THE UNPRECEDENTED rush witnessed at the employment exchange for the past few months with candidates making a beeline for registering their names in view of the deluge of vacancies announced in various government departments served to remind one that the elections to the state legislative assembly was just around the corner. Of all the sops offered, the lure of a government service more than anything else is one concession that will entice voters to cast their lot with the political benefactor.

Nine eminent personalities in the field of ‘tiatr’ were felicitated recently by Tiatr Academy of Goa for their lifetime achievement with a shawl, memento, citation and cheque of Rs 20,000. The Academy must be complimented for recognising their services, but it is unfortunate that their lifetime achievement is weighed in terms of a paltry sum which cannot even fetch ten grams of gold.

DEVELOPMENT IS an ugly and explosive word in the Goan lexicon; and for good reason too. Among the various meanings the most popular is - scam! But it is time to smoothen the rough edges and come up with a checklist for development for our villages and towns. Whenever someone proposes a development project, he […]

CHIEF MINISTER of Goa, Digamber Kamat, must resign by taking moral responsibility for illegal mining in Goa. Goa has 336 valid mining leases, out of which around 90 mines are operational. Last year, Goa exported 54 million tonnes of iron ore. The Chief Minister has been minister of mines for around a decade. The Department of Mines and the government of Goa have not taken adequate steps to control illegal mining. In the name of development, Goa was sacrificed to illegal mining.

As a person who lives in England with a British passport and an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI), a document which gives me the right to live in India with a Visa for life and a right to vote.
As a business man, I own a restaurant, motel rooms, a Monginis cake shop, a Retirement Home, […]

Last weekend, the Congress went on a yatra to display their strength. It appears as if yatras are the latest fashion these days and hunger strikes have gone out of favour with the public. However, instead of showing unity and solidarity, the senior members of the Congress ended up intimidating and taking on their very own party members as well as the bigwigs in Delhi.

THE PROBLEM of congestion on village roads is small and needs a simple solution: one-way roads. We then need to link up as many one-way roads so the traffic can move smoothly. Only in desperation should we opt for a wider road.

ALL THE local people are against the Vanxim tourism project because the land belongs to Vanxim villagers and if the tourism project comes up, all the villagers will be displaced and left homeless. It has been illegally sold by the Goa Archdiocese to an outsider for a resort project for a whopping profit.

IT’S REALLY amazing how easily we get influenced by movies. Thanks to Zindagi Na Milegi Dobara, a ‘tomatina’ war has now been declared in Goa by some phoren’” bodies, with the help of our local tourism boys and girls. First it was our lovely virgin culturally intertwined festivals like Carnival and Holi that were raped on the commercial platform for the benefit of tourism and now a Spanish culture is being imposed on us and may I ask why?

Good and competent officers talk less. Goa’s DGP, Dr Aditya Arya, has been lecturing a lot but there has been no action on the ground. Having witnessed the DGP himself succumb to the political pulls and pressures, what else can we expect from his subordinates? I have had a first-hand experience interacting with the DGP for no personal favours but over three issues in public interest.