INCUBATING BUSINESS IDEAS

IF YOU HAVE BRAINWAVE, MARKET IT!  An MOU was signed between GCCI (Goa Chamber of Commerce & Industry) to establish an innovation, incubation and business development cell in Goa for entrepreneurs on Tuesday, March 15, 2022. The idea of this incubation cell comes from founder-CEO of IEDA Aarti Neemkar.  It is a joint initiative of GCCI Women’s Wing and GCCI IT committee and will take care of overall development and support to entrepreneurs, MSM’s, SME’s and start-ups in the state of Goa. Present for the signing of the MOU were (above) GCCI President Ralph de Sousa, GCCI Director General Sanjay Amonkar,  GCCI Women’s Wing Chairperson Pallavi Salgaocar, chairman-IT committee Milind Prabhu and Aarti Neemkar.

ILLEGALITIES IN GOA

ILLEGALITIES are the trend all over in Goa. What good can one expect from local leaders with roots outside Goa and they are just naturalized citizens of Goa? Like the one we have in our locality!  According to available information our village Panchayat is having two to three non-Candoicar Panchas whose roots are outside our village. Such people don’t work faithfully in their adopted village.            

Whether somebody files a complaint or not, the local Panchayat, once it comes to know that some major illegal work is going on, it should swing into action and do its duty, check what wrong is happening in the village. They are elected people supposed to take care of village or common public property and other assets. They cannot take bribes from locals for doing illegal jobs.

But bribe taking is going on in the Panchayats in Goa at an alarming rate and these elected members are addicted to bribes. Don’t even feel guilty or shy. Under the circumstance locals and youth must revolt in their own larger interests and benefits. Fight for justice for common good. During my younger days I was never afraid of sarpanch or pancha because the local people supported me and convinced I was fighting for local causes and rights.      

Once communidades played a major role, its members took immediate remedial steps against illegalities because they were upright and disciplined people. They had character, education and came from good family background, genuine Goans. They did not come to Goa from ghanttar! To take advantage of Goans and some of them now occupy high positions in Goa in our localities and harass Goans.

One of them lives in my shadow looting and making money. He is responsible for all the illegalities going on in his village, he harasses locals by applying rules for some and none for some. If he doesn’t change he will have to face a lot of problems, the jobs of elected people in village Panchayats are not for life, they will have to give accountability of their assets they created for themselves – empires worth much more than their income.

All eyes of non-Goans are focussed on communinade lands which they want to capture be it hills or fields. Non-locals who have infiltrated in our communidades are facilitating the illegalities and looting.    

I fell the current lot of politicians should be sent home if they are useless and stupid, be forced to quit their leadership. There is hill cutting going on at Orda. We don’t want leaders working to destroy our village.

–A Veronica Fernandes

ELECTION TAMASHA

NOW the election to Goa Assembly is over and it is credible that Babush Monserrate won along with his wife Jennifer Monserrate the Panjim and Taleigao seat respectively for the BJP, although Taleigao has been a safe seat for the Congress for decades. Babush should realize that the Catholics community by and large stood by him because he is compassionate and is easily accessible to the common man as well the poor across religious belief. 

The bad governance of Pramod Sawant and the anti-incumbency factor of the BJP did reduce the margins of the BJP victory in many constituencies across Goa, but strangely the Congress bastion of Navelim rejected the Alemăo family, both in Navelim and Benaulim, and gave AAP a victory in Goa.

It will be worth noting how Venzy performs for AAP in the new assembly. Goan environmentalists are by and large very unhappy because Capt Viriato lost in Dabolim constituency by a thin margin to Mauvin Godinho. Veteran politician of Goa, Olencio Simoes, a crusador for the fishing community and also across India, didn’t find a place in the Goa Assembly. Environmentalists have to be extra vigilant to ensure that MPT doesn’t become an authority, use our coastline by taking over and processing the infamous Sagarmalla project to transport Adani coal via various river jetties in rural Goa. These jetties will become coal dumps for industries in Karnataka.

It is also now necessary and high time the Congress high command reinvents itselfm and put in place a good an energetic new Congress president as Sonia and Raul Gandhi have been in charge of the party, much against the wishes of the voters of India.  We have Gulab Nabi Azad, Kamal Nath, Young Shashi Tharoor as well as Sachin Pilot, waiting for years to take over and give a fresh leadership to the Congress Working Committee – they are Gandhi appointed nominees but by not allowing fresh blood, except Gandhi blood to rule the Congress party, the grand old party is destroying itself.

The minorities should be extra vigilant in Goa as BJP elements like Pramod Sawant must not be allowed to polarize Goans who have been living peacefully together even during Portuguese times. Catholics must remain firm and united against fanatic saffron elements, who want to interfere in school and other educational institutes by imposing an RSS history, ideology education syllabus in schools. Paradoxically, certain old Congress leaders in Panaji worked for Utpal Parrikar and ensured his defeat!

–Stephen Dias, Dona Paula

NEW FACES: OLD BROOMS!

ON 17/3, the Goa expert panel allowed 100% seating at the ISL finals- from 0% on16/3! Have all risks been mitigated?

On 17/3, Health Minister M Mandaviya, called for a high level of alertness with aggressive genome sequencing and intensive surveillance in the wake of rising cases in several countries. The 7-day death average in India is 96 while in Kerala it is 78. Has the expert panel mitigated these risks? GOI has removed the “comorbidity” in the 60 plus for boosters. The expert panel has asked only for two-dose certificates for spectators.

The Maharashtra Govt. has called for avoiding crowds during Holi and other such celebrations. Which means, they would not have permitted the ISL finals in Maharashtra! The expert panel is fully aware that tourists in Goa do not wear masks or observe any other SOPs. Have they taken measures to counter this at the stadium, trains, buses, etc? The new faces in the assembly are there only for the ride. They will protest only on issues which the public protest on. Otherwise, they only compromise.

— R Fernandes, Margao

IMPARTIAL JUDICIARY?

TO ensure highest standards of judicial independence at all times and to ward off even the faintest trace of governmental influence on the judiciary, there needs to be at least a two year “cooling off period” for retiring judges, before they accept any post- retirement position. This would help maintain public confidence in the impartiality of the judiciary.

We have been witness to the manner in which even Supreme Court chief justices and High Court judges have been rewarded with post-retirement postings. But this most recent one may be the first of its kind where even before the judge retired, the order of his post-retirement nest was issued! The order appointing retiring Chief Justice of Delhi High Court DN Patel as chairperson of Telecom Disputes Settlement and Appellate Tribunal (TDSAT) was issued on March 4 March, eight days prior to his retirement on March 12, so that he could take charge of his “golden” retirement nest egg immediately on March 14 with a monthly salary of Rs2,50,000 for four years or till he turns 70 years. So the 62-year-old Justice Patel could serve for a term of four to eight years. Needless to say he hails from Narendra Modi’s Gujarat.

Whilst we watch with anguish the greed of some retiring judges, let us bow before those brave judges, who do not fall prey to such immediate retirement postings and maintain highest and upright standards, expected from all judges dispensing their verdicts without tilting the scales of Justice.

— Aires Rodrigues, Ribandar