log on to thegoan.net @thegoaneveryday Facebook.com/thegoaneveryday SUNDAY OCTOBER 18, 2020 12 pages PRICE ` 6 VOLUME VI, NO. 122 ‘Govt has ulterior motives on coal’ MARGAO: Goyant Kollso Naka has condemned the government for fooling the people yet again with regards to the coal plans for Goa. The fact that CM Pramod Sawant had stated that he was not aware of the details of the coal plans has only shown the govt’s ulterior motives, >> See pg 2 GKN said.  Sports facilities get a boost in Goa PANAJI: Goa is among the nine States and Union Territories that the Sports ministry has upgraded sports facilities under the Khelo India scheme. The SAG Sports Complex at Campal-Panaji has been upgraded into the Khelo India State Centre of >> See pg 8 Excellence.  India ranked 94 in Global Hunger Index NEW DELHI: India ranked 94 among 107 nations in the Global Hunger Index 2020 and is in the ‘serious’ hunger category with experts blaming poor implementation processes, lack of effective monitoring, slow approach in tackling malnutrition and poor performance by large states behind the low ranking.  >> See pg 7 FIR filed against Kangana, sister Instagram.com/thegoaneveryday RNI: GOAENG/2015/65729 2 8 7 Govt moves to ‘engage’ Police crack ‘murder’ of man who was set ablaze retired college teachers 9 Covid: Women at risk of losing progress at workplace IN SHORT >> The Goan (Playstore) GOA Landslide at Vaddem causes panic among residents NEWS PM suggests developing vaccine delivery system like elections AIMS AT ‘EFFECTIVE ACADEMIC ADVISING’ OF STUDENTS THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI In a bid to encourage ‘mentoring’ in the higher education ecosystem, the State government has introduced a move to formally engage “resourceful academics” who have retired from Colleges or the University. The “Scheme for Engaging Retired Resourceful Teachers” was recently notified by the Under Secretary (Higher Education) Tushar Halarnkar. These retired ‘resourceful teachers’ according to the scheme will be hired by the Directorate of Higher Education on a contract and depute them to the departments that need them. It is limited to government departments, institutions, government autonomous bodies and societies, besides public sector undertakings THE SCHEME OF THINGS „„To be hired by the DHE on contract and depute them to departments that need them „„May be sent to govt depts, institutions, govt autonomous bodies and societies, besides PSUs „„Objective is to develop “meaningful” educational, cultural, scientific etc in sync with State’s values and interests „„Govt to constitute ‘selection committee’ which will be chaired by Director of Higher Education PERKS: Maximum monthly remuneration specified as: Rs 1.4 lakh for those who held the ‘Senior Professor’ designation at the time of retirement, Rs 1.3 lakh for retired ‘Professors’, Rs 1.2 lakh for Associate Professors and Rs 80,000 for Assistant Professors which may require the ‘expertise’ possessed by the retired teachers. The scheme’s stated objective is to develop “meaningful” educational, cultural, scientific, social, rural, urban, agricultural, developmen- tal, oceanographic and other goals in sync with the State’s values and interests. It also aims to provide “effective academic advising” to the student community. Maximum monthly remuneration to those retired 2 new masters degree courses introduced PANAJI: Architectural graduates in Goa will no longer have to move out to pursue specialised masters degrees in ‘urban design’ and ‘sustainable habitat’. ‘MArch Urban Design’ and ‘MArch Sustainable Habitat’ are two new post-graduate degree programmes introduced by the Goa College of Architecture from the current scholastic year. The official launch of the two programmes was done by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Saturday. teachers engaged under the scheme is specified as: >Continued on P5 PANAJI Drivers of public passenger transport vehicles will henceforth compulsorily have to sport their authorization badges else face stringent penal action, including going behind bars for three months. Violators have been warned of penal action including imprisonment for a term which may extend up to three months or a fine or both as prescribed in MVA BJP leader shot dead in UP TIDES Low: 04.40 17.00 High: 10.38 23.37 PANAJI Porvorim Police on Saturday succeeded in cracking the case of brutal murder of local activist Vilas Methar, who was waylaid and set ablaze on the afternoon of October 14 at Torda, Porvorim. Methar succumbed to the burn injuries at Goa Medical College and Hospital in Bambolim a day later. It took Goa police a little under 72 hours to nab the suspects and the accused persons connected with the case that has chilled Goa to the bone. Based on the complaint received from Methar’s family, Porvorim Police detained builders Altaf Yaragatti and Khayyad Sheikh. The two builders were suspected of having ordered the killing of Methar, who was active in building an opposition to the irregularities in their real estate projects leading to hampering of their business. THE GOAN I NETWORK WELLINGTON: Jacinda Ardern has won a second term as New Zealand’s Prime Minister after her success at handling the country’s coronavirus outbreak helped secure a landslide victory. With 87 per cent of the votes counted, Ardern’s center-left Labour Party won 48.9 per cent of the vote. Max: 27.6 C Min: 23.1 C Humidity: 96% THE GOAN I NETWORK Badge for drivers must on public vehicles: RTO DIVINE TOUCH New Zealand PM wins second term WEATHER >> IPL: De Villiers guides Bangalore home against Rajasthan 2 SUSPECTS NABBED AT SINDHUDURG 2 REAL ESTATE BIZMEN IN CUSTODY FOR HIRING HITMEN NEW DELHI: A Bandra court has directed police to file an FIR against Bollywood actress Kangana Ranaut and her sister Rangoli Chandel after the complaint by Munnawarali aka Sahil Ahsrafali Sayyed, who alleged that both sisters have been tweeting derogatory comments about Bollywood and Maharashtra CM. FEROZABAD: A local BJP leader was shot dead by bikeborne assailants in Ferozabad district of Uttar Pradesh ahead of the November 3 assembly bypoll in the area, following which police have detained three people. SPORTS An artisan gives final touches on an idol of Goddess Durga ahead of the Durga Puja festival, in Chennai on Saturday. Covid dampens Navratri festivities in Goa THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI The nine-day holy festival of Navratri which began on Saturday will not be celebrated with the usual pomp and gusto in the State as organizers and temple committees have voluntarily decided to curtail festivities in the wake of rising Covid cases. Many temples have decided to suspend public functions and only hold bare minimum rituals, while some have decided to go online and broadcast the programmes. Navratri mandals have also taken a conscious decision not to erect pandals for Goddess Durga in light of the on- going pandemic this year and organisers have deciding to curtail Durga pujas, Dandiya, Garbha and allied traditional festivities. Some of the famous temples in the State that usually attract thousands of people during the nine-day festival are Lairai Devastan Shirgao, Mahalakshmi Temple, Panaji, Shantadurga Kavlem, Mangesh Devasthan, Mangueshi, Navdurga Madkai, Shantadurga Devasthan Fatorpa and Shantadurga temple, Marcel. However, some temples in the city will live-stream rituals like ghatastapana and the aarti of the goddess on their >Continued on P5 In a ‘public notice’ issued on Saturday, the Regional Transport Office (RTO) of the State transport department said: “No person shall be allowed to drive a public vehicle without an authorization (badge) granted by licensing authority in the State.” Taxis, maxi cabs, stage carriage buses, contract carriages buses and tourist buses are the type of vehicles covered under the definition of ‘public passenger vehicles’, according to the notification issued by the regional transport office. The notice also warns that penal action would be taken against violators including imprisonment for a term which may extend up to three months or a fine or both as prescribed in the recently amended Motor Vehicle Act. Cops have done a commendable job, says CM PANAJI: Chief Minister Pramod Sawant took to Twitter to laud the efforts of Goa Police in cracking the case of the brutal murder of Vilas Methar in Torda, Porvorim. “Goa Police has done a commendable job by tracing the suspects in Porvorim murder case, and apprehending them through swift action in Sindhudurg, Maharashtra. Police action will continue until the mastermind behind the murder is identified and brought to justice. @DGP_Goa,” CM Sawant tweeted. Hence, they conspired to kill him and hired Prashant Dabholkar and Pavan Badigeri, Mapusa residents, for the job. During his interrogation, builder Altaf Yaragatti confessed to the crime. Yaragatti has been placed under arrest by the Porvorim police. Though the builders were in police custody, hitmen Prashant and Pavan succeeded in fleeing from Goa. Goa Police used electronic surveillance to locate the duo in Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra. Sindhudurg police were requested to detain them. A team of Porvorim police took custody of Pavan and Prashant on Saturday. The police continued to remain tight-lipped about the matter even after detaining the hitmen. Altaf Yaragatti, Khayyad Sheikh, Prashant Dabholkar and Pavan Badigeri are presently in the custody of Porvorim police. While Yaragatti has been arrested, the procedure to book the other three was in progress till late Saturday night. Dr Reddy’s gets nod for trial of Russian vaccine in India PTI NEW DELHI Dr Reddy’s Laboratories on Saturday said it along with Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF) has received approval from the Drug Control General of India (DCGI) to conduct phase 2/3 human clinical trials for Covid-19 vaccine Sputnik V in India. This will be a multi-centre and randomised controlled study, which will include safety and immunogenicity check, the Hyderabad-based drug major said in a statement. “This is a significant development that allows us to commence the clinical trial in India and we are committed to bringing in a safe and efficacious vaccine to combat the pandemic,” Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Co-chairman and Managing Director G V Prasad said. RDIF CEO Kirill Dmitriev said the entity was pleased to collaborate with the Indian regulators. “In addition to Indian clinical trial data, we will provide safety and immunogenicity study from the Russian phase 3 clinical trial. This data will further strengthen the clinical development of Sputnik V vaccine in India,” he added. Last month, Dr Reddy’s and RDIF (Russian sovereign ROAD AHEAD „„To be a multi-centre and randomised controlled study „„To include safety and immunogenicity check „„RDIF to supply 100 mn doses of the vaccine to Dr Reddy’s upon regulatory approval „„Sputnik V is currently undergoing phase 3 clinical trials in Russia and the proposed number of subjects is 40,000 wealth fund) had entered into a partnership to conduct clinical trials of Sputnik V vaccine and its distribution in India. As part of the partnership, RDIF shall supply 100 million doses of the vaccine to Dr Reddy’s upon regulatory approval in the country. On August 11, the Sputnik V vaccine developed by the Gamaleya National Research Institute of Epidemiology and Microbiology was registered by the Ministry of Health of Russia and became the world’s first registered vaccine against COVID-19 based on the human adenoviral vectors platform. Onion prices set to Retired seafarers hit streets in passionate plea for pension DISTRESSED VOICES rise sharply in Goa THE GOAN I NETWORK THE GOAN I NETWORK BELAGAVI Onion prices are rise sharply in Goa as about 80% of the crop has been destroyed due to heavy rains in the onion growing areas of Maharashtra and North Karnataka region. According to sources, supplies have been affected so much that only about 30 truckloads of onions arrived in the APMC wholesale market here, of which about 10 trucks were sent to Goa. “About 80% of onions in the current harvest season have been destroyed due to heavy rains affecting the supplies adversely. Around this time of the year, we expect about 300plus trucks every Wednesday and Saturday, however, the situation is shocking since last year,” Sambhaji Hongekar of Yogesh traders told The Goan. Wholesale traders said suppliers to Goa have purchased onions at around Rs 60-70 a kilo, which means onion prices are expected to touch the Rs 100 mark in retail market shortly in Goa. Onion growing areas from Ahmednagar and Lasalgaon in Nasik district of Maharashtra and areas like Mudhol, Jamkhandi in North Karnataka have received excessive >Continued on P5 MARGAO etired seafarers and widows intensified their agitation in support of their demand for the immediate restarting of pensions by holding a peaceful protest dharna in Cuncolim. Even as the government continued to maintain stoic silence to the cries of the retired seafarers and widows in times of Covid, the seafarers have resolved to take the agitation in support of their demand for immediate restarting of pension to the nook and corner of Goa. After paying respects to the freedom fighters of Cuncolim at the memorial, the retired seafarers and the widows sat on a peaceful dharna, de- „„Why is the government bringing senior citizens and elders, who are retired seafarers and widows on the streets? „„It’s now a year since the govt had discontinued the pension scheme... We do not know our future „„Govt has stopped the scheme by forgetting the direct and indirect contributions made by seafarers to Goa R Retired seafarers and widows participate in a peaceful protest near the memorial for freedom fighters at Cuncolim on Saturday.  Santosh Mirajkar manding that the government release their pension, which has been discontinued since the last one year. A widow Laura Coutinho wondered why the government is bringing the retired seafarers and widows on the streets in times of Covid pandemic. “Why is the government bringing the senior citizens and elders, who are retired seafarers and widows on the streets? It’s now a year since the government had discontinued the pension scheme for the retired seafarers and widows. We do not know our future”, she said. President of Goan Seamen Association of India, Frank Viegas said the protest dharna at Cuncolim coincides with the commencement of the Navratri festival and hoped the government will take a positive decision in favour of the retired seafarers by restarting the pension. “We are in Cuncolim today, the historic village which had fought for the freedom of Goa. Today is the auspicious day of Navratri. From Cuncolim, we renew our appeal to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to restart the pension scheme”, he said. The agitation, which began on October 2 from the historic Menezes-Lohia Chowk, Assolna has since covered the constituencies of Velim represented by Salcete’s lone Minister Filipe Neri Rodrigues and Benaulim, represented by Churchill Alemao. Frank reminded the Chief Minister, Ministers and the MLAs that any amount of development will have no meaning if senior citizens and elders are unhappy and fighting for their pension benefits. He pointed out that the seafarers pension scheme had laid down certain guidelines, including the eligibility criteria. “This government has stopped the pension scheme by forgetting the direct and indirect contributions made by the seafarers to Goa and the local economy over the years”, he said. >Continued on P5