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.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
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.
Monday, September 14, 2009
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
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
Tuesday, August 11, 2009
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!
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.
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.
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.
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