log on to thegoan.net @thegoanonline SUNDAY MARCH 17, 2024 Facebook.com/thegoan The Goan E-Paper (Playstore/IOS) Instagram.com/thegoanonline 16 pages PRICE ` 10 PANAJI MARGAO GOA VOLUME IX, NO. 269 RNI: GOAENG/2015/65729 MOVIES »PAGE 16 PLAY & PAUSE »PAGE 13 LIVE SMART »PAGE 14 CHOOSING WISELY Tunes of success Art of impression SPORTS »PAGE 8 Sunil Gavaskar urges BCCI to triple Ranji Trophy match fees TILL THE ETERNITY: Kriti and Pulkit tie knot, share first pics of their wedding Fruitful Women’s Day, inspiring chats, and more Money mistakes you need to eliminate this Holi Weightlifter Achinta Sheuli expelled from Olympic camp Actress reveals about her upcoming film with Ajay Devgn >> SEE PG 3 TRACKING THE TRAIL OF SCHOOL BURGLARIES MAGAZINE MAGAZ American-Chinese singersongwriter Allen Ling talks about his nostalgic approach to music during his India visit Five tips to ace the interview game and get your dream job LS election: Goa votes on May 7, results on June 4 n 11.73 LAKH VOTERS TO EXERCISE FRANCHISE n WOMEN OUTNUMBER MEN THE GOAN I NETWORK 9 International Day of Happiness: Finding joy in a complex world Statelessness of minors: Right to nationality an enabling right Beauty benefits of lemon Watch 10 signs ofout for kidney stones this World Kidney Day How counterculture and laptops took over our lives 11 Auto Review Hyundai Creta N Line: Sporty upgrade for the segment leader IN SHORT >> Woman killed, 5 kids hurt in Balli mishap MARGAO: A woman was killed and 5 children were seriously injured after a mini-truck carrying around 15 occupants went off the road and fell near a culvert on the NH-66 at Hordem near Balli late Saturday night. The injured were rushed to the South Goa District hospital from where they were shifted to the Goa Medical College, Bambolim late night.   >> See pg 2 No special focus on Salcete: Sawant PANAJI: Chief Minister Pramod Sawant ruled out any special focus on the electoral heartland of south Goa -- Salcete -- but said that the BJP will devote equal attention across the district in a strategic move to better the vote share. >> See pg 2 Govt’s khadi push in Goan villages PANAJI: In a bid to push traditional artisans in Goa’s villages over 80 of them were on Saturday handed over specialised equipment.  >> See pg 5 PANAJI Goans, all of 11.73 lakh of them, will get a shot at democracy on May 7, when they get to vote and pick the State’s two Lok Sabha members of Parliament which will decide who gets to rule the country for the next five years. The Election Commission of India which announced the Lok Sabha election schedule on Saturday afternoon, listed Goa among those States and Union Territories which will go to polls in the third phase on May 7.  While the last date for filing nominations is April 19, scrutiny of nominations will be done on April 20 and the date for withdrawal is April 22. Counting of votes will be taken up on June 4. With the poll announcement, the Model Code of Conduct has also come into effect. Meanwhile the process  of 7,000 COPS ON DUTY, 16 CONTROL ROOMS, 38 FLYING SQUADS PANAJI: As many as 7,000 policemen from across the ranks will be on duty to ensure criminals are prevented from tainting the electoral process and the electioneering. Additionally there will be 14 companies of Central forces to make sure there are no problems on the law-and-order front in Goa throughout the election period. Verma said, two companies have already begun field marches in the State in conjunction with the Goa police as a confidence building exercise. Elaborating on the logistics, Verma said, 16 Control rooms including seven in North and eight in South have been set up and 38 flying squads deployed of which 21 will be in North Goa and 17 in South Goa to keep vigil on malpractices and respond to real time complaints through the Commission’s online app. enrolling oneself as a voter is ongoing but as of Saturday, Goa’s Chief Electoral Officer, Ramesh Verma, IAS said, voter count in the as of Saturday Ordinance on beach structures notified Now, no need of construction licence or technical clearance for shacks THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI Goa Governor, P S Shreedharan Pillai on Saturday promulgated the Goa Erection of Shacks on Public Beaches (Regulation and Control) Ordinance, 2024 that will help regulate (and regularise) shacks set up in CRZ areas along Goa’s coastline both along the tourism beaches as well as in private lands (private shacks) set up along the coastline.  According to the gazette notification, this Ordinance “shall apply to such beach shacks which are permitted by the Department of Tourism to be erected on public beaches under the Goa Shack Policy and all other temporary structure permitted by the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority in terms of the Coastal Regulation Zone Notification on public or private properties.” According to the Ordinance, “the erection of shacks on the beach site under the Goa Shack Policy and the temporary and seasonal structures permitted by the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority shall not require any construction licence or technical clearance  under any of the foregoing statutes…”  The structures will however require permission to erect a temporary and seasonal structure from the Director of Tourism, an NOC from the village panchayat or municipality, a trade licence issued by the panchayat or municipality, NOC from the Health Department and NOC from the Directorate of Fire and Emergency Services.  Any individual permitted by the Goa Coastal Zone Management Authority to erect temporary or seasonal structures permitted by the CRZ notification (or permitted by the Director of Tourism shall >Continued on P6 stood at 11,73,028  and a little over two per cent of these are new, first time voters.  Also, women voters outnumber men in Goa by wom- Order issued to extern Siolim pastor, wife for 6 months THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI The North Goa Collectorate has issued an order externing Pastor Domnic D’Souza and his wife Joan of Five Pillars Church in Siolim from the district for six months. The order comes after the district police submitted a fresh proposal citing their involvement in a series of alleged religious conversions and black magic. Former Superintendent of Police (North Goa) Nidhin Valsan had submitted a report to the Collector on January 4 seeking externment of the duo for “maximum period.” The couple had thereafter challenged the proceedings against them before the High Court of Bombay at Goa. The recent FIR was registered by Mapusa police on January 1, accusing the couple of allegedly promoting  disharmony between religious groups, insulting religion or religious beliefs, criminal intimidation) and also black magic.  Long weekends make Goa a hotspot, but surge in airfares burn a hole in pockets Dabolim airport expects over 20,000 passengers during weekends THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI he year’s consecutive second and third long weekends have once again brought a surge in airfares for trips to and from Goa. Coinciding with the onset of summer vacation, these weekends will also be a peak period for families to organise their holidays, another reason for the escalating expenses of air travel. One-way airfares from Delhi have surged to Rs 8,800 and beyond for the Holi weekend, reaching as high as Rs 9,500 for the Good Friday-Easter T SKY IS THE LIMIT „„One-way airfares from Delhi surge to Rs 8,800 for Holi weekend, reaching as high as Rs 9,500 for Good Friday-Easter weekend „„Fares from Bangalore are around Rs 5,000 and reach up to Rs 8,000 during both upcoming weekends „„Rates from Mumbai, Hyderabad and other closer destinations also hover between Rs 4,000-5,000 „„One-way rate from Pune to Goa for Holi weekend is over Rs 11,000 with return fares equally expensive weekend. Similarly, fares from Bangalore have climbed to around Rs 5,000 and reached up to Rs 8,000 during both these upcoming weekends. The flight rates from Mum- bai, Hyderabad, and other closer destinations also hover between Rs 4,000-5,000 and above, with prices escalating with each successive click on the booking portals. Traveling from Pune to Goa for the Holi weekend will certainly burn one’s pocket as the one-way charges are over Rs 11,000 and return fares after the second long weekend are equally expensive. The tourism industry acknowledged that despite an expected influx of visitors, the turnout might not match that of other short holidays due >Continued on P6 GOA’S POLL SCHEDULE „„Last date for nominations „„Scrutiny of nominations „„Date for withdrawal „„Polling date „„Counting date April 19 April 20 April 22 May 7 June 4 en-to-men ratio  of  1063, Verma said, adding that the Mormugao (South Goa) seat has a marginally higher voter strength than Panaji (North Goa) by around 15,000. The South Goa seat has 5.95 lakh  listed on the electoral rolls as against the 5.8 lakh in North Goa. Additionally 9,372 voters who have 40% and above disability and are registered as PwD voters will also be provided the ‘voting from  home’ facility.  VOTE FROM HOME The facility of letting senior citizens to vote from the comfort of their homes introduced over the last couple of elections will continue, Verma said, adding that as many as 11,640 voters who are upwards of 85 years of age, will be permitted the facility. APP FOR DATA Verma said, CEO Goa will be using the Election Seizure Management System (ESMS) Mobile App to digitize data for intercepted and seized items (cash/liquor/drugs/ precious metal/freebies/other items) direct from field through Mobile App during the duration that the Model Code Conduct is in force. >Continued on P6 EC unveils 7-phase poll schedule, to start from April 19 PTI NEW DELHI The Lok Sabha polls will be held in seven phases spread over 44 days starting April 19 in the world’s largest election, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi eyeing a third consecutive term in office. Announcing the poll schedule to elect the 543-member Lok Sabha, Chief Election Commissioner Rajiv Kumar told a news conference on Saturday that over 97 crore voters -- 49.7 crore male and 47.1 crore female -- are eligible to cast their votes across 10.5 lakh polling booths. Assembly elections in Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim will be held on April 19, and in Andhra Pradesh on May 13. Elections to Odisha assembly will be held in four phases on May 13, May 20, May 25 and June 1. Bypolls will also be held for 26 assembly constituencies in different states, said Kumar. Polling will be held in all 7 phases in 3 States -- Bihar, West Bengal and Uttar Pradesh. The elections for the 18th Lok Sabha will begin on April KEY TAKEAWAYS „„Over 97 cr voters to exercise franchise „„2,100 observers to ensure level-playing field „„Strict vigil over illicit online cash transfers „„Drone-based checking at borders „„Over 48,000 transgenders eligible „„10.5 lakh polling stations to be set up „„55 lakh EVMs to be used 19 followed by subsequent phases on April 26, May 7, May 13, May 20, May 25 and June 1, said Kumar. The entire election process, from the announcement of polls on Saturday to the declaration of results, lasts 82 days. Asserting that the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) is fully prepared for the general elections, Prime Minister Modi slammed the opposition as “rudderless” and “issueless” and expressed confidence about retaining power.