log on to thegoan.net MONDAY NOVEMBER 25, 2024 >> pg 7 Poll results, MSCI index among 8 factors likely to guide Dalal Street this week IN SHORT >> Anti-noise activist assaulted in Anjuna MAPUSA: In a dramatic turn of events at the coastal village of Anjuna, chaos unfolded at a gram sabha meeting on Sunday as Dr Inacio Fernandes, a vocal campaigner against loud music, was assaulted by a group of villagers in the presence of police. The confrontation highlights the deepening rift between tourism stakeholders and residents concerned about noise pollution.  >> See pg 3 Escort website: Odisha man arrested PANAJI: Crime Branch has arrested fourth accused in the case involving operation of escort websites and running prostitution racket through organised chain of agents. The accused is native of Odisha but presently residing at Candolim. He worked for a hotel in Goa and was acting as agent in prostitution activities. Manager stabbed over petty issue PANAJI: A resident of Meghalaya living in Goa has been arrested by Calangute police for allegedly stabbing a hotel manager at Gauravaddo, Calangute, over a minor dispute. The accused reportedly threatened to kill the manager and attacked him with a knife, inflicting injuries to his abdomen. `  .60 crore worth eco 7 camp planned at Surla PANAJI: Goa Tourism Development Corporation has launched development of an eco camp in Surla with an estimated investment of Rs 7.60 crore. GTDC has called for bids from approved contractors to construct the eco camps. The site will feature 12 fully furnished eco huts and is slated for completion within nine months. TIDES Low: High: 13:29 -------06:28 19:54 Facebook.com/thegoan @thegoanonline The Goan E-Paper (Playstore/IOS) 12 pages PRICE ` 10 PANAJI MARGAO GOA VOLUME X, NO. 158 Instagram.com/thegoanonline EOC SLEUTHS TRACE ACCUSED TO LONDON FIVE DIRECTORS OF A FIRM BOOKED PANAJI The Economic Offences Cell (EOC) of the Goa Police on Sunday said it has hit upon a massive Rs 100-plus crore fraud over nearly 14 years wherein, investors mostly from Salcete, were lured into putting in large sums on the pretext of high returns through share market investments. According to the police, the accused one Myron Rodrigues and his wife Deepali Parab, diverted the money and none of the investors got any returns. Rodrigues, who is allegedly absconding and is said to be in London, received in all Rs 130-odd crores and spent Rs 129 crore over these 14 years, his bank accounts' statement summary reveals, the EOC said in a written statement. FIRs based on multiple complaints were booked Fraud has Fatorda-to-London connection, claims Sawant PANAJI: Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Sunday said the fraud being investigated by the police is Goa's biggest with over Rs 100 crore involved. "The Goa Police's EOC is investigating everyone involved in the fraud, from Fatorda to London," Sawant who is also Home Minister said in comments made to the media late Sunday night seen as cryptically taking aim at his critic and Fatorda MLA, Vijai Sardesai. VIJAI DARES CM TO DENY HE WAS APPROACHED ON SCAM >> See pg 2 against Rodrigues and his wife Deepali Parab in August last year but Rodrigues evaded legal action and fled to London via Dubai, the EOC statement said. A 'look out circular' and a blue notice through Interpol has been issued for Rodrigues to bring him back to Goa and the process for a 'red corner' notice is in the works, Superintendent of Police, Rahul Gupta, IPS, said while briefing the media about the case. Gupta said, in a fresh development in the 2023 cases against Rodrigues and his wife, the EOC has now on Thursday last, arraigned five directors of another company -- Idylic Goan Gateways and Developments Pvt Ltd -- after IPL 2025 BREAKS RECORD Rishabh Pant pipped Shreyas Iyer to become the costliest buy in IPL’s history with a Rs 27 crore winning bid from Lucknow Super Giants `  7 CRORE MASTERSTROKE 2 „„Rishabh Pant became the most expensive player in the history of IPL „„He was bought by Lucknow Super Giants for Rs 27 cr „„Pant went to LSG after Delhi Capitals did not use the Right to Match card to buy him back THE OTHER BIG BUYS JEDDAH: A GLOBAL FIRST „„IPL 2025 mega auction took place on November 24 and will continue on Nov 25 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia „„This is the second instance when the IPL auction is taking place outside India „„Total of 577 players are entering the high-octane event „„Teams will look to fill 204 slots, 70 of which are for overseas players Shreyas Iyer: `  6.75 cr 2 Venkatesh Iyer: `  3.75 cr 2 Arshdeep Singh: `  8 cr  1 Yuzvendra Chahal: `  8 cr 1 Jos Buttler: `  5.75 cr  1 KL Rahul: `  4 cr 1 Mohammed Siraj: `  2.25 cr Kagiso Rabada: `  0.75 cr 1 1 UNSOLD! Devdutt Padikkal David Warner Jonny Bairstow Antao: Have not duped anyone PANAJI: Nolan Antao has said neither he nor Ghodge have duped anyone. "Me or Sushant Ghodge have not duped anyone. In Myron Rodrigues case, Rs 3.25 crore were deposited in our company and when we realised it is not clean money, we deposited the money in the account of the police station as per the order of a Mumbai court," Antao said in a statement. investigations revealed that it had received Rs 3.5 crore from Rodrigues for real estate investment. Meanwhile, four of the five directors of this company, including Sushant Ghodge, a >Continued on P9 Shinde elected Shiv Sena’s legislature party leader PTI MUMBAI Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde was on Sunday night elected as the leader of the Shiv Sena Legislature Party. The resolution to this effect was unanimously passed by all 57 MLA-designates at a meeting held at a suburban hotel. Three more resolutions, including hailing Shinde for leading the party to a spectacular victory, thanking PM Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah for their support and the people of Maharashtra for reposing their faith in the Mahayuti alliance, were also passed. Soren to take oath on Nov 28 (Details on page 12) Jaiswal, Kohli tons wear down Australia as India eyes big win RNI: GOAENG/2015/65729 Investment fraud worth over `100 cr rocks Goa THE GOAN I NETWORK Pg12 JHARKHAND: Hemant Soren met Jharkhand Governor and staked claim to form the government, soon after leaders of the INDIA bloc elected him as legislature party leader. Govt plans structural audit of protected monuments 8 NEW STRUCTURES TO BE DECLARED ‘PROTECTED’ THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI The Directorate of Archaeology has moved a fresh proposal for undertaking structural audit of all 51 protected monuments in the State. At the same time, eight new structures of historical importance including Hath Katro Khamb at Old Goa, also known as Inquisition Pillar are set to be declared as “protected monuments”. The State government has approved these structures and a notification is expected shortly. Sources have revealed that a structural audit will be conducted for all protected monuments to prepare restoration plans and assess their vulnerability to fire hazards. It was further revealed that the proposal to undertake structural audit of the protected monuments was long overdue and due to various reasons the same could not be executed. “The department will sign a Memorandum of Understanding either with the Civil Engineering Department of Goa MONUMENTAL CHECK-UP monuments and sites maintained by department THE NEW STRUCTURES „„Restoration plans of monuments to assess vulnerability to fire hazards „„Directorate of Archaeology to sign MoU with Civil Engineering Department of GEC or rope in reputed agency „„Govt grants in-principle approval for the project „„There are 51 notified Engineering College (GEC) or rope in some reputed agency for the purpose. The government has already granted in-principle approval for the same,” sources said. It was in 2019, when the proposal for structural audit was mooted for the first time. The similar moves were afoot „„Hath Katro Khamb at Old Goa „„Betul Fort, Nanus Fort „„Rock Engravings at Mauxi „„Stone circle at Cotigao „„Kranti Veer Dipaji Rane’s House at Kumbharkhand, Sattari „„Soliye temple at Canocana „„Tank of Shri Vazreshwar Temple at Balli in 2023. There are 51 notified monuments and sites maintained by the department, which includes forts, caves, rock engravings and water tanks. There are another 21 under the Archaeology Survey of >Continued on P9 Massive fire engulfs dry waste shed at Sonsodo 2 BALING MACHINES COMPLETELY DESTROYED THE GOAN I NETWORK MARGAO A raging fire engulfed the Sonsodo dry waste shed in the wee hours of Sunday, destroying two baling machines, costing lakhs of rupees and bringing to fore the susceptibility of the waste dumping site to fire incidents. The incident triggered a debate over the fire incident, whether the raging fire was an accident or arson with questions raised by fire officials as well as by Margao Municipal officials over the suspicious nature of the fire. The incident is believed to have started at around 2 am before it was noticed by security personnel manning the site. After receiving a call from the security that Sonsodo was on fire at 2 am, the Margao fire brigade rushed to the site, only to find the shed handling the dry waste on fire. What raised suspicions over the fire was that when Firemen attempt to douse the blaze at Sonsodo in the wee hours of Sunday.  Santosh Mirajkar ON PAGE 2 MMC struggles with dry waste management Mystery surrounds fire as officer rules out accidental causes the fire personnel reached the spot, they found the shed un- der fire at two-three places, including the area around the balling machines. The firefighting operations were complicated by the fact that the shed was filled with accumulated dry waste, and thick black smoke was billowing from the area. Given the gravity of the situation, the Margao fire brigade immediately requisitioned the >Continued on P9 State eyes approval for revised India’s first deaf-mute priest leads Mass at Old Goa coastal plan ahead of deadline Thousands make beeline for veneration THE GOAN I NETWORK THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI The State government is awaiting approval of the National Coastal body to its updated Coastal Zone Management Plan (CZMP) 2011 based on 1:4,000 scale in a bid to meet the January, 2025 deadline for completion of CZMP based on 2019 CRZ notification. The delay in notifying the updated plan has derailed CZMP 2019 work. The Thiruvananthapuram-based National Centre for Earth Science Studies (NCESS) has informed the State that by January, 2025, it would be in position to submit only the Goa had forwarded the updated CZMP 2011 based on 1:4,000 scale to NCZMA and MoEF&CC for approval and notification. The CZMP 2011, based on the 1:25,000 scale, was notified on September 6, 2022 draft plan, provided the CZMP 2011 based on 1:4,000 scale gets approval. In September, the State forwarded the updated CZMP 2011 based on the 1:4,000 scale to NCZMA and MoEF&CC for approval and notification. The CZMP 2011, based on the 1:25,000 scale, was notified on September 6, 2022. When contacted, Director Environment Johnson Fernandes said that the State is still awaiting communication from the Union Ministry for Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) over updated CZMP 2011. “We have not received any communication from the Centre. The updated plan first needs to be approved and recommended by the National Coastal Zone Management Authority and only after that it would be notified,” he said. Sources informed that the >Continued on P9 PANAJI or the first time a mass was celebrated through sign language at the SFX Training Centre for Children with Disability at Old Goa on Sunday morning which was celebrated by Fr Joseph Thermadam, who earlier in May this year became the only deaf-and-mute to be ordained a Catholic Priest in India. Thermadam celebrated the mass at 9.30 am -- silent through sign language -- and in the congregation were 120 deaf Catholic pilgrims who accompanied him along with deaf members of the Goan Catholic laity. Fr Henry Falcao, who heads the Exposition Committee F Devotees await their turn to venerate the Relics of St Francis Xavier on Sunday. addressed members of the congregation after the mass and later the 120 members of the Indian Deaf Catholic Association interacted with the Goan counterparts. Incidentally, Fr Thermadam is the first deaf Indian Catholic priest and only the 26th worldwide. St Francis Xavier Training Centre for Children with Disability coordinated the celebration of the mass along OLD GOA: Thousands of devotees thronged Old Goa for veneration of the Sacred Relics of St Francis Xavier in Old Goa, on Sunday which also happened to be the first day of the Novena. The devotees stood in the queue since early morning and the crowd was so massive that the queue reached beyond the Gandhi Circle. For major part of the day, the queue was seen reaching the road as the crowd continued to swell. The devotees had to wait for more than an hour to reach the See Cathedral to venerate the Relics of St Francis Xavier.  >> See pg 5 with DRAG (Disability Rights Association of Goa). Fr Thermadom is part of the Congregation of the Holy Cross in Thrissur, Kerala and was ordained a Catholic priest earlier in May this year by Archbishop Mar Andrews Thazhath, mak- ing him the first with this disability to join India's Catholic clergy and Asia's second. Born deaf and speech-impaired, Fr Thermadom studied in Mumbai and obtained a BSc degree before entering religious life.