@thegoaneveryday THURSDAY FEBRUARY 23, 2023 13 pages GOA IN SHORT >> Sec 144 imposed on RGP’s padyatra VALPOI: The State government has decided to prevent the Revolutionary Goans Party (RGP) from holding its Mhadei awareness padyatra in Sattari, with the Deputy Collector issuing an order under Section 144 of CrPC to prohibit assembly of any kind by RGP’s ‘Together for Mhadei’ and its associates.   >> See pg 3 8 flights diverted due to fog at Dabolim VASCO: Several domestic and international passengers arriving at the Goa international Airport at Dabolim faced severe inconvenience on Wednesday morning after eight flights arriving at Dabolim Airport were diverted to different airports due to fog and bad visibility around the airport.  >> See pg 3 13-year-old drowns in Selaulim Canal SANGUEM: A 13-year-old boy from Cotarli-Sanguem drowned in the Selaulim Canal at Cotarli on Wednesday afternoon. The delay in retrieving the body from the canal on account of police jurisdiction issues sparked off angry reactions from locals at the site.  >> See pg 2 Govt launches drive against land-filling, construction activity along highways 6 yrs minimum age for class 1 admission DELHI: The Ministry of Education has directed all States and Union Territories to fix the minimum age for admission in Class 1 as six years. WEATHER >> Max: Min: Humidity: TIDES 34 C 24 C 50% Low: 07:02 19:00 High: 00:42 13:08 RNI: GOAENG/2015/65729 BUSINESS India to contribute 15% of global growth in 2023: IMF MD SPORTS UCL: Real Madrid roars back to thrash sorry Liverpool INQUIRY ORDERED, BUT NO SUSPENSION DESPITE EVIDENCE THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI Amid a high-level probe into allegations of extortion involving the Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), Goa Police shunted the erring personnel to the Police Training School (PTS) in Valpoi in an abrupt decision on Wednesday. The development comes a day after The Goan reported about the alleged extortionists within the elite force. The five personnel including a police inspector were caught in a CCTV footage purportedly demanding Rs 10 lakh from a businessman, at his office in Salcete. An embarrassed department ordered an inquiry but has till date, shied away from taking disciplinary action such as suspension of the personnel despite evidence and initial complaint. Sources said that superiors in the department finalised transferring them to the PTS after discussing which remote center will be best suited to temporarily shift them. “The department had to choose between IRB Nanora Top official holds meet with dept bosses, outcome kept under wraps PANAJI: No sooner the department was stunned by what they didn’t expect, a senior bureaucrat in the Goa government summoned a meeting with the department bosses. The outcome of the meeting is however kept under wraps but sources claim that the IAS officer expressed his utter disappointment with the alleged extortion episode. The professional background of these policemen are now being unearthed. One of those directly involved in the matter was earlier suspended for extortion of Rs 2,000 from a group of locals during his posting in Valpoi. He was reinstated with a warning not to repeat the act and subsequently promoted. ON FE and PTS. The higher-ups then decided PTS after which a wireless message was sent out transferring them,” a source revealed. The cops are accused of extorting money from the businessman who reportedly operates an online gaming company. The complainant negotiated it to Rs 5 lakh and the deal, as per updates on Wednesday, was sealed at Rs 7.5 lakh - all paid in cash. The incident occurred in the office of an online gaming company in Salcete where the civil-clothed men identified themselves as ATS personnel from Panaji. Sources said that a senior officer, who also has a share, was reportedly stationed outside the office at the time when his staff collected and handed over the extorted money from the complainant. DGP Jaspal Singh on Tuesday said that the department has initiated an inquiry following a complaint by the businessman and assured ap- propriate action based on the report’s findings. The Goa Forward Party (GFP) has slammed the government for maintaining silence on the issue. “Silence of Goa CM speaks volumes. The presence of extortion gangs operating in Goa Police is an indictment of Pramod Sawant’s (CM) incompetence and weakness as Home Minister. Why is he quiet? Is there something he knows that Goans don’t? Or he oversees only petty cases,” GFP President Vijai Sardesai said. The party also made a statement taking a dig at the CM. “Laughable! Pramod Sawant and Goa Police who always boast of Goa’s high detection rate failed to detect extortion gangs in their own dept. Sheet incompetence? Or is it because extortion has become so institutionalised and habitual that it’s not a crime anymore?” reads a post on the party’s official Twitter handle. THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the setting up of ‘Mhadei Water Management Authority’ mandated in the notified August 2014 award of the Mahadayi Water Dispute Tribunal (MWDT) but gave it a different nomenclature ‘Mahadayi PRAWAH’. PRAWAH is an acronym for Progressive River Authority for Welfare and Harmony, and will be tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that the MWDT award is implemented as per its letter and spirit. Union Jal Shakti Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat announced the decision in a tweet which read: “PM Sh. @ narendramodi led cabinet today has approved the creation of Mahadayi PRAWAH. This will enable the compliance, implementation of the award & decisions of Mahadayi Water Dispute Tribunal.” In yet another tweet, Shekawat also said that ‘Mahadayi PRAWAH” will also aid in building mutual trust & understanding among party states -- Goa, Karnataka & Maharashtra -- and ensure right use of water resources of the region for overall develop- ‘Mahadayi PRAWAH’ PRAWAH is an acronym for Progressive River Authority for Welfare and Harmony, and will be tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that the MWDT award is implemented as per its letter and spirit ment. While the Union cabinet decision to set up ‘Mahadayi PRAWAH’ is an expected corollary to the MWDT award of August 14, 2018, its timing ahead of the upcoming Karnataka assembly elections is expected to stir the political cauldron in that State as well as here in Goa. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, meanwhile, took to Twitter to welcome the decision and thanked Modi for the decision. “I thank the Union Government led by Hon’ble PM Shri @narendramodi Ji for approving the establishment of the PRAWAH (Mhadei Water Authority) in today’s Cabinet meeting. This has been one of our primary demands and >Continued on P5 WITH RISE IN ACCIDENTS AND VIOLATIONS… Govt to review ‘Traffic Sentinel Scheme’ THE GOAN I NETWORK Case against Delhi native for cheating PANAJI : The Old Goa police have registered a case against one Deepak Kumar from Delhi for allegedly cheating a local on the pretext of organising a pilgrimage to Kailash Mansarovar. An Old Goa resident lodged a police complaint accusing Kumar of duping him to the tune of Rs 4.65 lakh which was paid to the latter from May 5, 2022, to August 14, 2022. Instagram.com/thegoaneveryday 3 13 2 10 Central govt nod After extortion expose, police to set up Mhadei personnel shunted to Valpoi Water Authority GOA 21 >> See pg 3 The Goan (Playstore) PRICE ` 8 PANAJI MARGAO GOA VOLUME VIII, NO.246 CRZ violations: Demolitions come to standstill in Salcete Siddhi Naik case remains unsolved mystery till date Facebook.com/thegoaneveryday B log on to thegoan.net LENTEN JOURNEY BEGINS: A priest applies ash to the forehead of a devotee on Ash Wednesday at Our Lady of Rosary Church, Caranzalem.  Narayan Pissurlenkar PANAJI Two years after the State scrapped the ‘Traffic Sentinel Scheme’, it could make a comeback with the Pramod Sawant-led government likely to review the scheme in the wake of a significant rise in traffic violations and accidents. A high-level meeting chaired by the CM to take a stock of the road safety measures, on Wednesday, decided that the “Sentinel Scheme will be reviewed.” The scheme, in which citizens earned financial rewards for reporting road violations to the police, was scrapped in January 2021 owing to a series of controversies regarding its misuse by some sentinels. The cabinet decision came over six months after the scheme was kept in abeyance from July 15, 2020, to December 2020. The then cabinet claimed that traffic police and CCTV cameras would bring road discipline. The scheme was introduced by the Director General of Police Muktesh Chander in 2017, to reduce traffic violations with the active participation of the citizens and encourage community policing through a mobile app introduced by the Goa Police. >Continued on P5 Views of seafarers to count in new bill THE GOAN I NETWORK MARGAO The government has sought to bring an amendment to the Seamen’s Provident Fund Act, 1966 in order to broaden the ambit of the application of the Act to foreign flagged ships employing Indian seafarers. The government has invited comments/ suggestions from WHAT THE DRAFT BILL SEEKS… „„To broaden the ambit of the application of the Act to foreign flagged ships employing Indian seafarers „„To introduce the Seafarers Annuity Fund Scheme and Seafarers Gratuity Fund Scheme for Indian seafarers, to be administered by the Seamen’s Provident Fund Organisation the stakeholders to the draft Seamen’s Provident Fund (Amendment) Bill, 2023 between February 21 to March 24. Amongst other things, the Bill seeks to broaden the ambit of the application of the Act to foreign flagged ships employing Indian seafarers, which will enable amendment to the existing Seamen Provident Fund Scheme. The draft Bill seeks to introduce the Seafarers >Continued on P5 Install CCTVs in police stations, offices of probe agencies within a month: SC to Centre, States PTI NEW DELHI he Supreme Court has directed the Centre and state governments to comply within a month with its directions on mandatory installation of CCTV cameras in police stations and offices of investigation agencies. A bench headed by Justice BR Gavai asked the governments to file their compliance affidavits till March 29, while warning in case of non-compliance, it will be compelled to take necessary steps against the officials concerned. “If the directions are not complied with, we shall be compelled to take such steps KEY SC DIRECTIVE T The governments have been asked to file their compliance affidavits till March 29, while warning in case of non-compliance, it will be compelled to take necessary steps against the officials concerned as necessary against the Union home secretary and chief secretaries and home secretaries of respective state governments,” said the bench, also comprising Justices Vikram Nath and Sanjay Karol, on February 21. The top court had in 2020 directed installation of CCTV cameras and recording equipment at the offices of investigating agencies, including the Central Bureau of Investigation, the Enforcement Directorate and National Investigation Agency, which conduct interrogations and have the power of arrest. Senior advocate Siddhartha Dave, who has been appointed amicus curiae (friend of court) in the matter, submitted that 25 states and union territories were yet to file compliance reports in terms of the earlier directions which had initially set a deadline of six weeks for putting in place CCTVs in police stations across the country. The Centre informed the court that CCTVs will be installed at the CBI headquarters here as well as its branch offices by the end of next month and that all offices of the Narcotics Control Bureau, Serious Frauds Investigation Office and Directorate of Revenue Intelligence have already complied with the directive. It also said procurement of CCTVs for NIA establishments has been approved and the exercise will be concluded by the end of this year. It sought time till May for installation of the remaining CCTVs at the Enforcement Directorate. As far as police stations in Delhi are concerned, the Centre informed, there was a requirement of over 2,000 more CCTVs and currently 1,941 CCTVs needed to be upgraded. In December 2020, a bench headed by Justice R F Nariman, while dealing with a matter related to custodial torture, had directed the Centre to install CCTV cameras and recording equipment at the offices of investigating agencies. Extended Battery warranty worth `8259* Exchange Bonus of `7000* Cash Discount of `4000* Total Benefit upto `19259* *T & C apply EMI STARTS FROM `2975*