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misfortunes nevercome alone

-- Chinese Proverb

IN BRIEF

Brand new aircraft, experiencedpilot, excellent runway, goodweather, exceptional communica-tion... then how did it crash?

Heat claims 3 CRPF men Three CRPF constables dieddue to heat stroke today whileseven others were admitted toa hospital after collapsing dur-ing training, senior officials ofthe paramilitary force said.The victims were in theWeapons and Tactical pre-pro-motion course at the CentralTraining College. The incidenttook place at about one pmwhen the temperature wasabout 45 degree Celsius, theysaid. (PTI)

HERALD REPORTER

MARGAO, MAY 24

Investigations by the NationalInvestigating Agency (NIA) intothe Margao bomb blast has re-vealed that the activists ofSanatan Sanstha had twicetested the Improvised ExplosiveDevises (IEDs) at Talaulim inPonda and Sangli in Maharashtraand had drawn up plans to trig-ger bomb blasts in as many asfive places in Goa during thenarkasura competitions on theeve of last years Diwali festi-val.

The chargesheet filed by theNIA against the 11 accused per-sons, including the six sadaksof Sanatan Sanstha reveals thatthe accused prepared the IEDsand conducted test blasts at Ta-laulim-Ponda hillock on threedays, between August 26-28,2009. It has come in evidencethat the second test blast wasconducted at Jath Sangli in Ma-harashtra during the last weekof September 2009.

A perusal of the chargesheetreveals that the criminal con-spiracy was hatched by deceasedaccused Malgonda Patil, de-ceased accused Yogesh Naik,Vinay Talekar, Vinayak Patil,Dhananjay Ashtekar, Dilip Man-gonkar, Jai Prakask allias Anna,Rudra Patil, Sarang Kulkarni andPrashanth Juvekar during themonth of June 2009 to October2009.

The NIA has pointed in thechargesheet that accused Mal-gonda Patil, Dhananjay Ashtekarand Jai Prakash brought explo-sive materials like gelatin sticksand detonators and other ac-cessories like Printed CircuitBoards, transistors, batteries,

wires etc for manufacturing theIEDs from difference sources.The IEDs were assembled at theresidence of Laxmikant Naik,the elder brother of accused Yo-gesh at Talaulim-Ponda and alsodiscussed about the actions tobe taken against the Govern-ment, organizers and partici-pants and viewers of Narkasurcompetitions on grounds suchcompetitions are against Hindureligion and practices.

In pursuance of the conspir-acy, the accused formed twogroups, one comprising of de-ceased Malgonda Patil and de-ceased accused Yogesh Naik toplant the IEDs at the narkasurcompetition at Margao and thesecond group consisting ofVinay Talekar and Vinayak Patilfor planting the IEDs in a mini-lorry at Shanthadurga Temple,Sancoale.

The NIA has charged accusedDhananjay Ashtekar, a native ofRatnagiri for downloading cir-cuit diagrams using internet(Google search) and contacted

Sai PCB shop at Kholapur forpreparing of Printed CircuitBoard for IEDs, purchased elec-tronic items for assembling theIEDs from J B electronics shops,alarm clocks from Manoj Shopeeat Ichalkarnji, Kolhapur, near tohis DKTE college, two transis-tors from Keycee Electronics atLamington Road, ChunamanLane, Mumbai in July 2009.

Incidentally, accused VinayTalekar and Vinayak Patil pur-chased SIMs on fake and forgeddocuments in the name of AmrinSauji and Sonia Gaonkar fromMs Abbas Cellular Ponda andfrom Gonsalves Tours and Trav-els, Vasco.

The duo also visited Margao-based Ms Cell Touch, whichdeals with sale of second handmobiles. The NIA says that ac-cused Vinay Talekar purchasedsecond hand mobile of Nokia1100 make for Rs 500 from CellTouch with the intention to usethose materials to hide theiridentity during police investi-gations.

Sanatan men tested IEDsat Ponda, Sangli: probe

Had plans to trigger blasts at 5 places

HERALD REPORTER

MARGAO, MAY 24

The South Goa Sessions Court on Mondaygranted permission for the National Inves-tigation Agency (NIA) to carry out furtherinvestigations into the Margao bomb blast case.

The NIA had approached the court seeking permission to fur-ther investigate into the bomb blast, which the court on Mondaygranted under section 173 of the CrPC

Five accused chargesheeted by the NIA in the Sessions courtare still absconding. During investigations, their role and in-volvement in the criminal conspiracy has come out from thestatements of accused Vinay Talekar, Vinayak Patil, DhananjayAshetkar and Dilip Mangonkar. The NIA has maintained in thechargesheet that their custodial interrogation is needed to un-earth the larger conspiracy of this case.

Court nod for further probe

HERALD NEWS BUREAU

PANJIM, MAY 24

Seven persons, including fourmembers of a family from Rat-nagiri-Maharashtra, died whiletwo persons were injured in fourseparate road mishaps atUgvem-Pernem, Bhatwadi-Kor-gao, Matve-Dabolim and at Bor-dem-Bicholim on Monday.

PERNEM CORRESPONDENTADDS: Four members of theShetty family from Ratnagiriwere killed, when the car inwhich they were travelingrammed against a mining truckalong the highway at Ugvem.

The deceased have been iden-tified as Ratnamala Shetty andher three sons Yogesh, Sureshand Dinesh.

According to Pernem police,the accident occurred at about3.30 pm when a mining truck

(GA-03-T-9305) collided againstoncoming Maruti car (MH-08-U-3645), which was proceedingfrom Bangalore towards Ratna-giri.

The impact of the accidentwas such that the front portionof the car was ripped. The cardriver, Yogesh, and his brotherSuresh died on the spot, whileDinesh died at GMC Hospital atBambolim. Ratnamala breathedher last at Tuem Primary HealthCentre.

The police had a tough timein retrieving the bodies out ofthe mangled remains of the car.Residents from surroundingareas rushed to the site ofmishap on hearing the loudsound.

The Goa-based truck driver,who was operating the truck fora mine in Maharashtra, aban-

doned the vehicle and fled fromthe site.

In the second accident, oneSuhas Surayakant Naik (28) ofParsekarwado-Arambol died ina head-on collision involving amotorcycle and a stone-ladentruck at Bhatwadi.

According to Pernem police,the accident at about 3.15 pmwhen Suhas was proceeding onhis Hero Honda motorcycle to-wards Korgao. On reaching nearBhatwadi, the tipper truck (GA-03-T-1079), which was proceed-ing towards Korgao, collidedagainst the motorcycle.

Seriously injured Suhas wasrushed to Tuem Primary HealthCentre, where he breathed hislast.

Police said the truck driver,who had also abandoned thetruck and fled from the site,

later surrendered at Pernem po-lice station.

VASCO REPORTER ADDS: A22-year-old native of Bagalkot-Karnataka died, while the riderwas injured, when a speedingKTC bus rammed the motorcyclenear Matve-Dabolim.

According to Verna police,Mahesh Subhash Chalwadi, whohad come to Goa to attend awedding ceremony of his cousin,was crushed under the rearwheels of the bus, after he felldown from Hero Honda Splen-dor motorcycle (GA-06-C-7150).

Chalwadi died on the spot,while rider Ravindra Dodamaniescaped with minor injuries.

Verna police informed thatthe speeding KTC bus (GA-01-X-0348) and motorcycle wereproceeding towards Cortalim.

Tragic Monday claims 7 in mishapsFire brigade personnel removing the occupants from the ill-fated car at Pernem.

PTI

NEW DELHI, MAY 24

Just into his seventh year in of-fice, Prime Minister ManmohanSingh today ruled out retire-ment since his tasks remainunfinished but offered tomake way for a younger leaderif the Congress party wantedthat.

At a 75-minute press confer-ence, his third in the capitalsince he first became the PrimeMinister in 2004, Singh scotchedspeculation of mistrust and dis-trust between him and partyPresident Sonia Gandhi, sayingthat there was not an iota oftruth in that.

No question of gap in think-ing between me and the Con-gress President, he said,pointing out that a coordinationmechanism in already in place,meeting every week to takeSonia Gandhis advice.

He was asked whether hewould make way for RahulGandhi to take over during hiscurrent tenure which will endin 2014 and whether thethought of retirement came tohis mind.

In a carefully-crafted re-sponse, Singh told over 700journalists, I have been giventhis task (of Prime Ministership).It is still unfinished. Till I finishthe tasks, there is no questionof retirement.

At the same time, he said hehimself felt sometimes thatyounger people should takeover. As and when, the Con-gress party makes that judge-ment, I will be very happy tomake place for anybody chosenby the party, he said.

At another point, the 77-year-old leader said Rahul Gandhi wasvery qualified to join his Cab-inet and he had talked to himabout it several times but theyoung leader wanted to focusmore on building the party.

Whenever he (Rahul) is ready,he would be an appropriate ad-dition to the Cabinet, the PrimeMinister said.

The Prime Minister also re-jected the suggestion that theNational Advisory Council (NAC)

revived after lying in limbo forover three years, with SoniaGandhi again as its chairperson,would hinder the governmentswork as a super cabinet, as-serting that it is no super cabinetbut an advisory body that helpsin getting important inputs ofthe civil society.

Asked in a lighten vein as towhose advice he would weighmore and act upon it, his wifeGursharan Kaur s or SoniaGandhis, Dr Manmohan Singhquipped that he was privilegedto have benefit of advice byboth, but hastened to add thatboth deal different subjects andI welcome advice from both.

During the press conferencethat was telecast live nationwideand that coincided with thecompletion of one year of UPA-II, Singh answered questions ona range of issues including pricerise, naxalism, terrorism and re-lations with Pakistan.

No question of retirement: PM

Manmohan speakshis mindON SONIA: He scotchedspeculation of mistrustand distrust betweenthem, saying that therewas not an iota of truthin that.ON RAHUL: He is veryqualified to join theCabinet. I talked to himabout it several times butthe young leader wants tofocus more on buildingthe party.ON RETIREMENT: I havebeen given this task (ofPrime Ministership). It isstill unfinished. Till Ifinish the tasks, there isno question of retirement.

Bus ownerscall off strikeHERALD REPORTER

PANJIM, MAY 24

Private bus operators todaycalled off their strike after Di-rector of Transport Swapnil Naikassured them to consider andstudy their demands in next 15days.

The bus operators were up-in-arms against the State Gov-ernment as the earlier deadlineof 15 days given by them expiredtoday. They had threatened ofhaving a day long strike on May25 pressuring the Governmentto heed to their demands.

We met the director todayand he has asked for 15 moredays to sort out the issues, AllGoa Private Bus Owners Asso-ciations General Secretary SudipTamankar said.

Naik has recently taken overthe charge as director after Ve-nancio Furtado was relievedfrom his duties and transferredas manag ing d i rec to r o fKadamba Transport Corpora-tion.

Tamankar said that the Trans-port Department has informedthem that the ticket fare hikeissue is already in process andwill be decided soon.

We withdrew our strike aswe did not want the passengersto be put to inconvenience,Tamankar said.

He stated that the bus ownerswill meet Chief Minister Digam-bar Kamat and Transport Min-ister Ramakrishna Dhavlikar in

PTI

RANCHI, MAY 24

BJP today withdrew its supportto the nearly five-month-oldJMM-led Government in Jhark-hand reducing it to a minority,following which Chief MinisterShibu Soren was asked by theGovernor to prove his majorityon the floor of the Assembly byMay 31.

Soren was summoned by Gov-ernor M O H Farooq this eveningafter BJP leader and DeputyChief Minister Raghuvar Dashanded over a letter withdraw-ing his partys support to theGovernment, Raj Bhavan said.He has been given a weeks timeto prove his strength in theHouse.

With 14 MLAs, Congress sawa possible role in the formationof a stable government. We arewatching the developments. Weare putting our minds togetherto save Jharkhand from col-lapse, Congress in-charge forthe State K Keshav Rao told re-porters in New Delhi.

I n Ranch i , Congres s

spokesman Radhakr ishnaKishore said, If secular parties,including the JMM, send anyproposal for formation of a sec-ular dispensation, the party willlook into it and place it beforethe Central leadership.

In the 82-member Assembly,the Soren Government now hassupport of 25 MLAs, including18 of its own, five of the AJSUand two others. The BJP has 18members. The JD(U), which has2 MLAs, also decided to followsuit and withdraw support tothe Government.

JMM legislative party leaderand Sorens son Hemant said theGovernor had acceded to thechief ministers request to givehim seven-days time to provehis majority in the Assembly.

Soren took oath as chief min-ister on December 30 last yearwith the support of the BJP, AJSUand others.

JD(U) spokesman PramodMishra said, The JD(U) is a partof the NDA and our central lead-ership has directed us to go bythe BJPs decision.

Frustrated over JMM back-tracking on its power-sharingagreement, the BJP had yester-day decided to withdraw sup-port after a defiant Sorenasserted that he would continueas the chief minister and was intouch with Congress.

The BJP parliamentary boardhad on April 28 decided to with-draw support to the JMM Gov-ernment after Soren votedagainst the party-sponsored cutmotion against the UPA Gov-ernment in Lok Sabha a day ear-

lier.However, the decision was

put on hold when Sorens sonHemant wrote a letter to BJPchief Nitin Gadkari pledging sup-port to a BJP-led Government.

But, the JMM did a U-turnand demanded rotat ionalpower sharing with each partyleading the Government for 28months. This was agreed to byBJP on the understanding thatSoren will quit as Chief Ministerby May 25 after which formerChief Minister Arjun Munda willhead a new coalition Govern-ment.

As the deadline for his step-ping down approached, Sorenmade it clear on Friday that hewas not going to quit.

The Chief Minister had onSaturday gone a step furthersaying he was weighing all op-tions, including cutting a dealwith the Congress to continuein power.

Meanwhile, CPI-ML(L), whichhas one MLA, said it would voteagainst the government duringthe floor test.

Soren gets 7 days to prove majority

AGENCIES

MANGALORE, MAY 24

Human error might have causedthe crash of an Air India Boeing737-800 plane that killed 158people on Saturday, Civil Avia-tion Minister Praful Patel saidon Monday.

Weather conditions and otherfactors at the time the planereached its destination lookedabsolutely normal for a regulartouchdown and a safe landing,Patel told a news channel.

You cant rule out a humanerror factor, Patel said.

Only an inquiry could estab-lish what exactly went wrongas the aircraft overshot the hill-top runway and crashed andplunged over a cliff and into aravine at dawn on Saturday onthe outskirts of Mangalore, hesaid.

Of the 166 passengers andcrew aboard, only eight peoplesurvived the crash.

Patel said there was no rainin the area and visibility wasgood at the time of the planeslanding.

Investigators and aviation of-ficials searched through the

wreckage of the Boeing 737-800strewn across a hillside to tryto determine the cause of Indiasworst air disaster in more thana decade. They recovered thecockpit voice recorder, whichthey hope will give them impor-tant clues.

A four-member US forensicteam also arrived in India tohelp in the investigation, saidHarpreet Singh, an Air Indiaspokeswoman.

By Sunday evening, 146 ofthe 158 bodies had been iden-tified and given to grieving rel-atives for burial, said ArvindJadhav, Air Indias Chairman andManaging Director.

Doctors were conductingDNA tests on 22 bodies thatwere so badly burned that rela-tives could not identify them,said Suresh Babu, an official atWenlock hospital in Mangalore.They included a 2-year-old boy.

In nearby Uppala village, therelatives of brothers MohammedBasheer and Aboo Backer Sid-deeq were told it could takemore than a week for the bodiesof the two men to be identified,said their uncle BK MohammedHaji.

For two days we waited atthe airport for the bodies, saidHaji. All the bodies were badlycharred and very difficult torecognise.

The two men were returninghome from Dubai for the wed-ding of their younger sister onSunday. The wedding was can-celed and instead friends andrelatives joined the grieving fam-ily under a canopy erected forthe wedding to pray for the deadmen.

The black box would be sentto New Delhi for decoding andfurther investigations, officialssaid.

The flight from Dubai to Man-galore carried some of the mil-lions of Indians who work ascheap labor in the Middle Eastback to their families for a rarevisit during Indias summer hol-iday season.

Human error possible cause of crash

Kenyon International Emergency Services of crisis management pro-fessionals arrived in Mangalore on Monday to assist and counselthose affected by the air crash.

(Continued on page 11)

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GOAHERALD

Pg2GOA, TUESDAY, 25 MAY, 2010

HERALD REPORTER

PANJIM, MAY 24

Chief Minister Digambar Kamatssoft remarks on women ad-vising them against joining pol-itics seem to have not gone wellwith a few who seem to havetaken a hard stand against thesame.

At a public function on Sat-urday Kamat had observed,Dont fall for 33 per cent reser-vation in politics. Politics makesyou go crazy. Women play animportant role in transformingthe society. We should look afterour next generation.

After some of the groups tookup cudgels against Kamat forhis remarks, the Bharatiya JanataParty dared the CM to ask Con-gress President Sonia Gandhi toquit from politics.

On Monday, BJP spokesper-son and General SecretaryGovind Parvatkar chided theCMs remarks, What a shallowframe of mind of a CM of a pro-gressive State like Goa wherethe only woman legislator hasbeen kept out of the ministry.Parvatkar was making a refer-ence to Santa Cruz MLA Victo-ria Fernandes.

Kamat was recently in thenews for allegedly using rudewords when a five-memberwomen delegation of village

groups protesting against land-use violations had gone to re-dress their grievances in hischamber at the Secretariat in

Porvorim.The delegation in a press

conference had alleged the CMwas cold and bitter towardsthem after they raised ques-tions on seeking appointmentto meet him. When the womenmembers questioned that thepoliticians never sought ap-pointment when they comeknocking on the doors forvotes, the CM had said, Hedidnt depend on their votesand they could do whateverthey wanted.

The Chief Minister initiallydenied having made such state-ments, but a weekly Goantabloid has quoted the CM assaying he had made the state-ment under provocation by thewomen delegation.

Sabina Martins, Convenor ofGoa Bachao Abh iyan andspokesperson of BailanchoSaad, observed it looked likethe CM was working againsthis own partys principles be-cause on one side the Congressw a s t r y i n g t o p u s h t h ewomens reservation bill andon other side he was advisingthe fairer sex to stay away frompolitics.

BJP chides CMs remark on womenDares Kamat to ask Sonia quit politics

I was misquoted, says CM

HERALD REPORTER

PANJIM, MAY 24

Chief Minister Digambar Kamat denied having made anythingagainst women getting 33 per cent reservation in politics.

I was misquoted by a section of the media, the CM clarifiedin a press statement sent through the Department of Informa-tion.

Even though some women groups had mentioned the CMindeed had made the statement but it was not as harsh asmade out, Kamat went on to say, Speaking on women self-help groups I had stated that after succeeding in getting 33per cent reservation in elected bodies, women should nowconcentrate on economic independence as their topmost pri-ority.

The womens SHGs now have a very high responsibility insociety towards this end. Economic independence for womenis important as it would give a fillip to the uplifting of societyas a whole, the CM stated.

Clarifying further, he mentioned, I have throughput mycareer in politics supported women in politics and will noteven in my wildest dreams speak against such reservations.We need more vibrant and dynamic women leaders in politicsto render justice.

HERALD REPORTER

MARGAO, MAY 24

Residents of Adibandh Cuncolim on Monday firmlyopposed the construction of a bungalow in theirlocality apprehending that the structure wouldbe used to set up an educational institution.

The message was conveyed to the CuncolimMLA and Urban Development Minister, JoaquimAlemao at a joint hearing conducted by the Cun-colim Municipal Council.

The residents made it quite clear to theowner of the property that they would opposethe project tooth and nail and even offered tobuy the property at a market rate from theowner.

When the owner said she is giving in writingthat no institution would come on the property,the residents thundered that they are opposedto any house or institution in the property.

Oscar Martins urged the Urban DevelopmentMinister to stand by the people, saying that entireCuncolim is behind the residents against the bun-galow. Saying that the people are opposed tothe project, Martins said the people would comeonto the streets if the construction license is notscrapped forthwith.

Urban Development Minister Joaquim Alemaoassured the agitating residents that he wouldsupport their movement and urged the owner ofthe property to abandon the project in the interestof peace in the locality.

He said the owner of the property would discussthe proposal received from the residents withher husband and get back to him within twodays. My people have fears that a school is com-ing up in the property. She will discuss with thehusband what is the cost of the land and thepeople will buy the property, he said.

Cuncolim residents up-in-armsagainst bungalow construction

HERALD REPORTER

MARGAO, MAY 24

This may come as a big surpriseto the City Fathers and Babusemployed in the Civic bodies.

Urban Development Minister,Joaquim Alemao has said thatno construction file can be ap-proved by a Civic body withouttaking the concerned wardCouncillor into confidence.

Alemao made the statementon Monday at the Cuncolim Mu-nicipal Council in the wake ofan agitation by local peopleagainst a construction licenseissued by the Civic body.

An agitated Joaquim evenwent to the extent of warningthe CMC engineer that he willsack him if any file is passedwithout taking the concernedward councillor into confidence.

I am the Minister for Munic-

ipalities. I dont interfere in anyconstruction. A Councillor hasthe right to know about anyconstruction plan, whetherthere is any access or way tothe property. Treat this as myorder. All the concerned coun-cillors should be taken into ac-count before passing any file,whether it is for a compoundwall or a house, he said.

Referring to the controversyover the approval given to theconstruction of a bungalow atAdibandh-Cuncolim, the Minis-ter has said he has not allowedany controversial project tocome in his Cuncolim con-stituency so far and warned theCivic officials of stern action ofclearing files without the wardcouncillors nod. This problemhas arisen because the wardcouncillor was kept in the dark.

This should not happen again,he warned.

Alemaos stand assumes sig-nificance given that the Munic-ipal Chairpersons leave alonethe councillors are normally nottaken into confidence beforeapproving construction files ongrounds the elected represen-tatives have no right to interferein the issuance of constructionlicenses.

Take the case of Margao Mu-nicipality. Theres a cold warbetween the ruling body andthe Municipal technical section,with the latter even refusingto furnish information of thenumber of construction li-censes issued by the Civic bodyin the last two year, leave aloneconsulting the City Fathers onthe question of approving li-censes.

Construction file must pass throughward councillor before approval

Benaulimlocals oppose

housingprojectHERALD REPORTER

MARGAO, MAY 24

Residents of Benaulim on Mon-day opposed a housing projecton the road leading to thebeach.

Agitated residents of the villageassembled near the proposedhousing project and conveyed amessage loud and clear to thebuilder that they are against theproject since it will not be bene-ficial to the local villages.

The residents maintained thatthey are suffering because ofpoor infrastructure on thepower and water supply front,and added that the proposedproject would only aggravatethe situation in the village.

On the contrary, the villagersput up a demand before thebuilder, who happens to be hailingfrom the village, to make smallplots of the property admeasuring5000 square meters and sell themto the local villagers.

An aged woman said the vil-lagers indeed are passing throughsevere hardships for want ofwater and electricity in the lo-cality. Instead of building a mas-sive housing project, the buildershould go for small plots and sellthem to the local people, de-manded Euthenia Fernandes.

The residents made theirpresence felt at the propertyafter they spotted constructionwork this morning. They de-manded to know how the au-thorities approved the projectwhen the villagers are fightingfor water, power and roads.

Another villager said even apoor villager would not mindbuying a plot if the builder agreesto their suggestion and makeplots by abandoning the project.

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

PORVORIM, MAY 24

Some children from Mapusa onMonday afternoon staged aprotest rally from Chacha NehruPark near post office to the officeof Mapusa Municipal Council(MMC) demanding immediaterepairs of the playing equip-ments in the park.

Shiv Sena delegation led byBardez Pramukh Philip DSouzasubmitted a letter to Chief OfficerD M Redkar and demanded theplaying equipments in the parkmay be repaired before monsoon.

In case MMC is unable to main-tain the park, it may be handedover to private companies or lookout for the sponsors who wouldtake up the responsibility of main-taining the park in exchange forsome advertising space, statedShiv Sena in the letter.

The Shiv Sena has already ap-proached some companies inthis regard and if they find some

sponsor, then they will directthem to MMC.

Speaking to media persons,Chief Officer Redkar admittedthat some of the playing equip-ments in Chacha Nehru Parkhave broken down.

He has instructed the munic-ipal engineer to carry out repairsof the playing equipments wher-ever possible. He said he wouldalso write to the Mapusa policeto take action against those whosleep in the garden.

It may be recalled that thecondition of the Chacha NehruPark has become very pathetic.The swings have broken and theslide has developed cracks onit, besides sea-saws do not haveseats and the children are usingthe dangerous metal pieces thatare left behind.

The water fountain has alsobecome non-functional. Thebenches are broken and thosein good condition are being

used by beggars and alcoholicsfor resting purpose. To makematters worse, one side of thecompound wall has collapsedand there is no drinking waterfacility in the park.

The park was inaugurated bythe then Goa Governor RomeshBhandari on November 14,1995, but due to non-mainte-nance of the park by MMC thecondition of the park has dete-riorated over the period of time.

MMC in its meeting on June,29, 2007 had adopted a resolu-tion that a proposal may be sentto North Goa MP Shripad Naikto provide financial assistancethrough MPLAD Fund or requestthe Goa State Urban Develop-ment Agency to undertake re-pairs/reconstruction/renovationof Chacha Nehru Park in WardNo 9 at the earliest.

Since there was no follow upaction on the part of MMC, thepark remained unattended.

The protest rally staged by children demanding repairs of Chacha Nehru Park at Mapusa. Photo by Anil Shankhwalker

Kids march to Mapusa municipality, demand repairs of Nehru Park

HERALD REPORTER

MARGAO, MAY 24

Chief Minister Digambar Kamatmight have denied having madeany statement that he doesntneed the votes of Goans.

But, the village groups of Goahas now asserted that neitherthe Chief Minister nor his gov-ernment has taken any concreteaction whatsoever to halt thetransformation of beautiful Goanvillages and vaddos into ugly,dirty and polluted slum nagars thanks to the policies andsponsorship of the government.

Edwin Pinto of village groupsof Goa said this itself shouldserve an eye opener to Goans asto whom Digambar Kamat andhis government depend upon fortheir votes in Goa and whose in-terests they are actually serving.

Delving into the DigambarKamat governments trackrecord, Pinto said that rampantmining in Sanguem and otherinterior areas of Goa resultingin heavy suspension of dust par-ticles in the air, has strucklethally at the health of the peo-

ple, who now suffer from respi-ratory ailments.

The fields and water bodiesthat sustain their livelihoods arebeing destroyed by ruthless min-ing companies in connivancewith a heartless government. Inthe meantime, our Chief Minis-ter remains lost in grandiosedaydreams of a Vasco-DonaPaula sea link that will presum-ably remain as a monument tohis rule of elitism, he said.

He further said that in midstof peoples desperate cries forwater in North Goa, DigambarKamats PWD Minister ChurchillAlemao focuses his energies inmaking public statements onbehalf of Raheja builders andensuring them a smooth andhassle free passage for theirmega project in Carmona village,even at the cost of the identityand interests of the local Goanvillagers.

When Digambar Kamatspredecessor Pratapsing Rane ac-quired huge tracts of Goan com-munity land for favouredmoneybags in the shape of SEZs,

despite written objections fromthe people and Comunidadesof the area, it was the ordinaryGoan citizen who was com-pelled to step forward and puta stop to this scam which theCAG Report later confirmed. Tilltoday, our CM has failed to pushadequately his own Congressgovernment at the Centre forreversion of SEZ land back tothe original owners, he said.

He said the TCP MinisterDigambar Kamat should informthe people of Goa what actionhas been taken against the ChiefTown and Country Planner,whose TCP Department conve-niently lost the file pertainingto the controversial Aldeia deGoa project.

The functioning of this Gov-ernment in the past year unfor-tunately, certainly does not givethe slightest indication thatDigambar Kamat and his Con-gress party feel any need forGoans or their votes. In themeantime, the destruction ofGoa carries on unabatedly andirreversibly, Pinto added.

Govt promoting nagars, allege village groups

Life guards rescue

2 at ColvaHERALD REPORTER

MARGAO, MAY 24

Life Guards deployed at the Colvabeach has rescued two personsfrom drowning on Sunday.

In the first case, 22-year-oldHemraj Bharti had entered intothe waters in a no swimmingzone. He was pulled inside witha dumping wave when he waschest deep water. A lifeguardGurudas Pagi noticed Bhartistruggling the waters and mak-ing gestures for help and imme-d i a te l y conveyed theinformation to lifeguards PriteshGaude and Rockey Fernandes.

Rocky is reported to have rantowards Bharti with a rescuetube and secured the victim,while lifeguard Gaude gave abackup with rescue tube. He waslater handed over to his cousinbrother after checking his vitals.

In the second incident, 21-year old Rajesh Kumar had en-tered the waters, again in a noswimming zone. Life guards De-vidas Borkar and Vikram Gauderushed to his rescue after he wasfound struggling and crying forhelp. The victim was brought tothe shore safely with a Jetski.

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

CANACONA, MAY 24

The monsoon is on the vergeof arriving in the State and yetthe work on destruction causedby October 2 floods is progress-ing at snails pace, while somemajor works are yet to receivethe governments nod.

If sources in the local waterresources department are to bebelieved, many of the estimatessubmitted for obtaining ap-proval have either been re-tu rned , wh i l e fo r o thersapprova l s have not beengranted, thereby badly delayingmany of the time-bound works.

Incidentally, the Talpona River,which had accumulated silt inlarge quantities, is not yettouched even though monsoonis barely a few days away.

We have every reason to fearthat if the river is not de-silted,it will lead to immediate floodsin the coming monsoon, saida resident from Talpona.

When enquired, it seemsmany of the clearing works inthe rivers at Galgibaga andTalpona are pending for the sim-ple reason of conflict in exer-cising control of jurisdiction inthese areas.

Even in one of the meetingschaired by the collector, it is de-cided that the captain of ports

is the authority in the rivermouth, till the reach of salinewater in upper portions of ariver. Accordingly, as far asTalpona river is concerned, theriver portion up to Ordhofond-Bhatpal comes under the captainof ports, who has been apprisedto do the needful, informed asource at local WRD office.

It may be recalled that afterthe destruction caused by un-precedented last October floods,rehabilitation to the tune of Rs42 crore was estimated by theIrrigation/Water Resources De-partment in Canacona talukaalone.

However, the work of de-silt-ing and constructing of protec-tion walls, which are eithersanct ioned or under way,amounts to just around Rs 12crore, while several estimatesare still pending for attention,reportedly for want of funds, in-formed a source.

It is learnt that no central fundas promised has been receivedand many of the proposedworks, which need to be at-tended before monsoons, arelagging behind for need of funds.

According to WRD sources,some of the works which are ei-ther recently completed or un-dertaken in Canacona talukainclude the de-silting of Kuske

river near Cotigao Bridge at anapproximate cost of Rs 5 lakh,Bandhara near Marfond-Cotigao(Rs 3 lakh), Bandhara near Paliye-Avem in Cotigao (Rs 4 lakh), pro-tection walls at Edda-Borimollin Cotigao (Rs 16 lakh), Avem-Cotigao (Rs 3.75 lakh) and Tam-namoll-Cotigao (Rs 60 lakh).

Besides, desilting works areunderway at Gunji (Rs 2.08 lakh),Fondsorem (Rs 60,000), Kudri-Pedem in Loliem (Rs 7.5 lakh),Corfond Nalla (Rs 3.5 lakh), pro-tection wall at Dayafond-Loliem(Rs 4.5 lakh), near MallikarjunDevasthan, Shrishthal (Rs 65lakh), Agondeshwar Temple inAgonda (Rs 80 lakh) and atAmona-Poinguinim (Rs 60 lakh).

Sources at the local WRD of-fice also informed that construc-tion of protection walls at Kuske(Rs 32 lakh) and Marfond (Rs 42lakh) are already tendered, butwork is yet to commence.

Heavy siltation has takenplace mostly in the upper por-tions of the rivers, some of whichhas been cleared, while worksare underway in a few otherplaces, informed a WRD source.

A visit at Cotigao village sawthat the de-silted waste, whichincludes mud, sand, stones andother waste, has been extractedand dumped by the roadsidealong most village roads.

The protection wall being constructed at a river at Cotigao. Photo by Kathy Pereira

Major works yet to get govt nod in Canacona

Lucky escape

for occupants of

5 vehicles in

Barcem mishapHERALD CORRESPONDENT

CANACONA, MAY 24

Occupants in five cars had alucky escape in a road mishapinvolving a tipper truck and fourcars at Barcem-Padi in Canaconaon Monday evening.

Highway traffic along the NH-17 came to standstill for overtwo hours, as many vehicleswere seen lined up on either di-rections, before Cuncolim policecould arrive at the accident siteand help discipline the trafficto flow freely as late as 5 pm.

No occupants, including driversof all these vehicles, suffered anyinjuries and are reportedly safe.

According to sources, a tippertruck reportedly engaged at theongoing hot-mixing road worksat Agonda was racing towardsthe Balli hot-mixing plant. Whenit crossed the narrow culvertbridge at the foot of Karmalghaton Padi side, the truck veeredtowards the narrow road aheadafter it saw vehicles racing inthe opposite direction.

Sources said while one TataSumo applied brakes to avoid hit-ting oncoming truck, two closelyfollowing vehicles, Versa and aTata Sumo also jammed brakes.

In the impact, Versa car (GA-03-C-1000) was sandwiched be-tween the two Tata Sumovehicles with the second Sumo(GA-02-C-8027) hitting hard onits back, while Versa going onto hit first Sumo (GA-02-J-4321).

However, the truck zoomedpassed but not before brushingbadly against the third Sumo(GA-02 C-8027) which eventuallysuffered major damages.

In the impact, one of the frontwheels of second Sumo vehiclegot snapped and came underthe wheels of Versa car, wheelother tyres got burst.

Soon, vehicles began to line-up on either sides and eventhough there was sufficientspace for vehicles to cross over,in the absence of any traffic dis-cipline, vehicles in an attemptto outsmart others, completelyblocked the highway.

HERALD REPORTER

MARGAO, MAY 24

GOACAN has submitted a detailed mem-orandum to Transport Minister SudinDhavalikar demanding that a plan of ac-tion is put in place to handle various vi-olations of the bus permit conditions bythe bus owners before effecting any hikein the bus fares.

GOACAN pointed out that the Gov-ernment in the past had got an assurancefrom the bus owners that during everybus trip, bus drivers would carry a validdriving licence, wear a uniform andbadge and that bus conductors wouldalso wear a uniform and badge or nametag. It also got an assurance that onevery bus trip the authorised fare table,registration certificate/ permit and bustime table would be displayed so thatconsumers would be easily able to iden-tify the valid fare chargeable on thatparticular route, the route the bus is

permitted to operate on, the name ofthe bus owner and the vehicle numberand the number of trips it is supposedto ply.

The NGO pointed out that the gov-ernment also got an assurance from thebus owners that the buses would not beoverloaded and the number of standingpassengers would not exceed the per-missible limit as per the permit condi-tions for each bus and during every bustrip the passengers would be issued abus ticket as per the fare paid by them,this would also include tickets issued tostudents with valid ID cards travelingwith a 50% concession.

The memo has also brought to thenotice of the Transport Minister thatthere have been a series of accidents in-volving buses being driven in a rash andnegligent manner which have resultedin serious injuries and even deaths ofpassengers (men, women & children),

that bus timings, routes & number ofstops are linked to loading of buses be-yond capacity, over speeding & racingto compete so as to grab passengers.Besides diversion of permit buses onunauthorised trips like weddings, picnics& tourist hire and non availability of abus service on some routes is causinggreat hardship to the consumers.

GOACAN has categorically stated thatthere must not be any change in the pat-tern of blanket 50% concession on busfares for students in possession of validIdentity Cards which presently covers allroutes, working days and holidays.

GOACAN has therefore demanded thatall the assurances given by the bus own-ers related to issues with regards to thesituation of the bus, bus drivers, busconductors, fare table, time table, reg-istration certificate / permit and ticketsare all part of the bus permit conditionswhich have been issued by the State

Transport Authority (STA) & RegionalTransport Authority (RTA) and as per theMotor Vehicles Act and Rules should bemade mandatory and communicated tothe bus owners that they will be strictlyenforced.

The memorandum has further de-manded that a detailed analytical reportbe prepared on the various bus accidentsthat have occurred in the last five yearsso as to pinpoint the causes, to assessthe action taken against the guilty andcompensation provided to the victimsof these accidents.

It has also demanded that a WhitePaper be prepared on the requirementsof buses on various routes in relation toincrease in passengers, the frequencyand timings, identification of bus stopsand proper use and upgradation of theexisting bus stands in the jurisdiction ofthe Village Panchayats and municipalcouncils.

Govt asked to look into violations of bus permit conditions

Man jumps into Mandovi,

meetswatery grave

HERALD REPORER

PANJIM, MAY 24

An unknown man aged about35 to 45 plunged into theriver from the Mandovibridge, here, and met a wa-tery grave.

Police said the PoliceControl Room received acall at between 8.30 am and9 am informing it about theincident after which theMarine Police were acti-vated.

A search operation of twohours at the spot and sur-rounding area didnt yieldany results but after sometime the body was foundfloating on the river. It wasretrieved and has been keptat the mortuary for identi-fication.

The man was wearing apurple colour shirt and blackpant when he jumped intothe river.

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GOA, TUESDAY, 25 MAY, 2010

GOAHERALD

Pg3

HERALD REPORTER

MARGAO, MAY 24

Facing an uphill task to crack awhip against erring hotel estab-lishments, the Colva Panchayathas decided to plug the sewagedischarge holes of all establish-ments releasing waste watersin the Colva creek, storm waterdrains and fields.

At a meeting held on Monday,the Colva Panchayat has decidedto ask the Goa Pollution ControlBoard for extension of time toprepare an action plan, even asthe body has resolved to knockthe doors of the Water Re-sources department for the de-silting of the contaminatedColva creek on a priority basis.

Todays meeting chaired bySarpanch Angela Borges tookstock of the damning reportcompiled by the Goa PollutionControl Board and emphasisedthe need to unitedly solve theburning problem of sewage andwaste disposal.

The Sarpanch told Heraldafter the meeting that the Pan-chayat will write a letter to theWater Resources Department,Pollution Control Board andHealth Department on the issueof pollution and hygiene.

She said all hotels will beserved notices, directing themto have their own soakpits, fail-ing which the body will movethe Health Department for dis-connection of water and powersupply to the erring establish-ments.

On directions issued by theGoa Pollution Control Board to

the Panchaya t body, theSarpanch said that the localbody would move the Board forfurther extension of time, sayingthe 15 days time limit is inade-quate to comply with the direc-tions.

Colva Zilla member Nelly Ro-drigues, who attended todaysmeeting said that the panchayatwould soon write to the WaterResources Minister, Filipe NeriRodrigues to undertake desiltingof the Colva creek before theonset of monsoons. The Min-ister told me that the Panchayat

body can approach him with aresolution before technical of-ficials from the department carryout survey of the creek, shesaid.

The Zilla Panchayat memberfurther said that local MLA andTour i sm Min is ter Mickk yPacheco has prepared a masterplan for the village of Colva andother coastal villages, but saidthe plan could be put in placeonly after the monsoons.

Incidentally, the meeting wasinformed by the Panchayat sec-retary that efforts to requisition

the Margao Municipal night soiltanker to lift away the sewagewaters from the Colva creek hasevoked negative response fromthe Civic body.

Given the situation, the Pan-chayat has now asked the PWD,Sewerage department to issuethe NOC to dump the sewagewaters collected from thecreek. The PWD, sewerage hasasked the Panchayat to furnisha copy of the Pollution ControlBoard on Colva creek beforetaking a decision, the Sarpanchadded.

Colva pyat to plug discharge holes of hotels releasing waste into creek

File photo of Colva creek.

HERALD REPORTER

PANJIM, MAY 24

Rapid technological developments and largescale mechanisation in chemical engineer-ing, petrochemical and construction activ-ities have resulted in complex safety andhealth problems in these industries, a seniorbureaucrat said.

These industries need the services ofqualified safety professionals exclusively totake care of various safety and health relatedaspects of their personnel who are likelyto be affected by any adverse effects arisingfrom these industries, GMEK Raj, DeputyDirector General of Head of department,Directorate General Factory Advice Servicesand Labour Institutes, Union Labour Min-istry, said.

Raj was delivering inaugural address forthe Greentech Foundations ninth annualinternational greentech fire, safety and se-

curity conference at Dona Paula.Ramakant Khalap, chairman, Goa Law

Commission, USA-based fire safety expertPaula Harvey and Singapore-based Lim BoonKhoon and Kamleshwar Sharan, Presidentof Greentech foundation, were present onthe dais.

Speaking further, Raj said that the chem-ical industries have adopted modern safetyconcepts such as process safety manage-ment, safety integrity level assessment, lay-ers of protection analysis, Gap analysis andreliability analysis.

He said that the construction safety isanother area which needs our immediateattention. Construction industry is one ofthe major industries in India. The countrybeing growing economy, a lot of construc-tion activities are going on across the coun-try leading to development of infrastructure,construction of core industries, power

plants, special economic zones, IT parks,business and residential complexes besidesothers, Raj added.

He said that the common hazards presentin the construction industries are due tohandling of various building materials, ma-chineries and lifting appliances, equipment,tool, exposure to dust, gases, fumes, noise,corrosive substances, working at height,electricity and disposal of wastes.

Addressing at the gathering, Khalap saidthat prime responsibility of employees isto see the safety measures are in place.Various state governments have passedregulations and statutory warnings, whichare however ignored by the public, headded.

Former Goa Pollution Control Board chair-man Dr L U Joshi, Kamleshwar Sharan, PaulaHarvey and Lim Boon Khoon, also spokeon the occasion.

Qualified professionals needed to deal with safety, health woes in industries

HERALD REPORTER

PANJIM, MAY 24

The Statelevel committee onreplacement of old public trans-port vehicles on Monday cleared73 applications for subsidy.

The committee headed byTransport Minister Sudin Dhav-likar at a meeting held on Mon-day, sanctioned subsidy forseven buses while rejected oneapplication for replacement ofold passenger buses.

The subsidy scheme was for-mulated in 2001 for replacementof buses older than 15 yearswith a view to control pollutionin the State. The subsidy is fora maximum of Rs 2.5 lakh perbus.

Subsequently, the govern-ment brought yellow-and-blackrickshaw, yellow-and-black taxis,motorcycle pilots under thepurview of the scheme.

At the meeting on Monday,subsidy was cleared for replace-ment of 24 'pilot' motorcycleswhich are more than five yearsold. Each registered motorcycleowner gets a subsidy of Rs18,000. Recently, the amountwas enhanced from Rs 12,000per vehicle.

Operators of 32 rickshawshad applied and all the applica-

tions were sanctioned for re-placement of the three-wheelervehicles which are more than 7years. The subsidy is of Rs30,000 each. The subsidyamount was recently increasedfrom Rs 20,000 each.

Approval was given for re-placement of ten yellow-and-black taxis which are more thanten years old. For purchase ofeach new vehicle, a subsidy ofRs 80,000 each will be sanc-tioned.

Transport Director SwapnilNaik is the member secretaryof the Committee while theother members are TransportSecretary and Joint Secretary(Finance).

When the scheme was for-mulated, the objective was toprovide for replacement ofbuses older than 15 yeas witha view to curtail vehicular pol-lution and to provide an effi-cient, reliable and comfortableservice to the users. Similar wasthe objective for replacementof autorickshaw older thanseven years, yellow and blacktaxis older than ten years, andpilot vehicles of more than 5years.

On receipt of applications,the scrutiny committee headed

Govt subsidy for replacement of 7 old busesby Director of Transport scru-tinises the applications and sub-m i t s t h e re p o r t t o t h eState-level committee for ap-proval.

The approval is subject tomany conditions. These includepurchase of the vehicle within

90 days, verification of the pur-chase, submission of the regis-tration to the government,cancellation of the registrationof the old vehicle, etc. Besides,the owner will not be able tosell or even transfer the vehiclefor a period of five years.

HERALD REPORTER

VASCO, MAY 24

To ensure better co-ordinationand support from religious or-ganisations to curb growing in-c idents of burglar ies anddesecration in religious places,Superintendent of Police (South)Allen DSa has urged religiousorganisations to be proactiveto curb such incidents.

A meeting on safety and se-curity of religious places wasconvened by Vasco Sub-Divi-sional Police Officer and DySPMahesh Gaonkar at the Vascopolice station on Monday in thepresence of Vasco PI BrazMenezes and PI Jivba Dalvi.

The heads o f t emp les ,mosques, churches, gurudwarasand dargas, who also attendedthe meeting, came up with var-ious suggestions to curb grow-ing thefts and desecrationincidents.

Addressing the people, SPDSa claimed that recent theftsand desecrations are challengebefore the police and the de-partment has taken it on priority

basis to crack such cases.With regard to suggestions

from various religious bodies todeploy police personnel toguard places of worship duringnight, SP DSa said it was prac-tically impossible for under-staffed police department topost police personnel at all thereligious places.

Society has to act as a watchdog and they should be the eyesand ears of police, said SP DSa.

SP DSa explained possibleangles of thefts in religiousplaces that take place for mon-etary gains, besides antique stat-ues and idols are in demand inEuropean countries.

Desecration is carried outwith full-fledged planning to cre-ate disharmony among the so-ciety, while in some rare casessome mentally challenged peo-ple and notorious elements areinvolved, said SP DSa.

He further said without thesupport of people, it is not pos-sible for police to curb such in-cidents.

The religious bodies urged

that State government to providesurveillance system at subsidisedrates, at which police was opti-mistic and directed religious bod-ies to post private security orvolunteers during night.

All the religious bodies havebeen asked to keep patrollingregister book in temples as pa-trolling police team would ran-domly visit religious places tosign the register to ensure thatregular patrolling is down.

Cansaulim Church ParishPriest Fr S Rodrigues said com-plaints lodged with regard tothefts and desecrations are yetto come to logical conclusionand police should ensure thatculprits are apprehended.

Iqbal Mohidin, trustee ofMasjid Noor, Alto-Dabolim, said:It is a good initiative that policehave worked out blue print tocurb such incidents and we willsupport it to curb such inci-dents.

Khapreswar Temple, Sada-Vasco, trustee also echoed sim-ilar views and appreciated theinitiative of the police.

SP South Allen DSa addresses heads of different religious bodies in the presence of Vasco PI BrazMenezes. Photo by M Prabhav

Religious organisations urged to be proactive in curbing incidents

HERALD REPORTER

MARGAO, MAY 24

Village groups had a bitter ex-perience on the governmentsmuch-publicised flying squadconstituted to stop hill cuttingand filling of low lying fields.

Representatives of villagegroups called the mobile squadat Mungul on the Colva-Margaoroad following filling of low lyingfields.

Abijeet Prabhudessai toldHerald that the activists ex-pected the inauguration of theflying squad for South Goa onMonday and hence called thesquad at around 11.30 pm.

However, even after waitingfor an hour and half, there wasno sign of the mobile squadreaching the venue. On the con-trary, only three policemen fromthe nearby Colva police madetheir presence felt at the venuefollowing instructions from theDeputy Collector to inspect thesite and report back.

Prabhudessai , however,protested against the presenceof the policemen, saying theyare not technical people and in-capable to understand the fillingof the low lying areas.

This whole thing is a bigfarce. We had thought that the

Anotherhotel traced

dumpingwaste at

TollebandHERALD REPORTER

MARGAO, MAY 24

Vigilant youth from Benaulimonce again traced the hotel fordumping waste and garbage atthe road junction at Tolleband.

This is the seventh case inthe last fortnight that the youthof the village have successfullytraced the hotels for dumpingthe waste on the road side inviolation of rules.

In the instant case, an Udupihotel from Mungul-Margaoturned out to be the culprit afterthe youth successfully tracedthe hotel after sifting throughthe waste.

Roque Fernandes told Heraldthat the local youth have suc-cessfully intercepted and tracedas many hotels dumping wastein Benaulim in the last 15 days.He demanded that the Goa Pol-lution Control Board and thelocal Benaulim panchayat shouldinitiate strict action against theerring hotels.

Benaulim Sarpanch CarmelinaFernandes has complimentedthe local youth for once againintercepting a hotel for wastedumping at Tolleabandh. Shehas urged the authorities to in-tervene and maintain a vigil atselected points to prevent hotelsfrom dumping waste, saying thesituation might take a turn forthe worse if hotels from neigh-bouring villages continue dump-ing waste in the village.

Dont blame the youth andvillagers of Benaulim, if theytake the law in their hands. Stopthe menace before the situationtakes a violent turn, shewarned.

The hotel owner was finallytold to lift away the wastedumped at the road junction.

flying squad would be opera-tional this morning. However, itis not near to us, he lamented.

Flying squad fails tohalt filling of low-lying

area at Mungul

2 sentenced in Sancoale workshop theft case

HERALD REPORTER

MARGAO, MAY 24

A Fast Track Court, Margao hasconvicted and sentenced to im-prisonment two persons in atheft case that took place at theSancoale workshop of Sesa Goafive years ago.

The court sentenced the twopersons Krishna Kumar Oza andSanjay Pawar to 14 month im-prisonment and acquitted threeof the accused persons AlamSyed, Bashir Shaik and Vain-gankar. Six accused are still ab-sconding.

The Verna police has chargedthe 11 accused for stealinggoods worth Rs 20.75 lakh onOctober 31, 2005 from the San-coale workshop of Sesa Goa.

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

OLD GOA, MAY 24

Residents of Vaxim Island wereleft stranded for over four hourson Monday afternoon, after thelone ferry boat plying betweenAmboi-Diwar Island and VaximIsland broke down.

It may be recalled that ferryservices are the only mode oftransport for residents of VaximIsland to cross from Diwar Islandto Vaxim.

A number of residents fromVaxim Island were unable to crossfrom Diwar Island to Vaxim afterthe ferry boat Amona developedan oil leakage in the engine.

Residents of Vaxim, especiallythe elderly people, were forcedto wait for nearly six hours toget the ferry repaired withoutany lunch and evening tea.

Loca ls a l leged that thecoxswain and other staff on the

ferryboat Amona knew well inadvance about the oil leakagefrom the engine, but did not in-form the Captain of Ports.

The residents were made to suf-fer for over six hours, as they wereunable to move from one island tothe other island, said sources.

Savio Vaz of Vaxim Island said:The ferry broke down at about1 pm and was out of service till5 pm, due to which lot of peoplewere left stranded on Amboi inDiwar Island. The residents wereunable to proceed towardsVanxim Island.

When I asked the coxswainwhat was the problem with theferryboat, he said there was anoil leakage in the engine, but Ibelieve they knew about it twodays ago and did not inform theCaptain of Ports, due to whichthe people of Vaxim Island hadto suffer, claimed Vaz.

The government is doingnothing to take a note of it. Onemust understand that the onlymeans of transport to Vaxim Is-land is ferry services and if thecoxswain knew about the oilleakage, I wonder why he didnot replace it and waited tillthings turned worse, he added.

I had gone to Old Goa andsince I had to attend a Hindu wed-ding of one of my friend, I re-turned from Old Goa to changemy clothes to go for the wedding.But when I went to the ferry point,I was shocked to know about thebreakdown, added Vaz.

During the breakdown of theferryboat, some people fromVaxim Island were seen crossingthe river by canoes.

When contacted, local PanchManuel Furtado, who is also aresident of Vaxim Island, refusedto comment on the issue.

Lone Vaxim ferry breaks down,commuters stranded for 4 hours

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GOA GOA, TUESDAY, 25 MAY, 2010

HERALD

Pg 4upCOming EvEnTSSHORT TAKES

POWER SHUTDOWN

Fr Salvadors silver jubileePANJIM(HND): Fr Salvador Rodrigues, Vicar/Parish Priest of

Tropa Church celebrated theSacerdotal Silver Jubilee of hispriesthood recently. Rt RevBishop Emeritus Raul Gon-slaves was the main celebrantfor the Eucharistic ceremony.

According to a press release,Fr Salvadors 25 years of Priest-hood saw an outstanding im-pression, popularly with theyoung, old, rich, poor, espe-cially with the children and theyouth. His love, smile, leader-ship qualities, visits, broughttogetherness, unity among theParishioners who flocked in

large numbers for the church services. His winning ways gainedhim loyal friends whose support and financial efforts broughtabout proper use to meet the pressing and urgent demandsof the Parish which were in need.

The press release states further that the Parishioners ofTropa Church offer sincere and deep gratitude to Fr Salvadorwith prayers and good health with more dedicated service inthe vineyard of the Lord for rest of his life.

Inaugural function heldMAYEM(HC): Mayem MLA Anant Shet has stressed the need

to preserve and maintain cultural heritage of the State by or-ganizing various cultural programme.

He was addressing the gathering after the inaugural ceremonyof 10th anniversary celebration of Sanskritik Sangeet VidhylayNarvem recently.

MLA Shet also called upon members of different associationsand clubs to work unitedly for the upliftment of cultural her-itage.

Ideal High School Pilgao Headmaster Ramchandra Garde,Association President Damodar Mashelkar, Shiva Narvekar, Bi-cholim Scribes Association President Durgadas Garde and mu-sician Suraj Sahakari were present on the occasion.

Garde and others also spoke on the occasion.

Vividha secures 82% resultsMAYEM(HC): Vividha Higher Secondary School, Navelim-

Sanquelim, has secured 82.27 per cent result in the recentlyheld HSSC examination.

As many as 147 students had appeared for the examinations,of which 118 students passed.

Viju V Chodankar stood first (69.66%) in Arts stream, whilethe second place was shared by Ujawala Naik and Bhakti Phadte(61.66%), third place was secured by Swate Gawas (60%).

Sheetal Ghadi, Suraj Varendekar and Amar Gawas securedfirst three places in Commerce stream scoring 68%, 67.66%and 66.66% respectively. In Science stream, Urmila Rane, AnkitaKale and Shradha Naik secured first three places scoring 64.16%,63.66% and 62% respectively.

Ambika Blae, Pooja Chari and Amol Kavlekar secured firstthree places in OSS stream scoring 66.37%, 64.12% and 60.12%respectively. In AET stream, Nilkanth Chari, Kiran Dhawaskarand Sayyad Noormohammad secured first three places scoring76.50%, 73.37% and 64.12% respectively, while in HCA stream,Varsha Sawant, Sangeeta Deulkar and Sheetal Gaonkar securedfirst three places securing 75.37%, 71.25% and 64.12%.

Career guidance function

Students and their parents gathered at the career guidance pro-gramme organised by Popular Front of India.

PANJIM(HND): Popular Front of India, Goa branch conducteda career guidance programme for the students of Class Xthand above at Ravindra Bhavan, Margao. About 150 studentsparticipated. The programme was inaugurated by the PFI Pres-ident Sayed Iftiyaz.

Mr Iftiyaz spoke about the formation and activities carriedout by PFI in the field of education and social empowermentall over the country.

The chief guest for the function was Prof M K Shaikh.Traninig faculty for the programme was JC Yogesh Kelkar andJC Sudesh Gaonkar who helped the students to know thehidden potential in them and also guided them in selectingtheir future career. Prof Asaf Ali Shaikh was the guest ofhonour. The programme concluded with a vote of thanks pre-sented by Jalees Shaikh.

Kala Gaurav PuraskarPANJIM(HND): Directorate of Art and Culture, Panjim will be

organizing a presentation ceremony of Kala Gaurav Puraskar2009-10 on May 30 (Goa Statehood Day) at 4 pm at DinanathMangueshkar Kala Mandir (Kala Academy), Panjim.

Chief Minister Digambar Kamat will be the chief guest andwill felicitate the awardees. There will also be a musical pro-gramme, which will commence at 3:30 pm, says a press release.

Meet at CurtorimPANJIM(HND): A meeting of the Board of Directors of Marmagoa

Steel Limited is scheduled to be held on May 31 at 10 am at itsRegistered office, Plot No 280, Eclate, Curtorim, Salcette.

Dharna at HondaPANJIM(HND): Around 100 members of Utt Goenkara of Honda,

Upper Harvalem and Pissurlem village and surrounding areaswill gather near the main road outside the Honda Panchayat,Sattari taluka on May 25 at 11 am to stage a peaceful dharnaagainst the effects of overloaded mining trucks, says a press re-lease.

Exhibition at PanjimPANJIM(HND): Marg Nehru Center and Department of In-

formation & Publicity will organise the inauguration of the ex-hibition Jawaharlal Nehru Faces and Thoughts by Chief MinisterDigambar Kamat at Kala Akademi, Art Gallery on May 29 at 10am.

The exhibition will remain open for public on May 29, 30 and31, between 10 am and 6 pm.

Memorial scholarships launchPANJIM(HND): Late Dr Madhavi Vinaykumar Pai Raikar Memorial

scholarships will be launched through the Goa Hindu associationat Farmagudi on May 28 at 5 30 pm.

The programme will be inaugurated at the hands of Goanscientist Padmavibhushan Anil Kakodkar.

Cultural programmePANJIM(HND): Jan Ugahi is an NGO in Margao which works

with street children, the street children will be conducting acultural programme on May 28 at Kala Academy at 6:30 pm.The program duration is about 2 hours.

According to a press release, the usual problem they face isthat there is hardly any audience. Most people are ready tocontribute in monetary terms but not in terms of their time.

The NGO has requested people to come forward and spendtheir valuable time by attending this programme and encouragingthese children.

MAY 25PERNEM: Between 8 am to 10 am. Areas affected are Pernem

Municipal Council area.

MAY 26MAPUSA: Between 9 am to 3 pm. Areas affected are Bodgini,

Navtara hotel, Parra, Agnimorod, Parra Tower, Jakni waddo,Arradi, Verla, Canca, Brittonwado, Saliswado, Lingabhat,Lobowado, Fondacwado, Freitaswado and surrounding areas.

MAY 27PANJIM: Between 9 am to 5 pm. Areas affected are Nizmar

centre, Yes Bank, Sujay building, HDFC Bank, Bugde tailor,Phadte Arts, Bobby saloon, Pastry Cottage, Lar Milrock, Menezesbuilding and surrounding areas.

MAPUSA: Between 9 am to 3 pm. Areas affected are Healthcentre, Igrezwaddo, Bamonwaddo, Portawaddo, Oxel, Guddem,Dando, Vaddi Siolim, Vagali, Marna and surrounding areas.

MAPUSA: Between 9 am to 3 pm. Areas affected are Kamlabairestaurant, Khorlim-Semer, Garden centre, Samtanagar, SaraswatVidhalay School, Dr Boney hospital, Govt. primary school, Kam-leshwar garage and surrounding areas.

Dr Susana de Souza, Director of Sports and Youth Affairs along with the State Youth Contingent participating in the National IntegrationCamp at Mallapuram-Kerala, which is currently underway. Also present are Joaquim Fernandes, Deelip Dhargalkar, B S Malaj, Laximan Naikand U D Navelkar.

National Sample Survey on

Leprosy fromJune 1

HERALD NEWS DESK

PANJIM, MAY 24

The National Sample Survey toassess the disease burden inLeprosy is planned all over Indiaand in the State of Goa fromJune 1, 2010 to August 31,2010. People are requested tocorporate with the sample sur-vey workers, states a press re-lease.

I n Pe r n e m a n d P o n d aTalukas of North Goa Districtare selected for house tohouse survey to assess the dis-ease burden in Leprosy by in-v o l v i n g Pa n c h a y a t R a jInstitution (PRI) under theguidance of India Council ofMedical Research ( ICMR),JALMA, Agra.

The Programme Officer inGoa has planned for the surveyby involving health workers,AWW/Volunteers and PRI's. Thetraining for all the survey teamsis already conducted. The surveywill start from June 1.

Leprosy is a curable diseaseand early detection and treat-ment is essential. Survey isbeing conducted to detect thedisease in early stages in thenation and in the two selectedtalukas of North Goa. (Pondaand Pernem). Survey teamswould visit houses and thepeople are requested to beavailable during the visit ofsurvey teams, adds the pressrelease.

HERALD REPORTER

MARGAO, MAY 24

Hundreds of fish-loving Goansmade a beeline to Curtorim vil-lage in the wee hours of Sundayfor local-variety of fish from theMaitolem lake.

On the occasion, the Fisheriesdepartment organised a freshwater fish culture awarenessprogramme at the venue, edu-cating the people on the bene-fits of using locally availableirrigation facilities for fresh fishproduction.

Curtorim MLA ReginaldoLourenco, Director of Fisheries SC Verencar and other department

officials were present at Maitolemas the locals netted tonnes of fishfrom the lake on Sunday.

I am happy to be part of theprogram on educating locals onfresh water fish production. InCurtorim, we have six big lakes,which are also used for produc-tion of fish. The tanks also helpsto recharge the ground watertable, Lourenco added.

The Fisheries Director saidthat Goans are dependent on thesea for their fish requirementsand underlined the need tospread awareness on fresh waterfish culture amongst Goans.

The fresh water fish culture

is a profitable venture. The gov-ernment provides subsidy forthe farmers ranging from Rs 1lakh to Rs 80,000, he said.

Complimenting farmers fromCurtorim for taking up freshwater fish production in a bigway, the Fisheries Director saidthat nearly 75 per cent of theseeds from the Keri farm aretoday being procured by farmersfrom Curtorim village.

Rui Menezes who had baggedthe auction to net fish fromMaitolem, said the seed was putin October last and thanked thelocal MLA for supporting thefarmers in a big way.

Curtorim takes to freshwater fish production

Fish caught in tonnes from the Maitolem lake in Curtorim on Sunday. Photo by Santosh Mirajkar

Cycle ride to C oco beach

The members of the Goa Cycling Community.

PANJIM(HND): Goa Cycling Community organised a fun cycleride to Coco beach recently. 19 Cyclists participated the funride from 7 am in the morning, crossing the ferry from Panjimto Betim onto Verem and along the Picturesque riverfront ofThe Mandovi along Reis Magos to Coco Beach.

The participants conducted games on the beach and alsosnacks and refreshments were served.

The participants included Sahil Prabhudesai, SiddharthJadhav, Sheena De Mello, Joshua Rodrigues, Wren Fernandes,Shervyn Pereira, Dayn Cotta, John Caldeira, Patricia Pinto,Agnelo Pinto, Kirit Maganlal,Gaurishankar Banerjee, SuryakantNarvekar,Jagdish Bhobe,John Pereira, Maktum Munavali, AshtonRosario, John Aguiar and Joseph Rodrigues.

HERALD NEWS DESK

PANJIM, MAY 24

A two full day professional de-velopment training programmeon safety concluded recently atHotel Cidade de Goa. Organizedby Greentech Foundation, thetraining was conducted by PaulaHarvey from USA and Lim BoonKhoon from Singapore. Bothfaculty members are of globalreputation in terms of safetytraining. About forty participantsincluding Safety Officers, Offi-cers of Quality Control, SafetyEngineers, Fire and Safety Offi-cers attended. These partici-pan t s were d rawn f romorganizations across India likeAssam Gas Co Ltd, SAIL, USVLtd, HPCL, NTPC, GAIL, RashtriyaChemical and Fertilizers Ltd,HPCL, Marico Ltd, Thermax Ltdand ACC Ltd.

Among the topics where theywere trained include safety cul-ture, behaviour, fatigue man-agement , haza rdcommunication, walking andworking surfaces, emergencyaction plans, fire prevention andprotection and constructionsafety. K G Gupta, retired exec-utive director of a PSU alsograced the occasion.

Speaking on the occasion,Paula Harvey observed that inan era of economic meltdown,safety is taking a back seat. Itis no more preferred aspect.Many companies in USA have

cut short their budgets on safetyas a result of which injuries, ac-cidents have increased. Shesuggested that safety trainingmust be behaviour based train-ing.

Speaking on fatigue, LimBoon Khoon said, when fatiguesets that is potential for acci-dents. Human beings or ma-chines, working overtime is notgood, which is not accepted inour country, he said.

Both companies and employ-ees tend to regard safety in theworkplace as nothing more thanlegislation, opined KamaleshwarSharan, President of GreentechFoundation which organised thefirst ever training programmeon Safety with a faculty of in-ternational reputation.

More airlines, new airports,high-tech aircrafts, multiplyinglow cost airlines add challengeto airports safety in the country.Aviation Ministry must begeared up to manage safety withgrowth. Unfortunately in Indiawe have the same regulator wholays down the rules also probesairline accidents. We too shouldhave a separate investigatingagency to probe into Mangaloretype of air crashes. The emer-gency services in many of theIndian airports are inadequate.Mangalore air crash must be aneye opener to bring in safetyculture everywhere, said Ka-maleshwar Sharan.

Safety training workshop concludes

HERALD NEWS DESK

PANJIM, MAY 24

The Directorate of Sports andYouth Affairs, Government ofGoa invites applications in pre-scribed proforma through theVoluntary Organisations/Edu-cational Institutions/NGO's fromthe deserving and eligibleYouth's/Voluntary Youth Organ-isations, undertaking voluntaryservices for the welfare of theyouth and backward commu-nities for the presentation ofthe State Youth Award 2009-10.

All the applications, dulyfilled in enclosing the relevantBio- data, credentials, certificateof achievements in youth worketc, should be submitted, in per-son to the office of the Direc-torate of Sports and YouthAffairs, Campal, Panjim on orbefore June 18 by 5 pm.

The relevant applicationforms may be collected fromUday Navelkar, APEO, youth sec-tion of the Directorate of Sportsand Youth Affairs at Campal, Pan-jim during office hours on anyworking day.

Applications invited for State Youth Awards

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

MARCEL, MAY 24

Shree Saraswati Higher Second-ary School, Kavlem-Ponda, hasrecorded cent per cent result inCommerce stream for the sec-ond time since 2007-08.

As many as 39 students hadappeared for HSSC in Commerceand one student secured dis-tinction. In Arts stream, theschool has recorded 83 per centresult with 39 students passingout of the 47 who had appearedfor exams.

Earlier in 2007-08, one of thestudents was ranked sixth in theState in Commerce stream.

Shree Saraswati Higher Sec-

ondar y Schoo l P r inc ipa lDamodar Panchawadkar saidthis year, the sports policyproved beneficial to about 27students, especially to the lonestudent who secured distinc-tion.

We have students from vil-lages and majority of them areaverage students. It was an ef-fort from teachers, students andtheir parents that our schoolcould attain good results, saidthe principal.

This year, the sports policyhas also benefited 27 studentsof which one was able to securedistinction, said Panchawad-kar.

Saraswati HSS secures 100% results

in Commerce

HERALD CORRESPONDENT

QUEPEM, MAY 24

Quepem Urban Lok Seva Man-dal, a subsidiary of QuepemUrban Co-operative Credit So-ciety, recently opened an alco-holic rehabilitation centerAshirwad at Deumol-Sirvoi,Quepem.

Ashirwad is the second centerof its kind in the State, afterKrupa Center at Mapusa.

The Center at Deumol, whichwill function in rented premisesof one Marian Carvalho, was in-augurated by Quepem MLAChandrakant Kavlekar in thepresence of Sanguem MLA MengGaonkar, Quepem MunicipalCouncil (QMC) ChairpersonLydia DCosta, Quepem UrbanLok Seva Mandal ChairmanPrakash Velip, Dr Guru Naik,Joshi Malik and others.

Addressing the gatheringafter inaugurating the rehabili-tation center, MLA Kavlekar saidmany families in Quepem talukahave been affected due to alco-holism.

Those who go after alco-holism, the life expectancy isabout 30-40 years. The earlydeath of husband due to alco-holism affects the entire family,particularly the growing chil-dren, said Kavlekar appealingthose present to take benefit ofthe center.

Speaking on the occasion,

Ashirwad opened at Quepem

MLA Gaonkar said there is aneed of such centers in ruralareas, as number of villagers af-fected by alcoholism has beendrastically increased.

In his introductory speech,Quepem Urban Co-Op Credit So-ciety chairman said the centerwill start operating from June 1and the course will be of 35 days.

He said 15 members will beadmitted in one batch and thefee is Rs 5,000.

In his speech, Dr Guru Naiksaid for an alcoholic to comeout from the habit is very diffi-cult. He appealed those presentto change their attitude towardsalcoholic persons.

Other who addressed thegathering includes QMC Chair-person Lydia DCosta, JoshiMalik and others.

nThose who goafter alcoholism,the lifeexpectancy isabout 30-40years. The earlydeath of husbanddue to alcoholismaffects the entirefamily,particularly thegrowing children.

HERALD NEWS DESK

PANJIM, MAY 24

The Government of India hasinstituted an award to honouran individual who makes out-standing contribution towardsservices for Children in the fol-lowing fields such as Child De-velopment, Child Protection andChild Welfare.

The Award known as RajivGandhi Manav Seva Award forservice to children, under thisscheme three individuals will beselected by the National Selec-tion Committee.

The Awards will be presentedto the individuals who makeoutstanding contribution to-wards the services for childrenwith various kind of disabilities.The awards for an individualshall consist of cash prize of Rs1,00,000 and a citation.

For details contact the Direc-torate of Women and child De-velopment, Shanta Building, 1st

floor, St Inez, Panjim.The application should reach

this office before June 10, 2010,says a press release.

Bhaskar Awards on May 27HERALD NEWS DESK

PANJIM, MAY 24

Maharashtra Journalist's Foun-dation, Pune will present itsprestigious Bhaskar Awards onMay 27 at 12 noon at a functionorganised at Master DinanathMangueshkar Auditorium, KalaAcademy to some prominentpersonalities from differentwalks of life.

Among the recipients, famoussinger Usha Mangueshkar willbe felicitated at the hands ofChief Minister, Digamber Kamat.MP Shripad Naik will presideover the function.

Rajiv Gandhi ManavsevaAward instituted

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REGIONOHERAL

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PTI

MUMBAI, MAY 24

Though the Mumbai policecame in for praise for takingon the terrorists during 26/11attacks, the special courtwhich conducted the trial hascriticized personnel of AzadMaidan police station, sayingthey acted in a "cowardly"manner and "ran away" in-stead of stopping the mili-tants.

Instead of coming to the aidof Additional CommissionerSadanand Date, who engagedthe terrorists in a gunfight onthe terrace of Cama Hospitaland got grievously injured inthe process, the officers fromthe police station possibly "ranaway", Judge M L Tahaliyanisaid in the judgement, a copyof which was made available toPTI today.

The police station is at astone's throw from ChhatrapatiShivaji Terminus and CamaHospital where Ajmal Kasaband his companion Abu Ismailkilled scores of people.

After firing indiscriminatelyon the passengers at CST,Kasab and Ismail proceeded toCama Hospital, and went up tothe terrace.

Date had rushed to the hos-

pital after instructing constableSuresh Kadam to go to the po-lice station, collect some bul-letproof jackets, weapons andammunition, and come to thehospital.

But, as according to Kadam'stestimony, he along with Sen-ior Police Inspector Thorawadeand four others went only uptothe rear gate of the hospital ina Bolero jeep and did not ven-ture further.

Noting that other witnesseshad mentioned that the Bolerowas parked at the hospital'srear side, Judge said "It is

therefore possible that witnessno. 138 (Kadam) and othershad entered the Cama Hospitaland ran away back... appre-hending danger to their livesas around this time (11.45 pm)the accused had come out ofthe hospital."

"This definitely is cowardli-ness and lack of devotion to-wards duty," the judgementsaid.

The judge had orally ob-served earlier that hadSadanand Date got timely help,Kasab and Ismail could havebeen stopped at the hospital it-self and further incidents couldhave been averted.

On the role of InspectorThorawade, the court hasnoted that he was in-charge ofAzad Maidan police station,but "lacks courage to take ini-tiative" and as a result, thoseaccompanying him, includingKadam, "could not do any-thing to stop the accused".

"I am aghast to note thatwitness no. 128 (Thorawade)did not even bother to go toBT Road despite the fact thathe had seen the accused enter-ing the road.... Authorities willtake care of the attitude of thisofficer on the night of the inci-dent."

26/11 court indicts some police officers for cowardice

PTI

MUMBAI, MAY 24

The 26/11 special court has come down heavilyon the prosecution and investigating agency forsubmitting "doubtful" and "fragile" evidenceagainst accused Faheem Ansari and SabauddinAhmed that led to their acquittal in the Mumbaiterror attack case.

"The evidence of the only prosecution witnessis doubtful and unreliable. The investigatingagency has failed to provide quality evidenceagainst the duo (Faheem and Sabauddin)," the1600-page judgement, a copy of which is withPTI, said.

The court had acquitted Faheem and Sabaud-din on May 3 by giving them the benefit ofdoubt.

Witness Nooruddin Shaikh had deposed incourt that he and another person, Bharat Thakur,had travelled to Nepal in January 2008 where hesaw Ansari hand over maps of Mumbai target lo-cations to Sabauddin at a Kathmandu guest-house.

According to the prosecution, these mapswere used by the Pakistani terrorists, includingAjmal Kasab, and one such map was found in thetrouser pocket of slain terrorist Abu Ismail.

"Shaikh has not produced any documentaryevidence of his travel and stay at Nepal. The wit-ness has admitted that a record is maintained atSonavali border with regard to entry of persons

into Nepal. He was not able to produce any entryslip. The investigating agency has not made anyattempt to collect this evidence and not eventried to verify if Shaikh had visited Nepal," thecourt observed.

"The prosecution has also not examinedBharat Thakur to corroborate Shaikh's evidence.The prosecution's explanation that Thakur is nottraceable is very feeble and does not appeal tothe court's reason," the judgement states, addingThakur was one of the most important witnessesto prove the prosecution's case against Faheemand Sabauddin.

The court accepted the arguments of Fa-heem's lawyer R B Mokashi that there were nowrinkles or bloodstains on the map recoveredfrom the body of Ismail.

"In my consideration, had the map remainedin the trouser pocket of Ismail for such a longtime it would have in fact been spoiled to a largeextent. This evidence is thus highly doubtful,"Judge Tahaliyani observed.

All the evidences submitted by the prosecu-tion to connect Faheem and Sabauddin to the26/11 terror attack case are found to be "doubt-ful and tainted", the court remarked.

"There are many loose ends and there is scopeof doubting each and every piece of evidence. Ido not think such fragile pieces of evidence aresufficient to prove the charges against Faheemand Sabauddin," it states.

Evidence against Faheem, Sabauddin doubtful: court

n Instead of coming tothe aid of AdditionalCommissionerSadanand Date, whoengaged the terror-ists in a gunfight onthe terrace of CamaHospital and gotgrievously injured inthe process, the of-ficers from the po-lice station possibly"ran away".

-- Judge M L Tahaliyani

Farmers showing varieties of mangoes at an agriculture fair.

PTI

AHMEDABAD, MAY 24

Prevailing heatwave conditionsin Gujarat have claimed 14 livessince yesterday.

The weather department hasissued a warning that similarconditions would prevail inNorth Gujarat and Kutch re-gions for another day.

Three children from Jhalodtaluka of Dahod district diedduring treatment in hospitaltoday after they suffered sunstroke yesterday, district offi-cials said.

They victims been identifiedas Suchi Charel (12) of Garduvillage, Ranjeeta Vasaiya (5) ofDhavadiya village and RajeshKatara (4) of Piporodiya villagein Jhalod taluka, they said,adding over 30 patients arestill under treatment for ex-haustion and heat.

In Ahmedabad, five personshave died to heat in the last 24hours, Ahmedabad MunicipalCorporation (AMC) officialssaid today.

One Fatima Saifuddin (78)died in the V S Hospital today,while late last night four per-sons. They have been identi-fied as Omprakash Malhan (50),Pushpa Vadhera (70), KusumChndulal (75) and SaberaShaukat (80).

In Mehsana, an unidentifiedbeggar woman suffering fromsun stroke died in the in civilhospital today, officials said,adding yesterday one priestNeekul Shukla (33) who hadgone to perform marriage cer-

emony in Kadi taluka of the dis-trict collapsed and died due tosevere heat condition.

One Sanjay Sahani (35) fromUttar Pradesh collapsed due toheat stroke while working anddied after being taken to civilhospital in Bhavnagar districttoday.

Two persons died in Bhavna-gar yesterday due to heat andexhaustion which include SunilBariya (22) and Dhiru Bariya(58), district officials said.

In Patan district a 50-year-old unidentified man died dueto heat in Dhanodharda vil-lage of Chanasama taluka, yes-terday night, district officialssaid.

According to the Indian Me-teorological Department (IMD)officials, heat wave conditionsprevailed in parts of north Gu-jarat and Kutch region andother parts of the state.

The officials have issued awarning stating that heat wavecondition will continue to pre-vail in parts of north Gujarat re-gion and Kutch during nexttwo days.

Meanwhile, people avoidedventuring out during the daytime during the soaring tem-perature.

Temperatures recorded inthe major cities of the state in-clude Idar 45.2 degrees Cel-sius, Deesa (44.2),Vallabhvidhya Nagar (44.6),Ahmedabad (44.9), Vadodara(44.7), Gandhinagar (44.4), Ra-jkot (43.5) and Bhavnagar(43.2).

Heat wave claims 14 lives in Gujarat

in last 24 hours

PTI

MUMBAI, MAY 24

Actor-filmmaker Aamir Khanmight be known for his perfec-tionism in professional life buthe is also perfect when itcomes to personal relation-ships.

The actor cancelled all hiscommercial shoots and otherprofessional commitments yes-terday so that he could go toBangalore to attend his manFriday Sachin Gowda's wed-ding.

Sachin, who stays four hoursaway from Bangalore, has beenworking with Aamir since tenyears. Aamir was accompaniedby his wife Kiran Rao.

"This entire week was keptaside for Aamir to finishshooting some commercials.But he suddenly had to cancelall his work commitments ashe heard of Sachin's marriage.The wedding date got fi-nalised just a week ago soAamir decided to cancel all

his shoots and attend themarriage," sources close tothe actor said.

Aamir was keen to attendthe two-day wedding celebra-tions despite his pre-plannedwork schedule. The actor wasthere for Sachin like a familymember, they said.

The actor immediately con-tacted ad filmmakers to cancelhis shoots.

"It was just a three to fourhour shoot for the patchwork

shoot of a commercial whichcould also be done at a laterdate. Aamir's other commit-ment was a look test for an-other ad. Both theseappointments have been puton hold for two days and didn'treally create much of a prob-lem for the ad makers," sourcessaid.

"Yesterday a ceremony washeld at Sachin's house andtoday there is a ceremony atthe bride's house. Sachin wasparticularly surprised to seeAamir at his wedding as hewas aware of the actor's pro-fessional commitments thisweek," sources said.

Aamir, whose last two films'Ghajini' and '3 Idiots' havesmashed all box officerecords, has decided to takea break from acting for a yearand concentrate on his twohome productions 'PeepliLive' and 'Delhi Belly' whichare expected to be releasedsoon.

Aamir attends his man Fridays wedding

PTI

MUMBAI, MAY 24

With a view to provide relief torailway commuters on theKonkan belt, Maharashtra ChiefMinister Ashok Chavan has de-manded a separate night trainon the Mumbai-Sawantwadiroute.

Chavan, in a letter to RailwayMinister Mamta Banerjee, saidthat Sawantwadi was the lastand important railway stationon the state's border with Goa.

"If the station is convertedinto a junction, people fromKonkan and Goa would be ben-efited," he said.

Chavan had earlier de-manded more halts for super-fast trains on the Konkanrailway. Accordingly, the Rail-

way administration has de-cided to have more halts forKarwar Express in Konkan re-gion.

The Chief Minister had writ-ten to Banerjee that Konkan

Railway had fulfilled thedreams and aspirations of thelocal people who have con-tributed immensely to comple-tion of the railway project.

However, there is only onepassenger train Diva-Sawant-wadi on the Konkan route. Hesaid there are many trains onthe Konkan railway routewhich do not halt at stations inRatnagiri and Sindhudurg dis-tricts.

Chavan said superfast trainsshould also have at least onehalt at Kankavli, Kudal orSawantwadi.

He thanked the railway min-ister for announcing survey ofa new railway line on Sawant-wadi-Belgaum route in theUnion Budget this year.

Chavan