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O HERALD O
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The Voice of Goa — Since 1900 panjim, saturday, OCtOber 30, 2010 postal reg. no. Goa 101 priCe rs. 3.00
Goa’s Heartbeat: Preity to get UK Honorary Degree Pg 4
IN BRIEF Gold worth Rs 2.7 lakh robbed Gold ornaments worth Rs 2.7 lakh were stolen from a house at Xeldem-Quepem on Friday morning. According to re-
ports, Anita Prakash Gauns Dessai had left her house at about 7.30 am and returned at 9.15 am, when she found the main door open and the house ransacked. PSI Raul Dhamsekar is investigating the case.
M’rashtra CM in trouble PTI NEW DELHI, OCT.29
Amid indications that his continuance in office may be untenable, Maharashtra Chief Minister Ashok Chavan has been summoned to meet Congress President Sonia Gandhi here tomorrow. The Congress High Command appears to be upset with Chavan, whose mother-in-law and two other relatives are among the 103 members of the controversial Adarsh Housing Society project in Mumbai in which several politicians, former Defence Services chiefs and other influential people have been allotted flats.
Business: FDI in services sector dips Pg 12
(air surcharge rs 2.00) pages 16+4
Sports: Gavaskar hits out at media Pg 16
Terror drill exposes Goa’s lax security HERALD REPORTER VASCO, OCT 29
Are sensitive places in and around the port town sitting ducks for terrorists? Believe it or not, “terrorists” planted explosives at the Dabolim airport and the shipyard, besides hijacking an iron ore cargo vessel in the sea off Mormugao on Friday morning. The breach of security at these vital installations has left security agencies red-faced and their only consolation was that the “terrorists” were part of the Sagar Kavach exercise, a mock drill to test the preparedness of the security agencies in the State. Security agencies were taken by surprise, when a “terrorist” as part of the Sagar Kavach exercise team managed to plant explosives at Dabolim airport at about 7 am. Another “terrorist” managed to plant an explosive at the Goa Shipyard Limited (GSL).
Special officers to check money flow at polls HERALD REPORTER PANJIM, OCT 29
In a bid to keep a check on the overspending by candidates in the forthcoming municipal elections, the State Election Commission (SEC) has appointed special officers in addition to the normal election observers to keep a tab on violators. The officers of the rank of accounts officer/assistant officers have been appointed as expenditure officers for each of the eleven municipalities scheduled to go to polls on October 31. Municipal Councils of Pernem, Mapusa, Bicholim, Valpoi, Margao, Cuncolim, Mormugao, Sanguem, Quepem, CurchoremCacora and Canacona will go to polls on Sunday. State Election Commissioner (SEC) Dr M Modassir addressing a press conference said that henceforth the same practice would also be followed during the panchayat polls. He said each candidate is entitled to spend upto Rs 30000 as poll expenses. Replying to a query Dr Modassir said there have been no complaints and over all election process is going on smoothly. 226281 VOTERS: A total of 226281 voters in the 11 municipal councils are eligible to (Continued on page 10)
The Bomb Disposal Squad along with a sniffer dog outside the Dabolim airport on Friday. Photo by M Prabhav
To make matters worse, a “terror group” hijacked an iron ore vessel off Mormugao shore. In the mock combat operation that followed, marine commandos from Bombay Western Commando along with the Navy, Coast Guard and Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) confronted the “terror group” and
salvaged the vessel, after a continuous battle for over three hours. A “terrorist” placed a bomb in a sweet box at the airport, while a suitcase containing a toy gun was also found at the airport. Another “terrorist” managed (Continued on page 10)
Karnataka imbroglio
Disqualification of rebels upheld PTI BANGALORE, OCT 29
In a big shot-in-the-arm for the BJP Government in the State, a third judge of the Karnataka High Court today upheld the disqualification of the rebel party MLAs from the Assembly. Justice V G Sabhahit, to whom the matter was referred after a split verdict by a Division Bench, today gave his verdict in which he concurred with Chief Justice J S Khehar, who had upheld Speaker K G Bopaiah’s October 10 disqualification order. Justice N Kumar, part of the Division Bench, had differed with Chief Justice and set aside the disqualification order. Today’s order may obviate the need for any fresh vote of confidence in the Assembly as the court had earlier ruled before the second confidence vote this month that its outcome would depend on the verdict on the petitions of the 16 disqualified MLAs, including 5 Independents. The question of another floor test may arise only if the Supreme
Court reverses the verdict of the High Court on any petition the dissident MLAs may file. In his 126-page order, Justice Sabhahit said the Oct 6 letter of 11 MLAs to Governor H R Bhardwaj withdrawing support to the BJP Government would lead to the inevitable inference that their intention was to voluntarily give up party membership.
Not a boxing contest!! We are just getting ready for our party meeting.