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If you receive this more than once, please bear with me. I am understaffed and underpaid, that’s why. August 5-11, 2013 *Lionroars – 17* *Land sale moratorium easier than Special Status* This is something for everyone in Goa to ponder upon, especially the Movement for Special Status to Goa (MSSG) and Goa’s Movement for Special Status (GMSS), because evidently the same status given to Himachal Pradesh is not working. In 2010 the issue of Benami Land Transactions in violation of section 118 of the Himachal Pradesh Tenancy and Land Reforms Act, 1972 and irregularities in the issue of Essentiality Certificates for buying land for development, under the Himachal Pradesh Apartment and Property Regulation Act, 2005; was raised in the HP Vidhan Sabha. A year later in 2011 the HP government appointed D P Sood (retired judge of the HP High Court) to inquire into these issues. Contemplate it, brood over it if you must and it would be considered a job well done, because the pressure groups and everyone else must seriously consider a course change or new strategy. The Special Status route has failed miserably in Himachal Pradesh (HP)……………. Full story: http://goanspirit.com/index.php/lion-roars/lion-roars-2013/342-lion-roars-17 *August 5-11, 2013* *SHACK ATTACK: Following the script - 2* *Lionel Messias* *Shacks are shackled* ………………While successive governments did not bat an eyelid when it came to gambling with the livelihoods of a community that (along with guesthouse owners) was once virtually the host community when sustainable tourism was gathering pace and thought by some to be the right choice for Goa; it did not hesitate when it came to earning revenue from the shack owners ruthlessly increasing the license fee from Rs 10 in the beginning to Rs 60,000 for a 14 m x 7m shack size in 2003. “In 1992, I paid a fee of Rs 50. It was hiked over the years to Rs 5,000, Rs 7,000 at one time and later from Rs 10,000 to Rs 60,000.” The SOWS protested the steep 2003 hike and it was reduced…………. Full Story: http://goanspirit.com/index.php/lead/341-shack-attack-following-the-script-2 August 5 -11, 2013 *Team GS* *Quick gun Murugan* ……..Furtado , when he recently lifted the ban on film shootings also apparently used the occasion to hire himself a script writer because most of what he spouts is flamboyant, excessive and some would Churchill-esque, though he does not have Winston Churchill’s renowned doggedness. The question now is can he deliver? Since, it’s four months, he, an independent, was voted in against all odds (read chief minister Manohar Parrikar), time will tell. Meanwhile, in his shadow boxing with Parrikar, municipal commissioner, Sanjit Rodrigues is getting caught in the cross-fire…………. Read Full Story: http://www.goanspirit.com/index.php/letters/345-quick-gun-murugan *August 5-11, 2013* *Team GS* * Prabhudesai appointment raises a hornet’s nest* At so many levels, his appointment has raised many eyebrows. First, that he will be Goa’s first second SIC. Although other states have more than one, Goa is too small a state to warrant two and that too considering there seemed to be no urgency in appointing someone although there was a vacancy for many months. Second, that Prabhudesai did not apply but instead he was recommended by activist-doctor Oscar Rebello. Apart from that, Oscar Rebello has left the educational qualifications column in the application blank. So questions are swirling about whether Goa’s second SIC is deficient education-wise. And more to the point, why is the next information commissioner so frugal about information? And Prabhudesai,who has refused to say anything (in fact, he told Goanspirit – “Don’t even say that I said ‘no comment’"), had lobbied hard for the post... Read full story: http://www.goanspirit.com/index.php/news-summary/343-prabhudesai-appointment-raises-a-hornet-s-nest *August 5-11, 2013* *Team GS* *Shaking in their boots?* The worst that can happen if an MLA or any public functionary does not file his/her statement of assets and liabilities is that the Lokayukta can report it to a “competent authority”. If the public functionary does not comply even after this report, within two months, then the Lokayukta can publish his/her name in two newspapers and report it to the governor. And all the governor can do is place the report before the Legislative Assembly. Even a wimp will not wince, much less flinch, at this so-called penal action. Read Full Story: http://www.goanspirit.com/index.php/contact-us/letters/111-the-week-that-was/344-shaking-in-their-boots Lionel Messias Editor, *Goan Spirit*, *Goa's Spirited Online Weekly Magazine.* ** Website:www.goanspirit.com Worked for the best: Goa Today, Gomantak Times, Herald, Mid-Day, The Pioneer, Indian Express (Bangalore), Economic Times (Chennai, Hyderabad), Newstime (Hyderabad), Gulf News (Hyderabad) 125-E, Bellem, Velsao, P.O. Cansaulim, Goa 403712 Tel: 0832-2884484 Mob:9822152164
