GOACOM DAILY NEWS CLIPPINGS December 28, 2004 TSUNAMI TOLL RISES TO 24,000: Armed forces and other state agencies mounted rescue and relief operations on a war footing across the coastal areas of South and South East Asia which were swamped on Sunday (December 26) by tsunamis that left nearly 24,000 people dead - more than 7,100 of them in India alone. (GT)
NO LIFE LOST: Quick thinking by the Captain of Ports and Tourism Department helped in minimizing the damaged caused by aftershocks of the tsunami. As reports of the disaster and erratic water conditions trickled in, both the departments issued warning to boat operators, shack owners and alerted all emergency departments. As a result, all waterborne operations were halted well before water levels rose. Speaking to GT Elvis Gomes, who heads both the departments said, "The fact hat nobody lost their lives is enough proof that our warnings were effective." (GT) FOUR KIDS RESCUED: In a heroic effort, a foreign tourist and a tourist policeman save the lives of four children who were dragged into the sea on December 26 evening after the Tsunami waves caused the Arabian sea to swell at the Morjim beach, where the kids had gone for a picnic. (H) TSUNAMI EFFECT AT BETIM: The river water level rose at around 2.30 pm and gushed into the residence of Air Force Officer Sq Ldr Oswald de Abreu, which is on the banks of the river Mandovi at Betim. The impact of tidal wave was so severe that the right hand side of the compound wall collapsed. The chairs which were kept on the verandah were also washed away. Mr Abreu had gone out in the morning and the house was locked..Mr Abreu told Herald that the river water level at Betim had been rising since the last two to three years, possibly due to the reclamation of land on the Panjim bank of the river Mandovi. (H) IN CANACONA: Hundreds of panic-stricken people took shelter at the Canacona KTC bus stand, after huge waves lashed the coastal belt of Palolem, Patnem and Talpona late Sunday evening. (H) SEA CONDITION STABLE: Satisfied with the stable condition of the sea and the tides over the last 24 hours, the Captain of Ports withdrew the notice it had issued to mariners and the general public to stop operations along the coast but cautioned that unpredicted changes and surges in the tidal wave pattern may occur without any warning in the next 48 hours. (NT) ARCHBISHOP EXPRESSES SHOCK: Archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrao expressed shock at the extent of the destruction caused by the Tsunani in South East Asia on Sunday. (GT) 'ENTIRE NIGHT ON A HILL': "I spent the entire night on a hill dreading the prospect of an earthquake. Now that all appears to be safe, I have returned along with my family members," said a villager as he heaved a sigh of relief. That was on the night of 26 December. Panicky at the prospects of an earthquake striking the area, some residents from all over the coastal areas of Canacona like Patnem, Pansulem, Char Rasta, Kindlebag had left with their families to safer destinations in the interiors of Canacona. Waiters from shacks, Nepali cooks, walked 35 km all the way to Margao.About 75 per cent of foreign tourists who had fled to safety that night returned to the shacks, tents and hotels. Some of them were even seen taking a stroll on the Palolem beach while others were busy cleaning the shores off the dirt swept away by the mighty waves which had lashed Palolem on the night of 26 December. Four shacks and one kiosk apart from some canoes and fishing trawlers faced the brunt of nature's fury.No fish was sold in Canacona. Rumour monger had a field day. "Waters are rising. The end is near," they said. (Santosh Gaonkar in GT) GOA SAFE ALTERNATIVE: Even as the Tsunami disaster wreaked havoc on the industries of popular destinations like Thailand and Lanka, foreign tour operators are looking to Goa as an alternative. While an estimated 200 foreigners were killed in Sri Lanka alone, similar figures were projected from Thailand, another popular charter tourist destination, which receives several times the volume of tourists that Goa receives. As tourists in those countries struggle to return home, cancellations are expected to severely affect their tourism industries. In an attempt to minimize loses, travel companies are looking to offer Goa as an alternative destination. But it has placed the State in a piquant situation as there are not enough rooms to offer. There were charter flights from Holland and Belgium that landed both at Goa and Thailand. "They wanted to know if they could offer Goa instead of Thailand as an alternative destination," says travel and Tourism Association of Goa vice president Ralph de Souza. (Reuven Proenca in GT) NIO TO STUDY TSUNAMI: National Institute of Oceanography has constituted a three-member panel to analyse the tsunami disaster and the study is expected to take about a month. (GT) SAKAL GROUP (GOMANTAK TIMES) APPEALS FOR HELP: Responding to an immediate need to help alleviate some of the incalculable suffering caused in coastal Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Andaman and Nicobar, the Sakal Group of Publications has launched a relief fund with an initial contribution of Rs.10 lakh. Sakal Group requests the readers to donate generously towards the relief fund.All cheques/demand drafts maybe drawn in favour of Sakal Relief Fund and sent to Chairman, Sakal Relief Fund, C/o Gomantak Times Office, Gomantak, Bhavan, St Inez, Panaji, Goa. (GT) QUERIES FROM NETTERS: We have been receiving messages from worried overseas netters requesting for information about the after-effect of the tsunami and whether we could contact the persons named by them. We would like to inform everyone that everything is safe and sound, and except for some people at the Palolem beach, nothing of serious concern has happened in Goa as a result of the tsunami, as the above items indicate. (Joel D'Souza) EXCEPT BJP: All political parties in the state, barring the BJP, raised objections either regarding the contents of the film on Goa's freedom struggle or the attempt to show it to school children. Governor SC Jamir had convened an all-party meeting at Raj Bhavan to find a solution to the controversy kicked off by the film. The leaders of the political parties expressed their views and most of them wanted the government to withdraw the VCD from circulation. (GT) PORTUGUESE GLORIFIED TRAITORS, SAYS SHIRODKAR: Prakashchandra Pandurang Shirodkar, former Director of Archives and a noted historian says, "Conversions undertaken by missionaries are a part of Goan history. This is a fact which cannot be denied." Elaborating further, Shirodkar refers to the Cuncolim episode where some villagers were brutally slain by the Portuguese. "The Hindus had killed the missionaries in protest against their blatant efforts to convert a majority of Hindus in Cuncolim. The Portuguese later branded these very missionaries as martyrs. Not stopping at this, the Portuguese later summoned the Cuncolim villagers to their headquarters and killed them treacherously. In our eyes, these villagers are martyrs as they had to pay for their life at the hands of the Portuguese." (By Nilesh Khandeparkar in GT) A DEBATE: The committee formed by the Goa government on the production of the documentary on Goa Freedom Struggle has urged it to hold a special screening for freedom fighters to clarify any doubts retarding the film. (GT) EXPOSITION TO CLOSE ON JAN 2: The Exposition of the sacred relics of St Francis Xavier will come to a close as scheduled on January 2. Rector of Bom Jesus Basilica informed that January 1, would be the last day for the veneration as such, there would be no veneration on the concluding day of the Exposition on January 2. On January 2, the procession carrying the casket from the Se Cathedral will commence at 8.30 am, followed by a Pontifical Mass, after the casket reaches the Bom Jesus Basilica. Archbishop Emeritus Raul Gonsalves will be the main celebrant for the Mass, while the Archbishop of Gandhinagar (Gujarat) Stanislaus Fernandes will deliver the homily. (H) SECY ACCUSED OF PARALYSING PANCHAYAT ACTIVITIES: The entire functioning of the Salvador do Mundo panchayat has been affected, as not a single meeting of the panchayat body has been conducted since October. Panchas Prabhaker Naik and Teresa Fernandes alleged that the panchayat secretary went on a spree of adjourning the fortnightly meetings of the village body on dubious grounds. (H) MAN DIES IN MISHAP: A person hailing from Boca de Vaca in Panaji, and identified as Vinayak T Raut (50), died in a fatal accident at De Mello Vaddo, Anjuna when he was knocked down by a Yamaha motorcycle, while crossing the road at 2.45 pm. (NT) "SAY FUJI" CARNIVAL IN GOA FROM THURSDAY: Jindal Photo Limited will organise the fun-filled and entertaining annual "Say Fuji" Carnival at the Calangute beach from 30 December, following grand success at Ooty and Kolvalam. The four-day event will start from 2.30 pm onwards daily. The carnival feature interesting games and entertainment options for the whole family. Prizes to be won include Fuji caps pens, notebooks, film rolls, photo frames and other memorabilia. (GT) SEMINAR ON CLASSICAL MUSIC: A two-day national seminar on the topic 'Past, Present and Future of Indian Classical Music' will be organised by Samraat Sangeet Academy, at Ramnath temple campus, Ponda, on January 8 and 9. (NT) FREE E-TEXTS ONLINE: Way back in 1971, Michael Hart decided it would be a really good idea if lots of famous and important texts were made freely available to everyone who wanted them, across the globe. Since then, the professor and his brainchild - Project Gutenberg - has been joined by hundreds of volunteers who share his vision. Over three decades later, Project Gutenberg (http://gutenberg.net) has crossed 12,000 books, which are available for easy download for anyone with access to the Internet. (Frederick Noronha in GT) BEAT SHOW AT VASCO: The Stars of St Andrew, Vasco, will organise their 13th annual beat show "Musical web 2005" near Auto service Vasco on January 1, 2005, from 7 pm onwards. The bands to perform include Forefront, The Big City Band, Purple Rain and Pure Magic. (H) RAJARAM AWARDED: Konkan Railway Corporation Managing Director Bojji Rajaram, who pioneered the concept of Skyrail and played a major role in the construction of Konkan Railway, was on December 27 awarded the FICCI Annual Award, 2003-04, for his outstanding contribution to knowledge-based industries. Finance Minister P Chidambaram presented the award having a cash component of Rs. One lakh to Rajaram for promoting individual, corporate and institutional initiatives in economic, social and scientific areas. (GT) S P O R T S ANOTHER FOOTBALL TRAGEDY AVERTED: Close on the heels of Cristiano Junior's death, the Goa Football Association got another wake-up call when Mundvel Sports Club goalkeeper collapsed on the field during a Second Division League play-off match against ABC Benaulim at Varca ground, a day after the Christmas festivities. Fortunately for the Association, and the game in general, another embarrassment was avoided after the goalkeeper, Alex Fernandes, was given timely resuscitation by his colleague, Darryl Netto. (GT) D E A T H S 26 Dec: Vaddem/Mapusa: REMIGIO GODINHO; husband of Natty, father of Tony/Irene, Leslie/Joanita (Mumbai), Ivan/Glynis (USA); grandfather of Rochelle and Russel. 27 Dec: Velim: EROL CM MAZARELLO; husband of Nora, son of late Inacinho/late Lourdina; brother of Ellis/Eilda, Eishen/Lourdes and Ency/James. 27 Dec: Betalbatim: NOLASCO DIAS (Ex-Indian Navy & Vocalist, AIR): son of Pulqueira/Dr Bossuet, husband of Irene. 26 Dec: Britona: JOSE FILIPE RODRIGUES; husband of Anna Maria, brother of Gonsal/Santan/Laura. 26 Dec: Curtorim: ANA JOQUINA D'MELLO: wife of late Alex, mother of Baptista/Maria, Steven/Bella, Anceto/Natty. G O A W E A T H E R Max temp: 33.8 degC; Min temp: 19.2 degC; Relative Humidity: 81% Weather: No effect of the tsunami on the vacation weather prevailing in Goa. Courtesy: GT=Gomantak Times; NT=The Navhind Times; H=Herald; WE=Weekender. JOEL D'SOUZA, Assagao, Bardez, Goa.
