log on to thegoan.net FRIDAY APRIL 4, 2025 GOA @thegoanonline Facebook.com/thegoan The Goan E-Paper (Playstore/IOS) 14 pages PRICE ` 10 PANAJI MARGAO GOA VOLUME X, NO. 286 Instagram.com/thegoanonline RNI: GOAENG/2015/65729 3 14 2 9 told party to Trump imposes 27% tariffs on Centre all 40 seats: work across Damu India, calls it ‘worst offender’ Margao’s ‘decay’: Viral brawl ignites fury over neglected public spaces GOA Govt to act on illegal roadside structures following HC order: Minister INFO Vitamin D Deficiency: Adding orange juice to a diabetes diet SPORTS KKR routs SRH with convincing 80-run win SAYS MGP IS PART OF SAWANT-LED GOVT NEW DELHI CAUTIOUS, SAYS EXAMINING IMPLICATIONS PTI Hero Electric: When the wheels fell off the dream REVIEW: Hero Xpulse 210: Now bigger, bolder and more capable IN SHORT >> COPS SHUT CYBER CAFES NEAR JEE EXAM CENTRES PANAJI: In an unprecedented move to prevent exam malpractice, Goa police ordered the temporary closure of cyber cafes and photocopy shops within 200 meters of Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) centers in Panaji and Mapusa. >> See pg 5 FDA fines vendors outside GMC PANAJI: The Food and Drug Administration’s special surveillance continued with several outlets being checked outside the Goa Medical College complex on Thursday. The drive which is being conducted every three months detected several violations, resulting in hefty fines and orders for vendors to suspend operations until compliance was met. lorem duties ranging from 10 per cent to 50 per cent on imports from all trading partners. The baseline duty of 10 per cent will be effective on India from April 5 and an additional 27 per cent from April 9. The 27 per cent duty would be over and above any existing levy that Indian products entering US may attract. Though the move is expected to impact India’s exports of certain goods to the US, experts say that India is better-placed than its competi- Seniors left in the lurch as ‘Elderline’ suddenly shuts OFFICIALS BAFFLED OVER ABRUPT SHUTDOWN THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI Six months after its launch, the Elderline 14567 helpline -designed as a critical support system for senior citizens -has fallen silent. Calls now go unanswered, and government officials seem just as baffled as the public about the abrupt shutdown of the service. Launched with grand assurances on October 1, 2024, the helpline was intended to be a lifeline for the elderly facing abandonment, abuse, or medical emergencies. The government had promised it would be fully operational within 45 days, but instead, alleged logistical failures and operational roadblocks prevented it from functioning. Sources revealed to The Goan that its operations have ceased for nearly two weeks. The call centre, set up through a Memorandum of Understanding between the Directorate of Social Welfare and Alankit Assignments Ltd, has been quietly shut down. Even before its closure, the service struggled with a fundamental flaw: calls were alleg- RY page 6 port fuels like gasoil and gasoline to the US. The goods that were exempted made up for just over 25 per cent of the total exports from India to the US. The Indian government reacted cautiously, saying it is “carefully examining the implications” of the announcements and will also study opportunities that may arise due to this new development in the US trade policy. Trump announced the imposition of additional ad va- ON edly redirected to a centralized facility in Delhi rather than being handled locally in Goa.  “The officials monitoring the service have no idea what’s happening,” sources further told The Goan, adding, “We knew there were logistical issues and call rerouting problems, but now it’s as if the entire helpline has simply disappeared.”  The helpline was part of the National Helpline for Senior Citizens (NHSC) initiative by the Government of India. Operational from 8 am to 8 pm, it was designed to assist with crises, offer free information, guidance, emotional support, field intervention in cases of UA WASHINGTON President Donald Trump slapped universal duties on all countries exporting goods to the US and additional steep levies on countries like India, impacting sales of products from shrimp to steel in the world’s biggest economy. The US imposed a steep 27 per cent tariff on all goods, barring pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, energy and certain minerals not available in the United States, that are imported from India, calling the country the “worst offenders” of unfair trade practices. Export of products such as shrimp, carpet, medical devices and gold jewellery to the US will be impacted. On the other hand, exports of electronics, textiles, and pharma will get an edge over its competitor countries. Exemption of energy from the tariffs would also mean that India can continue to ex- tors, including Bangladesh (37 per cent), China (54 per cent), Vietnam (46 per cent) and Thailand (36 per cent) who face increased levies. President Trump, in a historic measure to counter higher duties on American products imposed globally, announced reciprocal tariffs on about 60 countries. “This is Liberation Day, a long-awaited moment. April 2, 2025 will forever be remembered as the day American industry was reborn, the day America’s destiny was reclaimed, and the day that we began to make America wealthy again. We are going to make it wealthy, good, and wealthy,” Trump said in his remarks from the Rose Garden at the White House on Wednesday. He said that the tariffs imposed on India were half of what New Delhi charged the US -- 52 per cent after factoring in trade and non-trade barriers and currency adjustments. 12 JA N abuse, rescue and reunion of homeless elderly. Under the MoU, Alankit was responsible for integrating various government agencies including the police and welfare departments to ensure seamless assistance. The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, the nodal agency, had collaborated with the UTs/State governments to implement the national initiative. For now, elderly citizens in distress have only one alternative -- the Goa Police Senior Citizen Helpline, which remains operational at 1090, providing round-the-clock support. May shave off India’s GDP by 50 bps: Experts NEW DELHI: The reciprocal tariff announced by the Trump administration can shave off India’s GDP growth rate by up to 50 basis points to 6 per cent and the country’s exports to the US could fall by 2-3 percentage points in the current fiscal, experts said on Thursday. EY Chief Policy Advisor D K Srivastava said, “the maximum adverse impact on India’s GDP growth will not be higher than 50 basis points. Standard Chartered Bank Head Anubhuti Sahay said an effective 20 per cent tariff increase on Indian exports to the US in our view is likely. THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI Amidst ongoing tension within the coalition over the alliance for 2027 State assembly elections, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) today said that MGP is very much part of the Pramod Sawant led government. Maintaining that the decision on future alliance will be taken at the right time, the party said that following directions from the Central leadership, it will start work to strengthen its base in all 40 assembly constituencies before the next elections.   “There are still two years to go for State elections. Why to discuss an alliance now. Party has decided to strengthen its base across all 40 constituencies and there would be no compromise,” BJP State President Damodar Naik told The Goan. He also said that the decision on alliance lies with the party high command and the decision will be taken at the right time by the leaders. “For now, we are asked to work in Cabinet reshuffle likely after Nat president takes charge PANAJI: A significant change within the Pramod Sawant-led government is all likely following appointment of new BJP national president, which is expected in the third week of April. The process of electing the next BJP national president will gain momentum after the ongoing Parliament session concludes on Thursday, April 4. Highly placed sources confirmed that any changes in the cabinet will take place only after the new BJP national President takes charge. >> See pg 3 all 40 constituencies,” Naik said. MGP Chief Pandurang alias Deepak Dhavalikar today made a courtesy call to Naik to wish him on his appointment as BJP chief, more than two months after he took over. The leaders denied having held discussion on the alliance. Naik said that it was just a courtesy call following him taking over as BJP State President in January. “Initially he (Dhavalikar) had telephoned me and also sent greetings. But today he visited me per- sonally to wish,” he said. Naik refuted any discussion that took place on the alliance. “MGP is very much part of our government. There is nothing to be discussed on that. We both share a similar ideology and we are happy to have someone with similar ideology,” he commented. Unrest within the coalition was evident following Chief Minister Pramod Sawant’s statement to retain Priol constituency with a warning that >Continued on P5 Waqf Bill: After BRIDGING THE GAPS! LS, govt faces Rajya Sabha test PTI NEW DELH Union Minority Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju on Thursday tabled the Waqf (Amendment) Bill, 2025, in the Rajya Sabha even as parties from the INDIA bloc opposed alleging that it was “unconstitutional” and aimed at targeting Muslims. The Lok Sabha passed the bill with a 288-232 vote in the wee hours of Thursday after nearly 12 hours of debate. Leaders of several opposition parties including the Congress, TMC, DMK, AAP, Shiv Sena (UBT), Samajwadi Party, RJD, and Left parties also alleged that the Bill was brought by the Modi-led government with a malafide intentions. Leader of the House and BJP leader J P Nadda, however, said the Bill is not against Muslims and claimed that it is aimed at helping the poor and protecting the rights of Muslim women. Tabling the bill in the Upper House, which was examined and redrafted by a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC), Rijiju said the proposed legislation has nothing to do with religion, but deals only with properties. Workers undertake the resurfacing work on the new Mandovi bridge on Thursday. The bridge has been closed for all types of vehicular traffic from March 27 to April 5. Narayan Pissurlenkar Kalsa project: Karnataka begins process for land to lay pipeline THE GOAN I NETWORK BELAGAVI In yet another push to implement the controversial Kalsa-Bhandura water diversion project, the Karnataka government has begun the land acquisition process to lay a pipeline in order to divert water from Bhandura and Singerhol nullahs into River Malaprabha. Anticipating a green signal from the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) and the National Green Tribunal (NGT) for its revised DPR, authorities have served notices for land acquisition to about 16 farmers in villag- es near Khanapur towards this project. The Karnataka government has also sent a revised DRP to the Centre for approval by changing the previous plan wherein a dam would be raised in about hundred acres of land in the reserved forest >Continued on P5 GU reserves two seats for other Church sets new boundaries for online worship varsity candidates at PG courses THE GOAN I NETWORK THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI In a progressive move aimed at promoting academic inclusivity and aligning with evolving student mobility trends, Goa University has revised its long-standing policy of capping admissions for candidates from other universities in its Postgraduate (PG) programmes by restricting the number of other universities candidates to two per programme. As per the statement issued, the varsity has decided to maintain the status quo for the current round of admission following earlier policy of admitting a maximum of two other universities candidates Mega campus plan: CM meets Gov PANAJI: Chief Minister Pramod Sawant on Thursday met Goa Governor P S Sreedharan Pillai with a proposal to shift four major professional colleges within Goa University campus. Sawant has proposed to develop mega college campus housing four government colleges -- Goa College of Pharmacy, Goa College of Architecture, Goa Fine Art College and Goa Music College. Sources confirmed that Sawant meeting with the Governor was pertaining to University matters, amidst speculation over possible cabinet reshuffle. per PG programme. “For decades, the University had reserved 10 per cent of seats, with a maximum cap of 2 seats per PG programme, for other universities candidates. This limit was introduced when most PG programmes had an intake capacity of 15 to 30 students. However, seat strength has substantially increased over the past two to >Continued on P5 PANAJI he Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI) has introduced new guidelines regulating the online transmission of Holy Mass and other liturgical celebrations. Titled ‘Guidelines for the Electronic Transmission of the Celebration of the Eucharist and Other Liturgical Services’, the document was officially issued on March 25, and made public on Thursday. CCBI President Cardinal Filipe Neri Ferrão emphasised the importance of maintaining the theological, spiritual, and liturgical integrity of online liturgical broadcasts. In a special circular to the faithful, he stated that these T guidelines “are intended to ensure that the sacred liturgy, when transmitted through electronic means, remains faithful to its theological, spiritual and liturgical integrity, and continues to be a source of grace for the faithful who participate through such means.” “The Second Vatican Council, in Sacrosanctum Concilium (n. 7), affirms that Christ is truly present in the celebration of the Sacred Liturgy. While the transmission of the Eucharistic Celebration and other liturgical services via electronic media can provide spiritual benefit to the faithful, it is not a substitute for actual, physical participation in the liturgical assembly, which remains the ideal and normative form of participation.” “These Guidelines offer directives to uphold the reverence and dignity befitting a proper celebration of the liturgy and its transmission in the digital realm.” “May these Guidelines serve to enhance the dignity of the liturgy and promote a deeper participation of the faithful in the mysteries of salvation, whether in person or through electronic media, always maintaining due reverence and ecclesial communion,” added Cardinal Ferrão. The Guidelines were formulated after extensive discussions during the 94th and 95th Executive Commit- tee Meetings of the CCBI in May and September 2024 and received final approval at the 36th Plenary Assembly in February 2025. They are now binding on all bishops, priests, deacons, religious, and laypersons involved in the electronic dissemination of liturgical celebrations within the Latin Church in India. By setting clear norms for online liturgical broadcasts, the CCBI aims to preserve the sanctity of the Eucharist and foster deeper spiritual participation among the faithful, whether attending in person or through digital platforms. The ‘Guidelines for the Electronic Transmission of the Celebration of the Eucharist and other Liturgical Services’ can be accessed at:  https://shorturl.at/NKs94