HERE ARE GOA’S OLYMPIC CHAMPIONS!
The triumphant Olympic champions arrived back to a rousing welcome. It is Goa’s best-ever haul of 19 medals at the Special Olympics World Summer Games 2023 just over in Berlin. The champs got a rousing welcome at Dabolim airport from Minister of Social Welfare Subhash Phal Dessai and State Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities Guruprasad R. Pawaskar, sitting MLAs Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco of Curtorim and Aldona MLA Adv Carlos Alvares Ferreira. The Goan squad 23 came on Air India flight from New Delhi, late on Wednesday, June 28, 2023.
Also present are Luis Fernandes (vice president, Special Olympics Bharat Goa), Vrushali Cardozo (area manager) and Victor R Vaz (the very dynamic National Sports Director of Special Olympics Bharat) along with parents, heads of various special needs institutions and more than 200 supporters who had travelled to welcome the 13 athletes and ten officials. A traditional band played with folk music instruments and jubilation was in the air as backs were patted, hugs exchanged and hands shaken by relatives and friends.
This is an altogether significant win and contribution to the final medal tally of 202 medals of the Indian contingent. Goa won nine gold, five silver and five bronze medals – by far the best performance from the smallest state in India. Four Goans – Venson Paes, Aman Nadaf, Francis Parisapogu and Joel Rodrigues were part of the gold medal winning football squad, while Siya Sarode picked up a couple of golds in powerlifting. Diminutive Geetanjali Nagvekar won a gold in the 800 metres, while Manfil Ferrao (men’s basketball) and Veena Naik (women’s volleyball) accounted for the remaining three gold medals.
The five silver medals came from Siya Sarode (powerlifting), Geetanjali Nagvekar (400 metres), Aayush Gadekar (men’s volleyball), Taniya Usgaonkar (roller skating) and Aslam Ganjanavar (judo). Five bronze medals came from Gayban Mulla (mini javelin), Usgaonkar (roller skating), Siya Sarode (powerlifting) along with two women footballers, Gayatri Fatarpekar and Kajal Jadhav.
Medal-winning athletes in the past have been felicitated by the government with cash awards, with gold medal winners receiving Rs5 lakh, silver medalists Rs2 lakh and Rs1 lakh for the bronze medal winners. Goan athletes have been consistently winning ever since Anthony Colaco debuted with a gold medal in the long jump for men at the 1991 Minnesota Games. Since then, Goa has won a total of 102 medals in the seven editions of the Special Olympics Summer Games. “There are no short cuts in achieving such glory for the state and the country. It’s all about proper planning and hard work,” noted Victor R Vaz, “This time we were better prepared for the Berlin Games as we got the athletes together a few weeks before they travelled to Germany in the middle of June. The athletes deserve all this adulation and good will that is being showered upon them.”
MINI-INDIA AT PERNEM!
AS per notice No.3/11/2023-IND/140 dated June 26, 2023 the government of Goa has invited the public to submit objections, if any, to the proposed Mini India Theme Park at Pernem, Goa (India). As a concerned citizen of Goa I object to the setting up of such a park because I believe it will include a casino or a collection of casinos. Other discerning citizens too point out that Pernem has potable water woes which were non-existent till the Manohar International Airport came up at the cleared Mopa plateau.
My objections to the proposed park are as follows:
Casinos are immoral. If the project involves setting up of casinos for entertainment on the lines of Deltin’s proposed casino township at Dhargalim, I object because casinos worldwide are synonymous with money laundering, human trafficking, drug peddling, organised crime syndicates, violent crime and they contribute towards the destruction of the moral fabric of a community.
Goa is acquiring notoriety as a narco-tourism destination because generations of our Goan youth have now been exposed to psychotropic drugs and become addicts, are engaged in crimes and ruined their futures and brought heartbreak to their families.
As it is a shocking percentage of Goan youth are alcohol addicts because of the ease in acquiring liquor at throwaway prices in Goa. This also attracts hordes of domestic tourists to Goa for the wrong reasons of imbibing alcohol and seeking adventures of the drugs and trance music kind which end in so many tragedies.
I am with stand behind our local women’s empowerment NGO, Bailancho Saad, which categorically and vehemently opposes the setting up of more casinos, especially in the hinterlands of Pernem. Casinos introduce substantial risks to national security too. Reportedly the Chinese Triads, through subsidiaries, own stakes in casinos/casino townships worldwide. The Triads have a ruthless reputation in their criminal operations. Ever since Macau clamped down on junket tours, the Triads must be looking for alternate destination to conduct their multi-billion dollar enterprises.
Casinos have been used to aid international pariahs like North Korea. A sizable chunk of a billion dollar bank heist was routed, by DPRK hackers, to a casino, and millions were cashed out. Goa’s cybercrime detection division is not equipped to prevent these kinds of cyber attacks. Hackers recently took over the Water Resources Department’s monitoring system, and demanded payment in Bitcoin to relinquish control. Apart from the threat from China, Goa casinos could unwittingly open doors for other well established organised crime syndicates like the ‘Ndrangheta.
Again, we don’t have problem gambler checks/gambler counseling services/ gambling de-addiction centers. To the best of my knowledge neither the Goa government nor any of the casino operators, have implemented problem gambler screening, gambling counseling hotlines, de-addiction centers, although they are the norm in other gambling hubs.
Casino gaming also gives a boost to human trafficking hubs. The Department of Justice recently described the trafficking of humans through casinos across Asia as a growing concern, and listed countries where governments do not fully meet the TVPA(Trafficking Victims Protection Act) minimum standards, and are not making significant efforts to do so. The Goa government hasn’t implemented politically exposed person bans as yet in casinos.
The global norm is markedly different. There are scores of links of casinos and crime archived and I can forward them all, should the Goa government require further convincing. Each day I research “crimes at casinos” using different phrases in the search engine. For over three months now, a Google search on “casinos and drugs”reveals sad articles to do with Goa’s casinos.
–Chris Fernandes, Miramar, Panjim
GOA, THIS SWEET LAND OF OURS!
OVER the last few years the government has been claiming that I am not an Indian but a Portuguese national. I was born on May 24, 1960 which was before Goa’s Liberation. So technically I was born Portuguese. As I had never applied for Portuguese nationality and in order to lay this issue to rest, last month I travelled to Portugal to ascertain the ground factual position.
After obtaining a UK and Schengen Visa, I travelled to Portugal via London. In Lisbon, I met with the very courteous Portuguese authorities who informed me that I am entitled to a Portuguese Passport. The Portuguese authorities were however unable to inform me as to who, if any one at all, had registered me as a Portuguese citizen. I was surprised to note that many Goan present and former politicians, prominent citizens besides some government officials, are all registered as per the records in Lisbon as Portuguese nationals. In view of this I was intrigued as to why the Goa government singled me out?
But it was a blessing in disguise. After deep and thoughtful consideration, I decided to opt for a Portuguese passport and in accordance with law to surrender my Indian one. Being of Indian origin my life will continue to be the same except for now being unable to contest elections, vote or be involved in agricultural land and farming. Which to me in this present scenario is all inconsequential.
As an OCI (Overseas Citizen of India), nothing changes for me on the professional front. On the contrary, it would enable me to widen my horizons as I would now be able to attend to legal issues faced by my fellow Goans and Indians overseas. Over the years we have seen our fellow Goans pay several lakh of rupees towards obtaining a Portuguese passport. It has come as a free bonanza for me, enabling me to travel to 188 countries across the world without a visa. And having the gregarious Goan Antonio Costa as the prime minister of Portugal. These events would now add another chapter to my memoirs which I am currently penning.
May I most humbly seek your continued prayers and blessings as I tread this new path. I shall always remain a Goan with my Goa and India ever so close to my heart. My profound gratitude to our Goa and Ribandar in particular, the great land of my birth and upbringing, which cannot and will never ever die.
–Aires Rodrigues, Ribandar