log on to thegoan.net @thegoaneveryday SUNDAY MARCH 5, 2023 MOVIES »PAGE 16 GLAD TO BE BACK Simran Rishi Bagga talks about her return to Hindi films with Gulmohar Bursting with novel ideas: Harsh Warrdhan talks about InCar >> SEE PG 3 Shripad’s outburst leaves a political trail MAGAZINE MAGAZ The traditions of Holi celebration in India Saving of inherent powers of HC under Sec 482 CrPC, 1973 Sesame oil for healthy, bountiful tresses Multiple 10 personality disorder can be nerve-wracking Nithyananda’s ‘Kailasa’ and all the buzz about it! 11 2023 BMW 3 Series Gran Limousine: Live better, Live Luxury IN SHORT >> Shigmo parade in Panaji on March 11 PANAJI: Ending uncertainty over the fate of the Shigmo parade in the capital city, Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) Mayor Rohit Monserrate on Saturday announced that the parade will be held on March 11 and will follow the traditional route despite the chaos due to the ongoing ‘Smart City’ works in progress. Man arrested for stalking GU students PANAJI: A 39-year-old man was arrested for stalking and sexually harassing college students near Goa University and the Women’s Hostel. The arrest was possible after some students confided in Goa Police, who held an outreach programme for the varsity students.   >> See pg 5 Mandrem, Pernem to go dry from Mar 6-8 PANAJI: There will be no water supply to Mandrem and Pernem constituencies from March 6 to 8 as the Electricity Department has proposed a power shutdown in the area where Chandel Water Treatment Plant is located. WEATHER >> Max: 38 C Min: 23 C Humidity: 73% TIDES 04:21 15:58 09:34 22:52 The Goan (Playstore) 16 pages PRICE ` 8 PANAJI MARGAO GOA VOLUME VIII, NO. 256 Instagram.com/thegoaneveryday RNI: GOAENG/2015/65729 PLAY & PAUSE »PAGE 13 LIVE SMART »PAGE 14 Unbeatable beats Be your own knight SPORTS »PAGE 8 Harmanpreet-inspired MI wins WPL opener against Giants The colourful sound of Holi WOMEN, TAKE NOTE: From risk-taking to building RoundGlass Punjab crowned I-League champions Groove to Martin Garrix’s electric beats as he takes us on a foot-trapping journey during his ongoing India tour Ahead of Women’s Day, a list of safety gadgets and apps that will make a woman’s life a little easy LOUD MUSIC BOOMS IN ANJUNA AGAIN n NIGHTCLUBS HOST WEEKEND PARTIES, POLICE SILENT n MUSIC CAN BE HEARD 3 KM AWAY THE GOAN I NETWORK 9 Low: High: Facebook.com/thegoaneveryday MAPUSA The weekends have started getting louder as the nightclubs dotting the popular Anjuna/Vagator coastline are hosting weekend parties and playing loud music creating a mockery of the High Court order while the authorities specially the police is maintaining stoic silence. Residents in the little Vagator village said that the weekdays are little better but the weekends turn out to be very noisy as the night clubs appear to compete with one another in playing loud music. Dream Beach Goa is hosting “Odd Daze Out” a trance party on the Vagator beach on Saturday and has listed popular DJs promising the best rave music at the show. Activist Desmond Alvares has shot complaints to all the concerned authorities including senior police officials about the nuisance created by the night clubs along the coast. “Loud trance party has started on the pristine Vagator beach. Please take action,” Alvares said in his complaint. “Inspite of orders being repeatedly passed by Hon High Court, in PIL 7 / 2021 and contempt petition 14 / 2022, noise pollution rules continue to be flouted with impunity not only at Dream Beach but also by other restaurants in Anjuna opposite the Anjuna Police Station. The sound can be heard 3 kms away,” he added. He alleged that popular nightclubs such as Hilltop, Salud Raeeth, Banana Forest, Levels, Occo, Omera, Jungle Origens and Romeo Lane were also flouting the noise pollution rules. He further warned that if no action was forthcoming then he will be forced to file an affidavit in the High Court. It is understood that the Dream Beach Goa is organising the party right on the Vagator beach throwing all caution to the wind. “Vagator beach is a pristine beach and it comes under (CRZ-I). Such activities are not permitted here. We don’t understand how these people get permission,” said a local, who is active in the area. Sources informed that a notorious locally bred drug dealer who owns several other clubs in the area and is also well connected is involved in hosting these parties and ensuring that the show goes on. NEW DELHI n influenza with Covid-like symptoms is on the rise across India, sparking fears for many. According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) and the Indian Medical Association (IMA), this illness that causes respiratory troubles for many is Influenza A subtype H3N2. With air pollution as a contributing factor, people develop fever along with upper respiratory infections. The H3N2, which has been A Firemen have tough time, kept on toes THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI As Goa swelters under extreme heat increasing the risk of fires, the State reported a massive 70 incidents of fire in the last 24 hours.  With open fields or dry grass catching fire to even cashew plantations in flames, these incidents kept the firefighters on their toes. In one such incident, a locked house at St Cruz was more than partly gutted with the department officials describing it “quite an exercise especially with the State cyclone mock drill simultaneously in play.” The fire fighters took a few hours to douse huge flames. The cause of fire is however not known.  While Saturday saw around 35 fire incidents, a hill near Quepem caught fire in the late hours. The fire was visible from far off places. Fire fighters rushed to the spot and were involved in fire fighting till going to the press. Another fire was also reported at Padal Hill in Bethora. Firemen attempt to douse the flames after a house caught fire near ICICI Bank, St Cruz. REPORTS ON PAGE 2 In Colva, tragedy struck a family at midnight when two houses along with the household goods, including gold ornaments, were completely gutted in an inferno, destroying property worth lakhs of rupees. The incident occurred around midnight when the two houses located near the Church were engulfed by a massive fire. Within minutes, the two houses were reduced 2 months on, taxi service at Mopa yet to take off THE GOAN I NETWORK GoaMiles, Goa Taxi App only relief for passengers THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI At 9 am on January 5, 2023, the first passenger flight arrived at the Manohar International Airport from Hyderabad, marking the commencement of operations. But two months on, the taxi service at the grand facility is still not in place.  The proposed blue cab service and a special pre-paid taxi counter are yet to see the light of day. The only relief for GOX passengers -- a large chunk of who comprise tourists -- is taxis affiliated with GoaMiles App and the staterun Goa Taxi App.   The Transport Department is scrutinizing applications claiming that officers are following the process before sealing the deal. “We have prioritized 150-odd applications received from locals, who own four-wheelers. This will be followed by scrutiny of around 1,200 applications of individuals who do not own cars but are interested to associate with us for cab service,” Director Rajan Satardeskar said.  The local taxi operators demanded Yellow and Black in wide circulation for the past two-three months, causes more hospitalisations than other subtypes, said ICMR scientists who keep a close watch on ailments caused by respiratory viruses through the Virus Research and Diagnostic Laboratories network. They have also suggested a list of Dos and Don’ts for people to follow to protect themselves from contracting the virus. The Indian Medical Association (IMA), on the other hand, has advised against indiscriminate use of antibiotics amid rising cases of cough, cold and general public and interested parties to submit complaints, replies, or documents pertaining to their claims for illegal and grabbing carried out through forged documents, to the Commission. The Commission also directed to issue notices under section 8-B of the Commissions of Inquiry Act, 1952 to PANAJI The Goa Public Service Commission (GPSC) on Friday recommended the promotions of around 24 officers across different departments, following a meeting of the Departmental Promotion Committee (DPC) chaired by Jose Manuel Noronha. Among the promoted officers is the Superintending Engineer of the Public Works Department (PWD), who is elevated to the post of Chief Engineer; besides two Executive Engineers to the position of Superintending Engineers. In the Goa Civil Cadre, the Commission has recommended the promotion of nine officials to the senior administrative grade from the junior administrative grade. Noronha said that these officers can now be appointed to senior posts in the cadre service under Goa Civil Service Rules 2016. A senior official’s promotion to the post of Deputy Director in the Directorate of Fire and Emergency Services, two officials attached to the Water Resources Department elevated to the post of Additional Chief Engineer, six officials’ promotion to >Continued on P5 >Continued on P5 GoaMiles gets head start, claims over 40% business at Mopa PANAJI: GoaMiles has managed to pull 40-45 per cent of passengers within two months of the MIA’s commissioning. Exorbitant tariff charged by its competitors has given the State’s first app-based service an upper hand at Mopa.  “We have been successful in pulling 40-45 per cent of the crowd. Given this response, we are soon to add 500 cabs to the existing fleet,” Managing Director & CEO, Utkarsh Dabhade told The Goan.  One of the key officials, Aslam claimed that locals constitute the highest customers. “Tourists are reluctant to download the >Continued on P5 Taxi permits at the second airport soon after its inauguration in December 2022; however, the government put its foot down to give an image makeover to the taxi service at the new facility by proposing blue colour airport taxis. A pre-paid counter was agreed upon.  Exactly two months later, the government’s ambitious project is awaiting implementation with quite a few other initiatives also pending. “We are following the process. It will be completed at the earliest… An agreement with the airport will also be signed,” the director added.  As the waiting period gets longer, it is understood that authorities have set a “temporary arrangement” allowing plying of other tourist taxis, in what could create friction among the existing taxi operators.  The first phase of the Rs 2,870 crore Mopa airport project is expected to cater to around 44 lakh passengers per annum, which can be expanded to a saturation capacity of 33 million passengers per annum.  nausea across the country. Seasonal fever will last five to seven days, it said. The fever goes away at the end of three days but the cough can persist for up to three weeks, the IMA’s Standing Committee for Anti-Micro- bial Resistance said. Viral cases have also surged due to air pollution, it said, adding that it mostly occurs in people aged below 15 and above 50 and causes upper respiratory infections along with fever. The association also asked doctors to prescribe only symptomatic treatment and not antibiotics. ‘Right now, people start taking antibiotics like Azithromycin and Amoxiclav etc and stop it once start feeling better. This needs to be stopped as it leads to antibiotic resistance. Whenever there to ashes, leaving the occupants without shelter. Besides gold ornaments, the fire did not spare school books and uniforms of the children who were preparing for the ensuing SSC preliminary examination as they were all gutted. In Curtorim, a jeep and a car were destroyed in a major fire in the wee hours of Saturday while in Curchorem, a grocery store was completely destroyed. The store is located on the ground floor of City Center building at Curchorem. 24 officers set for promotions after GPSC nod YESTERDAY ONCE MORE! Students participate in a dance at the Abolianchem Fest at Altinho on Saturday. The festival was celebrated by Nirmala Institute of Education in collaboration with Directorate of Art and Culture. (Report and more photos on pg 9)  Narayan Pissurlenkar Land grab probe: Accused in more than one case to be summoned THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI The Commission of Enquiry into land grabbing cases has directed the office to issue notices to the accused booked in more than one case of land fraud as it held its first hearing into 44 First Information Reports (FIRs) this week.   Soon after taking over the inquiry in January 2023, Alarm bells as Covid-like flu sweeps across India PTI Fires rage across Goa, 70 incidents in 24 hrs will be a real use of antibiotics, they will not work due to the resistance,’ the IMA said in a statement. The most misused antibiotics are Amoxicillin, Norfloxacin, Oprofloxacin, Ofloxacin and Levofloxacin. These are being used for the treatment of diarrhoea and UTI, it said. ‘We have already seen widespread use of Azithromycin and Ivermectin during Covid and this too has led to resistance. It is necessary to diagnose whether the infection is bacterial or not before prescribing antibiotics,’ it said. the one-man commission of former Bombay High Court judge, Justice V K Jadhav inspected several properties in Assagao, Calangute, Anjuna, and other areas along with the Special Investigation Team (SIT) and concerned government officials. The report was accompanied by case papers submitted by the SIT. With the hearing underway, Justice Jadhav has urged the Railways to start Vande Bharat train on Mumbai-Goa route PTI THANE A Vande Bharat semi-high speed express train will be operated on the Mumbai-Goa route soon, Union Minister of State for Railways Raosaheb Danve has informed legislators from Maharashtra. This information was shared by Niranjan Davkhare, a member of the Maharashtra Legislative Council representing the Konkan graduates constituency. The delegation met Danve where the Union minister told the group that a Vande Bharat Express train will be operated between Mumbai and Goa, Davkhare said. This express train will be operated between Mumbai and Goa on the lines of the ones introduced recently on Mumbai-Shirdi and Mumbai-Solapur routes to curtail travel time, Danve said. The electrification of the Mumbai-Goa railway route has been completed and the new train service will be introduced following an inspection, the minister said. The delegation discussed several issues concerning railways in Thane and Konkan region with the minister during the meeting.