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One More Murder In Margao A 42-year-old real estate developer from Margao, Laxmikant Naik, was shot dead by another real estate developer, Damodar Ghodge, after an altercation during a party at the Margao Cricket Club. Naik apparently dowsed Ghodge with some soda when the altercation began. A fuming Ghodge left the place only to return with a gun and take two shots at Naik. One bullet which hit Naik in the lower abdomen claimed his life. Ghodge surrendered to the police the next morning. Police investigations reveal that the two were friends but had fallen apart for a while but got in touch again and were on friendly terms when the incident took place. Civic Polls This Month Polls to the Municipal councils will be held on October 15. Pernem, Valpoi, Bicholim, Mapusa, Margao, Cuncolim, Mormugao, Quepem and Sanguem will have new Councils in office before the end of the month. The terms of these have already expired. Two Councils – Panjim and Ponda will go to the polls early next year as their term still continues. Political activity has stepped up with the announcement of the polls and various new committees are being formed to fight the elections. The previous term of all the councils had seen much infighting and chairpersons were constantly voted out and a new councilor voted in only to be replaced again. Corruption Comes to Light The Goa Public Men’s Corruption (Investigations and Inquiries) Commission found former Mapusa Municipal Council president Subhash Narvekar guilty of favouritsim, malpractice and flagrant violation of rules and proceedures in the construction of 60 stalls at the Mapusa market. The Commission has recommended to the government to recover an amount of Rs six lakh from Narvekar and to debar corrupt persons from contesting polls. Involved in the matter are former chief officer of the Council T S Sawant and contractor Chandrakant Shirodkar. Though the Council had raised Rs 42 lakh from the construction of the stalls, this money was paid directly to the contractor without being deposited in the municipal treasury. The Council had collected Rs 70000 per shop, but valuations showed it to be worth around Rs 62000. Earlier, the Commission had exonerated deputy chief minister Dayanand Narvekar from any involvement in the matter as his name had figured in the original complaint. Meanwhile, Dr Wilfred de Souza, president of the Nationalist Congress Party has asked the government to immediately bring a notification barring tainted persons from contesting elections. With elections for the Municipalities slated for this month, there is urgency in bringing such a notification, felt de Souza. Okay For Captive Power Plants The government has notified its policy welcoming captive power plants by private investors for the use of an industry or a group of industries. This is in tune with the national policy which seeks to speed up industrial development in the country. The policy comes into effect immediately and will be in force until March 2002 when it will be reviewed. Power plants of capacity upto 25MW will be allowed for providing power to a single industrial unit. For a group of industries the power plant will have to restrict its capacity to below 75MW. Congress Infighting Out In Open Luizinho Faleiro hangs on to the post of Pradesh Congress Committee chief even as various PCC members and some MLAs have signed a memorandum demanding his ouster. Congress observer R L Bhatia who visited the State and listened to the Congressmen returned to New Delhi without giving any inkling of whether there would be a change in the top Congress post in the State. Local leaders were unhappy with Bhatia’s visit and the quarrels within the party are now surfacing in the open. Menawhile, the Congress organisational polls due in September were postponed as the High Command is looking into the various complaints received from local Congressmen. Tourist Season Opens The Charter flights from Europe will be landing early this year, with October 8 as the designated date for the first charter to reach Goa. With the monsoon over early this year, the tourist season is getting an early start but faces competition from Kerala and Andhra Pradesh. Last season 94,389 tourists came on chartered flights and the State for even more this season. As the State gears up for the tourist onslaught, the shacks are yet to come up on the beaches. Licenses have not been given and the process hasn’t begun yet. Most Charter tourists rely on the shacks for a cheap meal and there are many families who rely on the shacks to earn their living. Better Power On The Anvil The chief minister Francisco Sardinha has commissioned the 220/110kv, 100 MVA susbstation at Xeldem and the 220 kv double circuit transmission line from Dharbondara to Xeldem which should hopefully bring relief in the distribution of power in the State. The new substation will reduce the load on the Ponda substation and this should improve the supply of power to consumers. The project came at a cost of Rs 14.3 crore and the substation was completed in a record time of less than 12 months. Architecture Course Politicians and students are flaying the government for reducing the cutoff percentage for admission to the Architecture course from 60 percent to 50 percent. The government states it did this as this year three seats were left vacant as there weren’t candidates with 60 percent marks to fill these. However, htmliring candidates to the course have to answer an admission test before they are granted entry to the college. The Executive Student’s Council of the College has petitioned the High Court challenging the relaxation of norms. The college has a total of 44 seats of which 37 are reserved for local students, three for students from states without such colleges and four for students sponsored by the Central government. It is claimed that many other architecture colleges in the country have already relaxed the rules for eligibility. Opposition MLAs have risen to the task of criticising the government over its decision. KRC Derails Derailment on the Konkan Railway Line are becoming quite frequent. Last month a 40 boogies long goods train derailed at the Barsem-Gulem tunnel with five boogies going off the tracks. The train from Penambur-Raichur was on its way to Bellary and was carrying chemical fertilizers. Over 500 metres of tracks were damaged by the derailment. All long distance trains running on the line had to be canceled until the tracks could be cleared and repaired. Oil Spill From Ship The ship MV River Princess that had run aground off the Goan coast in June still remains around 120 metres from the Candolim beach. Oil which has seeped from the ship has begun to pollute the Candolim beach. The government is only now taking up the matter to start salvage operations on the ship. Stray Cattle Beware The government has gone ahead with a drive against stray cattle that meanders onto the roads and disrupts traffic especially on the highway. Cows found on the roads are now impounded and released to the owners only after they have paid a fine. The bovines sitting in the middle of the roads have been a constant nuisance to drivers and causing of accidents. Tremors Rock Goa Goa woke up on Teacher’s Day with their bed rocking as an earthquake of magnitude 5.2 on the Richter Scale struck the State. With its epicentre at Koyna, the quake lasted for 20 minutes, though it was felt for around 15 seconds only. Good Monsoon Goa has received more than 130 inches of rain during the last four months making it an excellent monsoon season. The State usually receives between 100 to 120 inches of rain every year, but this year the heavy downpours during June and July saw the beakers register over 130 inches. The rains have been a blessing for the farmers who have had nothing to complain about this year. Professional League Update After the halfway mark plus one match, Zee Churchill are leading the table in the professional league soccer tournament with 14 points. With 17 goals to their credit, Zee Churchill are the only team which have not yet lost a match. Behind them is Salgaocar with 11 points followed by Dempo with 9, new entrant Sporting Clube de Goa with 8, Vasco with 4 and MPT with 3. With four more matches to go, Zee Churchill have a distinct advantage to retain the title they won last year. Vasco Sports Club, on the other hand, have a tough road ahead. They won only their last match against Sporting in the first leg and just managed to draw with Dempo in the return match. For a team that will be playing in the National Football League, this doesn’t augur well.
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