log on to thegoan.net Facebook.com/thegoan @thegoanonline FRIDAY JANUARY 19, 2024 15 pages PRICE ` 10 PANAJI MARGAO GOA VOLUME IX, NO.212 Instagram.com/thegoanonline PG15 AFC Asian Cup: India slumps to 0-3 defeat against Uzbekistan RNI: GOAENG/2015/65729 Modi Sarkar ki Guarantee Government of India Digital India strengthening the economy CBC 22201/13/0175/2324 Scan for more information Hamara Sankalp India accounts for 46% of global digital payments Viksit Bharat Ram Lalla idol in 'garbha griha' AYODHYA: As part of the elaborate rituals leading up to the pran pratishtha ceremony to be held on January 22, the idol of Ram Lalla was placed in the garbha griha of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya on Thursday amid joyous chants of 'Jai Shri Ram.' In a significant prelude to the upcoming ceremony, a special puja was held in the sanctum sanctorum before the idol was brought inside with the help of a crane on Wednesday night. CENTRE DECLARES HALF DAY HOLIDAY: All central government offices across the country will remain closed for half a day on January 22, due to the Ram temple consecration ceremony in Ayodhya, a Personnel Ministry order issued on Thursday said.  >> See pg 7 IN SHORT >> Swayampurna Board to make Goa self-reliant PANAJI: The State government has constituted a 12-member ‘Swayampurna Goa Board’ under the chairmanship of the Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to define the strategies and policies to make Goa self-reliant. The Board constituted under Swayampurna Goa programme will be functional with immediate effect.  >> See pg 3 Truck owners push for mining restart PANAJI: Appreciating the efforts put in by the government to restart the iron ore mining activities, the All Goa Truck Owners Association (AGTOA) has pressed for immediate commencement of the mining operations through those nine e-auctioned mining blocks.  >> See pg 3 EPFO to junk Aadhaar as proof of birth date NEW DELHI: Retirement fund body EPFO has said it will no longer use Aadhaar as a valid document for proof of date of birth. In an official circular on January 16, the Employees'' Provident Fund Organisation said the decision to remove Aadhaar was taken following a directive from the Unique Identification Authority of India.  >> See pg 7 WEATHER >> Max: 31 C Min: 20 C Humidity: 87% TIDES Low: 11:28 High: 04:15 The Goan E-Paper (Playstore/IOS) 23:17 18:47 CEO WADES THROUGH PANAJI MESS ATTRIBUTES HARDSHIP TO ENGINEERING CHALLENGES BLAMES IT ON EVENTS, MULTIPLE CONTRACTORS, LACK OF CO-ORDINATION THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI Facing a backlash over the chaos inflicted on the capital city due to the simultaneous execution of three smart city projects -- underground sewerage system, water pipeline and smart roads -- Sanjit Rodrigues, IAS, who heads the 'smart city' special purpose vehicle (SPV) as managing director and CEO on Thursday attributed the hardship to engineering challenges and the fact that it is an 'urban renewal' and not a greenfield project. "There are engineering challenges like high water table, sandy soil which collapses as you dig and the need to be mindful of the existing sewerage lines which are currently working," Rodrigues who took charge of the Imagine Panaji Smart City Development Limited (IPSCDL), in May-June last year said. He was addressing a press conference in a bid to clear the air over the ongoing smart city projects, which have attracted widespread bad press due to WORK ON MG ROAD ONLY AFTER 18TH JUNE ROAD IS COMPLETED A picture released by IPSCDL on the sewerage works at A B Road, D V Road and near the Income Tax Department. the traffic chaos and dust pollution witnessed in the capital city for the last couple of months. Making a detailed power-point presentation covering the whole gamut of projects under the 'Smart City Mission' since 2016, Rodrigues said, 20 projects collectively worth Rs 404.2 crore have been executed and completed. The balance 15 projects, including the 3 core projects of sewerage, water supply and smart roads, which are worth Rs 531.70 crore and add up to over 50 per cent of the entire smart city mission, are currently ongoing, he added. "The government has set a May 31 deadline to complete all smart city mission projects. This deadline is sacrosanct," Rodgrigues said, even as he claimed that the contractors involved have been given area and project specific shorter deadlines. "The sewerage work along the Atmaram Borkar Road and the Dada Vaidya Road will be completed entirely by January 31," he said. In another corner of the city, the stretch of road from Madhuban complex up to the T-junction at the western edge of the St Inez cemetery will also be completed and commissioned by January Women slam humiliation at comunidade meeting DEMAND AMENDMENT TO CODE FOR EQUALITY THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI The humiliation of women representatives of comunidades by their male counterparts at a recent convention saw the women’s group condemning the incident and demanding amendment to the Code of Comunidades to promote equality. Several women representatives from different walks of life held a meeting at Azad Maidan, Panaji on Thursday to express solidarity with the five women, participating at the Comunidades of Goa to propose inclusivity of all genders as descendants. The Convention was held on January 14 when the male-dominated meeting went off track when offensive remarks were made at all women. Attorney of Verna Comunidade Maria Lina Gama Martins, referring to the agenda, pointed out that women are prevented entry at the mem- PLEA FOR FAIR PLAY „„Drop ‘and their male descendants by male lineage’ in para 1, Article 20 of Code and amend with ‘and their descendants by lineage’ „„All descendants of gaonkars, irrespective of gender should receive ‘zonn’ „„Women can be shareholders in some comunidades, daughters of gaonkars cannot be members in some comunidades as sons can bership stage of the comunidade as per para 1, Article 20 of Code of comunidade and proposed that ‘and their male descendants by male lineage’ be dropped and amended with ‘and their descendants by lineage.’ She further demanded that all descendants of gaonkars, irrespective of gender receive the ‘zonn’ from their respective comunidades as other speakers including the Treasurer of Chinchinim Comunidade Saadia supported the resolution. As per the current law, while women can be shareholders in some comunidades, daughters of gaonkars cannot be members in some comunidades as sons can. “This, while women toil on the land and in the fields along with men… We support the women who spoke for the inclusivity of women in the Code of Comunidade. However, some male delegates used the platform of the Convention to ridicule, demean and insult the women. The women delegates were heckled by >Continued on P5 PANAJI: The excavation and digging of pits for sewerage manholes along the 18th June road is currently ongoing and only when finished will work be taken up along the adjacent MG Road, IPSCDL managing director Sanjit Rodrigues said, even as he announced a January 31 deadline for completing all this work for the Atmaram Borkar and Dada Vaidya roads. “M G Road will be a challenge. We intend to ask for the complete closure of the road in sections when we take it up. Therefore work will have to be completed on 18th June Road and thoroughfare (two-way) traffic is permitted when we take up work on MG Road,” Rodrigues said. On delays in the work, Rodrigues said there are some “engineering challenges” and listed the high water table, soil collapsing, etc. “Panjim is virtually at sea level. The sewerage pipeline and the manhole pits has to be laid almost 10 meters underground from the Caculo Mall right up to the STP as it is nearly one meter in diameter. The pits for the manhole structures also have to be 10-meter deep. It is a challenge. It is like building something inside the sea,” Rodrigues said. Multiple contractors, no co-ordination adds to city chaos THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI The challenge of executing the work in a living city with events and festivals happening every other day besides multiple contractors engaged with little co-ordination added to confusion, prolonged spells of dust pollution and the general scenario of hardship in Panaji. IPSCDL's managing director and CEO Sanjit Rodrigues said, Panaji has become a city of events and cited the G-20 events, purple fest, Serendipity festival, and then Diwali and Christmas when work had to stop. "Now there will be Carnival and Shigmo. I will sit down with the committees of these festivals and put the scenario before them. Let them take a call where the parades will be held and whether work should stop during those There will be Carnival and Shigmo parades... I will sit with committees of these festivals. Let them take a call where the parades will be held and whether work should stop —Sanjit Rodrigues days," Rodrigues said. In most parts of the city, barring the stretch between Madhuban circle and the T-junction at the St Inez Cemetery, each of the projects -sewerage, water pipeline and smart road -- are executed by separate contractors. Lack of co-ordination among contractors and slow work may have contributed to the chaos in the city where citizens, residents and visitors faced hardships due to traffic snarls and dust, he said. 31, he added. He also claimed that over 90% of laying of the entire 7,982 meters of sewerage lines underground has been completed but only about 60 per- cent of the manholes have been completed. "Currently 14 teams are working simultaneously 12 students, 2 teachers dead as picnic boat topples in lake Coaching centres can’t enroll students below 16 yrs: Govt PTI VADODARA Twelve students and two teachers died after a boat capsized in Harni lake on the outskirts of Vadodara city in Gujarat on Thursday, while 18 students and two teachers were rescued, state minister Harsh Sanghavi said. Earlier, the PSO of Harni police station had put the toll at 16, comprising 14 students and two teachers. Those on board the ill-fated boat were on a picnic when the tragedy occurred in the afternoon. “Twelve students and two teachers died in the incident. A total of 18 students and two teachers were rescued. We have learnt only 10 students on board were wearing life jackets. It proves organisers were at fault,” Gujarat Minister of State for Home Sanghavi told reporters. An FIR has been registered and two persons have been arrested, Sanghavi informed. Teams have been formed to nab other culprits, he added. >Continued on P5 CENTRE CLAMPS DOWN ON UNREGULATED GROWTH OF PRIVATE INSTITUTES AFTER RISING CASES OF SUICIDES PTI NEW DELHI Coaching centres cannot enroll students below 16 years of age, make misleading promises and guarantee rank or good marks, according to new guidelines announced by the Ministry of Education. The guidelines for regulating coaching institutes have been framed to address the need for a legal framework and manage the unregulated growth of private coaching centres. It comes following complaints received by the government about rising cases of student suicides, fire incidents, lack of facilities in coaching incidents as well as methodologies of teaching adopted by them. “No coaching centre shall engage tutors having qualifications less than graduation. The institutions cannot make misleading promises or guar- CENTRE’S NEW GUIDELINES „„No coaching centre shall engage tutors having qualifications less than graduation „„Institutions cannot make misleading promises or guarantee rank or good marks „„Student enrolment should be only after secondary school examination „„Tuition fees charged shall be fair and reasonable and receipts must be made available „„Cannot hire services of any convicted tutor or person „„“Centres need to have website with updated details of qualification of tutors, courses antee rank or good marks to parents for enrolling students in the coaching centres. The institutes cannot enrol students below 16 years of age. Student enrolment should be only after secondary school examination,” the guidelines said. “The coaching institutes cannot publish or cause to be published or take part in the publication of any misleading advertisement relating to any claim, directly or indirectly, of quality of coaching or the facilities offered therein or the result procured by such coaching centre or the student who attended such class,” it added. The coaching centres cannot hire the services of any tutor or person who has been >Continued on P5 State a hot spot for buyers 2 hearse vans ‘dead on arrival’ in Nerul, Reis Magos eyeing 2nd homes: Survey THE ‘POST-MORTEM’ OF THE VEHICLES THE GOAN I NETWORK INTERNATIONAL TOURISM DESTINATION TAG FUELS RUSH THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI Goa remains the top hot spot for vacation homes or second homes with close to 35 per cent of wealthy Indians expressing their intent to invest in the coastal State in the coming one to two years. This was revealed during the annual Luxury Outlook Survey 2024. The survey, conducted by India Sotheby’s International Realty (ISIR) states that hardly 12 per cent have shown the de- High rental yields, quality air, water and food have made Vagator, Calangute, Assagao, Anjuna, Porvorim and Siolim much soughtafter destinations sire to invest in overseas property, with Dubai, UAR and USA being the top choices. As per the report, 71 per cent of wealthy Indians expressed their willingness to invest in luxury real estate in the next 12-24 months and Goa is preferred choice for 50 per cent of them. Primarily driven by tourism, Goa has become a much sought-after destination for second homes and luxury villas, particularly in Vagator, Calangute, Assagao, Anjuna, Porvorim and Siolim. Over the years, Goa has witnessed an uptick in demand for second homes ranging anything above 2 crore and touching >Continued on P5 PORVORIM wo hearse vans donated to the Reis Magos and Nerul panchayats at a cost of Rs 36 lakh have been virtually ‘dead on arrival’ as both vehicles are lying unused since they arrived at the two locations over two months ago. The reason is simple. Both vehicles are yet to be registered by the RTO and fingers are already being pointed at different directions. A shocked Saligao MLA Kedar Naik has now intervened in the matter. Union Minister Shripad Naik had donated two hearse vans costing Rs 35 lakh under MPLAD funds on November „„Union Minister Shripad Naik had donated two hearse vans costing Rs 35 lakh under MPLAD funds in November 2023 „„Both vehicles lying unused for over two months as they are yet to be registered by RTO „„Presently, one hearse van is lying at Electricity Dept near the football ground T A hearse van delivered by the Union Minister of State for Tourism Shripad Naik to the Reis Magos panchayat is lying unused outside the Electricity Department office in Verem. 15, 2023 to the Reis Magos and Nerul panchayats. Both vehicles are lying unused for over two months. The hearse which was delivered at Reis Magos is lying at the Electricity Department near the football ground. Social activist Rajesh Dabholkar said it was shameful that the hearse van given to the Reis Magos panchayat was lying unused for over two months. “The Reis Magos panchayat appears least bothered about the hearse van and has not done anything to get it registered,” he said. When contacted, Reis Magos Panch Subhash Pednekar said it is responsibility of the office of the Deputy Collector to register the vehicle. “The panchayat has already passed a resolution to recruit a driver for the hearse van,” said Pednekar. When contacted, Saligao MLA Kedar Naik said he was shocked to learn that both hearse vans had not been registered for over two months. “When I contacted the office of Dy Collector regarding this matter, I was informed that the panchayat did not submit one document which is required for the registration of the van,” said Naik. “I have advised the panchayat to submit the required document to the Dy Collector’s office and get the hearse van registered as early as possible. It has also been decided to construct a separate shed near the Betim ferry wharf to park the vehicle,” said Naik.