log on to thegoan.net @thegoaneveryday Facebook.com/thegoaneveryday The Goan (Playstore) Instagram.com/thegoaneveryday >P14 FRIDAY DECEMBER 2, 2022 IN SHORT >> Police to comply with court order on night parties: IGP Bishnoi PANAJI: Goa police will comply with the court order in letter and spirit as regards night parties in the coastal belt, asserted IGP Omvir Singh Bishnoi. He also informed that DGP Jaspal Singh had convened a special meeting to sensitise officials with regards other parties which will be held during the peak period of tourist season in the State. Anganwadis in State get a digital uplift PANAJI: Carrying forward the vision of the government to introduce Digital Anganwadis in the State, the Department of Women and Child Development has launched this first-ever initiative in the country on December 1, as 125 centres get set to become digitally enabled. >> See pg 3 Light rain likely on December 2 & 3 PANAJI: Light rains and thundershowers are likely to occur at isolated places across Goa on December 2nd and 3rd, IMD has predicted. “With easterly winds bringing moisture in mid-troposphere over Goa, light rain and thundershowers are very likely. Gradual rise in minimum temperature by around 2°C is also likely during coming 3 days,” IMD forecast said. Jharkhand teenager held with 6 kg ganja PANAJI: ANC sleuths arrested a teenager from Jharkhand for allegedly smuggling drugs into Goa. Deputy Superintendent of Police Nerlon Albuquerque said the 19-year-old Muskan Karuwa was caught red-handed in possession of 6kgs of ganja worth Rs 6 lakh in a raid near Karmali Railway Station. 60% vote in Phase-I of Gujarat polls AHMEDABAD: A moderate voter turnout of 60.23 per cent was recorded in the first phase of the Gujarat Assembly elections covering 89 seats across 19 districts of Saurashtra-Kutch and southern regions of the state on Thursday with the polling ending on by and large peaceful note, officials said. WEATHER >> Max: Min: Humidity: TIDES 34 C 21 C 91% Low: 12.49 High: 06.01 ---19.12 14 pages PRICE ` 8 PANAJI MARGAO GOA VOLUME VIII, NO. 165 Record-breaking England puts Pakistan to the sword in first Test RNI: GOAENG/2015/65729 Goa source destination for sex trafficking: Central govt survey SAYS TOURISM INDUSTRY PLAYS BIG ROLE IN TRAFFICKING WOMEN THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI A nationwide survey on sex trafficking, completed three years ago and published by the Ministry of Women & Child Development only this week in its website, describes Goa as a source destination.  A 200-odd pages report of data collected through ground study, government, social workers, and media reports, has put forth Goa as a destination State while also mentioning that there is enough evidence to suggest that it is a source State as well.  Tourism is the main industry that the report blames for the trafficking of women as well as children for sex trade, and other illicit trades.  “In the context of Goa, the tourism industry plays a very important role in trafficking. The supplementary businesses such as massage parlours, KEY SURVEY OBSERVATIONS „„Trafficked victims are lured by agents (and sometimes by known persons like boyfriends) on the false pretexts of marriage, employment in beauty parlours, massage parlours etc „„The ‘recruitment’ also happens via social media and advertisements „„Within Goa, motorcycle pilots and fixed taxis are used as modes of transportation „„Agents use motorcycle pilots to contact and follow vehicles when they see that their drivers or number plates are those of an outside state in order to strike deals for commercial sex „„The trafficked girls are moved within Goa to attend customers via fixed taxis  „„Goa is the money-making destination for agents who exploit women for commercial sexual activities „„Most women and girls are trafficked from Maharashtra followed by West Bengal, Delhi and Goa for sex trade „„Among foreign nationals, the highest numbers of cases are from Bangladesh, followed by Nepal, Uzbekistan, Thailand, Kyrgyzstan, Turkmenistan, Russia, Israel and Ukraine pubs, tattoo parlours, etc associated with tourism also become part of the trafficking chain. As documented, one of the reasons for the increase of sex trafficking of young girls and women has increased because of demand from the darker side of the tourism industry,” the report reads.  The study was carried out by the Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai, and partially funded by the central government.  Russian tourists shift base from Goa to Sindhudurg COMPLAIN OF DIRTY & NOISY BEACHES, BUSY & DUSTY ROADS ALONG THE COAST IN PERNEM THE GOAN I NETWORK PERNEM Goa may be hailed for its sun, sea and sand, but some parts of the Pernem coastline are also being criticised for stink, noise, congestion and dust, so much so that hordes of Russian tourists are now arriving in Goa but shifting base to beaches across Sindhudurg in neighbouring Maharashtra. Many Russian tourists have been seen taking the ferries from Keri to Terekhol to proceed to Sindhudurg or are riding two-wheelers from Pernem to the neighbouring Konkan region via the Aronda-Kiran Pani bridge. “The coastal areas in Maharashtra are cleaner, noise-free and less congested, with fewer concrete structures. There are also many tourist spots in Maharashtra to visit,” explained a Russian tourist, when local reporters interacted with some of these Russian tourists for their decision to move to A group of tourists from Russia entering a Keri-Terekhol ferry boat.  Nivrutti Shirodkar beaches in Sindhudurg. Other Russian tourists expressed disappointment over poor facilities at the beaches in Morjim, Ashwem, Mandrem, Harmal and Keri. When contacted, locals admitted to what Russians saud. “There are no facilities at these beaches, except for traffic jams and noise pollution. The roads are all dug up and there is lot of dust everywhere. Which is why, these tourists prefer to shift to coastal areas in Maharashtra,” said a local. Another local said the beaches in Pernem do not provide any infrastructure facilities like changing rooms, clean washrooms, drinking water facility, parking etc. “There are no starred hotels in Morjim, Ashwem, Mandrem, Harmal or Keri-Terekhol and therefore high-end tourists do not prefer to stay at these places,” said the local. State’s Nov GST collection 14% less than last year THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI In worrying signs indicative of a possible economic slowdown, the GST revenue collection for the month of November this year recorded a significant 14 per cent drop compared to the same month last year. According to government released figures, GST collection in November 2022 was Rs 447 crore. It was Rs 518 crore last year, largely fuelled by the brief boom in tourist arrivals in the State following the first two lockdowns induced by the pandemic were lifted. The Rs 447 crore GST collections this November, however, are marginally higher than the Rs 420 crore aggregate GST collections in October 2022. Interestingly, GST collections nationwide had increased in November this year by an average 11% year-onyear, the numbers released by the Central government said. Revenues from import of goods were 20% higher while domestic transactions, including import of services, yielded 8% higher taxes than November 2021. ‘Young boys prone to being trafficked’ PANAJI: The report has observed that young boys from the shelter homes get prone to risky situations of being trafficked. The reason is that these children are left on their own without any support.  The survey documented different forms of child labour including forced begging, work in hotels and domestic work which is the common method used by the perpetrators to traffic the victims.  Further, the study comments upon the Baina brothel demolition and its >Continued on P5 Drive against drunken driving; cops book 326 cases against minors THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI Amid a shortage of breath analysers, the Goa Traffic Police has once again undertaken a special drive against drunken driving. The move comes against the backdrop of an increase in accidents resulting in fatalities and grievous injuries. For the current year till date, the Traffic Department has booked 1236 violations of drunken driving/riding and 326 violations of underage driving/riding. Superintendent of Police (Traffic) Bossuet Silva, at a press conference on Thursday, said, the department has launched a special drive against drunken driving/riding and underage driving/riding in a bid to prevent Motor Vehicle accidents and fatalities on Goan roads. “The punishment for drunken driving for the first offense is imprisonment for a term which may extend up to a period of six months or with a fine of Rs 10,000 or with The government is contemplating to not issue driving license to the juvenile for the offense in the Cortalim case while the license of car, involved in the accident, is absolutely to be suspended both and for the second or subsequent offense with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years or with a fine of Rs 15,000 or with both,” Silva, who addressed the media along with DySP (North Traffic) Siddhant Shirodkar said. The officers state that the driving license of a violator is suspended for a period of three months under the Motor Vehicles Act. For underage driving, a fine of amount of Rs 5000 is imposed on the driver/rider and an additional fine of Rs 5000 is imposed on the owner for allowing unauthorized persons to drive/ride his/her >Continued on P5 MOROCCO CRUISES INTO KNOCKOUTS ARGENTINA DEFEATS POLAND, NOW MEETS AUSTRALIA An impassioned Moroccan team clinched a spot in the last 16 of the World Cup for the first time since 1986 by defeating the alreadyeliminated Canadians 2-1 Argentina found their best performance of the World Cup so far as they defeated Poland 2-0, a result that sealed them top spot and a last 16 meeting with Australia Moroccan players celebrate after their 2-1 win against Canada on Thursday. MEXICO BEATS SAUDI, BUT BOTH TEAMS OUSTED Mexico scored twice in five second-half minutes in a thrilling effort to stay in the World Cup, beating Saudi 2-1 but missing out on the last 16 on goal difference CROATIA SENDS BELGIUM PACKING Croatia reached the last 16 of the World Cup after a 0-0 draw with Belgium that ensured the last hurrah of Belgian ‘golden generation’ ended in a dismal group-stage exit >>Reports on page 11 ‘Totally apologise’, but for me the film is still ‘vulgar’: Lapid CM: Goa in middle PTI NEW DELHI ffering a ‘total apology’ if his remarks on ‘The Kashmir Files’ had been misinterpreted, Israeli filmmaker Nadav Lapid has said his aim was not to insult the Kashmiri Pandit community or those who had suffered. Lapid, who was the international jury chair at the recent International Film Festival of India (IFFI) and stirred massive controversy by terming the Vivek Agnihotri film ‘vulgar’ and a ‘propaganda’, reiterated that he only criticised the film for its “series of cinematic manipulations”. “I didn’t want to insult anyone. My aim was never to insult the people or their O relatives, who have suffered. I totally apologise if that’s the way they interpreted it,” Lapid, who has left the country since his remarks at the closing ceremony of the 53rd edition of the festival in Goa this week, told news channel on Wednesday night. KASHMIR FILES CONTROVERSY “But at the same time, whatever I said and I said clearly that for me and my fellow jury members, it was and it is a vulgar propaganda movie that didn’t have a place and was inappropriate for such a prestigious competitive section. I can repeat it again and again,” he added. ISRAELI FILMMAKER CLEARS THE AIR „„I didn’t want to insult anyone. My aim was never to insult the people or their relatives, who have suffered „„I totally apologise if that’s the way they interpreted it „„But at the same time, whatever I said and I said clearly that for me and my fellow jury members, it was and it is a vulgar propaganda movie that didn’t have a place „„I have enormous respect for the tragedy, victims, survivors and for whoever suffers there. It “The Kashmir Files”, written and directed by Vivek Agnihotri, centres on the exodus of Kashmiri Pandits during militancy in the early 1990s. It was screened at the festival on November 22 under the Indian Panorama section. The acclaimed director, known for his anti-establishment stance, said his remarks were neither a statement on the political situation in Kashmir nor a denial of the tragedy. (my remarks) was not at all about this „„I’ll repeat these words 10,000 times if I have to say that I was not talking about the political issue, historical equation, or disrespecting the tragedy that happened in Kashmir “I have enormous respect for the tragedy, victims, survivors and for whoever suffers there. It (my remarks) was not at all about this. I’ll repeat these words 10,000 times if I have to say that I was not talking about the political issue, historical equation, or disrespecting the tragedy that happened in Kashmir,” he said. “I was talking about the movie and that such serious topics deserve, in my opinion, a serious film... ,” he added. Lapid also dismissed claims made by IFFI jury member Sudipto Sen, who had said the comments on Agnihotri’s directorial were the Israeli director’s “personal opinion”. “It wasn’t a personal opinion at all,” Lapid countered. “We all thought that the movie used a series of manipulation, vulgar, violence because it was supposed to transmit a message that can cause hostility, violence and hate in the environment,” he added. of Start-up boom THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Thursday claimed that there is a start-up boom in the State with as many as 164 Start-ups registered with the government’s Information Technology (IT) department. He credited the development to the incentives scheme of his government even as he said that Rs 3.28 crore in incentives had already been sanctioned under the Startup Policy. In addition, Rs 85 lakh have been sanctioned for IT companies under IT Policy, he added. As of date 164 Start-ups were registered with the State IT department and 15 IT companies have been certified so far. Rs 3.28 crore in incentives have already been sanctioned under the Policy Sawant said, of the Rs 3.28 crore sanctioned, Rs 2.45 crore had already been disbursed to the eligible beneficiary Startups. Similarly, of the Rs 85 lakh sanctioned Rs 39.34 lakh were >Continued on P5