log on to thegoan.net @thegoanonline SUNDAYAUGUST 4, 2024 Facebook.com/thegoan The Goan E-Paper (Playstore/IOS) Instagram.com/thegoanonline 16 pages PRICE ` 10 PANAJI MARGAO GOA VOLUME X, NO.48 RNI: GOAENG/2015/65729 MOVIES »PAGE 16 GOOD LIFE »PAGE 12 LIVE SMART »PAGE 14 Sana Makbul lifts winner trophy Red flags for hypothyroidism Luggage security A few things to follow for ensuring your baggage is not lost in transit SPORTS »PAGE 7 Second ODI: India faces spin challenge against Sri lanka Homeopathic help for osteoarthritis Safeguarding financial future Churchill Brothers FC to disband amidst financial struggles Bigg Boss OTT 3 winner Sana credits her win to determination and focus Cooking up a storm with Abhay Verma Comunidades not ‘public authority’ under RTI: HC LET THE POWER OF GOLD FULFILL YOUR NEEDS! MAHABANK GOLD LOAN Repayment Tenure Upto 24 Months Attractive Interest Rate No Prepayment Charges www.bankofmaharashtra.in * T&C Apply SCAN TO APPLY Finance upto ₹100 lakh Be aware of poor thyroid production which can be a start of other health issues Follow us @mahabank >> SEE PG 3 NEW FISHING SEASON, SAME OLD WORRIES MAGAZINE MAGAZ International Day of Friendship: Fostering bonds across the globe Shravan: A blend of devotion and culture SAYS THEY ARE NOT OWNED BY GOVERNMENT THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI The Bombay High Court at Goa has ruled that the Comunidades of Goa do not come under the definition of a Public Authority under the Right to Information Act and as such they do not come under the purview of the Right to Information Act. Disposing two petitions filed by the Comunidade of Mapusa and the Comunidade of Pilerne, which had filed petitions challenging orders of the Goa Information Commission to furnish information under the RTI Act, the division bench of the Bombay High Court at Goa M S Karnik and B P Deshpande ruled that “a comunidade is not an authority or body or institution of self government established or constituted (a) by or under the Constitution; (b) by any other law made by Parliament; (c) by any other law made by State Legislature KEY HIGH COURT OBSERVATIONS „„We find that the comunidade is not owned by the appropriate government nor can it be said to be a body which is controlled by the appropriate government „„According to us, the control of the appropriate government must be a control of substantial nature and mere supervision or regulation by a statute would not make it a public authority „„There is nothing to suggest that the control of the appropriate Government over the comunidade is of such a degree which amounts to substantial control over the management of its affairs „„There is no obligation on comunidade to designate any Central Public Information Officer or State Public Information Officer, to provide information under this Act and (d) by notification issued or order made by the appropriate Government or that it is (i) body owned, controlled or substantially financed; and (ii) non-Government organization substantially financed directly or indirectly by funds provided by the appropriate Government.” “We find that the comunidade is not owned by the appropriate Government nor can it be said to be a body which is controlled by the appropriate Government. According to us, the control of the appropriate Government must be a control of substantial nature and mere supervision or reg- ulation by a statute would not make it a public authority within the meaning of Section 2(h) of the RTI Act. There is nothing to suggest that the control of the appropriate Government over the comunidade is of such a degree which amounts to substantial control over the management of its affairs,” the High Court ruled. The two comunidades claimed that they are “not a Public Authority under the RTI Act and hence the Comunidade is not covered under the provisions of the RTI Act.” The Goa government, however, claimed that, Section 5(4) and 5(5) of the RTI Act, which clearly provides that the State Public Information Officer as the case may be, may seek the assistance of any other officer as he or she considers it necessary to discharge his or her duties properly, the >Continued on P6 Eco-sensitive villages in Goa rise to 108 in Centre’s list Monsoon makeup tips Aging & your teeth: How to maintain a healthy smile THE GOAN I NETWORK Recovered from dengue infection? Beware, you may get it again Permissibility of subclassification amongst SC, ST categories by States IN SHORT >> IMD forecasts heavy showers today PANAJI: Goa has been enduring a prolonged period of heavy rainfall, leading to flood-like conditions. IMD has issued an orange alert, which will remain in effect until Sunday. The forecast indicates that Goa will continue to experience heavy to very heavy rainfall, with isolated locations facing the brunt. Ghostbusters: The story behind Mopa airport nightmare  >> See pg 5 END OF AN ERA: Work in progress to dismantle the Miramar footbridge on Saturday. The massive steel structure built at a cost of over Rs 1 crore had remained unused for several years.  Narayan Pissurlenkar Plaints over violations of coastal zone boom in Anjuna, Pernem THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI There has been a massive rise in real estate activity along Goa’s famed coast post the Covid-19 pandemic and this is reflected in the number of alleged violations of the Coastal Regulation Zone (CRZ) rules, particularly in North Goa’s Pernem and Bardez talukas. In Pernem, Arambol has seen some frenzied real estate activity over the last three years and with it complaints of violations of CRZ rules have also piled up before the Coastal Zone Management Authority from these regions. In fact, of the 200-odd com- plaints of CRZ violations filed before the GCZMA and other authorities, as many as 165 are in Arambol’s Girkarwada, the locality where blatant illegalities and construction in rank violation of the coastal laws had prompted the Bombay High Court at Goa to remove >Continued on P6 PANAJI The number of villages from Goa which could be declared eco-sensitive zones as part of the long pending proposal of the Ministry for Environment, Forests and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) for the fragile Western Ghats has risen to 108 from the earlier 99 in the latest draft-notification issued by the Central ministry days after the disaster in Wayanad unfolded. The MoEF had re-issued the draft notification for the sixth time on July 31 after adverse reactions from the country’s top ecologists in the immediate aftermath of the Wayanad disaster. In the previous draft notification issued in November 2022, the MoEF had included 99 villages to be part of the contiguous ESZ corridor across five States -- Gujarat, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Goa and Kerala -- the MoEF&CC had listed only 99 villages but this number has gone up to 108 in the July 31 draft-notification. Ganesh jackpot attracts crowd in Quepem, Sanguem Double bedroom flat, high-end cars, cash among prizes up for grabs THE GOAN I NETWORK SANGUEM eople queued up since the wee hours of Saturday, hoping to purchase the prized donation coupons offered by Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandals of Quepem and Sanguem. For many years, the donation coupons issued by Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal, Quepem are in high demand and get sold in a few days on account of the bumper prizes and the transparency in conducting the draw on the scheduled day. The demand is such that not only locals but people from all over Goa make a beeline to purchase the lottery tickets P People wait patiently to lay their hands on the prized donation coupons of Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal, Quepem on Saturday. with the hope of winning one of the bumper prizes. This year, 1.5 lakh donation coupons will be sold, with each coupon priced at Rs 500. As many as 20 cars highend cars and cash prizes will be offered to the winners. The prizes include a Toyota Fortuner plus Rs 10 lakh as first prize, Mahindra XUV 700 plus Rs 11 lakh (2nd), Jeep Compass plus Rs 10.5 lakh (3rd), Tata Safari plus Rs 9 lakh (4th), Hyundai Creta plus Rs 7.5 lakh (5th), Mahindra Thar plus Rs 7 lakh (6th), Honda City car plus Rs 7 lakh (7th), Kia Seltos plus Rs 6.50 lakh (8th), Nexa Grand Vitara plus Rs 6.5 lakh (9th), Maruti Ertiga car plus Rs 5 lakh (10th), Toyota Urban Cruiser plus Rs 4.5 lakh (11th), Hyundai Verna plus Rs 4.5 lakh (12th), Kia plus Rs 4 lakh (13th), Magnite plus Rs 4 lakh (14th), Baleno plus Rs 3.5 lakh (15th), Maruti Swift plus Rs 3.5 lakh (16th), Maruti Swift plus Rs 3.5 lakh (17th), Tata Punch plus Rs 3.5 lakh (18th), Maruti Ignis plus Rs 3.5 lakh (19th) and Maruti Ignis plus Rs 3.5 lakh (20th). In Sanguem, the Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal has come out with an exhaustive list of unbelievable prizes. One lakh donation coupons will be sold, with each coupon priced at Rs 500. While last year, the SGMS had given a JCB machine as the first prize, this year it has set another new level by offering a Double Bedroom Flat admeasuring 103 sq mtrs in Margao City in addition to cash of Rs 27 lakh as the first prize. Coming second on the prize list is a 10-wheeler commercial vehicle of Tata Prima 2830K >Continued on P6 Kidney ailments on the rise, Goa has 3 new cases daily Over 75 per cent are males, reveals govt data THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI Incidence of kidney ailments and failures among Goans is alarmingly worsening with official data supplied by the government in the Goa legislative Assembly showing that at least three new patients are being diagnosed per day (average) over the last three years. Between 2021-22 and 202324, Health Minister Vishwajit Rane told the House that 3,098 people have got added to the statistics of patients diagnosed and treated for renal diseases at the Goa Medical College and Hospital. Rane in the written reply to a query posed by Curtorim MLA Aleixo Reginaldo Lourenco said in 2021-22, 883 kidney failure cases were reported in GMC alone. Also, men far outnum- Diabetes, hypertension key causes PANAJI: The Directorate of Health Services says if blood sugar levels and blood pressure are not controlled in diabetes patients it mainly affects the kidneys. Rane said in his written reply that diabetes mellitus, followed by hypertension and chronic interstitial nephritis (diarrhoea) were the most known causes of renal failure in Goa. “If blood sugar and blood pressure are not controlled, which depends on many factors like eating habits, exercise and high BMI, then this leads to the development of uncontrolled diabetes mellitus, hypertension and there by leading to an increase in the incidence and progression of kidney diseases,” Rane said. ber women with over 75 per cent of the patients of renal failure being male and the numbers are also rising annually, the data supplied by Rane shows. In 2021-22 for instance, 633 of the 883 cases were men with people aged 40 and above being the most vulnerable -- 375 and 355 patients were in the 40-60 and 60-80 age brackets accounting for nearly 90 per cent. Interestingly, the Health Minister’s data also shows that renal failure demographics within the State is also gradually changing. Now, centrally located Tiswadi taluka has reported the maximum >Continued on P6 Assagao bus operators stage pothole sit-in over bad roads SERVICES HALTED, RESIDENTS LEFT STRANDED THE GOAN I NETWORK MAPUSA All buses plying on the Assagao Badem Mapusa road were taken off the road on Saturday as a mark of protest against the deteriorating road conditions and multiple road cave-ins in Assagao village. Bus operators have issued a stern warning, threatening to escalate their agitation if the roads are not repaired within the next eight days. In a novel and poignant form of protest, buses were parked in a row in front of the Assagao panchayat. Some bus operators squatted in the potholes, while others brought stones to fill them. This dramatic display underscored their frustration with the government and local politicians, who they accuse of neglecting Assagao and allowing the roads to remain in poor condition for the past eight months. The operators expressed concerns about the ongoing A bus driver sits in a pothole highlighting the plight of roads in Assagao on Saturday. rains and the approaching festive season, fearing that road conditions would become even more unbearable. They lamented their financial losses over the past eight months, citing high diesel prices and expensive spare parts that exacerbate their plight. One bus driver remarked, “The government charges us heavy road taxes, and if we don’t pay on time, we are fined. Diesel prices have gone up, spare parts are expensive, and due to these bad roads, our vehicles are regularly breaking down.” Despite these challenges, bus operators have continued to run their services as a social >Continued on P6