log on to thegoan.net @thegoanonline FRIDAY JANUARY 17, 2025 page 8 Honda’s slow ride into electric future: Bold move or missed opportunity? REVIEW: Bharat Mobility Global Expo 2025: Electric car model showcase IN SHORT >> Actor Saif stabbed by intruder at home MUMBAI: Bollywood star Saif Ali Khan was repeatedly stabbed by an intruder in his highrise apartment in upscale Bandra early Thursday and rushed to hospital with the blade still lodged in his spine, an audacious attack that raises intriguing questions about security and celebrity life in the financial and showbiz hub.  >> See pg 9 BJP president to be named on Saturday PANAJI: BJP National General Secretary Sunil Bansal is expected to arrive in Goa on Friday to chair the much awaited Party President election process. A new State President will be announced on Saturday.  >> See pg 3 `  lakh grant to 5 set up Pvt museum PANAJI: The State government has announced financial assistance of Rs five lakh each to those setting up a new private museum and for the development of infrastructure relating to the existing museums.  >> See pg 2 ‘Queue’ system: Govt extends deadline PANAJI: The 15-day deadline issued by Tourism Minister Rohan Khaunte to water sports operators to implement the queue system officially ends today, Friday with the Tourism Department granting operators an additional week to comply or face action.  >> See pg 3 Pope Francis falls, hurts his arm ROME: Pope Francis fell Thursday and hurt his arm, the Vatican said, just weeks after another apparent fall resulted in a bad bruise on his chin. Francis didn’t break his arm but that a sling was put on as a precaution, the Vatican spokesman said in a statement. Facebook.com/thegoan The Goan E-Paper (Playstore/IOS) 15 pages PRICE ` 10 PANAJI MARGAO GOA VOLUME X, NO. 210 Instagram.com/thegoanonline India Open Super 750: PV Sindhu, Kiran enter quarterfinalsPg15 RNI: GOAENG/2015/65729 8 pay commission cleared for central govt employees th PENSIONERS, DEFENCE PERSONNEL TO ALSO BENEFIT PTI NEW DELHI Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday approved setting up the 8th Pay Commission to revise salaries of nearly 50 lakh central government employees and allowances of 65 lakh pensioners. The chairman and two members of the Commission will be appointed soon, I&B Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told reporters here. “Prime Minister has approved 8th Central Pay Commission for central government employees,” the minister said. The term of the 7th Pay Commission will end in 2026. Since 1947, seven Pay Commissions have been constituted, with the last one implemented in 2016. As the 7th Pay Commission’s term concludes in 2026, initiating the process in 2025 ensures sufficient time to receive and review recommendations before its completion, the minister added. He said the setting up of the new Pay Commission in 2025 will ensure that its recommendations are received well before the completion of the term of the 7th pay panel. Pay commissions hold extensive consultations with central and state governments and other stakeholders before giving recommendations Fire strikes Sonsodo again, alarm over safety efforts Firemen take almost 10 hours to douse it MARGAO Fire broke out yet again at the Sonsodo waste management site in the wee hours of Thursday, once again bringing to the fore the susceptibility of the waste dumping site to fire incidents. The early Thursday morning fire incident comes in less than two months since a raging fire had engulfed dry waste at Sosnodo in the wee hours of November 24 last year. This time round, the green waste dump caught fire at Sonsodo, even as the fingers of suspicion is pointed to miscreants either playing mischief or with the intention to dispose the piled up waste inside the complex alongside the road leading to the plant. It became clear that the fire was far more significant than initially portrayed by the Margao Council and municipal officials when the Margao fire Court upholds Speaker’s order against defected Congress MLAs 120 beneficiaries in dark as State’s solar subsidy lags ON PAGE 2 Sonsodo fire exposes Margao’s green waste management Arson in green waste fire suspected brigade finally contained the blaze and smoke at the site around 1:41 pm on Thursday, after nine and a half hours of THE GOAN I NETWORK firefighting. Information revealed that the Margao fire brigade received a fire call at around 4.16 am on Thursday that the waste dump was on fire. Fire officials pointed out that the fire must have occurred much before they received the call after the municipal staff deployed at the site could not bring it under control. Margao Fire Officer Gill >Continued on P9 >Continued on P9 The fire that engulfed Sonsodo waste site in the wee hours of Thursday.  Santosh Mirajkar PANAJI The Goa government has proposed to bring members of 3,250 State’s Self Help Groups (SHG) under death insurance cover under ‘Insurance for All’ initiative. The Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Thursday chaired the Goa State Rural Livelihood Mission (GSRLM) meeting in the presence of Minister Govind Gaude. The meeting resolved to digitise the SHG records by introducing e-bookkeepers and also to set up a supermarket facility under National Rural Livelihood Mission (NRLM) to sell products produced under 480 brands. During the meeting, it was informed that there are a total 3,250 SHGs operational in the state, with a revolving fund of Rs 8.28 crore, while the banks have provided financial assistance to the tune of Rs 312 crore in form of loans. The FUTURE PERFECT „„SHG records to be digitized by introducing e-bookkeepers „„Proposal to set up supermarket to sell products produced under 480 brands „„Moves afoot to increase number of SHGs „„141 SHG members trained as Bima Sakhi to the government. The pay commission has a key role in deciding salary structures, benefits and allowances for government employees. Most of the state-owned organisations follow the commission’s recommendations. The 7th Pay Commission was constituted in 2014 and its recommendations were implemented on January 1, 2016. Sources said around 50 lakh central government employees, including defence personnel, will benefit from PANAJI The High Court of Bombay at Goa has upheld the order of Legislative Assembly Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar dismissing the disqualification petition against eight Congress MLAs who defected to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 2022. The Court, on Thursday, also disposed of the petition filed by former Goa Pradesh Congress Committee President Girish Chodankar citing its earlier judgment on a similar merger involving 10 MLAs joining the BJP. Earlier in the hearing on Wednesday, Advocate Abhijit Gosavi, representing Chodankar, requested the court to dispose the matter stating that the High Court had already ruled on a similar case previously filed by him. He further submitted that the issue would ultimately need to be resolved by the Supreme Court, where an appeal is being made.  THE GOAN I NETWORK THE GOAN I NETWORK the decision. Also, about 65 lakh pensioners, including defence persons, will also see an uptick in their pensions. In Delhi alone, about 4 lakh employees will benefit, including defence and Delhi government employees, from the recommendations of the panel. Delhi is going to assembly polls on February 5, 2025. In past, salaries of Delhi government employees increased with the central pay commission, sources added. The 7th pay commission saw an expenditure increase of Rs 1 lakh crore for fiscal 2016-17. Implementation of pay panel’s recommendations provides a big boost to consumption and economic growth, along with better quality of life for govt employees. Progressive step, CSS hails decision NEW DELHI: The decision to constitute 8th Pay Commission reflects the central government’s commitment towards ensuring well-being of its employees, an organisation representing Central Secretariat Service (CSS) officers said on Thursday. The CSS Forum extended sincere gratitude to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the government for the “progressive” decision. “This progressive step reflects the government’’s commitment to addressing the concerns of central government employees and ensuring their well-being,” said Udit Arya, president of CSS Forum. State to provide death insurance cover for SHGs meeting proposed to increase the number of SHGs in the state by 300–400.  According to the press statement issued by the Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), the government has extended the target for the Lakhpati Didi scheme to benefit 17,000 women, and for which 17,331 SHG members have already been identified. Also 141 members have been trained >Continued on P9 Bureaucratic hurdles, ECS mandate stalls payment THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI Sudden procedural changes, glitches with ECS mandates and delay on part of the State government to grant financial approval, has left close to 120 solar rooftop beneficiaries awaiting for their State share of subsidy for the last three months. While a list of nearly 124 beneficiaries was submitted to the Accounts department since October, 2024, for release of payment, amounting to around Rs 1.90 crore, the consumers are yet to receive their share.  This has led to a trust deficit among consumers with regards to the Prime Minister’s Surya Ghar Muft Bijli Yojana. As part of Central share, the subsidies of 131 consumers have been redeemed and the payment was released as of November, last year.  Once the application is approved, the Union Ministry of Goa’s solar portal continues despite PM Surya Ghar portal PANAJI: In February, last year, the National Rooftop Solar portal, was migrated to the PM Surya Ghar portal -making it a single platform to apply for Central and State subsidy. However, Goa government-launched State Solar Rooftop Portal continued to remain functional for availing benefit. Under the scheme, the subsidy is as follows: for 1 kW, the subsidy is Rs 30,000; for 2 kW, it is Rs 60,000; and for 3 kW or more, the subsidy is Rs 78,000 or higher. New and Renewable Energy (MNRE) releases the subsidy amount within 30-days into the bank accounts of the beneficiary. After Centre releases its share, the same is updated on State portal, for release of State share of subsidy, which has to be done again within a month’s time. However, as per the infor- mation available from the vendors, several consumers have not received the subsidy even after Central share of payment almost six months back.  Several solar vendors say that the delays are creating a trust deficit and brand imaging of these companies >Continued on P9 Govt must seek consent to inspect Venzy draws parallels between Sawant & Bandodkar Kalsa site, not Speaker: Tawadkar Hails CM’s unifying development efforts across Opposition-held constituencies THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI Almost a week after the Goa Legislative Assembly’s House Committee resolved to approach Karnataka Speaker through its Goa counterpart to inspect Kalsa-Bhandura project site, Goa Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar, ruled out any such move, stating that the ‘Speakers have got no role’ and the approval need to be sought at the government level. The House Committee on  Mhadei  had met on January 8, two years after it had its first meeting in February 2023. The Committee, headed by WRD Minister Subhash Shirodkar unanimously resolved to inspect the Kalsa-Bhandura site for ground verification to How can the Speaker seek permission?... it has to be done at the government level… Speaker’s role is only to accept the House Committee report — Ramesh Tawadkar write to Goa Assembly Speaker Ramesh Tawadkar to communicate with its counterpart in Karnataka for permission. Speaking to The Goan, Tawadkar said “how can the Speaker seek permission?...it has to be done at the government level…Speaker role is only to accept the House Committee report …beyond that I cannot write to KA Speaker for permission to inspect site…we have no role to play”. Tawadkar said that the House Committee will have to write to the State government to communicate with Karnataka and obtain permission. The committee decided to conduct a site inspection to verify the ground fact following media reports that while work on Kalasa project is going on full-swing, the work is set to commence soon by Karnataka to divert water from tributaries of the  Mhadei  into the Malaprabha basin via Bandhura project at Nerse. According to >Continued on P9 THE GOAN I NETWORK MARGAO he Lotus had failed to bloom in Benaulim, the heartland of Salcete, in the historic Opinion Poll, the only referendum held in the country on January 16, 1967. And, the Lotus has failed to make its presence felt in Benaulim post-Opinion Poll till date, with BJP’s repeated forays in the minority belt coming a cropper. In a development that may make interesting reading, Benaulim Aam Aadmi Party MLA Venzy Viegas on Thursday tried to correlate incumbent Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to Goa’s first Chief Minister Dayanand Bandokar, but for a T BENAULIM MLA: BRIDGING THE DIVIDE „„CM does not discriminate against Opposition represented constituencies „„As an Opposition MLA, we have differences with the government „„I have been fighting for Brand Goa and criticise all negative things the govt does different reason. In reply, the Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said he believes that politics and development are two separate things, saying he has tried to „„When it comes to development, CM has supported me to take up development in education sector and other infra projects „„CM has approved all development files of the Oppn „„Hs been kind enough take up basic infrastructure development across the 40 constitu- to approve funds for Education infra in Benaulim „„CM has never said no for development in Benaulim „„Elections should be fought on policies and ideologies and only then Goa will make progress & move forward encies in the last five years. “Criticism does not affect me because development is my priority”, the CM said. While addressing two programs in Benaulim, one at the Holy Trinity School, Benaulim and the other at Colva at the STP commissioning, the Benaulim MLA sought to remind that Dayanand Bandodkar and Opposition leader Dr Jack de Sequeira left no stone unturned during the Opinion Poll in support and against the merger of Goa into Maharashtra. He, however, said that both Bandodkar and Jack Sequeira had left behind their political differences as they together tried to build Brand Goa post-Opinion Poll. “This is evident by the fact that Bandodkar went about laying the foundation for school >Continued on P9