log on to thegoan.net @thegoaneveryday TUESDAY JANUARY 24, 2023 GOA 13 pages PRICE ` 8 Three accidents claim lives of four MARGAO: Four people, including two cousin brothers, lost their lives in three separate road accidents on Monday. While the two cousins from Chandor, died in a road accident at Sarzora, a 19-year old motorcycle rider of Durga-Chinchinim died in an accident at Chinchinim. In the third accident, an occupant of a motorcycle expired near the Cuncolim bus stand.  >> See pg 2 GIS survey to help civic bodies: CM PANAJI: Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Monday said that his government has initiated a GIS-based detailed survey of Goa’s cities and towns to plug revenue leakages through the municipalities. It will help the administration of these Urban local bodies to assess taxes efficiently and also keep a track of unauthorised structures,” he said.   >> See pg 3 Govt firm on IIT in South Goa MARGAO: Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Monday asserted that the Indian Institute of Technology will come up in Goa and will be set up in South. He, however, declined to name the site, saying the process of identification of land is underway.   >> See pg 2 Land grab: Another accused arrested PANAJI: Investigation into the land scam led to another arrest on Monday and with this, the State has registered the first case in South Goa. SIT arrested a Navelim resident, Mahadev Chavan for an offense registered with the Fatorda police station. He is charged with forging documents.  >> See pg 3 Weather stations at wildlife sanctuaries PANAJI: Forest Dept will be setting up State-of-the-art network of General Packet Radio Service based Automatic Weather Stations at 5 wildlife sanctuaries in the State as part of augmentation of surface observation network. The Central Data Receiving and Processing Station will be set up at Van Bhavan, Altinho. WEATHER >> Max: 32 C Min: 19 C Humidity: 75% TIDES Low: High: 06:44 18:37 00:50 12:22 PANAJI MARGAO GOA VOLUME VIII, NO. 127 GOA RNI: GOAENG/2015/65729 SPORTS Middle order in focus as India eyes series sweep against New Zealand Does weight loss cause bone loss? n COAL SPILLAGE AT MUNGUL n WAGONS COVERED WITH LOOSE TARPAULIN SHEETS n SALCETE, QUEPEM, SANGUEM COULD FACE POLLUTION ISSUES Says K’taka has got nod for DPR, will go ahead with work as per rules THE GOAN I NETWORK THE GOAN I NETWORK MARGAO It was Monday noon. The Comba railway crossing had been closed for vehicular traffic. Reason. A freight train loaded with coal was about to chug in from the Mormugao Port Authority (MPA) towards Margao for its onward journey to Karnataka. As the train finally passed by the crossing, one could see with a naked eye the loose tarpaulin sheets used to cover the loaded wagons containing the coal. A casual walk down the tracks along the Mungul-Margao stretch of the railway line revealed traces of coal spillage, indicating that transportation of coal via wagons is not fool proof, with anti-coal activists saying the coal spillage during transportation poses health hazard not only for the citizens of Mormugoa, but for Saxttikars, Quepemkar and Sanguemkars as well. Indeed, the burning issue of coal, which is back in sharp focus with the Environmental BELAGAVI Karnataka Chief Minister Basaavaraj Bommai has said the comprehensive exercise by the Goa government to prevent Karnataka from going ahead with the Mhadei project will not materialise as Karnataka government has got the approval for the DPR and is going ahead with the work as per the rules. Bommai, who was in Belagavi on Monday, was speaking to media persons at the Belagavi airport on Monday afternoon. Commenting on the ongoing attempts by Goa government to halt Karnataka from going ahead with the Mhadei project, Bommai said the measures and decisions being taken by the Goa government inside the House would not have any consequence as the Centre has already cleared its DPR relating to Kalsa-Bhandura project. “The Mhadei Water Dispute Tribunal (MWDT) has heard the Mhadei water sharing dispute for over a decade and has finally pronounced the final award. According to the award, Mhadei water has to be shared with the stakeholder states. The Centre took cognisance of the turn of events before clearing the DPR of the Kalasa-Bhandura project,” Bommai said. A freight train transporting coal from Mormugao Port Authority to Karnataka. (Right) Coal spillage along the railway tracks.  Pics: Santosh Mirajkar Clearance (EC) for handling of 12 million tons of coal annually at the MPA, has thrown up a question for debate -- will the increase handling of coal at the MPA only affect the people staying in the Port Town, or will Saxttikars in particular and the residents of Quepem and Sanguem too will be hit by the coal for want of fool-proof coal transportation mechanism in place. A walk down the railway tracks, passing through Margao and Fatorda reveals the much feared scenario – spillage of coal from the wagons running on the tracks between MPT and the factories in North Karnataka. Walk down the tracks, between Mungul to Comba and further down to the Margao railway station, and don’t be surprised to come across coal spillage along the railway track, indicating that transportation of coal via the railway wagons covered with tarpaulin sheets, have not stopped spillage along the railway tracks. It is feared in Civil society ABVP protest triggers heated debate among BJP leaders on social media THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI A protest by Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) members on a college campus at Mapusa triggered a debate among some of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders most of whom openly supported the students’ wing for protesting the non-installation of students’ council for 2022-23. BJP spokesperson Savio Rodrigues’ tweet raising objection to politically affiliated protest started the discussion on the social media with several questioning his intention. “Students having issues with the management of Xavier’s College, Mapusa must protest as students (,) not representatives of a politically social organization – ABVP. Doing so defeats the purpose to seek remedy to grievances. Keep colleges free from political & religious play,” Rodri- DHE should resolve issue: Sawant MARGAO: Chief Minister Pramod Sawant wriggled himself out of the controversy surrounding the ruckus created at St Xavier’s College, Mapusa by ABVP students aligned to the ruling BJP, saying the matter falls in the domain of the Director of Higher Education. In fact, when the media sought to know his stand on the ABVP ruckus at the St Xavier’s college, Mapusa, the Chief Minister point blank replied saying the Director of Higher Education should resolve the issue. The North Goa Collector Manu Hage has meanwhile sought a report from the Bardez Mamlatdar regarding the alleged disturbance of classes as a result of the protest by ABVP leaders.     gues tweeted. State Convener of the BJP Social Media Cell Rupesh Kamat was quick to school Rodrigues arguing that ABVP works in the interest of students rather than indulge in politics. “It is sad that an institution indulged in discrimination based on religious lines and Nearly 2 lakh professionals laid off since Nov AGENCIES T Instagram.com/thegoaneveryday INFO Cabral sticks to highway plans at meet with Bhoma, Corlim locals Hit by layoffs, thousands of Indian IT experts struggle to stay in US WASHINGTON housands of Indian IT professionals in the US, who have lost their jobs due to the series of recent layoffs at companies like Google, Microsoft and Amazon, are now struggling to find new employment within the stipulated period under their work visas following the termination of their employment to stay in the country. According to The Washington Post, nearly 200,000 IT workers have been laid off since November last year, including some record numbers in companies like Google, Microsoft, Facebook and Amazon. As per some industry insiders, between 30 to 40 The Goan (Playstore) 3 13 2 9 Coal laden wagons expose dark Goa cannot stop Mhadei project: reality along Margao rail tracks Karnataka CM Uncertainty continues over controversial jetty at Rassaim IN SHORT >> Facebook.com/thegoaneveryday A significantly large number of Indian IT professionals are scrambling for options to stay in the US to find a new job in the stipulated few months that they get under foreign work visas after losing their jobs per cent of them are Indian IT professionals, a significant number of whom are on H-1B and L1 visas. The H-1B visa is a non-immigrant visa that allows US companies to employ foreign workers in speciality occupations that require theoretical or technical expertise. Technol- ogy companies depend on it to hire tens of thousands of employees each year from countries like India and China. L-1A and L-1B visas are available for temporary intracompany transferees who work in managerial positions or have specialised knowledge. A significantly large number of Indian IT professionals, who are on non-immigrant work visas like H-1B are L1, are now scrambling for options to stay in the US to find a new job in the stipulated few months time that they get under these foreign work visas after losing their jobs and change their visa status as well. Amazon staffer Gita (name changed) arrived in the US only three months ago. This >Continued on P5 deprived the students of their rightful activities. A condemnable & shameful act. ABVP works in the interest of the students. And not there to do politics,” he responded. Party spokesperson and convenor of the Research and Policy Development Giriraj >Continued on P5 College purposely delaying students’ council: ABVP PANAJI: The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad has slammed St Xavier’s College in Mapusa for deliberately delaying the swearing-in ceremony of the elected students’ council, the reason why the students protested last week. Reacting to the chaos around the protest, ABVP North Goa Office Secretary Nikita Parsekar stated that the student wing’s protest on Saturday was peaceful. “The peaceful protest was held because scores of requests by elected student >Continued on P5 circles that the ground situation may aggravate once the EC clearance to handle 12 million-plus coal at MPA is given effect, a situation where in coal trains are expected to run non-stop on the dedicated double track laid recently as part of the Vasco-Hospet track >Continued on P5 Authorities say LPG leakage is cause of Mapusa blast 1 Goa Police and Fire and Emergency Service officials claimed that leakage of cooking gas from the hose pipe connected to the stove triggered the explosion, putting to rest the mystery over the Mapusa blast Officials also said that a high pressure regulator was used for a domestic cylinder and the hose pipe was not of good quality Mapusa Fire Officer Bosco Ferrao said, the hose pipe had a deep hollow crack at one extreme end which was connected to the stove 2 3 >> See pg 3 POINT BLANK „„Measures and decisions being taken by Goa govt inside the House will not have any consequence on Mhadei project „„Centre has already cleared DPR relating to Kalsa-Bhandura project „„Mhadei Water Dispute Tribunal has heard the Mhadei water sharing dispute for over a decade and has pronounced the final award „„Let Goa govt do anything, we are working on the project as per rules and guidelines of MWDT “Let the Goa government do anything, we are working on the project as per the rules and the guidelines of the MWDT,” he added, indicating that his government is making an all-out attempt in getting the project at an early date. He also criticised Congress >Continued on P5