log on to thegoan.net @thegoaneveryday TUESDAY MARCH 7, 2023 GOA Soon, all pharmacies to have generic medicine counters 12 pages Facebook.com/thegoaneveryday The Goan (Playstore) PRICE ` 8 PANAJI MARGAO GOA VOLUME VIII, NO.258 3 GOA Filmy style drama in Margao, bike riders chase car after accident 5 Instagram.com/thegoaneveryday RNI: GOAENG/2015/65729 INFO One good way to make your salad healthier Arson suspected in Sattari forest fire, probe ordered  NAVY DEPLOYS AIRCRAFT TO CHECK GROUND SITUATION, EXTENT OF FIRE AREAS  8 ACTIVE FIRE LOCATIONS REPORTED ON PAGE 2 THE GOAN I NETWORK VALPOI Suspecting arson to be the likely cause behind the major forest fire at the Satre hill in Sattari taluka, Forest Minister Vishwajit Rane on Monday directed authorities to investigate and to submit a report into the incident. He also stated that senior forest officials are in contact with the Navy in case the naval helicopters are to be deployed as part of the firefighting exercise. On Monday morning, the Navy deployed a Dornier Aircraft on request of the Forest Department, to ascertain ground situation and extent of fire areas. A total of eight active fire locations were re- IN SHORT >> Litigation delayed KA work: Gaude PANAJI: Art & Culture Minister Govind Gaude alleged that public litigation delayed the Kala Academy renovation project by one and half year. He said that the complex, except for the main auditorium will be ready for testing by March end and that all other work will be completed before monsoons. Vishwajit floats idea of ‘tiger park’ PANAJI: Forest Minister Vishwajit Rane has floated the idea of a ‘tiger park’ even as he said acquiring a striped cat for the zoo in Bondla has been abandoned for lack of requisite facilities there.   >> See pg 3 Nepali arrested with charas worth `  .7L 3 PANAJI: A 57-year-old man, Datta Bahadur Nath was on Monday arrested by the Crime Branch for allegedly peddling drugs in Arambol. The alleged peddler is a native of Nepal and was found with Charas weighing 930 grams worth Rs 3.72 lakh. WEATHER >> Max: Min: Humidity: TIDES 36 C 21 C 72% Low: 05.14 High: 10.52 17.03 23.33 Fire continues to rage at Navelim-Drampaur hillock Paper godown catches fire at Chimbel Yuri demands high-level probe into fire incidents The crops destroyed in the fire at Satre hills in Sattari.   Uday Sawant ported by Navy consequent to the aerial survey. As the forest fire wreaked havoc on the third consecutive day, fires were also reported in neighbouring areas like Charvane and Chorla. Various officials including the Sattari Deputy Collector, Mamlatdar, fire officials and panchayat officials were coordinating with the firefighting operations. Officials claimed that much of the fire had been brought under control by late Monday evening, but they have not ruled out a fire starting in neighbouring Parwad area of Karnataka. Deputy Collector Praveen Parab and Mamlatdar Dasharath Gawas have directed Valpoi and Bicholim fire stations to be on alert, while the community health centres at Valpoi and Sankhali have also been put on alert. HC seeks details on how Sunburn was given nod Officials said over 50 personnel have been deployed at the Satre Hill as part of the firefighting operations and local villagers have also been assisting in the task. INVESTIGATION Forest Minister Vishwajit Rane visited the Chorla Ghat area on Monday evening and inspected the overall situation by interacting with forest officials. >Continued on P5 ISL semis: Mumbai City faces red-hot Bengaluru in first leg 208 FIRE-RELATED INCIDENTS REPORTED IN 96 HOURS THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI In the midst of extreme heat, Goa is witnessing a sudden spurt in incidents of forest fires. The last couple of days have been challenging for the firefighters given that out of 208 fire-related incidents reported in 96 hours, 178 were burning of dry grasses, fields including cashew plantation, hillocks and even Mhadei wildlife sanctuary.  Goa logged many hottest days in February, the month when the coastal State usually experiences slightly milder winter and breezy conditions.  With many regions of Goa currently under the tight grip of heat; the State, perhaps for the first time, is stunned by raging forest fires. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) Goa cites higher temperatures Officials at fire control room on their toes PANAJI: The Fire Services Control Room is exceptionally busy taking more than twice as many calls as usual. Fire-related calls are higher with operators on their toes to ensure the concerned stations are quickly alerted to arrange rescue operations, and at the same time compile daily data.  As per the figures shared with The Goan, 48 cases of dry grass and field fires were reported in the North Zone 49 in Central Zone and 41 in South Zone whereas nine, 13 and 18 wildland fires were reported in the respective three zones in less than four days. The fire officials attended to the highest 81 fire calls on March 4.  with lower humidity to fire incidents.  “The temperature is not completely an unnatural phenomenon. We have experienced this in the past as well, but certainly this time the highest temperature is frequent. February was comparatively hotter… The lower humidity value at 2030 percent is possibly lead- PANAJI The Bombay High Court has asked the Goa government to explain the process behind the grant of permission to hold the Sunburn Music Festival at Anjuna in the final week of December last year after the Court smelled a rat in the process to issue permission. “The petitioner, respondent no.10 (Sunburn) and the Deputy Collector who has issued the permission dated 28.12.2022 under the Noise Pollution Rules must file affidavits giving full details about the application and how the same was processed. Necessary copies must also be annexed to the affidavit,” the High Court bench of Justices M S Sonak and Valmiki Menezes Sa said. The High Court noted how “permission was granted on 28.12.2022 based upon the application which was inwarded only on 27.12.2022.” “The Chief Secretary should also look into the process by which permission was granted on 28.12.2022 based upon the application which was inwarded only on 27.12.2022. The Chief Secretary should look into the notification dat- ed 05.01.2022 containing the Department of Environment and Climate Change action plan in the context of the Noise Pollution Rules. The Chief Secretary must report on the officers who were involved in this process of grant of permission,” the High Court said. The High Court was hearing a petition filed by one Rajesh Sinary, who in his petition 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. Back in January the High the context of the Noise Pollution Rules „„Chief Secretary must report on officers who were involved in this process of grant of permission „„At least, prima facie, this appears to be a case of deliberate inaction or the lack of will to enforce the law „„Chief Secretary to file a detailed report within 15 days Court noted how it was “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 law,” HC bench of Justices M S Sonak and Bharat Deshpande ruled. The CS has been directed to file a report within 15 days. PTI RAHUL GANDHI IN LONDON C Congress leader Rahul Gandhi at the Houses of Parliament complex in London, UK on Monday. he described as a “stifling” of Opposition in India. “Our mikes are not out of order, they are functioning, but you still can’t switch them on. That’s happened to me a number of times while I am speaking,” the 52-year-old Wayanad „„Our mikes are not out of order, they are functioning, but you still can’t switch them on „„We were not allowed to discuss demonetisation, which was a disastrous financial decision „„GST decision also was not allowed to discuss… so also the Chinese troops entering Indian territory „„We have to use debates to fit in other debates... There is a stifling that is going on MP told the gathering, in response to a question about sharing his experience of being a politician in India with his counterparts in Britain. “Demonetisation, which was a disastrous financial decision, we were not allowed to discuss. The GST we were not allowed to discuss. Chinese troops entering Indian territory we were not allowed to discuss. I remember a Parliament where there were vibrant discussions, heated debates, arguments, disagreements but >Continued on P5 PTI KEY HIGH COURT OBSERVATIONS „„Chief Secretary should look into the process by which permission was granted on 28.12.2022 based on application which was inwarded only on 27.12.2022 „„Chief Secretary should look into the notification dated 05.01.2022 containing the Department of Environment and Climate Change action plan in ing to dry grass and forest fires,” IMD Scientist Rahul M told The Goan.  The uncontrolled fire in Mhadei Wildlife Sanctuary on Sunday besides three fire incidents in Curchorem, Sanguem and Padal Hill in Bethora gave the firefighters a tough time as the blaze Hot weather: PM for fire audits of hospitals, daily forecasts ASKS GOVT TO EXPLAIN PROCESS, CITES APPLICATION DATED ONE DAY BEFORE PERMISSION WAS GRANTED THE GOAN I NETWORK 12 IMD explains new trend of raging forest fires TRADITION COMES ALIVE Devotees light a bonfire to symbolize the burning of Holika on the eve of Holi at at Mahalaxmi temple, Panaji on Monday.  Narayan Pissurlenkar 98% Sonsodo legacy dump cleared: Govt to High Court THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI The Goa government has told the Bombay High Court at Goa that it has completed the remediation of 98 per cent of the legacy waste that was lying dumped at Sonsodo, Advocate General Devidas Pangam said.  Speaking to reporters af- Mikes in Parliament silenced, Rahul tells UK MPs LONDON ongress leader Rahul Gandhi told British parliamentarians in the Houses of Parliament complex in London on Monday that functioning microphones in the Lok Sabha are often silenced against the Opposition. During an event organised by veteran Indian-origin Opposition Labour Party MP Virendra Sharma in the Grand Committee Room within the House of Commons, Gandhi also shared experiences from the ‘’Bharat Jodo Yatra’’ which he described as a “deeply political exercise in mass mobilisation”. In a lighter vein, he used a faulty microphone in the room to make his point about what 10 SPORTS we had a conversation. And, that’s frankly what we miss in Parliament. We have to use debates to fit in other debates. There is a stifling that is going on, he said. The BJP has accused Gandhi of maligning India on foreign soil while praising China. Union Minister Anurag Thakur on Monday hit out at Gandhi for his remarks and asked the Congress leader not to betray the nation. “Don’t betray India, Rahul Gandhi ji. The objections to India’s foreign policy is an evidence of your scant understanding of the issue ,” Thakur told reporters in New Delhi. Thakur said Rshul Gandhi has resorted to “maligning India” from foreign soil as part of a conspiracy to hide his failures. ter the hearing, the Advocate General also said that the entire legacy dump will be cleared within a week’s time.  “Ninety eight per cent of the work is completed there. Only 2 per cent is remaining which will be completed within seven days. Then there’s a time for the contractor to remove the entire waste from there -time up to the end of 2024. We are trying to make him lift it as soon as possible so that this site is available for the solid waste management plan and the project,” Pangam said.  “The legacy waste, which has been lying there for decades together and which had become a menace and was really a problem, is cleared >Continued on P5 NEW DELHI Prime Minister Narendra Modi Monday chaired a high-level meeting to review preparedness for the hot weather condition in the upcoming summer season and called for preparing separate awareness material for different stakeholders like common citizens, medical professionals, local body authorities and disaster response teams. The PMO, in a statement, said that Modi was briefed about the weather forecast for the next few months and on the likelihood of a normal monsoon. Modi instructed India Meteorological Department to prepare daily weather forecasts in a manner which makes predictions easy to interpret and disseminate. TV news channels and FM radio among other media outlets could spend a few minutes daily to explain the daily weather forecast so that citizens can take necessary precautions, the statement said. He also stressed the need for detailed fire audits of all hospitals and said mock fire drills be conducted by firefighters in all hospitals. Ongoing efforts to monitor irrigation water supply, fodder and drinking water were also reviewed in the meeting, the statement said. With e-courts, judiciary to soon be paperless: Rijiju THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI Union Law Minister Kiren Rijiju on Monday said adopting effective use of technology is the government’s aim to tackle the huge pendency while the eventual goal is to make the Indian Judiciary paperless. “Phase III of the e-courts project has already begun to digitize the justice delivery system, Rijiju said while delivering his inaugural address to the 23rd Commonwealth Law conference which kicked off in the State on Monday. The five-day conference is being attended by jurists The 23rd Commonwealth Law Conference kicked off in the State on Monday and is being attended by jurists and delegates from almost all Commonwealth countries and delegates from almost all Commonwealth countries. Rijiju, who is the points man of the Modi government’s interface with the judiciary in an ongoing back-and-forth with the Supreme Court Collegium over judicial appointments, said there should be a defined separation of powers between the three wings -- legislature, executive and judiciary.  “If any wing tries to encroach on the territory of another wing, that must be fiercely resisted because that poses great danger to democracy itself. If the legislature, executive or judiciary tries to overstep, it must be a concern for everybody. It is not one wing. It is for all to come together,” Rijiju said. The Minister also said that anyone attempting to malign India and its institutions will not succeed. The comment was seemingly an oblique reference and supplementing >Continued on P5