Goa CM Manohar Parrikar: Alemao supported fake degrees racket

Panaji: Goa Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar Wednesday accused former PWD minister Churchill Alemao of patronising a fake degree racket, recently busted by police, saying the illegalities eroded the sanctity of the department.

“Alemao, during his tenure as PWD minister, was directing various candidates to this academy (which operated the racket), giving fake certificates before recruiting them as engineers in PWD department”, Parrikar said in his reply to a question on affairs of PWD Department in Legislative Assembly. The crime branch recently exposed the racket after raiding a private academy in Margao.

According to police, the racketeers used to provide bogus educational certificates, purportedly of various recognised universities, including the Board of Secondary Education, Gwalior.

“The bogus certificates were bought from this academy by candidates who have now become engineers”, Parrikar said, adding that the illegalities committed by Alemao has eroded the sanctity of PWD department. Alemao, a senior Congress leader was PWD minister in Digambar Kamat-led government.

SOURCE: PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Goa Congress slams BJP for paying sacked miners

Panaji : The Goa Congress lashed out at the Manohar Parrikar-led government Tuesday for paying mining firm employees who had been sacked after the ban on mining in the state.

Leader of opposition in the state assembly Pratapsing Rane said that instead of doling out money, the government should ask the mining companies to re-hire the workers they have sacked.

“How long is the government going to give them money? These are employees of private organisations. Today it is the mining companies, tomorrow it will be some other private companies,” Rane told the assembly during a discussion on the motion of thanks to the Goa governor’s speech.

“We can take an assurance from the companies that they (employees) should be taken back at the same post they had,” Rane said.

Goa’s Governor B.V. Wanchoo in his speech Monday had announced that the state government was working out a financial package for people affected by the mining ban, through which each affected individual would receive about Rs.6,000 per month as dole until the mining impasse was resolved.

Four months ago, the Supreme Court enforced a mining ban in Goa after a judicial commission unearthed a Rs.35,000 crore illegal mining scam being carried out by an unscrupulous nexus comprising politicians, bureaucrats and mining companies.

SOURCE: IANS

 

Mining lobby attacks Goa Governor for ignoring their plight

Panaji: The mining lobby on Wednesday attacked Goa Governor Bharat Veer Wanchoo, calling him an “agent” of the Central government and accusing him of being callous to those affected by the ban on iron ore mining in Goa.

Lobbyists seeking revocation of the ban on iron ore mining in the state spoke to reporters after Wanchoo “snubbed” the pro-mining lobby protesters who have been camping near the Martyrs’ Memorial here for the last two weeks.

On Wednesday morning, the Governor and other leading political dignitaries, including Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar, arrived at the memorial in the capital to pay their tributes to Goa’s freedom fighters. However, the Governor returned to Raj Bhavan without speaking to protesters at the site.

“He did not have the courtesy to address us. We have been protesting here for the last two weeks. The Governor is not concerned about the sufferings of the people of his state,” Communist Party of India (CPI) state general secretary Christopher Fonseca told reporters here.

Fonseca heads the Goa Mining Affected People’s Front, which is protesting the loss of jobs caused by the Supreme Court-imposed mining ban. Fonseca also said that the Goa government was not taking convincing steps to resolve the mining crisis in the state.

“It has been four months since the ban has been in place. The government has not given a single convincing argument to the Supreme Court to ensure that the ban is removed,” Fonseca said.

Fonseca’s comments come only a couple of days after the Governor, in his inaugural address to the Goa Legislative Assembly, said that the Manohar Parrikar-led state government was working to introduce a financial package for people living in the mining belt, who had lost employment due to the mining ban.

The package involves giving out monthly dole to the tune of Rs 6,000 per head to those who have lost their mining jobs. The dole, however, has been criticised by the Opposition, which has said that instead of dishing out money, the state government should crack down on mining companies to ensure that workers are not laid off without any pressing reason.

SOURCE: IANS

 

Mopa Airport: Process begins for green signal to proposed airport at Mopa in Goa

PANAJI: The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF) has started the process of giving clearance to the proposed greenfield airport at Mopa in Goa, the state Assembly was informed today.

“The matter was discussed at the meeting of the Environment Ministry on January 28. There are further studies which are still required and they would be taken now,” Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar told the Assembly.

Independent legislator Vijay Sardesai had raised the issue of environment clearance to the airport at Mopa, about 70 km from here.

The MLA, who heads the movement involving locals against the airport, claimed that various preconditions suggested by International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) had been ignored by the Goa government which appears in a hurry to go ahead with the project.

“ICAO had suggested that a comprehensive strategy should be put in place before going ahead with the project as another airport already exists in the state,” Sardesai said.

The Chief Minister, quoting an ICAO report published in 2007, said there was a need to have two airports in Goa as the existing one at Dabolim would get saturated due to increasing flow of passenger traffic in the tourist state.

Parrikar rejected the notion that Mopa airport would benefit Maharashtra, more than Goa, due to its close proximity with the neighbouring state.

“The airport is 25 kms away from Maharashtra border,” he said and requested the Assembly Speaker to allow half an hour debate on the issue so that “Goa Government’s stand on the issue can be clarified”.

SOURCE: THE ECONOMIC TIMES

CM Manohar Parrikar pacifies fishing trawler owners in Goa – Govt offers subsidy on diesel

Goa Newz Network

The Manohar Parrikar-led BJP government in Goa today assured the agitating fishing trawler owners in the State that they would be given subsidy on diesel, the price of which was recently hiked by the Centre.

The trawler owners had anchored their vessels since Saturday protesting against Rs 11 per litre hike effected by the Central government on bulk purchase of diesel. From 29th January all unions and associations of fishing workers in Goa joined the strike causing a huge shortage of the essential commodity in the State. Prices of meat and poultry sky-rocketed in Goa on Monday and Tuesday with most restaurants running out of sea food in the capital city of Panaji. Fishing trawlers from all the coastal states like Maharashtra and Karnataka had called a strike to protest against the decision of the Oil companies to re-classify fishing as an industrial activity instead of an agricultural activity further adding to the shortage of fish in the entire western coastal belt of India.

Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar told the assembly that the government would give subsidy to trawler owners on diesel purchases and asked the trawler owners to purchase from retail outlets. The mechanism is yet to be announced.

The issue was raised by BJP legislator Benjamin D’Silva on the floor of the House.
Parrikar said,”Agitation by trawler owners is pan-India. We will try to ensure that the Goan fishermen are at comfort and they will not have to suffer due to the hike imposed by the Central government,”.

Goa has 1,200 trawlers operating from five different jetties and fishing is the third largest segment of economic activity in the state after mining and tourism. The tourism industry is heavily dependent on the fish catch as almost 50 per cent of the foreign tourists prefer sea food to red meats in Goa.

The shortfall in the supply of fish has had a collateral effect on vegetables and milk products which also saw a hefty increase in price over the last two days. Many tourists from Maharashtra and north India were shocked at the price of fish and decided to go in for a vegetarian or chicken menu thus increasing the demand for vegetables and chicken. Wholesalers and distributors of vegetables, meat and poultry products decided to make hay while the sun shines and hiked the prices of food stuff forcing establishments to pay more.

While it is not sure if the governments of the neightbouring states will offer the fishing community in their respective states the same subsidy, but the astute and seasoned politician Manohar Parrikar has won his party brownie points among the Goan populace with his quick response to the pressing issue.

Government cracks down on illegal buying of land in Goa – 12 properties confiscated

Foreigners  in the dock for illegally buying land in Goa

Signaling its zero-tolerance intent, the government has cracked down on immovable properties in Goa, such as land and houses, illegally acquired by foreign citizens and firms over the last four years.

“We have already confiscated 12 such foreign-owned properties after imposing the due penalty,” said a senior finance ministry official on the condition of anonymity. These properties-largely acquired by Russian, Israeli and British citizens-were acquired in abject violation of the Foreign Exchange Management Act (FEMA) 1999 regulations.

“Show cause notices were issued to 29 entities-16 against foreign individuals and 13 against companies formed by foreign nationals-that had acquired properties in Goa,” the official added.

Sources told HT that the finance minister-led Economic Intelligence Council, which meets annually, will also take up the property acquisition issue by foreigners in Goa. “This will also sensitize state governments and administrative agencies, including the Reserve Bank of India, to the kind of violations that take place. Hence, appropriate action can be taken from the government’s side,” said an official.

Rules stipulate that foreign nationals should reside continuously in India for at least half a year to become eligible for buying property.

“They skirt the rule by roping in locals or Indian companies, who later hand over the property to foreign nationals or companies,” the official said.

Of late, there have been many complaints of illegal activities being undertaken by foreigners in Goa. Besides illegal acquisition of immovable property, there have also been allegations of a strong foreign mafia presence in the state – responsible for drug-running, smuggling and prostitution rackets. Unofficial reports say about 500 foreigners have also bought agricultural land in the state.

The National Security Council has also been apprised of the developments, which allegedly have the potential to snowball into a serious issue later.

Two years ago, acting on public complaints and outcry over illegal activities by foreigners in Goa, the state government had issued an advisory aimed at foreigners and their local accomplices – cautioning against indulging in property transactions in violation of FEMA.

As an immediate measure, the government also decided to upgrade the Goa sub-zonal office of the Enforcement Directorate, which deals with such cases, to a zonal status. Once this is done, it would be headed by a joint director of enforcement.

 SOURCE:  HINDUSTAN TIMES

A carnival sans fish in Goa?

 Fish gets scarce in Goa over the weekend…

 

 

By Martin De Souza – Goa Newz Network

Thanks to the long, extended weekend, Goa had hordes of tourists pouring in from neighbouring states like Maharahstra and Karnataka. However, many of the tourists who wanted to taste some of the sea food which Goa is internationally famous for, were disappointed and some of them even returned home angry. Lobsters, king crabs, tiger prawns, king fish  pomfrets and other expensive fish were not available in most of the small local beach side restaurants and shacks on Sunday.

If the Goa State government does not act quickly and resolve the issue, the strike will impact the restaurant business in Goa during the Carnival, says Salvador De Costa convener of the SpeakGoa movement who is contemplating submitting a memo on behalf of the restaurant owners in North Goa to chief minister Manohar Parrikar and the Tourism Minister. “Goa is expecting at least 10 lakh visitors during the Carnival this year and with an acute shortage of sea food, prices of other food items are also likely to rise exponentially as wholesalers want to make maximum profit, opined De Costa.

Some of the restaurants which did have fish in stock were charging double the regular rates quoting the ongoing trawler strike and fish shortage in Goa.  Trawlers from the neighbouring states of Maharashtra and Karnataka have also joined the strike causing a huge shortfall of fish in the market for local consumption. Martins Corner at BetalbatimBeach in south Goa hiked their rates by about 15 to 25 per cent over the weekend for sea food items. Guests who went to Martins over the weekend were disappointed since their favourite seafood was not available, according to a regular at the famous restaurant. Café Ritz – the small eatery at Panaji known for its fish thali had only a few options to offer – on a normal day they have at least 25-30 varieties of sea food. This weekend the menu was down to 15-18 sea food options. Other smaller restaurants were serving “cold-storage fish” and even the quantity was much lesser.” Says Cajetan Britto of Brittos – the very popular sea food restaurant at BagaBeach, “We ran short of certain varieties of sea food including crabs and pomfrets over the weekend. However, since Brittos is primarily a sea food restaurant and we buy fish in huge quantities, we had options to offer our guests. But smaller restaurants were badly affected. The price of sea food also has gone up and even the bigger restaurants felt the pinch over the weekend. Many restaurants like Brittos have a fixed price menu which is applicable throughout the year. We cannot change the price and unlike other restaurants who charge on a daily basis we could not hike our rates.”

The trawler owners are angered by the diesel price hike coupled with the re-classification of fishing as an industrial activity – earlier fishing was classified as an agricultural activity and was eligible for various subsidies including a lower rate on diesel.

With the new classification in force trawler owners now have to shell out Rs 61.35 for a litre of diesel — an increase of a whopping Rs 11 per litre from the earlier subsidized price. Trawlers in Goa have announced an indefinite strike from January 29 if the price of diesel is not reduced. With the state government not taking notice of the trawler owners’ demands, fish may soon vanish from the menu of most Goans in the coming days. The shortfall in the supply of fish has had a collateral effect on vegetables and milk products which also saw a small increase in price. Many tourists from Maharashtra and north India were shocked at the price of fish and decided to go in for a vegetarian or chicken menu thus increasing the demand for vegetables and chicken over the weekend.

Says a Micheal Fernandes (name changed on request) a restaurant owner in the prime tourist area of Candolim in North Goa  “The price of seafood has gone up almost three times for some varieties of sea food. Even the normal fare has doubled. There is no fish is the market and those who venture out into the sea charge double for whatever they have got.” Fernandes owns one shack and two restaurants in North Goa and says he may have to take fish off his menu completely in a day or two.  Goa has approximately 1,200-1300 trawlers which net nearly 70-75 million tonnes of fish annually. Most trawlers at the major fishing jetties at Cutbona, Betim and Chapora were anchored and did not venture out into the sea, says Fernandes blaming the local government for inaction in the matter.

(Martin De Souza is a senior journalist based in Goa)