CELEBRATING RAJA RAMMOHUN ROY!

IN MEMORY OF THE 250^TH BIRTH ANNIVERSARY OF RAJA RAMMOHUN ROY: The Goa State Central Library in association with the Raja Rammohun Roy Library Foundation, Ministry of Culture, Government of of India, held an awareness rally on October 6, 2022. Chief guest for the ra;;u was Minister for Art & Culture Govind Gaude along with Director of Art & Culture  Sagun Velip, Deputy Director Ashok Parab, Curator in-charge Sulaksha Kolmule, Deputy Director Accounts Sarvottam Satardekar. Addressing students the minister stressed on the importance of knowledge gained through good reading habits.   Students from 05 North Goa District schools, namely Hedgewar, Mary Immaculate, Bal Bharti, People’s and Mushtifund high schools participated in the rally which commenced from  EDC Patto and concluded at the Art Gallery of the Central Library.  Banners, posters, placards, flags, caps and leaflets were distributed to participants in the rally and a street play on women empowerment performed by Central Library staffers.

MONITOR MINING WHEN RESUMED!

IF mining re-starts in Goa there should be a fool-proof and comprehensive monitoring. Measures should be in place with measures so that there is no illegal mining (that was why mining was stopped by Supreme Court in 2012 when the M B  Shah Commission unearthed illegal mining worth Rs35,000 crore).

 A compact inventory of ore at each mine should be made and grade-wise mining take place under the hawk eyes of strict officials of the Mining Corporation to be formed. There should be no loopholes to permit illegalities by prior knowledge of quantum of ores being calculated with precision. If the exact amount of ore is estimated grade-wise, there would be no margin for evasion of taxes to be levied officially and in advance.

Needless to say it would be prudent not to abandon exhausted mines but to restore them and put them to good use. This should be mandatory and proceeds acquired should each reach every household in the area by way of a mining dividend – profit should be payable to all Goans!

–Stephan Dias, Dona Paula

   PROMOTE GOLF!

THE game of golf is an Olympic discipline and there are 06 medals to win at the Olympics. In Goa, we require at least one good golf course! For a start, we require at least one 18-hole golf course and driving range, for which an area of over 120 acres is required, for hosting international golf championship and also to promote Goan golf championship, even attract domestic as well as international golf players. 

For a start, we require at least one 18-hole Golf Course & Driving Range – for which an area of over 120 acres is required, for hosting an international Golf Championship, so as to promote Goan Golf and even attract domestic as well as international tourists, besides grass root training. There is also leisure golf for elderly tourists. In fact, the promotion of golf offers enormous employment opportunities for Goans.

Golf courses have a golf club and café and recreation facilities, and the golf course can be developed under BOT(build, operate and transfer) basis. Goan golf course enthusiasts ought to come forward to form a Goa Golf Association and register it with the State government and then subsequently convert it into a Goa Golf Gymkhana. They may appeal for a  requisite place with the support of the apex body, that is the Indian Golf Union, and in collaboration with the Goa government go for an 18-hole golf facility including water bodies, firm structures and  out-of-play areas. 

Goan corporates including luxury hotels should come forward to promote golfing. Golf courses may even be built without resort/5-star hotel support, which means against TCP proposed plan. Interestingly, the Delhi Golf Club employs a 560 strong staff for the smooth running of the club and Goa can well emulate this pattern.

Two decades back Goa and the North-Eastern states were considered backward in sports. Today the North-East states have medal winners in the  Olympics while Goa lags behind.

Instead of people protesting on roads eminent NGOs like Claude Alvares could support the golf discipline for development of sports and promote promising Goan golfers to represent India in the Olympics. This could be together with the promotion of a green environment with adequate water creation and the replanting of trees to enhance a golf course with the status of being an eco-friendly sport!

–Roque Dias, former ED,SAI & deputy director-general, CWG, 2010, handling the Central Golf Project, Delhi

8 MLAS WHO AWAIT GOD’S WRATH!

 THE skewered statement by Calangute MLA Michael Lobo that earlier leaving the BJP was a mistake is ludicruous, it only concedes his political immaturity.  Has he yet not realized that politics must be a serious affair and cannot be child’s play? It also demonstrates a clear lack of judgment, something which elected representatives and law makers are called upon to exercise daily.

The eight traitors should realize that joining or leaving a party has to be a well-thought decision based on values and principles, and never a reckless decision without proper application of mind.  Making a mockery of their sworn affidavits and pledges before God makes them a laughing stock and condemnable. Not to mention their numerous public interviews and photo shoots to fool the electorate…all this has gone viral on social media to serve as a timely warning to the eight defectors.

Commitment and loyalty to the political party is paramount. Even those in the world’s oldest profession fare better and live up to the period of their pledge. Ironically, after the Assembly election results, the Congress opted for Michael Lobo as Leader of Opposition, side-lining senior leader Digambar Kamat — which understandably left the former chief minister hurt and wounded.

Now Sankalp Amonkar lamenats that despite being senior he was not chosen to head the Legislature wing of the Congress. Paradoxically, all three were part of that gang of eight who betrayed the Congress and their voters; it was a  suicidal dive into the BJP personal survival and gratification. Their fate will be no different than the plight faced by earlier defectors. These eight cheaters and defectors must realise that you can fool some of the people some of the time or some of the people all the time, but you cannot fool all the people all of the time.

More importantly you cannot fool God at any time and when you try doing it – you will not escape divine wrath!

 –Aires Rodrigues, Ribandar

LAWYERS’ GAMES!  
IT was heartening to read that in the coming days the Supreme Court will be stricter with lawyers seeking frequent adjournments. This applies even to  senior lawyers as recently the Chief Justice of India (CJI) and two justices turned down repeated pleas of a senior advocate who wanted a date change for the hearing (in the insider trading case), as he was not ready! Luckily the justices took a dim view of the request and asked him not to embarrass them.

And in other case a junior (perhaps with imprudence) informed the court that his senior was not available. The Chief Justice rightly insisted that the senior counsel should himself argue the case and postponed the hearing to the end of the day!
 
The above examples seem to be like students asking the examiner to change the date of the exams as they have either not studied or are busy elsewhere! The major difference is that students pay through their noses for the education while the clients pay the lawyers for their cases.
 
Why do lawyers take up more cases than they can handle? Is it for the moolah, prestige, promotion or power? They should not send unaccompanied juniors to the court who go and ask for a new date or are unable to successfully argue the case. Lawyers should value the time and money of their clients, consider their anxiety levels and also respect the judges. The new CJI, UU Lalit has well done to crack the whip and get senior lawyers to earnestly attend the court proceedings. Hope after his retirement next month, the court would not make a U-turn and go back to the old ways and grant “tarik pe tarik.”

–Sridhar D’Iyer, Caranzalem