Monday, December 13, 2010

Goa Blog

Goa Blog

Christmas feast: Turkey takes centre stage at dinners in Goa

Posted: 13 Dec 2010 03:29 AM PST

India’s national culinary bird, the humble chicken, has got competition this Christmas. Turkeys - big, fat, stuffed, roasted and glazed - are slowly taking centre stage at dinners in Goa, edging out the relatively lean chicken.

Demand for dressed turkey birds for the dinner table is on the rise this year, according to traders who source the exotic birds from breeding farms located in the vicinity of Goa or on the outskirts of the state.

While the arrival of the venerable, meaty and 8-12 pounder turkeys on dinner tables is a very British twist to a Portuguese-influenced psyche of Goans, those who deal in these birds in this former Lusitanian colony aren’t disappointed.

‘We offer a whole six-kilogram turkey with various kinds of stuffing. You can choose a full-baked turkey or roast turkey with your choice of stuffing. Almond sauce stuffing with red wine or herbal stuffing or orange baked stuffing or roast turkey with apple, ham and garlic or whatever suits you,’ Joel Fernandes of the Calangute-based Infantaria, a bakery-cum-restaurant, told IANS.

According to Joel, whose restaurant is extremely popular with the holiday crowd in the tourism hub 15 km from here, if you really want to dig into a turkey on the Christmas eve, there’s no room for procrastination.

‘Orders for turkeys have to be given before Dec 20. At the last minute, it is difficult to get turkey and I can’t order more. A single turkey costs a cool Rs.3,000 which can vary depending on the stuffing,’ Joel said, claiming that orders for stuffed turkeys this year have already started pouring in.

‘Unlike chicken, where sales can be quite accurately tracked because of the organized nature of business, turkeys are difficult to account. But, from a stage where once people did not even know about roast turkey 10 years ago, we are getting nearly four to five business queries every day,’ said Rudolf Lobo, who deals in fresh meats in Margao.

‘A lot of turkeys come in from farms near Goa. I peg the figure at nearly 3,000 (turkeys) for the Christmas season,’ he said.

Turkeys are raised and bred in small farms on the outskirts of Goa, often by poultry dealers, who then sell the dressed birds to various fresh and frozen meat outlets spread across the state.

A week or two before Christmas, it is not an uncommon sight to see a couple of young, rustic lads bringing a small flock of 20-30 birds to towns whereh they set up a makeshift camp and sell the gluttonous birds to would be Christmas revellers.

‘Goa is one of the best markets for turkey during Christmas. We sell them to Bangalore and Mumbai too. Most birds weighing 3-4 kg are sold for Rs.600-700,’ said Altaf Sheikh, who brokers the birds by buying them from farms in Karnataka and selling them to hotels and restaurants.

Hotels and restaurants along the state’s coastline buy the birds for their grand Chirstmas dinner, which is a hit with foreign tourists, mostly from Britain and Russia who throng the beach villages.

‘Starred hotels are big buyers. Most of the big orders I get are from starred hotels,’ said Joel.

According to him, the demand for turkeys could have been spurred in Goa by European tourists, especially those from Britain, who like to keep a date with their Christmas tradition, even while holidaying in the sunshine on Goan beaches.

But once the meat-loving Goans sunk their teeth into the succulent bird, they simply could not have enough of it.

‘Even though British, besides Fins, Dutch and other Scandinavians, seek turkey, the major buyers are Goans,’ Joel said.

Roast turkey substituted the wild goose as a mainstay on the dinner table on Christmas for most English homes, after captive farming of the bird made it more easily available than the goose some time in the last century.

But for those of whom spending Rs.3,000 on an edible dinner table centre-piece is a lot of money, there’s always the duck, which is meat all right but falls way short of quality.

‘Ducklings are also available but because the quality of Indian ducks are not too good the demand is less. The meat is very hard. Duckling in ginger sauce is one of the options,’ Joel said.

Courtesy:Sify
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Sunday, December 12, 2010

Goa Blog

Goa Blog

What’s in a word? Goa to host 3-day lit fest

Posted: 12 Dec 2010 06:00 AM PST

Its raining festivals in Goa this season. After the recently concluded, international film festival of India (IFFI), the state will now get a chance to indulge in literature.

The three-day Goa Arts and Literary Festival on December 12 at the International Centre Goa (ICG) is inspired by the famous Jaipur Literary Festival and Hay Literary Festival. “It will be deeply rooted to Goa with the involvement of musicians, painters, filmmakers, architects and designers apart from writers,” said Nandini Sahai, director of ICG who wants to make it an annual affair. Jnanpith Award-winner U R Ananthamurthy will be the guest of honour while Speaker of the Goa legislative assembly and president of ICG Pratapsingh Rane will be the special guest.

The festival is organised by ICG in partnership with the Sahitya Academy, Goa Writers Group, Goa Konkani Academy, Gomantak Marathi Academy Harper Collins and Goa Tourism. Prominant authors and writers will participate in the festival

The festival is open to all and will feature a variety of presentations and readings by various authors and other events such as plays, music performances, with the primary focus of promoting and interacting with authors, artists and readers. Four books will also be released during the festival.

Courtey:TOI

Nine of family, driver die in Maharashtra accident

Posted: 12 Dec 2010 04:28 AM PST

Nine members of a family and a driver were killed when their vehicle collided with a bus in Maharashtra’s Ratnagiri district Sunday morning, police said.

The accident took place near Khed when the speeding Tavera, driven by 22-year-old Suraj Shankar Jadhav, was taking a sharp curve at Kashedi Ghat on the Bombay-Goa highway to Mumbai.

The Tavera hit a Volvo luxury bus, coming from the opposite direction bound for Goa, around 4 a.m. when the occupants of the two vehicles were in deep sleep, a police official said.

The family members who died were — Pradeep Maruti Khelte, 28, Anant Ganpat Khetle, 55, Prema Anand Khetle, 48, Vishnu Ganpat Khetle, 46, Taramati Mahadev Khetle, 58, Mahadev Khhetle, 70, Vinaya Vishnu Khetle, 40, Anjana Ganpat Khetle, 80, and Sangeeta, whose age is not yet known.

Volvo bus driver M.K. Fernandes, 31, was seriously injured and was reported to be critical in a Khed government hospital, the official said.

The Khetle family hailed from Kutgiri village in Ratnagiri, around 200 km from Mumbai.

Courtesy:Sify

Goa’s lifeguards call off strike, get back to beaches

Posted: 11 Dec 2010 10:28 AM PST

Goa’s beaches are again safe for swimming as more than 300 lifeguards have called off their six-day old strike Saturday, a private beach management agency official said.

V. Kanwar, chief operating officer of the Drishti Special Response Service (DSRS), said that the lifeguards who had struck work protesting low pay and long work hours, resumed duties unconditionally Saturday. DSRS is in charge of the lifeguard operation on Goa’s 105-km long coastline.

‘The strike stands withdrawn and lifeguards have started arriving on beaches. We expect that by Saturday evening or Sunday morning, we will have full strength on the beaches,’ Kanwar told reporters here.

He also said that 54 lifeguards who had been leading the strike would not be hired back by the beach management company.

‘We have terminated the services of 54 lifeguards, so in all we have 440 lifeguards left. We have advertised vacancies and for selection of more lifeguards,’ Kanwar said.

The state’s tourism industry Friday urged the state government to intervene and get lifeguards back to Goa’s beaches, ahead of Christmas and New Year season, which sees a tourism peak.

For the last six days, a skeletal force of lifeguards was manning the state’s beaches.

Goa’s tourism season from October to March sees nearly 2.4 million tourists, of whom half a million are foreigners drawn by Goa’s sunny beaches.

Courtesy:Sify
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Saturday, December 11, 2010

Goa Blog

Goa Blog

Guv gifts Goa Univ. a committee for introspection

Posted: 10 Dec 2010 07:34 PM PST

, feels it’s time for introspection for the state’s lone university on its completion of 25 years.

The chancellor has therefore formed an academic audit committee that will assess the strengths and weaknesses of the university and present its findings early next year.

Speaking at the 23rd annual convocation of the Goa University on Friday, Sidhu told the thousand-plus audience, “Periodical assessment of systems operating at the university is essential. The committee will audit academic achievements and draw a roadmap for the future.”

The five-member academic audit committee will be headed by honorary professor from the Indian Institute of Astrophysics at Bangalore, Vinod Gaur, and will table its report in February, 2011.

Said Sidhu, “The larger objective of this committee is to evaluate the contribution of the Goa University to the state, and to suggest ways and means (for it) to emerge as a strong player in the domain of knowledge production and dissemination.”

A Gnanam, ex-chairman and director of the National Assessment and Accreditation Council; Errol D’Souza, faculty member from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad; A R Vasavi, professor at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore; and V R Shirgurkar, ex-principal of Margao-based Smt Parvatibai Chowgule College are the other members on the committee.

The Goa University completed 25 years on June 30 this year, and the convocation ceremony was held for the first time at its Jubilee Hall, built at a cost of 45 lakh.

While the sound system at the impressive hall was non-existent at times, a ceiling fan gave those sitting below it a hard time as it rotated rather dangerously.

Friday morning’s unexpected showers too played spoilsport by reducing the freshly mud-filled area around the new hall to muck.

But smiles on the faces of the students who took home their degrees conveyed the message that such glitches made no difference in the joy of a convocation ceremony.

A total of 39 students from varied faculties received their doctorates, even as 53 received medals, 33 were handed special prizes and 14 were provided with scholarships.

A total of 6,517 students were conferred various undergraduate degrees and diplomas, even as 762 postgraduate students received their masters degrees. The latter included 223 students from the science stream, 114 from the social sciences stream, 230 from the arts and commerce streams and 195 from professional colleges.

In his address, Goa University vice-chancellor, D Deobagkar, said the university will introduce three courses in the new academic year.

“A five-year integrated MSc Ocean Science and Technology course is being considered by the department of earth sciences, government of India, for support at the national level,” he said.

“A new MBA programme involving hotel management and tourism and a similar BBA course in culinary education are also proposed to be initiated,” he added.

A National Nodal Centre for Marine Microbial Culture Collection is also likely to be established, said Deobagkar, adding that it will network with other centres and industries across the country. CM Digambar Kamat and law commission chief Ramakant Khalap were in the audience.

Courtesy:TOI

Goa is more than a tourist paradise for Abhishek

Posted: 10 Dec 2010 08:14 AM PST

Abhishek Bachchan who plays a police officer from Goa in his upcoming movie ‘Dum Maro Dum’, says he got to know a completely different side of the tiny tourist state during the shoot of the film. “The film is about a police officer from Goa. Hence, shooting in Goa for ‘Dum Maro Dum’ has been a great experience as the film is based there,” Abhishek said.

“Usually as tourists when you go to Goa, you get to know more of the touristic sites. But during this shoot, we actually got to see more of the local places in Goa and literally experienced that the place is more than just the resorts, so it was very interesting,” Abhishek recalled.

He agreed that Goans have been typecast in certain way in many movies. “The image of drinking and making merry is not an accurate account of what the Goan people are. People are very loving and sweet, unfortunately they get typecast but that is not what I have noticed,” he added.

Abhishek said he liked outdoor shoots very much. “I am fine shooting anywhere and any place actually, at the end of the day, I am an actor and I am just here to do the job. I am not particular that way about within India or abroad - I will go anywhere, wherever the film requires,” he said.

However, Abhishek says actors get so busy working on outdoors that even though they get opportunity to travel to all the beautiful and historical places but are not able to actually spend time and learn about the place.

The 34-year-old actor said one of his first memories of Goa was during the shooting of his father’s 1983 film ‘Pukar’.

“One keeps going back to Goa every now and then but over the last 12 months, I have spent a huge amount of time there because I have shot three films in Goa - ‘Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Se’, ‘Dum Maaro Dum’ and now the first schedule of ‘Players’,” he said.

Abhishek said the first of his films that has been shot entirely in Goa is the recently released ‘Khelein Hum Jee Jaan Se’.

“Otherwise I have earlier also shot certain portions for ‘Dhoom’ and ‘Dhoom 2′ in Goa.”

Shooting in Goa has an advantage, he said adding that it is impossible that any visitor will not like the food.

Courtesy:MSN
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Friday, December 10, 2010

Goa Blog

Goa Blog

CBI should probe SEZ scam in Goa: Activist

Posted: 09 Dec 2010 09:06 PM PST

“The SEZ land scam is the mother of all scams in Goa and the present government functionaries,including speaker Pratapsing Rane, power minister Aleixo Sequeira, GIDC chairman Chandrakant Kawlekar and others should immediately resign on moral grounds,” demanded John Philip Pereira, one of the earliest petitioners against the allotment of land for SEZs in Goa.

Nagoa-based Pereira, who along with August Monteiro of Loutolim filed writ petition number 263/08, addressed a press conference on Thursday to highlight some of the lesser known facts of the ” SEZ scam”.

Pereira, who is now a member of Village Groups of Goa and Voice of Villagers, said a CBI investigation should be conducted and an FIR should be filed against the above persons.

He wants then industries minister Luizinho Faleiro, then GIDC MD A V Palekar, the GIDC board members of the 287th meeting who abstained from attending or failed to file objections to the illegalities of the meeting, to be included in the FIR.

Pereira, whose petition has been disposed in the recent high court order which ruled that land allotted to SEZs in Goa was illegal, also made other demands.

He demanded that professionals be appointed on the GIDC board of directors, a stop to the further land acquisition in the Verna industrial area, auction of land to industries after a certain area is exceeded, and a perceptive plan of development of industrial infrastructure.

Pereira also demanded that all land allotted allowing third party rights should be reverted to the GIDC, including land under the 20-point programme in phase IV.

Pereira also held responsible the members of the 288th board meeting who approved and confirmed the minutes of the 287th board meeting and the board of directors who allotted land to Maxgrove in the 288th board meeting held on May 2, 2006.

Pereira said only Rane and Faleiro are being accused of allotting land to SEZs in Goa. What no one has highlighted is that in the GIDC’s 287th board meeting, only four members were present-chairman Kawlekar, director Sequeira, director Nitin Kunkolienkar and MD Palekar.

Said Pereira, “The decision to allot land in GIDC’s 287th board meeting was taken without a proper quorum. There had to be five members, but only four were present. And land was allotted the very next day even before Goa’s SEZ policy was notified on July 13, 2006. In the process of allotment, open space and internal roads were allotted free of cost without the board’s permission and later charged at Rs 100 per sq m.”

He pointed out to other irregularities through a hand out. He said Planet View Mercantile Co Pvt Ltd was registered on April 26, 2006. But land was allotted to it before it was registered. Peninsula Pharma was also not registered. Many of the other companies were also registered within the last six months. “Applications came on April 13, but notices of the board meeting were ready on April 12. Agenda was circulated on the eve of the meeting, i.e. on April 17 and 18,” Pereira claimed.

On the land allotment to Meditab at Keri, he said mandatory direction under Section 16 of the GIDC Act was not there and therefore the allotment was illegal

Courtesy;TOI
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Thursday, December 9, 2010

Goa Blog

Goa Blog

BIRTH DAY GREETINGS TO MADAM SONIAJI

Posted: 08 Dec 2010 10:24 AM PST

Many Many Happy Returns of The Day

To

Our Beloved Leader Madam Sonia Gandhi

Honorable Congress President

We Pray to Almighty God to give her Good  Health, Long and Prosperous Life and Extra Energy to Serve Our Country.

Shri.J.T.Vaz

Chief Organizer

Goa Pradesh Congress Seva Dal

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Wednesday, December 8, 2010

Goa Blog

Goa Blog

Goa SEZ scam: Kamat still to read court order

Posted: 08 Dec 2010 07:36 AM PST

Over a fortnight after the Panaji bench of the Bombay High Court pointed to large-scale irregularities in the allotment of 32 lakh sq mts of land to seven SEZ promoters in Goa, Chief Minister Digambar Kamat claims he ’still has not read the order’.

Based on the Nov 26 high court order, the opposition has already called for criminal investigation of two former Congress chief ministers - Pratapsing Rane and Luizinho Faleiro - for favouring the SEZ promoters in what Leader of Opposition Manohar Parrikar of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has termed a ‘Rs.100 crore scam’.

‘I have not even read the order, how can I comment,’ a smiling Kamat told IANS when asked how the state government would respond to the damning observation made by the court, which said that the government agencies had acted ‘in undue haste without proper scrutiny of their applications’ and ‘arbitrarily’ while allotting land to the SEZ promoters.

The court order also said that the ‘procedure adopted in the allotment is not fair and transparent. The allotments made by the GIDC (Goa Industrial Development Corporation) do not stand the test of reasonableness’.

‘The file is so thick,’ Kamat added.

Picking up another bulky file for demonstrative effect, the chief minister said, while mockingly shuffling the pages: ‘See, the high court order is this thick. How do you expect me to go through it?’

Parrikar has claimed that both Faleiro and Rane, currently the speaker of the Goa assembly, had been ‘hand in glove’ with the SEZ promoters and had gone out of their way to allot them huge tracts of land in violation of norms.

The BJP leader has already said that he would summon the seven SEZ promoters to probe the graft angle in the land allotment scam.

The SEZ promoters in question are Meditab Specialities Pvt Ltd, Cipla group, Peninsular Pharma Research Ltd, Paradigm Logistics & Distributors, Planetview Mercantile Pvt Ltd, Inox Mercentile Pvt Ltd and Maxgrow.

The state government was forced to de-notify the allotment of 32 lakh sq mts of land to the SEZ promoters in the face of stiff civil society protests some years ago. The SEZ promoters had then approached the Bombay High Court challenging the government’s denotification decision, before the court quashed and set aside their application on Nov 26.

Courtesy:Sify

Day 19: Parliament again collapses without business

Posted: 08 Dec 2010 03:46 AM PST

Parliament collapsed into din on Wednesday - the 19th day of no business - due to persistent opposition protests demanding a joint parliamentary committee (JPC) probe into the 2G spectrum row. Opposition MPs chanting slogans gathered near Speaker Meira Kumar’s podium the moment she opened the Lok

The government did manage to lay some papers and ministry reports on the table but nothing significant in terms of legislative bills could be accomplished.

Goa MP Francisco Sardinha, who was chairing the session, adjourned the house for the day within five minutes after 12.

The Rajya Sabha was adjourned under similar circumstances.

With just three more working days left before parliament closes to meet for the 2011-12 budget, it appears that the entire winter session has been lost to protests over the alleged irregularities in the second generation telephony spectrum allotment of 2008.

The paralysis in parliament since the winter session began Nov 9 has caused serious concerns with the government losing on crucial time to pass some important legislations.

The 24 sittings of the winter session was scheduled to take up bills on land acquisition, judicial accountability, reforming accounting standards, amending labour laws and setting up a national mineral regulation authority. None of them has happened.

The government did manage to get a parliament nod for crucial supplemental spending bills by voice vote, without a debate.

As the government and the opposition remain stuck to their stand on JPC, the logjam is causing a loss of Rs 7.8 crore per day to the national exchequer.

A Raja, who was forced to quit as the IT and communication minister, is alleged to have sold spectrum licenses at rates much lower than the market causing huge financial losses to the national exchequer.

Proceedings in the Lok Sabha began with Meira Kumar expressing condolences over the loss of lives in rains in Tamil Nadu and Tuesday’s blast in Varanasi which killed a two-year-old girl and left over 20 people injured.

The house observed a minute’s silence in the memory of the dead.

Courtesy:HT

Goa Police issued notice in Israeli drug dealer case

Posted: 08 Dec 2010 01:30 AM PST

The Panaji bench of the Bombay High Court Wednesday issued notice to the Goa police asking it to reply within a month to the bail application of Israeli drug dealer who was arrested here in February.

In his application, Dudu said he should be released on bail because police had not been able to file a chargesheet even 10 months after his arrest.

However, the state police said the chargesheet is delayed because the forensic examination of the drugs seized from him in February was not completed yet.

‘The Central Forensic Science Laboratory report of the Rs.3 lakh worth of drugs has not been received yet. We will file the chargsheet as soon as the results are received,’ a police officer said.

According to the police, Dudu was the lynchpin of the drug trade in north Goa, which includes narcotics hubs like Anjuna, Calangute, Arambol and Morjim - all beach stretches known for easy availability of drugs.

Police also said that Dudu was involved in the drug trade in Goa for more than a decade. He was arrested in 2008 by the Mumbai police and had earlier been served a ‘Leave India’ notice as well.

Courtesy:Sify

Goa eyes expats as resource for educational institutions

Posted: 07 Dec 2010 08:40 AM PST

Goa government wants to tap men-of-letters of Goan origin in Europe and other parts of the world to be resource persons for its educational institutions, an official said Tuesday.

‘We have asked Indian embassies across the globe to compile a list of qualified Goans who can be invited as resource persons in various institutions spread across the state,’ Goa’s commissioner for non-resident Indian (NRI) affairs Eduadro Faleiro said.

‘We have requested the embassies for information and contact details of qualified Goan expatriates, scientists, information technologists, educationist and others,’ the former minister of state for external affairs said, adding that once the list was compiled, the state government would individually contact the persons.

‘A significant number of Goans live in European Union member states such as Portugal, the Netherlands, France, Germany and Luxembourg. We want to utilise their talents for the betterment of the state they hail from,’ he said.

Courtesy::Sify

Goa activists want highway consultant penalised

Posted: 07 Dec 2010 08:12 AM PST

Activists protesting the expansion of a national highway in Goa Tuesday demanded the recovery of Rs.9 crore fee from a foreign consultant for preparing an allegedly faulty project report.

The consultant firm should be forced to pay back Rs.9 crore fee it charged to prepare site plans for a project funded by the union ministry of road transport and highways, said a representative of the protestors.

Speaking to reporters at a press conference here, Sunil Desai, convenor of the National Highway Diversion Action Committee (NHDAC), said that a government land acquisition report had revealed that the project report prepared by the US-based Wilbur Smith Associates (WSA) was ridden with discrepancies.

The committee has challenged the expansion of the NH 4A - that starts from Belgaum in Karnataka and ends at Panaji in Goa. The highway is 153 km long.

‘We demand that the government should reclaim the Rs.9 crore given to WSA because a deputy collector’s report has said that there are numerous discrepancies in the work,’ Desai said.

According to deputy collector Anthony D’Souza’s report, the process of site inspection and identification of the boundaries of the land notified for acquisition, it was observed that there were major discrepancies in the site plans prepared by the consultant.

The consultant has gone off track while showing the area required to be acquired and the area already in possession of the state government of Goa, said the deputy collector’s report.

The NHDAC is protesting the state government’s move to acquire 51.60 lakh square metres of land for the expansion of the highway.

The committee claims that the government should seek an alternative route for the highway, instead of expanding the current highway and bulldozing homes along the motorway.

Courtesy:Sify
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Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Goa Blog

Goa Blog

North Goa collector feels Bicholim’s mining heat

Posted: 06 Dec 2010 06:55 PM PST

Collector of North Goa Mihir Vardhan, along with Pali MLA Pratap Gawas and government officials, visited Surla and other mining areas in Bicholim taluka to see for himself the problems faced by the locals due to the mining transportation.

The collector has fixed a meeting at Panaji in his chamber on December 7, to discuss the problems and find a solution.

Villagers from Pali constituency have lodged several complaints regarding the hardships faced by them due to the plying of mining trucks for the last several years.

The affected villagers had even blocked the road in Surla and surrounding areas on several occasions.

Deputy collector Narayan Gad had imposed several restrictions on mining trucks in connection with the complaints filed by the affected people of the area.

Accordingly, mining vehicles were directed not to ply before and after class hours to avoid inconveniencing and endangering the lives of school children.

However, these restrictions could not control the air and noise pollution. The life of common people had become unbearable due to the large number of mining vehicles plying on the road. The public transport system was also badly affected due to the alleged rash and negligent driving by mining vehicles.

According to MLA Gawas, “For the last two decades we are affected by mining transportation but during the last five years increasing number of vehicles have added to the problem. Lack of discipline and increasing number of mining vehicles are responsible for increasing accidents on these roads.”

The collector and the MLA were caught up in a traffic jam as their vehicles were held up in the middle of mining trucks.

Gawas said, “The existing roads in the mining belt were built long ago. They are narrow and overburdened and need to be broadened and maintained from time to time.” Vidya Satardekar from Surla said, “Many of our generation became victims of air and noise pollution generated by the ore carrying vehicles. Life in these areas is affected by pollution. We have to live, eat and drink with dust which is now suffocating. Either mining transportation should be stopped or we should be rehabilitated.”

The villagers also brought to the notice of the collector the need to undertake the construction of an alternative road, meant for mining vehicles, from Kothambi to Amona junction on a priority basis.

Courtesy:TOI

Goa Figures at 18 in India’s most competitive cities

Posted: 06 Dec 2010 09:42 AM PST

The national capital was the most competitive city to do business in the country in 2010, as per a new report, which based its findings on the metropolitan’s infrastructure and business environment.

According to the City Competitiveness report released today by the Institute for Competitiveness (IFC), Delhi is the the most competitive out of the nation’s 50 cities.

“Its position is augmented by its surrounding hinterland forming the National Capital Region (NCR) and an improved physical infrastructure and an enabling business environment,” the report noted. Chennai cornered the second position in the list ahead of Mumbai , which dropped to third place from second position last year.

Chennai’s ranking improved on the back of good performance under all the sub-indices used to benchmark the cities, particularly its educated workforce and logistics infrastructure, while Mumbai’s fall was primarily due to the worsening state of its physical infrastructure.

Bengaluru is at fourth place in the list, followed by Kolkata, Hyderabad , Ahmedabad, Pune, Nagpur and Jaipur.

The report is based on factors like demand conditions, a context for firm strategy and rivalry; and support and related industries. A city would need to improve in terms of all these factors to increase its competitiveness.

“Based on the findings this year, it is clear that Indian cities are yet to develop a clear vision of their future and identify a definite competitive edge.

“Policy makers, too, are struggling with ways of managing infrastructural and developmental challenges that plague even the most competitive Indian cities. It is more important than ever for Indian cities to put into place the fundamentals underpinning economic growth and development in order to propel overall growth for the country as a whole,” Institute for Competitiveness Honorary Chairman Amit Kapoor said.

Interestingly, Ahmedabad and Pune have emerged as the most competitive tier-two cities in India. While Ahmedabad performs very well in the administrative sub-index — indicating good governance, municipal efficiency and low crime rates — Pune excels in terms of its physical infrastructure and high quality workforce.

Among the other cities features in the list are Chandigarh (11th), Surat (12th), Gurgaon (13th), Indore (14th), Coimbatore (15th), Kochi (16th), Noida (17th), Goa (18th), Shimla (19th) and Kanpur (20th).

Courtesy:ET
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Monday, December 6, 2010

Goa Blog

Goa Blog

Areva signs deals to supply two EPR reactors plus fuel to India

Posted: 06 Dec 2010 03:42 AM PST

French nuclear vendor Areva and Nuclear Power Corporation of India Ltd., signed agreements Monday in New Delhi for the construction of two European pressurized water Reactor units) at Jaitapur in India’s Maharashtra state, and for the supply of nuclear fuel for 25 years, Areva said in a statement.

The agreements were signed by Npcil Chairman and Managing Director S.K. Jain, and Areva CEO Anne Lauvergeon. The signatures came during the state visit of French President Nicolas Sarkozy to India and were witnessed by Sarkozy, Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Srikumar Banerjee, chairman of India’s Atomic Energy Commission.

Areva said the agreements set contractual conditions, the industrial scheme for the project, and the breakdown of roles and responsibilities.

Areva will supply the two nuclear islands and associated services, the company said.

The two companies signed a memorandum of understanding on the supply of two EPRs with an option for four more in February 2009. Monday’s agreements mark the next step towards a commercial contract.

The Indian government last year designated the site between Mumbai and Goa for the eventual construction of six 1.65-GW-class EPR units. Last week, an Areva spokeswoman said that Areva and Npcil would not be signing a final contract during the Sarkozy visit for the EPR supply, because they had not yet agreed on commercial conditions. Npcil is also talking with Westinghouse and General Electric Hitachi for supply of their reactors at two other designated sites. A fourth foreign vendor, Russia’s Atomstroyexport, has already supplied two 1,000-MW-class nuclear units that are scheduled for commissioning in March and December 2011, respectively, about three to 3.5 years behind the original schedule.

The agreements signed Monday in New Delhi also “allow to accelerate several partnerships between Areva and the Indian nuclear industry,” Areva said. Areva has said in the past that it will partner with India’s nuclear industry for construction of the Indian EPRs as well as for export business.

India’s installed nuclear power capacity now totals 4.780 GW. Npcil, on its web site, says its “vision is to reach 20,000 MW or more by the year 2020 and play a major role in reaching [the] country’s installed nuclear power capacity of 63,000 MW by 2032″ through a combination of indigenous pressurized heavy water reactors, fast reactors and imported light water reactors.

In its statement, Areva said that studies will begin early next year to enable site excavation, safety licensing, and the detailed technical configuration of the Jaitapur EPR design.

The Jaitapur site received environmental clearance for the EPR construction on November 28. Indian media and AFP Monday reported that 10 people were arrested Saturday during demonstrations at Jaitapur against the nuclear project, which is opposed by some local residents and fishermen who fear the nuclear plant will negatively affect their livelihood.

Courtesy:P

Non Goan Stabbes the another Non Goan for Rs.10

Posted: 06 Dec 2010 01:05 AM PST

30-year-old man was stabbed in the neck while he was asleep by an acquaintance for non-payment of a debt ofRs10, but survived the attack luckily. Investigations by Bicholim police revealed that Vakil Yadav was stabbed by Bechan Sahani, 32, on Saturday night. Yadav was admitted to Goa Medical College and Hospital in a critical condition and was operated upon on Sunday.

“We have arrested the accused before he could escape from Goa and have registered a case against him under Section 307 (attempt to murder) of the IPC,” Bicholim PI Harish Madkaikar said. Police said Yadav had borrowed Rs 10 from Sahani on Wednesday and promised to return the money immediately. However, as Vakil failed to return the money even four days later, an upset Sahani met Yadav on Saturday at about 6pm and demanded the Rs 10 from him. “When Vakil told him that he didn’t have money to repay the debt, it upset Bechan, who then abused the victim in foul language,” sources said. They added that this led to a scuffle between the two who also traded punches, till they were separated by two persons who were in the vicinity at Amona.

Police said that Sahani then went home and planned to teach Yadav a lesson. Accordingly, at 9pm on Saturday, Sahani, taking a sharp knife from the kitchen left to meet Yadav at his residence under the Amona bridge. Seeing Yadav asleep, an angry Sahani used his knife to inflict an injury on Yadav’s neck. “The victim woke up startled and screamed in pain. Seeing Bechan with the knife, he caught hold of his hand due to which the knife fell from his hand. Seeing people gather around the victim, the accused escaped from the place and ran to his residence,” police said. Police were informed and when they arrived at the spot, witnesses narrated the entire episode to them, based on which they arrested Sahani from his residence before he could escape, police added. Yadav and Sahani are from Uttar Pradesh and are employed as loaders for trucks carrying sand at Amona for the last three years. Though they worked for different persons, they were known to each other.

Courtesy:TOI

Jail guards arrested for highway robbery in Goa

Posted: 05 Dec 2010 08:31 AM PST

Four jail guards were arrested on Panaji-Ponda highway on Saturday night while trying to rob a truck driver, police said today.

They assaulted and tried to rob the truck driver on the highway near Kundaim village, 30 kms from here, Inspector C L Patil said, adding that Police Control Room (PCR) van noticed some suspicious activity on the road and approached the truck, when the accused tried to flee.

“All the four accused tried to ride away on two motorcycles but were arrested after a long chase on the highway by the PCR van,” Patil said.

The accused identified as Ankush Naik, Vishal Naik, Keshav Gawas and Dinesh Warang were wearing black T shirts and pants possibly to be able to hide in darkness.

Patil said the truck owner told police that the accused assaulted him when he refused to give the money and a mobile.

All the accused are in the age group of 20 to 25 years and were commissioned in Jail administration services only last year.

Courtesy:ND
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Sunday, December 5, 2010

Goa Blog

Goa Blog

ver 400 structures identified as heritage monuments in Goa

Posted: 05 Dec 2010 06:17 AM PST

A Goa government committee has recommended that as many as 434 structures, including over 100 churches, be added to the list of heritage monuments in the state. The Rajiv Yaduvanshi Committee, in its recommendation to the state government, has identified 434 additional monuments and structures with

immense heritage value, including 107 Catholic churches and 17 temples.Currently, Goa has 51 notified structures under state Archaeology Department and 22 under Archaeological Survey of India, officials said.

As many as 434 structures were identified after survey conducted across the state by the experts of the Yaduvanshi committee, they added.

The list includes churches, temples, hospital buildings, an island, water springs, caves and other monuments recommended for preservation after classifying them under three different categories.

The list also includes Azilo and Hospicio hospital buildings, both state-run district hospitals, constructed during the Portuguese regime.

Goa government has already constructed a new Azilo hospital in Mapusa town after the Portuguese-era building started crumbling. The old building will now be preserved after the list is notified by the state government.

Eighteenth century Kapileshwari Temple, situated on the outskirts of Ponda town, is amongst the temples that have been identified for preservation in the new list.

Similarly, Panaji’s Mary Immaculate Conception Church, built in 1541, located in the heart of capital city, has also been recommended to be protected.

The committee has also suggested conservation of one of the oldest educational institutions in Goa, St Mary’s High School in Mapusa town. The missionary run school was constructed in 1948.

Nanus Fort, which once guarded the area from Portuguese invasion and currently crumbling down, has also been listed by the committee. The fort situated in remote Sattari taluka was built in 17th century by Chhatrapati Shivaji.

Courtesy:PTI

Tourism Destination Goa

Posted: 04 Dec 2010 09:21 PM PST

A German tourist adventurer and traditionally-dressed fraus and frauleins are all set to whip up Germanic fervour here Dec 8 as part of celebrations to mark 60 years of the arrival of first hippies of German origin in Goa.

The Indo-German Friendship Society, Goa, (IGFSG) has planned week-long celebrations which will include discussions, seminars, workshops on issues of India-Germany interests and entertainment events.

Speaking to reporters in Panaji, IGFSG president Aurobindo Xavier said that the highlight of the celebrations would be the arrival of a Volkswagon-made cargo-passenger van Bulli, driven by an adventurer, to Goa via the land route across Europe and Asia.

“The German hippies first came to Goa in a Bulli 60 years ago and stayed in Anjuna. We wanted to recreate the same magic. A German, Niels Melves, and his family has come all the way from Germany, driving across Iraq and Pakistan,” Xavier said.

Other events on the occasion would include a German pastry making session conducted by women from the European country.

“Germany is famous for its traditional pastries, so we will have German women and girls in traditional Bavarian costumes teaching people how to make pastries,” Xavier said.

“German trading vessels used to trade with Goa by travelling with the Portuguese. The trade was for Arabian horses, spices and silk. So, it is not true that the regions have no ties at all,” said Xavier, who holds a doctorate and teaches in a university in Munich, Germany.

“In fact, not many know but three German trading vessels were sunk by the British off the coast of Mormugao in 1944 during the World War-II. Several sailors who were aboard the targeted vessels chose to settle down in Goa and marry the locals,” he said.

Courtesy:Z
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Saturday, December 4, 2010

Goa Blog

Goa Blog

No demand so far for Special Status fo Goa

Posted: 03 Dec 2010 07:22 PM PST

There is no request made officially by the Government of Goa for granting it Special Category which fact is revealed in an answer given by Union Minister of State Planning, Parliamentary Affairs,Personnel, Public Grievances and Pension Shri V.Narayanasamy to Shri Shantaram Naik M.P. in the Rajya Sabha in a written reply to his question

Minister has mentioned only three states, namely,   States of Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan and Bihar who have made requests for inclusion in Special Category.

Minister informed Mr Naik that  there  are 11 States at present which have been granted Special Category Status viz., Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir, Minipur,Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura and Uttrakhand.

The issue of Special Category Status (SCS) first came up when the Gadgil Formula of fund allocation was originally approved by the National Development Council at its meeting held in April, 1969.  Assam, Jammu & Kashmir and Nagaland were included for providing Central Assistance in the form of 90% grant and 10% loan.

The various States were accorded Special Category Status whenever they attined Statehood vix., Himachal Pradesh in 1970-71, Manipur, Meghalaya and Tripura in 1971-72; Sikkim in 1975-76 and Arunachal Pradesh and Mizoram in 1986-87 and Uttarakhand in 2001-02, minister said.

Shri Narayanasami further informed Mr Naik that the category into which a State falls ( that is, special category or non-special category) is used for deciding the loan-grant ration that is applicable for the Normal Central Assistance (NCA) provided to the States.  Special Category Status results in the Normal Central Assistance and Assistance for Externally  Aided Projects (EAP) being calculated as 90% grant and 10% loan.  Non-Special Category Status results in the Normal Central Assistance being calculated as 30% grant and 70% loan.

Special Category States are also provided Special Plan Assistance for projects of special importance to the State.  Special Central Assistance untied to projects has also been provided to Special Category States because of their difficult financial situation, minister said.

The decision to grant Special Category Status to any State is taken by National Development Council, which is the sole body competent to do so.  There are no separate constitutional provisions, legislation or executive orders for the same, minister clarified. Mr Shantaram Naik M.P. said in a statement issued today said that he has given three memorandums to the Prime Minister , a few months back, making three separate demands , namely, Special Category, Special Provisions under Constitution to protect Goa's land  and separate Cadre for All India Services and,  has given the copies of my memorandum to the Chief Minister.

However, if the State Government itself does not place a particular demand with the Central Government, it means and implies  that there is no demand from the State, which is why,  Goa is not mentioned among the list of States who have demanded Special Category

Indonesian girls allege harassment at Goa spa

Posted: 03 Dec 2010 07:14 PM PST

Eight Indonesian girls working in a leading spa in Goa have escaped from the ‘clutches’ of its promoters and have fled to Mumbai, where they complained to the consulate that they were being harassed and that they were brought to India with forged documents and bogus appointment orders.

The girls also complained that they were being made to work long hours and were treated badly. Following this, the vice-consul of the Indonesian consulate in Mumbai, Sasanti Nordewati, filed a complaint with the crime branch in Goa. Acting on this, the Goa police raided Snip Salon and Spa in Panaji and Calangute. While eight girls were working in the Calangute branch of the spa, three others working in the Bandra branch in Mumbai too had come to the consulate with the same accusations.

The vice-consul informed the police that the matter came to light when the girls came to the consulate on November 12 seeking help, sources told TOI. The vice-consul said she spoke to the Bhobes — Sumeet Bhobe and Archana Bhobe, owners of the spa, after which they returned the passports of the girls which they had kept under their custody, but refused to return the residential permits, many of which she alleged were forged as they were prepared before the girls arrived in India. When TOI contacted the Indonesian consulate in Mumbai, a spokesperson confirmed that “the vice-consul has taken up the matter with the Goa police, consulate general of the Indonesian embassy and Directorate of Protection of Indonesian citizens”.

The crime branch which raided the spas simultaneously on Wednesday evening registered a case against the spa owners under sections 419 (cheating by impersonation), 465 (forgery), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document) and 341 (wrongful restraint) of the IPC, based on the complaint that young girls from Indonesia were brought to Goa to work in a pharma unit and then forced to work in aspa in the tourist state. DySP (crime) Chandrakant Salgaonkar confirmed receiving the complaint. The owner of the spa, Sumeet, was also called by the Foreigners Registration Office in Panaji to check out whether the girls who were issued residential permits in Goa stayed in the state and whether they have any objections to the girls, who are now being lodged by the consulate in Mumbai, from leaving India. The spa owner said he had no objections. Sources said that the complaint to the police allegedthat 23 Indonesian girls were hired by the owner of the Spa in March 2010.

“As per the agreement entered by Bhobe with the girls on February 5, 2010, they were to work in Ajanta Medicals Private Limited and the same is entered in the visa permit also. However, they were made to work as spa therapists in three of the spas owned by the Bhobes in Panaji, Calangute and Bandra,” police sources said. Once in India, the girls were not paid salaries as per the contract and their movement was restrained as the owners seized their passports and residential permits, the complaint alleged. However, Sumeet Bhobe claimed that the case has been filed with malicious intention to escape the penalty clause in the contract by which the 11 girls would have to repay .` 45,000 each for violating the contract if they left the job midway.

“Our intentions and accounts are clear. The girls were hired to work in Ajanta Medicals Private Limited, in which my wife, Archana, is a director and the contract clearly states that they can be transferred to any subsidiary firm, and Snip Salons and Spas is a subsidiary firm of the company,” he said.

Courtesy:TOI
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Friday, December 3, 2010

Goa Blog

Goa Blog

Kapoor khandaan goes Goa

Posted: 03 Dec 2010 02:38 AM PST

Anil Kapoor will finally go on a long holiday with his entire family to Goa.

Says a source close to the actor, “Anil and his family, including wife Sunita and children Sonam, Rhea and Harsh will be going to the Sunshine State on December 28 and will stay there for a week.Sonam, Anil and Rhea Kapoor; Sunita and Harsh Kapoor

They plan to bring in the New Year there and have already booked into one of the most expensive beach resorts in South Goa.

Sonam, Rhea and Harsh’s friends, along with other family members, will also accompany them. Harsh, who is studying in USA, is coming down for his Christmas holidays.”

The source adds that for the Kapoor couple, this holiday is very special. “Anil has been extremely busy the last few years.

After Slumdog Millionaire, he got busy in Hollywood with 24 and then returned to work on his home production, No Problem.

While Sunita and he have been on trips to Paris and other parts of Europe and Anil and Sonam have holidayed in Canada on her shoots, it is one of those rare times that the entire family is together.”

Anil won’t release No Problem on Christmas as a courtesy to close friend, director Farah Khan.

The actor confirms, “Farah is a dear friend and even though my friends and distributors wanted No Problem to release on December 24 as it’s a great period, I stuck to my guns and said we would release it on December 10 as I don’t want to clash with Farah’s big date.

Both are big films and family entertainers and there’s no point cutting into each other’s business.”

Courtesy:MD

Indian Film ‘Moner Manush’ Claims Top Honours at IFFI

Posted: 02 Dec 2010 07:45 PM PST

India claimed the top honours at the 41st International Film Festival of India (IFFI) here after Gautam Ghose’s “Moner Manush” won the Golden Peacock award Thursday.

Danish filmmaker Susanne Bier’s “In a Better World” won the Silver Peacock award for the best director at a glittering closing ceremony here attended, among others, by Bollywood actor and National Award winner Saif Ali Khan.

Bollywood actor Saif Ali Khan seen expressing his thoughts during the the closing ceremony of the 41st International Film Festival of India at Kala Academy in Panaji on Thursday.

Forest minister Philipe Neri Rodrigues seen presenting the Silver peacock for best female actor to Magdalena Boczarska for her memorable performance in the Polish film ‘Little Rose’ during the the closing ceremony of the 41st International Film Festival of India at Kala Academy in Panaji on Thursday.

Chief minister Digambar Kamat seen presenting the Silver peacock for best male actor to Guven Kirac for his role in the Turkish film ‘The Crossing’ during the the closing ceremony of the 41st International Film Festival of India at Kala Academy in Panaji on Thursday.

Courtesy:DW
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