BJP pushes for biographies of tiatrists in school curriculum

BY A GT REPORTER

PANJIM, JULY 21: For posterity to remember the rich contribution of veteran Tiatrists to Konkani stage, the BJP feels their biographies need to be included in the school curriculum. And to start with, the BJP wants such biographies to be prepared by the Directorate of Art and Culture.

Raised on the floor of the House yesterday, this demand comes close on the heels of the Tiatr Academy of Goa also airing similar views on this subject in recent times.

The BJP sought to voice this demand while the House paid rich tributes to the memory of late Tiatrist Manuel Santana Aguiar alias M Boyer and former bureaucrat Alban Couto.

Moving the motion for the obituary reference, Mapusa BJP MLA Francis D’Souza described the late Boyer as a colossus in the field of drama and a dramarist par excellence.

“He was a producer, writer and director as well as a comedian and a serious artiste.

He was also a lover of Konkani language and thoroughly enjoyed acting,” said D’Souza.

“Let the Art and Culture Department prepare biographies of such Tiatrists which can prove to be an inspiration for future generations. If possible, get these books (biographies) in the school curriculum,” he demanded, as he found support from PWD Minister Churchill Alemao from the treasury benches.

Deputy Speaker Mauvin Godinho, who also spoke in favour of the motion, wanted the Tiatr Academy of Goa to get more funds for enabling it to raise the standard of Tiatr.

Others who spoke in favour of the motion included Curtorim MLA Alex Reginald Lourenco, PWD Minister Churchill Alemao, Santacruz MLA Victoria Fernandes, Power Minister Aleixo Sequeira, Civil Supplies Minister Jose Philip D’Souza, St Andre MLA Francis Silveira, Fatorda MLA Damodar Naik and opposition leader Manohar Parrikar.

Replying to the motion, Chief Minister Digambar Kamat said the late Boyer spread social message through his Tiatr and framed songs hailing Hindu, Muslim and Catholic unity in the state. Referring to Couto, the Chief Minister recalled his services to the state as and when called upon to deliver during crucial times.

“He also got an opportunity to serve the Commonwealth Secretariat,” claimed Kamat.

Nana Patekar to inaugurate Marathi film fest

BY A STAFF REPORTER
PANJIM: The second edition of Goa Marathi Film Festival 2009 organised by Vinsan Graphics, Vasco will kick starting this week from June 5-7 at Margao and Panjim.

Speaking at a press conference Chief Minister, Digambar Kamat in a press conference mentioned about this festival, which would be inaugurated at Ravindra Bhavan, Margao on June 5 at 5 pm by the acclaimed Bollywood actor, Nana Patekar.

He added, “It will be then followed by screening of the film, ‘Dhyasparva’ a film by Amol Palekar. Also on this day it would be the launch of a new projection system at the Ravindra Bhavan.”
This year the fest will feature 11 Marathi film compared to eight last year.

The schedule of the festival is as follows.

On the second day on June 6 at Maquinez Palace screen 1 at 4.30 pm there would be a presentation of a latest production system in the filed of film production by Film Lab India.

On the concluding day, June 7 at Maquinez Palace screen 1at 10 am a seminar would be held on the topic, “World Cinema & We”. It would be hosted by the eminent film personalities like Amol Palekar, Vidya Gokhale, Seema Biswas, Paresh Mokashi, Sachin Kundalkar and Umesh Kulkarni. And at 7.30 pm there’s a premier of the film, ‘Gosht Choti…Dongaraevadhi’ at Kala Academy.

“The inaugural, presentation of production system and the premier show are open for general public,” remarked Kamat.

Speaking about the festival he concluded that the State government should take a role of a facilitator while organising any film festival and help to promote it.
Although the festival would be inaugurated at Margao, there will be screening of films there. The screening is of all 11 films is at Maquinez Palace screen 1, 2 and at Kala Academy, Panjim.

This festival is also supported by Entertainment Society of Goa, Directorate of Art and Culture, Kala Academy and Goa Tourism.

The members of public can enjoy this festival by enrolling themselves as delegates by paying fees of Rs 250 per head. The registration forms are available at Kala Academy, Panjim, Gomant Vidya Niketan, Margao, Vinsant Grpahics, Vasco, Natekar Pharmacy, Mapusa and Rang Rachana, Ponda.

Romi Konkani in govt primary schools demanded

BY A GT REPORTER

MARGAO: A demand to include Konkani in Roman script as a medium of instruction in government-aided primary schools was an issue highlighted among others at the public sitting of the Goa legislative assembly's ad-hoc committee on Education, Sports and Information Technology here on Monday.

The sitting, held at the South Goa Collectorate at Margao, also saw issues like donations charged for admissions, more schools being opened within one-km radius of existing ones, mid-days meals to be handed over to Parent Teachers Associations (PTAs), framing of admission policy, vocational education, etc being highlighted.

On the issue of new ones being set up where schools already exist raised by eminent educationist Bhiku Pai Angle, the ad-hoc committee chairman Dayanand Narvekar sought a report from the Director of Education Dr Celsa Pinto on how many had commenced in 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10 and how many existing ones have been affected.

According to Dr Pinto, there were 19 new schools in 2008-09 and four in 2009-10. She claimed, the distance criteria had been revoked after it had been scrutinised and a feasibility report prepared with objections from neighbouring schools analysed and hearing, if necessary, granted.

Dr Pinto hinted at plans to shortly conduct school mapping, when it was pointed out by Angle that the present schools were 'dying' because the 3-km radius criteria has been reduced to one-km for new schools.

Censuring former education minister Luizinho Faleiro, in whose tenure the distance criteria was diluted, Angle said no proper study was conducted.

Donations for admissions was another issue hotly discussed. Dr Pinto however insisted that some evidence be provided proof of the allegations being made.

One Mangaldas Chandrakant Prabhu, however accused the department of shielding the culprits saying he had submitted evidence of donations charged by a prominent city school around two years back but no action was taken.

Narvekar agreed with the views expressed and called for a criminal complaint to be filed with the police as the fines of Rs 50,000 did not serve as a deterrent to offenders who seek donations of over Rs 1 lakh. The former IT minister also suggested that the education department probe the April & May bank balances of such schools.

Another committee member Dayanand Mandrekar, Siolim MLA pointed out to cases of admissions being denied to students having acquired less than 50 per cent marks in elite schools who seek only distinction holders.

“What should they do?” he inquired with Narvekar, saying these cases need consideration as it could lead to social incongruencies.

Melson Louis of South Goa Public Interest Action Group (SGPIAG) also highlighted the need to impose a 10-year domicile criteria for migrants who easily avail education in the state. He also sought a scrutiny of the many fly-by-night institutions offering courses in aviation, nursing, hotel management, etc.

Louis also called for an additional government polytechnic for the benefit of those residing in Valpoi, Cuncolim and Canacona areas.

Also present were the committee members, Rajesh Patnekar, Bicholim MLA, Under Secretray Yuvraj Naik, joint secretary J N Braganza and other officials.

Tech scores over Medicine

BY A GT REPORTER

PANJIM: Goa's top-notchers it seems have elbowed out Medicine from its place of pride at the top of the career options' list and replaced it with Engineering.

Goa's brains are increasingly opting to compete for admissions to the country's 'E-schools', including the IITs, NITs and the big boys among institutes of technology.

A whopping number of 44 Goans cracked IIT-JEE examination this year. This is not all. Goans have also excelled in BITS-SAT and AIEEE (All India Engineering Entrance Exam). All these are All-India level examinations.

According to Vyankatesh Prabhudesai, himself an IITian who runs the Aryan Study Circle, a pioneers in IIT-JEE coaching here in Goa, the flexibility of the Engineering field is what's making it an option over medicine for Goan teens.

“Medicine is not flexible and hasn't many job prospects compared to engineering. In engineering, after B Tech you can directly opt for a job or go for a management course and get a managerial post in a company. As for medicine, after MBBS, one has to go in for MD, where there are few branches," stated Prabhudesai, who did a stint at the National Aeronautics Lab and also at NIO as a scientist for 12 years.

Speaking on the performance of Goan students on Monday, he said, 10 Goan students have excelled in BIT-SAT examination this year against last year's five.

“Of these 10, nine are from Aryan. The topper Darshan Variar scored 382 points out of 450 and Bhushan Borkar scored 354. All these 10 students scored more than 300 points and can apply either for BITS-Pilani, Goa or Hyderabad” Prabhudesai said.

Unlike other exams, it is online and also includes subjects like English and Logic along with PCM (Physics Chemistry Maths).

At AIEEE too Goans have fared well with 25 making the grade, 22 of them from Aryans.
“These students can apply at any of the 19 NITs (National Institute of Technology) and other institutes as there are 30,000 seats in India. Also, for this exam there’s a State quota and Goa has around 25-30 seats. Thus, we also have state ranks along with All India ranks,” Prabhudesai said.

Interestingly the IIT-JEE topper from Goa, Aneesh Tamse has also secured first rank in AIEEE from Goa. He has received 951st all-India rank at AIEEE and 998th all-India rank for the IIT-JEE.

“IIT-JEE is not just India's, but could be among the world's toughest exam," Prabhudesai averred.

He said, at Aryans the focus is more on IIT-JEE as other exams like GECT become much easier for the students.

Students are selected by an aptitude test and a personal interview by Prabhudesai. Around 300 students are being trained at their Margao and Panjim centres. They have three teachers and also invite guest faculty from the industry.

Mahanand's dad, mom ashamed he's their son

BY A GT CORRESPONDENT

bureaus@gomantaktimes.com

SHIRODA, MAY 6 2009: "We feel ashamed that we are his parents," said Ramnath Vithu Naik (84) and Indu (82), the parents of Ponda's serial killer, Mahanand Naik.

Ramnath and Indu said, Mahanand and his wife should be punished for his misdeeds. 

Mahanand's octogenarian parents spoke to GT when they had come to Tarvalem-Shiroda yesterday afternoon to see their house which was set ablaze recently by angry villagers. They were accompanied by three other sons Narayan, Dayanand, Krishna, daughters-in-law and grandchildren. 

Mahanand was arrested earlier last month by the Ponda police for allegedly raping his wife's friend, and during his interrogation in police custody revealed that he had murdered four women over the last decade-and-a-half.

"Whatever Mahanand has done is extremely bad. We are unable to face the villagers. We do not want such a criminal for a son," they said.

The aged Naiks used to live in the now gutted house, with three other sons of theirs -- Ramesh, Narayan and Krishna -- living in three other seperate rooms.

The oldest, Dayanand, lived in Ponda while Mahanand had built an independent house elsewhere in the vicinity.

"We would have no complaints if Mahanand's house was burnt. But since everything has been reduced to ashes from our house with neither roof nor walls existing, we are helpless as the monsoon is fast approaching," the aged couple said as, even as they broke down in the presence of their daughters-in-law, Nilima and Shevanti. 

They said they were unaware about Mahanand's activities, stressing that he lived in a separate house with his wife in the neighbourhood and hardly had any contact with them. 

They nevertheless vouched for his 'normal behaviour' when he lived with them before his marriage nearly 11 years ago.

The aged couple were also angry about the role of Mahanand's wife -- Pooja -- saying she should have brought him under control.

It is learnt that Mahanand's wife Pooja, who is working at Ela Farm, Old Goa took part in folkdances and even taught the art to other girls. She also owned three flats, it is learnt.

It has also come to light that Mahanand, who has studied up to std IX, robbed clothes from neighbours by fishing them out throw the windows with a stick.

Mahanad's aged parents Ramnath Vithu Naik and mother Indu along with one of their sons, daughters-in-law and grand children. GT 

5-member team saves Socorro plan

An architect and four engineers from Socorro embarked on the onerous task of correcting many errors in the village map provided by the RP 2021, and then to put on paper the many aspirations of co-villagers on what they want their village to look like in the future.

BY VIBHA VERMA

reporters@gomantaktimes.com

PANJIM: Socorro is a village where nullahs become roads. This was the case when the committee formed to work on the draft regional plan took a look at the village map provided by the Town and Country Planning Department. 

Talk to any of the committee members and they all point to serious errors in the map. This made their task all the more difficult.

Socorro has a population of about 18,000 villagers spread across 11 wards. About 30 percent of the land has been demarcated for settlement and the remaining is either fields, orchards or hills.

Soon after the draft of the Regional Plan 2021 was submitted to the Panchayat by the Town and Country Planning, a gram sabha meeting was called and six committees were formed. However, in reality the hard work was undertaken by a few.

Former panch and expert on Panchayati Raj Soter D'Sousa had this to say, "Initially many came forward to join the committees, but their enthusiasm evaporated and the burden had to be borne by a few."

The first task at hand was correcting errors in the draft. 

“Many aspects were not covered while others were wrongly demarcated," said architect Hyacinth Pinto, a former government officer. "It was a bigger mess than I expected.” 

Some of the roads were not shown in the plan. Crematoriums, water bodies, grounds, school buildings, village institutions, road junctions were not listed in the draft regional plan.

“We made at least five rounds of the village to correct the errors. The government has all this data but it was not provided to the people," she added. 

Since many of the committee members used to work during the day they would gather in the evening to debate issues concerning the village and wind-up by about 9 pm. “After the meeting, I would sit with the plan and other materials up to 1 am,” said Hyacinth. 

Haycinth was joined by four engineers who played a crucial role in giving shape to the plan in three months after adding microscopic details which were missing. 

Kishore Asnodkar, a civil engineer said the groundwork would not have been possible without the assistance and co-operation of other committee members. “We attended meetings everyday in the evening after office hours. We used Sundays to tour the village," he remarked. 

Taking villagers into confidence was not an easy task. At least four gram sabha meetings were called to note down points, suggestions and grievances. "It all worked well,” he stated. 

“I enjoyed every bit of the work as it was a unique opportunity to work for the development of the village,” Asnodkar said. This view was supported by Irrigation engineer R P Shetye, mechanical engineer Dinesh Bhobe, who incidentally headed all the six committees, and engineer Sham Kamat. 

“It was difficult in the beginning but we conquered it soon. For example some nullahs were shown as roads. Wells were not marked, forest areas were not shown, garbage points were not indicated...," Shetye explained. 

The key members organised corner meetings at different places, physically surveyed areas and analysed all the data before formulating the plan. Information provided by residents was also incorporated. “The extra inputs were also of great help to us,” said Bhobe.

The draft finalised by the committee was kept open in the panchayat for 20 days to enable villagers to file their objections. "No one came forward, except for a few selfish villagers who wanted to know the status of their land," said Soter.

Forest official plays down Bullfrog decline

BY ARTI DAS
PANJIM: Claims made by environmentalists that the number of bullfrogs in the wild is on the decline were bared when it was discovered that no survey was ever conducted in the state.
Put simply, there is no hard data to back the claim that the bullfrog is an endangered species, at least in Goa.
Debendra Dalai, Deputy Conservator of Forests, Wildlife and Eco-Tourism said the department does not conduct surveys.
“It is the job of the researchers. Thus, we don’t have any data now. Also, our job is of execution and that we are doing by giving 100 per cent protection to all the species in the protected areas,” he added.
He said, that if any researcher wants to conduct any survey then the department is ready to co-operate.
According to Dr Manoj Borkar, Associate Professor and Head of Department, Zoology, Carmel College, Nuvem there are only gross unscientific observations about frogs in Goa.
“We need to encourage young biologists to conduct such research and even rope in young students in this process,” opined Dr Borkar.
He also informed that a few years ago Gautam Salelkar in Bhagvan Mahavir Wild Life Sanctuary and Mollem National Park conducted a study and it revealed that Goa is home to around 25 species of amphibians.
Nirmal Kulkarni, wildlife ecologist believes the prominent reason for no data compilation is because frogs are a lesser known species.
“We don’t have Project Frog like Project Tiger because their importance is not felt yet. On the contrary, these amphibians are the biggest indicators of climate change and global warming and not many people, including some researchers, do not understand that,” added Kulkarni.
However, non-availability of data does not mean that these creatures are not under threat.
“Frogs are wild animals and that’s the reason they are listed in the Wildlife Protection Act. Some species like Bull frog of Rana family are protected as they play very important role in a food chain,” claimed Dalai.
He further confirmed that there are indicators that the numbers of bullfrogs are dwindling. “Increase in vector borne diseases, influx of snakes (who survive on frogs) in human habitats are signs of it.”
Dr Borkar claims that there’s lot of pressure building up by way of exploitation as hardly any habitat is left for them. Also their wetlands are taken away.
“Activities like over grazing, poaching also contribute to depletion of frogs,” concluded Nirmal.

What's on your mind?