log on to thegoan.net @thegoaneveryday FRIDAY JANUARY 6, 2023 GOA Fishermen up in arms against plan for floating jetty at Bogmalo IN SHORT >> CM chairs meeting with finance babus PANAJI: Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Thursday chaired a review meeting of Finance Department and interacted with the officers on various issues to be addressed, resolved and initiatives to be taken up under Finance department this year.  GCET to be held on May 13 and 14 PANAJI: The Goa Common Entrance Test (GCET)-2023 for admissions to Engineering and Pharmacy Degree courses will be conducted May 13 and 14, Directorate of Technical Education has informed. Woman duped on promise of US visa PANAJI: A woman from Maharashtra who is presently residing at Caranzalem has been duped to the tune of whooping Rs 2.69 crore on the pretext of helping her procure fiancée visa for America. Activist sentenced to one year in jail PANAJI: The Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC), Mapusa on Thursday sentenced Advocate Aires Rodrigues to one-year imprisonment for outraging the modesty of a woman through social media post.  >> See pg 3 Facebook.com/thegoaneveryday 14 pages PRICE ` 8 2 The Goan (Playstore) PANAJI MARGAO GOA VOLUME VIII, NO. 199 GOA Woman killed as tree falls on car in Sanguem 3 Instagram.com/thegoaneveryday RNI: GOAENG/2015/65729 INFO Effective ways to get rid of skin peeling on face, nose and body 9 SPORTS Sri Lanka beats India by 16 runs to level T20I series 14 Mopa airport off to flying start n FIRST FLIGHT CARRYING 179 PASSENGERS LANDS n 14 OTHER PLANES LAND AND TAKE OFF n CM CALLS IT ‘DREAM COME TRUE’ FOR STATE THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI January 5 will go down in history where a new chapter in the aviation sector was scripted with the landing of the first commercial flight  at the Manohar International Airport at Mopa. The IndiGo Airlines -- a Hyderbad  to Goa flight -- carrying 179 passengers was given a water canon salute when it landed. Fourteen other flights also landed and took off at the airport in the day. Union Minister Shripad Naik, Rajya Sabha member Vinay Tendulkar, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte, Transport Minister Mauvin Godinho, BJP state chief Sadanand Shet Tanavade and the airline officials welcomed the passengers at the terminal building of the airport. Union Minister of State for Civil Aviation V K Singh virtually participated in the event. here was also a live band performance outside the airport to welcome the passengers. Another passenger flight of IndiGo also left for Hyderabad, making it the first flight to de- As flights fly in and out, teething problems bared THE GOAN I NETWORK The first flight lands at Manohar International Airport, Mopa on Thursday. (Right) Passengers walk out of the terminal building. MOPA DAY-ONE: FACTS & FIGURES „„Indigo’s flight from Hyderabad with 179 passengers was the first flight to land „„The airport handled 14 flights on the first day till 4 pm „„2441 passengers experienced true essence, culture and spirit of Goa „„Baggage handling system of the new airport handled 953 suitcases „„In Phase I, the airport will cater to around 4.4 million passengers per annum part from the new airport. Speaking to media, Sawant said this is a “dream come true” for Goa and a “big achievement” for the State and the Centre. The passengers were happy and appreciated the services offered at the new airport, he said. He said the airport will strengthen Goa’s capabilities for tourism, trade and business. Goa now has two airports from today onwards, the chief minister said. Some of the passengers expressed happiness at the grand welcome and said they had an amazing experience. The dignitaries handed over the boarding passes to the passengers of that flight. A couple who arrived from Hyderabad by the first flight said, “the experience was very good. We are very glad to be a part of the celebration here.” Another couple from the same flight expressed happiness at the grand welcome and the water canon salute given to the aircraft after landing at the airport. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had inaugurated the first phase of the new airport on December 11, 2022. The airport has been named after late Manohar Parrikar, the former defence minister who had also served as the >Continued on P5 PANAJI Even as flights landed and took off smoothly, teething problems at the new Manohar International Airport got bared on day one of the commercial operations as the arriving passengers were seen struggling to hook on to onward transportation with connectivity and other issues with the Goa Taxi App. As expected the taxi and other transport services from the airport, including the EV-bus service announced by the State-owned Kadamba Transport Corporation (KTC), essential for arriving passengers to travel onward were in disarray. Several  passengers were seen struggling with issues of the airport’s internet connectivity, which is the only medium available to engage a taxi. The EV-bus service of the KTC was also struggling to find its feet and was nowhere to be seen in the vicinity of the airport for at least three hours from the arrival of the first Indigo flight from Hyderabad.  The State government which had recently launched the Goa Taxi App after failing to cut ice with the State’s taxi operator community as well as their representative associations has now agreed to set up a pre-paid taxi counter at the airport’s terminal building. On Thursday, the Transport Department invited applications from interested individuals from Pernem taluka to join the prepaid ‘blue airport taxi’ with a notified stand through a public notice on media platforms. The notice said, the Mopa airport taxis will be of blue colour with terms and conditions identical to the yellow-black taxis operating >Continued on P5 Shameful & deliberate inaction, HC Pernem taximen have change of heart slams authorities on Sunburn sound after colour change, accept blue stand Asks Chief Secy to file detailed inquiry report into the events that led to allowing organisers go scot free THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI The Bombay High Court at Goa has taken a stern view at the failure of the authorities to enforce sound levels at the Sunburn music festival describing as “most shameful” the officers of the Goa State Pollution Control Board and the Police Inspector of Anjuna for failing to ensure that sound played at the Sunburn venue was below the mandatory 55 decibels equivalent continuous level.  Hearing a petition filed by one Ramesh Sinary who alleged that music above the permitted limit was played on all the three days by the organisers despite specific directions from the High Court to stop the event if the music exceeds the levels, the High Court has now ordered the Chief Secretary to file a detailed inquiry report into the events that led to allowing the organisers go scot free.  KEY HIGH COURT OBSERVATIONS „„This Court is sorry to record that Authorities seem to take great pride in tolerating the breaching of the Noise Pollution Rules „„Prima facie this appears to be a case of deliberate inaction or lack of will to enforce the law „„Noise levels exceeded 65db(A) and on most occasions, noise levels were in the range of 70 to 90db(A) „„Authorities were perhaps confident that once the event was over, there would be no further inquiries „„Neither the four GSPCB officials nor PI of Anjuna and his team did anything to ensure noise level did not exceed the limit “This Court is sorry to record that the Authorities seem to take great pride in tolerating the breaching of the Noise Pollution Rules and, more particularly, themselves breaching the repeated directions issued by this Court from time to time to enforce the Rules and Regulations concerning the control of noise pollution. At least, prima facie, this appears to be a case of deliberate inaction or the lack of will to enforce the law,” the High Court bench of Justices M S Sonak and Bharat Deshpande ruled.  The inspection report filed by the Member Secretary of the Goa State Pollution Control Board furnished the mon- itoring data for 28.12.2022, 29.12.2022 and 30.12.2022 (EDM event dates) gathered on one or two hourly bases.  The report, that indicated the noise levels generated by the EDM held near the main stage (inside the venue), near the main entrance along the periphery, and in the residential areas at some distance found that “on all three days, the noise levels generated by the EDM were above the 55db(A) limit set out in the permission dated 28.12.2022.” “In fact, the noise levels exceeded 65db(A), and on most occasions, the noise levels were in the range of 70 to 90db(A). Moreover, other breaches of the permission and noise pollution Rules were also noticed besides exceeding the prescribed decibel levels,” the High Court observed.  On the morning of December 30, the High Court >Continued on P5 Get written assurance from govt after meeting Pernem MLA THE GOAN I NETWORK PERNEM The agitating taxi operators from Pernem finally relented and agreed to a Blue Taxi Stand instead of a Yellow-Black Taxi Stand at the Manohar International Airport (MIA). A large number of taximen gave their consent during a meeting with Pernem MLA Pravin Arlekar at his residence, after he gave them in writing about the Blue Taxi Stand for the taxi operators. The taxi operators had been demanding a Yellow-Black taxi stand at the MIA and Chief Minister Pramod Sawant had assured to give them a taxi stand. The GMR company then suggested making available a Blue Taxi stand at the airport and the government agreed to the suggestion. The taxi operators also consented to the blue taxi stand but demanded a written assurance from the government and refused to leave the residence of MLA Pravin Arlekar. “I presented their issue be- A green signal for Blue Cab service PANAJI: The Transport Department on Thursday, published a public notice proposing blue-coloured taxis to ferry the passengers from the Manhohar International Airport at Mopa. With tourists very often taking to social media to narrate their ordeal while dealing with the traditional yellow-black taxi drivers in Goa, Director Rajan Satardekar asserted that they won’t allow any such menace to affect the transport system at Mopa. “We want to create a perception that Goa offers quality service to our visitors with warm, welcoming, hospitable and helpful taxi drivers. Negative feedback from customers has been repelling people and this has affected the brand. We want to transform the image at the new airport,” he said.   >> See pg 3 fore the government and Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has fulfilled his promise of giving the taxi operators a fair share of the taxi business. The issue was resolved in writing and the letter was handed over to the taxi operator’s organisation,” said Arlekar. Sudip Tamhankar, the leader of the taxi operators, also expressed satisfaction over the written assurance. “As one of the many issues has been resolved, we are hoping that other issues will also be solved in phases if we remain united,” A large number of taximen gave their consent during a meeting with Pernem MLA at his residence, after he gave them in writing about the Blue Taxi Stand for the taxi operators said Tamhankar. Keeping politics aside, the AAP leader Pratima Coutinho had also supported the taxi operators and congratulated MLA Pravin Arlekar for staying firm with his support to them. Uday Mahale, Subodh Mahale, Sarpanch Tulshidas Gaus, Prabhakar Narulkar, Rupesh Kumralkar, Suvek Gaus also spoke on the occasion. Mindful that the State government had imposed Section 144 from the National Highway to Mopa Airport from Wednesday night, the taxi operators gathered at the residence of Arlekar in Pernem to resolve their demands. Thousands bid farewell to ex-Pope Benedict XVI 11 Covid variants detected at airports, govt says don’t panic PTI VATICAN ope Francis joined tens of thousands of faithful in bidding farewell to Benedict XVI at a rare requiem Mass on Thursday for a dead pope presided over by a living one, ending an unprecedented decade for the Catholic Church that was sparked by the German theologian’s decision to retire. Bells tolled and the crowd applauded as pallbearers carried Benedict’s cypress coffin out of the fog-shrouded St Peter’s Basilica and placed it before the altar in the square outside. Wearing the crimson vestments typical of papal funerals, Francis opened the P Pope Francis touches the coffin of late Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI after the funeral mass in St Peter’s Square at the Vatican on Thursday. service with a prayer and closed it by solemnly blessing the simple casket decorated only with the former pope’s coat of arms. In between, Francis made only fleeting reference to Benedict in his homily, offering a meditation on Christ instead of a eulogy of his predecessor’s legacy before the casket was sealed and entombed in the basilica grotto. Heads of state and royalty, clergy from around the world and thousands of regular people flocked to the subdued ceremony, despite Benedict’s request for simplicity and official efforts to keep the first funeral for a pope emeritus in modern times low-key. Many mourners hailed from Benedict’s native Bavaria and donned traditional dress, including boiled wool coats to guard against the chill. “We came to pay homage to Benedict and wanted to be here today to say goodbye,” said Raymond Mainar, who traveled from a small village east of Munich for the funeral. “He was a very good pope.” Ignoring exhortations for decorum at the end, some in the crowd held banners or shouted “Santo Subito!” “Sainthood Now!” echoing the spontaneous chants that erupted during St. John Paul II’s 2005 funeral. The former Joseph Ratzinger, who died December 31 at age 95, is considered one of the 20th century’s greatest theologians and spent his lifetime upholding church doctrine. But he will go down in history for a singular, revolutionary act that changed the future of the papacy: He retired, the first pope in 6 centuries to do so. Francis praised Benedict’s courage in stepping aside, saying it “opened the door” for other popes to do the same. PTI NEW DELHI Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya on Thursday asked the public not to panic about Covid, but be alert and follow directives issued by the government as 11 types of Covid-19 Omicron sub-variants were detected during testing of international passengers at airports He said Covid-19 variants will keep coming but the important thing is which variant will react and people should only believe information shared by government sources to avoid any kind of panic in the country. Eleven types of Covid-19 Omicron sub-variants were detected during testing of international passengers at airports and seaports between December 24 to January 3, official sources said. A total of 19,227 samples of travellers from international destinations were tested, out of which 124 were found positive and were isolated, the sources said. ‘Of the 124 positive samples, genome sequencing results of 40 were received of which XBB including XBB.1 was found in the maximum 14 samples. BF 7.4.1 has been found in one sample,’ as per official sources. The other variants that are reported after samples from these international travellers are BA.5.2, BQ.1.1, BQ. 1.1(22), BQ.1.1.5, CH.1.1, CH.1.1.1, BB.3, BN.1.2, BN1.3, BY1 and BF. India saw a slight increase in Covid infections on Thursday as it witnessed 188 new cases in the last 24 hours according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW). According to the MoHFW, India’s active caseload currently stands at 2,554 with the active case rate at 0.01 per cent.