log on to thegoan.net @thegoaneveryday MONDAY JANUARY 2, 2023 GOA Goa unemployment rate still higher than national average PANAJI: At 9.9 per cent, Goa’s unemployment rate continued to be higher than national average which stands at 8.3 %, as per statistics released by Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy. India’s unemployment rate rose to 8.30% in December, the highest in 16 months, from 8.00% in the previous month, as per the data. The Goan (Playstore) 12 pages PRICE ` 8 PANAJI MARGAO GOA VOLUME VIII, NO. 195 Is Margao MLA gearing up to hand over political baton to son Yogiraj? IN SHORT >> Facebook.com/thegoaneveryday 2 BIZ PM wants India to export mobile phones worth of Rs 1L cr in 2023 8 Instagram.com/thegoaneveryday RNI: GOAENG/2015/65729 INFO Make-up tips that will save you money 10 SPORTS BCCI review: No imminent threat to Rohit’s captaincy 12 Goa’s coastal belt wakes up to terrible hangover of New Year eve parties  TOURISTS HAVE A BALL ON BEACHES  EMPTY, BROKEN BEER BOTTLES, PLASTIC FOUND STREWN  SEVERAL FIST-FIGHTS REPORTED  MAJOR ROADS BLOCKED Police arrest 13 for mobile phone thefts MAPUSA: It’s raining mobiles as two police stations along the coast in Bardez nabbed 13 persons who allegedly stole mobile handsets. While Calangute Police arrested 12 persons and recovered 55 mobile phones worth Rs 15 lakh, Anjuna Police arrested one person and recovered nine cell phones.  >> See pg 3 Tender for Purple Fest rigged: Oppn PANAJI: Congress and Goa Forward Party have alleged that the tender for event management of Purple fest to be held in Panaji from January 6 to 8 is rigged. The date for opening of the bids for the tender floated for selection of Event Management agency is January 2. New bandharas, wells to promote farming PANAJI: Highlighting the need for promoting agriculture in the State, Minister for Co-operation & Water Resources Subhash Shirodkar announced that five new bandharas and 20 wells in Sanguem, Quepem taluka and other nearby areas will be built through Water Resources Department which would help farmers and increase agricultural activities in the area. Varca panchayat goes digital MARGAO: The Varca village Panchayat ushered the New Year by launching a digital platform offering several citizen and business services for the well-being of the citizens of Varca. The services include Birth/ Death Certificates, Form 1 & XIV, Residence Certificates, EShram Card, Aadhar Card changes, PAN Card, Insurance Services and many more.  >> See pg 5 WEATHER >> Max: Min: Humidity: TIDES 33 C 22 C 87% Low: 07.49 19.35 High: 01.57 13.11 THE AFTERMATH: 1. Tourists gulping beer on the beach in violation of laws. 2. Desi tourists sleeping overnight on the Calangute beach after partying on New Year’s Eve. 3. Empty liquor bottles and plastic dumped on the Calangute beach. (More photos on page 3) Vincent Braganza & Narayan Pissurlenkar THE GOAN I NETWORK MAPUSA It was yesterday once more at beaches across the State. Domestic tourists with beer bottles in hand were roaming freely on streets and on the beaches swinging to the music beats belted by the shacks and hotels on the New Year’s Eve, as it was virtually free for all. Along the Calangute-Baga beach belt, a sea of humanity choked all major roads on the beach side making it difficult to traverse on these roads on December 31. Several fist-fights between groups of tourists were also reported from the beachside. As it happens every year, the New Year’s Eve party spilled in the open and converted the entire beach belt into one big garbage dump. Garbage of all kinds and in Erratic fireworks burn car at dance venue MAPUSA: Erratic fireworks allegedly set a Maruti Suzuki Vitara Brezza car on fire which was virtually reduced to ashes in the parking lot of a popular open air venue in Bardez on Saturday midnight. The occupants of the car were attending the New Year’s Eve ball at the venue when the incident happened.   >> See pg 3 every shape and size – empty and broken beer bottles, plastic bottles, food plates and tetra packs – were found strewn Mhadei: Testing time for CM; meeting of all MLAs today OPPOSITION SET TO GUN FOR CM’S RESIGNATION THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI Chief Minister Pramod Sawant is set to face his toughest leadership test since taking over the State’s reins at Monday’s meeting of all MLAs he has called to discuss the Mhadei imbroglio. He has come under direct attack from the Opposition after last week’s development. The meeting was called for by Sawant in the face of mounting pressure after Union Minister of State and North Goa MP, Shripad Naik, uncharacteristically flagged the Centre’s unilateral decision in favour of Karnataka as an “injustice to Goa”. The meeting of all MLAs called by Sawant is scheduled to be held at 4 pm at the Goa legislative Assembly Complex at Porvorim. At Monday’s meet, Sawant is likey to face a demand for ON PAGE 2 ‘Save Mhadei’ agitation set to get Saxtti push Oppn MLAs to meet today, draw common strategy to take on govt All eyes on 8 defector MLAs’ stand on Mhadei his resignation from the Opposition. The Congress’ Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao has also called a meeting of all seven Opposition legislators at 2 pm on Monday in his chamber to finalise a common strategy to be adopted at the legislators’ meet convened by the government. Alemao has already demanded that Sawant take an all party delegation to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi with the demand for revoking the sanctions given to the Kalasa and Bhandura DPRs by the Central Water Commission. The Goa Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) is also holding an emergency meeting on Monday morning to finalise its stand over the latest Mhadei developments. Meanwhile, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), Goa Forward Party’s (GFP) Vijai Sardesai and RGP’s Viresh Borkar have also severely attacked Sawant and the BJP government for their failure to protect Goa’s interest in the Mhadei dispute. AAP’s Venzy Viegas said the onus is on Sawant to make his stand clear. Like Shripad Naik, he too should come clean at the meeting to admit that the Centre’s decision is against Goa’s interest and make public his position if his government fails to convince the Centre to reverse it. all over the beach early next morning of the New Year giving the entire area a shabby look. Goa GST kitty drops 22% in December ’22 THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI Business and the economy has not been all that rosy despite the choc-o-bloc rush in Goa during the festive December month, the Centre’s numbers on GST collections in the State have revealed. The State’s GST collection has dropped 22 per-cent in December compared to what was logged in the same month the previous year. According to the Union finance ministry figures, Goa’s GST collection in December was Rs 460 crore, which nearly Rs 132 crore lower than what it was in the same month of 2021. Rs 592-odd crores was collected in GST from Goa in December 2021. Goa’s minus 22 per-cent growth in GST collections is the worst performance among all Indian States in terms of growth and the second worst among all States and Union Territories. Only Daman and Diu and Lakshadweep have fared worse. ON PAGE 3 Outstation buses queue up at Mapusa interState bus-stand Colva beach turns into a makeshift bar as booze flows But discarded waste was not the only black spot on 2024 polls: BJP sets 60-seat target in South India A NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party after capturing fortress Karnataka has now started preparations to spread its wings in other southern States as well. According to the party sources, the preparations are in full swing and seasoned BJP workers are being deployed on more than 50 seats. Their training in this regard was conducted in While Tripura has a BJP government, in Nagaland, the Nationalist Democratic Progressive Party is in power. National People’s Party, the only party from N-E to have a national party recognition, runs the govt in Meghalaya. Sources in the Election Commission had indicated in December that the elections in the three States will be held together, followed by polls in Karnataka later. The term of the 224-member Karnataka legislative Hyderabad a few days ago. There are 20 Lok Sabha seats in Kerala, 25 in Andhra Pradesh, 39 in Tamil Nadu, 17 in Telangana and 28 in Karnataka. The sources further said that the BJP has recently conducted a training camp in Hyderabad, in which a complete plan has been prepared to target about 60 Lok Sabha seats in the Southern States. assembly ends on May 24. Polls in the BJP-ruled State to form a new assembly could be held in late April. The last part of 2023 would witness a series of assembly polls with terms of legislative assemblies of Mizoram, Chhat- tisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Telangana ending on different dates in December this year and January 2024. While the term of the 40-member Mizoram assembly ends on December 17, the tenures of the Chhattisgarh >Continued on P5  SCOOTERIST DIES IN SANVORDEM  6 HURT IN 2 MORE MISHAPS THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI New Year’s day in 2023 was no different from many in the past as a number of road accidents were reported mostly linked to revellers travelling back in wee hours and most notably one on the northern side flyover of the new Zuari bridge at Agacaim. At least three other major accidents in different parts of the State have been reported, including a fatal one at Guddemal in Sanvordem where 59-year-old scooter rider Shyamsunder Tendulkar died in a collision with a car. The accident on the Agacaim side flyover of the new Zuari bridge was a self-accident reportedly caused as the driver dozed on the wheel. Three occupants of the car which is said to have turned turtle fortunately escaped with minor injuries. At Verna-Nuvem, two cars 2023 to witness ‘semi-finals’ to next year’s LS elections NEW DELHI series of Assembly polls this year are being considered as semi-finals to the Lok Sabha election slated to be held in the summer of 2024. Key states of Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Telangana would go for polls this year, besides States from the NorthEast. The northeastern states of Nagaland, Tripura and Meghalaya will be the first to have Assembly polls, most likely in February-March. The terms of their respective legislative assemblies is ending on different dates in March. booze as if the government has given exemption to public drinking on the beach. One could find the visitors descending on the beach with booze and snacks and enjoying the New Year festivities without fear of the law in force. Colva beach was littered with empty bottles. Similar scenes were witnessed along the Canacona Accidents mark New Year, 1st on new Zuari Bridge flyover WITH ASSEMBLY POLLS TO 8 STATES LINED UP THIS YEAR… PTI the beach side, desi tourists apparently sozzled from the overnight partying were found lounging on the beach till as late as 11 am on the New Year’s Day. The world-famous Colva beach resembled a make shift bar with beer and booze flowing. Overnight New Year celebrations continued on Sunday as well as groups of domestic tourists gulped beer and and the Madhya Pradesh legislative assemblies conclude on January 3 and January 6, 2024, respectively. The tenures of the Rajasthan and Telangana assemblies end on January 14 and January 16, 2024, respectively. Polls in these five States being held together cannot be ruled out at this stage. Besides the nine scheduled polls, Assembly elections in the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir can also not be ruled out this year. On December 9, sources had said that elections in Jammu and Kashmir may be held in the summer of 2023 after winter conditions subside, and the timing would depend on the security scenario. The damaged car on Agassaim side of new Zuari bridge. 4 from TN returning after New Year party in Goa die in road accident ANKOLA: Four people from Tamil Nadu, who were heading towards Gokarna after New Year celebrations in Goa, were killed when the car that the group of friends was travelling in collided head on with a Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation bus on Sunday, police said. One person sustained serious injuries and was admitted to the hospital, they added. landed in a field alongside the highway after a collision. One of the drivers suffered injuries and was shifted to a nearby hospital by locals even before the police and ambulance could arrive. In yet another accident at Corlim, a collision between two cars resulted in injuries to three occupants, including two who suffered fractures. Bodies of 2 Netravali locals found from cave THE GOAN I NETWORK SANGUEM In a late night operation on December 31, Quepem police with the help of personnel from Fire Brigade Curchorem retrieved the bodies of the two men from Nunem in Netravali-Sanguem after they reportedly got trapped inside a cave in the river at Matushet-Rivona. Police found the bodies Satish Pavto Gaonkar (35) and Ramdas Purso Gaonkar (40) trapped inside the cave which were later retrieved with the help of Curchorem Fire Brigade officials. The bodies were later sent to the District Hospital, Margao for a postmortem and subsequently handed over to the relatives of the deceased to perform final rites. The duo had reportedly gone missing after they got trapped inside a cave in the river at Matushet-Rivona after they had allegedly gone to catch a tortoise. Sources in Netravali said that a group of village youth had reportedly fixed a dinner party which is an annual affair and two youth had gone into a cave on Saturday afternoon to catch a tortoise which was allegedly to be used for its meat at the party. However, the two men did not return from the cave and concerned locals then reported the matter to the Sanguem Police.