log on to thegoan.net SUNDAY JUNE 8, 2025 @thegoanonline Facebook.com/thegoan The Goan E-Paper (Playstore/IOS) 16 pages PRICE ` 10 PANAJI MARGAO GOA VOLUME X, NO. 351 Instagram.com/thegoanonline MAGNUS CARLSEN WINS 7TH NORWAY CHESS TITLE RNI: GOAENG/2015/65729 >>7 CBC 46101/13/0009/2526 Nari Shakti’s Spirit of Entrepreneurship gets Wings With over 35 crore loans, nearly 70% beneficiaries of Mudra Yojana are women >> SEE PG 2 TAXI TURF WAR: REFORM vs RESISTANCE Vishwajit publicly rebukes GMC doc, ‘suspends’ him  MAJOR ROW ERUPTS AS HEALTH MINISTER TELLS DOC TO ‘GET OUT FROM HERE’  INCIDENT CAUGHT ON CAMERA THE GOAN I NETWORK MAGAZINE MAGAZ 09 Navigating the Blue Frontier: A call to action Sustainable fishing means more: Charting India’s course for ocean stewardship Goa’s humble bread takes centre stage at Poie Re A Public Interest Litigation by taximen could survive, if filed 11 IN SHORT >> STP at Undir a test for Dhavlikar PANAJI: The Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) of 15 MLD capacity proposed to be constructed at Undir village in Ponda taluka is being stiffly opposed by residents there and is seen as a test of political skills for Power Minister Ramkrishna (Sudin) Dhavlikar, who has been representing the area as its MLA for over two decades.   >> See pg 5 `24 lakh relief for disabled fish vendor MAPUSA: The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal in Mapusa has directed a bus driver, the vehicle’s owner, and the insurance company to jointly pay a compensation of Rs 24.46 lakh to Vinay alias Vinayak Bhikaji Sawant, of Sawantwada, Amona-Bicholim, who was left permanently disabled following a bus accident in 2013.  >> See pg 5 P’yat member, two others convicted MAPUSA: The Judicial Magistrate First Class, Mapusa, has convicted 3 persons – including an ex-sarpanch and current panchayat member of Salvador do Mundo – for assaulting and molesting a doctor in connection with a property dispute. >> See pg 5 PANAJI Health Minister Vishwajit Rane on Saturday kicked up a row when he 'suspended' a senior doctor attached to the State's premier health institution -- Goa Medical College and Hospital, Bambolim -- in controversial circumstances. Rane went to the GMC with a set of video-journalists in tow, calling it a 'surprise visit' and verbally gave the doctor a telling down. His high-pitched reprimanding of the doctor was all caught on camera and the video has gone viral on social media since. As the video shows, Rane even threatened the doctor of ejection from the hospital using the security personnel. National doctors’ body demands public apology, writes to CM PANAJI: Taking cognisance of the episode at the Goa Medical College and Hospital, the Federation of All India Medical Association (FAIMA Doctors Association) has written to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to condemn the “verbal assault” on the CMO by the Health Minister and has demanded an apology from him within 72 hours, threatening a national doctors’ stir. In the letter addressed to Sawant the FAIMA doctors association said the concerned B12 injection is a routine ward-level procedure, not mandated for urgent administration in casualty and no doctor should be expected to violate medical norms under pressure from political figures or VIP acquaintances. >> See pg 3 According to Rane, he conducted the "surprise visit" to the GMC after he received a complaint from a journalist about the doctor's conduct when he had taken a relative for treatment. In the viral video Rane is Sewage from casinos, eateries major pollutants of Mandovi MULTIPLE STUDIES FLAG THREAT TO RIVER THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI Urban sewage discharge and the flow of waste water from casinos and restaurants along its banks on either side are the chief sources of contamination and a pollution threat to the Mandovi river in the capital city and further upstream into the Arabian sea, multiple studies including one by the reputed Dona Paula-based CSIR-NIO have said. With the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) itself flagging the levels of pollution in rivers and coastal (Arabian Sea) waters in its annual report, efforts if any by local authorities and State government departments to stem the flow of urban waste into the river have come under a scanner. The NIO study released last year had blamed wastewater (sewage) from homes, commercial establishments on the banks of the Mandovi and entertainment vessels (casinos and cruise boats) for contributing to the microplastics in the river's waters. The study which was subse- FOOD FOR THOUGHT „„Apart from casinos, restaurants, Panaji’s STP also discharges water (after treatment) directly into the river via a pipeline and nullahs „„St Inez creek, which has remained in a state of neglect for decades, too carries urban waste into the river „„CCP has also acknowledged the direct discharge of waste water and sometimes sewage into the creek by establishments and buildings along the creek’s course quently published in a couple of reputed journals was led by NIO's Principal Scientist Dr Mahua Saha and her research team also comprised of a researcher from a Netherlands University. Panaji's Sewerage Treatment Plant (STP) which treats all of the capital's sewage discharges (after treatment) directly into the river via a pipeline and nullahs. The St Inez Creek is another source which carries urban waste into the river. The nearly three-kilometer creek with origins in the foothills of Taleigao's Nagalli Hills, flows into Mandovi river at the bridge near the Entertainment Society of Goa (Old GMC). The creek has remained in a state of neglect for decades and the WRD only recently fortified its banks with concrete in certain stretches. The CCP has in the past acknowledged the direct discharge of waste water and >Continued on P6 My tone could have been more measured: Rane THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI Following the backlash over the episode in which he admonished the Chief Medical Officer Dr Rudresh at the Goa Medical College and Hospital, Health Minister Vishwajit Rane has acknowledged that his tone and words could have been "more measured". Rane, however, stood his ground for intervening as health minister following a complaint he received from a journalist that the doctor "denied medical care" to his mother-in-law. "Yes, as the Health Minister, I did intervene and I accept that my tone and words could have been more measured. I’m not above reflection or criticism. I take full responsibility for how I communicat- ed, and I assure you, such an approach will not be repeated," Rane said in a post on micro-blogging site 'X', (formerly Twitter). Rane went on to add in the tweet: "However, what I will not apologise for, is standing up for a patient who was denied care. Doctors hold a noble position in society, and most of them at GMC serve with great dedication. But when arrogance seeps into duty, when compassion is replaced with indifference, it is my responsibility to take action. Because if we let such behaviour pass unaddressed, we send a message that it is acceptable to deny a senior citizen or any other person medical help. That cannot happen in a government hospital that is meant to serve the public." heard saying: "You get out from here, I’m telling you to go home or I'll get security to throw you out." Rane also instructed GMC officials to issue the suspension orders to Dr Rudresh, who is Chief Medical Officer (CMO), by Sunday morning. GMC sources told The Goan that the incident which led to the minister's action was related to a journalist who had come to the hospital for administering a B12 injection to one of his relatives. Dr Rudresh reportedly told him that the injection can be administered at any of the primary or urban health centres and not the GMC. "This infuriated the journalist and he called up the GMC Dean Dr S Bandekar who made arrangements for the injection to be administered at the hospital itself. But the journalist also sent a message to the minister," the GMC source said. The Indian Medical Association Goa State Branch, meanwhile, condemned the behaviour of Rane. In a press note, IMA said: "Such an action is deeply regrettable and unacceptable. It not only bypasses due process and natural justice but also disregards the professional dignity and morale of the entire medical community. We strongly condemn this arbitrary and high-handed behaviour that has humiliated and victimized a dedicated medical professional in full view of the public and media." Use preventive detention power sparingly, apex court tells States Goa emerges as worst State in justice delivery: Report PTI NEW DELHI Preventive detention is an extraordinary power in the hands of the State that must be used sparingly, said the Supreme Court as it set aside an order of a district magistrate to detain a money lender who was allegedly indulging in illegal activities again after getting bail in four cases. A bench of Justices Sanjay Karol and Manmohan questioned the contention of the detaining authority that the order was passed as the detainee was violating bail conditions in the cases, and noted that they should have instead moved the competent court seeking cancellation of bail. “Therefore, the order of detention dated June 20, 2024, and the impugned judgment dated September 4, 2024, passed by the High Court of Kerala are hereby set aside. Noting that the power of preventive detention finds recognition in the Constitution under Article 22(3)(b), the bench said, “The provision for preventive detention is an extraordinary power in the hands of the state that must be used sparingly”. Performs badly in areas of policing, prisons, judiciary and legal aid SHWETA KAMAT MAHATME THE GOAN I PANAJI Goa has emerged as the “worst” performer in justice delivery among Indian States, according to the India Justice Report (IJR) 2025. The recent report evaluates States based on a ten-point scoring system that covers four key parameters: police, prisons, judiciary, and legal aid. And unfortunately, the coastal State has performed badly in all four parameters, especially legal aid. Compared to 2022, when the last report was released, on the police front, the ranking has dropped from 6th amongst the small States to 7th, while it has retained 7th position on parameters like prisons, judiciary and 2nd at Legal aid. Goa scored a composite 3.51 out of 10, securing the lowest rank not just in the category of small States but among all Indian States -- with poor performance across all parame- JUSTICE CRISIS: REPORT FINDINGS „„On the police front, ranking dropped from 6th amongst small States to 7th „„Retains 7th position on parameters like prisons, judiciary and 2nd at legal aid „„Scores composite 3.51 out of 10, securing the lowest rank among all Indian States „„For police, Goa scored 3.89, 2.62 for prisons, 3.03 for judiciary and 4.41 score at legal aid parameter „„Goa again ranks at the bottom based on last fiveyear data ters. West Bengal with a score of 3.63 is at the bottom among the mid-sized States. For police, Goa scored 3.89, 2.62 for prisons, 3.03 for judiciary and 4.41 score at legal aid parameter. However, compared to 2022, Goa has improved its performance on 29 indicators out of total 68. What is more embarrassing is that the trend, based on the last five-year data ranks Goa again at the bottom with one of the worst performers with 2.89 composite score out of 10. The performance is poor among all the Indian States. Out of 25 police indicators, divided into budget, human resource, workload, infrastructure and diversity, Goa has shown improvement in eight indicators. As far as prisons is concerned, of the total 16 indicators, the State improved in six indicators while seven each in case of Judiciary and Legal Aid, out of 14 and 13 indicators, respectively. >Continued on P6 Car follows Google maps, lands 2022 saw 15% less Covid deaths than 2021: Data on church steps in Canacona India’s Covid cases near 6,000 mark PTI THE GOAN I NETWORK CANACONA Blindly relying on Google maps while driving can be disastrous and one inter-State motorist ended up driving over five steps of the church compound in Chaudi-Canacona on Saturday evening. According to sources, the Telangana-registered car got stuck on the compound steps of St Thereza of Jesus Church at Chaudi, after the driver drove his car over the steps in a bid to proceed to the main road. St Theresa of Jesus Church is located right by the side of the NH66 highway at Chaudi and the church compound has access to the highway, but it is from the right-side of the church. “I followed the directions from Google maps to reach the main road,” the driver reportedly informed the surprised onlookers. According to sources, the car was first seen parked at the old bus-stand in Chaudi-Canacona and from there, the vehicle driver took the narrow road behind the mu- nicipal garden which goes parallel to the National Highway 66 towards the north, then wrongly following the Google announced locations, and entered the church compound, before proceeding on the steps to come back on the main road (NH66). On realising that the car had got stranded on the church steps, a few locals gathered and helped push the car back into the compound. The motorist was then guided to access the main road, and proceed on towards Margao. NEW DELHI early 86.5 lakh deaths were reported in the country during 2022, a significant decline of more than 15 per cent from Covid-affected 2021 which had recorded over 1.02 crore deaths, according to a new data from the Civil Registration System (CRS). The dip of 15.74 lakh from 2021 brought mortality figures broadly back in line with pre-pandemic patterns last seen in 2020, the data for 2022 brought out by the office of the Registrar General of India through CRS report N NEW DELHI: India’s active coronavirus cases have climbed to 5,755, with Kerala fighting the latest resurgence of infections followed by Gujarat and Delhi. According to the data available on the official website of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, 391 new cases were added to the active case count. Kerala has recorded 1,806 cases, Gujarat 717, Delhi 665, and West Bengal 622. Maharashtra has recorded a total of 577 cases so far, while Karnataka and Uttar Pradesh have reported 444 and 208 cases, respectively. showed. According to the CRS data, 2021 registered a sharp spike with 1.02 crore deaths across the country as compared to 81.1 lakh in 2020, 76.4 lakh in 2019, and 69.5 lakh in 2018, underscoring the impact of Covid-19. “In the case of registered deaths, the number has decreased from 102.2 lakh in 2021 to 86.5 lakh in 2022, i.e. a decrease of 15.4 per cent. Some of the major states namely, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka, West Bengal, Bihar and Haryana have contributed significantly to decreased number of registered deaths,” the report said. Around 5.26 lakh deaths were reported due to Covid-19 till July 26, 2022, according to a reply given by the government in the Lok Sabha on July 29, 2022. The World Health Organisation had reported over 47 lakh Covid-19 linked deaths in India which was strongly disputed by the government. The Centre had said the WHO estimates suffered from “a number of inconsistencies and erroneous assumptions”. “India had registered a strong objection to the process, methodology and outcome of this unscientific modelling approach especially when India had provided authentic data published through Civil Registration System by Registrar General of India to WHO,” the government reply had said. The CRS report also showed that over 2.54 crore births were registered in 2022.