[Goanet-News] COMMENT: Why Modi could trip just before the finishing line (Saeed Naqvi)
Why Modi could trip just before the finishing line If Modi were interested in an enlarged NDA, he would not have burnt his bridges with Mamata, Jayalalithaa, Mayawati or Naveen Patnaik Saeed Naqvi If this election campaign is to be remembered like a suspense drama, it must have a surprise end. What a roller coaster it has been since June 2013 when all senior BJP leaders assembled in Goa to strategize for the coming elections. Instead of discussing the roadmap with senior leaders, Narendra Modi and his cohorts imposed on them a fait accompli: Modi will be the head of the party's election campaign. There was much consternation and beating of breasts until something was whispered in their ears. They fell in line - but only to regroup in L.K. Advani's Prithviraj Road bungalow in New Delhi. We do not agree, we do not agree went the chant. Two days later RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat arrived from Nagpur. He put his finger on his lips. A hush fell on the congregation. They fell in line again. This time they marched in step, only occasionally remembering the seniority they had surrendered. On one such instance they asked for their preferred constituencies. No, they were told. You go to Gandhinagar and you to Kanpur and so on and so forth. Surrounded by brilliant directors and choreographers, Modi embraced the Method school of acting and became the prime minister, parallel to the one in Race Course Road. On Aug 15, Independence Day, while Manmohan Singh looked pale, weak and quite out of place at the Red Fort, Modi looked like an ad for vitality capsules as he stood in his designer kurta at the Lalan College in Bhuj. It was a wondrous show. A split TV screen had two prime ministers: Manmohan Singh and the presumptive prime minister. That was in August. Modi has since been offering performances at the rate of two every day without a break for the past nine months. In the old days even a circus never stayed in town for more than a month. To expect a nation to be riveted on a one-man show for months without a break, belied scant understanding of the Indians' sense of fun. This is a country of fairs, nautankis (village theatre), folk songs, chutkulas (jokes), kahavats (sayings). It is unbelievable that a year long campaign yielded not a joke, a quip, a pun. Viewers had a surfeit of an aggressive, taunting, vicious, menacing Modi. There was no humour, no gentle touch. This, in a nation of the pastoral lyric. If the nation is not all cock-a-hoop with Modi, something must have palled. Yes, we love our Gods and Goddesses, but not in our living spaces, mornings, noons and evenings. That would be tiresome. Modi was in our living rooms all the time for a full year. The blame will have to be placed somewhere here if the world's most expensive election campaign does not deliver him the prime ministership. What was conceived by TV script writers as a Modi versus Rahul Gandhi serial dialogue lost considerable audience appeal when Rahul Gandhi refused to come on stage. Even until December, when Arnab Goswami trapped Rahul Gandhi for his solitary interview, there was hope that he would be persuaded to duel Modi. Arnab asked him 18 times in the course of the interview to agree to a debate with Modi. But Rahul Gandhi was fixated on one theme: he was devoting himself to a system of primaries for selection of candidates. This reporter had written years ago that Rahul Gandhi's eyes were set not on 2014 but more on 2024 when he would be only 53 years old and possibly more willing. After a disastrous UPA-II, the Congress had reconciled itself to sitting in the opposition. But panic gripped the family when reports trickled in of the party dipping to double digits. Hence, the frenetic action by the Gandhi family in Rae Bareli and Amethi. The thinking around Congress president Sonia Gandhi is that a tally of 110 plus will enable the party to give outside support to a grouping and somehow keep Modi out. But Rahul is singing a different tune. He would like to sit in the opposition and reconstruct the party according to his lights. This would have been a sensible strategy and in harmony with the party vice president's laid-back style, if Modi were zooming ahead, towards the magic figure of 272. He is not. The news from the game changing states like Bihar and Andhra Pradesh is not good for the BJP. Only Modi's very reliable Amit Shah's machinations are keeping the party in serious contention in UP. The BJP's hopes hinge on this state. So, Rahul wake up. You may be required to be nimble. The manner in which Modi, Arun Jaitley and Amit Shah have pitched their tents in Varanasi against the administration and the Election Commission does not make them look like a victorious trio. Have you ever seen a winning team abuse umpires? With the Akalis fighting for their lives in Punjab, there is little of the NDA left to induce confidence. And before the party flaunts its Shiv Sena affiliations take a look at Saamna, the party's mouthpiece.
[Goanet] AG ATMARAM NADKARNI’S DAY TRIP TO DELHI COST THE EXCHEQUER RS 68558
The airfare of a day trip to Delhi and back by Advocate General Atmaram Nadkarni’s cost the tax payer a whopping Rs 68558. This has been revealed in the information obtained under the Right to Information Act. Advocate General Atmaram Nadkarni on 5th August last year traveled to Delhi by the morning flight and returned back in the evening with the airfare costing Rs 68558. The airfare of Rs 68558 to Delhi is highly inflated and even a trip to Europe and back would cost less. There needs to be a scrutiny and probe into all the traveling bills submitted by Advocate General Atmaram Nadkarni. It also has to be ascertained whether Atmaram Nadkarni indeed attends Court on his every visit to Delhi. It is very dismaying that Atmaram Nadkarni who is India’s highest paid Advocate General earning up to Rs eight lakhs a month is also exploring other dubious ways to further burden the State exchequer. It is also unacceptable that Atmaram Nadkarni while being the Advocate General is also blatantly appearing for the mining companies. Aires Rodrigues T1 - B30, Ribandar Retreat Ribandar - Goa - 403006 Mobile: 9822684372
[Goanet] http://time.com/80693/fiber-isnt-just-good-for-the-colon-anymore/
http://time.com/80693/fiber-isnt-just-good-for-the-colon-anymore/ --- This email is free from viruses and malware because avast! Antivirus protection is active. http://www.avast.com
[Goanet] My piece in today's OHeraldo
Herald, May 12, 2014 -- Opinion Eugene Correia In these highly-charged elections, people are wary of what politicians, intellectuals, educationists and public figures say or give their opinions favouring none or a particular party. Political parties and those aligned to them wait to pounce on well-known personalities or those in the public sphere, each way or the other. Independent thinkers are not spared either, attacked by trolls on the social media. In such a quagmire stepped Father Frazer Mascarenhas, SJ, the erstwhile principal of the reputed St. Xavier's College, Mumbai. It sparked off a debate in the national media, both electronic and print, with debates on some channels and edits in some newspapers, and in intellectual and political circles. As expected, there were opinions on both sides of the debate. The hallowed Freedom of Expression, as enshrined in the Constitution, was sounded loud and clear by those who felt that the Father exercised his fundamental right to express his opinion, no matter which side his opinion fell. There was natural and expected fallout from the principal's letter to his students. The letter, for all intents and purposes, was to serve as a warning bell to his students, many of them first-time voters, to choose wisely for whom they vote. However, underlining the message was the Father's admonishment of the Gujarat model of development. The Gujarat model has been in the air in recent times and much more in the news in the elections. Experts in economics and social sciences, with some on each side, are swords drawn against each other. Stories hailing Gujarat's progress has been highlighted in many print and electronic outlets, while the contrary has also seen wide coverage. Voters are bemused and some may be left confused by this debate. Each voter must believe in himself on what he thinks is right or wrong about Gujarat. Studying the facts and coming to one’s conclusion is the best way possible. There are hard statistics on both sides. In this kerfuffle, the media is squeezed along with the people. True, some media is compromised. It was blatantly clear with the interviews of Narendra Modi, the BJP prime ministerial candidate, on some channels and the pulling down of the article on Gujarat riots by DNA newspaper of Mumbai. The article has thrown a poor light on Gujarat under Modi. Fear is that the PR agency that BJP has employed to trump up and boost Modi's image has managed to work its way into the newspaper management and convince it to drop the article. However, the article, written by Shezad Poonawalla, has been cached and copies of it were available on other websites. The writer has taken pains to destroy some of the myths regarding the Gujarat carnage of 2002. Obviously, Modi doesn't want to be reminded of 2002. Modi's legion of supporters doesn't want Modi to be portrayed as the man responsible for the Gujarat genocide. For them, it's in the past, and it’s time to move on. Modi has come a long way, though the court verdict is still awaited on this sad episode. Notwithstanding the Gujarat of 2002, the development of the state is under intense microscope of social studies. It was on this aspect that Father (Dr). Mascarenhas, whose doctorate focussed on indigenous population of India, chose to harp on, making it absolutely clear that he's not a supporter of such development. He rests his case that the Human Development Index indicators are not keeping pace with industrial growth. His worry seems to be the lopsided progress of the state that has seen crony capitalism and farmers’ suicide side-by-side. Steering clear of naming the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), Father Mascarenhas' letter touches upon the scourge of communalism. His heart clearly lies in the safe couch of secularism. It remains in the domain of here nor there if Father Mascarenhas has erred in using his position to influence his students. I feel caution would have been the better part of valour if the principal had not used the college website as a vehicle to deliver his message. The message itself is couched in language that purports to pat on the back of the Congress for some of its scheme, particularly the Food Security Bill. The BJP may not be answer to India’s ills, but the Congress hasn’t proved itself apt at governing India well. No doubt as a priest belonging to the Christian faith, Father Mascarenhas is inwardly worried that minorities will be discriminated against in the India under Modi. No doubt there are minorities in the BJP, and Goa is the prime example. In fact, the Goa Church first backed the BJP in the assembly elections and now it has sort of warned people that the BJP hasn’t delivered on its promises and so the voters must careful who they vote. The Church’s intervention, nevertheless, drew the ire of MLAs like Mickky Pacheco against the Church, not that anybody takes the Nuvem MLA seriously for what he may say or don't say. In a not-so-similar fasion, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference
[Goanet] Fwd: Song for the day....
Don Williams - Some broken hearts never mend 1982 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fi0vmnxM3ao g -- DEV BOREM KORUM Gabe Menezes.
[Goanet] Goan in Qatar raise funds for Bahrain cathedral
Congratulations to Ambrosio Dias, Doha Qatar and his team members and all those who made the Konkani Community Speaking Get together a grand success which was for a worthy cause. Over one lakh twenty thousand Qatari riyals was raised from Qatar by the community for building of a cathedral in Bahrain. Wish you and your members all the best in future. Ambrosio Dias you are a selfless and you have welfare of others high on your agenda, may the almighty bless you with good health. And the account books are an open book, what came in and the monies whcih went out as expenses, hats off to you. You and your team has set a good example for many youngsters. May god give others the strength to follow your steps when it comes to accounts.
[Goanet] Lok Sabha polls 2014: Bookies cap BJP's maximum tally at close to 244
Read more at: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/34895735.cms?utm_source=contentofinterestutm_medium=textutm_campaign=cppst -- DEV BOREM KORUM Gabe Menezes.
[Goanet] Monitor River Sal, reduce man-made pollution: Experts
*http://tinyurl.com/kepqbfj http://tinyurl.com/kepqbfj* -- DEV BOREM KORUM Gabe Menezes.
[Goanet] COMMENT: Why Modi could trip just before the finishing line (Saeed Naqvi)
Why Modi could trip just before the finishing line If Modi were interested in an enlarged NDA, he would not have burnt his bridges with Mamata, Jayalalithaa, Mayawati or Naveen Patnaik Saeed Naqvi If this election campaign is to be remembered like a suspense drama, it must have a surprise end. What a roller coaster it has been since June 2013 when all senior BJP leaders assembled in Goa to strategize for the coming elections. Instead of discussing the roadmap with senior leaders, Narendra Modi and his cohorts imposed on them a fait accompli: Modi will be the head of the party's election campaign. There was much consternation and beating of breasts until something was whispered in their ears. They fell in line - but only to regroup in L.K. Advani's Prithviraj Road bungalow in New Delhi. We do not agree, we do not agree went the chant. Two days later RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat arrived from Nagpur. He put his finger on his lips. A hush fell on the congregation. They fell in line again. This time they marched in step, only occasionally remembering the seniority they had surrendered. On one such instance they asked for their preferred constituencies. No, they were told. You go to Gandhinagar and you to Kanpur and so on and so forth. Surrounded by brilliant directors and choreographers, Modi embraced the Method school of acting and became the prime minister, parallel to the one in Race Course Road. On Aug 15, Independence Day, while Manmohan Singh looked pale, weak and quite out of place at the Red Fort, Modi looked like an ad for vitality capsules as he stood in his designer kurta at the Lalan College in Bhuj. It was a wondrous show. A split TV screen had two prime ministers: Manmohan Singh and the presumptive prime minister. That was in August. Modi has since been offering performances at the rate of two every day without a break for the past nine months. In the old days even a circus never stayed in town for more than a month. To expect a nation to be riveted on a one-man show for months without a break, belied scant understanding of the Indians' sense of fun. This is a country of fairs, nautankis (village theatre), folk songs, chutkulas (jokes), kahavats (sayings). It is unbelievable that a year long campaign yielded not a joke, a quip, a pun. Viewers had a surfeit of an aggressive, taunting, vicious, menacing Modi. There was no humour, no gentle touch. This, in a nation of the pastoral lyric. If the nation is not all cock-a-hoop with Modi, something must have palled. Yes, we love our Gods and Goddesses, but not in our living spaces, mornings, noons and evenings. That would be tiresome. Modi was in our living rooms all the time for a full year. The blame will have to be placed somewhere here if the world's most expensive election campaign does not deliver him the prime ministership. What was conceived by TV script writers as a Modi versus Rahul Gandhi serial dialogue lost considerable audience appeal when Rahul Gandhi refused to come on stage. Even until December, when Arnab Goswami trapped Rahul Gandhi for his solitary interview, there was hope that he would be persuaded to duel Modi. Arnab asked him 18 times in the course of the interview to agree to a debate with Modi. But Rahul Gandhi was fixated on one theme: he was devoting himself to a system of primaries for selection of candidates. This reporter had written years ago that Rahul Gandhi's eyes were set not on 2014 but more on 2024 when he would be only 53 years old and possibly more willing. After a disastrous UPA-II, the Congress had reconciled itself to sitting in the opposition. But panic gripped the family when reports trickled in of the party dipping to double digits. Hence, the frenetic action by the Gandhi family in Rae Bareli and Amethi. The thinking around Congress president Sonia Gandhi is that a tally of 110 plus will enable the party to give outside support to a grouping and somehow keep Modi out. But Rahul is singing a different tune. He would like to sit in the opposition and reconstruct the party according to his lights. This would have been a sensible strategy and in harmony with the party vice president's laid-back style, if Modi were zooming ahead, towards the magic figure of 272. He is not. The news from the game changing states like Bihar and Andhra Pradesh is not good for the BJP. Only Modi's very reliable Amit Shah's machinations are keeping the party in serious contention in UP. The BJP's hopes hinge on this state. So, Rahul wake up. You may be required to be nimble. The manner in which Modi, Arun Jaitley and Amit Shah have pitched their tents in Varanasi against the administration and the Election Commission does not make them look like a victorious trio. Have you ever seen a winning team abuse umpires? With the Akalis fighting for their lives in Punjab, there is little of the NDA left to induce confidence. And before the party flaunts its Shiv Sena affiliations take a look at Saamna, the party's mouthpiece.
[Goanet] Welcome to Campal Children’s Park with pedal boats etc
Campal Children’s Park Bhagvan Mahaveer Park Our visit 11.5.14 Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAAdH6qdvfU Pics https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk70/13980489778/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk70/14164405842/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk70/13980471887/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk70/14167197734/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk70/13980485197/in/photostream/ Fort Replica https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk70/14143960506/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk70/14167189214/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk70/13980449699/in/photostream/ Boat ride https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk70/14187203053/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk70/14167177064/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk70/13980463937/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk70/13980507960/in/photostream/ slide https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk70/13980479928/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk70/13980471887/in/photostream/ Protecting wall to stop erosion – formerly Campal beach https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk70/14187240083/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk70/13980509948/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk70/14163828211/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk70/13980498550/in/photostream/ the 3 https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk70/13980496190/in/photostream/ Dog enjoying picnic meal https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk70/14164403552/in/photostream/ https://www.flickr.com/photos/joegoauk70/14163817291/in/photostream/ joego...@yahoo.co.uk for Goa NRI related info... http://in.groups.yahoo.com/group/GOAN-NRI/ For Goan Video Clips http://youtube.com/joeukgoa In Goa, Dial 1 0 8 For Hospital, Police, Fire etc
[Goanet] Was the Goa media looking other way or sleeping?
Nandkumar's opinion piece in today's Navhind Times makes interesting reading. He says, Goa has already tasted success with Manohar Parrikar variant of Moditva. His nationalist, benevolent, non-dogmatic Hinduism had accommodated the dogmatic Catholic MLAs and Ministers - a modest experiment which perfectly fitted RSS framework now redrawn at national level. His labelling of the Catholic MLAs as dogmatic while Parrikar pratices non-dogmatic Hinduism is something to think about. No doubt, he praises Parrikar for his work in Goa, especially the social benefits to Goan people.His piece also praises the RSS for doing its work in promoting Modivata Factor. He avoids the term Hinduvta and replaces it with Modivata, as if the two are inseparables. He implies that Modi is a child of the RSS and so Modi is Hinduvta personified. Nandakumar says, The results of May 16 counting may surprise even the state BJP but that’s how Moditva factor has worked in Goa and has been completely missed by the media. May 16 is just four day away, and we will know if both the seats goes the BJP way. He's surprised that the media has missed such as factor, though he could have sounded the paper where he writes to take a deep look at this aspect. That makes me ask if the media in Goa was looking the other way or was it sleeping? eugene
[Goanet] Stryker Corporation’s Kevin Lobo: Indian-origin CEO of $9 bn US company bets on Indian market
The $9-billion Stryker Corporation CEO Kevin Lobo is a Mumbai boy, but not quite the quintessential type. He grew up in Montreal and also met his wife Shazie Zaman there in college. Born of Goan parents who migrated to Canada, Lobo speaks a smattering of Konkani and Hindi. My wife speaks Urdu. Her father has roots in Bangladesh and her mother is from Pakistan, says Lobo adding that his family of four is a nice combo of 'desi' genes. Lobo also speaks French apart from English as he grew up in the French (Quebec) part of Canada and spent some part of his professional life in Paris. One of the lesser known India-born CEOs of a global corporation at a time when Satya Nadella at Microsoft and Rajeev Suri at Nokia are making headlines, Lobo admits it is tough for his people to abuse him in a fit of anger in an unknown tongue. We do not even try, says Ramesh Subrahmanian, Stryker's president for international business. Subrahmanian was one of the first people hired by Lobo three months after he took over as Stryker CEO in October 2012, in Michigan's Kalamazoo, where Stryker is based. Subrahmanian was based in Singapore when he was hired. He continues to operate from Singapore and it also indicates where Lobo wants the company to go — away from the US. BRIC plus T, or Brazil, Russia, India, China and Turkey, are our focus markets now, Lobo says, adding that currently two-thirds of the company's sales come out of the US. Lobo was in the middle of a tour of India when he met ET Magazine in Mumbai last week. He was off to Pune immediately after the meeting to meet a few doctors and a couple of my aunts who stay there. The next day he was in Delhi. To target markets like India, the first strategy for Stryker is to widen the product range and introduce products that are considered affordable in India. My first acquisition was Trauson Holdings, China's largest manufacturer of pelvic reconstruction plates. We will launch their products in India. Four more acquisitions have followed. American company Irvine, which has a technology to count number of sponges used in a surgery and make sure the same number comes back; Berchtold, a German company making surgical equipment; Pivot a company offering equipment for arthroscopy; and Mako, which offers a robotic surgery platform. Of these five the last three have been completed in the past six months. Lobo is particularly thrilled about Mako and feels its robotic surgery platform can find a market in India. The medical tourism market in India also creates an opportunity for a lot of our products, including the robotic surgery platform, Lobo says. And the technology on the sponges too — for, as Lobo says, 2,300 sponges are left behind annually inside patient's bodies in the US alone. Imagine the cost of recovering them, the surgery and the pain. For Stryker, India is not all about the market. Stryker has also invested in a technology and development centre in Gurgaon and employs 700 people here. Overall, Stryker has increased its spending on research. When I joined our spending on RD was 5% of sales. Last year it was 5.9% of sales. This year it is going to be more than 6%, Lobo says. *Profits Take a Hit* It has not been all smooth sailing for Lobo though. In 2013, even as sales grew 4.2%, profits fell by 22.5% over a year ago. In the first quarter of 2014, profits dropped by 77% to $70 million, while sales went up by 5.3% to $2.3 billion. The drop in profit can be attributed to the acquisition spree, two of which were closed recently and also certain problems with producthttp://economictimes.indiatimes.com/definition/product recalls. Adjusting for the acquisitions, the company's profits showed a smaller drop of 3%. Lobo remains confident that the company is on course and in fact set off on his visit to India immediately after the results were announced and the company held its annual general meeting in Kalamazoo. Lobo is yet to shift his residence to Kalamazoo and continues to operate from his old office in New Jersey. He is waiting for his son to complete high school. On an average I can be in Kalamazoo for only two days a week even if I live there, says Lobo. However, neither Kalamazoo nor New Jersey is Lobo's top priority today as far as business goes. Growth will come from Indian hospitals where Lobo is making personal pitches on this tour. He should know them well, he was born in one — the Bombay Hospital in south Mumbai. Read more at: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/34936538.cms?curpg=2utm_source=contentofinterestutm_medium=textutm_campaign=cppst .. http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/nri/nris-in-news/stryker-corporations-kevin-lobo-indian-origin-ceo-of-9-bn-us-company-bets-on-indian-market/articleshow/34936538.cms?curpg=2
[Goanet] Today's Goa's Herald Review
Dear readers I have noted comments made by learned friends on the net Mr Mervyn Maciel and Mr Gabe Menezes. I take this opportunity to emphasise that the Goan is not a species of cockroach that can be stamped under foot. We are actually very alive and kicking in 2014 around the world even though, as you know, our people never tell the right story. Hence the need for verification ten times. Perhaps someone can enlighten me why this is? If Selma Carvalho's book mentions that there was German whisky it may have been possible or she may have been given the wrong story and is passing it on. It is up to everyone of us when we see something wrong to correct it and not go ya ya ya ya that will be chanted on with generations yet unborn all with the wrong story hence the phrase Are Goans Stupid?. In Britain with its free education there are 14-16 year olds who cannot read or write. If the book A Railway Runs Through has made people read and think again, away from their play stations and computer games then this itself is an achievement. Having served on German soil with BAOR (British Army On the Rhine) I am familar with some of the drink labels mentioned by Gabe Menezes but haven't tried all of them yet. Without reference to anything I am in agreement that our people were involved in contraband/fiddles activities or black as it is commonly known as. In the last few years, a cruise ship docked at Marmagoa harbour on a visit, the ship was stripped off all its duty free goods by Goa customs. Wonder what happened after this? Have any more cruise ships visited Goa to contribute to the local economy? Melvyn Fernandes Thornton Heath, Surrey, United Kingdom 12 May 2014
Re: [Goanet] Today's Goa's Herald Review
Dear Melvyn, You are right when you suggest exercising caution before criticising and well-meaning to suggest that Selma Carvalho may have been given the wrong story about German whisky and passed it on. Certainly any book written is prone to error and such errors must be contested and can be corrected in later editions of the book. However, those pointing out errors must do so with some authority and supply references to the contrary. Both Mervyn Maciel and I have been involved in the consultation process of this book and are familiar with the subject matter. Selma is not only depending on information provided by East African Goans to recreate this story. She has meticulously researched this book at great length through sources dating back to the 1800s. Almost each sentence has a citation. If one is questioning that citation, they must first look it up. With reference to the question of German whisky, it must be viewed in the context of history at the time, when Britain had decided to restrict access to alcohol in parts of Africa. The ‘German’ she is referring to is not in Europe but the German coast of Tanganyika and the contraband emerging from this territory into Zanzibar, less than fifty miles away. One reference to check for Goans selling contraband German alcohol is the Pall Mall Gazette, June 16, 1885. There are many others but such scrutiny takes time and effort. Rather, a few prefer to sit on the side-lines and make spurious comments. Eddie Fernandes = -Original Message- From: Goanet [mailto:goanet-boun...@lists.goanet.org] On Behalf Of Melvyn Fernandes ... If Selma Carvalho's book mentions that there was German whisky it may have been possible or she may have been given the wrong story and is passing it on. It is up to everyone of us when we see something wrong to correct it and not go ya ya ya ya that will be chanted on with generations yet unborn all with the wrong story hence the phrase Are Goans Stupid?.
[Goanet] Creepy Times Fungoid Frog
Fungoid Frog It is a known fact that most wild animals avoid human beings. The reason why, is pretty obvious: most humans are very noisy creatures, fairly large (compared to most animals) and usually extremely dangerous.Luckily (for a wildlife enthusiast!) not all wild animals share this opinion about us humans. Some feral creatures not only survive but actually seem to thrive around people. Many animals actively seek out human habitations to hunt, breed and build their own homes! Take for example this Fungoid frog. This beautiful amphibian was photographed right inside my own room. The little frog had settled in behind my sleeping bag which was stashed away under a shelf in one corner of my room. The only reason I knew it was there was because every once in a while it simply couldn’t stop itself from serenading me with a *series *of delightful squeals, squeaks and croaks! This staccato of calls often erupted at random hours and without warning. But the same cacophony of high pitched croaks and squeaks could also be brought on if I engaged in a raucous conversation or a shared a hearty laugh with any person in the vicinity of my room! In this case the response to our laugh or shout was instantaneous. My suspicion is that it did not like the idea of not being the loudest one in the room and was therefore trying to out-sing us! But I could be wrong and maybe the little creature simply longed to join in on our conversation! A few days after I had started hearing the little frog’s call I began to notice it hopping from its resting spot behind my sleeping bag to behind the fridge on the other side of my room. I can only presume that this was its hunting spot.One day as it started its short journey across my room I tried cornering it with my camera. But the little frog evaded me easily and immediately found its way to hide behind my fridge. Moving aside the fridge found me dirt I hadn’t swept in years and the little amphibian dabbed in a few bits of cobweb! I moved my camera as slowly as I could towards the small frog so as not to frighten it into moving away. That seemed to work and the frog remained unmoving till I got quite close to it. Three photographs later it had had enough and without warning it dashed away with lightening speed across my room to hide behind my sleeping bag! J. C Daniel’s book (Reptiles and Amphibians of India) offers two possible explanations for its name. The first one being that the coloration on the frog’s back resembles the red bark fungus growing on trees on which this frog is often found living on. The second explanation is that the frog gives off a powerful fungoid odor when excited. The book also states that being a land species this frog is reluctant to enter water and avoids doing so except for breeding! -- www.rahulalvares.com -- www.rahulalvares.com
Re: [Goanet] Today's Goa's Herald Review
On 12 May 2014 13:59, Melvyn Fernandes mel...@orange.net wrote: Dear readers I have noted comments made by learned friends on the net Mr Mervyn Maciel and Mr Gabe Menezes. I take this opportunity to emphasise that the Goan is not a species of cockroach that can be stamped under foot. We are actually very alive and kicking in 2014 around the world even though, as you know, our people never tell the right story. Hence the need for verification ten times. Perhaps someone can enlighten me why this is? If Selma Carvalho's book mentions that there was German whisky it may have been possible or she may have been given the wrong story and is passing it on. It is up to everyone of us when we see something wrong to correct it and not go ya ya ya ya that will be chanted on with generations yet unborn all with the wrong story hence the phrase Are Goans Stupid?. In Britain with its free education there are 14-16 year olds who cannot read or write. If the book A Railway Runs Through has made people read and think again, away from their play stations and computer games then this itself is an achievement. Having served on German soil with BAOR (British Army On the Rhine) I am familar with some of the drink labels mentioned by Gabe Menezes but haven't tried all of them yet. Without reference to anything I am in agreement that our people were involved in contraband/fiddles activities or black as it is commonly known as. In the last few years, a cruise ship docked at Marmagoa harbour on a visit, the ship was stripped off all its duty free goods by Goa customs. Wonder what happened after this? Have any more cruise ships visited Goa to contribute to the local economy? Melvyn Fernandes Thornton Heath, Surrey, United Kingdom 12 May 2014 Dear Bwana Karani na Askari maji baridi I shall excuse you Bwana as shall most senior members on this list - you are not supposed to change the subject matter - i.e. you have started a new thread, same theme! Also you should have confronted me head on, if you can't do that, you should not be on this list. You have kindly drawn me into this, I shall respond accordingly. So here goes: Yes it was nice of Mrs Carvalho to undertake this task and you are q -- DEV BOREM KORUM Gabe Menezes.
