[Goanet-News] CONTROVERSY: Should the coconut tree debate rage on? (David Lobo, Goanet)
David Lobo davidl...@deejayfarm.com Do let me know why this debate regarding the coconut tree rages on. I am an interested person, being involved with coconut farming and breeding. Perhaps I have missed something and need to be enlightened. I believe that the legislation to remove the coconut palm from the list of trees is needed. These are my reasons. The coconut palm, part of the very spirit of Goa, was classified as a tree some years ago, by the Forest Department, I believe. The millions of palms all over Goa, were and are grown for economic benefit, planted around the home, in fields, on bunds and so on, and a small percentage for aesthetic reasons. With the classification of the coconut palm as a Forest Tree, permission had to be taken to cut it down. This made life much harder for the house holder, the farmer and I believe the Agricultural Department, but was beneficial for the Forest Department, if fees are charged for giving permission to cut down the coconut palms. If the palm growing in one's garden was a danger to life and property, or was too tall to climb and harvest, or became senile and low in productivity, and needed a replacement, it could NOT be cut without permission, which does not always come promptly. If the farmer wants to replant his field and replace senile palms, he cannot do so, without permission, which does not always come promptly. If the government has many schemes to encourage the replacement of senile and dangerous palms with new and high producing ones, the scheme cannot work efficiently for permission has to be taken in every case. In terms of productivity with regard to the coconut palm, Goa is near the bottom of the list of States. Looking at the other side of the coin: will this freedom to "cut down palms" be abused and will Goa become a state with sunshine and sand but no palms? I am absolutely sure it will not happen. Will the whole sale slaughter of palms take place now that everyone has freedom to cut palms? Of course not. No one, but no one, cuts down the palm for no reason. Without doubt a palm that is a danger to life and home, must be cut down, and the previous red tape to get permission was a hindrance. If one has to build a home, or a factory or any structure, and the palm is in the way, yes, they will get cut down now easier than before. They certainly did get cut down before but with permission. What is the difference with or without permission -- the same number will be cut down, in one case easily and in the other, with fees being paid. If a building or a factory comes up, I see no harm if the coconut trees standing on the land and in the way, are cut down. Jobs are created, new products will reach the public, living standards are improved and wealth is created. Why not have all these benefits in place of some senile palms? I cannot see any other palm being cut down. This number however pales in comparison with the number of senile palms [more than 50%] that should be cut down, and replanted with young palms. All efforts by the Agriculture Department of the Government of Goa, to rejuvenate and replant, hits a serious road block with the earlier permission needed. On the one hand we blame Government for being slow and for poor governance, and on the other hand some are demanding legislation that results in exactly that! All the people I asked if they will now cut down their palms for they do not need permission, looked at me as if I was a mad man! "Why on earth should I cut it down?" was the most common retort. The coconut palm is not a rose wood or a sandal wood tree, that is more useful cut and dead than when standing and alive. On the contrary it is almost valueless when dead. Who then wants the legislation to come back, that the coconut palm is a forest tree? I think it is only those who see opportunity for themselves and those who have not thought this through properly. Please enlighten me if I have missed something. -- David Lobo has been called 'The Coconut Palm Man'. After deciding the priesthood was not for him, he committed himself to a range of businesses, and currently adds value to farmers' lives through his Bangalore-headquartered hybrid coconut palms and Deejay Farms. See deejayfarm.com and http://sustainabilitynext.in/special-interview/meet-david-lobo-the-coconut-palm-man/
[Goanet-News] Once upon a time, in Kuwait (Reena Martins, The Telegraph)
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1160131/jsp/7days/story_66683.jsp Once upon a time, in Kuwait Airlift, the Bollywood movie, has stirred the memories of people affected by the invasion of Kuwait. Reena Martins [reenamart...@hotmail.com] talks to some of them RAVAGED: Chand Gidwani (top) and Alex Fernandes, who were among those who fled the war zone "Dad made me a flag of India, and we wrote 'Hindi, Indian' on the car windscreen. We played Hindi music and wore salwar kameezes, our heads covered." It was early August, 1990. Vilette Jennings, now a homemaker in Qatar, recalls travelling in a convoy of seven cars to Iraq after Saddam Hussain's invasion of Kuwait, where she lived with her family. The journey to Baghdad was arduous. They had to prove their nationality at gunpoint at checkposts, drink saline water in Basra and guard the cars and petrol at night. But the Iraqis were kind to the Indians and had even picked up some Hindi from Bollywood films, Jennings says. These long buried, bitter-sweet memories of people affected by the invasion of Kuwait now find themselves dug out by the Bollywood hit, Airlift, which tells the story of the attempts of one man -- played by Akshay Kumar -- to rescue people trapped in the West Asian country. But, as the makers of Airlift insist, the film doesn't just seek to tell the tale of Mathuny Mathews, nicknamed Toyota Sunny. Mathews, now 80, a then influential businessman from Kerala, has been credited with rescuing a large number of Indians stranded in Kuwait. It's the story of many others, too. Shiva Karayil, a badminton coach in Mumbai who was a part of Mathew's rescue team in Kuwait, remembers how they had to often break into shops to feed people in the relief camps they'd set up. With communications snapped, Mathews and his team radioed the government for help, which came as an individual allowance of 200 Iraqi dinars. "We then signed a contract with Iraqi bus owners and got 20-30 buses sent to UN camps in Jordan and Iraq, before people were airlifted by Air India," says Karayil. But while the tussle for credit rages between Mathews's supporters and the Indian government, focus shifts to regular folk in Kuwait, who went out of their way to save their stranded brethren. Carmo Santos, a Goan businessman in Kuwait, sheltered and fed families that, after having sold their household goods to fund their trip out of Kuwait, were stranded at the Iraqi border and had to return penniless. "I distributed hundreds of kilos of rice and wheat that were in my godown, and even gave money to those who had little or none," Santos says. "Many, including Kuwaiti locals, sought me out to return the money after the war had ended, and are still very grateful." For many Indians, it was an escape all right, but not always to victory. Santos, who stayed back in Kuwait, got advertisements placed in the Goa papers, asking those who had returned to Goa to send him copies of their passports, sponsorship and employment details, so he could help them get back their jobs. "Their families were in turmoil over loss of money, and marriages were breaking down," Santos says. Chand Gidwani, an amateur wildlife photographer in California, who was in Kuwait during the invasion, says her husband, who was in Mumbai then, was traumatised over news of rapes and paucity of food, water and medical care in Kuwait. A little over a month after the invasion, Gidwani left with family and friends by a caravan one night, each one carrying a suitcase. They could buy flight tickets only in American dollars which they got from an aunt in Dubai through a Palestinian relative. At a Red Cross camp in Jordan, Goa-based photographer Alex Fernandes's cab was stopped at the camp's main gate by Iraqi troops who, on finding Scotch whiskey in his possession, demanded a bribe in dollars or Kuwaiti dinars. And, as a parting shot, they told him he was crazy to get off at the main gate when there was an unmanned one. "That's when I realised that the cabbie who had dropped us there was hand in glove with the cops," says Fernandes. But truth, as they say, could be stranger than fiction. Dramatic, too. On August 2, 1990, Anthony Veronica Fernandes was on his way to the bakala (Arabic for grocery store), to get the morning papers, when he was held at gunpoint by Iraqi soldiers carrying "World War II style" battered helmets and wireless sets. Traffic had come to a standstill, so he assumed some senior sheikh was passing. "It was only when I heard engines running with no driver behind the wheel, that I sensed trouble," he says. "But as luck would have it, the
[Goanet-News] Goa news for January 31, 2016
Goa News from Google News and Goanet.org Visit http://www.goanet.org/newslinks.php for the full stories. *** Goa government mulls banning liquor consumption at public places - Economic Times wddoWYrwd_vQ=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331=52779038111710=jFWtVpi8E5K43gGNz5jIBA http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t=R=us=AFQjCNFQXWF-lH4km42dXv01KzSfj7wUzw=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331=52779038111710=jFWtVpi8E5K43gGNz5jIBA=http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/goa-government-mulls-banning-liquor-consumption-at-public-places/articleshow/50741118.cms *** Goa government forced into U-turn on hosting Godse book launch on Gandhi's death anniversary - Scroll.in ovt-stalls-release-of-godse-book-on-gandhi-s-death-anniversary/story-lPfZVbOsUeWtU1bs6TcUYN.html">Goa govt stalls release of Godse book on Gandhi's death anniversary http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t=R=us=AFQjCNHZC0OjJWRHD4dWWi-c3rd4DKiuUQ=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331=52779039032178=jFWtVpi8E5K43gGNz5jIBA=http://scroll.in/article/802754/goa-government-forced-into-u-turn-on-hosting-godse-book-launch-on-gandhis-death-anniversary *** Mahadayi: Goa rejects tripartite meeting with Karnataka and Maharashtra - Times of India ed Goa government rejecting a meeting with Karnataka to resolve the Mahadayi river sharing outside the tribunal. In a letter ... http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t=R=us=AFQjCNG0DRA23F-8DJiQdFhOoWBSNj-Qyg=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331=52779039690374=jFWtVpi8E5K43gGNz5jIBA=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/Mahadayi-Goa-rejects-tripartite-meeting-with-Karnataka-and-Maharashtra/articleshow/50785778.cms *** Lajong seek first I-League win against Sporting Goa - Business Standard ajong-fc-sporting-club-de-goa-preview">I-League Preview: Shillong Lajong FC vs Sporting Club De Goa http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t=R=us=AFQjCNFoqYhdHOlgRTXVTg6lhukqMYqDjg=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331=52779039727220=jFWtVpi8E5K43gGNz5jIBA=http://www.business-standard.com/article/pti-stories/lajong-seek-first-i-league-win-against-sporting-goa-116013000867_1.html *** Raveena Tandon's younger daughter Chhaya ties knot in Goa, see pics - The Indian Express atholic wedding in Goa on January 25. http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t=R=us=AFQjCNFOcAwnwnlnKpD2JowhScQd_4vT3w=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331=52779039623385=jFWtVpi8E5K43gGNz5jIBA=http://indianexpress.com/photos/entertainment-gallery/raveena-tandons-younger-daughter-chhaya-ties-knot-in-goa-see-pics/ *** South Goa ZP discusses coconut tree, Sumul issues - Times of India perative Milk Producers Union Limited) into Goa, dominated the proceedings of the South Goa zilla panchayat meeting on Friday. http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t=R=us=AFQjCNEHk53A2BC2XB1RZ-TcE5rP0T9eAg=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331=52779039383616=jFWtVpi8E5K43gGNz5jIBA=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/South-Goa-ZP-discusses-coconut-tree-Sumul-issues/articleshow/50783881.cms *** Goa government mulling setting up film city in state - The Indian Express e Indian ExpressThe Goa government is contemplating setting up a film city or film hub in the state, which can create revenue at par with the Tourism or Mining industry, a senior official said today (January 29). "The Goa government already has a proposal for film ...http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t=R=us=AFQjCNHaeAHaq8DASejz-cjf5Xfx5MaAdg=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331=52779039183695=jFWtVpi8E5K43gGNz5jIBA=http://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/entertainment-others/goa-government-mulling-setting-up-film-city-in-state/ *** Why has Goa decided the coconut palm is no longer a tree? - BBC News _D8wEMBEk_eM=0=us">and more » http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t=R=us=AFQjCNEgkJg8OWOOVElyo5D1-rx9AndiTQ=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331=52779038322782=jFWtVpi8E5K43gGNz5jIBA=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-35417168 *** Manohar Parrikar sought opinion of Goa Governor to be given in RTI - Economic Times rM=0=us">and more » http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t=R=us=AFQjCNHuiY89VJwnzap__KG2tyxyH2urYw=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331=52779039221073=jFWtVpi8E5K43gGNz5jIBA=http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/manohar-parrikar-sought-opinion-of-goa-governor-to-be-given-in-rti/articleshow/50773850.cms *** Tolerance towards Opposition has declined in Goa Assembly: Vishnu Surya Wagh, Deputy Speaker - Economic Times onomic TimesPANAJI: Goa Deputy Speaker Vishnu Surya Wagh today said tolerance levels of the ruling party towards the views of the Opposition in the State Assembly have diminished considerably over a period of time. "I am not happy with the kind of debate in the ...http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t=R=us=AFQjCNHI4BJMGZUu93rFGTm6jgMYrnurFg=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331=52779039619592=jFWtVpi8E5K43gGNz5jIBA=http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/tolerance-towards-opposition-has-declined-in-goa-assembly-vishnu-surya-wagh-deputy-speaker/articleshow/50782884.cms
[Goanet-News] Goa news for February 1, 2016
Goa News from Google News and Goanet.org Visit http://www.goanet.org/newslinks.php for the full stories. *** Raveena Tandon shares new pictures from her daughter's wedding - The Indian Express ased Shawn Mendes in a Hindu-Catholic wedding in Goa on January 25. And daughter Chhaya walking down the church corridor gracefully is the most favourite picture of the wedding ... http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t=R=us=AFQjCNFOcAwnwnlnKpD2JowhScQd_4vT3w=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331=52779039623385=DKeuVrjqDpK43gGNz5jIBA=http://indianexpress.com/photos/entertainment-gallery/raveena-tandons-younger-daughter-chhaya-ties-knot-in-goa-see-pics/ *** I-League: Shillong Lajong 1-0 Sporting Clube de Goa: Uilliams' strike sinks Goans - Goal.com at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Meghalaya on Sunday. Uilliams Bomfin (59') scored the only goal of the ... http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t=R=us=AFQjCNEkBNd2hwqMnZDAueQvnb7Tnm74Sw=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331=52779039727220=DKeuVrjqDpK43gGNz5jIBA=http://www.goal.com/en-india/match/shillong-lajong-vs-sporting-goa/2176892/report *** Goa Tourism to go ahead with helicopter joy rides - Economic Times cD4pxA4LJ0FtNoMixA7D2Htw=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331=52779040255921=DKeuVrjqDpK43gGNz5jIBA http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t=R=us=AFQjCNEUX4oqciGMTdAhJ0ZEAvYDtOY_1A=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331=52779040255921=DKeuVrjqDpK43gGNz5jIBA=http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/industry/services/travel/goa-tourism-to-go-ahead-with-helicopter-joy-rides/articleshow/50793486.cms *** Mahadayi River dispute: Goa rejects Karnataka's proposal of out of the court settlement - The News Minute tate Mahadayi river water dispute has received a setback with the Goa government rejecting the proposal. In response to Karnataka's request, Goa Chief Minister Laxmikant Parsekar has ... http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t=R=us=AFQjCNE313xNq66ukik0mJF_THva9sBhUw=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331=52779039690374=DKeuVrjqDpK43gGNz5jIBA=http://www.thenewsminute.com/article/mahadayi-river-dispute-goa-rejects-karnataka%E2%80%99s-proposal-out-court-settlement-38364 *** Goa government mulling setting up film city in state - The Indian Express tandard.com/article/pti-stories/goa-govt-mulling-setting-up-film-city-in-state-116012900865_1.html">Goa govt mulling setting up film city in state http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t=R=us=AFQjCNHaeAHaq8DASejz-cjf5Xfx5MaAdg=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331=52779039183695=DKeuVrjqDpK43gGNz5jIBA=http://indianexpress.com/article/entertainment/entertainment-others/goa-government-mulling-setting-up-film-city-in-state/ *** Goa to submit 'violation report' of Karnataka work on Mhadei River - Goa News a NewsGoa has opposed before the Mhadei water dispute tribunal construction of the canals at Kalsa and Bandura to divert water of River Mhadei to River Malprabha. The hearing is scheduled on 23 February, where Goa plans to submit the report of the ongoing ...http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t=R=us=AFQjCNHnws7dVu5uSFwdxfnmLl-KQlwQDQ=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331=DKeuVrjqDpK43gGNz5jIBA=http://www.goanews.com/news_disp.php?newsid=6792 *** Actor to journalist : Look who's settling down in Goa for a dream life - Hindustan Times 8oXM=0=us"> http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t=R=us=AFQjCNHYhSdFKJ5cm-ftphvhO2SBx8ZNNA=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331=DKeuVrjqDpK43gGNz5jIBA=http://www.hindustantimes.com/brunch/meet-the-people-who-decided-to-give-up-city-life-to-settle-in-india-s-holiday-state-goa/story-5OYajykQlLoHT1BHqdYL2N.html *** Easiest to get drugs in Goa, but Punjab branded drugs capital, says Sukhbir Singh Badal - The Indian Express e Indian Express"Goa is the easiest place in India to get drugs, but there are hardly any arrests. Punjab is acting tough, but gets branded as the drug capital," said Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal on Saturday. Badal was responding to questions on ...http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t=R=us=AFQjCNFg6t4fIg6edyXL6-GtOwC_Z8owUA=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331=DKeuVrjqDpK43gGNz5jIBA=http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-news-india/easiest-to-get-drugs-in-goa-but-punjab-branded-drugs-capital-says-sukhbir-singh-badal/ *** Travel review: Goa - serenity island - Yorkshire Evening Post rkshire Evening PostIt's not the first time I've heard about Goa's famous gear switch quite a contrast to the rest of India. It has a reputation for attracting laidback hippies on yoga retreats and budget travellers seeking cheap massages on the beach. But I'm not a ...http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t=R=us=AFQjCNFPsL6vZ4KCIo1ocuqJz3r5A0rNGA=c3a7d30bb8a4878e06b80cf16b898331=DKeuVrjqDpK43gGNz5jIBA=http://www.yorkshireeveningpost.co.uk/what-s-on/travel-reviews/travel-review-goa-serenity-island-1-7704628 *** GOA BRIEFS - The Navhind Times -side soccer tournament at A lua grounds, Merces on February 10. Only first eight entries will be allowed to take part in the competition. Besides trophies, the winners and runners-up will
