log on to thegoan.net @thegoaneveryday SUNDAY MAY 15, 2022 Revamped Margao urban health centre to open its OPD from Mon O n-Topic Indian cultivators are turning  to an ancient crop amid crisis - Shruti Bhogal B eauty Cold facials during summer – By Shahnaz Husain M ental Fitness Positive assertions that will bolster your well-being – Lisa Wartenberg T he Healthy Goan Your guide to treating your skin problems this summer – By Dr Sabrina Vaz C ar Review Honda City e-HEV Hybrid: Always Charged – By Ritesh Madhok Honest Film Review By Melba Vaz, A V Fernandes and S Haldankar IN SHORT >> SC stays NGT order against Deltin PANAJI: Supreme court has stayed the NGT order of April 26 directing Deltin Caravela to stop operations of its offshore flotel in the Mandovi. NGT had ordered halt in the operation pointing out that the group does not have CRZ clearance for the activity.  >> See pg 3 Kamat skips Cong Chintan Shivir PANAJI: Senior Congress leader and Margao MLA Digambar Kamat skipped the Chintan Shivir being held at Udaipur. Opposition leader Lobo and GPCC President Amit Patkar attended the ‘Shivir’, a brainstorming session. >> See pg 2 Man nabbed in Rupa murder PANAJI: Crime Branch and Curchorem police on Saturday nabbed a driver from Curchorem-Cacora in Rupa Parkar murder case. 55-yearold Rupa’s dead body was found along the roadside at Guddemol, Savordem on May 6. Police are suspecting that the accused had given a lift to the deceased. IMD issues red alert for Kerala THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The India Meteorological Department (IMD) issued a red alert for Ernakulam and Idukki districts of Kerala for Saturday indicating extremely heavy rainfall and an orange alert for southern districts till May 16. >> See pg 6 Anger over bridge blockade in Maxem >> See pg 3  WEATHER >> Max: 33.2 C Min: 27.2 C Humidity: 85% TIDES Low: High: 3:55 10:45 16:20 21:48 The Goan (Playstore) 16 pages PRICE ` 6 PANAJI MARGAO GOA VOLUME VII, NO. 327 GOA (Feature section Pgs 9 to 16) Facebook.com/thegoaneveryday 2 GOA ZP to get powers to develop open areas: P’yats Minister 3 Instagram.com/thegoaneveryday RNI: GOAENG/2015/65729 INDIA Mundka fire: 29 persons still missing; death toll likely to rise Questions raised over KA renovation work ■ CHARLES CORREA FOUNDATION LAMENTS NO ACCESS TO STRUCTURE ■ WORRIED FINER ASPECTS OF ITS ARCHITECTURE MAY BE CHANGED THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI Citing a lack of transparency in the ongoing renovation work at the Kala Academy, architects and domain experts on Saturday expressed worry that the architecture layer, especially the interiors, could drastically change in character the iconic edifice and its space. The Charles Correa Foundation, which organised a discussion on the issue at its Fontainhas venue, is worried that the consultants and contractor will not pay adequate attention to the finer nuances of preserving the architectural and other crucial aspects including acoustics, colour schemes and also retaining in their original form the Mario Miranda murals and work of other artists adorning the several walls. The Foundation and its members lamented that physical access has been shut out and there is no way to know what’s going on at the site although it has officially written LACK OF TRANSPARENCY CITED „„Charles Correa Foundation has cited lack of transparency in the ongoing renovation work „„Fear architecture layer, especially the interiors, could drastically change in character the iconic edifice and its space „„Also, fear that the Mario Miranda murals and work of other artists adorning the several walls may not be retained to the government authorities including the PWD and are awaiting a response. Most of the structural renovation and reinforcement work is complete, according to Nandita Mehrortra who said what has been completed so far was satisfactory. Mehrotra, who is a trustee of the Foundation, nonetheless expressed worry that the restoration of the architectural layer which will now be taken up could cause most of the damage in terms of retaining the originality of the iconic cultural space. “Intervention to ensure it doesn’t go wrong is now. Once the work is done we don’t know when the next opportunity to do any corrections will come with the government already having spent so much on the current renovation project,” Mehrotra opined, while making a case for transparency and putting out the details in the public domain. Renovation of the Kala Academy project triggered controversy a couple of years ago when there was similar No need to prove Konkani is language & not dialect: CM fear expressed over the nature of the renovation and the lack of transparency. The matter landed in the courts and the Bombay High Court at Goa had directed that the renovation of Kala Academy must ensure ‘preservation’. Designed by renowned architect of Goan origin Charles Correa and built in the early 1980s, the Kala Academy was also renovated once before in 2003-04 when it became the fulcrum of the venues for hosting the International Film Festival of India. A similar controversy had erupted during the 2003-04 renovation when the administration of then chief minister Manohar Parrikar completely ignored the convention of consulting the original architect and bypassed Correa. In the current renovation, too, the State administration has cold-shouldered the Charles Correa Foundation’s offer to come on board and assist in the renovation probono. 6 SPORTS IPL: Clinical Knight Riders get the better of Sunrisers Hyd 8 India bans all wheat exports in bid to control rising prices AGENCIES NEW DELHI India has banned wheat exports with immediate effect as part of its steps to control the spike in prices at home. Only export shipments for which letters of credit have been issued on or before Friday’s notification will be allowed, the government said. Besides, the government will allow exports on requests from other countries, the notification issued by Directorate General of Foreign Trade (DGFT) said. The notification said that the government had taken the decision “in order to manage the overall food security of the country and to support the needs of the neighbouring and other vulnerable countries”. Global buyers had been banking on India - the world’s second largest wheat producer after China - for supplies after exports from the Black Sea region dropped since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February. The move to ban wheat exports comes after huge crop loss due to a heatwave in March. The government is also under pressure to rein in inflation that surged to 7.79 per cent in April. Also, the move is a u-turn A labourer gathers wheat grain brought after harvesting in Amritsar on Saturday. India has banned wheat exports with immediate effect to control the spike in prices at home.  PTI G7 AGRI MINISTERS CHIDE DECISION NEW DELHI: Agriculture ministers from the Group of Seven (G7) industrialised nations on Friday, May 13 condemned India’s decision to ban unapproved wheat exports after the country was hit by a punishing heatwave. “If everyone starts to impose export restrictions or to close markets, that would worsen the crisis,” German agriculture minister Cem Ozdemir told AFP at a press conference in Stuttgart. “We call on India to assume its responsibility as a G20 member,” AFP reported Ozdemir as saying. two days after the government announced its plans for a big export push. “The Centre will send trade delegations to Morocco, Tunisia, Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam, Turkey, Algeria and Lebanon for exploring possibilities of boosting wheat exports from India. India has set a target of a record 10 million tonnes of wheat in the 2022-23 amid rising global demand for the grain globally,” a government statement said Thursday. WINGED WONDERS Says don’t need certificate to prove Ind stature THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI Stating that Konkani binds around 50 lakh-odd people from Raigad-Maharashtra to Kasargod-Kerala, along with those speaking the language throughout the world, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said Konkani does not need any certificate from anyone to be an independent language as it is already included in the 8th Schedule of Indian languages. “Konkani-speaking people have faced atrocities in the past. Despite all these odds, we are marching ahead towards a new era and the litterateurs have a major contribution in this,” said Sawant while addressing the Akhil Bharatiya Konkani Parishad at Malvan. CM said people living in the coastal belt of the Konkan area are united in language, culture and cuisine. “Though there are various dialects of Konkani like Malvani Konkan, Karwari Konkani, Kerala Konkani and various dialects spoken in Goa, we all look at Konkani with faith. This lan- SAWANT AFFIRMS... „„Konkani binds around 50 lakh-odd people from Raigad-Maharashtra to Kasargod-Kerala, along with those speaking the language throughout the world „„Konkani-speaking people have faced atrocities in the past. Despite all these odds, we are march- guage binds us,” he said. “Konkani is an independent language and it is Goa’s official language. It has prominent status as it is included in the 8th Schedule of the Constitution. There is no need for a certificate from anyone to prove that Konkani is a language and not a dialect,” CM said. “Now, the world has recognised Konkani and Google has recognised it adding it to its ‘Translate’ list. I congratulate Google for this facility, ing ahead towards a new era and the litterateurs have a major contribution in this „„Though there are various dialects of Konkani like Malvani Konkan, Karwari Konkani, Kerala Konkani and various dialects spoken in Goa, we all look at Konkani with faith. This language binds us which is a matter of pride for all Konkani lovers,” he added. He informed that KG to PG education in Konkani is not only present in Goa but in Kerala as well and now Karnataka has also started it. Sawant recalled that former chief minister late Manohar Parrikar had presented his budget in Konkani. “Moreover, the Goa Legislative Assembly work had been started in Konkani by then >Continued on P5 People click photos of a flock of flamingos standing in a pond during the Flamingo Festival on the occasion of World Migratory Bird Day at Talawe wetlands in Navi Mumbai on Saturday.  PTI Govt to revise GSR to control price rise THE GOAN I NETWORK MARGAO In a development that may ring in good news for the stakeholders of the construction industry, PWD Minister Nilesh Cabral has said the government is on the job to revise the Goa Scheduled of Rates (GSR) which would help tide over the problems faced by the stakeholders because of the price escalation of construction material. The minister has also urged the Builders Association of India, Goa Chapter, to set up skill development at the ITIs in the state to upgrade the skills of the trainees to meet the requirements of the construction industry. Speaking at the installation ceremony of the President of Goa Chapter of Builders Asso- ciation of India, Cabral invited suggestions from the association to the process initiated by the government to revise the GSR rates. “The association can associate with the government in the process to come out with the new GSR rates and put a new system and technology in place to meet the requirements. The stakeholders have been facing challenges over sand, with people getting arrested and trucks being seized. We have to come out with new technology to overcome the issues”, he added. Conceding that price escalation has been an issue which has come to haunt the builders, contractors and the government as well, Cabral said he has come out with a >Continued on P5 Goa has huge potential for Wah Taj says Guv, but steers clear of controversy culinary tourism: Research G THE GOAN I NETWORK THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI Recent research has shown that tourists visiting Goa have an interest in cuisine, with gastronomic tourism becoming an essential element in attracting tourists. The research also suggested that Goa has huge potential in gastronomic tourism and needs to systematically focus on it. “Emphasis needs to be given to the quality of food, taste, fragrance, nutrition and nature, to understand gastronomic tourism,” revealed the research paper. These were the findings in TEMPTING a research paper on “Gastronomic tourism experiences of Goa: tapping the potential of Goan cuisine as a destination attraction” which was published in the Sustainability, Agri, Food and Environmental Research journal. The research was conducted by Assistant Professor Mayola Fernandes and Associate Professor Arun Sherkar of AISSMS College of Hotel Management and Catering Technology (Pune) and Professor Seema Zagade of Maharashtra State Institute of Hotel Management and Catering Technology (Pune). The study concluded that organisations of gastronomic tourism must know about different types of culinary tourism and the factors affecting it, and effective strategies need to be developed to improve the industry. It also highlighted the importance of strategies to improve gastronomic services, >Continued on P5 PANAJI oa Governor PS Sreedharan Pillai on Saturday made a case for art and literature to work towards “unity and integrity” and briefly waded into the history of the Taj Mahal but steered clear of the ongoing controversy over the monument. KUMAON LIT FESTIVAL “My firm opinion is that through the means of art and literature, we can assure unity and integrity…” Pillai said while delivering his inaugural address at the Kumaon Literary Festival in Panaji. Bibek Debroy, who heads the Prime Minister’s Economic Advisory Council, noted filmmaker Rahul Rawail and the travelling festival’s founder Sumant Batra were on the dais. “Noor Jahan, I think at her thirteenth delivery she lost her life. Then on the spur of the moment at the time of her death...just like a dying declaration, she demanded one thing... Shah Jahan, my dear, you please don’t marry again. Look after my children,” Pillai said, adding that the ‘memorial’ for her (Taj Mahal) was another demand she made. Pillai also said history was silent on the question of whether Shah Jahan ever got the chance to visit the monument and pay homage to his beloved wife. The controversy raked up by right-wing organisations over My firm opinion is that through the means of art and literature, we can assure unity and integrity —PS Sreedharan Pillai, Goa Governor Goa Governor PS Sreedharan Pillai speaks at the Kumaon Literary Festival in Panaji on Saturday.  Narayan Pissurlenkar the monument, recognised as one of the wonders of the world, relates to the claim that it was allegedly built on land which previously housed temples. Earlier this week, the Allahabad High Court dismissed a petition seeking a facts finding committee to study and publish the real History of Taj Mahal. The petition had another plea seeking that sealed rooms in the basement be opened to put the controversy at rest of whether idols are stored there which the court also rejected saying the demand was “not justiciable” and best left to historians and academicians. Batra, who founded the festival, meanwhile said in his address that Goa was the best-suited location outside of Uttarakhand to host the festival and added that he was also setting up the Indian Cinema Heritage Foundation here. “Goa is still a place where people take out time to read, spend time with the family, attend events… It has such a rich language of its own, in which such great literature has been written which of course needs to be translated more, to be able to make it more accessible,” Batra said. “I’m trying to do my bit by >Continued on P5