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.