log on to thegoan.net @thegoaneveryday Facebook.com/thegoaneveryday The Goan (Playstore) Instagram.com/thegoaneveryday >P8 SATURDAY MARCH 6, 2021 Two undertrials escape from Colvale jail MAPUSA: Two undertrial prisoners escaped from the high- security Colvale jail on Friday evening, even as police have launched a massive search operation within the jail premises. The undertrials were identified as Upendra Naik (34) a native of Orissa – facing trial for rape and murder – and Hussain Kod (37) of Moti Dongor, Margao, who has been charged with assault and rape. They escaped sometime between 3.30 pm and 6 pm, officials said. Jail sources informed that the undertrials as a routine exercise were brought out of their cells for outdoor games at around 3.30 pm. The authorities found the two undertrials missing when a headcount was carried out while taking them in at around 6 pm. This is the third such escape from the central jail within six months. IN SHORT >> Goa police ASI commits suicide PORVORIM: A 57-year-old police assistant subinspector attached to the police headquarters at Panaji ended his life at the police quarters in Porvorim on Thursday night. A police team that went to the house had to break broke open the bedroom door only to find Naik lifeless.  >> See pg 3 8 pages PRICE ` 6 PANAJI MARGAO GOA VOLUME VI, NO. 255 GOA BRACES FOR SHOWDOWN ON CZMP Clarion call for people to come out and make their voices heard on Sunday THE GOAN I NETWORK MARGAO The public hearings for the Coastal Zone Management Plans scheduled on Sunday appear to be heading for a showdown with the district authorities capping the number of participants at the hearings at Kala Academy and Ravindra Bhavan, Margao. While the district authorities have resolved to allow only registered participants/ speakers to enter the venue or attend the virtual hearings on the production of valid ID proof/valid e-mail ID, the Citizens for Coastal Communities, the umbrella organization fighting for proper CZMPs since 2019, have given a call to the people of Goa to come in numbers and attend the Public Hearings on March 7 from 10 am at the Ravindra Bhavan, Margao, and Kala Academy, Panaji. People register at the District Collectorate, South, for the public hearing on CZMP at the Ravindra Bhavan, Margao, scheduled on Sunday.  Santosh Mirajkar The district administration is believed to have written to the South Goa district police chief to make elaborate law and order arrangements in and around the Ravindra Bhavan, Margao, on Sunday for the hearing. The call given by the citizens and NGOs assumes sig- nificance as it comes against the backdrop of the decision taken by the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority (GCZMA) to cap the number of participants at the public hearings to 150. Terming the public hearings on the CZMPs a farce, Xavier Fernandes (Convenor) and Raju Bhomkar (co-convenor) said in a statement that the CZMPs are not for the people as the notification has envisaged, but are made illegally for corporations and other short-term profit-seekers to take over the State’s rivers and coasts. The duo made a fervent plea to every Goan to get their voice heard by participating in these hearings if the balance has to tilt in the favour of Goa and the people. “Every Goan has got the right to attend the hearing because every person shares and depends on these common resources. The whole of Goa is ecologically sensitive, especially its vast coastal stretches. Not only the seaside villages, but also those on the banks of major rivers are affected. Even the CRZ Notification 2011 has special provisions for Goa’s khazans, >Continued on P5 WEATHER >> Max: 33 C Min: 23 C Humidity: 73% TIDES Low: High: 10.15 3.12 22.38 17.31 THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI Greens and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in Goa are up in arms and have red-flagged the short notice given by the State government for citizens to go through the draft Coastal Zone Management Plans ahead of the public hearings set for March 7. Several NGOs have questioned the less than 30 days available for inspection and studying the plans in the run-up to the public hearings fixed for Sunday when laws provide for 60 days. Nonetheless, many are expected to attend Sunday’s public hearings and also mobilize people from across the State to do so. THE GOAN I NETWORK KOLKATA: TMC Chief Mamata Banerjee will be contesting the upcoming assembly polls from Nandigram in East Midnapore, she declared on Friday. She announced the names of 291 candidates for the 294 assembly seats, leaving three seats in the hilly regions of north Bengal for her “friends.” NEW DELHI: The UK on Friday said a “legal process” is on in Vijay Mallya’s matter and it has to be followed through as there cannot be any shortcut. Greens, NGOs red-flag Govt’s short notice for hearings FC Goa forward Igor Angulo (L) celebrates with team-mates after scoring a penalty against Mumbai City FC during the Indian Super League semi-final first leg at Nehru Stadium, Fatorda, on Friday. The match ended in a 2-2 draw.  Report on Pg 8 BJP spokesperson sacked from post THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI After BJP leader Dattaprasad Naik opposed the BJP supported panel in the upcoming CCP elections, the leader was stripped of his post as a spokesperson. MAJOR CONTENTIONS OF CCC „„CZMPs do not show many of the fishing rights, breeding areas and also ecologically sensitive areas „„Both our beaches and river banks are shown as if all our local communities have vanished although they are only supposed to map the local communities and environment „„Port Limit has been illegally demarcated in rivers, thus handing these and entire khazan lands and beyond on a platter to the port authorities for the use of private corporations POLITICAL COMMENTS TO BE MONITORED MARGAO: The hearing on CZMP may turn out to be a one with a difference. The entire exercise is sought to be conducted in a restricted manner, right from the entry at the venue to the time-limit for the speech. Even the nature of the speech will come under the scanner of the authorities at the hearings. The speeches of the participants will be restricted and monitored for any political or personal criticism. As per the SOP put in place by the district Collector, South, only registered participants/ speakers would be allowed to enter the venue or attend Virtual Hearing on production of valid ID proof/ valid e-mail ID.  >> See pg 2 Rise in cases over last two weeks, a worrying trend ON EQUAL FOOTING Mamata to contest from Nandigram No shortcut in Mallya case: UK PANT SCORES 100 IN 4TH TEST RNI: GOAENG/2015/65729 PAYING THE PRICE The state BJP President Sadanand Shet Tanavade on Friday has issued orders stating that Naik has been relieved. It is a known fact that Dattaprasad Naik had to pay a price as he openly opposed the BJP supported candidates in the CCP elections. Naik, however, has not commented on the decision of the party. He was unavailable for comments. The Congress immediately reacted on the removal of Dat- taprasad Naik. “The removal of @BJP4Goa Spokesperson @dattaprasadmn is not about discipline but a sinister attack to the sideline and marginalize #BahujanSamaj Leaders in #Goa. >Continued on P5 PANAJI A sharp rise in the number of active Covid-19 cases has been recorded over the last two weeks in 11 out of 33 health centres across Goa. The number of active cases in at least six of these health centres has doubled or even tripled even as the testing capacity continued to remain woefully below 2,000. On Friday, the daily health bulletin of the Directorate of Health Services recorded 79 new cases from among the 1,607 samples tested in the last 24 hours. This reflects yet another spike in the positivity rate which stood at 4.9 per cent on Friday. While the total confirmed cases have touched 55,291, the active count is 675. One Covid related death was recorded in the mortality bulletin raising the total Covid victim count of the state to 799. Two weeks ago, on February 19, the total confirmed cases stood at 54,466. Despite its conservative LOCATIONS Mapusa Panaji Candolim Chimbel Porvorim Curchorem Canacona Margao Vasco Cansaulim Cortalim Ponda Quepem ACTIVE NEW DEATHS SAMPLES TESTED FEB 5 27 68 12 29 38 46 7 101 22 38 27 54 45 760 56 0 1,417 testing sample size, the Health Department detected 825 new cases of the infection in the last two weeks from among the 21,198 samples tested, which amounts to roughly 58 new cases a day. This places the positivity rate at a whopping high of 3.9 per cent, well above the national average of two per cent. A closer look at the numbers shared through the daily FEB 19 22 41 19 30 40 24 2 44 17 18 6 37 32 498 45 1 1,632 MAR 5 35 77 32 57 34 11 36 98 39 29 35 33 10 675 79 1 1,607 STATUS Increase DOUBLED Increase DOUBLED Steady Decrease SHARP RISE DOUBLED DOUBLED Increase SHARP RISE Steady Decrease SHARP RISE SHARP RISE STEADY bulletin shows a massive hike in the number of active Covid cases under Urban Health Centre in Margao, UHC Panaji, Primary Health Centre in Chimbel, Community Health Centre in Canacona, PHC Cortalim and UHC Vasco. The active cases in Margao, which stood at 101 a month ago and had dropped >Continued on P5 HC order paves way for work Rules on regulation of social media lack teeth: SC on Belagavi-Goa highway AGENCIES THE GOAN I NETWORK BELAGAVI Thousands of commuters from Belagavi and Goa have heaved a sigh of relief as the Karnataka High Court has declared that there was no need for the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to take prior environment clearance to widen the Belagavi-Goa highway NH-4A. Following the HC order, work on the highway is expected to resume soon. The court, however, has stated that road-widening work can only be continued after the union government extends the validity of its A file photo of the NH4A that was left in a dilapidated condition after the contractor was forced to leave the work incomplete. in-principle approval granted earlier under the Forest Conservation Act. The validity has expired on December 31, last year. “No material has been placed before it to establish that stretches of NH4A in Karnataka and Goa have been ‘artificially divided’ to bring the length of the highway below 100 km to avoid obtaining of prior environmental clearances under the Environment (Protection) Act, 1986,” a Division Bench comprising Chief Justice Abhay Shreeniwas Oka and Justice S Vishwajith Shetty stated, while passing the order giving green signal to the road-widening work. The court cannot grant the relief sought by the petitioners, the order stated. The PIL had been filed by environmentalists Suresh >Continued on P5 APEX COURT OBSERVES NEW DELHI he Supreme Court on Friday said the Centre’s guidelines on regulating social media “lack teeth” as they do not have any provision for taking appropriate action against platforms showing inappropriate content. Since they were introduced, the guidelines have been at the centre of multiple criticisms and reports which allege that they inhibit press freedom. These observations were made while granting protection from arrest to Amazon Prime Video’s India head Aparna Purohit in FIRs lodged over web series Tandav. It also issued notice to the Uttar Pradesh government on Puro- „„The guidelines do not have any provision for taking appropriate action against platforms showing inappropriate content „„There are no provisions for fine or prosecution „„Without legislation, there cannot be an effective control T hit’s plea for an anticipatory bail in FIRs on Tandav series. A bench comprising Justices Ashok Bhushan and R. S. Reddy said the new rules brought in by the Centre to regulate content “lacked teeth” as there are no provisions for fine or prosecution. “Without legislation, there cannot be an effective control,” Justice Bhushan has been quoted as saying in a section of the media. “Rules don’t list anything a about appropriate action to be taken against those who don’t abide by the guidelines. Solicitor General has submitted that steps will be taken for the same and it shall be placed before the Court,” the apex court said. One of the criticisms levelled against the new Information Technology (Intermediary Guidelines and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021, is that they circumvented the parliamentary process. Other commentators have pointed out that their wording is not precise and can render the rules open to misuse. Solicitor general Tushar Mehta, appearing for the Centre, had said the government will consider appropriate steps and any regulation or legislation will be placed before the court, and added that new rules were made as a balance between “no-censorship and internal self-regulation”. The apex court also directed Purohit to make the Centre a party to her plea. The top court had on Thursday observed that some over-the-top (OTT) platforms at times show pornographic content and there should be a mechanism to screen such programmes. It had asked the Centre to place its guidelines on regulating social media. Mehta had said he would be placing on records the Information Technology (Guidelines for intermediaries and Digital Media Ethics Code) Rules, 2021. Senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, appearing for Purohit, had on Thursday termed the FIRs against her as shocking saying that this woman is an employee of Amazon and she is neither a producer nor an actor but still she has been made an accused.