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.