[GOANET] 08 JAN 2003: GOACOM NEWS CLIPPINGS

[Joel D'Souza]

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GOACOM NEWS CLIPPINGS
January 08, 2003

GOA-DUBAI DIRECT FLIGHTS: Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation Shripad Naik said the direct flights from Goa-Dubai, Goa-Hyderabad and Goa-Delhi will start soon while proceedings to acquire land for Mopa airport will start from next month. Addressing a press conference, Naik said the flight to Dubai was a long-pending demand while Goa-Delhi flight, which was stopped a few months ago, will be restarted from this month. The Goa-Hyderabad flight will be operated in the wake of a demand by a large number of industrialists from Goa. (GT)

GOA-MUMBAI AIR FARES TO DROP: Air fares on the Goa-Mumbai and other sectors from the state are expected to see a cut as the Goa government has tentatively agreed to reduce sales tax on Air Turbine Fuel from the current 20 per cent to 4 percent, on the lines of Andhra Pradesh, which is expected to boost inter-State air travel from Goa. (H)

TEENAGERS APING WEST: Indian teenagers are fact catching up with their counterparts abroad in indulging into pre-marital sex, drug and alcohol abuse, rash and negligent driving and high tobacco use, said Dr A Swani of the University of Wayne during the recently concluded international medical workshop. (GT)

IDENTITY CARDS: The Centre and States on January 7 decided to introduce national identity cards to tackle illegal immigration by Pakistanis and Bangladeshis and launch a three-month drive from April to detect and deport such nationals, who Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani said posed a "serious threat" to internal security. The states where the project would be started are Jammu and Kashmir, Gujarat, Uttaranchal, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, Tripura, Tamil Nadu, Goa, Pondicherry and Delhi. (PTI report in Herald)

HELMETS COMPULSORY FOR COPS: The Goa police, by a circular issued on January 7, have made wearing helmets compulsory for police personnel. The circular comes in the backdrop of 17 police personnel on medical leave following vehicular accidents. (H)

BSNL, MTNL JOIN TARIFF WAR: Joining the tariff war for market share, telecom PSUsBSNL and MTNLon Tuesday cut STD rates to lower the mobile to mobile call charges from a peak of Rs.9 a minute to Rs.4.80 a minute, saying it would still be cheaper than private cellular operators who were charging separately for air time in addition to call rate of Rs.2.99 per minute. (GT)

COPS IN TIGHT SPOT: Embarrassing skeletons stumbled out of the cupboard of the Panjim police station, after the Pune police arrested two burglars, who had stolen Rs.1 lakh from Kala Academy campus, Panjim, on Christmas eve. Although the burglary was reported to Panjim police on the day of the incident, no complaint was registered and the matter left callously uninvestigated. (H)

GRANT TO QUEPEM HS: Minister for Industries Ramrao Dessai disbursed grants of Rs.15 lakh to Our Lady of Mother of Poor High School at a function held at Tilamol, Quepem, on January 7. (GT)

CHURCHILL FACTION RETAINS HOLD: The Churchill-backed group has retained its hold over the 11-member Benaulim panchayat when its candidate, Cristalina Fernandes, was declared elected unopposed as the new village Sarpanch on Tuesday. The election was necessitated following the ouster of Guilhermina alias Meena Leitao in a no-trust motion. (H)

GOVT TURNS HEAT ON CARRASCO: The government seems to be building up the heat on Chairperson Michael Carrasco as the Director of Municipal Administration, KNS Nair, and technical officials of the department yesterday , visited the Mapusa Municipal Council. (H)

MEETING CANCELLED: A beleaguered chairperson Michael Carrasco, who is also the attorney of Mapusa Comunidade, has cancelled the general body meeting of the Comunidade scheduled for January 12. (H)

RAPE ATTEMPT: An autorickshaw driver, who attempted to outrage the modesty of one a minor girl from England, while taking her to her place of stay, has been arrested yesterday by the Anjuna police. (GT)

TO HONOUR SHENNOI GOEMBAB: To pay tributes to Shennoi Goembab, Asmitai Pratishthan has planned a public function called "Asmitai Utsav" at Bicholim, the birth place of Shennoi Goembab alias Vaman Raghunat Varde Valaulikar, on January 12 at 5 pm at the Municipal hall. The Asmitai award will be presented to well known biographer and Konkani writer Fr Antonio Pereira, SJ. (H)

SEA TURTLE MELA: As part of its one-year educational project to support turtle conservation, Centre for Environment Education, Ministry or Environment and Forests, Government of India, is organizing a "Sea Turtle Mela" near Olive Ridley Restaurant at Morjim on January 10 from 9.30 am to 5.30 pm. Nearly 12 schools from Pernem are participating in this mela. (GT)

A HOUSE FOR PRATIMA'S MOTHER: South Goa MP Ramakant Angle and a Singapore-based Goan NRI, Sharda Kamat, have promised to raise funds for Pratima Gaonkar's mother at Dabal in Sanguem taluka, to construct her house, which is in a dilapidated condition. (H)

ORNAMENTS STOLEN: All the gold ornaments worth Rs.93,000 and a cash amount of Rs.1,800 were stolen from the first floor bedroom of Mario D'Souza of Carrasvaddo, Mapusa, even as he and his family slept in the ground floor bedroom. (NT)

KONKANI TELE-FILM: Shyamsundar Productions in association with the Theatre Club of Shrinivas Sinai Dempo College of Commerce & Economics will release an audio cassette of Sangati's Konkani tele-film "It's My Life" at the SS Dempo College premises at the hands of film actress Varsha Usgaonkar at 10 am today. (GT)

AQUARIAN AWARD FOR DR MARTINS: Zoroastrian College, Mumbai, confer "Acquarian Age Award" to Dr Sushrut A Martins for the research on alternative medicines published into a book "Introduction to Alternative Medicines and Diagnostics Aids", during the 16th World Congress of Medicina Alternative Holistic Health Sciences, to be held from January 10 to 12 at the Russian Cultural Centre, Mumbai. (H)

ONLY PARTY PLACE: "All the barons of industry are ever willing to party in Goa�It is obvious that everyone who is anyone loves to party in Goa. Goa is also the absolutely favoured destination for conventions and conferences�It is also the favourite destination for dealers and far more importantly for brainstorming sessions of senior corporate executives�While everyone, who is anyone, is quite happy to party in Goa and, in fact, willing, waiting and wanting to party in Goa anytime and all the timenobody wants to invest their money in Goa." (Edit in Herald)

"INDIANS KEEP CULTURAL IDENTITY ALIVE": The former community museum development officer of the art gallery at Birmingham Museum, Ms Eleanor Viegas, said the important feature of the people from Indian sub-continent is their sense of continuity; they take their culture along with them and see that it remains alive. Ms Viegas was delivering a lecture on "The Crafts of Heritage" to commemorate the Museum Week 2003 at the Goa state Museum. (NT)

BIG NAME: As if writers, musicians, singers and cartoonists were not enough, bucolic Siolim had to throw up an artist of merit, Rajan Fulari. This young man has staged numerous exhibitions of his paintings in the big galleries of India. He was recently chosen by the British council as one of two Indian artistes for a two-month exchange programme in Glasgow, Scotland. (Joaquim Fernandes in NT)

S P O R T S

GOA HAMMER MAHARASHTRA: Goa eves hammered Maharashtra 11-2 and one innings in the 17th Senior National Baseball Championship, underway at Indore. (H)

D E A T H S
06 Jan: Margao-Borda: JOSE XAVIER DA PIEDADE GRACIAS, husband of Philomena, father of Anastasia (Tasi)/Melwyn Mesquita (Herald) and Antonio. ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
07 Jan: Varca: QUERINO D'COSTA, husband of Marcelina, father of Delma/Julian Rodrigues, late Delvito/Carmina.
19 Dec: Socorro-Vadem: WILSON BATISTA VALES, husband of Flory, father of Evita.
07 Jan: Panjim: ROSA MARIA ANA FRANCISCA LOURDES E SOUZA VIEGAS, relict of late Antonio Simao Eugenio Renato da Silva Viegas, mother of Antonio/Rita, Luisa/Jawaharlal Furtado, Maria/Paul Dias, Milena/Vicente Mendonca, Rufina/Fernando Martins, Lucas (London).
06 Jan: Carmona: NATALINA REBELLO, mother of Mino/Epicia, Maria Nita Vaz, Antonieta Araujo.

G O A W E A T H E R
Temp: 23.3 deg C (73.9 deg F) at Assagao at 9.00 am today.
Max temp: 33.2 deg C, Humidity: 53% (Official figures for yesterday)
Weather: A slightly cloudy morning. The day could be warmer than yesterday.

Courtesy: H=Herald, NT=The Navhind Times, GT=Gomantak Times

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