log on to thegoan.net @thegoanonline WEDNESDAY MAY 1, 2024 GOA Three arrested for kidnapping in Tivim MAPUSA: In a shocking incident reported from Madel Tivim, the Colvale police apprehended three individuals allegedly involved in the kidnapping of a civil engineer. The abduction occurred on Sunday, with the victim, Hitesh Babulalji Jangid, originally from Rajasthan but residing in Maddel Tivim, providing crucial details leading to the registration of a case.  >> See pg 3 Congress files plaint against Jt Secy to CM PANAJI: Congress lodged a formal complaint with the Chief Electoral Officer of Goa against Saket Arsekar, the Joint Secretary to Chief Minister, accusing him of breaching the Model Code of Conduct. The allegation suggests Arsekar's involvement in campaigning for BJP Lok Sabha Candidate in South Goa. Photographic evidence has also been submitted. No tech excuses: HC on Central Library AC PANAJI: The Bombay High Court at Goa has rejected the state’s government claims that on account of “technical” issues the cooling of the 5th floor of the Central Library was not working properly.  >> See pg 3 The Goan E-Paper (Playstore/IOS) 13 pages PRICE ` 10 PANAJI MARGAO GOA VOLUME IX, NO. 314 GOA RGP’s battle against political titans: Shedding spoiler image in limelight Remedies for treating discolouration of the skin ACKNOWLEDGES VACCINE’S LINK TO BLOOD CLOT DISORDERS PTI LONDON UK-headquartered pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca (AZ) has admitted that in “very rare cases” its Covid vaccine can cause a blood clot related side effect but the causal link is unknown, according to court papers being quoted in the UK media. The Daily Telegraph reports that in a legal document submitted to the High Court in London in February for a group action being brought by 51 claimants, AZ admitted that the vaccine may cause Thrombosis with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome (TTS) in very rare cases. The AZ Vaxzevria vaccine, also manufactured by the Serum Institute of India (SII), was known in India as Covishield. It is admitted that AZ vaccine can, in very rare cases, Should Covishield vaccine takers be worried? NEW DELHI: Reacting to reports after AstraZeneca admitted ‘very rare’ side effect of Covid vaccine in UK court, Infectious disease expert Dr Ishwar Gilada said there is no cause for worry as it happened to a very few people. “No, we need not worry because a very few people have been affected by it”, he said. “The difficulty is to distinguish between the complications that are caused by Covid itself or long-Covid or the vaccine. That remains debatable and indistinguishable for the scientific community as also the legal fraternity,” he added. cause TTS. The causal mechanism is not known. Further, TTS can also occur in the absence of the AZ vaccine (or any vaccine). Causation in any individual case will be a mat- Dr Rajeev Jayadevan, co-chairman of the Indian Medical Association’s National Covid-19 Task Force said, “people who are vaccinated have an overall lower risk of death from Covid as well as complications such as post-Covid heart attacks and strokes afterward”. “Although there are extremely rare serious side effects for vaccines, the benefits far outweigh the risks. Covid vaccines have prevented hundreds of thousands of people from dying. For example, in the US, 232,000318,000 people have died from Covid, due to refusal to vaccinate from disproportionate fear of vaccination,” he added. ter for expert evidence, the newspaper quotes the legal document as stating. Lawyers acting on behalf of the claimants say they, or their loved ones, who received Odisha man gets life rap for wife’s murder PANAJI: A man from Odisha was sentenced to rigorous life imprisonment by additional sessions court for killing his wife in 2019. WEATHER >> Max: 34 C Min: 27 C Humidity: 78% TIDES Low: High: 08:55 22:03 01:53 16:52 the AZ vaccine suffered TTS a rare syndrome characterised by the concurrence of thrombosis or blood clotting and thrombocytopenia or insufficiency of platelets. W 13 LS polls: 101-yr-old woman defies age, casts vote in Vasco THE GOAN I NETWORK VASCO She may still look to be in her eighties, but Bagawwa Kolkar has her Aadhaar card to prove that she is 101 years old and she was one of the oldest persons to vote at the Lok Sabha elections currently underway in the State for certain categories of voters. The District Election Officer notified the schedule of voting by Absentee voters in the category, senior citizens (above 85 years of age) (AVSC), persons with disability flagged in the database for electoral roll (AVPD), Covid suspect or affected persons (AVCO) and Absentee Voters on Essential Services (AVES) through postal ballot paper from April 29 and till May 3 from 9 am to 5 pm. In a heartwarming display of civic duty and determination, 101-year-old Bagawwa Kolkar defied age to cast her vote at Shantinagar in Vasco on Tuesday morning. Bagawwa Kolkar casts her vote at Shantinagar-Vasco. CEO TO SEEK EC’S SAY ON VOTING RIGHTS FOR 920 IRB PERSONNEL >> See pg 3 Born in 1923, Kolkar was determined to cast her vote and it was an exciting moment in the area as she went to the polling booth arranged in her house behind the Vittal Rakumai Temple in Shantinagar. The polling team was in admiration and appreciated the elderly woman’s desire to exercise her franchise in the LS >Continued on P5 THE GOAN I NETWORK HIDDEN TREASURE: An age-old sculpture unearthed during the ongoing excavation work of Smart City near Hindu Pharmacy, Panaji on Tuesday. The carving was later taken to an undisclosed location. Apex court grills ED on timing of Kejriwal arrest prior to polls PTI NEW DELHI Terming life and liberty as “exceedingly important”, Supreme Court questioned the Enforcement Directorate on the timing of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's arrest ahead of elections in the excise policy-linked money laundering case. A bench of Justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta, which continued hearing on Kejriwal's plea challenging his arrest, posed several que- ries to Additional Solicitor General S V Raju, appearing for the ED, and sought his reply on Friday. “Life and liberty are exceedingly important. You can't deny that,” the bench told Raju and sought his reply, saying, “the last question is with regard to the timing of the arrest, which they have pointed out, soon before the general elections.” The bench also flagged the long time gap between initiation of adjudication proceedings and the action of arrest, saying section 8 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act provides a limit of 365 days. The apex court is likely to continue hearing on Kejriwal's plea on Friday as the two judges will be sitting in different combinations. It said, “Mr Raju, we have some questions, which we would like you to answer, when you make your submissions. First is without there being any adjudicatory proceedings, can ED initiate criminal proceedings in view of several judgements of this court on PMLA.” THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI The Bombay High Court at Goa on Tuesday directed a Junior Engineer from the Water Resources Department (WRD) posted at Usgao to visit the village of Usgao every evening between April 30 till May 6 to monitor the water situation in the village and thereafter file a report. The High Court, which is hearing a petition filed by villagers of Usgao, alleging shortage of water in the village was told that the water supply to the villagers in Usgao, Ponda, Goa is regular and there is no shortage. “This Junior Engineer, along with the Petitioner and other villagers, whose names the Petitioner will provide to the Junior Engineer, should monitor the water situation in the village and the Junior Engineer should file a report on the 6th of May, in this regard. If there is any variance between the Petitioner/villagers and the Junior Engineer, the Petitioner is also granted liberty to file a report. This matter will then be considered on the 6th May,” the High Court ruled. The petition was filed by one Rohan Rauji Naik. “For the present, we go by PANAJI The Bombay High Court at Goa has rapped the North Goa Planning and Development Authority for allowing illegal structures to mushroom in government land acquired and handed over the NGPDA for the beautification of the Mala lake. The property concerned >Continued on P5 Courses with less than 10 students to face closure PANAJI ith an array of options available for undergraduate students across various streams, the State government is confronted with the challenge of declining popularity in certain courses, which has led to limited student enrolment. In view of this trend, Directorate of Higher Education has issued a fresh circular for the upcoming academic year, directing institutions to discontinue those courses with fewer than 10 students. Officials, speaking on condition of anonymity to The Goan, confirmed that while instances of low enrolment have occurred in the past, no Lucknow Super Giants beats Mumbai Indians by 4 wickets HC alarmed over illegalities on govt land opposite NGPDA AS COLLEGES FACE DECLINING INTEREST IN CERTAIN DISCIPLINES… THE GOAN I NETWORK All of those within the group have death certificates or medical evidence confirming that the vaccine caused the deaths and injuries suffered, said Sarah Moore, partner at Leigh Day. It has taken AstraZeneca a year to formally admit their vaccine has caused this harm, when this was a fact widely accepted by the clinical community since the end of 2021. In that context, regrettably it seems that AZ, the government and their lawyers are more keen to play strategic games and run up legal fees than to engage seriously with the devastating impact that the vaccine has had upon our clients'' lives, she said. It is the claimants case that the safety of the AZ vaccine fell below the level of safety that persons were generally entitled to expect. AZ has strongly denied the claims. SPORTS Monitor water supply at Usgao up to May 6, HC directs JE PANAJI: In a tragic incident, a 44-year-old native of Karnataka lost his life after he drowned in Mhadei river. Agnel Fernandes hailing from Dharwad had ventured into the river for a swim accompanied by a group. He was rushed to the Valpoi health centre where he was pronounced dead on arrival. PANAJI: PI Vidyesh Pilgaonkar, implicated in the Tiracol bribery scandal, was granted bail. The arrest stemmed from allegations of bribery and extortion investigated by the ACB. Two other policemen also apprehended in connection with the incident, had secured conditional bail. RNI: GOAENG/2015/65729 INFO K’taka man drowns in Mhadei river Tiracol bribery: PI released on bail Instagram.com/thegoanonline 3 2 9 AstraZeneca admits Covishield vaccine can cause ‘side effect’ Cong eyes tsunami of voters along coast, but faces uphill task in hinterland IN SHORT >> Facebook.com/thegoan WINDS OF CHANGE „„DHE issues circular to institutions to discontinue courses with fewer than 10 students for upcoming academic year „„Officials cite instances of low enrolment of less than 10 students „„Circular mandates compliance from all undergraduate colleges, including government, aided and courses have been discontinued thus far unless requested by the particular institute. “Certain disciplines have witnessed enrolments falling below the threshold of 10 students, which prompted private institutions „„Till date, no courses have been discontinued unless requested by any institute the issuing of circulars each academic year. This year is no exception given a wide choice of disciplines across the streams,” the official said. However, there is also a provision for colleges to re- ON THE FLIP SIDE „„There is also a provision for colleges to request continuation of courses with fewer than 10 students, though disciplines with negligible enrolments, such as 2-3 students, do not come under this special category quest continuation of courses with fewer than 10 students, though disciplines with negligible enrolments, such as 2-3 students, do not come under this special category. The circular mandates compliance from all undergraduate colleges, including gov, aided, and private institutions. It has further come to the fore that aided colleges, particularly have the proactive approach requesting DHE to request discontinuation of courses with limited enrolments. “This trend (of declining enrollment) is particularly evident in the Science and Arts streams, where numerous options are available. Some once-popular courses are no longer attracting students. It is pointless to continue... Students who have chosen the less popular courses can look at options or look for other colleges...” revealed the source. The forthcoming academic year will determine the fate of many such courses, as colleges assess whether they meet the required numbers. which falls under Chalta No.160(P), P.T. Sheet No 86 of Panaji City, is exactly opposite the office of the NGPDA. “The fact that illegal constructions of such a magnitude can come up right in front of the NGPDA Office and full view of the NGPDA's officials, is quite shocking. What is even more shocking is that the NGPDA chose not to take any serious action against such illegal constructions until the present Petition was filed or the Petitioners made their intention of filing the present Petition, made known to the NGPDA and the CCP,” the High Court bench of Justices M S Sonak and Valmiki Menezes, observed. The High Court has directed the NGPDA to “file an affidavit >Continued on P5