log on to thegoan.net @thegoanonline THURSDAY NOVEMBER 16, 2023 Facebook.com/thegoan The Goan E-Paper (Playstore/IOS) 12 pages PRICE ` 10 PANAJI MARGAO GOA VOLUME IX, NO. 149 Instagram.com/thegoanonline RNI: GOAENG/2015/65729 3 12 2 9 Sawant defends plan to CM sticks to his guns on tribal reservations tweak Comunidade law GOA GOA INFO Vasco street fight video: Police say it is related to road rage GCZMA yet to set up effective inbuilt monitoring mechanism on violations Soak your feet in apple cider vinegar; It helps cure these diseases n SAYS MOVE IS TO PROTECT GOAN HOUSES, NOT SLUMS n ASSURES TO TAKE COMUNIDADES INTO CONFIDENCE THE GOAN I NETWORK Pernem teen dies of electrocution PERNEM: A 18-year old boy was electrocuted at Palye, Pernem on Wednesday afternoon after coming in contact with electric pole. The deceased is identified as Ganesh Tilve. The tragic incident occurred when Ganesh had gone to play volleyball with his friends at around 12.30 pm. He got electrocuted and collapsed on the ground. Ganesh was declared brought dead at the hospital. Two more persons have also been injured in the incident. PANAJI The State government is contemplating yet another effort to legalise houses built on lands belonging to Comunidades less than a year after it aborted an earlier attempt through the controversial and a wider ‘Bhumiputra Adhikaran Bill’. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant who was addressing a post-cabinet press conference on Wednesday said the Comunidade bodies will be taken into confidence while tweaking the laws to grant protection to houses built by Goans on the land of these bodies. Sawant also indicated that the government is actively considering tweaking the statute governing the Comunidades to grant this protection to the houses of native Goans many of which are facing action from the managing committees of these bodies across Goa. He stressed to explain, however, that it will not regularise any of the slums. THE ROAD AHEAD „„CM Pramod Sawant indicated that the government is actively considering tweaking the statute governing the Comunidades to grant this protection to the houses of native Goans many of which are facing action from the managing committees of these bodies across Goa „„Sawant said that the solution and what changes must be made in the law will be arrived at by taking these Comunidades into confidence „„He said the move is not to regularise slums but to grant protection to houses constructed by ‘niz Goenkars’ „„Almost 500 houses in Canacona and 150 in Saligao have been issued demolition notices as they are built on Comunidade land Sawant also said, that the solution and what changes must be made in the law will be arrived at by taking these Comunidades into confidence. He said, the move is not to regularise slums but to grant protection to houses constructed by ‘niz Goenkars’. “Almost 500 houses in Canacona and 150 in Saligao have been issued demolition notices as they are built on Comunidade land,” Sawant said, adding that if people have letters issued by the Comunidade, it will be accepted. Pointing out that in some places like Canacona, Saligao and Pernem nearly 70 to 80 per cent of the houses in Comunidade areas were of locals, Sawant said the State government is thinking of protecting them. Sawant’s comments on the issue came after queries were raised by journalists at the press conference regarding houses on Comunidade land which were facing demolition. Sawant said, at present there are about 500 houses in Canacona and 150 to 200 houses in Saligao which are on Comunidade land and facing action. The issue of legalising residential structures in Comunidade land has been hanging fire for over two decades and multiple attempts by past governments have either failed or were aborted, the most recent being the Bhumiputra Bill. Although the Bill was passed by the Assembly, it was allowed to lapse without becoming a law after widespread protests across the State had the ruling BJP government facing allegations of protecting migrant slums for vote bank politics. Meanwhile, at the cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Sawant said, it was decided that the ‘Vikas Bharat Yatra’ will be taken to all the village panchayats in Goa. The goal is to create awareness in the villages of all the existing government schemes and how people can avail them. VASCO: Two passengers travelling to Bengaluru from Goa were on Wednesday were detained after they created a bomb hoax during security check at the Dabolim Airport on late Tuesday night.   >> See pg 5 THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI Alleging that the on-going agitation demanding political reservation for Schedule Tribe (ST) Community is politically motivated, the Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Wednesday said that the BJP-led State government is committed to ensure that the community gets political reservation in 2027, when the next Goa Assembly elections are scheduled. Sawant said that a delegation led by him, comprising of Social Welfare Minister, Goa Legislative Assembly Speaker and Tribal leaders will meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah at the earliest pressing for the long pending demand. “My government is 100 per cent positive about tribal reservation. We have done correspondence with the concerned department. We will see that in 2027 political reservation is granted to the tribal. We are committed to give political reservation to our tribal people,” he said while addressing a programme to commemorate Bhagwan Bisra Munda on his birth anniversary. The Chief Minister alleged Maha native held for sexual assault MAPUSA: A Maharashtra native was arrested for sexually harassing a minor girl on Wednesday, Mapusa Police informed. >> See pg 3 Bihar native held in assault case MAPUSA: Mapusa police on Wednesday arrested a Bihar native for allegedly assaulting a neighbour with a chopper at Cunchelim, Mapusa.  >> See pg 5 WEATHER >> Max: 30 C Min: 25 C Humidity: 80% TIDES Low: High: 06:43 18:48 01:19 12:10 Goa’s National Games INDIA STORMS INTO FINAL snooker player among 2 arrested for thefts V THE GOAN I NETWORK POLICE FILE… PANAJI A snooker player, who represented Goa in the just-held National Games, is among two persons arrested by the Porvorim police in a series of theft cases. With this, the Porvorim police have solved four cases of house break-ins and two bike thefts. Addressing a press conference on Wednesday, Superintendent of Police (North Goa) Nidhin Valsan, who headed the investigation team revealed that accused player Suleman Shaikh, and Shabbirsaheb Shalavadi’s involvement in crime stemmed from their addiction to casino gambling and a lavish lifestyle. The police recovered properties valued at Rs 17 lakh approx with more arrests and recovery of stolen properties likely. “Over the past six months, the accused committed major burglaries in and around „„The Porvorim police have solved four cases of house break-ins and two bike thefts „„The police recovered properties valued at Rs 17 lakh approx with more arrests and recovery of stolen properties likely „„The accused player Suleman Shaikh and Shabbirsaheb Shalavadi’s involvement in crime stemmed from their addiction to casino gambling and a lavish lifestyle irat Kohli struck a record 50th hundred and fast bowler Mohammed Shami’s seven-wicket haul proved equally crucial as India overpowered New Zealand by 70 runs in a high-scoring match on Wednesday to march into the World Cup final. Australia and South Africa meet in the second semifinal at Kolkata’s Eden Gardens on Thursday, with the final on Sunday in Ahmedabad. „„Kohli broke Sachin Tendulkar’s record as he hammered his 50th ODI century in the World Cup semifinals „„Kohli added another feather to his cap as he also broke Tendulkar’s all-time record for the most runs (673) in a single World Cup campaign „„In the ongoing edition, Kohli now has 711 runs and counting SHAMI HEROICS „„Mohammed Shami (7/57) recorded the best bowling figures ever bowled in a knock-out phase of the men's cricket world cup. This was also the fifth seven-wicket haul in a World Cup innings >> Reports on pg 12 >Continued on P5 ST reservation movement protests, wants CM to quit as tribal minister PANAJI: In a significant show of strength, scores of supporters of political reservation for Goa’s Scheduled Tribes responded to the call of ‘Mission Political Reservation for STs of Goa’ and held a protest at the Azad Maidan on Wednesday evening. During the protest, a demand was raised that Sawant immediately quit as Tribal Welfare Minister (shed the portfolio which he currently holds).  >> See pg 3 that “some” are trying to pollute the environment using the issue. “It has become a political tool for some… Those who never contributed for the tribal people and never gave any scheme are raising voices. I would say rather they have done injustice to the tribal community,” he said, adding it is the BJP government which has given justice to the tribal community. He recalled that it was during the Atal Bihari Vajapayee government that the three tribes were included in ST. “Also former Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar designed many schemes for the tribal and today we are implementing them fully,” he said. Speaking to media persons at the sidelines, Sawant said “the current protest is politically motivated. We have made it very clear that by 2027 polls ST will get the political reservation and accordingly our government is following it up continuously”. He said that as per law, the Delimitation Commission has to be set up and Census has to take place. The Central government, via a communication to Goa government in July,, declined its proposal to grant political reservation to ST in 2027 assembly polls. The Legislative Department- Government of India said that the next delimitation exercise and the readjustment of seats, including the number of seats to be >Continued on P5 Govt withdraws ferry fee hike THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI The State government’s River Navigation Department on Wednesday withdrew the introduction of fees for two-wheeler users and the hike in fees for four-wheelers using ferry services on routes across Goa. Issuing a fresh notification on Wednesday, the department has now specified separate charges for two sets of ferry routes in North and South Goa, exempting two-wheeler users from any charges. In North Goa, the charges for three-wheelers and cars now will be Rs 7 per trip as against the Rs 40 per ride it had notified in the November 2 notification. The monthly pass will be Rs 315 as against Rs 600 it had earlier proposed. On the ferry routes in South Goa, the new charges for three-wheelers and cars will be Rs 10 per trip and the monthly pass for unlimited number of trips will be Rs 400. RECORDS GALORE FOR KOHLI North Goa. In Porvorim itself, three major burglaries were reported in three months. We soon formed a dedicated team, examined CCTV footage from nearly 50 locations, and identified suspects through technical surveillance,” the WC qualifiers: Blue Tigers face difficult away test against Kuwait Alleges agitation is politically motivated IN SHORT >> Two detained for bomb hoax at Dabolim Airport SPORTS REVISED FARE „„In North Goa, the charges for three-wheelers and cars now will be Rs 7 per trip as against the Rs 40 per ride it had notified in the November 2 notification „„The monthly pass will be Rs 315 as against Rs 600 it had earlier proposed „„On the ferry routes in South Goa, the new charges for three-wheelers and cars will be Rs 10 per trip and the monthly pass for unlimited number of trips will be Rs 400 The Goa government’s decision to announce a hike in ferry charges for four-wheeler vehicles and to start charging for two-wheeler vehicles had seen rumblings of discontent especially among those living on Goa’s riverine islands and >Continued on P5 Tamnar project needed to tone up Driver refused to cooperate, move vehicle, says resort owner’s son power infra in State: Sawant Claims he appeared dazed, may have consumed some substances Says around 80 per cent of project is completed THE GOAN I NETWORK MARGAO Strongly batting for the Tamnar power project, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Wednesday said some people even went to the Supreme Court to stall the power project without realising that the project was necessary to tone up the power infrastructure to provide uninterrupted power supply to the people of Goa. The Chief Minister further said the government is committed to give a big boost to the generation of solar power to ensure zero carbon emis- CM SPEAKS „„Some people opposed the Tamnar project in a big way by going to the Supreme Court „„Tamnar project was proposed to bring power from Karnataka. We need Tamnar project to bring the power „„Around 80 per cent of the project is completed and hardly 20 per cent work needs to be done „„Without the power infrastructure, we will go back to the age of lanterns and kandils sion by 2040. Speaking after launching the Rs 65 crore underground power cabling project in the villages of Majorda and Betal- batim on Wednesday, the Chief Minister said implementation of the Tamnar project has been delayed by a year and half just because some people went to the Supreme Court. “Some people opposed the Tamnar project in a big way by going to the Supreme Court. Tamnar project was proposed to bring power from Karnataka. We need Tamnar project to bring the power. Around 80 per cent of the project is completed and hardly 20 per cent work needs to be done,” he said. He added: “But, some people went to the Supreme Court without realising that this project is for the people of Goa and not for the industries. >Continued on P5 THE GOAN I NETWORK MAPUSA Four days after the tragic accident snuffed out the life of the 57-year-old resort owner in Vagator, her son, Lester Albuquerque on Wednesday said VAGATOR ACCIDENT that the SUV driver must have consumed some substances (drugs) as he appeared dazed and refused to help in removing the vehicle under which his mother was trapped. Lester also said they tried to remove him (driver) from the LESTER RECOUNTS EVENTS ON FATEFUL DAY… „„When I asked him (accused driver) to reverse the car if possible, he started saying...where am I? Did I park my car wrongly? I think I did not do anything. I don’t know what is happening „„He may have consumed alcohol…but more than that I think he was on other substances. His behaviour indicated that he was sort of floating in the air. He was not ready to do anything and refused to step out of the car and did not help a wee bit vehicle but he refused to cooperate making it even more difficult to rescue his trapped mother. “When I asked him (ac- cused driver) to reverse the car if possible, he started saying... where am I? Did I park my car wrongly? I think I did not do anything. I don’t know what Delhi woman killed in Sancoale mishap VASCO: In a tragic incident, a 26-year old Delhi woman was killed in a road accident at Sancoale highway on Wednesday morning.  >> See pg 3 is happening,” Albuquerque said, while recounting the chain of events on that fateful evening. He said the accused driver was not even aware that an >Continued on P5