ALL THE ‘great’ nations that have ‘progressed’ in the last 100 years have all been built on the annihilation of the original inhabitants and owners of the land. It appears as if India has aped the west, even to the extent of destroying the local people who were the guardians of the land and had preserved it for thousands of years.

Although the government is bent on going forward with the Mopa airport project, the locals are determined to get it shelved.

AMIDST concerns raised over the thriving prostitution racket that is functioning under the guise of numerous illegal massage parlours, specifically along the coastline in the state, government authorities have identified exactly a dozen spa/massage parlours of which, surprisingly, the authorities have chosen to inspect the premises of only four in the entire state.

Conmen posing as professionals has become the norm in Goa, with many house owners handing over their hard earned money to architects, plumbers, electricians, etc only to be victims of shoddy work. An NRI victim’s account of her experience with one such ‘architect’.

OVER TEN years ago, the Department of Social Welfare introduced a scheme to provide cards for senior citizens. However, the department has still not met the needs of the 90,000 plus population of senior citizens in the state as, till date, only 36,581 have benefitted from this scheme which was started in 2000.
The government’s scheme did not receive much publicity and, hence, most senior citizens are unaware of it, though the director of the Social Welfare department, N B Narvekar, claims that they gave adequate publicity to the scheme.

Despite the High Court ban on dhirios, clandestine fights still continue to take place in the state, mainly due to the political patronage being received by the organisers and the lack of will displayed by the police to implement the High Court directive.

At a meeting held recently under the aegis of Hanuman Shakti Jagaran Samiti, VHP international president Ashok Singhal said Hindus and Christians are “the real terrorists.”

APPROXIMATELY 55 women were rescued this year from the snares of prostitution, with a total of 14 cases being registered and 40 individuals being arrested under the Immoral Trafficking Prevention Act till October 31, 2010. But Goa’s specially created Integrated Anti-Human Trafficking Cell for this purpose, that is located within the premises of the Panaji Women Police Station, has no proper infrastructure, besides also lacking adequate manpower with no separate official being appointed to run the unit.

By Melba Mergulhão-Carvalho Antão
A large number of Goans continue to apply for Portuguese passports, their tickets to the European Union, even though these countries are in financial turmoil.
THE PROMISE of high paying jobs and better lifestyle drives Goans to move heaven and earth to procure a Portuguese passport with the sole purpose of […]

VOICE OF Villagers, an organisation comprising residents of villages located around the Verna Industrial Estate, made a representation to the Chief Secretary detailing their perception of the problems and inadequacies in the development of the Verna Industrial Estate that were, in their opinion, having an adverse impact on the quality of life, natural heritage and environment of the surrounding villages.