log on to thegoan.net @thegoaneveryday FRIDAY MARCH 24, 2023 GOA Man held for sexually abusing daughter VASCO: A 41-year-old man was arrested by Vasco police on charges of sexually abusing his minor daughter. Vasco police have arrested the accused under Sections 354, 376 (3) IPC, Section 8 (2) of Goa Children Act and Section 8 and 12 of POCSO Act. Lady PSI Vibha Volvoikar is carrying out further investigation. Shigao local duped of `  .02L in cyber fraud 3 PANAJI: A person from Shigao was duped to the tune of Rs 3.02 lakh by cyber fraudsters by luring the person with high return on investment. Collem police have filed a complaint against the unidentified owner of the Instagram handle @Kairajames in this regards. Balrath employees withdraw agitation PANAJI: Balrath employees on Thursday announced that they will not go ahead with their proposed March 27 agitation as CM Pramod Sawant has assured them of accepting their demands. Employees of Balrath buses, which ferry students to and from schools, have warned of an agitation from March 27 if their long-pending demands including hike in wages were not met. The Goan (Playstore) 13 pages PRICE ` 8 PANAJI MARGAO GOA VOLUME VIII, NO. 275 Benaulim locals worry culverts on bypass will not prevent flooding IN SHORT >> Facebook.com/thegoaneveryday 2 GOA Velsao stone-pelting case: 4 accused framed, claims advocate 3 WEATHER >> Max: Min: Humidity: TIDES 33 C 24 C 48% Low: 06:28 1841 High: ------12:56 Foods to prevent the risk of heart diseases in diabetics GUJ COURT GRANTS BAIL, SUSPENDS SENTENCE FOR 30 DAYS TO APPEAL; FACES RISK OF DISQUALIFICATION THE ORDER PTI SURAT/DELHI Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was on Thursday sentenced to two years in jail by a Surat court in a 2019 criminal defamation case over his “Modi surname” remark, in a setback to the Lok Sabha MP who faces the risk of disqualification. The court of Chief Judicial Magistrate HH Varma, which held 52-year-old Gandhi guilty under Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections 499 and 500, also granted him bail and suspended the sentence for 30 days to allow him to appeal in a higher court. Gandhi can escape immediate disqualification as a member of parliament if the appellate court suspends the conviction as well as the two-year jail term. As the conviction ahead of „„Gandhi could have limited his speech to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Nirav Modi, Vijay Mallya, Mehul Choksi, and Anil Ambani, but he “intentionally” made a statement that hurt individuals carrying the Modi surname „„The seriousness of the accused's crime increased because a speech delivered by a member of parliament has a ‘very wide impact on the public’ „„And if the accused is given less punishment, then it sends a wrong message to the public and the purpose of defamation is not fulfilled and anybody will easily slander someone the 2024 Lok Sabha elections set off a political slugfest and posed another challenge to Gandhi with a bearing on his political future, the Congress said he will file an appeal. Gandhi could have limited his speech to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Nirav Modi, Vijay Mallya, Mehul Choksi, and Anil Ambani, but he “intentionally” made a statement that hurt individuals carrying the Modi surname, and thereby committed criminal defamation, the court said in its 168-page order. Gandhi was present in the court when the verdict was pronounced. Senior Congress leaders went into a huddle at its chief Mallikarjun Kharge's “My religion is based on truth and non-violence. Truth is my God, non-violence the means to get it. -- Mahatma Gandhi.” -Rahul Gandhi tweets residence in Delhi in the evening to discuss the future strategy and the political fallout for the party in the wake of the verdict. Sources said a petition to challenge the order is being prepared and will be filed in a District and Sessions court. >Continued on P5 Pipeline repair continues, acute water shortage in Bardez DUST AND THE CITY! THE GOAN I NETWORK 16 more Covid cases in State NEW DELHI: As unified payments interface (UPI)-based transactions continue to break all records, India’s e-commerce market is projected to grow from $83 billion in 2022 to $150 billion in 2026, as cash transactions decline further, a report showed on Thursday. INFO 9 Bairstow to miss entire IPL, Livingstone cleared: Report A JCB machine while loading pile of waste dumped under Atal Setu into a truck (both not in picture) creates dust near KTC bus stand, Panaji, on Thursday. Narayan Pissurlenkar Goa forest area is 1,271 sq kms, no encroachments, RS told THE GOAN I NETWORK MARGAO A biennial assessment of the forest cover in Goa carried out by the Forest Survey of India has pegged the recorded forest area in the State at 1,271 square kilometres, which is around 34.33 per cent of the total geographical area of the State. A glance at the category-wise forest area in Goa shows that reserve forest is A GLANCE: CATEGORY-WISE Reserve forest is pegged around 119 sq kms; Protected forests around 755 sq kms; Unclassed forest area around 397 sq kms pegged around 119 square kilometres, protected forests around 755 square kilometres, unclassed forest area around 397 square kilometres. This was informed by Union Minister of State in Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Ashwini Kumar Choubey in reply to an unstarred question tabled by TMC Rajya Sabha MP Luizinho Faleiro. In the reply, the Minister further pointed out that as per the information provided by the Goa State Forest Department there is no recorded forest >Continued on P5 MAPUSA Work to repair the water pipeline which burst at “Ambeani” at the Tivim-Mapusa border in the wee hours of Wednesday continued till late Thursday night. Sources said the pipeline was repaired late Wednesday night but it developed a leakage twice after the repair work, prompting officials to resume repair work on Thursday. As a result, water supply in Bardez continued to be disrupted and could not be restored even on Thursday. The PWD has informed the public that restricted water supply would continue in Bardez till Saturday. “The pipeline is very old and spare parts to repair it are not available at the Mapusa office and as a result, repair work could not be carried out smoothly. The spare parts have to be ordered from elsewhere,” the source said. Meanwhile, PWD junior engineer Tanay Kandolkar, who was deployed to supervise the repair work, was injured after being struck by a commercial vehicle on Wednesday evening. He received treatment at a hospital and was later discharged. GCCI, TTAG want better mass transportation model THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI Chief Minister Pramod Sawant, who is slated to present the State government's budget for 2023-24 in the upcoming session of the Goa Legislative Assembly from March 27 to 31, will be hard pressed to balance between a plethora of demands and sops put forth by industry and the State's needs to generate revenue. Sawant has been showered with demands, the most common put forth by associations and representative bodies of almost every business sector being 'avoid new taxes' and some even asking for abolition of some levies. The demands have come up during his budget related interactions and consultations with most of the business associations and bodies. The Chief Minister has meanwhile said the budget ‘POOR’ ADMINISTRATION THE GOAN I NETWORK O A file photo of then revenue Minister Jennifer Monserrate studying the site plan of the Selaulim Rehabilitation area on August 28, 2020. new place, about 216 families got their names included as Class I occupants of the plots allotted to them. However, the remaining affected families continue to run from pillar to post to get the Class I status, despite several assurances by successive governments. In August 2020, then revenue minister Jennifer Monserrate had assured to get the issue resolved in two months and then Sanguem Deputy Collector Sanguem Ajay Gaude had even made efforts to collect the primary documents from the affected evacuees. „„In August 2020, then revenue minister Jennifer Monserrate had assured to get the issue resolved in two months and then Sanguem Deputy Collector Sanguem Ajay Gaude had even made efforts to collect the primary documents from the affected evacuees „„Monserrate and a team of surveyors even got the vacant plots at Curdi-Wadem resurveyed, to allocate them to the ‘missing families’ „„Except for the ground work and the report prepared by the surveyors, nothing much has moved in favour of the evacuees During the same time, Monserrate and a team of surveyors even got the vacant plots at Curdi-Wadem resurveyed, to allocate them to the ‘missing families’. However, except for the ground work and the report prepared by the surveyors, nothing much has moved in favour of the evacuees. Curdi-Wadem former deputy sarpanch Kushta Gaonkar, who himself is struggling to get the Class I status over 40 years, complained that the government is not serious about any of the issues faced by the Selaulim evacuees who sacrificed their ancestral lands INDUSTRY DEMANDS „„Tax rationalisation besides reduction of tax rates for gas and high-end liquor and wholesale abolition of stamp duty „„Improvement of tourism-related activity and a holistic 'entertainment policy' besides a tax waiver for charter flights SECTION 144 NEAR ASSEMBLY COMPLEX FOR BUDGET SESSION PANAJI: In view of the upcoming Budget Session of the Legislative Assembly, the Office of the Superintendent of North Goa has prohibited any activity within the Assembly complex that will disrupt the proceedings of the House. As per the order on Thursday, the Section 144 will remain in force from March 27 to till the end of the session on March 30. >> See pg 3 will spell out measures to increase government revenues and will be "all-industry" encompassing. There will also be measures to attract private investment in newer sectors to generate employment, he added. Meanwhile, industry representatives who have met Sawant and formally presented their suggestions have urged him to refrain from any new taxation even as reforms in various sectors have been sought. Tax rationalisation besides reduction of tax rates for >Continued on P5 Govt to provide counselling for ‘stressed’ ITI trainees Counsellors to address various arrays of concerns THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI With a sizeable number of trainees at Industrial Training Institutes (ITIs) walking out of the training mid-way, the government is now looking at counselling the ‘emotionally and psychologically stressed’ young minds, most of whom hail from socio-economically weaker sections. Minimal trainees are reportedly affecting the smooth functioning of government-run institutes. Titled “Scheme for Providing Counselling to the Trainees in all Government Industrial Training Institutes (ITl’s) under Directorate of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship'', the government claims expert counsellors – appointed on a 12-month contract – will address various arrays of concerns among the trainees. “Lack of counselling to trainees of Government ITIs has become a reason for many young trainees to become victims to disrupt their career and personal lives. Most of these trainees come from the weaker section of society having socio-economic challenges. The Government of Goa therefore with thoughtful concern endeavours to take due care and as an immediate 4 decades on, over 400 Selaulim evacuees await Class I status SANGUEM ver 400 Selaulim families were assured of Class 1 status within a period of two months in August 2020, in a bid to resolve a four-decade-old land ownership issue. However, the evacuees continue to remain in limbo and unsure if and when they would get their primary issue of land ownership resolved. At the time when the Selaulim Dam was constructed in 1975, the government had evacuated a total of 643 families and in the 1980s, had provided them with a housing plot of 400 sq mtrs and an agricultural plot of 10,000 sq mtrs, either at Curdi-Wadem or Valkini-Bhati. After being settled at the 13 SPORTS Rahul Gandhi gets 2 years Sawant faces dilemma of balancing sops, revenue jail in defamation case PANAJI: The Union government has extended the deadline for linking the Aadhaar number with voter ID to March 31, 2024 from April 1, 2023. The Union Ministry of Law and Justice has issued a notification to this effect. UPI to drive India’s e-commerce market RNI: GOAENG/2015/65729 BUDGET 2023-24… Deadline to link Aadhaar extended PANAJI: Goa recorded 16 new covid cases from 168 samples tested in the last 24 hours. With 11 recoveries active covid caseload stands at 142. Instagram.com/thegoaneveryday and homes to pave way for the Selaulim dam. “Besides failing to allocate any benefits to the 89 ‘missing families’, who were missed out in the survey by the government, several families who were allotted agricultural plots at Ozrem in Bhati village were not issued with ownership Sanad as of date,” said Gaonkar. “In the absence of any ownership documents and lack of Class I status, the evacuees find it hard to get any financial benefits from banks and financial institutions.” “The Class I status entitles the evacuees to get their names recorded in the occupant’s column of the survey records. Right now, their names have been recorded >Continued on P5 Students, teachers to get diet, health tips PANAJI: Students and teachers in schools across Goa are set to be imparted general health tips as also advice on other aspects of well-being including diet, mental and emotional health by teams of pediatricians as part of ‘Sankalp Sampoorn Swasthya’ from the academic year in June. Workshops will be conducted for students, teachers and parents as well where tips on health, proper sleep, understanding food labels, mental & emotional health among other aspects of personal health will be discussed. To take the initiative forward, the Directorate of Education has entered into a MoU with the Indian Academy of Pediatrics. Director of Education Shailesh Zingade said, the (IAP) has two modules and will cover the students in the 3-8 and 9-18 age groups, he added. response desires to engage expert counsellors to help them cope up with the emotional and psychological stress,” the notification reads. Ten ITIs pan-Goa imparts training in Engineering and Non-engineering trades to approx 5,000 trainees in a year. The government has allowed the hiring of five counsellors, one supervisor and a data entry operator. The Directorate of Skill Development & Entrepreneurship will pay the remuneration of the counsellors, supervisor and data entry operator from the funds provided by State Government or by the Government of India through any Centrally Sponsored Schemes, to the tune of Rs 28,000, Rs 35,000 and Rs 20,000 respectively. As per the notification, the counsellors will discuss and assist the trainees in stress management, adjusting to ITI environment, life transition and changes and also help them in case of difficulties in family relationship, depression, anxiety, anger, any form of abuse or other emotions that cause discomfort. The Department will be constituting a committee to hold walk-in interviews for these posts and is granted government permission to renew the contract, if required, strictly based on the performance of the contractual staff through the committee.