log on to thegoan.net @thegoaneveryday MONDAY MAY 16, 2022 GOA 12 pages PRICE ` 6 2 WRD starts operation to clean Colva creek IN SHORT >> 24-yr-old youth drowns in river PANAJI: A 24-year-old youth from Uttar Pradesh, identified as Siddhu Mishra, drowned in the Dudhsagar river at Okamba, Dharbandoda. Rescue operations were on by the fire force personnel to retrieve the body. Kashmiri pandits urged not to leave SRINAGAR: The Gupkar alliance of major J-K parties on Sunday urged Kashmiri pandit employees not to leave the valley as it was their home and it would be “painful for all’’, after the community demanded their relocation following the killing of a member by terrorists.  >> See pg 6 Gyanvapi mosque survey complete VARANASI: A court-mandated videography survey of the Gyanvapi Masjid complex here was carried out peacefully for the second consecutive day on Sunday, with the major part of the exercise said to have been completed. >> See pg 6 Lanka PM calls for ouster of Prez COLOMBO: In an unusual move, Sri Lanka’s new Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe has extended public support to the protesters, who for over a month calling for President Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s resignation for mishandling the country’s worst economic crisis.  >> See pg 7 N Korea confirms 15 more Covid deaths Facebook.com/thegoaneveryday PANAJI MARGAO GOA VOLUME VII, NO. 328 NEW DELHI: Cryptocurrencies can lead to “dollarisation” of a part of the economy which would be against India’s sovereign interest, top officials of the RBI have told a parliamentary panel, according to sources. >> See pg 8 Power minister calls on public to help linesmen Max: 39.9 C Min: 26.1 C Humidity: 88% TIDES Low: High: 04:35 17:08 11:33 22:28 Instagram.com/thegoaneveryday RNI: GOAENG/2015/65729 INDIA Mundka fire: Building owner arrested on way to Haridwar 6 Cong skips reboot, promises task force to drive reforms ■ FOCUS ON 2024 LS POLLS ■ BHARAT JODO YATRA FROM OCTOBER 2 ■ CONG CHIEF SAYS THREE-DAY EVENT WAS USEFUL AND PRODUCTIVE ON COMEBACK MODE PTI UDAIPUR With the Congress announcing a host of internal reforms, party chief Sonia Gandhi on Sunday said a task force will be set up in the next 2-3 days to implement them and an advisory committee of Congress Working Committee members headed by her will be formed to deliberate on political issues, making it clear that it will not be a collective decision-making body. Her assertion assumes significance as the G-23 dissident leaders had made a persistent call for ‘collective leadership’ in the party while demanding an organisational overhaul. In her concluding remarks at the Chintan Shivir, Sonia Gandhi said the three-day conclave has been ‘very useful and productive’ as many „„Task force will be set up in the next 2-3 days „„Sonia Gandhi herself will head an advisory committee to deliberate on political issues „„The new reforms will cover all aspects including structure, rules for appointments to party posts, communications and publicity, outreach, finances and election management leaders expressed their views openly and offered suggestions in a spirit of constructive participation. “We will overcome. That is our determination. That is our Nav Sankalp (new resolution). The Congress will have a new uday (dawn). That is our Nav Sankalp,” said the 75-yearold longest-serving president of the party which has seen a sharp decline in its electoral fortunes since 2014. Gandhi said a compact task force will be set up to drive the process of internal reforms that are essential and have been discussed in different groups during the Udaipur meeting. These reforms with a focus on the 2024 Lok Sabha polls will cover all aspects of the organisation including structure, rules for appointments to party posts, communications and publicity, outreach, finances and election management, she said in her concluding remarks. The composition of the task A HISTORIC THOMAS CUP GOLD FOR INDIA In the third game, K. Srikanth thrashed Jonathan Christie in straight sets to bring glory for India. Srikanth fought hard to beat Christie in the third match to win 21-15, 23-21. Brimming with confidence, India took on 14-time winners Indonesia in the final of the Thomas Cup in Bangkok on May 15, 2022 and lifted the title defeating the defending champions by 3-0. Man tries to kill mother’s lover at Verla >> See pg 2 WEATHER >> 3 GOA SEOUL: North Korea has confirmed 15 more deaths and hundreds of thousands of additional patients with fevers as it mobilises more than a million health and other workers to try to suppress the country’s first Covid-19 outbreak, state media reported Sunday. >> See pg 7 Cryptos undermine India’s interest: RBI The Goan (Playstore) The underdog Indian side had not even reached the last-four stage since 1979 and ended up upsetting formidable Malaysia and Denmark en route the summit clash. Lakshya Sen opened the campaign for India and won the match against Anthony Sinsuka Ginting 8-21, 21-17, 21-16. With Sen’s win India was leading against Indonesia by 1-0. In the second match, Satwik and Chirag took on Indonesian pair of Ahsan and Sukamuljo. Like the earlier match, the pair lost the first set but came back strongly to defeat the Indonesian pair by 18-21, 23-21, 21-19. (>> See report on pg 12) We will overcome. That is our determination. That is our Nav Sankalp (new resolution). The Congress will have a new uday (dawn). That is our Nav Sankalp,” —Sonia Gandhi, Cong chief force will be notified in the next two-three days. “I have also decided to have an advisory group drawn from the CWC that would meet regularly under my chairpersonship to discuss and deliberate upon political issues and challenges before our party. Of course, we do have the CWC that meets from time to Sanvordem woman was murdered for jewellery: Cops THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI Jewellery theft has been revealed as the prime motive behind the murder of 55-year-old Rupa Parkar from Carmona, Savordem. The accused 40-year-old Hussain Khan, a resident of Cacora, and native of Dandeli, Karnataka, has admitted that he sold the stolen jewellery at Muthut Finance to pay off his pending loan and also informed police that he purchased a two-wheeler from the balance amount. Police informed that Rupa who was in the habit of taking lifts while travelling took a lift from Hussain on that fateful day. Hussain confessed that he killed Rupa by hitting her head with an iron lever kept in his vehicle. He later threw the body in the roadside bushes and fled from the scene with her jewellery. Police managed to zero down on the accused by examining CCTV footages from houses and buildings alongside the road where the body was found. The CCTV footage at Muthut Finance further confirmed the >Continued on P5 time and that will continue. “The new group is not, however, a collective decision-making body but will help me get the benefit of the vast experience of senior colleagues,” she asserted and said it will be notified very soon. Gandhi also announced that the Congress will launch a national Kanyakumari to Kashmir ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’ beginning October 2 on Gandhi Jayanti this year and everyone will participate in it. “All of us, young and old, will participate in it. Seniors will have to find ways to accommodate seniors like me in this, on how to easily participate in this yatra without having to run out of breath...,” she said in a lighter vein. >Continued on P5 SPORTS Ex-Australia all-rounder Andrew Symonds dies in car crash 12 Sankhali CHC first from Goa to get nat’l certification THE GOAN I NETWORK BICHOLIM The Sankhali Community Health Centre (CHC) has received the honours of being the first health facility in the State to receive the National Quality Certification under the NQAS (National Quality Assurance Standards) programme. Stating this, Sankhali PHC Health Officer Dr Uttam Desai said the national assessment of the CHC took place on March 28-29 by two external assessors from NHSRC. “The result of this assessment was received by the State on May 13 through a letter from the Union Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, New Delhi,” said Dr Desai. A ‘Core Quality Team’ was formed under the leadership of Dr Desai, who monitored the delivery of quality services to the patients through its nine departments. “All nine departments of the Sankhali CHC met the criteria for national quality certification, with an overall score of 87.86 per cent,” said IN GOOD HEALTH Dr Desai. “The two external assessors from NHSRC went in detail and interacted with the staff till 8 pm and reported under strict confidentiality same day.” “This National Quality Certification is valid for three years and the CHC will get financial incentives for the upliftment of hospital as well as the use of the NQAS logo,” said Dr Desai. Dr Desai said Accident & Emergency department, OPD, Labour Room, In Patient Department, Laboratory, Radiology, Pharmacy and Stores, auxiliary services and general administration were assessed. “Our services of STEMI (treatment of heart MI), Aadhaar Services, Diabetic >Continued on P5 Man who fought casteism is first layman saint of India Pope presides over canonisation in wheelchair PTI VATICAN CITY Devasahayam Pillai, who embraced Christianity in the 18th century, on Sunday, became the first Indian layman to be declared a saint by Pope Francis who used the impressive canonisation ceremony here to renew his appeal to world leaders that they may be “protagonists of peace and not of war.” Pope Francis, 85, canonised Blessed Devasahayam during the Canonisation Mass held in St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican attended by over 50,000 faithful from all over the world as well as government delegations honouring the 10 new saints. Devasahayam was recommended for the process of Beatification by the Vatican in 2004, at the request of the Kottar diocese, Tamil Nadu Bishops’ Council and the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India. A miracle attributed to Devasahayam was recognised by Pope Francis in 2014, clearing the path to his canonisation in 2022. It was the first canonisation ceremony at the Vatican in ROAD TO SAINTHOOD „„Devasahayam was born on April 23, 1712, as Neelakanta Pillai into a Hindu Nair family, at Nattalam in Kanyakumari district „„He was an official in the court of Travancore’s Maharaja Marthanda Varma when he was instructed into the Catholic faith by a over two years. Pope Francis, who has been complaining of strained ligaments in his right knee for months, used a wheelchair to preside over the ceremony. In his address, the Pope decried the many wars afflicting the world today and called on leaders to take responsibility. Sadly in the world distances grow and tensions and wars increase, the Pope said, expressing hope that the new saints may inspire solutions of togetherness and ways of dialogue. Especially in the hearts and Dutch naval commander „„His stand and preaching on equality among all castes aroused the hatred of the higher classes and he was arrested in 1749 „„After enduring increasing hardships, he received the crown of martyrdom when he was shot on 14 January 1752 minds of those who hold positions of great responsibility and are called to be protagonists of peace and not of war, the official Vatican News quoted the Pope as saying. Speaking during the General Audience on March 23, nearly a month after Russia launched a special military operation in Ukraine, the Pope had remarked on how the war in Ukraine shows that humanity had to shed a strange instinct for “self-destruction” and that buying >Continued on P5 Gurgaon records 48.1OC; red CM hails Savarkar for exposing West propaganda alert issued for Rajasthan Asserts history should be ‘fact-driven’ and not ‘opinion-driven’ AGENCIES NEW DELHI Gurgaon, Delhi’s neighbour, turned into a hot cauldron on Sunday, with mercury touching an unbearable high of 48.1 degree Celsius amid a punishing heatwave in the country’s northern region. Unfortunately, little to no relief is expected in the coming days as the weather office, earlier in the day, issued a warning of a severe heatwave for northwest India, including a Red alert for Rajasthan. “We have issued Red Alert for Rajasthan for an intense spell of the heatwave, and a Yellow alert for tomorrow. Similarly, we have issued an HEAT IS ON Orange alert for Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, eastern Madhya Pradesh and Delhi,” said a senior scientist at the Indian Meteorological Department or IMD, Naresh Kumar. Several pockets of the national capital also witnessed record temperatures with 49.2 degrees at Mungeshpur and 49.1 at Najafgarh. Recently, NASA shared an image which showed “heat islands” in Delhi at night. The image, taken shortly before local midnight on May 5, showed urban areas and agricultural lands northwest of Delhi. Cities are usually markedly warmer than the surrounding countryside due to human activities and the materials used in the built environment. The image clearly delineates these urban “heat islands.” Nighttime temperatures in Delhi and several smaller villages were above 95 degrees Fahrenheit (35 degrees Celsius), peaking at about 102 >Continued on P5 THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI hief Minister Pramod Sawant on Sunday said Vinayak Damodar Savarkar, the controversial proponent of ‘Hindutva’ political ideology, was the first to debunk Western propaganda painting India poor and backward through his writings. ‘Savarkar’s book to be circulated in Goa’ C KUMAON LIT FESTIVAL Speaking as chief guest at the concluding ceremony of the Kumaon Literary Festival (KLF), Sawant said propaganda has been thrust in the name of history by the West. He added that Savarkar, Historian Vikram Sampath and CM Pramod Sawant release a book on Savarkar. through his book ‘1857 ka Swatantra Samar’ challenged the might of the British Empire and wrote about the glorious patriotism and was the first to debunk the demeaning propaganda about India by the West. “They thought that we are the land of snake charmers, they thought that we were the PANAJI: The book on the plight of Goans and the need to liberate Goa ‘Gomantak’ written by Vinayak Damodar Savarkar will be re-printed and circulated in libraries across Goa, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said. “We will circulate the books in all libraries in Goa,” Sawant said, adding that along with ‘Gomantak’ his other book ‘Swatantrya Samar’ will also be translated and made available in English, Marathi and Konkani. country of the poor. But my question is, did they invade us because we are poor? The answer is definitely no,” Sawant said, adding that History should be ‘fact-driven’ rather than ‘opinion driven’. ‘Savarkar (Part 2): A Contested Legacy, 1924-1966’ the book written by Savarkar biog- rapher and historian Vikram Sampath, was released at the function earlier. According to Sampath, who also spoke, his research for the book on Savarkar has drawn from lakhs of documents sources from archives in London, Paris and Berlin and pieces together the story of a “this much maligned and misunderstood patriot and a brave son of mother India”. Sampath said, Savarkar was freedom fighter who suffered the worst of excesses and tortures in the Andaman prison. “(He was a) rationalist to the core, sensitive poet, writer, philosopher, theatre playwright, amateur historian, journalist, a man who wore so many different hats,” the author said. Sampath also referred to Savarkar being named an accused in Mahatma Gandhi’s murder saying he was honourably exonerated from the case in numerous courts and on numerous occasions. >Continued on P5