log on to thegoan.net @thegoanonline THURSDAY FEBRUARY 8, 2024 GOA Facebook.com/thegoan The Goan E-Paper (Playstore/IOS) 14 pages PRICE ` 10 PANAJI MARGAO GOA VOLUME IX, NO.231 Cacora plant commissioning calls for MMC planning over its waste disposal 2 GOA Opposition raises concern over cars with tinted glasses, CM vows action 3 Instagram.com/thegoanonline RNI: GOAENG/2015/65729 INFO How does social media cause eating disorders 11 SPORTS ICC Rankings: Bumrah becomes No. 1 Test bowler SECTION 16B OUT, 39A IN >> See PG 3 GOA POLICE BILL DELAYED YET AGAIN Sawant to present State budget today PANAJI: The State’s budget for 2024-25 will be presented in the Goa Legislative Assembly at 2.30 pm on Thursday by Chief Minister Pramod Sawant who may have to weigh in the political compulsions of the upcoming Lok Sabha elections in the exercise. This will be Sawant’s third budget in the current term of the Assembly and sixth overall since he took over as Chief Minister in 2019. While there is little scope to modify taxation with most powers cornered by the Centre following the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax regime in the country, the budget will be keenly watched for efforts made to mop up revenues through State excise duties and other non-tax revenue avenues. IN SHORT >> Probe sought into Nat Games expenditure PANAJI: A charged opposition pinned down the BJP led government on the National Games spending, as they alleged misappropriation of funds and demanded a high level inquiry through retired High Court judge. Pointing to Rs 975 crore expenditure on the games, the opposition pointed out the duplication of works through multiple agencies.  >> See pg 3 House clears contentious TCP Act amendment amid uproar OPPN MLAs QUESTION GOVT’S MOVE, RUSH TO WELL OF HOUSE, MARSHALLED OUT APPREHENSION BY OPPOSITION THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI The Goa Town and Country Planning (Amendment) Bill, 2024 was passed in the Goa Legislative Assembly on Wednesday amidst ruckus by the Opposition legislators who questioned the government’s decision to replace the now-deleted 16B with a new section 39A of the TCP Act. Opposition MLAs protested by rushing to the well of the House during the Bill’s passage but were escorted out by marshals. Minister Vishwajit Rane, who tabled the Bill on Monday, explained that 39A replaces 16B and ensures that eco-sensitive zones won’t be converted. He also assured the House that 7,000 applications under 16B will be tabled on the floor of the House after the government completes its compilation, while also as- „„The Opposition questioned the fate of applications under Section 16B, matter which is pending before the High Court „„Leader of Opposition sought to know the expected revenue to the government under the new section and whether suring to constitute an expert committee. During discussions, ruling legislators supported the Bill whereas the Opposition questioned the fate of applications under the previous section, matter which is pending before the High Court of Bombay at Goa. Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao sought to know the expected revenue to the government under the new section and whether notices would be sent to 16B applicants. Congress legislator Altone D’Costa demanded clarity on the revenue collected by the government under 16B while AAP MLA Venzy Viegas la- NCP-Sharadchandra Pawar for Sharad group NEW DELHI: The Election Commission on Wednesday allotted ‘Nationalist Congress Party-Sharadchandra Pawar’ as the party name for the group led by Sharad Pawar. WEATHER >> Max: 31 C Min: 24 C Humidity: 65% TIDES Low: High: 04:09 09:28 16:09 23:25 PANAJI: The Goa Legislative Assembly passed The Goa Buildings (Lease, Rent and Eviction) Control (Amendment) Bill, 2024 which will allow a landlord to resume his occupation of the building given on a leave and licence basis. The Bill, which was tabled by Revenue Minister Atanasio Monserrate on Monday sought to substitute section 23 of the Goa Building (Lease, Rent and Eviction) Control Act, 1968 >Continued on P5 Foreign tourists wearing colourful costumes participate in the Arambol Carnival, at Arambol beach, on Wednesday. This infamous hippie carnival attracts thousands of people, hippies and tourists alike.  Narayan Pissurlenkar Despite huge expenditure, charter arrivals below par since 2019 PANAJI Goa Tourism has undoubtedly invested huge money in international travel expos and road shows to woo citizens from these countries. However, despite these efforts, the outcomes have not matched expectations, at least as per records tabled in the Legis- lative Assembly for the year 2019-2022. Despite efforts to attract visitors from European nations through tourism exhibitions in Frankfurt, Vienna, Zurich, Paris, Bahrain, Japan, USA, and Dubai, among others, Goa has seen disappointing results with fewer or no tourists arriving via charters. Interestingly, despite THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has attributed student stress to excessive mobile phone use. Replying to the motion of thanks on the Governor’s address in the Legislative Assembly, the Chief Minister pointed to ‘mobile phones’ being one of the reasons leading to stress among the student community. “Many students are under stress for various reasons and mobile (phone use) is one of them… counselling centres have been started by the government,” the Chief Minister said. “The stress is not because of the government,” he further said in a lighter vein, while replying to a related query by Leader of Opposition Yuri Alemao. The Chief Minister, who also holds the Education portfolio, further emphasised that the State government has taken proactive measures to tackle the issue by arranging counsellors for students from schools to colleges. PANAJI oa’s local self-governing bodies – panchayats in the villages and municipalities in its cities including the Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) – are perennially short of resources. This resource crunch may soon be alleviated, thanks to the move of the State government to accept the recommendation of the State Finance Commission to introduce a ‘professional tax’ on all ‘professionals’ operating in the jurisdictions of these local bodies. Chief Minister Pramod Sawantled cabinet had on Monday accepted the Commission’s report during the cabinet meeting held on the sidelines of the ongoing budget session of the Goa legis- G lative assembly. The State government will have to bring in a legislation to impose this professional tax by invoking Article 276 of the Constitution, which it will likely do in the monsoon session, an official of the Finance Department said. “These counsellors have been assessing stress among students and their reports cite various reasons including mobile phones (resulting in stress),” he said, adding that the government is working to increase Goa’s happiness index. Sawant’s statement comes at a time when cases of cybercrime involving students are reported to Goa Police. Short video content viral on various social media platforms is also allegedly distracting the youngsters. Speaking about job opportunities, the CM stated Speaker buries the hatchet, says Gaude will probe funds previous disappointments, the department planned to participate in three more international trade shows in Spain, Germany, and Dubai this year, at a cost of about Rs 3.5 crore. Fitur 2024 was held in Madrid, Spain from January 24-28, with ITB Berlin, Germany scheduled for March >Continued on P5 DEHRADUN The Uttarakhand Assembly on Wednesday passed the Uniform Civil Code bill, which may serve as template for other BJP-run states to enact similar legislation. The bill was passed by voice vote after a two-day debate in the House which concluded on Wednesday evening. The opposition’s proposal for referring the legislation to a select committee of the House on the ground that they did not get enough time to study its provisions was rejected. The bill will now be sent to the President for her assent after which it will become a law. Several BJP-ruled states like Gujarat and Assam are keen to model their UCCs on the legislation passed by the Uttarakhand Assembly. Speaking on the bill before its passage, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said it is not an ordinary legislation. “With its passage, a small state like Uttarakhand will script history,” he said. He said the UCC will create equal laws for men and women across all faiths and will help create a non-partisan and non-discriminatory society. “It will especially protect the rights of women and put an end to their exploitation.” WHO COMES UNDER ‘PROFESSIONAL TAX’ AMBIT „„Professionals including chartered accountants, lawyers, doctors, dentists, architects and engineers among others, who operate out of offices „„Also professionals like insurance agents, Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) surveyors, contractors, companies and business firms’ The State government has taken proactive measures to tackle the issue by arranging counsellors for students from schools to colleges, says CM. to convert eco-sensitive zones, salt pans, and buffer zones, etc. “I have noted down all the points… there is no rush in doing anything… but everybody wants to go to the Court so we cannot stop them… they have the right to do so and if >Continued on P5 tax consultants „„The demand will be raised by the respective local body alongwith the ‘House Tax’ Once implemented, professionals including chartered accountants, lawyers, doctors, dentists, architects and engineers among others, who operate out of offices will come under its ambit. “These professionals will have „„The ‘professional tax’ so imposed has to be capped to a maximum of Rs 2,500 annually to pay this additional ‘professional tax’. The demand will be raised by the respective local body alongwith the ‘House Tax’ demand,” the official said. However, the ‘professional tax’ so imposed has to be capped to a maximum of Rs 2,500 annually. >Continued on P5 OPPN SEEKS DISCUSSION IN ASSEMBLY, MOTION DISALLOWED THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI The Goa Legislative Assembly Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar on Wednesday said that Art and Culture Minister Govind Gaude has assured to conduct an inquiry into the alleged misappropriation of funds in the department. The allegations were initially levied by the Speaker himself against the Minister over disbursement of funds for events. The Opposition MLAs led by Fatorda legislator Vijai Sardesai tried to raise the issue of the Speaker’s allegations against Gaude demanding discussion by moving an adjournment motion, a second such attempt in two days. The Speaker, however, refused to allow the motion and asked the opposition benches to let the business of the House continue. “See, the issue was raised with me by the local panchayats. I took up the issue. The Minister has assured to conduct an inquiry,” he said, denying the motion. Earlier, Sardesai said that a detailed discussion is must as public money is involved. He said that the public wants to know what the issue is and whether it is going to be a judi- Director acknowledges voice in clip; Gaude says ‘false’ PANAJI: A day after his unedited controversial audio clip went viral, Minister Govind Gaude refuted all the “allegations” and termed it as “false”. A 4.14 minute audio clip of the telephonic conservation between the Minister and Director of Tribal Welfare Dashrath Redkar had gone viral on social media on Tuesday, wherein the Minister was heard yelling, abusing and threatening the officer with dire consequences. Redkar has admitted that the voice heard in the audio clip is his but refused to speak anything further. On the other hand, Gaude said “all allegations against me are false and there are no facts”. However, in their entire clip there are no allegations levied against him. In the audio clip, the Minister is heard lashing out at Redkar, for granting funds to an NGO for organising events through Schedule Caste and Scheduled Tribe Commission in his constituency – Priol. The Minister has even abused the Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar and the Chief Minister Pramod Sawant in the entire clip. The Minister is even heard saying that he will see how the event takes place and how “that” NGO gets funds. He told the Director to inform Tawadkar and CM that he is not going to tolerate such things in his constituency. cial and impartial inquiry. The Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said that under rule 69 of the House, the motion cannot be allowed as the Speaker himself is named in it. Tawadkar had last week ‘Professional tax’ could be a game-changer for local bodies THE GOAN I NETWORK BETTER HAPPINESS INDEX belled the new section arbitrary. The AAP legislator also cited past misuse. “16B was a criminal waste of money. It is deleted but what is the reason for introducing 39A?” he further questioned. Replying to these concerns, Rane explained that a stay was granted to 16B by the Court as there were attempts PTI THE GOAN I NETWORK Mobile phone use one reason leading to stress among students: CM Uttarakhand first state to pass Uniform Civil Code bill CARNIVAL CURTAIN RAISER E-Beat Book App for Goa Police launched PANAJI: Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Wednesday launched the “E-Beat Book App” - developed by students of Government Engineering College (GEC) for Goa Police, a technology which will assist the department on multiple issues including tracking its records.   >> See pg 3 Now, landlord can resume occupancy after expiry of leave & licence period notices would be sent to 16B applicants „„Congress legislator Altone D’Costa demanded clarity on the revenue collected by the government under 16B „„AAP MLA Venzy Viegas has labelled the new section arbitrary citing past misuse 14 According to the official, professionals like insurance agents, Limited Liability Partnership (LLP) surveyors, contractors, companies and business firms’ tax consultants will also come under the ambit of this proposed ‘professional tax’. Indications that a ‘professional tax’ will be levied in Goa were first revealed when the Commission’s chairman Daulat Hawaldar held discussions with a team of the Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI). The latter were not enthusiastic of the Commission’s move and had sought to impress that the thrust should be on widening the tax base instead of imposing a new tax. Goa is among 15 States in the country that do not levy a ‘professional tax’ while 21 other States and Union Territories, including its two neighbours – Karnataka and Maharashtra – do. The solace for professionals who will cough up the tax once it is implemented is section 16 (iii) of the Income Tax Act, which permits deduction of the entire amount paid as professional tax from the gross taxable annual income. Meanwhile, while the move of the Finance Commission to recommend levy of professional tax to raise revenues may come as a boon, its recommendation for introducing customised accounting softwares across all these local bodies is expected to leave the accounts cells of Goa’s municipalities and panchayats huffing and puffing to keep books up to date. For, the Commission has also recommended mechanisms for real time monitoring of their spending and accounts. accused the minister of allegedly misappropriating Rs 26.85 lakh by distributing the money to clubs and organisations under a scheme for conducting cultural programmes, which were never held.