log on to thegoan.net @thegoanonline FRIDAY MAY 17, 2024 GOA Elderly lady conned, mangalsutra stolen MAPUSA: In a distressing tale of deceit and betrayal, a senior citizen’s routine trip to buy vegetables in Moira turned into a harrowing ordeal, resulting in the loss of her cherished mangalsutra valued at Rs 1.5 lakh. The victim, Vinanti Parab (63), fell prey to the cunning machinations of two individuals masquerading as police officers on a motorcycle. >> See pg 3 Panaji resident cheated of `  0L 9 PANAJI: The Cyber Crime Cell of Goa Police is investigating a complaint of Rs 90 lakh defraud through an online scam. Panaji-resident Kalpana Govekar alleged that unknown persons, using the GIMI App and other means, contacted her via social media platforms and WhatsApp persuading her to download the app while promising her lucrative returns.  >> See pg 3 Gold, silver worth `  .90 L stolen 1 MAPUSA: In a brazen act of burglary, perpetrators targeted a residence in Tivim, making off with gold and silver valuables estimated at Rs 1.90 lakh, according to Colvale Police. The incident unfolded between 9 pm and 10 pm on Wednesday night, as the unsuspecting occupants of the house were away. >> See pg 5 IMD forecasts more thundershowers PANAJI: Light to moderate rainfall with thunderstorm and lightning accompanied with gusty winds 30-40 kmph has been forecast at a few places over Pernem, Bicholim, Bardez, Sattari, Valpoi, Sanquelim, Ponda, Dhabandora etc. IMD also said more talukas are likely to get affected as the clouds are generally moving towards South-west direction. Mercury may hit 45 deg in Delhi NEW DELHI: Heatwave conditions are expected over northwest India during the next five days, with Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi predicted to bear the maximum impact, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) said on Thursday. The mercury could soar to 45 degrees Celsius in the national capital by Saturday, it said. WEATHER >> Max: 35 C Min: 26 C Humidity: 77% TIDES Low: High: 01:03 11:59 06:44 18:50 The Goan E-Paper (Playstore/IOS) 13 pages PRICE ` 10 PANAJI MARGAO GOA VOLUME IX, NO. 330 Dark clouds over heritage buildings as repairs leave landmarks vulnerable IN SHORT >> Facebook.com/thegoan 2 GOA Illegal landfilling continues unabated in Mapusa 3 Instagram.com/thegoanonline RNI: GOAENG/2015/65729 INFO Remedies to prevent premature greying of hair 8 No decision yet on NEP for Std IX, review meet today SCHOOLS TO UNDERGO ASSESSMENT FOR PREPAREDNESS THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI The State government has taken no decision to implement the National Education Policy 2020 in Class IX as yet and a review meeting to assess the preparedness of schools for it will be held on Friday based on which a decision will then be taken. Education Secretary, Prasad Lolayekar, IAS, said the ‘review meeting’ will be held by the Education Department on Friday which will assess schools for their readiness to implement the NEP for Class IX in Goa.  A decision whether to implement NEP in the schools this year or in the next academic year will only be taken by the government only after this review meeting,” Lolayekar said.  Currently, the NEP is being followed since the beginning CM warns aided schools charging more fees PANAJI: Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Thursday warned managements of aided schools in Goa against charging additional fees on some pretext or the other and said action will be initiated if such complaints are received. Sawant said, some aided schools are in the habit of charging additional money from students despite the government disbursing of the last academic year only at the pre-primary level. The issue of implementing the NEP in higher classes from this academic year has been bothering the minds of academics, administrators and the teaching community in Goa over the last several weeks owing to the sweeping changes the policy mandates for choice of subjects and in adequate grants-in-aid. “Parents must be vigilant about such practices by school managements,” Sawant said, adding that every school is being given Rs 5 lakh annually to operate the ‘Bal Raths’ to provide transportation facility to their students  “If these Bal Raths are not operated properly or left without maintenance, action will be taken,” Sawant said. particular the downgrading of weightage for ‘third language’ for which students commonly opt for a foreign language. ADMISSION TO STD 11 FOR ALL Chief Minister Pramod Sawant has said that no student would be left without getting admission to Std 11 this year. ED can’t arrest accused after court takes cognisance: SC Says agency must first seek court’s nod AGENCIES NEW DELHI In a landmark ruling, the Supreme Court curtailed the Enforcement Directorate’s power to arrest an accused -- under Section 19 of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act -- if the accused appears as summoned by a special court that has taken cognisance of the complaint. In such cases the agency must first seek that court’s nod, the top court said. “After cognisance is taken of the offence... the ED and its officers are powerless to exercise powers under Section 19 to arrest the person shown as accused in the complaint,” the Supreme Court said. Section 19 of PMLA allows ED officers to arrest an individual “on the basis of material in possession (and) reason to believe (to be recorded in writing) that the person is guilty...” Crucially, the agency must inform the individual, “as soon as may be” of the grounds for the arrest. Specifically, the top court said in cases where an accused KEY APEX COURT OBSERVATIONS „„After cognisance is taken of the offence... ED and its officers are powerless to exercise powers under Section 19 to arrest the person „„Section 19 of PMLA allows ED to arrest an individual “on basis of material in possession (and) reason to believe (to be recorded in writing) that the person is guilty „„Agency must inform the individual, “as soon as may be” of the grounds for the arrest „„In cases where an accused was not arrested till the time ED filed its complaint, they could not be arrested afterwards „„Special court must first issue summons and, if the accused duly answers that summons, they could not been seen as being ‘in custody’ was not arrested till the time ED filed its complaint, they could not be arrested afterwards. The special court must first issue summons and, if the accused duly answers summons, they could not been seen as being ‘in custody’. “If the ED wants custody of (an) accused after the person (answers a special court’s) summons, it needs to apply to the special court,” a bench of Justice Abhay S Oka and Justice Ujjal Bhayan said, adding, custody could only be granted if that court believes custodial interrogation is required. An arrest warrant -- under Section 70 of the Code of Criminal Procedure -- can only be issued if the accused failed to answer the summons, and, in the first instance, this must be a bailable warrant. In a significant ruling -- one seen as emphasising protection offered from arbitrary arrest by ED -- the top court also said accused individuals not arrested before answering a court summons -- need satisfy the stringent ‘twin test’ for bail as laid down by the PMLA. Sawant’s assertion underscores the critical importance of ensuring that every student has access to education, particularly at the crucial juncture of transitioning to Standard 11. The State has 104 higher secondary schools including nine government, 91 government-aided and four unaided HSSs, he added.  NO CHANGE IN STD 6 BOOKS An official from the Education Department has said that the textbooks for Std 6 will remain unchanged due to the fact that they are not yet finalised for implementation. However, the officials also said that there will be revisions in the curriculum for Std 3, with three textbooks slated for modification. 3 LAKH FREE NOTEBOOKS The government will be distributing around 3 lakh notebooks to students. A tender has been floated for printing and supply of 309,482 notebooks -- 1,07,068 hundred pages and 2,02,414 two hundred pages books. The notebooks will have branding, publicity of government policies and schemes on back cover page and inside back page of the notebook. SPORTS Sunil Chhetri to retire after India’s match against Kuwait 13 Kerala tourist killed in lightning strike at Miramar beach Two others from group survive THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI In an unfortunate incident, the first pre-monsoon fatality, a tourist from Ernakulam in Kerala lost his life after being struck by lightning on Miramar Beach last night.  The 35-year-old  identified as Akhil  Vijayan  was having relaxing time on the beach along with his family and friends when heavy rainfall accompanied by thunderstorms and lightning struck the beach around 8.50 pm.  Panaji police disclosed that as the group, consisting of around 7 to 8 persons including children, hurried back towards their vehicle, Vijayan collapsed suddenly on the beach, showing no signs of responsiveness, which indicated a heart attack. “The 108 Ambulance was swiftly called and Vijayan was rushed  to the Goa Medical College (GMC) Hospital in Bambolim. Efforts to save his life proved futile, as doctors Eyewitnesses recounted the harrowing scene. A bolt of lightning struck their area directly, causing immediate impact on Vijayan and two others, including his wife and a friend stated he was dead on arrival,” the police said.  Eyewitnesses recounted the harrowing scene as the group retreated from the beach amidst  bad  weather conditions. A  bolt of lightning struck their area directly, causing immediate impact on Vijayan and two others, including his wife and a friend. While Vijayan remained unresponsive, his wife and friend regained consciousness.  The post-mortem report confirmed the cause of death as “electrocution and blast injuries consistent with lightning strike.” The family was handed over his body for final rites as per their religious customs. CM: Hiring rules may be tweaked to make them job-compatible THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI The Pramod S a w a n t- l e d government is seriously  contemplating amending the recruitment rules for jobs across the board in all departments to make them more compatible with the actual technical and other requirements of duties associated with each individual job. Sawant said, some of these recruitment rules are outdated and the exercise to  tweak them is to make sure that they are in tune with the profile of the job/position for which aspiring job-seekers are being recruited. To articulate that some of the recruitment rules are outdated, Sawant cited the example of the post of Lab Assistant in schools where the recruitment rules stipulate HSSC (Class XII) as the qualification.  “It may be enhanced to ‘Science graduate’,” Sawant said. Such revision of the recruitment rules and amendments are being contemplated for several other positions in the government across all the departments, he added. PUDDLE OF RELIEF: A large water puddle forms along the road at Taleigao on Thursday. Premonsoon showers hit many parts of the State providing relief from the scorching heat. Land grab: ED files prosecution complaint against 36 accused THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI The Enforcement Directorate (ED) in Goa has filed a Prosecution Complaint against 36 persons allegedly involved in illegal land grabbing before the Special Court (PMLA) in Mapusa.  The complaint has shed light on the  modus operandi of the accused to illegally acquire properties, especially those whose owners don’t live in the State. According to reports, the complaint revealed the accused created forged documents, using their own identities and those of their associates, to illegally acquire several properties. Moreover, they subsequently sold these properties, generating proceeds of crime. “ED initiated an investigation  on the basis of  various FIRs registered at different police stations in Goa related to the crime. ED investigation revealed the accused persons were involved in creating forged and fabricated >Continued on P5 PM attacks Oppn on Stocking up tradition of ‘Purument’ faces lifestyle challenges UCC, cites Goa case CLINTON D’SOUZA THE GOAN I PANAJI AGENCIES NEW DELHI Prime Minister Narendra Modi criticised the Opposition for propagating misinformation regarding the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) and referenced the constitutional guidelines advocating for the enactment of such legislation. Modi said there should be no parallel narrative to the debate on UCC and the people opposing it should read about it first. Citing the example of Goa, he said, “Goa has UCC. Tell me, do the people of Goa wear the same type of clothes? Do the people of Goa eat the same type of food? The Uniform Civil Code has nothing to do with these things.” Modi further said that the Supreme Court has talked about the need to bring in a UCC on several occasions. The prime minister also spoke about how the Constitution has a directive principle that asks governments to work towards implementing a Uniform Civil Code in India. “It is not a matter of any political party. It is written in the Constitution that India should move in that direction (of implementation of UCC),” he said. Modi’s reference was to Article 44 of the Constitution, which says, “The State shall endeavour to secure for the citizens a uniform civil code throughout India.” T he Purumentachem festival (stocking up for monsoon) in Goa, celebrated annually as the monsoon nears, has been a longstanding tradition uniting people across diverse backgrounds. However, in recent times, the essence of this tradition seems to be fading amidst the evolving lifestyle trends, particularly with the surge in online shopping and readily available goods in stores. Traditionally, Purument was a time for locals to gather essentials like dry fish, local onions, pickles, furniture, utensils, and spices to prepare for the monsoon when such items become scarce. Yet, with the convenience of online platforms and supermarkets, the fervour surrounding this tradition has diminished. Despite these changes, there remains a group of individuals who still value the authenticity and local flavor of traditional items. They make an effort to visit markets like Mapusa, Panaji, Margao, Ponda and Sanvordem ahead of the monsoon to procure these essentials. The Purumentachem fest holds deep roots in Goan tradition, signifying not only spiritual nourishment but also an opportunity to prepare for the rainy season. Derived from the Portuguese word ‘provisao’, meaning provision, the festival serves as the final celebration before the onset of the monsoon. In the past, families would gather provisions necessary to endure the rainy months, Some of the traditional items that people stock up ahead of the monsoons. considering the challenges of navigating through the state during the monsoon. Fresh fish, in particular, becomes scarce due to fishing bans during rough sea conditions, leading to increased demand for dried fish. During this time, the markets offers a wide array of items for sale, ranging from garden vases to traditional cooking utensils like the ‘budkulo’, used for boiling rice, dry chillies, vegetables, fruits, kokum, local onions and more. Even unique items like  the ‘Adoli’, a coconut grater attached to a traditional Goan stool, and the ‘Mill’er’, a type of piggybank and more. Speaking to vendors in Mapusa and Panaji markets, it was evident that while online shopping has altered consumer behavior, there’s still a demand for traditional items. Many people continue to visit these markets to stock up, appreciating the quality and authenticity offered by local vendors. Matilda Fernandes, a dry fish and kokum vendor at Mapusa market, mentioned a decline in footfall this year, especially for certain items. She noted that while the demand for dry fish remains high, there are fewer customers compared to previous years. Matilda highlighted that despite the availability of items online or in stores, regular customers still visit the market to stock up for the monsoon, particularly to make preserves like pickles. She emphasized that the demand for kokum remains high among Goan families who understand its value. Balbina Gonsalves, selling Goan sausages at Mapusa market, stated that there has been no decline in demand for Goan sausages. Although overall market visitors have decreased in recent months, >Continued on P5