log on to thegoan.net @thegoanonline MONDAY JANUARY 20, 2025 >> pg 6 Importance of registering a partnership firm IN SHORT >> Loliem gram sabha wants TCP NOC for film city revoked CANACONA: The Loliem-Polem Gram Sabha has resolved to request the Town and Country Planning department to revoke its No Objection Certificate granted to the Comunidade, which allowed the leasing of 10 lakh square meters of land for the development of a Film City. A vote was conducted, and the motion to revoke the NOC passed with 44 in favour and 16 against.  >> See pg 3 SC to hear Mhadei petitions on Jan 23 PANAJI: The Supreme Court is set to hear the Mhadei river diversion matter on January 23. The Apex Court will hear the special leave petitions filed by the three riparian States -- Goa, Karnataka and Maharashtra -- along with the contempt pleas filed by the coastal State.  >> See pg 3 No land in sight for IIT campus yet PANAJI: Five months after dropping the Rivona site following roadblock in the land acquisition process, the State government is yet to zero upon any suitable land parcel to set up a permanent campus of the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Goa.   >> See pg 3 78 digital libraries to be set up PANAJI: Info Tech Corp of Goa has issued a tender worth Rs 7.64 crore for construction of 78 new libraries aimed at children and adolescents, featuring digital infra. Renovation of 79 existing libraries in panchayats and 11 existing buildings at municipalities will also be taken up. WEATHER >> Max: 34 C Min: 22 C Humidity: 80% TIDES Low: High: 08.33 02.09 19.59 14.15 Facebook.com/thegoan 12 pages PRICE ` 10 PANAJI MARGAO GOA VOLUME X, NO. 213 Instagram.com/thegoanonline FC GOA BEATS EAST BENGAL, MOVES TO 2ND SPOT IN ISL RNI: GOAENG/2015/65729 Hamas hands over first Israeli hostages as Gaza truce begins  RELATIVES JUMP WITH JOY  THOUSANDS CHEER ON LARGE SCREENS PTI DEIR The first three hostages released from Gaza have arrived in Israel, the military announced on Sunday, hours after the fragile ceasefire between Israel and Hamas took hold. Their mothers were waiting to meet them. Footage showed the three women walking to Red Cross vehicles in Gaza City, surrounded by a crowd that swelled into the thousands as people held up cellphones and scrambled onto cars. The vehicles were accompanied by masked, armed men who wore green Hamas headbands and struggled to guard the handover. No further glimpses of the three women were immediately expected as they were taken for medical assessment. They appear to be in good health, FREE AT LAST: The three hostages who were released from Gaza on Sunday. President Joe Biden said in brief remarks. In Tel Aviv, thousands of people who gathered to watch the news on large screens erupted in applause. For months, many had gathered in the square to demand a ceasefire deal. Relatives of the women jumped, clapped and wept. An entire nation embraces you, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. Romi Gonen, 24, Emily Damari, 28, and Doron Steinbrecher, 31, were released. Gonen was abducted from the Nova music festival, while the others were kidnapped from 3 MLAs let `22.5 cr gather dust under devpt scheme NO MORE SANCTIONS UNDER MLA-LAD SCHEME AS CEILING LIMIT ENDS, SAYS PARSEKAR THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI With total allocation of Rs 300 crore across 40 Assembly constituencies under the MLA Local  Area  Development  (LAD) scheme since its inception in 2022, the State Level Scheme Sanction Committee (SLSSC) declared that no additional work proposal would be considered unless the ceiling limit is available for sanctioning. Under the scheme, the MLAs can get projects worth Rs 2.5 crore sanctioned annually. As per data, each constituency has got a total allocation of Rs 7.50 crore (Rs 2.250 crore annually since 2022), thus exhausting their ceiling limit till this financial year.  Of the 40 constituencies, only Panaji, Vasco and Dabolim,  has  not submitted a single proposal under the scheme with the entire Rs 7.50 cr each remaining unutilized. The scheme was notified in THE GOAN I NETWORK Locals participate in the Gram Sabha at Advalpal on Sunday. mining activity, which would give a boost to the village in terms of development. The locals expressed their gratitude to Fomento since THE GOAN I NETWORK PERNEM What began as an adventure turned into tragedy for 26-year-old Shivani Dabale from Pune. Seeking a thrill, Shivani, who had come to Goa with a friend, decided to try paragliding at the Keri plateau. According to sources, Shivani paid Rs 4,500 for the ride. The pilot, Suman Nepali, prepared for the flight, and together they took off. But her joy was short-lived when a sudden change in wind direction caused one of the ropes to snap, throwing the paraglider out of control. Shivani and the pilot plunged onto the rocky terrain below which proved fatal for both. Local authorities, including the police and fire brigade rushed to the site and took almost two hours to recover their bodies from the gorge. Police have registered a case against Shekhar Raizada, the owner of 'Hike n Fly' A sudden change in wind direction caused one of the ropes to snap, throwing the paraglider out of control. Shivani and the pilot plunged onto the rocky terrain below which proved fatal for both. Ore e-auction to commence from Jan 30 Tents reduced to ashes in big blaze at Kumbh mela THE GOAN I NETWORK volve repair and construction of roads and bridges, construction of retaining and protection wall, fixing of pavements, improvement of water drainage system etc „„Scheme was notified in December 2022 December 2022 to enable legislators to undertake various works as deemed necessary in their respective constituencies. The sanctioned projects basically involve repair and construction of roads and bridges, construction of retaining and protection wall, fixing of pavements, improvement of water drainage system,  development  of parking spaces, etc. During its last meeting held earlier this month, the SLSS sanctioned works across 22 constituencies of Benaulim, Bicholim, Canacona, Valpoi, Taleigao, St Cruz, Cuncolim, Curchorem, Fatorda, Curtorim, Marcaim, Margao, Mormugao, Pernem, Ponda, Porvorim, Quepem, Sanvordem, Sanguem, Shiroda, St Andre and Velim.   “The Committee approved the proposals for accord of expenditure sanctions for 22 Assembly constituencies… no additional works to be >Continued on P5 >Continued on P5 unemployed youth in the village had been earning a livelihood, while bus services were being provided for the school. Besides solving unemployment problems, locals felt that mining would also boost the economy of the village and appealed for public support to Fomento mining company. Ankita Kharwat, Mayur Kalangutkar and Nilesh Parab were among those who presented views in support of mining. They expressed confidence that the mining company would protect the interests of the villagers and would contribute towards inclusive development of the village. Paragliding tragedy: Fall on rocky terrain led to death of duo The truce, which started at 11:15 a.m. local time, is the first step toward ultimately ending the conflict and returning hostages abducted by Hamas in October 7, 2023 attack. In the interim between the planned ceasefire time and when it took hold, Israeli fire killed at least 26 people, according to Gaza's Health Ministry. It did not say whether they were civilians or fighters. The military has warned people to stay away from Israeli forces as they retreat to a buffer zone inside Gaza. Israel's hard-line national security minister, meanwhile, said his Jewish Power faction was quitting the government in protest over the ceasefire. In a separate development, Israel announced it had recovered the body of Oron Shaul, a soldier killed in the 2014 Israel-Hamas war, in a special operation in Gaza. „„Each MLA has to submit proposals for in principle approval of the PWD Minister „„Once the proposal gets okay it is submitted to concerned works divisions of PWD „„Sanctioned projects in- W A ST E D O P P O RT U N I T Y >> 12 Kibbutz Kfar Aza. Damari is an Israeli-British dual citizen and Steinbrecher has Israeli and Romanian citizenship. The ceasefire ushers in an initial six weeks of calm and raises hopes for the release of nearly 100 remaining hostages and an end to the devastating 15-month war. A last-minute delay by Hamas put off the truce's start by nearly three hours, but the spokesman for Hamas' military wing later said it is committed to the ceasefire. Even before the ceasefire took effect, celebrations broke out across Gaza and some Palestinians began heading home. Next up was the release of 90 Palestinian prisoners later Sunday. In the Israeli-occupied West Bank, families and friends gathered excitedly as cars honked and people waved the Palestinian flag. PANAJI The e-auction of over 5.2 million metric tons of iron ore will now commence from January 30 onwards, as against its earlier schedule of January 22, announced the Directorate of Mines and Geology (DMG). As many as 125 bids have been received for 18 iron ore dumps, which are put up for e-auction, lying across various locations.  The largest dump with a total quantity of over 14 lakh metric tons is lying in the villages of Bandoli and Cormonem, followed by 11.7 lakh metric tons at Sonus Vonvoliem.  As per the revised schedule announced by DMG, the e-auction will commence from January 30 and go on till February 4. The DMG has also said that the names of technically qualified bids would be announced on January 28, instead of January 20, as decided earlier. On January 30, total eight dumps lying at Costi, Codli, Dudal, Sancordem Advalpal gram sabha vows support to mining activity BICHOLIM Voicing support to mining activity as it would benefit Advalpal, residents on Sunday passed a resolution at the Gram Sabha to grant permission to mining activity and called upon the Advalpal panchayat to supporting the Fomento mining company. When the matter came up for discussion at the Gram Sabha at the panchayat office, the residents thanked the Fomento mining company for providing employment to local youth and stated that the village would prosper with The Goan E-Paper (Playstore/IOS) paragliding. On Sunday, the Keri plateau had a somber atmosphere, with all activities, including paragliding and parachuting, suspended across the area. When contacted, Dharti Nagoji, Sarpanch of Keri Panchayat, revealed that local MLA Jeet Arolkar had directed the panchayat not to grant permission for paragliding in the coastal areas. The panchayat had also passed a resolution opposing paragliding activities on the plateau and submitted it to the concerned department. However, no action has been taken on the matter to date. CYLINDER EXPLODES AFTER STRAW CATCHES FIRE Smoke billows out after a fire broke out in a camp during Maha Kumbh, at Sangam in Prayagraj on Sunday. PTI PRAYAGRAJ A massive fire broke out at the Maha Kumbh mela on Sunday due to a cylinder blast, destroying 18 tents in Sector 19, officials said. No casualty was reported in the incident. Police said that initially straw in a tent caught fire due to which an LPG cylinder ex- ploded. Thick clouds of smoke enveloped the mela area as panic gripped the nearby akhadas. The officials said 15 fire tenders managed to bring the blaze, which started at around 4 pm, under control within an hour. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, who was in Prayagraj to review the preparations ahead of Mauni Amawasya, also reached the spot and directed authorities to take steps to avoid any such incident in future, they said. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Adityanath over phone to enquire about the incident. >Continued on P5 Historic moment as Trump’s reign resumes today AGENCIES WASHINGTON onald Trump is set to take charge as the 47th President of the United States of America on January 20, with a grand inauguration event on the cards inside the Capitol premises. Significantly, the US Capitol where Trump’s inauguration will take place is representative of the remarkable political comeback he made in November. It’s the same place where his supporters launched an attack four years ago over his 2020 electoral loss. Trump’s return as US President is also rare in American history as he is only the second president to have come D Mukesh Ambani, wife to attend NEW DELHI: Business tycoon Mukesh Ambani and his wife Nita will attend US President-elect Donald Trump’s second inauguration that will also likely be attended by some of America’s most influential billionaires and politicians as well as foreign leaders and celebrities. The Ambanis, who reached US capitol Washington on January 18, were part of a select 100 who attended an intimate ‘’candlelit dinner’’ with trump last evening, sources with knowledge of the matter said. They were perhaps the only Indians to attend the dinner where Vice President-elect JD and Usha Vance also met them. to power, lost the re-election and then won again. The first on the list to do so was Grover Cleveland in the late 1800s. Washington has prepared in unprecedented ways to keep the unfolding events safe and secure. But unlike when Trump helped spark a mob of his sup- TikTok shuts in US as ban takes effect WASHINGTON: TikTok’s app effectively shut down in the US, just hours before a law banning the popular video-sharing platform was set to go into effect. A law banning TikTok has been enacted in US. Unfortunately, that means you can’t use TikTok for now, a message reads when American users open the app. porters to attack the Capitol and tried to retain power in 2021 after his loss to Democrat Joe Biden, officials are not expecting massive protests, unrest and violence this time. Instead, the city is braced for crowds celebrating Trump’s second term and MAGA’s control of the Republican Party. It is a remarkable turnaround after Trump left the nation’s capital four years in disgrace and skipped the inauguration of his successor. Trump blasted his way through the 2024 GOP presidential primary and won November’s election by an Electoral College margin unseen since Democrat Barack Obama was reelected in 2012. Yet even with that comfortable victory and his party in full, albeit narrow, control of Congress, the incoming president remains one of the most polarising figures in US history.