log on to thegoan.net @thegoaneveryday SUNDAY AUGUST 14, 2022 Facebook.com/thegoaneveryday 14 pages PRICE ` 8 PANAJI MARGAO GOA VOLUME VIII, NO. 58 MOVIES »PAGE 14 WEEKEND »PAGE 12 Huma gets candid about Maharani Season 2 & how it gave her career a new lease of life People from varied groups share their definition of freedom and why it is important Owning her throne Against all odds: Smrithi talks about her Bollywood debut MAGAZINE MAGAZ »PAGE 9 Who is to blame for drink & drive accidents? Order of Legal Succession under Uniform Civil Code »PAGE 10 Home remedies for longer, thicker eyelashes naturally Organ donation: A 2nd chance for life is in your hands »PAGE 11 Tiatr Review Nimne Zague Car Review All New Hyundai Tucson: Leader of the pack? IN SHORT >> Old Mandovi bridge shut for 6 hrs today PANAJI: The Old Mandovi bridge will be closed for vehicular traffic on Sunday from 7 am to 1 pm for around 6 hours on account of maintenance work.  >> See pg 5 Goa’s positivity rate increases to 13.2% PANAJI: The State on Saturday recorded a positivity rate of 13.2 per cent with 158 new cases testing positive from 1199 samples that were tested in the last 24 hours. With 144 recoveries, the active caseload in the State stands at 947. HP passes bill against mass conversion SHIMLA: The Himachal Pradesh Assembly passed a bill on Saturday forbidding ‘mass conversion’ and enhancing the maximum punishment to 10 years imprisonment in its 2019 law against any change of religion through force or allurement. Lanka allows China spy ship to dock COLOMBO: The Sri Lankan government has allowed a high-tech Chinese research ship to dock at the southern port of Hambantota on August 16, official sources here said on Saturday. WEATHER >> Max: 28 C Min: 22 C Humidity: 91% TIDES Low: High: 11.31 06.51 ---17.00 The Goan (Playstore) Instagram.com/thegoaneveryday RNI: GOAENG/2015/65729 Filmi azadi ka jashn SPORTS »PAGE 8 Time to focus on the freedoms we can give ourselves What does freedom mean? WEEKEND »PAGE 13 Man City, Arsenal maintain perfect Premier League start Sexual freedom for our new India Unvaccinated Djokovic pulls out of Cincinnati tournament bizmen along Sarpanchas, deputies to Don’t harassCM to panchas coastal belt, be elected on Aug 22 SAYS FOCUS ON ZERO CORRUPTION, FAST GOVERNANCE BJP REVISES CLAIMS OF POWER FROM 150 TO 128 P’YATS THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI On Friday post counting, both Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and his Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) State president, Sadanand Shet Tanavade professed victory in the panchayat elections and claimed its cadres and supporters will govern in as many as 140-150 of the 186 local self-governing bodies at the village level. On Saturday, there was a rethink. The party is now officially claiming that it has won 128 of the 186 panchayats. The claim was made by the party through a ‘thank you’ post from its official handle on micro-blogging site Twitter. “When it comes to devel- Lobbying starts to form p’yats in Bardez MAPUSA: With the panchayat election results done and dusted, the focus has now shifted in cobbling up the numbers and foisting a group favourable to the local MLA in the panchayats. While the picture is clear in several panchayats where panels floated by the MLAs have got a clear majority there are many panchayats where the Independents have won and the race is now on to woo these panch members and form a group.  >> See pg 3 opment & good governance, people of Goa trust the BJP. Thank you Goans for your continued faith & support,” the party posted on its official @BJP4Goa Twitter handle. A poster, claiming 128 of 186 panchayats chose the BJP and congratulating all the winning candidates was also posted alongside the message. The poster had pictures of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP national president on the top and those of Sawant and Tanavade at the bottom. The veracity of the claims A DAY AFTER RESULTS… Tawadkar swings into action, now controls 4 of 6 p’yats will be proved only on August 22 when all the 186 panchayats have been convened to elect the sarpanchas and deputy sarpanchas by an order issued by Director of Panchayats Siddhi Halarnkar. The August 10 elections to 186 panchayats, results of which were declared on Friday, were not fought on party lines. However, as has been the practice for decades, politicians (ministers and MLAs) and political parties claim victories by showcasing allegiance of the winners using a surrogate, semi-formal methodology. On Friday soon after results were declared, Sawant >Continued on P5 THE GOAN I NETWORK MARGAO A day after the election of new Panchayat members, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Saturday sent out a stern message to the newly-elected members that they should not seek revenge and stop NOCs for business establishments, more so along the coastal belt. Sawant also did not agree to a suggestion that the Panchayat bodies in Goa are in need of additional powers, even going to the extent of saying the Panchayat has enough powers, which has been in the past, used even to stop a toilet proposed by the government. Speaking to the media at the Ravindra Bhavan, Margao on the side-lines of twoday AUGUSTCON 2022 on Ayurveda on Saturday, he said the newly-elected panchas MARGAO: Saying that BJP has also won in many Panchayats in Salcete, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Saturday said the election of Sarpanchas and deputies will show how many Panchayat bodies are aligned to the ruling party. When the media sought to know whether Panchayats in Salcete also figure in the list of 150 that the BJP has won, Chief Minister said “after the election of Sarpanchas and deputies, you will realize how many of the Panchayats in Salcete are with the BJP”. He added: “The newly-elected Sarpanchas, deputies and members will on their own tell that they are with the BJP and the government”. should focus on zero corruption and fast governance to usher in fast track development of the villages and the State. While welcoming the new- ly-elected members and hoping they will cooperate with the government, the Chief Minister said the new >Continued on P5 JAI HIND! TAKES NEWLY ELECTED PANCHAS TO CM IN SHOW OF STRENGTH, ISIDORE FOLLOWS SUIT THE GOAN I NETWORK CANACONA In a swift turn of events, a number of newly elected panchas changed camps and enabled Speaker and Canacona MLA Ramesh Tawadkar to take control of four of the six panchayats in Canacona constituency. Incidentally, Tawadkar and arch rival and former MLA Isidore Fernandes lost no time in taking their elected panchas to meet Chief Minister Pramod Sawant in a show of political one-upmanship. As results were declared on Friday evening, the panels floated by Tawadkar failed to take control of Shrishthal, Gaondongrim, Poinguinim and Loliem-Polem, but achieved success in Agonda and Khotigao. Hectic talks were then underway to rope in a number of newly-elected panchas to support Tawadkar. When his panels managed to secure majority in Shrishthal and Poinguinim, Tawadkar took the panels from the four panchayats as well as four panchas from Gaondongrim panchayat to meet Sawant and BJP ON PAGE 3 KHAUNTE TAKES CONTROL OF 2 P’YATS, LOSES 1 IN PORVORIM BJP TO CONTROL ALL 9 P’YATS IN PERNEM CONSTITUENCY: ARLEKAR FERNANDES CRIES FOUL OVER REJECTED BALLOTS State President Sadanand Tanawade in the capital city. A short while later, Fernandes also took his winning panels from Loliem-Polem and Gaondongrim panchayats to meet Sawant and Tanavade. According to sources in the Fernandes camp, Tawadkar poached two of the newly elected panchas of Poinguinim who had defeated Tawadkar’s candidates. “As the united opposition (backed by Fernandes), we had 6 of our members elected in Poiguinim, but two were lured away under the pretext of promoting development with BJP’s blessings,” said a source. “However, we are also close to the BJP government and our group can also bring in development works. We are now trying to get back at least one panch to our group and form the panchayat on August 22,” informed the source. “We have four panchas in Poinguinim, three each in Khotigao and Agonda, and two in Shristhal. At least two of the panchayats where the Speaker paraded the winning panch members in majority are likely to face a revolt during the election of sarpanchas,” added the source. Similarly in Agonda, Fernandes claims five of his candidates have won but two switched sides to support Tawadkar. “Two of the Mahila Block Presidents Vinda Satarkar (BJP) and Ursula Da Costa (Congress) were defeated by my panel and we narrowly missed defeating a senior BJP (South) Vice-president Govind Naik in Poinguinim Panchayat,” Fernandes asserted. At Khola, though four of the nine panchas elected are backed by Quepem MLA Altone D’Costa, seven of the eight panchas were taken by ex-Dy CM Chandrakant (Babu) Kavlekar to meet the chief minister. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant waves the Tricolour during the Tiranga Yatra celebrations in Panaji on Saturday.   Narayan Pissurlenkar CM sets off Tiranga Yatra celebrations THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Saturday led the first of the State-level ‘Tiranga Yatra’ when he flagged it off from the flag post opposite the Old Secretariat in the capital city -- where the Tricolour was hoisted for the first time after Goa’s liberation from Portuguese rule. The Tiranga Yatra wound its way from the old Secretariat to the historic Azad Maidan in which a few hundred citizens, including school children enthusiastically participated. Cabinet minister, Atanasio (Babush) Monserrate, Rohan Khaunte and Nilkhant Halarnkar, BJP State president Sadanand Shet Tanavade and other BJP leaders also partic- Rushdie put on ventilator; may lose an eye, liver damaged PTI NEW YORK alman Rushdie was on a ventilator with damaged liver and may lose an eye after the Mumbai-born controversial author was stabbed in the neck and abdomen by a man at a speaking event in New York state, sending shockwaves across the literary world. “The news is not good,” the 75-year-old writer’s agent, Andrew Wylie said after a profusely bleeding Rushdie was airlifted from a field adjacent to the venue in Western New York on Friday to a hospital in northwestern Pennsylvania and underwent surgery for several hours. Rushdie, who faced Islamist death threats for years after Time will tell how many Salcete p’yats BJP will control: Sawant Writers, publishers shocked, stress on upholding freedom of speech S NEW YORK: Shocked over the attack on Salman Rushdie, the literary world on Saturday spoke in unison against the violence and stressed upholding freedom of speech while wishing a speedy recovery to the Booker Prize-winning author. Geetanjali Shree, the first Indian to join the esteemed club of International Booker-winning authors, described the attack on Rushdie as an “inexcusable and inhuman” act. writing “The Satanic Verses”, was stabbed by a 24-year-old New Jersey resident identified as Hadi Matar on stage while he was being introduced at a literary event of the Chautauqua Institution in Western New York. “Salman will likely lose one eye; the nerves in his arm were severed; and his liver was stabbed and damaged,” Wylie told The New York Times. Rushdie, who won the Booker Prize for his novel “Midnight’s Children”, is still unable to speak, he said. The suspect was from Fairview, New Jersey, State Police Troop Commander Major Eugene J Staniszewski said in a Friday evening news conference. Police are working with the FBI and local authorities to determine the motive. A preliminary review of Matar’s social media accounts by law enforcement showed him to be sympathetic to Shia extremism and the causes of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, a law enforcement person with direct knowledge of the investigation told NBC News. Authorities are also working to obtain search warrants for several items found at the scene, including a backpack and electronic devices, Staniszewski said. Replying to a question about the attacker’s nationality, Staniszewski said, “I don’’t know yet.” Authorities believe the suspect was alone but are investigating “to make sure that was the case,” Staniszewski said, adding that authorities will determine “appropriate charges” as the investigation continues. Rushdie’s fourth book The Satanic Verses in 1988 forced him into hiding for nine years. The late Iranian leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini accused Rushdie of blasphemy over the book and in 1989 issued a fatwa against him. ipated. Sawant who spoke on the occasion said: “I salute all the Freedom Fighters who fought for the Independence of India. I thank all those who participated in the Tiranga Yatra.” Those who contributed in the freedom struggle of Goa will be felicitated on Independence Day, he said at the march. He also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has ushered a new era of development in the country. Tanavade appealed to Goans to bring the national flag home as the nation celebrates its 75th year of Independence. “Invoke the feeling of patriotism in the people’s hearts and promote awareness about the Indian National Flag,” he said. Setback for Sunak, key aide switches sides PTI LONDON A senior Cabinet minister who was backing Rishi Sunak in the UK PM contest on Saturday became the first high-profile figure to switch sides to the opposing camp of Foreign Secretary Liz Truss. Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Sir Robert Buckland said he now believes Truss is the “right person to take the country forward” and that her plans are the best shot for the UK to reach its potential as a “high-growth, high-productivity economy”. The minister said he initially backed Sunak because he felt, during the initial rounds where Conservative Party MPs decided on the final two candidates, the former Chancellor was “embodying what we needed”. “As the campaign has moved on, and as I have listened carefully to both candidates, I have thought deeply about the issues that move me and what I want to see the next Prime Minister doing,” writes Buckland. “Changing your mind on an issue like this is not an easy thing to do, but I have decided that Liz Truss is the right person to take the country forward,” he said. The defection comes on the back of surveys that show Truss in a clear lead over her British Indian contender in the race to succeed Johnson.