ARNAB CIRCUS

The entire day on Wednesday, Nov 4, 2020, showed Arnab Goswami of Republic TV channel,  screening how he was assaulted by the Maharashtra police. The channel kept reiterating that police had again injured his bandaged arm and have not even allowed him to wear his shoes.

Arnab was picked up from his Lower Parel home, pushed into a police van and taken to Alibag. The Alibag police arrested Goswami for abetting the suicide of interior decorator Anvay  Naik who committed suicide because of non-payment of dues of Rs89 lakh from Goswami. Interior  designer Anvay Naik owned Concorde Designs and claimed he was ending his life due to non-payment of his dues by Goswami.

At Alibag, in response to Republic TV channels, the same Arnab is claiming that police have beaten him up but medical examination conducted don’t show any injuries. The abetment to  suicide case which had been closed was re-opened by the Maharashtra police to arrest the 47-year-old journalist.

All this means there’s been a tussle going on between the BJP and Shiv Sena ever since Sushant Singh Rajput allegedly committed a mysterious suicide and with the BJP accusing the Shiv Sena of abetting the suicide. The Editor’s Guild of India has condemned the sudden arrest and called upon Maharashtra Chief Minister Udhhav Thackeray to ensure that the journalist is treated fairly and State power is not used against him for critical reporting by the media.

Surprisingly, Goa’s Chief Minister Pramod Sawant is poking his nose into this fight between Maharashtra and the Central BJP, condemning the arrest as politically motivated, conveniently forgetting that he himself has been harassing media critical of the State BJP. Amongst his main victims is Goan Observer which is still awaiting Rs45, 000 from the Waste Management Corporation, plus Rs35,000 from the ESG for IFFI advertising of last year, that is 2019. Can anyone expedite these payments for us?    

GOANS SWINDLED

In an online loan fraud by Mohammad Mumtaz, a resident of Maharashtra, a resident of Goa was defrauded under the pretext of service charge processing fees and tax deduction to the extent of Rs11.36 lakhs. The accused has also been implicated in several other cases in Goa and in Maharashtra. Goa Cybercrime SP Shobhit Saksena has warned Goans against responding to messages offering interest free loans. Meanwhile the Oriental Bank of Commerce which has turned into the Punjab National Bank has denied reports appearing in social media that beyond three transactions, the account holder will be charged Rs150 for the fourth withdrawal of the month and Rs40 for the fourth deposit of the month. This is all false and fake news as confirmed by the bank now! Account holders of PNB please make a note of this and be assured that PNB is your friend and not enemy!  

BIO-DIVERSITY

Besides the double tracking there are strong objections to the proposal for setting up a 400 KV substation. And a transmission line through the Mollem Forest Sanctuary.  It may be remembered that Mollem is a protected forest sanctuary and the project will mean a loss of over something like 20,000 trees. If the trees from non-protected forest areas too are taken into consideration then the  number of trees that Goa will lose may double.

 Mollem has been identified by UNESCO as one of the eight hottest bio-diversity spots of the Western Ghats which stretch from Gujarat through Maharashtra, Karnataka and Kerala; indeed, these Western Ghats are older than the mountains of the Himalaya! They are also where the rivers flowing down and draining the Konkan coast arise. Common sense insists that the highlands be preserved and conserved but this new 2.5km transmission line to run through the Bhagwan Mahavir Wildlife Sanctuary will affect it majorly.

The Bombay High Court has taken heed of people’s protests and served notice to the government of Goa to restrain all tree cutting for the Mollem sub-station project.  

RECLAIMING CHAPORA

Historically the government is notorious for abetting extraction of sand. In a rare case worth noting government officials have put back 700 cubic meters of sand into the Chapora River where Rs12 lakh worth of sand was illegally extracted from the river bed! Meanwhile citizens are protesting against marina projects at Nauxim on the Zauri river bank. A marina is a floating berth for anchoring yachts and other cruise vessels used for recreation.

MELAULI PROTEST

Ironically, Pratapsingh Raoji Rane, seven times chief minister of Goa, has joined the protest against the location of the Indian Institute of Technology at Melauli in Sattari taluka. MLA of Calangute constituency Michael Lobo has joined the campaign against the location of IIT at Melauli. Interestingly, Melauli is the originally proposed site for the IIT by former Goa CM and Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar.