log on to thegoan.net @thegoaneveryday TUESDAY JULY 5, 2022 GOA 12 pages PRICE ` 6 PWD minister orders suspension of contractor’s licence for 2 years IN SHORT >> New Zuari bridge to be opened in Sept VASCO: After a joint inspection to review ongoing works of the new Zuari bridge, PWD Minister Nilesh Cabral on Monday said one four-lane section of the new bridge will be opened to traffic in September.  >> See pg 3 Covid claims 1 more life; 75 new cases PANAJI: One more person succumbed to the dreaded Covid virus even as the State reported 75 new cases in the last 24 hours. With a decline in cases, the positivity rate also saw a dip at 9.04 %. Archbishop-Emeritus Raul laid to rest OLD GOA: Archbishop-Emeritus Raul Nicolau Gonsalves was laid to rest at the Se Cathedral, with a large number of priests, nuns, religious and laity attending his funeral on Monday. His mortal remains were first kept for public to pay their respect at Bishop’s House in Altinho-Panaji.   >> See pg 3 13 dead as bus falls into gorge in HP KULLU: A private bus fell into a gorge in Himachal Pradesh’s Kullu district on Monday leaving 13 people, including some school children dead. Deputy Commissioner Ashutosh Garg said the incident occurred near Jangla village at around 8.30 am. Pope Francis denies resignation rumours ROME: Pope Francis has dismissed rumours he plans to resign anytime soon and said he hopes to visit Moscow and Kyiv after travelling to Canada later this month. He also said that the idea never entered his mind to announce a planned retirement. Sini Shetty crowned Miss India World MUMBAI: Sini Shetty from Karnataka was crowned Femina Miss India World 2022 at the grand finale. Rajasthan’s Rubal Shekhawat emerged as Femina Miss India 2022 first runner-up and Shinata Chauhan from UP was named Femina Miss India 2022 2nd runner-up. 6 killed in shooting at Chicago suburb CHICAGO: Six people were killed and at least 24 wounded after gunfire erupted at a Fourth of July parade in a Chicago suburb, authorities said. WEATHER >> Max: 25 C Min: 23C Humidity: 91% TIDES Low: High: 08:01 01:51 21:28 15:01 Facebook.com/thegoaneveryday 2 The Goan (Playstore) PANAJI MARGAO GOA VOLUME VIII, NO. 18 GOA GCZMA directs sealing of Mika Singh’s property in Anjuna 3 Instagram.com/thegoaneveryday RNI: GOAENG/2015/65729 INFO Essential vitamins for women over 40 and their food sources 8 SPORTS Root, Bairstow put England on course for ground-breaking win 12 Heavy downpour ‘sinks’ smart city n PLUSH EDC PATTO AREA TURNS INTO A LAKE n GMC SUBWAY FLOODED n SEVERAL CITY ROADS SUBMERGED n PANAJI BUS-STAND, BHATLEM, 18TH JUNE ROAD, MIRAMAR CIRCLE INUNDATED THE GOAN I NETWORK THE DAY THAT WAS PANAJI Heavy rains battered the Capital City on Monday and the plush EDC Patto area turned into a lake and several other roads were submerged in other parts of Panaji, much to the anger of people travelling in the city. The high-profile area of EDC Patto area witnessed kneedeep water, making it difficult for pedestrians, cars and two-wheelers to travel in the area. Areas like the Panaji busstand, Bhatlem, 18th June Road and Miramar Circle were also inundated. With the heavy rains, people preferred to move in cars and this only added to the traffic congestion, as queues of cars were seen at many streets and traffic police struggling to regulate the traffic. The GMC underpass went underwater yet again and what made the situation dangerous was the present of a high-tension power connection barely inches from the water level. Posts indicating that lives would be in danger if the live power connection were to come in contact with Normal life thrown out of gear in commercial capital Compound wall collapses on car in Mapusa, power dept staff seriously injured Water level Part of wall of PWD sewerage treatment plant collapses at Baina Vehicular traffic disrupted amid landslides at Anmod Ghat Paikul footbridge submerged as Ragada river rises sharply RAIN PAIN: A view of the Patto Plaza submerged after heavy rains hit the city on Monday. (Right) The water level just inches away from the high-voltage electricity panel at the Bambolim subway.  Pics: Narayan Pissurlenkar water went viral on social media and people were warned to avoid using the underpass. Near GMC, a lady doctor fell into a pit filled with water near a footpath under construction. She was, however, quickly removed from the pit. RGP MLA Viresh Borkar claimed the faulty design is the sole reason for accumulation of water in the subway at Bambolim. “It is now very difficult to find a solution. This subway was built twice but the prob- 3 parked buses gutted at Panaji KTC bus-stand 21-year-old Satara youth arrested THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI In a shocking incident, three passenger buses were discovered gutted in  a fire early Monday morning at the KTC bus-stand in  Panaji which the police following investigations concluded it was foul play and have arrested a 21-year-old youth from Satara. Two of the buses belonged to the State-owned KTC while the third was a private bus, according to the complaint filed by the KTC bus depot manager Bhikaji Phadte. Phadte has pegged the damages at an approximate Rs 64 lakhs and has said that the incident occurred between midnight and 3 am on Monday. Satara native Omkar Shilevant (21) who was apprehended from around the KTC bus-stand by the police was by Monday evening placed under arrest. Police said, Shilevant has Water levels at Valvati river in Bicholim rises to five-and-half metres The mangled remains of a bus that was gutted in fire at the Panaji KTC bus-stand.  Narayan Pissurlenkar admitted to the crime and that they have booked him under section 435 of the Indian Penal Code which deals with punishment for mischief by fire or explosive substance intended to cause monetary damage.  The accused has also been charged with section 3 of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act. Police sub-inspector, Mayur Panshikar is investigating the case which is supervised by Police Inspector Nikhil Palekar, DySP Sudesh Naik and SP Shobit Saxena. lem remains the same. There was also water logging while leaving the Atal Setu,” said Borkar. Aldona Congress MLA Carlos Ferreira ridiculed authorities in Panaji for their lack of preparedness. “Panaji is getting flooded and you call it a Smart City? Why are we wasting so much money on smart cities,” asked Ferreira. Meanwhile, with several heavy spells of rain in last fortnight, Goa’s rain deficit has been almost wiped out. Assembly session duration after BAC meeting, says Tawadkar P’yat elections: Govt moves apex court, challenges HC order THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI Goa Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar has said that the final decision on whether the monsoon session slated to begin from July 11 is to be curtailed or not will be taken only after the meeting of the Business Advisory Committee (BAC) later this week. Tawadkar said there was no decision taken yet to change the session’s duration adding that the BAC meeting likely to be held on Thursday will have to deliberate the issue. Tawadkar  heads the BAC which also has the Chief Minister, Pramod Sawant, Opposition Leader Michael Lobo, the Deputy Speaker (currently vacant), Power Minister Ramkrishna (Sudin) Dhavlikar of the MGP, Venzy Viegas of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Vijai Sardesai of the Goa Forward Party (GFP) and Viresh Borkar of the Revolutionary Goans Party (RGP). Tawadkar said, the >Continued on P5 Goa was almost 50 per cent rain deficit a fortnight ago. The average seasonal rain received in Goa till 5.30 pm on Monday was just 16 mm less than the normal rain received at this point in time. The State received average THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI The Goa government on Monday filed a special leave petition before the Supreme Court challenging orders of the Bombay High Court at Goa which had rapped the State government for failing to hold panchayat elections on time and directed that the elections be completed within 45 days.  The SLP came after the High Court also rejected a request from the State government to allow another 30 days to complete the election process citing the upcoming monsoon session of the Goa Legislative Assembly.  On Sunday, BJP state president Sadanand Shet Tanavade revealed that the State government would approach the Supreme Court against the High Court order asking the government to hold the panchayat elections within 45 days. “I am of the opinion that The SLP came after HC had rejected a request from the State to allow another 30 days to complete the election process citing the upcoming monsoon session of the Goa Legislative Assembly  elections should be held only after reservation. There should be no injustice done to OBCs,” Tanavade had said. Before the High Court the State government contended that the elections could not be held on account of the monsoons and later contended that it would like the elections to be held only in September account of the monsoon session of the legislative assembly, both reasons were >Continued on P5 Main roads in Curchorem, Cacora inundated  ( Reports On PG 3 ) 52.8 mm rain in the last 24 hours. Sanguem received very heavy rain of 120 mm followed by Margao-80 and Valpoi 70 mm. IMD has warned that the rains will intensify further for the next two days and has issued orange alert till July 6. Smooth sailing for Shinde in confidence vote PTI MUMBAI Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday comfortably won a crucial confidence vote in the state Assembly, cementing his grip on power five days after assuming office with the BJP support following a revolt in the Shiv Sena. In his maiden speech in the Assembly after winning the trust vote, an emotional Shinde, without naming the Shiv Sena, said he had been “suppressed” for a long time and spoke about how he almost became Chief Minister of the erstwhile Sena-NCP-Congress alliance government. He said the rebellion led by him last month was a fallout of the “unfair treatment” meted out to him, an apparent reference to his decades old association with the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena. In the 288-member Assembly, 164 MLAs voted for the motion of confidence, way above the simple majority mark of 144, while 99 voted against it on the last day of the two-day special session. Goa ranked as leader among barred States in start-up ecosystem Hotels, cafesGUIDELINES from levying service charge CCPA AS COMPLAINTS POUR IN FROM CONSUMERS… PTI NEW DELHI Goa has been ranked as a leader in developing start-up ecosystem for budding entrepreneurs among smaller States having population of less than one crore, according to the ranking of States and Union territories by the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT). Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Arunachal are also in the leaders category. Gujarat and Karnataka have been ranked as the best performers while Meghalaya has been adjudged as the best performer among smaller States. Goa, however, could not Gujarat and Karnataka have been ranked as the best performers while Meghalaya has been adjudged as the best performer among smaller States find a place in the leaders across 7 reform areas list where States were judged on 26 action points ranging from institutional support, fostering innovation and entrepreneurship, access to market, incubation support, funding support, mentorship support to capacity building of enablers. The exercise is aimed at supporting States and Union territories (UTs) in developing their start-up ecosystem and learning from each other’s best practices. A total of 24 states and 7 UTs participated in the exercise, which ranked them under five categories -- best performers, top performers, leaders, aspiring leaders and emerging start-up ecosystems. Four States of West Bengal, Sikkim, Haryana and Jharkhand and UT Lakshadweep did not participate in the exercise. The States and UTs were also ranked under these five categories based on the population of less than one crore. Kerala, Maharashtra, Odisha, Telangana and Jammu and Kashmir were categorised as the top performers. PTI NEW DELHI mid rising consumer complaints, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) on Monday barred hotels and restaurants from levying service charge automatically or by default in food bills and allowed customers to file complaints in case of violation. The CCPA has issued guidelines for preventing unfair trade practices and violation of consumer rights with regard to levying of service charge. “No hotels or restaurants shall add service charge automatically or by default in the bill,” CCPA Chief Commissioner said in the guideline. Restaurants and hotels generally levy a service charge of 10 A „„No hotels or restaurants shall add service charge automatically or by default in the bill „„There should not be any collection of service charge by any other name „„No hotel or restaurant can force a consumer to pay service charge „„Restaurants have to clearly inform consumers that service charge is voluntary, optional and at consumer’s discretion „„Consumers can lodge complaints on National Consumer Helpline, through NCH mobile app or e-Daakhil portal per cent on the food bill. The guidelines said there should not be any collection of service charge by any other name. No hotel or restaurant can force a consumer to pay service charge. They have to clearly inform the consumer that service charge is voluntary, optional and at consumer’s discretion. Reacting to the guidelines, Gurbaxish Singh Kohli, vice president, Federation of Hotel and Restaurant Associations of India (FHRAI), told PTI that it will study the order as it will have “far reaching consequences” and approach the government thereafter, adding that the sector should not be “singled out”. “If you want to make rules and regulations, you please make a law and make all the people also follow the law,” Kohli said. “We just got the order. We will be studying it in the next few days. We will approach the government obviously because we will tell them just don’t single us out. Please ensure that other people also don’’t do it. Don’t single us out,” he added. The guidelines further said “no restriction on entry or provision of services based on collection of service charge shall be imposed on consumers”. The service charge cannot be collected by adding it along with the food bill and levying GST on the total amount. If any consumer finds that a hotel or restaurant is levying service charge in violation of the guidelines, s/he can request the concerned establishment to remove it from the bill amount. The consumers can also lodge a complaint on the National Consumer Helpline (NCH), which works as an alternate dispute redressal mechanism at the pre-litigation level, by calling 1915 or through the NCH mobile app.