camp about invasion of players' privacy.

In one of her her blog posts, which she was forced to remove, she wrote: "…these cricketers are the most loose and mischievious I have come across. I have a long while still here, so I must remember my tip list: beware of the cricketers!”

Miffed at being sent back home, she told The Witness, "On Tuesday last week, I was sent home as if I was a criminal. I was treated as if I had taken drugs or done something awful, and I was never offered an opportunity to give my side of the story."

Gabriella, however, has found support from fellow tweeters who believe it was a mockery of justice and the cricketers should have been the one at the receiving end.

Rajasthan face a ‘Royal’ Gayle test

Today’s fixTure

Rajasthan Royals v.

Royal Challengers 8 p.m.

PTI JAIPUR, MAY 10

Their play-off hopes dented by two consecutive defeats, Rajasthan Royals need to do something special to tame a rampaging Chris Gayle as they prepare to clash with Royal Challengers Bangalore in their next IPL match here tomorrow.

Both the teams have consistently been in the reckoning for the play-offs but the scale of task is now enormous for Rajasthan, which lost to Chennai Super Kings last night.

Bangalore on the hand are on a roll, having registered five wins on the trot with Caribbean batsman Gayle playing a significant role in their success.

Gayle destroys the rival bowling attack with utter dis-

dain and leaves the opponents in disbelief with his power-hitting.

Rajasthan are already struggling and sorting out Gayle is the biggest challenge they face tomorrow.

But their bowlers conceded close to 200 runs on Monday against Chennai on the new pitch and the contempt with which Gayle is treating the bowlers this season, the host bowlers are in for another litmus test.

Skipper Shane Warne, who has earned plaudits for his onfield acumen, needs to take it on himself to stop Gayle from blowing them away because if the West Indies marauder manages to stay at the crease for about 10 overs, the contest could be reduced to a lop-sided affair.

Gayle tilted the last match against Kochi Tuskers Kerala in the favour of his side by smashing 37 runs in just one over and the predator would be looking to hunt badly bruised Ashok Menaria, Amit Singh and Siddharth Trivedi, who all bled runs against Chennai.

Not only Gayle but the other Bangalore batsmen such as Virat Kohli, AB de Villiers and Saurabh Tiwary are in good touch and are capable matchwinners on their own.

It will be interesting to see who replaces Tillakaratane Dilshan, who has left IPL to be with the Sri Lankan national team, in the opening slot.

BCCI clarifies on pitch row PTI NEW DELHI, MAY 10

Stung by Rajasthan Royals captain Shane Warne's scathing attack on changing the pitch for their home match, the BCCI today sought to put the lid on the controversy, saying selecting the playing surface was the prerogative of the curator and the teams have no choice on the matter.

A last-minute chance of track at the Sawai Man Singh stadium in Jaipur for Rajasthan match against Chennai triggered off a controversy with a livid Warne slamming the decision as ‘ridiculous’ and saying that host teams have the right to extract the best out of home conditions.

Warne expressed his displeasure at the post-match media conference yesterday, stating that never in these four years were they instructed on which surface to use. The Royals have always preferred a slowish track compared to the one that was selected by curator Venkat Sundaram.

The BCCI tried to douse the fire later in the day regarding the pitch change as fingers were being pointed at CSK which is owned N Srinivasan using their clout to influence the curator's decision.

IPL Chairman Chirayu Amin issued a release to say that it was the curator, in consultation with the BCCI's Ground and Pitches Committee, who decides the playing surface and there was nothing sinister about the change of pitch at Jaipur.

Punjab thrash Mumbai PTI MOHALI, MAY 10

Munaf Patel's five-wicket haul went in vain as table toppers Mumbai Indians produced a spineless batting display to slump to a humiliating 76run defeat at the hands of Kings XI Punjab in an Indian Premier League match here today.

Chasing a challenging 164run target, Mumbai lost wickets at regular intervals to be bowled out for just 87 runs in 12.5 overs at the Punjab Cricket Association ground.

Yo u n g l e f t - a r m s p i n n e r Bharghav Bhatt was the pick of the Kings XI bowlers, scalping four wickets for 22 runs while Praveen Kumar returned picked up two wickets for 19.

Mumbai's lacklustre batting

performance can be gauged from the fact that big-hitting Kieron Pollard was their topscorer with 17 runs followed by Aiden Blizzard (15).

Earlier, Munaf produced his first five-wicket haul of the tournament as Kings XI Punjab lost the plot after an impressive start to be eventually restricted to 163 for eight.

Sent into bat, Kings XI were coasting at 129 for two at one stage but lost as many as six wickets in a span of just 39 runs in the last five overs to see their innings go haywire from a comfortable position.

Munaf was the wrecker in chief for Mumbai, picking up five wickets for just 21 runs while tournament's highest wicket-taker Lasith Malinga

Kings XI Punjab: P Valthaty c Blizzard b Patel 14, A Gilchrist c Rayudu b Malinga 28, S Marsh c Pollard b Patel 43, D Karthik c Blizzard b Patel 31, D Hussey c Blizzard b Patel 0, M Singh run out (Malinga) 8, B Sharma not out 6, R Harris c Pollard b Patel 6, P Kumar b Malinga 2, S Srivastava not out 3. Extras: 22. Total: 163 for 8. Fall of wickets: 22-1, 92-2, 128-3, 129-4, 145-5, 148-6, 155-7, 157-8. Bowling: Harbhajan 3-0-20-0, L Malinga 4-0-24-2, M Patel 4-0-21-5, D Kulkarni 2-0-25-0, R Sharma 2-0-24-0, T Suman 3-023-0, K Pollard 2-0-11-0.

Mumbai Indians: A Blizzard c Gilchrist b Kumar 15, S Tendulkar c Marsh b Kumar 6, R Sharma st Gilchrist b Sharma 5, A Symonds run out (M Singh) 8, A Rayudu c Sharma b Srivastava 13, T Suman c Kumar b Harris 4, K Pollard c Marsh b Bhatt 17, Harbhajan Singh b Bhatt 12, D Kulkarni c and b Bhatt 2, L Malinga not out 0, M Patel lbw b Bhatt 0. Extras: 5. Total: 87 all out. Fall of wickets: 19-1, 22-2, 22-3, 384, 48-5, 49-6, 63-7, 81-8, 81-9, 81-10. Bowling: P Kumar 4-1-19-2, B Bhatt 2.5-022-4, B Sharma 2-0-15-1, R Harris 2-0-13-1, S Srivastava 2-0-17-1.

Man-of-the-match: Bhargav Bhatt.

gave him the perfect support from the other end w i t h f i g u re s o f two for 24.

Shaun Marsh top-scored for Kings XI with a 34ball 43 while Dinesh Karthik (31 off 24), captain Adam Gilchrist (28) and Paul Valthaty (14) all got starts before fading out.

The win not only took Kings XI up to the ninth position in the standings with eight p o i n t s f ro m 1 0 games, but also kept alive their hopes of making it to the play-offs.

Despite the defeat, Mumbai continue to lead the table with 16 p o i n t s f ro m 1 1 matches.

Kings XI Punjab's Bhargav Bhatt jumps to celebrate victory at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali on Tuesday.

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Wednesday, 11 May 2011

‘MY GOA’:

‘One more Milestone for My Media House’

Lhan sovnsar ho thoddixi vatt - Anonymous

To win you have to risk loss - Jean-Claude Killy

Remarks Harshvardhan Bhatkuly as he has just launched ‘My Goa’, a monthly magazine that is solely dedicated to Goa’s current social issues, culture, traditions, and much more that is Goan.

In a heart-to-heart with Herald, he proudly chats about the new milestone for his media house

BY CHRISTINA VIEGAS HERALD FEATURES hink Goa and the images that your mind’s eye conjures up, is exquisite. From its friendly people to tangy food to lilting music to colourful dances to the fervent fury of sport to its communal harmony to its Feni, the state has its exclusive appeal and wholesomeness. It is no wonder then that Harshvardhan Bhatkuly and his team got so stirred by this pearly paradise that he decided to launch a brand new magazine, ‘My Goa’. This is the second magazine after his first one, ‘Business Goa’ which he launched a couple of years ago.

So, one more lifestyle magazine? Harsh promptly corrects me, “Not lifestyle. But a magazine on life.”

Now that sure makes a whale lot of difference.

He elucidates, “When we say lifestyle, we narrow down the scope. My magazine will be comprehensive on every aspect of this beautiful multicultural and multifaceted state. It is surely the first of its kind.”

But inform Harsh that at the launch party of his magazine, people were once again exclaiming, “Oh! One more magazine, so again stories on the same old side of Goa – beaches, religious structures, food at the shacks and star hotels.”

The gentleman calmly agrees, “They are right as they have only been getting magazines with a side of Goa that has been constantly written about, or just one set of people who have been featured. But this magazine will surely be different. There are so many stories yet to be brought out. Goa needs to be vastly written about; there are just too many interesting “Heartbeat absolutely it, I don’t feel comfortable. If you see the stories in ‘Business aspects to this state. And all the more because presently, Goa’, we have always run stories on merit even if it means sums up everything about we are in a situation where the Goan identity is being challenged. writing on something that an advertiser does. At the end, We need proper documentation of our culture and other life. In one word, it says credibility is of vital importance. That is how you gain the social issues. We really need to preserve our culture at least it all. And my magazine readers’ faith. And believe me, the advertisers will advertise on paper as we don’t how what kind of changes will happen in your publication only because you are good and they is all about life” in the near future.” see commercial value and can captialise, despite whatever Laughing, he enlightens, “In fact, when ‘Business Goa’ was else they say. I have been in advertising and know all launched, people’s question was even bigger, ‘What business is there in Goa?’. about it.”

Yet, our magazine brought out so much on the business side of Goa; not just big And does he have a rocking team who has the sizzling passion to drop names but even small entrepreneurs who had inspiriting stories. Similarly, with everything and run after a story that stirs the journalistic senses? A team ‘My Goa’, we will bring out much more than others have done so far.” who will travel to the interiors of the state to extract some real interesting Harsh is confident that he can give the readers a lot more than what stories, waiting to be told? He answers in the affirmative, “Yes, they are they have been getting and he is happy with his team. He says, “When we young and enthusiastic and they work hard with the guidance started ‘Business Goa’, we were only concentrating on bringing out a mag- of media veterans. Besides, I have Rajiv D’ Silva, Ralph azine, that’s it. We didn’t plan for anything further. But with the success of de Souza and Swapnil Kamat on my editorial board” ‘Business Goa’ and the feedback and expectations we received from people, Now I get to the question that has stirred me: I quiz we definitely wanted to establish ourselves as a serious media house. And him on the catchline for his magazine – ‘Feel the Heartlaunching ‘My Goa’ is to stamp that seriousness.” beat of Goa’. It was a challenge to convince my manExcitedly, Harsh informs, “I have been a great admirer of Mario Miranda. agement of the name ‘Goa’s Heartbeat’ and make them I believe his life and his works have been a huge contribution to Goa and understand that the word ‘heartbeat’ summed up everyhe is one man who has taken Goa to the world. And that is why, I had him thing about life and was not just a romantic or mushy on my very first issue.” connotation. So, how did an intellectual like Harsh come Today’s publishing line operates by the famous tenet: sponsorship/ad- up with something of the heart? He enlightens, “You are vertising-cum-stories. How is Harsh going to handle this? How difficult is right, ‘heartbeat’ absolutely sums up everything about life. In it going to be to walk that fine line in not succumbing to potential one word, it says it all. And my magazine is all about life.” advertisers? Exuding confidence, Harsh replies, “I have nothing to say On a concluding note, he excitedly enthuses, “Readers can against publications who run paid stories as some advertisers prefer paying expect real good stories. My ongoing and eventual goal is to for a story than to run an advertisement. But for me personally, I don’t do make every issue of ‘My Goa’, a collector’s item.”

T

Beyond the fame and the talent, tiatrist Gemma Fernandes is a soft-spoken teen who wouldn’t hurt a fly. On-stage, armed with a script, she transforms into a theatrical dynamo. In an attempt to better her acting talent, she will join a leading performing arts school in the UK. Herald catches up with the young girl

BY NOMRATHA FERNANDES HERALD FEATURES emma Fernandes, the wide-eyed child tiatrist is excited.

She is currently in London, awaiting classes at a leading performing arts school. Her plan: take in all I can, her goal: return to Goa and teach what I have learnt. She will professionally study acting through a five year course. With this endeavour, she has not only attempted to better herself, but also made her father, Mario Fernandes a proud man.

Her father, a pillar of strength behind her many achievements, onstage and off is a rebel in his thinking. From the English city of Leicester where the family was previously living, he moved with his family to Divar, and against the approval of the villagers, admitted his children in the Divar High School. “This is where I learnt Konkani and first came across what I then thought was weird, tiatr,” says Gemma with a smile, adding, “Succour de Santa Cruz, my science teacher, noticed my delivery in a school performance and decided to assist me with it.” What was to follow was a monologue performance on TV, where the barely 10 Gemma was a bhajiwali and a buyer. Her excellent acting and crisp vocal delivery excited the people of Divar, where she was a little star. In its many screenings, scriptwriter Alfred Fernandes found the little girl who would play the best friend of the daughter in his production, Pakkam. This was Gemma’s big break. It was a shift from a behind-the-camera

G

F

Photo by Siddesh Mayenkar

Acting High Dreaming Big

Recreating Red Fort’s History without Knowing knowing about it

or over 60 artisans employed by the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) to restore the monuments inside the Red Fort in the national capital to their original form, history is just a source of their livelihood.

“We don’t know much about Delhi, then how can we know about the history of this fort?” wondered Kashiram, an artisan from Agra who is in Delhi for the job along with his group of eight workers.

In his 50s now, Kashiram has worked at many Mughal and British era monuments in Agra after learning the techniques in Jaipur in Rajasthan since 1988. All these years of being in close contact with the past have not enhanced his sense of history. But it has been the only source of livelihood for him and his family.

“We get Rs300 for a day and this helps me support my family,” said Kashiram, adding that all the others in his group, including two 20-year-olds, have learnt the art from him.

Other workers at different sites inside the Red Fort too admitted that they were unaware about the aura of history that this fort still reflects in its own silent ways.

It was in 1639 when architects Hamid and Ahmed started the construction of the Red Fort following an order from Emperor Shah Jehan, history says. It has since then witnessed the rise and fall of many emperors, earthquakes, attacks by foreign invaders and cruelties. Also, over the centuries, many structures inside the fort have changed substantially. For instance, Naubat Khana (Musical House), which lies east of the Chhata Chowk inside

the fort, was white in its original appearance but later faded and was painted pink during the British era. “Originally it was white which was plastered into pink during the British period,” said K K Mohammed, a superintendent at the ASI. “The plasters on the wall disappeared causing water seepage. It was making the monument weak. Now we are removing the old pulverised plasters and putting a new layer of lamp plaster which was used originally by the Mughals,” added Mohammed.

But, even though unaware about the history, many artisans explained in detail about the kind of materials that were used originally. “This is how it was done during the time of Badshah,” said Ashok Kumar, pointing towards the bucket full of lamp plaster while with his deft hand he kept making the walls of the now pink Naubat Khana white.

“It is prepared by mixing many substances like lime, gum water, belpatra and marble dust,” he said.

After years of legal hiccups, the ASI embarked on the plan to give the 17th century monument a makeover this year. “We will repair all the Mughalera structures and colonial-era barracks to their originality so that museums inside the fort can be shifted to these barracks,” said Mohammed.

Also, intrinsic Mughal inlay works in the two Sawan Bhadon pavilions will be recreated with the help of specially trained craftsmen, he added.

(Courtesy: IANS)

Ready for a Splash!

A 10-yearold Gemma doing a monologue of both buying and selling of bhaji on television (left)

setting to a large stage. “I was anxious. Alfred is a big man.

I had seen him performing in tiatrs in the village,” she recalls.

She went on to bond well with the man who helped her immensely during these formative days. Then came opening night. “I was all dressed up, nervous and felt feverish. It was a full house and my first time,” she says. But it all went well and she was satisfied with her first big performance. The people loved her too. Gemma Fernandes had entered the tiatr circle. She went on to act in his next production, Pissollem, which won her awards at tiatr competitions.

Her next role was that of a child with brain cancer in the Britona Dramatic Academy’s production Chuddet. Her experiences here too moulded her acting and taught her more about the tiatr world. “I acted and sang in all seven podde and had to study forty pages in ten days,” she says. A key mentor was noted director-actor Shirish Naik. His casual, genial interactions with Gemma was the fuel that ran her engine, the speed being her own passion, determination and will to better her performance. “Every role has to be researched well, from the personality right down to the clothes,” she says. Free time sees her playing dress-up at home, getting into character; watching people in her neighbourhood who relate to her role, enunciating in front of the mirror. Her father believes that this is what puts a gold star on her performances.

Options for learning acting in the state are restricted to the

Photo by Siddesh Mayenkar

A little boy all set to take a dip in the cool salty waters of one of Goa’s numerous beaches Kala Academy. But it has age restrictions keeping away the 17 year old Gemma. As fortunate as she is for getting into the UK school, other Goan talent that is willing, raw and fresh have no way to turn to. Having won awards in all the four tiatr competitions in the state, the first Children’s Tiatr Festival, Popular Tiatr Festival, the Tiatr Festival organised at the Kala Academy and the Vandana Production Festival, Gemma advises Goa’s upcoming tiatrists to experience acting at the village level before anything. She goes on to very importantly stress on the parents and teachers role in the creation of the new generation of tiatrists. “Do not restrict your children. Be the support system to their dreams. Schools should have visiting tiatrists who will be able to spot and further train child talent,” she says.

Rogtan na goes a Konkani saying meaning, if it is not in ones blood, one cannot excel in a specific field. Gemma, then dreamer, now achiever, has proved it wrong.

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info ‘nf’un zone

Wednesday, 11 May 2011

WHAT’S UP IN GOA??

‘Right to Information (RTI)’, will be the topic of the workshop organised by Asha Family Responsibilities and Rights Association in collaboration with Lions Club of Aldona, to beheld on May 15 from 4.30pm onwards at Aldona Parish Centre Hall, Aldona. E-mail trustasha@yahoo.co.in.

Call 9822166876.

The Summer Shopathon will be held on May 12 from 10am to 8pm at The Mapusa Residency Hotel, Mapusa. Call 9822160275.

‘Pogo Mad’ and ‘Smart Potato’, live summer workshop for kids will be held from May 9 to 29 at Kids.Com Playgroup and Counselling, Vagator-Anjuna. Call 9923393844 or 9158528453.

Film-Making workshop with Oscar nominated director Ashwin Kumar, organised by Art Chamber will be held in July at the Art Chamber, Calangute. Registration is open. E-mail artchamber @gmail.com. Call 9823217435.

‘People’s Preparedness and Participation in Disaster Management in Goa’ is the topic of this fortnightly Friday Balcao session, to be held on May 13 from 4pm to 6pm at the Goa Desc Resource Centre, No11 Liberty Apartments Feira Alta, Mapusa.

E-mail goadesc@gmail.com.

‘Art is all around us’, an art and craft workshop will be held from May 23 to May 28 May at Chinchinim.

Registration closes on May 19. Call 9766374445 or 9860082466.

Collector’s Day will be celebrated by the Museum Of Christian Art on May 15 at the Museum. It will allow collector’s to showcase their collections. Registration closes on May 10.

E-mail museumofchristianart@gmail.com. Call 2285299.

Sons of Babur, the first play written by Union Cabinet Minister Salman Khurshid and directed by Tom Alter will be staged on May 12

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email us at: goasheartbeat@herald-goa.com

HOROSCOPE at the Kala Academy, Campal-Panjim. Call 2420452.

Free public sessions on rhythmic breathing, organised by the Rhythmic Breathing Club, Goa will be held in the month of May. Registration is open. E-mail veebee200303@yahoo.co.in. Call 9422443421.

Dance classes, organised by Dr Martin and Dance Illusions will be conducting dance classes in Margao, Vasco and Panjim on May 12, 13 and 14, respectively. Call 9823014397.

Free Summer Special animation classes, organised by Arena Animations will be held during the course of May at MGM Animations Academy, Panjim. It will cover creative art and sketching and computer fundamentals. Registration is open. E-mail mgmanimations@gmail.com. Call 2225153, 9823013484, 9 8 2 3 6 11 8 2 4 , 9 4 2 3 8 8 5 2 2 4 o r 7709425857.

Yoga sessions, organised by the International Centre Goa, Dona Paula will be held every Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday beginning from May 3. There will be two batches. Batch I will take place from 6am to 7am and batch II from 6pm to 7pm. E-mail prog@incentgoa.com. Call 9766015762 or 2451363, 9765404391 or 2452805-10.

The image of the 7th century saint, Saint Dymphna, patroness of mental health, epilepsy, sleepwalking, incest victims, etc will be kept open to the public on the feast day which is May 15 from 8.30am to 11.30pm at the house of Lida Joao, Bainfol, Assolna. Call 2773333.

‘Suvadik Konkani Git’ a Konkani musical programme produced and directed

by Tomazinho Cardozo will be staged on May 13. It will begin at 7pm.

Know Thy King, a 12-hour journey through some of Goa’s best King Cobra habitats, organised by Herpactive will be held on May 22. E-mail ophidian_nirmal@yahoo.co. Call 9822586918.

Whenever you have free time today, use it to get recon21 Mar - 19 Apr n e c t e d w i t h someone you miss. You've got too much to handle right now -- which is weird for you! If you can delegate, now is the time to pass along some of the detail work to someone you can trust. If not, get busy!

Taurus There's no use in pointing fingers today. Take control and get 20 Apr - 20 May things back on track. Expect good times today, even if you're cleaning gutters or doing other drudge work. Somehow, that good energy can't stay away from you, so you should have a smile on your face everywhere you go.

Climb this latest Gemini mountain you are facing. Do not let its height intimidate you!

21 May - 20 Jun Yo u n e e d t o heed the advice that comes your way today, as crazy as it might sound at first. If nothing seems advice-like, that just means you're not looking hard enough -- so seek it out!

Things are getting much easier for you -- now that you have proven yourself.

22 Jun - 23 Jul The smallest things bring you the greatest pleasure today -- and you should find that it's easier than ever to make facts, figures and dates all add up right. See if you can get your friends to join in the fun.

If you want the new plans you are making to succeed, you need to collab24 Jul - 23 Aug orate. Chug along today on autopilot -- it might not be an adventure, but it is sure to get you through the somewhat boring tasks that are expected of you. Impulsiveness does not pay off -- yet!

Remember -energy spent looking on the bright side of 23 Aug - 22 Sep things is never w a s t e d . Yo u feel like you're on top of the world -- maybe because you are! Your amazing energy helps you move through the day at maximum efficiency, and you might find that someone close needs a savior.

Like a wild horse, you will not be receptive to being reined 23 Sept - 22 Oct in or managed today. You need to listen carefully today -- so it's a good thing that comes naturally! You catch the nuance that others miss, and you should find that your insights are even more penetrating than usual.

Scorpio Improving your home environment is on your mind -- follow 23 Oct - 22 Nov that urge to redecorate.

You've got to spend some time with your friends today -- even if it's just online. Your social energy needs a tweak that only someone you know well can provide. Once it's ready, you're off on adventures again!

Sagittarius You are in one

Capricorn The hands-off method is the right approach to take, so try 22 Dec - 20 Jan to be patient!

Yo u l e a r n something new today that, while not exactly blowing your mind, does make a few things much more clear. You may have a smoother love life, or a new career option you hadn't considered before.

Aquarius If you feel a bit overwhelmed today, do not let it show. Your 21 Jan - 19 Feb b r a v a d o w i l l help you. Watch out for other people today -they may not have your best interests at heart. It's a good time for you to just fall back on the few people you know you can trust and leave bigger business for another time.

Take a walk and enjoy the foliage. You can go back to the 20 Feb - 20 Mar modern world tomorrow. You are being too hard on yourself -- and possibly on others, as well! See if you can give your people the props they deserve, and maybe you'll end up going easier on yourself as well.

Aries

Libra

of the biggest transitional periods of your life 23 Nov - 20 Dec - let it unfold.

You should try harder to cover every last detail in your work today -- otherwise, you might very well have to go back over it all and spend even more time correcting it.

The small stuff counts!

Cancer

Leo

Virgo

Pisces

DID YOU KNOW? What is a dimple?

kin Pronunciation kin Function Noun Meaning 1: a person’s relatives collectively; kinfolk 2: a group of persons descended from a common ancestor, etc Example Sentence The Andersons just waited for a reason, however small, to gather the entire kin together and have a grand family party.

LAFFS

Dimples are visible indentations of the skin, caused by underlying flesh that form on some people’s cheeks, especially when they smile. They are usually found on both cheeks. Dimples may appear and disappear over an extended period. They may be genetically inherited and have been called a simple dominant trait, but there is no scientific evidence for this. Dimples may be caused by variations in the structure of the facial muscle known as zygomaticus major.

Specifically, the presence of a double or bifid zygomaticus major muscle may explain the formation of cheek dimples. This bifid variation of the muscle originates as a single structure from the zygomatic bone.

As it travels anteriorly, it then divides with a superior bundle that inserts in the typical position above the corner of the mouth. An inferior bundle inserts below the corner of the mouth.

WIZARD OF ID

Funny Quote

“A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of.”

– Ogden Nash

DAILY GROOK CHASED WASTE

by Francis Rodrigues those knights of old did make great haste, to them virgins bold hoping to be chaste!

GARFIELD

MIND BENDERS

SUN MOON TIDES

Tongue Twister Wednesday 33° C | 25° C Dawn 05:45

Partly Cloudy

Sunrise 06:08

Moon rise 12:59 High 04:05

Low 10:05

There was a minimum of cinnamon in the aluminium pan

Sunset Dark 18:56 19:18

17:45 Aag 21:00 Sapoot Nine The Mexican Spider-Man 3 The Incredibles White Chicks Night at the Museum 2 Bride Wars

10:00 12:30 14:30 16:15

Se7en Species Species II Scooby-Doo! The Mystery Begins 18:00 Robin Hood 21:00 The Taking of Pelham 23:15 Spanglish

What kind of coat can be put on only when wet?

High —

D Tide timings are for Mormugao Harbour. For Panjim/Calangute add 20 mins. For Colva add 30 mins

08:45 11:05 13:35 16:20 18:45 21:00 23:10

Riddle Me This

Moon set 00:55

TIDES High Low 17:10 23:43

09:00 12:00 12:30 16:00 20:00

Sangdil Sanam Skystar Patthar Aur Payal Sau Din Saas Ke Main Hoon Rakhwala

09:45 11:55 13:45 14:05

Pretty Persuasion The Replacement Killers Basic Instinct Once Upon a Time in Mexico

Last ‘Riddle Me This’ Answer: They know all the short cuts

18:20 The Hurt Locker 21:00 The Messenger 23:30 El Mariachi

10:30 14:00 15:00 19:00 20:00 23:30

08:00 12:00 16:00 20:00

10:55 Naya Ajooba 13:20 Baadshah

Main Hoon Vinashak IPL 4 H/ls Jamai Raja IPL 4 Extraaa Innings Indian Premier League 4 IPL 4 Extraaa Innings

Saagar Chori Chori Chupke Chupke Aatish: Feel the Fire Dhol

13:00 13:30 14:00 14:30 15:00 15:30 16:00 16:30 18:00 18:30 19:00 19:30 20:00 20:30 21:00 21:30 22:00 22:30

12:00 12:30 13:00 13:22 13:44 14:06

Mrs. Tendulkar Papad Pol Duniya Taarak Mehta Ka Oolta Sajan Re Jhoot Mat Bolo Lapataganj FIR Ring Wrong Ring Taarak Mehta Ka Oolta Mrs. Tendulkar Gutar Gu Sajan Re Jhoot Mat Bolo Ring Wrong Ring Papad Pol Taarak Mehta Ka Oolta Sajan Re Jhoot Mat Bolo Mrs. Tendulkar Lapataganj FIR

Pyaar Kii Ye Ek Kahaani Dhoond Legi Manzil Humein Yeh Ishq Haaye!!

Pyaar Kii Ye Ek Kahaani Dhoond Legi Manzil Humein Geet

IDIOT BOX 11:30 12:00 12:30 13:00 13:30 14:00 14:30 15:00 15:30 16:00 16:30 17:15 18:00 18:30 19:00 19:45 20:30 21:00 21:30 22:00 22:30 23:00

Maayke Se Bandhi Dor Gulaal Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai Tere Mere Sapne Hamari Devrani Sapno Se Bhare Naina Chaand Chupa Badal Mein Navya Maayke Se Bandhi Dor Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai Sasural Genda Phool Saath Nibhana Saathiya Mann Kee Awaaz Pratigya Navya Saath Nibhana Saathiya Sasural Genda Phool Maayke Se Bandhi Dor Gulaal Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai Navya Mann Kee Awaaz Pratigya Maryaada ... Lekin Kab Tak?

11:00 12:00 13:00 13:30 14:00 14:30 17:00 20:00 20:30 21:00 22:00 22:30 23:00

Surya Adaalat Chhajje Chhajje Ka Pyaar Krishnaben Khakhrawala Saas Bina Sasural C.I.D C.I.D Classics Krishnaben Khakhrawala Chhajje Chhajje Ka Pyaar Surya: The Super Cop Saas Bina Sasural Kismat CID Super Cases

12:00 Chhoti Si Zindagi 12:30 Yahan Main Ghar Ghar Kheli 13:00 Choti Bahu

SUDOKU 855

13:30 14:00 14:30 15:00 15:30 16:00 17:30 18:00 18:30 19:00 19:30 20:00 20:30 21:00 21:30 22:00

Pavitra Rishta Sanskaar Laxmi Chhoti Si Zindagi Preet Se Bandhi Yeh Dori...

Sanjog Se Bani Sangini Shabaash India Pavitra Rishta Bhagonwali Apno ke liye Geeta ka Chhoti Si Zindagi Choti Bahu Jhansi Ki Rani Yahan Main Ghar Ghar Kheli Pavitra Rishta Preet Se Bandhi Yeh Dori...

Sanjog Se Bani Sangini

12:00 Lapataganj 12:30 Taarak Mehta Ka Oolta

14:28 15:00 15:30 16:00 16:30 17:00 17:30 18:00 18:30 19:00 19:30 20:00 20:30 21:00 21:30 22:00 22:30

Rang Badalti Odhni Dhoond Legi Manzil Humein Rang Badalti Odhni Pyaar Kii Ye Ek Kahaani Yeh Ishq Haaye!!

Dhoond Legi Manzil Humein Geet Yeh Ishq Haaye!!

Pyaar Kii Ye Ek Kahaani Rang Badalti Odhni Geet Yeh Ishq Haaye!!

Pyaar Kii Ye Ek Kahaani Dhoond Legi Manzil Humein Geet Rang Badalti Odhni Pyaar Kii Ye Ek Kahaani

11:25 12:20 13:15 14:10

Wipeout Top 20 Countdown Leverage Criss Angel Mindfreak

15:05 16:00 16:55 17:50 18:50 19:55 21:00 21:55

Fear Factor The Amazing Race Sports Crash Criss Angel Mindfreak Fear Factor Most Daring Caught on Camera Guinness World Records New Zealand 22:50 Supernatural 23:50 Fear Factor

11:30 12:00 13:00 13:30 14:00 15:00 16:00 16:30 17:00 18:00 19:00 19:30 20:00 20:30 21:00 22:00

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12:00 13:25 15:25 17:30 18:00 18:30 19:00 20:30 21:00 21:30 22:00

The Simpsons Dexter The Bold and The Beautiful Friends Las Vegas Detroit 187 Community Family Guy Dexter Las Vegas Community Family Guy How I Met Your Mother The Simpsons Las Vegas Dexter

22:30 Internazionali Bnl D'italia

11:30 World 10-Ball C’ship 2011 16:30 Uda National Dance Team Championships 17:00 Premier League Highlights 18:00 Winter X Games 14 Classix 19:00 Goals!

19:30 Global Football 20:00 Sportscenter India 20:30 Sportscenter Asia 21:00 Bpl Express : Manchester City vs. Tottenham Hotspur 22:00 Sportscenter India 22:30 Sportscenter Asia 11:00 11:30 12:30 15:30

FIFA: Futbol Mundial WWE: Bottom Line WWE: Extreme Rules ATP 1000 Masters 2011 : Internazionali BNL d'Italia: Round 2 21:30 Mobil 1 The Grid 22:00 WWE: Bottom Line 23:00 ATP 1000 Masters 2011 : Internazionali BNL d'Italia: Round 2

Star Cricket 07:00 Crocs on Rocks 07:30 ClubSeries 2005 - Tri 09:30Kids Natwest SeriesEnglish Match H/ls : England vs.

08:00 News Bheem vs Aliens Bangladesh 09:00 Quermesse Santa Cruz Chhota Bheem Marathon 10:00 English News Pokemon 11:00 Biz Quiz 11:00Wiz Natwest Tri-Series 2001 : M.A.D 11:30 Tinyvs.

Tots England Australia Chhota Bheem 12:00 Flavours Lohe Ka Wars 12:30 Escapade 12:00Grape Cricket Extra Gadbad Gadbad 13:00 English News Thomas & Friends 14:00 12:30Rthymic 2006 SriBreathing Lanka Tour of Eng14:30 Indradhanush land ODI H/ls 15:00 Art of Living 15:30 on Series Rocks 2005 - Tri 14:00Crocs Natwest 16:00 News SeriesEnglish Match H/ls : England vs.

Internazionali Bnl D'italia 17:00 Wiz Biz Quiz Australia Barclays Premier League 17:30 Kids Club AFC Champions League 18:00 News 15:28English LV County Championships Golf Focus 2011 19:00 Care for : DayPilar 2: Sussex vs. Mother Notting-Earth Sea Master Sailing 2011 19:30 Grape Escapade hamshire Barcelona World Race 2011 20:00 English News Internazionali Bnl D'italia 21:00 Cruz 22:30Quermesse India's BestSanta with Sunil Nations of Champions 22:00 English News Gavaskar Score Tonight 23:00 Crocs on Rocks Nike Football Locker Room 23:30 Wiz Biz Quiz 23:00 Inside Cricket 2011 Ace 2011 Note: Subject to change

Instructions for Sudoku 9 x 9 letter: To solve a Sudoku puzzle, every number from 1 to 9 must appear in each of the nine vertical columns, in each of the nine horizontal rows and in each of the nine boxes

SUDOKU SOL 854

HERALD CROSSWORD - 855 Across 1- ___ breve; 5- T.G.I.F. part; 8Complacent; 12- Geezer; 13Stage play; 15- Hindu princess; 16- I smell ___!; 17- Division of the United Kingdom; 18- Indigo; 19- Suggestive; 22- Letters on a Cardinal's cap; 23- Flee; 24- Biblical birthright seller; 26- Cedes; 29- Examines searchingly; 31Bear lair; 32- South American ruminant; 34- Old Nick; 36- 3:00; 38- Born before, senior churchman; 40- Ballet skirt; 41- Savory jelly; 43- Japanese beer brand; 45- Ball girl; 46- Foursome; 48Don't bother; 50- Moderately cold; 51- East Lansing sch.; 52After taxes; 54- Confirming; 6116th letter of the Hebrew alphabet; 63- Japanese poem; 64Egg; 65- Camaro model; 66- Declares; 67- Diving position; 68- Carson's successor; 69Bambi's aunt; 70- Mideast gulf; Down 1- Rent-___; 2- Knowledge; 3- Rich soil; 4Clothing; 5- Some nest eggs; 6- Apply powder to oneself; 7- Hook's helper; 8- Madrid Mrs.; 9Gentleness; 10- Single entity; 11- Fish feature; 13- Diminish; 14- "Lou Grant" star; 20- Invalid; 21- General ___ chicken; 25- Blind as ___; 26Brewer's need; 27- Official examination; 28Cobb, e.g.; 29- Song of joy; 30- Satisfied; 31Narc's org.; 33- Rx writers; 35- Essence; 37Bandleader Puente; 39- Equilateral parallelogram; 42- Gator's cousin; 44- Not ___ many words; 47- Hawaiian greeting; 49- Moon of Jupiter; 52- Arrest; 53- Bronte heroine; 55Pan's opposite; 56- Nothing, in Nantes; 57Gumbo pod; 58- Ardent; 59- Dangerous

weapon; 60- Revenuers, for short; 62- Cpl., for one;

SOLUTION - 854

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A Chance to know more about the King Cobra

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In a similar vein, a workshop titled ’Beyond Snake Wrangling’ was recently held for people who wanted to go a step ahead with their knowledge about snakes, more than just taking pictures or even handling these creatures. The overnight event was held at the Mhadei Research Centre located in the Chorla Ghats region of the Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuar y and was conducted by Kulkarni.

The participants were i n t ro d u c e d t o a d vanced snake study and field techniques, snake bite protocol and first aid, the various equipment and tools, basic taxonomy for snake identification and legal and ethical aspects of snake handling.

Parenting

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Collector’s Day to be observed at Museum of Christian Art

Wednesday, 11 May 2011

HERALD FEATURES he king cobra is one of the most poisonous snakes in the world and hence a much feared species. But very few people know some of the characteristics of this flagship species of the Western Ghats that can grow to an average of 14 feet, feeds on other snakes and also is one of the only snakes that builds its nest for laying and hatching its eggs. To make people more aware and spread such valuable information of this majestic serpent, herpetologist Nirmal Kulkarni and his team are organising a programme titled Know thy King on May 22, 2011.

The one-day excursion which will leave from Panjim at 7am will take the participants through some of Goa’s best King Cobra habitats, meet snake rescuers who have rescued these snakes and interact with field researchers and forest staff whose field work on King Cobras has helped document baseline data in the state of Goa. Participants will also get to use field equipment, learn basic observation skills and work alongside qualified herpetologists in the field. Field identification of other herpetofauna, photography tips and discussion of natural history will also be a part of the programme.

Participant will need to carry along fast drying earth coloured field clothes, good walking shoes fit for any terrain, rainwear, field note pad and pen/pencil, personal medical kit if any, back pack for field, water bottle for field, personal identification papers, and camera.

Tourism

HERALD FEATURES ollector’s Day is being observed on May 15, 2011.

On this occasion, the Museum of Christian Art, Old Goa will be having unique collections on display. These include collection on ceramic landscapes, religious icons, religious articles, bronze articles, currency notes, coins, sea shells, matchboxes and much more.

The event will also be a great opportunity of professional art collectors as well as people interested in collecting to meet and interact with collectors Daniel D’Souza, Dan Driscoll, Ana Maria Goswami, Karishma Alvares, Greema Raikar, Earl Lourenco and Mia Lourenco.

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Goa-centric Magazine launched in the City HERALD FEATURES y Goa’, a social magazine comprising articles spanning a variety of genres and topics was recently launched at a city hotel. Its launching saw a culmination of top personalities from the field of industry, media, photography and fashion. Officially launching the magazine was Shrinivas Dempo, who was visibly excited while giving his speech post-launch.

Also visibly excited were the media team that brought the magazine together while their editor, Harshvardhan Bhatkuly, along with his quizzing buddy, architect Rajiv D’Silva looked sharp in suits, as they welcomed their guests.

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Snehal Bhandare and Gaurpriya Pai Kane

Swapnil Kamat

Harshvardhan Bhatkuly and Rajiv D’Silva Odette and Joe Mascarenhas

Ceazar Menezes

Shrinivas Dempo

Tallulah D’Silva

Photos by Siddesh Mayenker

Manoj Caculo

Sonia Sirsat

Harshvardhan Bhatkuly and his wife Urvija

Nitin Kuncolienkar

Vaishali Joshi

My Goa’s media team: (l to r) Virali Govekar, Niket Talaulikar, Nivedita Prabhu, Diana Fernandes and Cassandra D’Roza

Sharad Sardesai

Assarvi Kulkarni

Dalgado Day celebrated with Cultural Fervour HERALD FEATURES n a fitting tribute to Monsenhor Sebastiao Rudolfo Dalgado on his birth anniversary, Dalgado Konknni Akademi (DKA) celebrated Dalgado Day on May 8, 2011 by organising various programmes throughout the day.

After the inaugural session, a workshop on Research was conducted by Dr Rafael Fernandes, an Associate Professor of Goa University who has also done PhD on Tiatr. Dr Fernandes spoke on the vital aspects of Research, and told the participants that there are numerous topics in Konknni for research work, but the of utmost importance is the desire to do such work in a prescribed time. The workshop was attended by around 25 writers of Konknni in Romi script, most of them were youth. As Dalgado was a man of research, this workshop was aimed to encourage the Konknni writers to take on research related projects in Konknni field, especially in Roman script. The function was held in Tiatr Academy of Goa’s Conference Hall at Campal, Panjim.

A ‘Kovi Sammelan’ was held in the post lunch session, where 17 budding poets of Konknni participated with their poems on various subjects, some of which kept the audience spellbound. Well known Konknni poet Yusuf A Sheikh presided over the event.

Two award winning novels – ‘Toddzodd’ written by Pandharinath D Lotlikar and ‘Kantto’ by Willy Goes were released in the final session of the day-long celebration of Dalgado Day. Fr Santana Carvalho, parish priest of Pomburpa was the Chief Guest, who lauded the good work carried out by DKA in Konknni Romi script. He urged the gathering to preserve Konknni. Yusuf A Sheikh was the Guest of Honour while President of DKA Premanand A Lotlikar presided over the function.

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Fr Santana Carvalho, poet Yusuf A Sheikh, Premanand A Lotlikar, Jose Salvador Fernandes are seen along with novel writers Pandharinath D Lotlikar and Willy Goes at the novels release function

Dr Fernandes handing over certicates to ‘Research Workshop’ participants

Dr Rafael Fernandes, resources person inaugurating the workshop with the lighting of the lamp. Also seen are DKA President Premanand A Lotlikar and secretary Jose Salvador Fernandes

Vailankanni Hazel reciting her poem at ‘Kavi Sammelan’

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Wednesday 11 May 2011

Akshay Kumar to sing for KKK 4

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Penelope Cruz made Johnny Depp feel Broody

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fter singing for the big screen in films like Singh Is Kinng and Khatta Meetha, Bollywood hero Akshay Kumar is going to lend his voice for the title song of his upcoming action-adventure reality show Khatron Ke Khiladi 4. “Akshay is singing a couple of opening lines,” said a source from the channel.

The title song will be turned into a music video featuring all the contestants for the fourth season of the show, which has been shot in Cape Town, South Africa.

For this season, the channel has chosen 13 female celebrity participants – each teamed up with a male partner.

The celebrity participants include former Indian women’s cricket captain Anjum Chopra, models Diandra Soares, Alesia Raut and Poonam Pandey, actresses Aarti Chhabria, Smita Bansal and Aashka Goradia, item girls Sambhavna Seth and Kashmera Shah, two VJs – Bani and Mia Uyeda, singer Mauli Dave and Dina Singh, wife of actor Vindu Dara Singh.

Khatron Ke Khiladi is the Indian version of the internationally hit show Fear Factor, and involves dangerous tasks involving height and even creepy crawlies.

It is expected to go on air in June.

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ew mom Penelope Cruz seems to be enjoying motherhood and her joy seems to have spread over to her whole cast and crew of the upcoming movie Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides. So deep was the impact that it made her co-star Jonny Depp broody, not glum and broody but family broody.

Shooting while she was pregnant and post delivery, Cruz, who gave birth to son Leo in January, and the sight of her with husband Javier Bardem and their new baby evoked a desire in Depp to have more kids.

The father of two, daughter Lily-Rose, 11, and son Jack, 8, said, “It’s great to watch the three of them in action. It’s just adorable and it makes you incredibly broody and clucky.”

Anushka Sharma dons Bikini for Next Film

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Paltrow puts off Theatre Ambitions for Kids

ctress Gwyneth Paltrow has kept her theatre ambitions on hold to focus on motherhood.

The actress is eager to land a part on Broadway or in West End. But she has put off her dream due to her commitment to daughter Apple, six, and five-year-old son Moses, her kids with rocker husband Chris Martin.

“Yes, I’d love to appear in a musical theatre role. But not right now. My kids are still at that age where I want to be home for bedtime and on weekends and if you do a play you’re out when they’re home. So it doesn’t make sense now, but maybe, someday,” said Paltrow.

fter her girl next door image in Band Baaja Baaraat, actress Anushka Sharma is all set to show her sexy avatar in Maneesh Sharma’s upcoming flick Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl. Reportedly, the Rab Ne Bana Di Jodi lass will be wearing a sultry bikini in the movie, which also stars her alleged beau and BBB co-star Ranveer Singh.

Tabloids reported that though the skinny actress has already donned a bikini in the Shahid Kapoor starrer Badmaash Company, this time around the bikini will be far more revealing than concealing.

In fact, Yash Raj Films has even asked Anushka to shed some kilos for the movie that will release in December. Even though the actress is already thin, the makers of the movie want her to look all-toned up in Ladies Vs Ricky Bahl, as they are very particular about the fitness of heroines working with them.

“A foodie she binged on her favourite delicacies and let herself go. YRF has instructed her to go slow. The actress began working out with her trainer and got a toned look.

Since she has a high metabolism rate, losing weight quickly isn’t a problem,” revealed a source.

New Artificial Skin to heal Burnt Wounds Faster

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f trials are successful then healing burnt victims’ wounds could become an easy and painless task. A team of researchers are developing technology that could make healing faster by using artificial skin grown from the victim’s cells in a cheaper and more effective way than the current procedure.

John Greenwood, Director of the Adult Burn service at Royal Adelaide Hospital has been working with PolyNovo Biomaterials to develop a synthetic material Biodegradable Temporising Matrix (BTM) since 2004. So far, BTM alone has successfully sealed wounds on pigs and trials will next test whether it heals pig burns when their cells are added to grow the artificial skin.

“It’s based on a biodegradable polyurethane – it’s a plastic that acts as a scaffold to allow us to grow the patient’s cells into,” stated Greenwood.

If successful in pig and then human trials, it could potentially replace painful skin grafts, which involve repeatedly harvesting burns victims’ good skin to treat burns.

“We’re not going to leave half of their body covered in scars that we’ve created (in order) to repair the other half of their body that they’ve injured,” Greenwood said. “So the cultured skin substitute is going to abolish the skin graft,” he added.

Mother’s Prattle helps Kids pick up Language

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he way we talk to babies is key to building their ability to understand and create sentences of their own. The exaggerated speech we naturally use with tiny toddlers is special register – often called ‘motherese’, or mother’s prattle. “We use changes in pitch and rhythm when we talk to children, and we emphasise important words. This is what children usually learn and produce first,” says Katherine Demuth, who led the study.

“A child learning its first language is like an adult learning a second one: you have no idea what’s going on and it’s just one long speech stream,” adds Demuth of the Centre for Language Sciences, Linguistics Department, Macquarie University.

“Child-directed speech helps unpack this for children and gives them the tools to help them identify sounds, syllables and finally words and sentences,” says Demuth.

But it’s not just mothers, but also fathers, older siblings and virtually anyone who talks to a young child naturally adopts child-directed speech, or ‘motherese’. Studies suggest that this helps children identify where words begin and end, and provides them with the clues needed to help them develop their own language skills.

Demuth recommends a simple method for developing language skills: talking and reading to children. “You aren’t teaching them language, you are just interacting with them, using words that help them develop their vocabulary sooner.”

Editor –in-chief: R F Fernandes. Editor: Ashwin Tombat. Chief Editor-Features: Christina Viegas.

Parsley could help in Breast Cancer Treatment

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arsley carries a potent compound that can halt breast cancer cells from reproducing, according to researchers. Salman Hyder, professor of biomedical sciences at the University of Missouri, College of Veterinary Medicine, exposed rats with breast cancer to apigenin, a compound found in parsley and other plant products.

The exposed rats developed fewer tumours and experienced significant delays in tumour formation as compared to normal rats. Apigenin is most prevalent in parsley and celery, but can also be found in apple, orange, nuts and other plant products, according to a Missouri statement.

“Six to 10 million women in the US receive hormone replacement therapy (HRT),” Hyder said. “We know that certain synthetic hormones used in HRT accelerate breast tumour development. In our study, we exposed the rats to one of the chemicals used in the most common HRTs received in the US – a progestin called medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) – which also happens to be the same synthetic hormone that accelerates breast tumour development.”

When tumour cells develop in the breast in response to MPA, they encourage new blood vessels to form within tumours. The blood vessels then supply needed nutrients for the tumours to grow and multiply.

Hyder found that apigenin blocked new blood vessel formation, thereby delaying, and sometimes stopping, the development of the tumours. However, apigenin is not absorbed efficiently into the bloodstream. So scientists are unsure of how much can or should be ingested.

Courtesy: Agencies Regd Office: St Tome Road, Panjim, Goa. Tel: 6658512, 6658500, 2224202, 2228083. Fax: 2222475. Email: goasheartbeat@herald-goa.com.