Commmittee= Goenchem Prize. On behalf of the members of the SOUTH GOA PUBLIC INTEREST ACTION GROUP a registered NGO based in Margao kindly convey our warm Congratulations to the winner of the GOENCHEM PRIZE Mr. Roland Martins sd/- Terence Mazarelo PRESIDENT(SGPIAG) [EMAIL PROTECTED] Tel No:2731373 HELPLINE 9822158584
--- Santosh Helekar <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > In keeping with the spirit of the World Goa Day, we, > the members of > the Goenchem Prize committee are delighted to > announce that the 2003 > Goenchem Prize for the promotion of honesty, > rationality and common > sense is awarded to ROLAND MARTINS. We thank Mr. > Martins for > graciously accepting the award. > > Roland Martins is a remarkable citizen of Goa, whose > main occupation > and preoccupation has been and continues to be > social activism. He is > the founder member of Jagrut Goenkaranchi Fouz > (JGF), which, since > 1980's, has spoken out against the reckless > promotion of modern > tourism industry in Goa, and heightened the > awareness of this problem > both locally and globally. His voice on issues of > social justice has > been very loud and uncompromising. In the last four > years Mr. Martins > has been working hard for the consumers movement of > Goa in many of > its villages, due to which, people are slowly > learning to participate > in the civic affairs of the village, keeping the > local authorities in > check, and promoting authentic development. The > consumer and civic > cells function autonomously under the inspiration > and guidance of Mr. > Martins. > > In 1995 Mr. Martins established GOADESC, a center > which maintains a > vast library of books, magazines, and other relevant > materials, > available to interested people. It organizes > fortnightly the Friday > Balcao - an interactive session on various Goan > social issues. > GOACAN is a rich information service provided by > GOADESC to Internet > users all over the world. It has raised the > educational process to > new heights, and facilitated liaison among all those > committed to a > progressive and well-developed Goa. Through all > this, Roland Martins > has kept himself apart from party politics, and > dedicated all his > energies and talents to the task of empowering the > Goan people for > democratic participation in the affairs of their > communities. > > The choice of this year's Goenchem Prize winner was > a difficult one > because we had six outstanding nominees. The two > finalists were > Roland Martins and Yadneshwar Nigalye. Mr. Nigalye > is the President > of the Goa Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti, an > association for the > eradication of superstitions. Among his many > achievements are: the > successful organization of a "Scientific Awareness" > camp for 150 > primary teachers from Ponda Taluka; effective > assistance of law > enforcement authorities in prosecuting godmen who > exploit the public; > organization of lecture/demonstrations in colleges > and secondary > schools to inculcate the scientific spirit, to > debunk eclipse-related > superstitions and provide scientific explanations > for "miracles"; and > holding of public meetings on pseudo-spiritualism > and the > constitutional imperative of adopting a scientific > attitude in India. > > The other extraordinary nominees were: Floriano > Lobo, a social > activist par excellence; Deepa Murkunde, whose > efforts to ensure the > provision of clean public toilets have now become > legendary; Somu > Rao, a brave man on a mission to promote rationalism > and scientific > skepticism in Goa; and Stephen Fernandes, who > courageously exposed a > corrupt Parra Village Panchayat secretary. > > The Goenchem Prize award, consisting of a citation > plaque and a cash > amount of Rs. 13,666, will be presented to Roland > Martins in December > 2003. > > Sincerely, > > The Members of the Goenchem Prize Committee > > > > > ########################################################################## > # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] > # > # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), > and avoid top-posts # > # More details on Goanet at > http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # > # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to > reflect respect to others # > ########################################################################## ________________________________________________________________________ Yahoo! India Promos: Win TVs, Bikes, DVD players & more! Go to http://in.promos.yahoo.com ########################################################################## # Send submissions for Goanet to [EMAIL PROTECTED] # # PLEASE remember to stay on-topic (related to Goa), and avoid top-posts # # More details on Goanet at http://joingoanet.shorturl.com/ # # Please keep your discussion/tone polite, to reflect respect to others # ##########################################################################
