log on to thegoan.net @thegoanonline SATURDAY APRIL 20, 2024 GOA Facebook.com/thegoan The Goan E-Paper (Playstore/IOS) 13 pages PRICE ` 10 PANAJI MARGAO GOA VOLUME IX, NO. 303 Instagram.com/thegoanonline RNI: GOAENG/2015/65729 3 13 2 10 out Lineman electrocuted on duty Poll code takes ‘hic’`3 crof liquor, seizures hit in Bicholim, triggers outrage All eyes on STs as key players brace up for hectic campaign to woo electorate GOA SPORTS INFO Let BJP inquire, investigate or send ED, I am ready, dares Khalap Lucknow Super Giants beat Chennai Super Kings by eight wickets Ways to include cornstarch in your beauty routine EXCISE DEPARTMENT REGISTERS 126 CASES  IRATE CROWD DEMANDS ENQUIRY  THIRD INCIDENT OF LINEMAN GETTING ELECTROCUTED IN BICHOLIM THE GOAN I NETWORK BICHOLIM A 34-year-old linemen from Gaonkarwada-Pilgao got electrocuted when he was attending to a fault atop an electricity pole at Vhalshi-Bicholim on Friday morning. The death sparked off outrage among locals of Vhalshi and residents of Pilgao, who rushed to the site on hearing the news, as the crowd refused to allow the body to be lowered from the pole for nearly 2 hours and blamed the electricity department for negligence. According to sources, the incident took place at about 11.30 am as the lineman Manoj Zambaulikar had gone to attend to a fault at the electricity pole, after a fitness centre nearby had complained of low voltage. Power department officers claim that power supply had Electrocution due to ‘back field’ power from inverter, says CEE A huge crowd at the site where the lineman got electrocuted at Vhalshi-Bicholim on Friday. (Inset) Manoj Zambaulikar been shut down while Jambhavlikar went up the electricity pole. However, a short while later, Zambaulikar came in contact with live wires and got electrocuted. News of the death spread like wildfire as people, both from Vhalshi and Pilgao rushed to the site. Accusing the electricity department of negligence, an irate crowd refused to allow PANAJI: Chief Electrical Engineer (CEE) Stephen Fernandes has said that the ‘back field’ power transmitted from the inverter of a nearby establishment ‘Fitness Factory’ charged the neutral wire which eventually electrocuted the deceased linesman Manoj Zambaulikar at Bicholim on Friday. Fernandes expressed shock and grief over Zambaulikar’s tragic death saying it is even more depressing to note that he was recently married and has a young child. He said, an enquiry conducted by a team of Superintending Engineer and two Executive Engineers had found that ‘Fitness Factory’ uses an inverter whose connection was improperly done leading to the ‘back field’ getting transmitted on to the main electricity line. >Continued on P5 police to lower the body from the pole and demanded the presence of electricity department officials to explain the circumstances leading to the death of the lineman and who should be held accountable,- THE GOAN I NETWORK Bangalore tourist missing at Dudhsagar Porvorim murder: Yadav surrenders PORVORIM: Vikas Yadav, the prime accused in the murder of Rehbar Khan, surrendered at the Porvorim police station on Friday. North Goa SP Akshat Kaushal said Vikas the main accused indicated that the deceased, Rehbar Khan, was assaulted at two or three places and when he was dropped along with his friends near Audit Bhavan he was still alive. > > See pg 3 >Continued on P5 COOL KIDS: Children frolic in the water on a hot and humid day at Miramar beach on Friday.  Narayan Pissurlenkar Goa in grip of scorching heat; hot streak to follow next week THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI Goa continues to experience relentless heat, with temperatures reaching 35.2 degrees Celsius on Friday and a heat index (feel-like temperature) surpassing 40 degrees Celsius. The India Meteorological Department’s (IMD) Goa divi- sion has forecast no relief for at least the next seven days, projecting a heat index ranging between 40 to 50 degrees Celsius. According to an IMD official, Friday saw temperatures at 35.2 degrees Celsius with a slight drop to 35 degrees Celsius expected on Saturday. This will gradually drop to 34 degrees Celsius thereafter. How- ever, the overall conditions will remain hotter than usual, persisting as dry and humid weather for the next week. While the ongoing high temperatures is no less than a heat wave feel, the official pointed out that dehydration is a concern under these conditions. As per the latest >Continued on P5 PANAJI In a major boost to the Congress in the State, National President Mallikarjun Kharge, party leaders Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Shashi Tharoor, Priyanka Vadra, Kanhaiya Kumar among others were named as star campaigners for the ensuing Lok Sabha polls in Goa. Interestingly, Francisco Sardinha who was among the probable candidates and who had announced that he will campaign after he was denied ticket, prominently figures in the list of star campaigners released by the party. Other Goan leaders in the list include Amit Patkar, Yuri Alemao, Girish Chodankar, Carlos Fereira and Altone D’Costa. Meanwhile, the campaign of Captain Viriato Fernandes received a boost after Nuvem Sarpanch, Freda D’Sa and others came out openly in his support. Forests are national assets, key to wealth: SC AGENCIES NEW DELHI he Supreme Court has asserted in a judgment that forests in India are national assets and a major contributor to the nation’s financial wealth. “It is the spirit of the forest that moves the earth,” a Bench headed by Justice M M Sundresh observed in a judgment based on an appeal filed by the State of Telangana against a High Court decision “graciously gifting” forest land to a private person. The State’s forest officials, expected to preserve the forest, had made matters worse by filing conflicting affidavits in court about the nature of the land in question. The apex court ordered Rs 5 lakh in costs from both the T PANAJI As Goa inches closer to its date with elections on May 7, liquor seizures amounting to Rs 3.05 crore since the commencement of the code of conduct mid-March have unveiled a concerning trend. Data available with The Goan reveals that in North, the excise teams seized 39,599.920 bulk litres of liquor while in South, 12,459.839 bulk litres have been confiscated. The department registered 126 cases with hotspots emerging in Bardez that boast of the highest licenses, followed by Pernem, where recent crackdowns on illegal transportation have borne fruit, and subsequently Salcete. “These 126 cases involve seizures of liquor along with cases of improper liquor inventory management,” an official said. The Patradevi checkpoint emerges as a focal point even as flying squads besides excise and police have been camping to check illegalities. Barely ten days ago, a truck en route from Goa to Mahar- „„Excise sleuths seize 39,599.920 bulk litres of liquor in North while in South, 12,459.839 bulk litres were confiscated „„Hotspots emerge in Bardez, followed by Pernem and Salcete „„Patradevi checkpoint also a focal point; flying squads, excise and police officials camping at site „„Liquor worth Rs 42.63 lakh was seized last week from a truck en route from Goa to Maharashtra at Patradevi „„According to CEO illicit material including cash, liquor and drugs totaling Rs 2441.27 lakh was seized from March 1 to April 4 ashtra was intercepted at the Patradevi wherein the excise officials seized liquor worth Rs 42.63 lakh being clandestinely transported. Moreover, a raid conducted at an unauthorized premises at Dandevado-Chinchinim in Salcete -- suspected of storing liquor illegally -- resulted in the confiscation of around 4,028.71 litres of liquor, valued at around Rs 12.9 lakh. Similarly, officials from the Ponda excise intercepted a parked truck at Curti, seizing unaccounted 3,742 litres of liquor, with an estimated value of Rs 17.16 lakh. On Easter Sunday, Excise officials, along with a flying squad, intercepted liquor worth Rs 30 lakh and cash amounting to about Rs 5.3 lakh in separate incidents at Patradevi and Keri-Sattari. The Chief Electoral Officer of Goa had recently revealed that illicit materials including cash, liquor, and drugs totaling Rs 2441.27 lakh from March 1 to April 4. Of these were cash amounting to Rs 1562.21561 lakh, 66620.13 litres of liquor valued at Rs 87.99053 lakh, and drugs totaling 26088.15 grams worth Rs 302.827 lakh. Voters brave hot weather, over 63% vote in Phase-1 LS polls SPORADIC VIOLENCE REPORTED IN SOME PLACES; CRPF JAWAN DEAD IN GRENADE EXPLOSION PTI IN SHORT >> PONDA: A 62-year-old tourist from Bangalore has gone missing at the Dudhsagar waterfall at Collem. The missing person, Abdul Rafiq and his wife had arrived in Goa and some time later, had gone to the Dudhsagar waterfall.  >> See pg 5 for the tragedy. Some electricity department officials along with a police team later went to meet the crowd. Kharge, Rahul, Sonia, Tharoor star campaigners for Cong in Goa page 6 Goan professor spearheads clean energy workshop in Germany UK Goan pushes for Gen Next in Goa’s regenerative tourism policy BOOZE BUST: FACTS & FIGURES THE GOAN I NETWORK MAJOR SUPREME COURT OBSERVATIONS „„Depletion, disappearance of forests would ultimately lead to a massive extinction of organisms „„Concepts of carbon credit and green accounting evaluate a nation’s wealth had become a reality „„A country with excess forest cover would be in a position to sell its excess carbon credit to the one in deficit „„It underlines the significance of forests in contributing to financial wealth of a country „„Forests serve as a major sink of carbon dioxide. „„Value of mitigation has put conservative value of $5 per tonne of CO2 locked in our forests State government and the private persons. The State was asked to open an enquiry against its own forest officials. The judgment has come at a pivotal time when the controversial Forest Conservation (Amendment) Act of 2023 or the FCAA has attracted widespread criticism. The FCAA is accused of giving a free hand to States to regularise encroachments in protected forests and determine diversions of forestlands. The Act has been criticised for paving the way for the commercial exploitation of forests, besides exempting infrastructural projects from environmental clearance. “Depletion and disappearance of forests would ultimately lead to a massive extinction of organisms,” Justice Sundresh, who authored the judgment pronounced on April 18, observed. The court said concepts of carbon credit and green ac- counting to evaluate a nation’s wealth had become a reality. “A country with excess forest cover would be in a position to sell its excess carbon credit to the one in deficit. This in turn underlines the significance of forests in contributing to the financial wealth of a country,” the court noted. The judgment said India’s forests serve as a major sink of carbon dioxide (CO2). The value of mitigation has put a conservative value of $5 per tonne of CO2 locked in our forests, this huge sink of about 24,000 mt of CO2 is worth $120 billion, or Rs 6 lakh crores. Justice Sundresh highlighted the protective role of forests against climate change. It referred to a RBI report on the macroeconomic impact of climate change and changing patterns of rainfall. NEW DELHI A voter turnout of over 63 per cent was recorded in the first phase of Lok Sabha elections covering 102 seats across 21 States and Union Territories amid sporadic incidents of violence at some places and an accidental explosion of a grenade launcher shell in Chhattisgarh that left a CRPF jawan dead. The Election Commission said polling for the first and biggest phase of the seven-phase elections remained largely peaceful. Voters braved the heat in most parts while at some places, they waited patiently in pouring rain as the world’s largest poll exercise got underway at 7 am. The National Democratic alliance (NDA) under Prime Minister Modi is seeking a stronger majority for a third consecutive term, while the constituents of the opposition INDIA bloc are hoping for a >Continued on P5 SHREE RAMNATH DEVASTHAN CHARITIES RAMNATHI, PONDA-GOA PHONE: 0832-2335281, 2335041, 2335174 Email: ramnathd07@gmail.com www.ramnathi.org FREE MEGA MEDICAL CAMP SHREE RAMNATH DEVASTHAN CHARITIES WILL BE ORGANISING THEIR ANNUAL MEGA MEDICAL CAMP ON SUNDAY 21ST APRIL 2024 IN SHREE RAMNATH DEVASTHAN HALL, RAMNATHIM BANDORA PONDA GOA. THE CAMP WILL BE CONDUCTED BY EMINENT DOCTORS IN THE FIELD OF CHEST PHYSICIAN, GENERAL PHYSICIAN, OPTHALMOLOGIST, CARDIOLOGIST, ORTHOPEDIC, PEDIATRICIAN, PSYCHIATRIST, SKIN SPECIALIST, UROLOGIST IN ADDITION, BLOOD PRESSURE, BLOOD SUGAR, HBAIC, THYROID, HEMOGLOBIN, PULMONARY FUNCTION TESTING SERVICES WOULD ALSO BE MADE AVAILABLE AT THE CAMP MANAGING COMMITTEE OF SHREE RAMNATH DEVASTHAN CHARITIES HAS REQUESTED ALL CONCERNED TO ATTEND THE MEGA MEDICAL CAMP IN LARGE NUMBER AND AVAIL THE BENEFITS OF THE CAMP. VALLABH V. S. KUNKOLIENKAR TRUSTEE SHREE RAMNATH DEVASTHAN CHARITIES