log on to thegoan.net FRIDAY JULY 4, 2025 GOA @thegoanonline FOR DIGITAL MEDIA VIDEOGRAPHER/ PHOTOGRAPHER CONTENT CREATOR FOR PRINT MEDIA SENIOR REPORTER - Email CV to editor@thegoan.net Page 6 Brakes on cars, charge on EVs, tractors plough ahead in June REVIEW - Kia Carens Clavis EV: Everyday utility meets electric innovation IN SHORT >> Eviction notice issued to Junta House occupants PANAJI: After years of warnings over its crumbling structure, the dilapidated Junta House in Panaji is finally expected to be razed. The North Collector and Chairperson of the District Disaster Management Authority, Ankit Yadav, has directed the Goa Administrative Department to evict all occupants and complete the evacuation of the four-building complex within the next 30 days.  >> See pg 3 Woman duped in online fraud PANAJI: A woman from Mardol was allegedly cheated of R 1.5 lakh by an unidentified individual who contacted her via Telegram. The fraudster enticed her with an online task involving liking, sharing, and subscribing to videos, promising double returns on her investment. Spa destroyed in fire at Calangute MAPUSA: A spa was gutted in a fire at Calangute due to a short circuit on Thursday morning, damaging property estimated at Rs 10 lakh. According to sources, fire broke out at the spa at about 8 am and by the time fire tenders from the Mapusa and Pilerne fire stations could rush to the site, the premises was engulfed in flames. Chicago shooting leaves four dead CHICAGO: Four people died from gunshot wounds and 14 others were hospitalised following a drive-by shooting in Chicago, police said Thursday. At least three were in critical condition. 2 Slots for DSS scheme more than the pending applications 3 RNI: GOAENG/2015/65729 INFO Five herbs that can boost hair growth 10  FOUR TAKEN TO GMC FOR TREATMENT  PARENTS FILE COMPLAINT  TEACHER BOOKED, LIKELY TO BE ARRESTED THE GOAN I NETWORK OLD GOA In a shocking incident, a teacher at a school in St Estevam was accused to have beaten around 11 students of Std 9 on Thursday morning. The teacher was booked by Old Goa police late in the evening and is likely to be arrested in this connection. Four of the students were taken to the GMC Hospital for a check-up after their parents complained at the Old Goa police station. The four students have suffered injuries on their forehand, shoulder and thigh region. One of the students informed The Goan at the Old Goa police station that the teacher beat 11 students and stopped only when another teacher told her so. "There were two more students who escaped the beating of the teacher," the student added. The students further informed that they were playing Parents want accused teacher transferred Students who suffered injuries on their forehands and arms. cricket in the class when the teacher came because of the noise and took them to the hall where she started beating them. “When one of us protested, the teacher started beating him more,” said the student. According to one of the parents, whose son was beaten by the teacher with a wooden stick, the Std 9 students were playing in the class when the teacher, in a fit of anger, started beating the group of students. "Around 11 students were beaten and four among them, including my son, suffered multiple injuries," said the parent. “When we learnt of the incident, we rushed to the school and later to the police station to lodge complaint against the teacher.” “However, the management of the school was trying to coerce us into withdrawing the complaint stating that a memo has been issued to the teacher. But we are firm on our complaint," the parent added. Meanwhile, in one of the police complaints, another parent stated that they received a call from an unknown number asking them `10 crore Kunbi village to be ready in 3 months: CM OLD GOA: Aggrieved parents of the four students who were referred to the GMC hospital after being beaten by the teacher, have demanded that the teacher has to be transferred from the school. The parents have further demanded that the teacher should also tender an apology to the students. The parents were firm in their demand that the teacher cannot be seen again in the school. "And we want everything in writing from the management," one of the parents informed. to remain present at the school over some issue. "My husband and I went to the school and waited outside the headmistress' office, but for around 5-10 minutes nobody told us what has happened," stated the parent in the complaint. The parent added that they went inside the headmistress' office, who told them that one of their teachers had made a mistake. The complainant then stated that finally their son, aged 14, was brought and she noticed swelling around the shoulder at the triceps region. "I asked my son what happened and he narrated that one of the teachers had beaten him with a wooden danda, along with three other students, without any reason or mistake on his part. My son protested the act of the teacher and he, in turn, asked the teacher not to beat them like this as she has no authority to do so, she hit him more and more," the complainant added. The complaint further stated that they later came to know that three more >Continued on P5 SPORTS Skipper Gill's 269 leads the way for dominant India 13 Party time over for Babush’s UGP, 3 others in State EC commences delisting process THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI Four political parties in Goa including United Goans Party (UGP), which was floated by Revenue Minister Atanasio (Babush) Monserrate on the eve of the 2017 assembly elections after expulsion from the Congress, have been identified by the Election Commission of India to commence the process of delisting them. The process of delisting these "registered unrecognised parties" has been initiated as none of them had contested any of the Assembly or Lok Sabha elections held in the six years since 2019. Another reason cited by the ECI was that their registered offices are untraceable. The ECI said it had launched a nationwide review and found many of the over 2,800 registered but unrecognised parties failed to meet some mandatory conditions. In Goa, apart from the UGP, the ECI has identified the Goa Nationalist Party (Sattari), Goa Praja Party (Tiswadi) and Goemcarancho Otrec Asro (Salcete). Monserrate had floated the UGP on the eve of the 2017 as- THE FOUR IN ECI LIST United Goans Party Goa Nationalist Party Goa Praja Party Goemcarancho Otrec Asro sembly elections after he had been expelled by the Congress while he was the Santa Cruz MLA for openly working against the the party's official candidate Surendra Furtado in the 2014 Panaji bye-election held after Manohar Parrikar resigned to become the Union Defence Minister. Subsequently, Monserrate had contested the Panaji seat on the UGP ticket in the 2017 assembly elections but the party he floated had no link of any sort with the original UGP founded by Dr Jack de Sequeira and his associates at the time of the first assembly election post Goa's Liberation in 1963. The Sequeira-led UGP had emerged as the second largest party in that first election after the Dayanand Bandodkar-led MGP. Liverpool soccer star, brother die in car accident SAYS ALL SANADS UNDER FOREST RIGHTS FOR TRIBALS TO BE ISSUED BY DECEMBER 19 PANAJI/SANGUEM Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has said the Kunbi village in Sanguem will be completed in three months at a cost of Rs 10 crore from the central government. Addressing the mega outreach event organised by the Union Ministry of Tribal Affairs and Directorate of Tribal Welfare at Sanguem Municipal Council Hall, Sawant, who also holds the tribal welfare portfolio, said BJP’s commitment to tribal development is part of its core ideology. He said first of its kind Tribal Research Centre has been started in Sanguem to study the problems of the tribals. “The Tribal Museum at Farmagudi will be completed soon. The government has provided a platform to tribals to sell their products like Kunbi saree, shawl and jackets. In the coming three months, the Kunbi village will be complet- the case of regular commuters who use the same route every day. A monthly discounted  fare was charged for the pass which  had dates of the days of the month printed on it and the bus-conductor would strike off after every journey.  With the decision to introduce an e-transit smart card and make it mandatory from August 1, these regular commuters will now have to procure the e-transit smart cards with a concept similar to the one governed by the paper >Continued on P5 Diogo Jota BOOSTER DOSE FOR TRIBALS THE GOAN I NETWORK TO BE MANDATORY FROM AUGUST 1 PANAJI The Kadamba Transport Corporation will discontinue its  monthly paper passes and replace them with smart e-transit cards which will be mandatory from August 1. A senior KTC official said the paper passes are being phased out as a measure to plug revenue transactions and henceforth all fare transactions will only be accepted via the smart card. The monthly pass facility had been introduced by the KTC to improve efficiency in GOA Instagram.com/thegoanonline St Estevam school teacher assaults 11 Std 9 students KTC to swap paper passes with smart e-transit cards THE GOAN I NETWORK The Goan E-Paper (Playstore/IOS) 13 pages PRICE ` 10 PANAJI MARGAO GOA VOLUME XI, NO. 17 After beef, illegal slaughter of goats comes under scanner in South Goa REQUIRED Facebook.com/thegoan „„First of its kind Tribal Research Centre started in Sanguem to study problems of tribals „„Tribal Museum at Farmagudi soon ON PAGE 3 Goa takes lead in tribal empowerment: Union Minister Nadnem only village to achieve 100% milestone under tribal development scheme ed in Sanguem by spending Rs 10 crore from the union government,” said Sawant. “Till now, 3,500 forest right tribal sanads are issued. The government is working on a „„Govt has provided platform to tribals to sell their products like Kunbi saree, shawl and jackets „„Govt implementing all schemes meant for tribals mission mode and all sanads will be issued by December 19.” “The government is implementing all schemes meant for tribals. The tribal department has been revamped. Establishment of a Tribal Commission and Goa State Scheduled Tribes Finance and Development Corporation Limited is the major work done by my govt,” he added.  In a veiled criticism of exminister Govind Gaude, he said, “Some say I’ve done nothing, but I share a deep emotional bond with my tribal brothers. Those with just blood ties have come and gone.” PTI MADRID Liverpool player Diogo Jota and his brother were killed in a car accident in Spain when the Lamborghini they were in veered off a road and burst into flames, police said Thursday. The Spanish Civil Guard confirmed to The Associated Press that the 28-year-old Jota and his 25-year-old brother, Andr Silva, were found dead near the northwestern city of Zamora. Police were investigating the causes of the accident that happened past midnight local time. They said there were no other vehicles involved. The bodies were undergoing forensic analysis. Firefighters were called in as the fire spread into the nearby vegetation, authorities said.  >> See pg 12 WATERWORLD: The Margao-Quepem road at Paroda was submerged on Thursday after heavy rains lashed the area, flooding several low-lying regions.  Santosh Mirajkar Heavy rain pounds State, govt declares school holiday today THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI The monsoon remained vigorous over Goa on Thursday with heavy rainfall recorded at most locations and extremely heavy showers at isolated places across the State. IMD issued an orange alert for both North and South Goa districts till Friday with the forecast warning of heavy rainfall and wind speeds of RAIN-RELATED REPORTS ON PAGE 2 30-40 kmph gusting up to 50 kmph. As a precautionary measure, the Directorate of Education declared a holiday for all schools from primary to higher secondary level. “In view of incessant rain and alert issued by the IMD Goa predicting heavy to extremely heavy rainfall across the State of Goa and keeping in mind the safety of young children in the schools, it is decided by the competent authority to declare holiday on July 4 for all the schools in the State of Goa,” said Education Director Shailesh Zingde in an official circular. While the holiday is also for teachers, those teachers deputed for training have been asked to attend their respective sessions. Central report warns of major water shortage in Goa by 2051 VIBHA VERMA THE GOAN I PANAJI I n a stark warning to the State, a central government report has flagged a looming water crisis in Goa by 2051, projecting a shortage of 765 million cubic metres (MCUM) if immediate and long-term corrective measures are not taken. The report on the State Specific Action Plan (SSAP) 2024 compiled by the Ministry of Jal Shakti and the Goa government on projected water demands and availability, has called for urgent intervention to control salinity, revive abandoned mine pits as water reservoirs, and tackle coastal erosion, particularly in the KEY FINDINGS OF CENTRE’S REPORT „„Goa has sufficient water, but it needs to be used judiciously „„Salinity needs to be checked and controlled by imposing required conditions „„Goa has lost around 13 sq km of its land to sea erosion with 61% of the loss only in the Baga catchment area „„Advocates revamping of mine closure policy by suggesting abandoned, unutilised mining pits be designated and protected as water reservoirs „„Mine pits, lakes if properly augmented, can serve 50% of Goan population throughout the year „„Steady state of storm water drainage from rivers has increased in the last decade „„Attributed to rapid urbanisation and flash floods due to climate change „„Recommends use of concrete instead of PCC to allow better groundwater percolation Baga catchment area. “Goa has sufficient water and it needs to be used judiciously. Salinity needs to be checked and controlled by imposing required conditions. Mine pits and lakes in the form of surface water bodies, if properly augmented, can serve 50 per cent of the Goan population throughout the year,” it noted, as the com- prehensive report is in the possession of The Goan. Perhaps the most alarming finding is that Goa has lost around 13 sq km of its land to sea erosion over time with 61 per cent of the loss only in the Baga catchment area. While the official area of Goa is documented as 3,702 sq km, actual measurements peg it at 3,689 sq km. The nodal institute -- Goa Engineering College -- sought urgent measures to control further erosion. The study also pointed out the growing salinity levels across Goa’s surface water sources and called for strong regulatory conditions to contain them. “The steady state of storm water drainage from the rivers has increased in the last decade or so alarmingly. This is attributed to rapid urbanisation and flash floods due to climate change effects,” it said while strongly recommending the use of concrete instead of PCC (plain cement concrete) to allow better groundwater percolation and reduce surface runoff. WATER RESERVOIRS In a major recommendation, the report has advocated revamping of the State’s mine closure policy by suggesting that abandoned and unutilised mining pits be officially designated and protected as water reservoirs. “Mine closure policy needs to be revised. The abandoned mines shall be declared as water reservoirs and protected. The active mines that are not being operated shall be >Continued on P5