log on to thegoan.net @thegoanonline MONDAY JULY 22, 2024 GOA Facebook.com/thegoan The Goan E-Paper (Playstore/IOS) 12 pages PRICE ` 10 PANAJI MARGAO GOA VOLUME X, NO. 35 Instagram.com/thegoanonline RNI: GOAENG/2015/65729 3 12 2 9 Goa struggles as rainfall Equal status for Konkani in Roman script gets big push crosses 100-inch mark Locals voice concerns over slow drainage of flood waters in Seraulim, Mungul GOA SPORTS INFO Selaulim evacuees oppose WRD move to transfer vacant land India women post their highest T20I score to overpower UAE Home remedies to treat bunions SEVERAL GRAM SABHAS ADOPT RESOLUTIONS GIRL INJURED IN PANAJI TREE FALL DIES AT GMC THE GOAN I NETWORK >> pg 6 Budget among 10 factors to impact D-Street this week IN SHORT >> Hit-and-run mishap claims life of youth MAPUSA: A tragic hit-andrun accident claimed the life of a 20-year-old youth early Sunday morning in Duler, Mapusa. The victim, Mubakar Khan, a resident of Cunchelim, Mapusa, was a vegetable vendor in the Mapusa market. >> See pg 3 Maharashtra man held for temple theft PANAJI: Deepak Nikam, native of Maharashtra and presently residing at Pernem was arrested by Mandrem police for temple theft. The 35-year-old allegedly decamped with cash from the donation box of a temple at Mandrem. The theft was captured on CCTV. Bihar man drowns in water tank PANAJI: In a tragic incident, a 25-year-old worker from Bihar died due to drowning after he accidentally fell in the water tank of a construction project at Candolim. The deceased is identified as Ranjay Kumar Sharma. Boy infected with Nipah virus dies KOZHIKODE: The 14-year-old boy from Kerala's Malappuram, who was under treatment in Kozhikode for Nipah infection, died, state Health Minister said.  >> See pg 7 WEATHER >> Max: 27.4 C Min: 24.4 C Humidity: 92% TIDES Low: High: 04:57 17:52 12:05 23:07 PANAJI Heavy rains with gusty winds kept pounding Goa, stretching the extremely wet spell to 15 days even as a 19-yearold girl who suffered injuries when a tree branch along the Garca de Orta garden fell on her on Sunday morning died later in the day at Goa Medical College and Hospital. Heavy rains lashed the State for the 15th consecutive day since July 7 taking the seasonal total past the 100-inch mark, a good 60 per cent surplus of the State's total average rainfall. IMD officials said, it could be a new record of rainfall for July this year as the past fortnight has seen several days of more than 100 mm daily rainfall. The IMD has extended the 5-day orange alert issued yesterday by one more day until July 25. Meanwhile, in a tragic incident in the capital, the branch Major landslide in Cortalim; lucky escape for senior citizen, children The tree that fell near Garca de Orta garden in Panaji on Sunday. of a roadside tree along the Garcia de Orta garden snapped and fell on Betim resident Aarti Gond, critically injuring her. The teenager succumbed to these injuries at the GMCH later in the evening. Gond was riding her bike along the road between the Jesuit House and the municipal garden headed towards the Panaji Church Square when the tragedy occurred. Eye-witness accounts said she was hit on her head by the falling branch and suffered grievous injuries and was attended to by paramedics of the 108 Ambulance service before being shifted to the GMCH. She had been residing with her family in Betim for several years and is a native from Uttar Pradesh. This is the second such serious incident of trees falling in the Church Square area which is dotted by several rain trees. Earlier last week on Friday, a Swayampurna Goem gets a snub at Siolim p’yat meet OUT OF FIVE DEPTS ONLY ONE OFFICIAL ATTENDS AGNELO PEREIRA THE GOAN I MAPUSA The much-vaunted ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat, Swayampurna Goem’ initiative appears to be a hollow slogan, as government officials failed to attend a crucial meeting called by the Village Development Committee (VDC) of Siolim-Marna panchayat. The meeting, aimed at addressing local issues, saw the presence of only a junior engineer from the Public Works Department (PWD) roads division, while officials from various other departments, including PWD water, electricity, Water Resources Department (WRD), and health were conspicuously absent. The Swayampurna Mitra of the area, Prakash Redkar had taken the initiative to invite these officials. The meeting was intended to discuss vital issues such as power, water, roads, and health services. Local resident Amrut Agarwadekar criticized the absence of officials, stating that the Panchayat Raj system ATMANIRBHAR BHARAT: NO TAKERS? „„The special meeting was called by Siolim-Marna Sarpanch and VDC Chairman, Sandesh Hadfadkar, specifically to discuss the hardships faced by public regarding roads, water, health and electricity „„Meeting saw the presence of only a junior engineer from PWD roads division „„Officials from various other departments, including PWD water, electricity, Water Resources Department (WRD), and health were absent „„Swayampurna Mitra of the area, Prakash Redkar had taken the initiative to invite these officials needs to be strengthened to address public grievances. "If government officials are not sensitive to the general public, the Swayampurna Goem initiative will be a farce, achieving nothing," Agarwadekar remarked. Convenor of the VDC, Joaquim Barros expressed disappointment over the officials' absence. "We put in significant effort to organize this meeting. Villagers came to discuss basic issues, but it seems the officials don’t care about the common people," said Barros, who has been proactive in addressing village issues at the gram sabha. The special meeting was called by Siolim-Marna Sarpanch and VDC Chairman, Sandesh Hadfadkar, specifically to discuss the public's hardships regarding roads, water, health, and electricity. The villagers voiced strong objections to the lack of accountability displayed by the government officials, questioning the Swayampurna Mitra about the officials' >Continued on P5 VASCO: A major landslide occurred in Cortalim on Sunday, causing extensive damage to a house. Remarkably, a senior citizen and children in the house escaped unscathed, despite the roof being completely destroyed and mud, along with stones, entering the house. The landslide, which struck around 12 pm, caused a huge boulder to roll down the hill and get stuck between two adjoining houses.  >> See pg 3 huge tree got uprooted and fell on a parked car whose occupants had a narrow escape. The IMD, meanwhile, >Continued on P5 NEW DELHI ore that 11,000 NEET-UG candidates have scored zero or negative marks in the controversy-ridden medical entrance exam this year, according to the centre-wise results announced by the National Testing Agency. The lowest marks scored by any candidate in the crucial exam is -180 at a centre in Bihar. According to an analysis of the city-and-centre-wise results released on Saturday by the NTA, over 2,250 candidates have scored zero marks, while over 9,400 candidates have scored marks in negative. There are several candidates at the centre under scanner in Jharkhand's Hazaribagh M NEET-UG: TESTING TIME „„Over 2,250 candidates scored zero, while over 9,400 candidates scored marks in negative „„The lowest marks -- minus 180 – were scored by a candidate at a centre in Bihar „„Several candidates at the centre under scanner in Hazaribagh scored less than zero marks „„Zero marks doesn't necessarily mean the answer sheets were blank or no questions were attempted „„ASSESSMENT: For every correct answer, four marks are awarded and for every incorrect answer, one mark is deducted. No marks are awarded or deducted for questions that are not attempted who have scored less than zero marks. While there are multiple candidates from centres who have scored zero marks, no clusters are seen as the number of such candidates from each centre is not very high. According to officials, zero marks in the exam doesn't necessarily mean the answer sheets were blank or no questions were attempted. “It is possible that the candidate attempted some questions right and some questions wrong which led to negative marking. In the NEET-UG, for every correct answer, four marks are awarded and for every incorrect answer, one mark is deducted. No marks are awarded or deducted for questions that are not attempted. The NTA on Saturday released city-and centre-wise results of the medical entrance exam which is under the scanner over alleged irregularities, including paper leak. An analysis of data indicated that while the candidates who allegedly benefitted from the paper leak and other irregularities have not done MARGAO The movement for granting equal status for Konkani in Roman script received further boost on Sunday after a number of gram sabhas adopted unanimous resolutions in support of the demand. The ordinary gram sabhas of the village panchayats of Telaulim, Ambelim and Velim adopted unanimous resolutions for recognition to Konkani in Roman script. The extra-ordinary grams sabha meeting of Benaulim panchayat also adopted a resolution in support of Romi Lipi. In fact, the gram sabha of the Benaulim discussed the matter regarding grant of official script status to Roman script along with Devanagari by amending the Official Language Act, 1987. The panchayat had roped in Roman Konkani protagonist Jose Salvador Fernandes as a resource person to shed light on the demand and explain to the members. After discussion, the gram SHOT IN THE ARM FOR ROMI LIPI „„Gram sabhas of Telaulim, Ambelim and Velim adopt unanimous resolutions for recognition to Konkani in Roman script „„Extra-ordinary grams sabha of Benaulim also adopted a resolution in support of Romi Lipi „„In Aldona, villagers demanded equal status for Konkani written in Roman script „„At the gram sabha in Velsao, people advocated equal status for Roman Lipi in the Konkani language sabha chaired by Sarpanch Xavier Fernandes resolved that the omission of Romi script in the Official Language Act, is considered as the greatest betrayal of the peoples’ wishes, specially of the Catholic minority community, who fought to make Konkani as official language of Goa, during the time of the Konkani language agitation of 1987. The resolution further pointed out that it has been 37 long years since the Roman script suffered great injustice and discrimination, from subsequent governments that came into power. The resolution accused successive governments from 1987 as being responsible for this divide and injustice to Roman script, and they do not have the inclination to amend the Official Language Act, so as to make Roman script as official script of Konkani along with Devnagiri. It was pointed out that the State of Goa till today does not have a minority community cell to look into the many grievances of the minorities. As such the gram sabha resolved to write to the Commissioner of Linguistic Minorities Commission Delhi, to give Roman Script it’s rightful place in the Official Language Act, >Continued on P5 BIDEN BOWS OUT OF PREZ POLL RACE Farmers yet to get last year’s compensation for crop loss PTI THE GOAN I NETWORK WASHINGTON PANAJI Farmers, especially those tilling their fields in the kharif season, often face losses almost every year due to either too much rain or no rain at all. US President Joe Biden ended his reelection campaign on Sunday after fellow Democrats lost faith in his mental acuity and ability to beat Donald Trump, leaving the presidential race in uncharted territory. Biden, in a post on X, said he will remain in his role as president and commander-in-chief until his term ends in January 2025 and will address the nation this week. "It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve as your President. And while it has been my intention to seek reelection, I believe it is in the best interest of my party and the country for me to stand down and to focus solely on fulfilling my duties as President for the remainder of my term," Biden wrote. By dropping his reelection bid, he clears the way for Vice President Kamala Harris to run at the top of the ticket, the first Black woman to do so in the country's history. Over 11,000 NEET-UG candidates score 0, -ve marks PTI THE GOAN I NETWORK well, some centres have a high concentration of well-performing students. More than 2,000 NEET-UG candidates from Sikar centres scored above 650 marks while over 4,000 have scored above 600 marks. The voluminous result data of over 23 lakh candidates from 4,750 centres was not released in a cumulative format but in a drop-down menu for each centre. The data was released on the direction of the Supreme Court which is hearing several petitions over the alleged irregularities as lakhs of aspirants await a final verdict on fate of the exam. The Supreme Court is hearing several petitions about the alleged irregularities in the conduct of the test on May 5 at 4,750 centres in 571 cities, including 14 cities abroad. This year, the situation is even worse with the record-breaking rains over the last fortnight flooding fields all over the State, prompting Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to assure compensation to the farmers. Already, the Agriculture Department has received applications for crop loss compensation from 84 farmers and the department is yet to scrutinize them. >Continued on P5