Goa's Christian sects upset with Panjim mayors comments

The pleas of various Christian sects seeking space for burial grounds in the city of Panjim which was rejected by the Corporation of the city of Panjim (CCP) last Friday, with its mayor Carolina Po telling the media that the feeling among the corporators was that the people who have converted to other sects should ask those people who led them to convert, to provide burial grounds, came in for scathing criticism from leaders of various Christian sects across Goa.

Some Christian sects such as the Syrian and Methodist Christian sects had reportedly applied  for burial grounds from the CCP which was rejected by the Panjim corporators under the fear that these sects have their numbers scattered all over Goa and granting them a burial ground would therefore result in all their dead being brought from all over Goa, to Panjim to be buried. This was in pursuance of the CCP's resolve under a resolution passed by the CCP last year banning burial of persons not living in the jurisdiction of Panjim city. The cemeteries in the city of Panjim are being run by the Municipal body.

However various leaders of different Christian sects from Goa took strong exception to the Mayors comments and termed it undemocratic and a violation of human rights. At a meeting held by the various Christian sects in Margao, the members and pastors of such sects lamented the lack of democracy in the comments and urged people in public positions not to make such strong statements which could lead to a flare-up.

The pastors belonging to New life fellowship church of Panjim, Margao and Vasco, Parakletos Church, Margao, Corner stone church Margao, Mount Zion Church, Good News Church, River of Life Church Panjim, Good Hope Church and Methodist Church were present at the meeting.

A pastor of a River of Life Church Panjim criticised the comments of the mayor saying that there is no question of anybody converting them and that they have chosen to be members of a certain sect out of their own free will and asked the government to look after the interest of all citizens irrespective of their religious backgrounds.

Another pastor pointed out that it is the constitutional right of every citizen to be buried after death and said that burial cannot be denied on any grounds leave alone the religious ground

Strike call over HSRPs. Govt moots ESMA

The government of Goa is seriously considering invoking the Essential Services Maintenance Act (ESMA) in the backdrop of the threat by the Goa public transport federation of a strike in the state of Goa on August 31. The all Goa public transport federation, is an umbrella organisation of 23 public transport organisations.The transport operators under the umbrella include bus owners, taxi operators, rickshaws and two wheeler pilots.

The transporters are demanding that the government stop the implementation of the High Security Number Plates (HSNP) and also to reduce the rates of the pollution certificate. 

Interestingly the strike has also been supported by the youth congress which is the main partner in the ruling coalition government in the state of Goa. The transporters have also indicated their plans of an indefinite strike if the government fails to pay heed to their demands.

Goa Public Transport Fed ups ante.Announces strike on HSRPs

In the building resentment against the enforcement of the high security registration plates for all vehicles in Goa, the All Goa public transport federation became the latest body to announce its agitational stance against the implementation of the High security registration plates in Goa and threatened to go on a one day token strike if the government of Goa fails to stop the process of its implementation.

The federation constitutes al transport operators in Goa including bus owners, taxi operators, rickshaw and two wheelers and pilots who are all set to observe the strike on Monday Aug 31 2009.

Interestingly, the strike call given by the transporters body has the backing of the state unit of the youth congress which had earlier protested the state governments move at Margao when they almost laid siege to the RTOs office last week.

It may be recalled that Goa had advocated the use of high security registration plates making the same mandatory to all vehicles as per the directives of the supreme court under the central motor vehicles act and a Mumbai base company  Shimnit Utsch had bagged the contract amidst opposition by the BJP.

The state of Goa has over 6.5 lakh vehicles registered with the road transport organisation (RTO). The representatives of the various transport organisations lamented that their memorandum made to the chief Minister Mr Digambar Kamat on August 10 with a deadline of seven days had no response and with the deadline expiry on August 18, they had no choice but to  hold the strike which was held in abeyance due to the ganesh chaturthi celebrations in Goa.

The organisation alleged that the representatives in the assembly have not dwelled well enough on the scheme of HSRP and pointed out that the number plates are of no use in Goa as the state has no infrastructure to ensure that the features in the number plate are complimented by proper implementation like tracking of vehicles and other security related aspects as also the absence of a data bank in Goa.

The leader of the opposition Mr Manohar Parrikar had also alleged that there appeared to be a scam in the implementation of the HSRP scheme while saying that Goans were unnecessarily paying double the price compared top the west Bengal government where the number plates were charged at Rs 282 and 441 while people in Goa have to spe4nd Rs 550 and Rs 1250 for such plates.

Illegal mining in Goa : Panel blames select trio

The committee on mines in Goa has put the onus of illegal mining in Goa on three departments of the state which the committee said are passing the buck when it came to illegal mining in the state of Goa. The three departments are the Directorate of mines, Forest department and the Goa state Pollution control board. The first report of the committee says that if these three departments had to initiate action against the offenders, then the state of Goa would not have faced this problem of illegal mines and pollution.

The committee observed that while the Directorate of mines followed central government rules in the enforcement, it did not take the responsibility to ensure that mining activity is not done without environmental clearance and other required permissions. The committee observed that it was the duty of the departments to close down or cancel the licences of the mines whose mining rejects and mining wastes pose a threat and damage to paddy fields, fruit bearing crops and drinking water resources and other water bodies within the vicinity of the mines

While the deemed clause was being misused by numerous mining companies, and which was being known to the concerned departments, none of them stopped this practice. The committee has now suggested to the government of Goa to pass strictures amending the state and central legislation affecting mining in the state. The committee has urged the government to stop all mining operations in the state which are carried out with or without valid lease concessions.

Goa panchayats get together to spit fire on amendment

The controversy ridden amendment bill to the Panchayat raj act added another dimension with a new forum formed to battle against the draconian bill when the panchayats from Goa announced the formation of the All Goa panchayat Democratic Forum(AGPDF) which warned the government of a full blown agitation in the state if the bill wasn't reverted in a time frame of three weeks.

The forum which met in Panjim , exhorted Goans and the people from South Goa to attend a big public rally in Salcete, to oppose the damaging bill in full force. The date for the rally is expected to be fixed somewhere after the Ganesh festival.

Speaking at he meeting, the President of the forum, Mr Joseph Sequeira said that if the government failed to take cognizance of its demand, then there will be a full fledged agitation which the government of Goa will find difficult to resist. Mr Sequeira also lambasted the various MLAs for making baseless statements against the Sarpanchas, as a means to push in the amendment bill

Other speakers who spoke on the occasion were Soter Dsouza who called for unity among the panchayats and compared the government to the British who tried to play the game of divide and rule.Thalmann Pereira revealed how a select committee and ad-hoc committee reports differed on the rights of the panchayats and urged the panchayats to pass resolutions opposing the amendment. Former convenor of Goa Bachao Abhiyan(GBA) , Mr Oscar rebello recollected the victories of the Goan people in fighting issues such as the Regional Plan 2011, SEZs etc and said that it is time the gram sabhas of Goa took this issue also to be defeated through an unified action.

Prajal Sakhardande, the well known historian reminded the people about the day August 20 2009 as being the birthday of the late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi whose vision of panchayati raj in Goa was being strangulated by this amendment. Also speaking on the occasion were convenor of GBA Sabina Martins, Cansaulim Sarpanch Basil Fernandes, Rachol Sarpanch Joseph vaz and others.

Goa Sarpanchas wake up to Panchayati Raj nightmare

The Goan dissent to the panchayati raj amendment bill is continuously rising with new vigilant groups emerging from the Goan fraternity and the most affected of these are obviously the sarpanchas who have realised albeit a bit late that their authority is bound to be completely undermined if the proposed bill is enacted into a law. The South Goa Sarpanchas Forum (SGSF) was thus another new body formed to oppose the bill tooth and nail.

At a well attended meeting held at Margao, the SGSF called upon panchayats from all villages in south Goa to call for the gram sabhas to deliberate on the recently passed Goa panchayat amendment bill 2009 and subsequently resolved to submit a memorandum to the governor Mr Shivinder Singh Sidhu urging him to deny his assent to the draconian bill.

The meeting which as attended to by over 70 elected representatives resolved to oppose the "usurpal of powers" of the peoples elected representatives of the Goan village panchayats which they strongly condemned and termed it as contrary to letter and spirit of the "73rd amendment of the constitution"

Last week, the Goa assembly amidst a walkout staged by the opposition, had passed the above bill which would confer executive powers on the panchayat secretaries . The sarpanchas deputy sarpanchas and the panchas have termed this action unwarranted and anti-people. The meeting also condemned the Panchayat minister Mr Manohar Azgaonkar as well as other MLAs supporting the bill

Goa number plate contract comes under Parrikars lens

The ambitious plans of the government of Goa to issue a contract for high security number plates has come under the scanner following a calling attention motion by the opposition leader Mr Manohar Parrikar who drew the attention of the transport minister expressing the “fear and anxiety” in the minds of the people of Goa about the decision of the government to grant the contract of fixing the high security registration plates to Shimnit Utsch Private limited who the opposition leader claimed, have a dubious background.

As a consequence of the attention drawn by the opposition leader, the Chief Minister Mr Digambar Kamat and the speaker of the Goa assembly Mr Pratapsingh Rane, urged the transport Minister Mr Ramakrishna Dhavlikar to reconsider the move of allotting the contract to the company.

Mr Manohar Parrikar alleged that the director/promoter of the company Shimnit Utsch has a criminal background. Also he pointed out that the same company was denied the contract vide order dated November 13 2006 by the director of transport due to their ineligibility. Also the BJP stalwart pointed out that the company had quoted exorbitant rates as compared to rates quoted by other companies in other states . Also traditional painters of number plates in Goa numbering around 200 were under risk of losing their traditional business adding to the unemployment scenario in the state. 

Mr Parrikar also questioned the need of only approaching one supplier of such High security registration plates(HSRP) while there were other such suppliers existing in the country and implied that the government of Goa was creating an unnecessary monopoly situation which was against the interest of the consumer.

In reply the transport minister maintained that the director of the company who was convicted in a criminal case had resigned from the company and was further replaced by his son. Also the Minister informed that the company had won the contract after quoting the lowest rates. However the speaker Mr Pratapsingh Rane brushed off the justification about signing the agreement with the company in good faith and suggested that the false information if any by the company had insulted this faith and hence the government could terminate the contract.

Mr Parrikar informed the house that no other state had made HSRP compulsory and that the governments of Rajasthan and Karnataka were already restrained by the high courts with a stay on the subject .

Panchayat Raj bill gets assent from Goa govt

The blackest hour in Goa's panchayati raj  came to pass when the ruling benches of the Goa legislative assembly decided on Thursday 6th August 2009 to pass the controversial Goa Panchayat Raj Amendment Bill 2009 as the opposition indulged in a cosmetic exercise of protesting the move by staging a theatrical walk-out with its leader Mr Manohar Parrikar merely shouting that the BJP would not be a party to the bill.

The controversial amendment to the panchayat raj bill seeks to give powers to the bureaucracy instead of the elected representatives of the people and threatens to seriously undermine the will of the people in Goa.

The  Bill seeks to amend the section 47 of the Panchayat raj act so as to empower the panchayat secretary to execute the orders passed by the block development officer, director and deputy director of panchayats, state election commissioner and the government. The Goa opposition leader had earlier sought clarifications on which authority the Panchayat secretary was expected to answer and termed the powers granted to him as contradictory which would put the official in a tight spot with regards to whose directions to follow.

The panchayat secretary would not know whose directions to follow when there was the panchayat body, the director of panchayats and the government and Parrikar had merely suggested an additional clause to clarify the secretary's powers and roles.

The bill which was therefore amended on wednesday was duly passed by a voice vote on Thursday. The amended bill in its current form implies that if the panchayat fails to implement any orders passed by any authority in an appeal filed before it by citizens or others under the Goa panchayat raj rules within the specified time period, the secretary of the panchayat will execute them in future. In case the higher authorities have not specified a time limit in the order in connection with the appeal, then the secretary will enforce it within a month from the issuance of the order or the directions.

The draconian legislation now awaits the nod of the governor before being drafted as a law.

Goa MLAs hike their own salaries

The Goa assembly and its 40 MLAs of all parties and affiliations put their differences aside to rise as one force as both the benches gave themselves sizeable pay hikes while adopting the Goa salary, Allowances and Pensions of Members of Legislative assembly (Third Amendment) Bill 2009, putting an additional burden of over 5.81 crore on the public exchequer by effecting this self directed raise.

It was a rare sight with the ruling benches and the Goa opposition forces speaking in the same vein, tone and spirit with the Goan MLAs now ready to claim some additional benefits due to the latest decision.

From now on, the house members will be able to benefit on loan repayment period which has been extended to 20 years from the prevailing 10 years while the loan amount has also been increased from Rs 12 lakh to Rs 32 lakh. The leader of the opposition Mr Manohar Parrikar also joined the chorus to suggest that an MLA must be paid well and said that while the increase is substantial, it has been done after a period of five years.

The high cost of living in Goa was also pointed to be another factor necessitating the increase as Goa was a tourist destination. The amendment as above will effectively rise the pension to a maximum level of Rs 50,000 depending on the experience and tenure of the MLA concerned

Goa's opposition mucks up sweeping machines

The much hyped sweeping machines procured by the government of Goa at a steep cost of over 97 lakh came in for a sharp criticism from the leader of the opposition in the assembly Mr Manohar parrikar who labelled the exercise of procuring them as a 'failure". The Goa government has so far procured five sweeping machines intended to sweep and clean Municipality areas in the state of Goa.

Pointing out the futility of using these machines in the state, the opposition leader indicated that the machines could be used effectively on only two major roads of Goa at Panjim's Dayanand Bandodkar road and M G Road. The five machines have been procured at a cost of 97 lakh while an equal number of tractors have been purchased at a cost of 26 lakh to pull these sweeping machines.

In a scathing remark, the opposition leader observed that no study of Goan roads had been undertaken before deciding to procure these machines. Justifying his stance he pointed out to the bends and turns on Goan roads which would make it difficult for these machines to negotiate on such roads and therefore the utilisation of these machines is going to be very minimal which would eventually result in their being kept aside.

The five tractor towed sweeping machines have been procured for four municipal councils of Margao, Panjim, Mormugao and Mapusa.

Replying to the opposition leaders critical remarks, Mr Joaquim Alemao , the Minister for Urban development said that the cost comparison of tractor towed sweeping machines( costing 18.53 lakh) compared to truck mounted sweeping machines( costing Rs 40 Lakh) was favourable to the purchase of the former and therefore the GSUDA ( Goa State Urban Development Authority)was of the view that considering all factors the tractor towed machines were more suitable to Goan roads. He  also informed that the machines were procured after a number of municipal councils and the corporation of the city of Panjim passed resolutions to that effect.

Goa casinos facing rough political weather

The bad dream of the casinos in Goa does not appear to leave them very soon. On Monday 27th July 2009, the tourism Minister Mr Micky Pacheco informed the legislative assembly that he would seal all illegal activities on five of the six off shore casinos whose No Objection certificates have since expired. The Minister was responding to repeated demands and queries made by the opposition leader Manohar Parrikar who was asking as to why the government was not putting a stop to casino operations in the state when the NOC's issued by the captain of ports had already expired.

Joining the chorus against the casino operations in Goa were congress MLAs Victoria Fernandes and Mauvin Godinho who demanded a ban on casinos and sought to know how casinos are operating in Goa despite the absence of a casino policy in the state.

In a reply to Parrikar about the details of when the licences of the casinos had expired, the tourism minister gave an account of the NOC expiry dates as below

Name of Casino                             Date of expiry of NOC

Pride of Goa          -------------   April 3 2009
The Leela             -------------   January 30 2009
Casino Royale        -------------   February 18 2009
San Domino           -------------   May 19 2009
Caravela               -------------   April 18 2009

Mr Pacheco added that the NOC of Arabian Sea King is slated to expire on October 30 2009. In the meanwhile the casino operators expressed their shock over the decision of the tourism minister to the Goa legislative assembly  and blamed the government for delaying the issuance of licences on the ground that the matter was sub judice.

Casino operators indicated that the current stance of the government could adversely affect over 2000 employees working in the casinos and suggested a paycut eventuality on a gradual basis to offset the closure period.

Goa government buckles to vernacular theory

The current medium of instruction as an issue which has been plaguing Goan parents, who have been arguing for the cause of English as a medium of choice in Goan schools has taken a hit for the moment.The Goa assembly proceedings on Friday July 24 2009 when the issue was expected to be a hot topic on the agenda was quietly subdued as the two MLAs who were vociferously supporting the cause of English as a medium of instruction aimed at empowering parents to choose for their children, withdrew their resolutions aimed at giving English education as a medium in the primary aided schools in Goa

The two congress MLAs Agnelo Fernandes and Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco were however apparently assured of a change in the policy and have appeared to have set the tone for the government to do a serious rethink on the issue. Meanwhile the education Minister Mr Babush Monserrate felt that the local Konkani language needs to be protected and suggested  an enforcement of Konkani as a subject  from class I to X.

Mr Monserrate also dwelled on the fees structure of private unaided schools in Goa and indicated that taking control of these fee structures was also an option before the government and quoted that the Goa School Education Act and Rules prohibit exorbitant fees and expressed the need to implement these rules.

However the latest backtracking of the two congress MLAs over the issue is seen as a move by the congress party to avoid any controversies regarding the issue while silently endeavouring to bring about the necessary change in keeping with the aspirations of the Goan people .

Farmers in Rawanfond Goa, to fight for their land

Farmers  in Rawanfond in south Goa are in an agitation mode and are in no  mood to listen to the government who has acquired their land to rehabilitate displaced traders by displacing the farmers from their traditional paddy fields which many of them claim, are their sole means of earning their daily bread. In a meeting held  in the fields opp. KRC station, Margao to protest the illegal acquisition of fields and creation of a new slum area by the Govt. of Goa the farmers under the banner of "Navelchea Xetkariancho Ekvott" supported by Navelim Civic & Consumer Forum (NCCF) vowed to get their land back from the government and threatened to come to the streets to achieve the objective

The farmers along with the residents of Aquem-Baixo, Nalanda Apartments, Ravanfond & Davorlim assembled in large numbers to protest the forcible and illegal acquisition of lush green paddy fields and putting up slums in the area. People gathered and shouted slogans such as "Amchim Xettam amka zai" "Zopodpottio amkam naka", etc.( meaning " we want our farmland" " "we do not want slums")

President of N X E Mr. Dyneshwar Pednekar who is also a farmer and a professor of Law, described the fraud played by the Government to rob their fields. He requested the Government not to foist another "Nandigram" in Goa, as the farmers are determined, come what may to defend their rights of the fields.

Another farmer Natali Dias complained of Police harassment while cultivating the fields calling them encroachers in their own land. How can Govt. claim to have acquired the land when we have not received any compensation nor any notices? she asked. However the district collector  maintained that the award of compensation was completed way back, around eight years ago.

Cladais Dias another farmer told that they will continue their agitation and asserted that if the Govt. ignores their voice from here, then they would be forced to march to the Chief Ministers' residence, PWD Minister's residence, to the Collector's Office, and even to the Secretariat in Porvorim. Even a hunger strike is being contemplated to revert the acquisition.

Joseph Vaz of the Navelim civic and consumer Forum (NCCF) lamented that while all the fields belong to the Goan farmers, it being their main source of income, he questioned the need to acquire these fields for the sake of non-Goan shop owners/hutments to be rehabilitated in an area which would deprive Goan farmers of their sole means of earning.

Joseph Vaz secretary of NCCF, told the people that this Land Acquisition act of 1890 was used by the British to harass the Indian people then, but now this Government is using it to harass the aam aadmi. Where is our democracy? he lamented.

The NCCF also feared that the whole area would turn into another slum with hutments all over the area thus resembling another shambolic picture of the Moti Dongor slum and also felt the alarm of the present Moti Dongor residents being re-located in this area, thus making the village of Navelim into another slum infested area.

CCP to plead with Church, Chief Minister, to use Bainguinim

Political heavyweights,  clergymen, a childrens school, a temple committee and other strong vociferous voices opposing the waste management plant slated to come up at Bainguinim has propelled the Corporation of the city of Panaji (CCP) to approach the Archbishop Phillip Neri Ferrao, and the Chief Minister besides approaching MLAs and others to intervene in the matter to find a solution to the vexed problem facing the corporation.

The CCP held a special meeting on Monday where it was resolved to request the Archbishop and the Chief Minister to solve the dispute with the Panchayat, residents of Old Goa and the parish Church.

In the meantime, in order to get rid of the garbage  right now, the CCP had decided to acquire land near the KTC bus stand on lease for segregating the city garbage before sending it to the treatment plant. the CCP also plans to build composting pits at the site and has assured that no garbage will be dumped there.

BJP wants Goans to be denied casino entry

In the latest mudslinging match involving ministers, MLAs, opposition members, casino operators and casino managers, the BJP has come out with a demand to ban the entry of Goans on the floating as well as the land based casinos in the state thereby denying an opportunity to Goans to gamble and lose their money which causes adverse effects on the social life in Goa, with a number of Goan families already bearing the brunt of the decision to permit casinos in Goa which have disrupted their lives.

The opposition leader Mr Manohar Parrikar also alleged that the state was not earning any revenue as projected by the lobby of the offshore casinos which according to him, belies the figures supplied by the commissionerate of commercial taxes.

Parrikar also came out heavily on Ministers who frequent casinos and said that there are atleast 5 ministers who are regulars at the various casinos in Goa and urged the government to investigate and find their sources of income.

the BJP leader said that Goan families are going broke due to the gambling by their family members in casinos and demanded that all Goans be barred from casino entry except for Goan staff employed at such casinos

Willy resigns from NCP. Questions party relevance today

In a seemingly sudden development on Tuesday, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief in Goa and veteran politician Dr. Wilfred de Souza resigned from the primary membership of the party. With his resignation followed a series of resignations of atleast around 20 members of the 32-strong state executive committee. The NCP is the major coalition partner of the Congress led government in the state of Goa. Interestingly none of the three MLAs of the party - Mickky Pacheco, Nilkanth Halarnkar and Jose Phillip D'Souza have resigned from the party.

Faxing his resignation to the national NCP president Mr Sharad Pawar, Dr Wilfred De souza has resigned exactly on the tenth anniversary of the formation of the NCP. Commenting on the tenth anniversary, Dr Wilfred De Souza mentioned that the NCP came into existence as the party founders were against a foreigner to head the country. However he pointed out that Ms Sonia Gandhi had been the chairperson of the UPA as well as the head of the congress and in such conditions he opined that the formation of the NCP does not hold good anymore and questioned its reasons to continue in future as a national party.

It may be recalled that the NCP was formed by Sharad Pawar, Tariq Anwar and P A Sangma in opposition to the foreign origin of Ms Sonia Gandhi. However the NCP has been supporting the formation of the congress led UPA government in the last term as well as this current term. The state NCP leader Mr Surendra Furtado in his personal capacity mentioned that if the issue of foreign origin of Mr Gandhi is a non-issue now, the party no longer needs to exist.

The state unit of the NCP has in the meanwhile always been considered as a party with open factions and mired in dissidence. In the recent Lok Sabha elections, it is believed that the state leadership of the NCP was marginalised completely and kept away from all party matters and during Mr Pawar's campaign in Goa for its party candidate the press conferences were held outside its main office. Eventually the NCP candidate Mr Jeetendra Deshprabhu lost to the BJP and fetched few votes in Dr De Souza's constituency of Saligao.

It is believed that the relationship between the party chief and its minister in the Goa cabinet Mr Mickky Pacheco was also soured in the last few years. In his response to the resignation of Dr De Souza, Mr Mickky Pacheco said that the resignation should be accepted. The other Minister Mr Jose Phillip D'Souza said that "if one De Souza leaves the NCP another D'Souza is willing to take his place".

Dr WIlfred D'Souza has however been credited with raising the NCP flag in Goa and has been instrumental in the NCP gaining a foothold in the state of Goa after he merged his Goa Rajiv Congress with the NCP in 1999. Dr De Souza has now stated that with his goodwill and influence created with the Goan masses over the years he will support the current government both in the state and at the centre without any reservations.

Among those who resigned with him from the NCP included former MLA  and former vice president of the party Ms Fatima de Sa and former general secretary Mr Surendra Furtado who both lashed out at the party high command and the rival faction for ignoring the real party workers and patronising landlords, mine owners and new entrants from other parties.

Congress leaders in Goa disappointed over cabinet exclusion

Congressmen in Goa were a disappointed lot, over the decision of the Congress party not to include any of the two Congress Members of Parliament in the Manmohan Singh cabinet.

The Congress leaders in Goa were keenly hoping that MR Francisco Sardinha who has been elected from the Mormugao Constituency to the  Lok Sabha for the third time and who has been a former Chief Minister and seen many Ministries in various Congress governments in the state of Goa besides being a good administrator, would get a berth in the Union cabinet which was expanded on Thursday.

Congressmen were therefore dejected that while other smaller states and Union territories were considered and accommodated in the Union cabinet, Goa was mysteriously kept out which many felt was unfair to Goa.

The exclusion of MPs from Goa in the Union cabinet denies the state any voice in New Delhi and many decisions concerning the state of Goa are taken without giving any Goan a say in the matter relating to the state and therefore many such decisions go against the state. For instance the burning issue relating to the diversion of water from Mhadei basin by Karnataka, the coastal regulation zone issue etc are not represented by anyone from Goa in this respect

Goa Police sees major reshufffle after elections

The police department in Goa has seen a major reshuffle after the Lok sabha elections wherein over seven superintendents of Police and seventeen police inspectors have been reshuffled.The Dy Supdt of police Deu Banaulikar has been sent from Security, Panaji to the Goa reserve Police Force. Mr Nandkishore Raikar has been transferred from his current posting at Control room to JSO ( Home Guards Civil Defence) .Mr Nilu Raut Desai has been transferred to security Panaji from SDPO mapusa and Mr Gundu Naik who was stationed at crime branch Dona Paula has been now posted as SDPO Mapusa.

Mr Umesh Gaonkar has been transferred as SDPO from his present position as JSO ( Home Guards and Civil Defence). Mr Lourenco De Souza who was serving the North Goa traffic police has been transferred as special officer, Inspector General of Police , while Mr Shamba Sawant has been transferred to the police control room Panaji from his present posting as SDPO Margao.

Among the police inspectors, Mr Tushar Vernekar ( Margao Police Station) and Mr Devendra Gaad ( Quepem police station ) have been transferred to Calangute police station and Porvorim police station respectively while Mr Edwin Colaco ( Immigration Dabolim) is back at the Colva Police station. Mr Sagar Ekoskar ( Bicholim police station ) has been transferred to harbour police station while Mr Shivram Vaigankar ( Verna Police station ) and Mr Nelson Albuquerque ( Maina Curtorim police station ) have been sent to Valpoi police station and emigration Vasco respectively. Mr Harish Madkaikar is transferred to the Goa reserve police from the Valpoi police station.

Mr Santosh Desai has been transferred from Calangute police station to the Quepem police station.Mr Mohandas Naik from harbour coastal police station to CID special division Panaji and Mr Rajendra Prabhudessai from Porvorim police station to Margao police station.

Mr Raju Raut Desai ( Vasco Port emigration ) Mr Suresh Narvekar ( Sanguem police station ) and Mr Francis Corte ( Colva police station ) have been transferred to Sanguem police station, Dabolim airport - emigration and Panaji police station respectively.

Mr Dharmesh Angle from Vasco police station has been sent to Maina Curtorim police station while Mr Ram Asare with the harbour police station and Mr Braz Menezes ( Vasco police station ) have been transferred to CID ( special division ) and Bicholim police station respectively while Mr Nolasco Raposo has been transferred from Panaji police station to Verna police station.

However police inspectors Channapa Patil, Mr Manjunath Desai, Mr Sandesh Chodankar and Mr Sidhant Shirodkar as well as deputy Superintendents of Police Mr Serafin Dias, Mr Mahesh gaonkar Mr Subhash Goltekar and Mr Naresh Mhamal have been asked to continue at their present locations of posting.

Man(date)mohan's power, rockets stock markets to long circuits!

The role of politics in India came full circle to remind investors in the country that the narrow understanding of economics is just not enough if one ignores the role of politics in the construction of financial fortunes.

And the proof of the above came in full measure on Monday 18th may 2009 with a skyrocketing force never witnessed in the history of the markets anywhere in the world as stocks, bonds and the Indian rupee went into orbit on the back of the pleasantly dramatic mandate for Manmohan Singh and the Indian national Congress. 

It was therefore the first ever instance that the Bombay Stock exchange which was founded in the year 1875, had to halt trading for the day when the 30-scrip sensex roared by 2111 points or a mind boggling 17.3% inside the space of a minute, making investors richer by over 3.6 lakh crore. In both percentage and absolute terms, the gallop was a record smashing performance, blunting the earlier single day rise record of 1140 points on January 25 2008. The picture was no different on the National Stock exchange with the rise being marginally sharper on the Nifty at 17.7%.

The sensex which fell from over 21,000 points since January 2008 to below 8000 points in October 2008 had regained around 26% from the beginning of 2009 till the eve of elections and has now extended its gains overnight to 48% taking it from last to first among the BRIC nations( Brazil, Russis, India and China) and pole vaulting it into the best performing index in the world, barring Peru.

The whole euphoria seems to be due to the fact that the Congress government received a powerful mandate, leaving the Left decimated and incapable of coercing the ruling combination to succumb to  Leftist agendas. With the government no longer dependent on coercive allies, a stable government is expected to push reforms with PSU disinvestments, liberalisation in FDI policies, private entry pension funds and possible labour reforms as well.

What happened to the stock markets on "Golden Monday' was therefore anticipated though not to the measure that it finally weighed. The upper circuit filter was hit in seconds after the market opened at 9.55 am climbing vertically by 17980 points on the sensex from Fridays close.Trading was therefore halted within seconds holding the sensex at 13,963 points between 9.56 am till 11.55 am. Thereafter , the moment trading resumed, the index jumped by another 652 points which left traders and investors with a pleasant daze.

Brokerage houses in Goa as in the rest of India had suddenly a splurge of telephone callers who were dumbstruck to believe the indulgence of the stock markets in a single day. Most of the brokerage houses in Goa as in the rest of the country however had almost nil business today since the markets hardly allowed anyone to enter the ring with the circuits hitting faster than the blinking of an eyelid.

India Election Results - tallies from 1951 - 2009

Since the year 1951 till 2009, the following table provides a complete insight into the various standing positions of the parties at each election

Election Year	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	No of seats
1951	Cong-364	CPI-16	*SP-12	KMPP-9	PDF-7	489
1957	Cong-371	CPI-27	PSP-19	SCF-6	JHP-6	494
1962	Cong-361	CPI-29	SWA-18	JS-14	PSP-12	494
1967	Cong-283	SWA-44	BJS-35	DMK-25	CPI/SSP-23	520
1971	Cong-352	CPM-25	CPI-23	DMK-23	BJS-22	518
1977	BLD-295	INC-154	CPM-22	ADK-18	SAD-9	542
1980	Cong-353	JNP(S)41	CPM-37	JNP-31	DMK-16	529
1984	Cong-414	TDP-30	CPM-22	ADK-12	JNP-10	541
1989	Cong-197	JD-43	BJP-85	CPM-33	CPI12	529
1991	Cong-244	BJP-120	JD-59	CPM-35	CPI-14	534
1996	BJP-161	INC-140	JD-46	CPM-32	TMC(M)-20	543
1998	BJP-182	INC-141	CPM-32	SP-20	ADMK-18	543
1999	BJP-182	INC-114	CPM-33	TDP-29	SP-26	543
2004	Cong-145	BJP-138	CPM-43	SP-36	RJD-14	543
2009	Cong-206	BJP-116	SP-23	BSP-21	JD(U)-20	543

 

IN 1951- *SP-SOCIALIST PARTY
               KMPP- Kisan Mazdoor Praja party
               PDF- Peoples Democratic front

In 1957 - PSP - Praja Socialist party
             SCF- All India Scheduled Caste Federation
             JHP - Jharkhand Party

In 1962  - SWA - Swatantra
               JS  - Jan Sangh

In 1967 - SSP - Samyukta Socialist

In 1971 - BJS - Bharatiya Jan sangh

In 1977 - BLD - Bharatiya Lok Dal
             ADK - All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Khazagam

In 1980 - JNP(S)  - Janata Party (Secular)

In 1996 - TMC(M) - Tamil Maanila Congress ( Moopanar)