The Musahar women in Uttar Pradesh are standing up to the repression they face.

Lamenting that travel and stay in Goa is already expensive, tourists say hikes in bus tickets will deter them from travelling to the state.

The Chief Minister will have to review the entry tax as Goa cannot cut off its trade links with Belgaum, which is the food lifeline of the state.

AND A few more stray thoughts and a few more observations for yet another Sunday. For a Sunday following the week when a section of the media disclosed that Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar was closely linked with one of the saffron organisations which demanded a total ban on the slaughter of the holy cow. For a Sunday following the week when assembly questions revealed that over 800 government Marathi medium primary schools were being kept alive on life support though they had an enrollment of less than 10 students. For a Sunday following the week when a contractor revealed that things had not improved with the change of the government and he had yet to receive his dues for work done for the PWD. For a Sunday following the week when the BJP-MGP alliance swept the civic elections in Ponda. For a Sunday following the week when the BJP national executive was scheduled to meet in the first week of June at the Grand Hyatt, a property which is owned by one of the main accused in the 2G scam case. For a Sunday following the week when Dr Mahesh Sardessai, head of the radiology department who also spends most of his time in private practice, escaped suspension because his daughter is married to Manohar Parrikar’s son.

THOUGH THE growth of population of Goa over the 2001-2011 decade has not been significant with an increase of less than 10% from 13.48 lakh in 2001 to 14.58 lakh, what is alarming is that the increase of 1,10,000 in absolute numbers comprises almost totally of migrants. The continued influx of migrants in the 2001-2011 decade comes on top of migration rates of 26% in the 1971-1981 decade, 16% in the 1981-1991 decade and 15.21% in the 1991-2001 decade. The fact that migrants now form large parts of Goa’s population is dramatised by the fact that over 64% of Goa’s population now lives in urban areas. Any increase in Goa’s population over the last three decades has been due to influx of migrants as the reproduction rate of the ethnic Goan population has averaged around 1.5%, which is below the replacement rate.

The suspension of mining has caused a loss of Rs 1200 crore for the Goa government and Rs 6000 crore in foreign exchange.

In fact, this Mopa airport project is not a gift for Goa (as being allege by some), but a ‘Maha-gift’ for Maharashtra. Our Goan politicians have bought large tracts of land at the venue for a song and are just waiting to go for a kill, due to which we see them today fully supporting this project for their own selfish gains.

FOOD FOR thought, some more continuous food for thought while I’m into something called cardiac rehab post-CABG surgery. Sooner or later, it has to be back in the world of the living! I feel like I’ve been living for over a fortnight in a dark netherland, wondering hopelessly if I’m half-dead or half-alive…from the ICU of the Asian Heart Insititute to a twin-sharing room and then home in Juhu April 24 onwards and into something called cardiac rehab.

Going by the experience of the last 20 years, women will continue to emerge into public space in ever rising numbers, even in the face of resistance and hostility.

Girls outwit the boys this year around too. NIDA SAYED caught up with some of the girls who exceeded at the HSSCE and asked them about the strategies they adopted to prepare for their exams.