Austerity, ‘vulgarity’: Kudos Salman!

For a change, I thought of throwing up a tantrum on an issue not all that Goan. It's not 100 percent non-Goan either, though.

To start off, it's kudos to Salman. No, no. Not the Salman of Bollywood but the Salman of Indian politics... Salman Kursheed, to be precise, who is presently minister of state for corporate affairs and minority affairs (Independent Charge), in the Dr Manmohan Singh government.

Kudos to him, for having the courage (he's perhaps the only politician to have done it) to question the 'vulgar salaries' paid out by Corporate India.

At a time when drought has dried up a large part of India and everybody from Sonia to Rahul to the lowest Congressman is talking and seemingly walking austerity, Salman Kursheed pushed the argument into the turf of India's head-honchos. Terming salaries paid out in the upper echelons of India Inc as 'vulgar', Kursheed advocated that it's time to shed some of this vulgarity.

The response from India Inc was quick, and expectedly, not in the least approving of Kursheed's suggestion.

"Let market forces decide the salaries" was one from a leading industry association.

"Government has no business in this," was the response of another leading industry collective.

Why then, Dear FICCI and Dear Assocham, should the government have any role to play in tackling the recession, all of which is the making of very 'vulgar' salary-drawing Ramalingas from Leihmanian companies? Shouldn't it be the 'market forces' that should be dealing with the downturns instead of governments pumping in billions to insulate the 'vulgar' salaries of the tie-and-suit-boot-wallahs?

By the way... Salman Kursheed has a Goa connection. He's the grandson of India's third president, Dr Zakir Hussain and the son of Kursheed Alam Khan, who was Goa's Governor in the early 1990s.

Policing the politicos
There are just two politicians I know in Goa, who when in power, love to take on the 'criminals' in politics depending on which side of the political fence the 'criminal politicos' are sitting -- current Home Minister Ravi Naik and former Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar.

In the past, Churchill, Mummy and her son Rudy have tasted, through their days at Aguada, Ravi's penchant for action against politicos perceived to be in conflict with the law. More recently in the early years of this decade, Narvekar, Zuwarkar and Mauvin tasted Manohar Parrikar's love for 'teaching them a lesson'. Only, the trio learnt the trick to make their chests pain and spend time on a hospital bed instead of a jail until they got bail!

So, why am I throwing up a tantrum about it?

Because, it's some down and some more to go. At a recent press conference, Ravi spilled the beans when he indicated that Mickky wouldn't be the last of the politicians that the police will act against. There are some more lined up with pots of evidence lying in police files.

Ravi it is, who can be trusted with this one. When half-a-dozen ministers and MLAs dashed to the sprawling bungalow of a top minister as a show of solidarity when cops went hunting for his kin, Ravi was unmoved and let the 'law will take its own course' cliche, play out.

Lucky Canacona?

Everyone and sundry is taking to charity for Canacona. Our correspondent deputed to this southernmost taluka hit by floods following the wettest Gandhi Jayanti of my memory reports that aid is flowing in at least some of the areas, both in cash and kind.

Meanwhile, many have launched Canacona Charity Funds and we've lost count of how many such funds have been floated. On Sunday, a group of students in uniform from a prominent city school, came knocking at my door with a donation box for Canacona. Hope of hopes that all of it really reaches the many marooned Kankonkars.

And oh! How could I forget the philantropic gestures of Digambar and Co.? The next two months' salary is what all our ministers are going to contribute to the CM's Relief Fund. Wouldn't it have been great for Canacona if all the 'cuts' were also committed to the CM's Relief Fund?

Mickky-Alemao bonhomie headed nowhere?

When out of the blue, the Alemaos and their former bete noire Mickky did the unthinkable -- buried their almost decade-long hatchet in a single sitting of diplomacy at the office of the mining company owned by Joaquim -- tongues went wagging over the development's fallouts, how long this 'marriage of convinience' would last, etcetra, etcetra.
A forthnight later, a lot of water seems to have flowed under the Khareband bridge, from Benaulim to Navelim and back and forth, to the extent that the Alemaos are on the verge of dumping their brand new mascot Mickky for a newer, chopper-hopping one from the North East -- 'Lui'.
Even as Mickky and Joaquim keep flaunting their new found political romance in public here in Goa, elsewhere, a deal for the peaceful, political co-existence between the khumpars of Salcete politics -- Churchill and Luizinho -- is being explored. Some top central leaders who are in talks with the two are reportedly close to the point of bringing them face to face, to clinch the deal. The details of the deal are yet to get 'leaked' but should it go through, where it would leave an already beleagured Mickky, is anybody's guess.
A little bird in Mumbai, informs that Joaquim, who was there to witness Musli-powered Churchill Brothers' lacklustre essay against Mahindra United in the I-League Opener, was predicting the fall of Mickky from the Goa cabinet. According to Joaquim, his outburst against the CM and his demand for a replacement to Diggu could prove to be the final nail in his latest friend's political coffin.
Chacha, ice cream...
ith the inclusion of a certain former lawyer in its ranks, the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) has truly lived up to its prefix.
The former lanky government lawyer, who has in the past been granted several extensions despite a sketchy career, is better known for his overtly juvenile behaviour.
There have been times, when the former government servant walked into the Panjim police station or dropped by the numerous offices in the Police Headquarters, asking the cops to buy him a pack of a litre or two of ice cream. He’d pick up the ice cream and walk away without paying them for the treat.
Most Panjimites would see this guy thumbing down lifts anytime of the day on the city’s streets, lest he have to dig into his own pockets to foot the motorcycle or rickshaw charges.
Sounds juvenile doesn’t it? But then that’s how things work… a guy, who begs the cops for an ice cream, will now take a righteous call on juveniles in confict with the law presented by the men-in-uniform.
More moolah from casinos
The times may not be all that smooth up there in the skies for India's 'Maharaja' but here on Goa's Mandovi waters, its gonna be Maharaja all the way.
When different voices in the government recently raised cries of varied hues hinting at denial of renewed licences to the off-shore casinos, one thought the biggest loser would be the Essel Group which owns Maharja Casino.
But it's not to be. After all, the Maharaja is finally is slated to set sail in the coming month and the big factor to ensure it has a smooth sailing is obviously the moolah.
In an interview aired by CNBC-TV 18 as part of its Generation Next programme, Amit Goenka pompously said, Essel would pump in several million into Casino Maharaja, enough to keep Ali Baba and his 40 men.
Just for the record, Amit Goenka is Essel promoter, Subhash Chandra's youngest son and currently CEO of Pan India Network Pvt Ltd that runs Casino Maharaja.
It’s all about the money, honey!
The tantrum we threw up about the Rajiv Gandhi IT Habitat a few weeks ago in the immediate aftermath of the visit by AICC general secretary in-charge of Goa, B K Hariprasad, and the Sancho Panza of cricket administration in India, Rajiv Shukla, is turning out to be true.
The Big B from Taleigao has spoken now. The Rajiv Gandhi IT Habitat can come up in his pocket burrough after all, provided the right kind of monies reach the coffers of the.... Taleigao panchayat. Make it the cash cow of the Taleigao panchayat, and damn 'Taleigao Bachao' the abhiyanwallahs and the abhiyans. Incidentally, the Taleigao panchayat is currently manned by the Big B's woman -- Jennifer Monserrate.
After all, isn't it all about the money, honey?

Of Parrikar’s ‘Tendlim Pickle’

Oh, what an eventful week it was last week here in Goa for journalists and journalism!
At the end of it, unfortunately, journalism hasn't really come out trumps, although a few journos may have ended up better favourites of their favourite politicos.
First things first... the big 'pickle story' that emanated from a Manohar Parrikar interview aired by the fledgling, Sandesh Prabhudesai-led Prudent Media. Parrikar, who throughout seemed uncharacteristically flatterred when reference was made to reports floating that he's the top contender for the BJP's top post, was interviewed by Prudent's trying-to-be-Rajdeep by trying-to-be-Sandesh who himself is trying-to-be-Rajdeep, Pramod Acharya.
And gosh, how this pickle-sounding Achar....ya got Manohar Parrikar to land in a pickle, thanks to a 'Parrikar Likens Advani to Rancid Pickle' story on the interview put out by the Goa correspondent of the Indo-Asian News Service, IANS for short, which got picked up by newsrooms all over and soon became national headlines. 'Blown out of proportion', 'misreporting', 'yellow journalism', etcetera, etcetera were some of the expletives used to describe that bit of reportage by the IANS correspondent.
In this tantrum, I'd like to skip how the controversy played out ball-by-ball. Instead, I'd rather focus on the response of the Goa press corps, after the story became a controversy -- an outright, overt defense of Manohar Parrikar to the extent of calling the IANS correspondent names. Some journos and the sections of the media they represent even went to the extent of describing the IANS Correspondent's effort as a 'conspiracy at the behest of a BJP faction led by the incumbent president Rajnath Singh. Another section termed it mis-reporting, as did Prudent Media itself! A third, actually made an appeal in its editorial to the BJP think-tank, that this whole 'Advani like rancid pickle' episode be discounted from Parrikar's report card, if he's in the race for the party's top post!
Parrikar himself denied that his 'rancid pickle' remark referred to Advani. He said, his rancid pickle remark was in the context of Sachin Tendulkar's cricket career rather than Advani's political one. What he did not say is that his citing of the Sachin Tendulkar example in the interview was itself in response to a querry on the longetivity of Advani's reign in the BJP.
But as much as it was dictated by this unusual craving among journos to intentionally or inadvertently be lackeys of top politicos, this Parrikar has-to-be-defended kind of a response from them seems dictated by this intense hate pervading among the Goa journo corps for Mayabhushan Nagvenkar, the IANS correspondent in Goa, whose impersonal style of journalism like in the case of the Pickle Story, is a thorn in the side of those who dish out 'lackey journalism' day in and day out. How many times haven't our Pratapsing Ranes, Dr Willies, Luizinho Faleiros, Sardinhas, Churchill Alemaos, Ramarao Desais, Dayanand Mandrekars, etc, etc, got away scot free despite their journalistically tempting foot-in-the-mouth remarks, simply because our 'lackey journos' refuse to report them because it would hurt their favourite politicos? And if by chance the gaffes get reported by a journo or two, how many times have these self-appointed guardians of Goan journalism, not rubbished these reports of the gaffes? If what's said on TV can be coloured, twisted, turned and even denied the way it is, pity those journos who work in the print media and want to report what is, rather than what those in power want it to be!
Mickky’s survival = Diggu’s exit?
Finally, the cops have booked the enfante terrible of Goan politics -- Tourism Minister Francisco (Mickky) Pacheco. Beats me why they didn't do it when the episode in the South Goa Casino was first reported in June, when all the evidence that they now present to the courts, was handed over to them in CCTV captured footage on a platter.
But this is politics, not criminal law or justice!
Mickky, meanwhile, believes attack is his best defence. And so, unmindful of how a TV interview landed his former mentor Manohar Parrikar in a soup...nay pickle, he goes on air on another TV channel known more for its tiatrs rather than news, and enacts the latest political drama by demanding a change in ministry's leadership. Diggu, he says, is only ruling because of his divide and rule policy. He is building up dossier's of criminal cases of ministers and holding them to ransom, he charged. Don't know if Congressmen here in Goa and in Delhi as well will take Mickky's outburst lightly, but his own bosses in the NCP are at wits end how to handle this most unpredictable politico from Goa. Busy as they are with the Maharashtra elections, which many political commentators believe could be the final battle of survival for the Sharad Pawar-led party, no leader of that party has commented on the unsavoury Casino affair of Mickky. The party here in Goa, however, is making discordant noises of 'backing' him. But if the words of its national general secretary, Gurunath Kulkarni, are any indication, Mickky has a whole load of explaining to do to his NCP bosses.
But round one in this latest Mickky v/s Diggu political bout seems to be going the CM's way with the sheer power of the latter's dignified silence.
KTC: Will it survive?
The great public transport elephant of Goa is 29 and getting whiter by the year. The youthful and talented Aleixo Reginald Lourenco at the helm, we thought would breathe in some life, but a year into his reign it seems he's only flattered to deceive.Can we have some 'corporate governance' in the KTC? Directors who will work like CEOs, instead of mere chelas of politicos? A Managing Director who will be worth every penny he draws from the Corporation's dried up coffers as salary and perks?
Live a week in the headquarters of the BEST, of course at KTC's cost dear Lourenco, and bring home some tricks of the trade to make travelling a little better experience than it currently is. First and foremost, 'nationalise' public transport across the state... not just a handful of routes as it currently is the case. The private operators are willing and have publicly urged it, provided it's done lock-stock-and-barrel. Which means KTC will not only have to buy all their buses, but also take on its staff the drivers, cleaners and conductors. It could be a boon for KTC, as the fatt-voch-fuddem-voch experts could instill some fire power in the men-in-blue who man the fleet of KTC's buses.
Are you up to it, Mr Lourenco? We are still hoping.

Where are the candlelight vigils?

Goa's 'Big Goenkar' Rajendra Kerkar is a solitary man ploughing a lone furrow these days. In his battle against those who mauled a tiger in the Keri forests, he has everyone ganged up against him. Now, even in his village where he has this huge father figure image among youth and elders alike, he has become a persona non grata, following a suspect, orchestrated campaign against him.

Pitted against him in this battle for the tiger is almost everyone -- the villagers, the politicians, and even the Forest Department officials, whose job it otherwise is to be on his side. The Chief Conservator of Forests, Dr Sashi Kumar, who's otherwise frugal with information, voluntarily announced to the media that "preliminary reports" from Dehradun indicated that the animal killed is 'not a tiger'. It turns out that the highly credible Dehradun Wildlife Institute, to which the forest department sent two samples - a tooth and blood on leaves -- has confirmed, do not belong to a tiger. Why Dr Kumar chose to make this morsel of information public when results of tests on 10 other samples of the slain animal are yet to come, beats us. But no sooner Dr Kumar did what he did, the campaign against Kerkar which borders on ostracising him in his village, gained wings. The campaign is reportedly backed by powerful political families who have for decades erased from government files, the evidence that striped cats live in Goan jungles for the obvious benefit of lobbies with mining interests in these forests.
So, Kerkar is left to fight his battle all alone. Except for the band of dedicated volunteers he himself groomed under the banner of Vivekananda Environment Awareness Brigade, he has no one else to bank on for support. And, in these trying times for him, not one of our so-called greens have lent him their shoulders. Instead, all of our civil society activists find it more appealing to hold candle-light vigils for the causes of Aires Rodrigues et al. But then, why should they bother about a Rajendra Kerkar? If they did, wouldn't they be soiling their Pierre Cardins in the forests of Keri?

FOOT NOTE: Suryakant Majik, one of the accused in the tiger killing case, based on on whose complaint the Goa police have booked one of Forest Department's most deligent official, Paresh Parab, for assaulting and torturing him while in their custody, was a friend of Kerkar's. In fact, a couple of weeks before the tiger killing incident came to light, Majik had borrowed Kerkar's two-wheeler and had met with a terrible accident while riding it. The injuries that Majik's medical examination has unveiled, some forest officials believe, were sustained by him in this accident on Kerkar's two-wheeler.

Politics of HSRP

And now, those opposing the High Security Number Plates have announced another bandh on September 25. So fearless of the administration and the law are the agitators that they had the gumption and gall to tell the media on Sunday when they announced the bandh, that they would appeal to educational institutions in the state to close down on that day to avoid inconvinience to students.

Now, one of the main figures in this agitation whose political hue is getting exposed with each day that passes, is the Goa Pradesh Youth Congress (GPYC) president, Sankalp Amonkar. Far from fighting for the interests of the youth including school and college-going students, Amonkar it seems is engrossed in this political exercise to earn the scalp of Transport Minister, Sudhin Dhavlikar.

Another prominent anti-HSRP agitator is the Bharatiya Janata Party's spokesman, Govind Parvatkar. A former teacher, it surprises us that Parvatkar is party to this decision which is bound to affect scores of students whose parents cannot afford to send them to school in plush private cars. In short, he has no business to endorse the bandh on September 25, and hold a large section of the population that does not own vehicles and are solely dependent on public transport to get to schools, colleges, places of work, etc, etc.

Friends in distress?

Days after the unthinkable happened -- the Alemaos and Mickky Pacheco joining hands -- the reasons why it happened are getting unravelled.

Apparently, both Mickky and the junior Alemao, are under attack in their respective parties for behaviour bordering on impropriety. The latter has a running battle with greens in Quepem taluka where he is being accused of mining iron ore in verdant forests and the former has earned the ire of his party bosses for his much-publicised misadventures in casinos.

But the casino episode is not the only one haunting the bandana-sporting flamboyant minister.

One rainy day, he apparently got into some 'deadly argument' with the staff of a North Goa five-star hotel, which is the darling the state administration, and whose promoter is a pal of his party boss, Sharad Pawar. Unfortunately for the minister, every detail of the fracas at this hotel, like the events in the Treasures Casino at Majorda Beach Resort, have been recorded on tape through CCTVs. While the tapes from the casino have reached the cops, the one from the North Goa hotel has reached Krishi Bhavan in New Delhi!

The elections in Maharashtra may have bought Mickky and the junior Alemao some time during which the duo have decided to try out this out-of-the-blue friendship among Goa's worst political foes in an attempt to pre-empt any action being contemplated against them by their respective parties.

An aside: The other day, I bumped into an youthful looking Radharao Gracias in Panjim and spent a good 20 minutes in conversation. This rare meeting, coming as it did in the immediate aftermath of it, couldn't have skirted the Alemao-Mickky truce and it didn't. Politics, what politics? It's all about making money, was the response my probing got, in typical Radharao-speak. Minutes later in the conversation, when I drew attention to his youthful, freshly-dyed look, this is what he said, like only Radharao could: "I'm now into black topping. The PWD does not charge me.

Not even the 10 per-cent V-added tax."

Adieu Noel

Never thought even once in the over 15 years that I knew him, that this day would come when I'd have to write about him with the knowledge that he's no more.

I went numb when I first got the news on Sunday afternoon that my friend Noel de Lima Leitao died so suddenly. Just the previous night I watched and heard him render the commentary on ESPN for the live coverage of the IFA shield final between eventual winners 'Musli Power Churchill Brothers' and Kolkata giants Mohun Bagan.

Surely, football and India will miss Noel. More than just his commentary on television, he'll be missed most in the administration of football here in our own Goa, although I'm not too sure if those at the helm at GFA share this view. But the man, was surely an administrator par excellence, and more importantly one who minced no words in cutting the weeds that corrupted matters football in Goa. Perhaps, that's why he held no post or responsibility of note in the GFA, for over a decade since he relinquished the treasurer's in the mid-1990s, much as is the case of Anthony Botelho, another no-nonsense football administrator, of Noel's ilk. A radiant personality, Noel sure will be missed though, by a legion of friends to which I too belong. At 51, his end came too early, depriving us of the pleasure of his company for longer in this earthly journey. But then, they say those that God loves, die young. Noel sure was loved by many, and by the gods for sure, it seems. Don't know what words would soothe his loved ones in these hours of crisis. So, I'll skip them. Instead, I'll stick to prayer for his good soul and for his kin to face this great loss.

Wrong side of the powers that be

What is it in her that the politicos and the 'system' abhors? For years nay decades, this question keeps cropping up about Goa's Director of Sports, Dr Suzanne D'Souza. And, it's still unanswered.

The other week, Chief Minister, Digambar Kamat, led a delegation of politicos and babus to New Delhi for the quintessential meeting with Dr Montek Singh Ahluwalia, to jostle, if I may use that word, for Goa's annual plan. Sports, thanks to the controversial 'Sports City' was to be a serious component of the negotiations. But Sports Minister, Manohar Azgaonkar, known to many if not all simply as 'Babu' didn't think it fit to take Dr Suzzane along. Instead, the blue-eyed boy of every sports minister Goa has had in the last decade or more, V M Prabhudesai, made the grade.

Prabhudesai, for the record, is the executive director of the Sports Authority of Goa (SAG) which is an 'autonomous body' not a department. Dr Suzzane on the other hand is the state's Director of Sports, a post she earned through a protracted battle in the High Court. If I've got it right, by virtue of being the Director, she is also the ex-officio Joint Secretary to the Government of Goa.

Does this mean anything to the government of the day and the politicians that run it?

Swine flu and the art of wasting money

Director of Health Services (DHS) Dr Rajnanda Desai’s critique of the media for ‘often untrue’ and ‘almost every often incomplete’ reportage at a recent swine flu workshop needs to be taken with a pinch of salt.

This is the same official who simply refused to speak to the media whenever called for clarifications. It was a very obvious communication gap between the Desai and Dr Rajendra Tamba, which was responsible for the chaos in Goa’s handling of swine flu.

But Dr Desai is a smart cookie. There are things she has certainly learnt under Baba’s tutelage. As soon as she got off the lectern after delivering her address at the workshop, Desai refused to take any questions from the media saying she would face the queries after she returns from a meeting with the chief secretary ‘in a few minutes’.

The workshop lasted for nearly two hours and there was no sign of the lady. She wasn’t even around when the ethically ominous envelopes with Rs 500 bucks were slipped into the pockets of most attending journos as ‘travelling and dearness allowance’.

Barring three to four journos, everyone pocketed the money after duly signing a receipt for the same. Thanks to the workshop, journalists were richer not just when it came to information on the disease.

An aside: A few words of commendation to the Sanatan Prabhat reporter who attended the workshop, who had the nerve to return the Rs 500 bucks some days later, after accepting it on ‘payday’.

We got the name wrong!

Last week we wrote about Goa's mining industry being 'cry babies'. In that tantrum, however, we got the name of the secretary of Goa Mineral Ore Exporters Association all wrong. It's S Sridhar and not 'S Sudhir' as we referred to him. The error is regretted.

Tail piece

The political spectrum got a shocker last week with one local daily, known to chronicle exceptionally well the Salcetian politicians and especially the Alemao clan, reporting the news of the most unusual happening in the political realm -- the thawing of the ties between Mickky and the Alemaos.

Donno, how long this honeymoon will last, but it sure has left a bitter taste in the mouth of someone who learnt the hard way that honeymoons with the Tourism Minister don't last very long -- Sara Pacheco.

As for the political impact of the unfolding story of the Pacheco-Alemao theatre of the absurd, not much may come out of it as neither seems capable of giving up their seats and contesting again as non-Congress candidates, in their respective constituencies. They belong to two different parties and are unlikely to make much of an impact in terms of numbers in the ruling coalition group. As for the disqualification petition filed by Mickky against Churchill, it's the 'property of the House', and as much as he (Mickky) would like to, the pleasure of 'withdrawing' it rests now with Pratapsing Raoji Rane, who as Speaker is the undisputed boss of all adjudication under the Xth Schedule.

Politics of high security number plates

Politics, they say, is all about numbers. But right now in Goa, politics is all about number plates!
Somebody, who's dying to get a beacon light on his car, has seen the opportunity of removing the one on Ramkrishna (Sudin) Dhavlikar's car. Could it be Dayanand Narvekar? Could it be Mauvin Godinho? Or may be the original minister of the number plates himself, Pandurang Madkaikar?
We don't know who it really is. But some have-not among our netas it surely is, who is convinced that this whole High Security Registration Plates (HSRPs) controversy will ultimately culminate with scalp of Sudhin, and thus pave the way for him or her (whoever it is) to don a beacon light on his/her SUV. If not, then Sankalp Amonkar and his boys, wouldn't have had the guts to take law in their hands, agitate on the streets and flex their muscles demanding, not the scrapping of HSRPs, but that Sudhin be dropped as a minister. At least not after the bashing they got at the hands of Babush Monserrate and Co, when they rallied in Taleigao in support of Dayanand Narvekar's Rajiv Gandhi IT Habitat.
As for the HSRPs, isn't it a bit too much that so many should be taking to the streets against them because of the additional burden of Rs 616 for two-wheelers, Rs 728 for three-wheelers, Rs 1,344 for all four-wheelers and Rs 1,400 for trucks and buses?
As for the BJP, which is again reviving its anti-HSRP agitation after the Ganesh Chathurti break it took, its vigour in pursuing the issue is puzzling. With its North Goa MP and state president, Shripad Naik, in the forefront, it sure needs whatever comes its way to keep its long-out-of-power-after-tasting-power cadre in good spirits. Perhaps it wants to stick to its Arun Shouriean 'Alice in blunderland' brand image. Wasn't this whole standardisation of vehicle number plates initiated by the BJP-led NDA government of Atalji? And here in Goa, wasn't it Madkaikar as transport minister in the government of Manohar Parrikar, who set the ball rolling? And mind you, not even a pin moved in the chambers of ministers then, without the knowledge or green signal of Parrikar, leave alone a file on HSRPs.
With some complaints coming in that the numbers on the plates have faded in less than 24 hours, the only issue as far as the HSRPs is concerned, seems to be the quality of the ones being handed out by the chosen contractor here in Goa. Otherwise, on paper at least, Sudhin seems as clean as the clothes he wears -- spic and span.
But then in politics, how clean or dirty you are, counts for nothing. What counts are the numbers....errr number plates!

Aldona’s loss is Taleigao's gain!
It won't be long before the Rajiv Gandhi IT Habitat gets back on track. In Congress circles, news is that 'notes' (sacks full of them) have either changed or are in the process of changing hands and work will soon commence on the project, inaugurated with much fanfare by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh with Madam herself in attendance.
Soniaji wasn't too impressed with the way Dayanand Narvekar handled the project. More so, because it had the name of her late husband tagged to it. Congressmen who've been closely following the Congress president say, she's extremely sensitive to anything that involve's Rajiv's name, and anyone who is the cause controversy is sure to face her ire. That's why, a heavyweight of the stature of Narvekar weighed for nothing and was reduced to the weight of a single hot potato.
Now, Education Minister, Babush Monserrate, has been placated and news in government circles is that the celebrated project will soon be back on track, with or without Taleigao Bachao Abhiyan. After all, it's not for nothing that Rajiv Shukla was down in Goa last week.
Easily its most successful pointsman in the ilk of Samajwadi Party's Amar Singh, the Congress relied Shukla, the portly journo-turned-politico from UP, because being as he is in the thick of things in cricket like Narvekar, he'd find it easy to account for all the black 'notes' and ensure Aldona's loss becomes a gain for Taleigao's boss!

Cabinet reshuffle?
The Congress' central emissaries came and went, but there's no sign of any dropping, adding or reshuffle as so many of GT's peers had claimed there would be. There won't be either, not until the dust settles on the next round of elections -- the Assembly polls in Arunachal Pradesh, Haryana and Maharashtra. But as they say, there's no smoke without fire, all this smoke about the cabinet re-jig in Goa too had its fire -- the Alemao brothers.
According to insiders in the Congress, Churchill and Joaquim, are not 'our men' and this whole exercise of raising a storm over changes in the cabinet was meant to put the fear of life in them to bring them 'in line'. Hariprasad and Shukla's visit did just that.
Now, Kamat and Subhash Shirodkar will be preparing report cards on all the ministers, and it's unlikely that Churchill and Joaquim will not make the grade. Kamat for sure is unlikely to rock his own boat. As for Shirodkar, he could pull Churchill's legs a bit, given the latter's immense magnamity towards the former's nemesis and current Shiroda MLA, Mahadev Naik of the BJP.
But as of now, Dayanand Narvekar, Mauvin Godinho, Pandurang Madkaikar and Chandrakant (Babu) Kavlekar, they'll have to wait for yet another storm in Goa's political teacup, to hope to make it to the cabinet.
Cry babies all
The end for Goa's mining industry is coming. At least that's what the industry's Don Quixote, S Sudhir, wants us to believe.
'New Aussie mines will spell doom for Goa's ore' read a headline in one local newspaper. It quotes Sudhir, the CEO of the Goa Mineral Ore Exporters Association, saying something to the effect that new mines Down Under will be hell of a competition for Goa's low grade ore, and the industry here will be unable to fight.
Did we ever hear any Sudhir, or any of his big bosses ever say, 'we've done well?' even when their profits soared to Olympian heights and accounts in the Alps swelled through banking channels via Beijing?
The Aussies threat is all humbug. The real threat to Sudhir and his bosses is a certain Dr Simon sitting in a building at EDC's Patto Plazza, ironically built by the real estate firm of a mining magnate who no longer owns any mines in Goa.
Cry babies all. That's what Goa's mining industry has always been. And, it is the 'backbone' (sic) of our economy!
Has Nilkanth learnt the ropes?
Not very long ago, in these columns we had narrated how NCP's Tivim MLA, Nilkanth Halarnkar was struggling to get the administration to grant a 'vegetable vendor's' licence to one Mrs Phadte, his constituent. Even the Chief Minister Digambar Kamat, could not help him because some Congressman holding the reigns at the Goa State Horticulture Corporation (GSHC) was sabotaging it. Now, we learn that Nilkanth has 'grown' and Mrs Phadte has finally got her licence.

It so happened that the GSHC needed a licence from the North Goa Planning and Development Authority (NGPDA) for one of its projects in North Goa. But when its officer went to the NGPDA to pursue the file, he was confronted with Nilkanth who heads the Authority. 'Give Mrs Phadte's licence first, then you will get yours' was Nilkanth's fiat to the officer, and, that's how Phadte is now selling veggies at Revora.
We don't know if the quid-pro-quo has happened. But if GSHC has got it's licence from the NGPDA at the cost of mere 'vegetable vendor's' licence for Phadte, then Nilkanth hasn't quite learnt the ropes -- a 'vendor's licence' is too small a price to pay for a licence from this historic fountain of corruption called NGPDA!
Babu, Diggu in cold war
Babu Azgaonkar was chief guest at Babu Naik Memorial Quiz Contest and was introduced as the original 'Babu's' staunch supporter by the Margao political icon's son Bhai himself. That's when our present day 'Babu' fell for Bhai's flattery and seemingly forgot which party or government he really belonged too.
He began his speech in typical saffron parlance, and the finale was even more startling -- a dig at Diggu.
Babu said, the 'real Babu' never bothered about votes but stood for what's right.
"He would never collect a 'Moti Dongor' of shady elements just for votes" he thundered, never mind that Madgaonkars of the day kept complaining about 'Original Babu's' own Moti Dongor -- the Gandhi Market.
He even grumbled that the current government is the worst, the casino issue et al. After all, panchayats have nothing to do with casinos, whose managements can't 'kick back' to reach Dhargalim.
A week after the Quiz, Babu again hit the dais at the Dilip Sardessai Memorial awards, where he was guest of honour and Diggu Bab the chief guest.
As usual, the CM was an hour late, and when Babu took the mike, he made it a point to start his speech with how punctuality is paramount. He did get the crowd to burst into laughter, but Diggu was not impressed.
Do we read any politics in this cold war between Diggu who is Margao MLA and the Gandhi Market King?
Of course we do. The saffron camp is not too interested in sticking to Shramad, and is reportedly giving Bhai Naik a rather close look. With the Margao seat delimited to saffron contours during Diggu's days in the BJP and Babu likely to be in Bhai's basket, there could be a fight to the finish.
Wonder in this scenario, where Babu's current puppeteer, Vijai from Fatorda will stand!

Inputs from Gerard D'Souza and Neshwin Almeida

One (Tamba) flu over the cuckoo’s (Vishwajeet) nest!

Just the other day, I bumped into my friend Dr Porobo, today retired but a decade ago the man who was in the hot seat when malaria was as big a headline as swine flu is today. And coincidentally, Porobo was in a strikingly similar predicament as Dr Rajendra Tamba, until a week ago the State's nodal officer for swine flu, was. Both were not only battling an epidemic, they were also with their backs to a wall called Vishwajeet Rane. Only difference was that Rane junior was then an 'unknown quantity' and meddled in affairs of the state in an 'extra-constitutional' avataar as the 'CM's son' but today, he is the health minister, and his writ runs in the health ministry. Of course there's another little difference, Tamba's head rolled, Porobo's didn't.

In the fight that he led against malaria in the mid-1990s, Porobo, like Tamba in the current battle against swine flu, was saddled with a collosal task and just a few dimes, so to say, to handle it with. And in the midst of his marathon duel with malaria, came this fiat from the 'CM's son' to employ that pesky pesticide called 'deltamethrine' to eliminate the mosquito, apparently emanating from Rane Jr's not-so-secret affection for Pharma majors. Delthamethrine was being produced and marketed by Hoechst Russel Marion. Deltamethrine would have been ordered by the tonnes if Porobo was a mere babu. But the doctor in him just didn't permit him to obey the fiat because the Union health ministry had specifically barred its use so early in the fight against malaria fearing that resistance developed by the mosquito to it would render this last weapon in its armoury impotent sooner than wanted. So, Porobo dashed off to the cabin of another doctor, Wilfred de Souza, who incidentally happened to be DyCM and also the health minister. Together, the two doctors cooked Piqueno's goose. In the end, Porobo survived and so did Deltamethrine, to be used to save another day against malaria.
Such was not the luck of Dr Tamba. Not one, who calls himself a 'doctor' in the Directorate of Health Services gathered the wits to back him and so the only epidemiologist in its ranks is no longer the state's epidemiologist. But time I feel will heal, and Tamba will live another day in the Health Services, to have his last laugh.

FOOTNOTE: Dayanand Narvekar, who is presently roaring like a tiger merely mewed like its domestic cousin, then. Perhaps to please Rane junior who seemed to have all his father's ears, Daya released some one-odd million rupees from his Urban Development ministry for then PMC-now-CCP to buy three tonnes of Deltamethrine. It's another matter that Panjim's citizen's kicked the PMC in its butt and the stuff rotted in its godowns, used only at the then Ranes-occupied CM's official bungalow and a military barracks at Altinho!

Who says politicians always win?
It was meant to be a show to demonstrate the villagers' united might. And thanks to the alertness of the villagers presence of mind, it remained thus despite an attempt to give it a political twist and turn the tide against present Tivim MLA, Nilkanth Halarnkar.
It was on Sunday that villagers gathered to voice, unitedly, their opposition to the plans of Vedanta-owned Sesa Goa Ltd to revive a pre-Liberation mine at Nadora-Pirna.
President of the Pirna-Nadora Nagrik Kruti Samiti, Yoganand Gawas, was leading the villagers with slogans against Sesa Goa and the government.
To drive home his point that the government was pitted against the villagers, Gawas chided the local 'amdar' (Nilkanth) for not taking up the issue in the recently concluded assembly session.
Thankfully, the villagers had their heads on their shoulders and the cat was soon out of the bag. Some from among the audience called his bluff and pointed out that the whole process of reviving the mine had began in 2001, when Sadanand Shet Tanavade of the BJP was the local 'amdar'.
Why do you not question him for all his inaction?, shouted out one villager. Tanavade, who was also amidst the gathering, had this 'I-have-an-excuse-ready' look on his face. But fortunately, he was not asked for his comments, Gawas had to abruptly halt his fiery speech and another equally fiery speaker took over.

Rent two take one free, Anil style
Ferry boats were hotly debated about in the House in the recently concluded, rather long session of the Assembly. And at the crux of the matter was an unusual offer from mining magnate Anil Salgaocar -- a free ferry boat to the government.

Anil claimed the RND was still using the same ferries with an archaic pre-liberation, Portuguese design. Instead, he suggested he will design one atuned to present day needs and gift it to the government. Instead of a two-engine craft, he's would have only one for better fuel efficiency and would be meant only for two-wheelers and passengers which forms the bulk of Goa's ferry commuters. Indeed a refreshingly innovative idea, coming as it did from our otherwise boorish netas! Only, it took us in the media another 24-hours to learn that Anilbab's offer had an interesting twist -- a rider. The mining magnate had turned on its head the buy-some-take-some-free marketing funda. Instead, his offer to the government wasn't merely 'take a free gift (ferry) from me. Instead, it was: Take one free, then rent two from me. No wonder Anil is touted by most who know him to be the shrewdest businessman in the Salgaocar clan. Yet, the mess that the RND currently is, Anil's offer is worth giving a try!

Save Goa: Another front opens -- August 4

At Lohia Maidan on Sunday, another front has opened up in this fight to save Goa and Chief Minister Digambar Kamat could not have been in the dark. Farmers, a long ignored section of Goan society, finally got organised and raised their voices from close enough to Diggu for him to hear all the swearing at him and his government, from within the comforts of the balcony of his home.
The immediate provocation for the assault on the government by the ryots was the rehab of displaced kiosk-owners in prime farming land at Davorlim, ironically the pocket burrough of Churchill Alemao the former supremo of 'Save Goa Front'. But it's not Davorlim alone that hundreds of protesting farmers cried out for at Lohia Maidan. It's for the whole of Goa, and the indiscriminate acquisition of agricultural land by the government, was the first target of the new-born Goenchea Xetkarancho Ekvott.
CM Digambar Kamat has a job on his hands. For, this little fire that demonstrated its ferocity on Sunday, possesses the potential to engulf the state's political establishment, much on the same lines as the Goa Bachao Abhiyan's movement against the Regional Plan 2011 did.
Going by his past record, Diggu could soon take to spinning another one of his pro-people moves, some government decision like 'No more acquisition of agricultural land' like he said 'SEZs Scrapped', and of course the Task Force for RP 2021, both of which are yet to see the light of day!
No ‘bhendo’ for Lord Ganesha? Going by Manohar Parrikar’s definition of the ‘mother tongue’, I just discovered I have a new mother tongue - Konklish. It’s this lingo that most people I meet communicate with me and I with them as did this Goenkar bhav, who I met for the first time somewhere around Panjim's brand new market.
Last weekend, this man who I don’t know at all and suspect is in his seventies, walks up to me and asks me: ‘Sir, thum marketing korpak bazaaran pao ghatla?’
For those, not too familiar with amchi bhas, it means: ‘Sir, have you set foot in the market?’
As he spoke to me out of the blues, he sported a smile but only for that fraction of a second. The man’s face instantly changed colour and red with rage he blurted out: "The ghanvti bhendo is vhis rupyank teen. Atanch itlem, zalear Chovothek kitem?”
Translated, this means: 'The local variety of lady-finger sells at Rs 20 for three pieces. If it’s so bad now, what’s in store for Chaturthi?'
Clearly, he was shocked and not without reason. Frankly, I’ve not been to the market to check the price of lady finger, but I have no doubts this man's told me the truth. By his account, the price of a lady finger, which last year went for Rs twenty-five for a hundred, had this year jumped by an out-of-the-world 1,400 per-cent!
Yet, inflation is negative according to the Government of India, and as for our own sarkar, Digambar Kamat keeps screaming day in and day out that it stands for the aam admi.
Digguji, the aam admi can’t even afford a ‘bhendo’ this Chaturthi!

Market: Fountainhead of CCP graft
Something happened in the Panjim market last week that made it evidently clear to us that the so-called inquiry being conducted by CCP Commissioner, Sanjit Rodrigues, is going to be toothless.

There was a lot of hype and hoopla about the inauguration of some store at the new market. A 'maharaj' was imported all the way from Pinguli to solemnise the affair. After a few inquiries, it was revealed that it was a 'jewellery store' that was being inaugurated, and at the centre of it all was a lanky corporator of the CCP, known in corporator circles as the 'Market Kingpin'.
A little digging has revealed that this space was actually earmarked for a 'site office' of the CCP, where market inspectors and officials of the Corporation would operate from. This Corporator, when he was in command in the 'market committee', converted it into a shop, and allotted it to god knows who, no records are available at the CCP.
So what has this got to do with the 'inquiry' being conducted by Sanjit Rodrigues?
Well, at a time when Rodrigues' inquiry has found wholesale irregularities in shop allotments at the market and an 'interim report' listing these has been tabled in the Goa Legislative Assembly in the ongoing session, a corporator formally inaugurates his 'benami' jewellery store.
Clearly, he cares a damn for Sanjit's inquiry. Meanwhile, no one's even taking cognisance of the demand for a 'judicial probe' instead of a Commissioner-level probe, voiced by veteran Opposition Corporator, Surendra Furtado.

What’s Goan in our tourism? July 27, 2009

'Sickle and coconuts in hand, Palani goes five-star' screamed one headline in a South Indian newspaper which hit my eye. The story was about a restaurant in 'Courtyard Marriott', a five star hotel in South Indian metropolis, Chennai. What about the restaurant? No, it's not the, decor or service, but a cart loaded with tender coconuts (Addsor), the kind we can see here in Goa along highways mostly in summer, bang at the entrance of this restaurant. And, the cartman, R Palani, who formerly used to sell his addsor in lungi and shirt on the street a few blocks away from the five-star, was manning it, though turned out in chef's attire and shoes.
The story goes on to add how Palani fascinates foreigners who dine in the restaurant by holding the nut in one hand and slicing it open with a sickle in the other.
Under a deal with Courtyard Marriott Hotel, Palani has to bring around 200 tender coconuts, which according to the hotel's director of food and beverages, is a 'fresh' alternative to the chilled version of the tender coconut water.

Can we have the Food and Beverages bosses of the dozens of five-stars we have here in Goa to think of such innovations? Or will we continue to hear the outrageous stories of managements versus locals conflicts, be it on the taxi front, access to beach front, and so on and so forth?
Unfortunately, the Goan has always been an 'outsider' for these hotels ever since five-star tourism set foot on Goa's sands, since the CHOGM in the early 1980s. And, anything that's Goan is treated with disdain. No wonder, that a fish-curry-rice or any other dish eaten at any of these five-stars never inspires you for an encore.
So, what's Goan in our five-stars, apart from the land and the sand they stand on, and of course a handful of owners? Couldn't that headline in that Chennai paper have so easily been: ''Sickle and coconuts in hand, 'Jose', 'Pedro' or 'Vasu' goes five-star", in any of our very own Goan daily?

Witty prospect this...
The Customs Museum and its rich exhibits, including some of invaluable heritage importance, which was inaugurated by Finance Minister, Pranab Mukherjee, last week is welcome news for Goa at large. It promises to be a landmark in Panjim, and even offers the permanently cribbing tourism industry a window of opportunity.
Yet, the plans of those managing the museum to put one display one particular exhibit, will for sure haunt one prominent clan from Goa -- the first family of Varca.
The love-hate relationship between the Customs and this clan is not unknown to many of us Goans. The detractors of the Alemaos often brandish their record with the country's anti-smuggling agency, mostly for convinient, political brownie points. But in recent years, the Alemaos themselves have had a not-so-antagonistic, almost bordering on a 'peaceful' relationship, with the Customs and its personnel.
It won't last for long though. For, sources tell us that plans are afoot to place that infamous Contessa as an exhibit in the 'Battle of Wits' gallery which showcases items they managed to get from smugglers, at the musuem. The Contessa, impounded in that infamous 1991 Fatrade encounter doesn't find a place there already, because officials are still battling their wits on how to carry the broad four-wheeler up the stairs of the heritage building.

Reginald’s KTC puzzle

New chairman, but the same old stuff.
When, the bubbly Aleixo Reginald Lourenco called for a press conference on the state of the KTC, some of us journos thought this youngster would breathe out some fresh air.
But alas, he only flattered to deceive. These losses, those losses, diesel, staff, competition from private lobby, etcectra, etcectra... it was the same old story.
We've been hearing this story from the time immemorial. Chairman after chairman has been sobbing this story in obvious attempts to pressure the state government to release a larger quantum of funds, obviously to be looted and scooted through this arguably, most corrupt state-owned corporation.
To make matters worse, this otherwise no-nonsense legislator, blundered with his numbers too, making this same 'old story' sound so wrong.
Rs 11-odd crore, he said, was the operating loss for the last fiscal, primarily because of diesel costs for which the corporation shells out Rs 45,000 daily. Either Reginald's forgotten his school math, or 'thousands' in his new avtaar as MLA is too small a denomination to give it much thought. Rs 45,000 per day just does not add up to anywhere close to the Rs 11-crore loss of 2008-09, even if we presume that 100 per-cent of KTCs spend on fuel is a dead loss. It works to just Rs 1.64-crore, i.e. just about 10 per-cent of the loss. So, what else apart from diesel, staff salaries and the oft-repeated 'social cost' factor of having to ply buses on loss-making routes adds up to the Rs 11-odd crore? Isn't it 'corruption' sir?
Over a decade ago another first-time and as bubbly an MLA as Reginald had tried to set things right. The Enfield bullet-riding Fatima D'Sa. Barring a few self-conducted 'raids' at the KTC depot, which incidentally is located in her home's backyard at Porvorim, D'Sa didn't cut much ice. Reginald, however, has time on his side, and therefore, inspires hope for KTC's sake.
Will we see corporate governance making an entry in KTC's day-to-day functioning. Can the Curtorim MLA firmly ask his army of employees to either perform or perish?
And, if nationalisation of public transport is his mantra, can he deliver and keep everyone (the private sector included) happy by adopting the M&A (merger and acquisition) route, buying the private players out in phases till all Goa's private buses get owned by KTC and the drivers and conducters become its employees?
He's shown streaks of innovation in several of his public stances -- mechanisation of farming, English medium for primary education. I keep fingers crossed in hope that this youngster will deliver!

Murli ka ‘doosra’
Sri Lankan spin wizard Murlitharan's reign as the king of the 'doosra' is over. There's a new claimant to that throne, and it's our own desi Murli -- Murli Deora. Only, our guy doesn't wear a turban, is not Harbajan Singh who's struggling to produce as lethal a 'doosra' as that of the original Murli's, and plays no cricket at all. Instead, he presides over the country's Oil Ministry, which perhaps explains why he's so slippery and a past master at dishing out the 'doosra'.
A little over three weeks ago, the Minister told us here on our very own red soil of Goa, that "there is no possibility of a fuel price hike in the near future". Less than 48 hours later, his ministry announces a whopping Rs 5 per-litre increase in petrol prices! Now, if that's not a 'doosra' potent enough to leave the wickets of all of us, gullible Goans and Indians shattered, then what is?

Maggie becomes Governor
Not so long ago the Congress chief trouble-shooter in Goa, Margaret Alva has finally been rewarded by the Congress High Command for her unstinted loyalty to the party's highest command. The graceful lady from Uttar Karnataka has been laid the red carpet that will lead her to the Raj Bhavan of Uttarakhand.
Just on the eve of the General Elections, Alva, uncharacteristically, blew her top so to say for her son being denied an entry into Karnataka's state politics. Her messy byte to the electronic media, cost her a significant role and therefore the accolades for her party's fabulous Election 2009 win, although she got the ticket for Karwar and fought a losing battle, for yet another time. But those are bygones, and in happier times, 10 Janpath has elevated Maggiebhai to Governor, another of the Congress' strange ways -- punish only to reward later!

All want the teachers!
Any and every recruitment process of the government is always frought with controversy. Some, that have taken place in the last decade or so here in Goa include, former CM Manohar Parrikar's police recruitment, former PWD Minister Sudhin Dhavlikar's engineers' recruitment, the infamous cash-for-job recruitment in former health minister, Dayanand Narvekar's reign...the list goes on and on.
Now, there's another row is waiting to be kicked up in a round of teacher-recruitment on the verge of being executed by the present Digambar Kamat government. Strangely however, no party, not even the Opposition BJP, is making it a row even when it is a row.
On the contrary, the BJP's men, media men, all and sundry, are strongly lobbying with the government, both overtly and covertly, to accept the Goa Public Service Commission's controversially prepared list of 40-odd names for appointment as government school teachers.
One of the BJP's vociferous spokesman has publicly taken up the cause of the 52 listed to be teachers by the GPSC. Media men, are head over heels, lobbying to either get the list accepted or rejected by the government. In fact some sections of the media have even published news reports (sic) highlighting how the non-appointment of these teachers could jeopardise the future of students!
‘Commission’ or no ‘commission’, fact of the matter is, that all five candidates who ranked first, second, third, fourth and fifth in the written examination conducted by the GPSC, find no place in its final list submitted to the government. Quite a bit of ‘education’ on the GPSC, government, Opposition and last but not the least, my mates in the media!

Cong’s quaint axis, allies

The clock has turned a full circle, it seems, for two of Congress' big guns -- Speaker Pratapsing Rane and AICC secretary in-charge of the North-East, Luizinho Faleiro.
Friends in the mid-1980s and early-1990s, bitter enemies competing for the Kodel in the late-1990s and the new millenium, and now, back to square one in a you-scratch-my-back-and-I'll-scratch-yours kind of a relationship.
Luizinho sure owed one to Rane after the latter took the 'Mickey' out of his khumpar, Churchill Alemao, leaving the gigantic politician from Varca ranting, raving and panting to prove the merger of his SGF with the Congress was above board. And boy, didn't Luizinho pay back!
Out of the blues last week, R Kothandaraman, the man who becomes Legislature Secretary every time Rane Sr occupies the Speaker's chair, quit. And, according to the DI press release, he did so for 'personal reasons'. It now turns out that the bespectacled Kothandaraman's 'personal reasons' were in fact his preference for the cooler climes of hilly Meghalaya, over humid and 'hot' Goa.
Less than 48 hours after he quit as Goa's legislature secretary (that's about the time it takes to travel to Meghalaya), he took over as Principal Secretary of the legislature in Meghalaya, where Luizinho is said to have played a role in installing D Lapang as Chief Minister.
Aires Rodrigues isn't amused. This thorn in the side of Goa's public figures it so happens, was in Kothandaram's side too. Apparently, a few RTI querries raised by Rodrigues pertaining to the legislature secretary's appointment sent Rane Sr, Kothandaram and Co, scurrying for cover. That's when the chopper-hopping Luizinho in Meghalaya came in handy!

‘Piqueno’ in a hurry

A nurse who administers ‘Dettol’ instead of ‘Crocin’ to an infant at a Primary Health Centre (PHC) gets passed off as a “good nurse”. Days later, another nurse at the GMC deserves to be “suspended” because she's presiding over a Paediatric ward that had a bed with a torn bedsheet. Why? The answer my friend, is in the 'VOTE': The first nurse is registered as a voter in Valpoi constituency, while the second god knows where!
These double standards of the Health Minister couldn't be seen through the whole of last week by the media. Instead, it tom-toms this young man, (Piqueno in our colloquial... oops colonial Konkani) across its front pages with another of his young-man-in-a-hurry PPP initiative -- a 'free insulin' scheme promoted by a pharma multi-national with obvious hidden costs to the state.
But thank heavens sycophancy is not yet an epidemic, at least not in places where it matters most. At GMC for instance, where Dr V N Jindal, said enough is enough and decided to call it quits.
After all, the GMC is not a machine where you put a pig into one side and bring out sausages from the other. Nor is it a garage where Dr Jindal is the chief foreman. It's a public hospital for all you know, manned not by ITI mechanics but doctors, most of who compare with the best in the state, if not the country.

SAFF GAFFE
‘Goa, a destination of film fests', crowed Chief Minister Digambar Kamat at the opening ceremony of the South Asian Film Festival (SAAF). With Kala Academy chairman, Pratapsing Rane, in tow, Kamat even made a pitch for Goa as the ‘permanent venue' for SAFF. Two days later, in Kamat's own backyard at Margao, all of four men occupied the 1,200-seat Ravindra Bhavan to watch a SAFF film: So much for Goa's much-touted ‘film culture'. Let's stick to the Tiatrs, Mr Chief Minister!

Media, Patnekar and ‘dynamic’ politics

Politics is never static. It's dynamic. This certainly holds true here in Goa, where politics has been super-dynamic since 1990. It's therefore not suprising that newspapers splash reports across their front pages to the effect that so-and-so MLA from the BJP will join the Congress. Even the one that claims you can trust and which otherwise needs the Official Gazette notification to publish news, had a report that said the BJP's Bicholim MLA, Rajesh Patnekar, 'will join' (and not 'expected to join') the Congress. It also specified the date and time!
Such reports are nothing new in Goa's media. In fact, Rajesh Patnekar, once told us that he had a count (which ran into a few dozens) of the number of reports published that said he would cross-over ever since he first became MLA in 2002. He also told us, that he no longer bothers about such reports.
Journos too feel emboldened to take risks with such political reportage, what with readers accustomed to their MLAs hopping parties, Xth Schedule or no Xth Schedule. Besides, even if at anytime in the future, Rajesh Patnekar, actually deserts the BJP, readers (and the authors themselves) will then hail all the reports of June 18, 2009 as master-pieces of political reporting!
In the early 1990s, the Congress had a well-oiled rumour mill that would systematically spread such canards among journos at the river-facing 'Press Room' in the Old Secretariat. Now, it's individual politicians, who unleash the psychological warfare through ever-willing journos kept permanently in good humour.
Bravo Houghton!
‘What has the Sports Minister done for football?' Indeed, it takes all the oomph in you to say this, especially when you are the national coach of the lowly Indian football team!
What speaks volumes of the oomph in Houghton, however, is that M S Gill, otherwise a fighter, has his lips sealed with these words!
At the risk of antagonising our ghanvti soccer fans, some of who I suppose are our esteemed readers, I'll give the thumbs-up to Houghton's outburst not just at Gill but also against seniors who rushed for Santosh trophy honours and basked in State-pampering, instead of resting ahead of international engagements (our own Climax Lawrence included).
"Nonsensical" Houghton called tournaments like the Santosh Trophy and the Durand Cup. I'm surprised he didn’t add in the list, the NFL, now rechristened I-league which is all about the A to 'zee' of marketing and money-making and zero about football. Clearly the NFL, which had huge promise to turn around Indian soccer to at least the 1950s levels where bare-foot Neville D'Souzas and P K Banerjees almost brought Olympic honour for India, has flattered only to deceive. When it (NFL) was launched in the mid-nineties, India had a coach in Akhramov, who matched Houghton every word. In an interview to me then, he had said: 'Give me 10 Brunos and I'll take India to the World Cup'.
But then, Brunos did not come from Santosh Trophies and Durand Cups. They came from Monte de Gurim, Don Bosco's Panjim and Fatorda, Fr Agnel's Pilar, and many such institutions. They could have come from the NFL, which required every club to also run age-group teams and eventually academies, Akhramov had hoped. But it was not to be. Nothing happened. Only, a couple of football administrators benefited, and the initial ESPN coverage gave exposure to our own Noel de Lima Leitao to make him a fine TV commentator. Akhramov left in two years!There's still hope though. Can our Big four or five adopt these local schools and run their matters football as their own academies? Clube Sporting de Goa is thinking on these lines and has taken a few steps already with Don Bosco's, Panjim.
Sanjit and CCP’s thees chors
Reluctant or not, he had no choice. Sanjith Rodrigues is a babu and he cannot decide where he works, even if he's the darling of the media and a favourite among certain politicos.
And, Monday showed it. Despite all his noises in a section of the media, Sanjith has taken charge of CCP as its commissioner and, it's evident he's focussed on taking the capital's garbage bull by its horns.
"Only I will be the 'Command'. Not 30 commands," he thundered as he took charge, in a way only he can! Clearly, he does not hold any of the thirty corporators in much esteem.
His sources in the CCP have apparently told Sanjith, how the corporators have been cornering kick-backs on every dime that goes out of the treasury. Apparently, Babush Monserrate himself seems to be backing Sanjith. The Sultan of Taleigao, who is the ring master of the ruling group in the CCP, is said to be disgusted with his men and therefore gave Diggu his consent to appoint Sanjith, despite protestations from all his lieutenants and pillars in the pack. Not very long ago, the Big B was so disgusted with his CCP men that he summoned a quartet, including a co-opted man, and gave them a tongue-lashing. Their sin: They were collecting a Rs 10 a day hafta from the little children who sold plastic bags in the Panjim fish market! The story of the panwallahs and the cycle-fish vendors is legend.
So, with Babush backing him at least for the sake of the garbage, Sanjith has nothing to fear!

Dempo!

To my peers and me in our school and college days, ‘Dempo’ didn’t mean Padmashree Vasantrao Dempo, his son Vassudev (Naguesh) Dempo, or his grandson and one academic year our senior, Srinivas Dempo. Or for that matter, any of the many other Dempos.
'Dempo' to us was an expression of sheer supremacy, perhaps subconsciously evolved from the laurel after laurel earned by its then invincible football team. 'Dempo' was also used by many of us as an expression to acknowledge victory in many spheres not so sporting, much akin to the usage of the term 'Colgate' to refer to toothpaste, perhaps because of the sheer size of the group's economic muscle.
So, it would be fool-hardy if I skipped mention of the biggest event of last week - the Dempos selling their mines lock, stock and barrel, to Sesa Goa. So before I forget, or run out of space to put down this little tantrum, I thought it fit to begin with it.
Ever since the event became known - on newspaper editions of Friday, June 12, 2009 - my mind has been battling my thoughts as to why the media, and almost everyone I met who spoke about it, went ga-ga over the mind-boggling deal of Rs 1,750-crore (at least on paper…the Swiss Banks still exist, don't they?).
It certainly isn’t good news for the ‘Goa for Goans’ battle-cry, which I believe is the real issue of all the walk and talk on ‘Special Status’ for amchem Goem. Yet, all who’ve spoken about it, only had good things to say. Except, of course, the leading lights of the other mining families, who suddenly seem to have gone dumb.It sure is a great business deal from the Dempos’ viewpoint, and perhaps an even ‘better deal’ from Agarwal’s, but from the ‘Goan’ viewpoint? Well… It sure is disturbing that the net worth of a fairly large chunk of our valuable ‘tambdi maathi’ has now got transferred to the hands of someone who’s not 'amcho'.
There’s a silver lining though. Now, every Joao, Ramdas or Imran, knows how much our 'tambdi maathi' that the Dempo’s reigned over all these years, is really worth. Besides, we can also hope to own a part, even if it’s a microscopically miniscule one, and be ‘mine owners’ ourselves by simply picking up from the bourses a few Sesa Goa shares at all of 200-odd rupees!
But I am still wondering if the media and all and sundry, would react in the same ga-ga way if an Agostinho or a Joao or for that matter the Pintos of the Cidade de Goa fame, had sold a few thousand square metres of their 'aframento' for less than a crore of rupees.

Oh, Rane Sr has spoken!

The undisputed Raja of Sattari has spoken, even if he sounded more like a helpless subject rather than a raja.Speaker, Pratapsing Rane, after all those years of being a politician and for most part Goa’s top one, has finally discovered that some politicians are the genesis of all that's evil about mining, the pollution included. And, they should be brought to book, says he! Why didn't he, in all those years as CM, beats me.It's better late than never though! Should the former CM walk his talk, all our Sebys, Ramesh Gaunses, Rajendra Kerkars, Claude Alvareses and their likes will well have to call it a day!
But then, he's unlikely to. Instead, it seems to be a salvo fired at political adversaries who have of late begun dabbling in mining. It could also be a cocky snub at his successor and the incumbent in the CM's kodel, Digambar Kamat, who's presided over the mines ministry uninterruptedly since he first became minister in 1999. Let’s wait and see!

Roar or a croak

What’s more deafening, a roar or a croak?
The young turks among Greens in Goa seem to be telling us it’s the latter!Even as this year’s reluctant ‘Big Goenkar’ Rajendra Kerkar wages a solitary battle with the officialdom, politicos and a head-strong, anti-tiger Dr Sashi Kumar, to save the east Goan habitat of the majestic striped cat, a whole load of his peers, albeit the Pierre-Cardin adorning ones, swear by the frog, croaking their voices hoarse!
The 'Bull-Frog' will disappear they argue, Dr Sashi Kumar in tow, as they gun for the hunter’s jugular, while the striped cat is left to fend for itself amidst maurading miners and a lonesome Big Goenkar and his band of earth-loving teens remain its sole backers.
Drop the croaking and roar for the tiger, even if it’s a solitary, two or three ‘Migratory Tigers’ as Dr Sashi Kumar wants us to believe, the one killed in Keri, was. It’s a tiger for god’s sake, not a migratory bird!

Dr Willy’s salvo

Wasn't hard to believe it when reports filtered into our newsrooms that the grand old man of Goa's politics, Dr Wilfred de Souza, had said goodbye to Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party after 10 long years. We had predicted in one tantrum published in the run-up to the Lok Sabha polls. The surgeon’s done it now, albeit, sans an anesthesia to leave the scars hurting.
Dr Willy, since he lost the 2007 assembly poll from Saligao, has had reasons dime a dozen to be upset with the NCP, and thus, had justification for what he did -- quit. But what probably was the proverbial final straw that broke the camel's back, was the way he was 100 per-cent sidelined in the campaign for the Lok Sabha poll. According to sources in the Willy camp, the surgeon was not even entrusted the campaign in his Saligao assembly segment. Instead, Jitendra Deshprabhu, Hede and Co entrusted the job to his former aide and now adversary, Trojan D'Mello.
Now, no politician worth his salt will take that lying down, not in the least Dr Willy!

Industry’s muscle-flexing

Last week, Environment Minister, Aleixo Sequeira, announced the appointment of Dr Simon de Souza, a former deputy director of NIO, as chairman of the Pollution Control Board, but not before he had to counter strong lobbying for the incumbent Dr L U Joshi, from an unlikely quarter -- industry.
Now, industry and the Pollution Control Board we know have an inherrent conflict of interest and should logically be at loggerheads. It doesn't seem so in the case of the Goa State Pollution Control Board in the two terms that Dr Joshi headed it. Goa Chamber of Commerce and Industry (GCCI), it turns out, had passed a formal resolution in its executive committee meeting urging the government to grant Dr Joshi a third term! Not just that, the chamber's former president, Nitin Kuncolienkar, is said to have followed it up with two written 'reminders' (sic) to Chief Minister, Digambar Kamat.
It's bad enough that the government gives the GCCI representation on the GSPCB through its president. What business it has, to so brazenly influence the government's decision on appointing a chairman for the board, beats us.

Sanjit 'babu' hits nail on the head

Election 2009's hangover is still on. Many, particularly our television anchors and journos, are still trying to decipher the meaning of the verdict, and their versions keep changing every passing day. All that was said during the month-long campaign is forgotten. Celebrities and socialites who clamoured for the politicos, crying hoarse over the 'no vote' option have dissolved into the post-result 'Rahul Gandhi Jai Ho' slogan about the dimpled Gandhi scion. But back home here in Goa, a smart and media-saavy bureaucrat, seized the moment to get back at the vociferous, all-talk Page 3 brigade. It truly was the bureaucrat's day in the sun.
A Page 3 socialite gathering may not have been the ideal situation for the bureaucrat to strike... but strike he did and how!
The occasion: the voting session organised by Anil Ambani-owned BIG FM for its 'Big Goenkar' awards at the plush Gera enclave at EDC's Patto Plazza last week. The FM station has unfolded the second edition of the awards, and apart from the SMS voting, it held this physical voting session for a select group of 60-odd 'special voters'. Editors, hoteliers, sports administrators.. name them, and the big-named Goans were there.
The FM station is giving out five awards and has nominated three to four Goenkars for each category. The voters had to pick one in each category. Even as this process was on, the young turk of Goan bureaucracy -- Sanjit Rodrigues -- walked in. And, as soon as he was delivered the voting sheet, this is what he spontaneously exclaimed: "Don't you have the 'none of the above' option?"
My vote for Sanjit!

Oh, the rains!

I read, ironically somewhere in cyberspace that "Blowin' in the wind" legend Bob Dylan, has appealed to kids to give up gadgets and soak in more of the earth outdoors.
Blasting cell phones, MP3 players and video glames, Dylan is insistent that kids get out of indoors for 'more in life'.
"Of course they are free to do that, as if that's got anything to do with freedom. The cost of liberty is high and young people should understand that before they start spending their life with all those gadgets," the web portal quoted Dylan as saying.
Dylan's advice couldn't have come at a better time for our own kids here in Goa. With the monsoon knocking, there's no better time to smell, feel, see and cherish mother earth. Walk to school, splashing muddy waters from the pools along the path at peers. Get punished for reaching late because catching tadpoles seemed more important than school.
But will our kids be allowed these nuances of the monsoon? Or, will we drive them to the school door-step with our CRVs, chevrolets and the many other brands? And, while at home, glue them to the many idiot-boxes we have?

Ravi's foot-in-mouth

SM (short-message) jokes on the 'sardar' of Goan politics, Churchill Alemao, is a bygone and this Salcetian politician now has competition in Home Minister Ravi Naik, who could soon crawl to the 'numero uno sardar' position here in Goa.
Saddled with the one-day-at-a-time confessions of Mahanand Naik, the home minister is grappling with himself to put up a brave face before journos. Not that the two-time former chief minister is particularly known for his oratory or clever answers. But sample this:
'Dupattas should be banned' he says, fielding questions on the policing disaster that the Mahanand Naik saga has turned out to be. And, on the Russian mini-sequel to the Scarlett Keeling high-drama, 'foreigners should be stopped from drinking and moving about at nights' was his terse comment while defending the probe into Russian teenager Elena's mysterious death.
For sure, our HM has a big foot in his small mouth!


Politico converted?

If you can't beat them, join them they say, and, Quepem MLA, Chandrakant (Babu) Kavlekar, is hoping to do just that, it seems. The people of Quittol-Betul have kept him on his toes ever since he made public, at his former mentor, Luizinho Faleiro's prompting, his pet project of a 'Food Park' at the picturesque 'Quitol'. With the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) pulling the cat out of the bag and exposing that the park was a meer 'hospitality project in disguise' the dimunitive legislator had no option but bow to the protesting villagers wishes and watered down the infamous 'Food Park' to a mere 'mini industrial estate' now.
In neighbouring Quepem town however, Babu isn't willing to carry on with his 'bad guy' image anymore. Here, he turns a staunch green and joins protesters who are up in arms against the menace of ore transportation. "No more mining trucks in Quepem town" he thundered last week.
Is that one of the 40 converted? We aren't sure.