Goan Voice UK: Newsletter. Issue 2006-47. Nov. 23, 2006

Joseph Murumbi: Collector par excellence
18 Nov: The Standard (Nairobi). Joseph Murumbi, Kenya's first Vice President wanted to leave a legacy that would outlast his life on Earth and set up the first pan-African gallery in Africa, African Heritage, with his wife and American designer Alan Donavan ... If Murumbi never inherited any property from his broke Goan father, at least he managed to acquire a reading culture from the ailing old man and kept it for life. To the reading public, the 6,000 books at Kenya National Archives are a priceless inheritance ... They are displayed in their own room at the Kenya National Archives ... Joe’s last wish was to be buried as closely as possible to his old friend and mentor Pio Gama Pinto. Since the cemetery was full, his wife Sheila was given permission to have him buried outside the cemetery in Nairobi City Park, but as near to his friend as possible." The Murumbi Trust, together with Friends of Nairobi City Park, is in the process of landscaping and enclosing the gravesites and placing plaques detailing the former vice-president's contributions to the nation, Africa and the world. Click here.

Keith Vaz: Cross Bencher
19 Nov. The Express on Sunday (UK). It's well known that some MPs are so desperate for publicity that they would attend the opening of a crisp packet if they thought it would make the local paper. But a cautionary tale emerges from former Europe Minister Keith Vaz. "I discovered I had type two diabetes only after I opened a screening centre two years ago, " he told MPs. "I was screened and called the next day to be told I had the condition. Members should be careful of what they open, in case something comes up."

When heritage goes for a toss
21 Nov: Daily News & Analysis. The Goa Government has hit upon the novel idea of acquiring old heritage houses belonging to overseas Goans and converting them into guest rooms. But, they are facing strong resistance from the owners of these heritage houses, who feel that the state government cannot be entrusted with the task of protecting their ancestral homes. Click here.

17 Nov. Lisbon. JORGE MELO GOMES. Beloved husband of Odete. Father/Father-in-law of Leonor/Rui, Jose Manuel/Isabel, Henrique/Maria Joao Isabel/Joaquim.

Late Deals to Goa
Thomsonfly.com has flights to Goa. Dep. Gatwick 5 Dec for 14 days £199. Dep Manchester 10 Dec for 14 days £169. Select the link below and enter the details of your flight into the search form. The first prices you see are pre-tax fares. http://www.thomsonfly.com/en/index.html

17 Nov: The Sun (UK). It’s 30Degrees C in Goa -14 nights' B&B at Resort de Tio Carmino in Calangute costs £374 departing Manchester on 2 Dec. Call Manos on 08707 582 540.

17 Nov: Travel Trade Gazette UK. Somak Holidays features two weeks' bed and breakfast at the two-star Osborne Resorts, Calangute from £549 from Gatwick or Manchester in December.

19 Nov: Sunday Mirror. (UK). Soak up the sun in Goa. Fourteen nights' B&B at the three-star Oceanique Hotel on Colva Beach costs from £363pp including flights from Manchester on November 27. Details: 01692 583 463

Holidays: UK to Goa: Prices set to stay firm this winter
17 Nov: Travel Trade Gazette UK A specialist operator to Goa and Kerala has warned that customers holding off booking in the hope of discounts are likely to be disappointed this winter.

NRIs: Buying a home in India made easy
17 Nov: Rediff. In recent years, India has been witnessing unprecedented growth in the real estate sector fueled by the increased business activity…. In this article, senior tax professionals with Ernst & Young -- Gaurav Taneja and Rajesh S -- provide an overview of the key exchange control and tax implications that should be considered by NRIs while investing in house property in India. [Forwarded by Gabe Menezes] Click here.

Travel: Idyllic Goa
18 Nov. New Straits Times (Singapore). Beautiful beaches, riverboat rides, nightlife, shopping, sightseeing and the local cuisine. Goa promises tourists all this and more.A tropical paradise famed for its beaches, a world heritage monument and bazaars. Click here.

Is Goa India's answer to Ibiza?
18 Nov: Business Standard. Goa: I have been staying a few nights in the wooded, hilly village of Assagao in north Goa, in an old house beautifully restored by its new owner … One reason for the growing influx of property buyers and the new floating population is cheap air transport. Five years ago the Delhi-Goa air journey, usually routed through Mumbai, was nearly five hours long and the return fare cost Rs 19,000; today non-stop flying time has come down by half and fares are as low as one-third. Holiday weekends in Goa are an inexpensive reality from most metros. The cuisine is varied and cheap, drink is plentiful, the crowd is cosmopolitan and the beaches are extensive. Goa is the international hot spot. 718 words. Click here.

UK: Private clinics' vaccination prices
19 Nov: The Sunday Telegraph . I looked at the cost of immunisation for couple of weeks in Goa. Fewer precautions are needed for travel there (hepatitis A, typhoid, tetanus, diphtheria and polio), but the bill was still high - around £200 through a private clinic. By contrast, jabs were free through my GP and I paid only for the malaria tablets, saving around £150.

Goa – As Tourists See It. By Tomazinho Cardozo
19 Nov: Navhind Times. … I have a few friends, citizens of European countries, who visit Goa regularly for the last so many years. Although they are not satisfied with the measures taken in Goa, I would like to share with my readers some of the complaints or unpleasant incidents that have taken place involving these foreigners whereby the good name of Goa and Goans is at stake … Click here.

Switzerland: Goa Travel Feature
21 Nov: Basler Zeitung. Goa, der kleinste indische Bundesstaat im Südwesten des Subkontinents, eignet sich bestens für Indien-Einsteiger. Denn Goa ist nicht wirklich Indien. Das liegt an seiner Geschichte. German text and photos. Click here.

Cardinal Poupard appreciates rich culture of Goa
20 Nov: Navhind Times. The head of the Pontifical Council for Culture and for Inter-religious Dialogue, Cardinal Paul Poupard was warmly welcomed on his arrival in Goa. The Cardinal said that he appreciated the culture and Inter-religious dialogue and the family values during his visit to different families. Click here.

Boney M to perform for Goa Film Festival.
20 Nov: Bahrain Tribune. The Boney M band would be performing in Goa after 21 years, for the International Film Festival of India (IFFI) 2006, in a beach concert on November 30. The band had performed in Goa way back in 1985. For photo & text click here.

Foreigners involved in shady land deals in Goa
21 Nov: NDTV. Every year lakhs of foreign tourists spend millions of dollars on the sun kissed beaches of Goa to have a good time but now some of them want to make Goa their permanent home … Local Goans now want some of these deals to be investigated. It is estimated that about 3,000 Britons now own property in Goa. Click here.

Feni to get global push
21 Nov: Rediff. The Kingfisher Group is entering another new segment -- Goa's traditional drink Feni with a new theme in the promotion plan -- "Feni an Indian liquor". It plans to promote the product all across the country. Feni is at present a purely regional product predominantly made and sold in Goa. Click here.

Security tight at Goa Film Festival
22 Nov: Reuters. Navy patrols and gun-toting soldiers will guard movie fans at an international film festival that begins in India's Goa state on Thursday after warnings the tourists who flock to its golden beaches could be attacked … The Goa festival will screen 107 films from 40 countries, including Penelope Cruz's "Volver" and Pitt's "Babel", some shown on giant open-air screens installed on beaches. Click here.

Protecting children from the onslaught of sex tourism
17 Nov: Financial Express (Bangladesh). ... India is slowly turning into a centre for child-sex tourists, says a path-breaking 748-page study called "Trafficking in Women and Children in India", which was sponsored by the National Human Rights Commission. The study said Goa, a small state in the western India, has become a sex destination for many tourists... Click here.

School Days. By Dr Vaman Naik
19 Nov: Navhind Times. ‘Yesterdays at Monte – Jogging Down Memory Lane’ by Edward de Lima is a new book published by Vikram Publications this month. The author recounts his childhood experiences at St Anthony’s High School, Monte de Guirim from 1953 to 1963. The book is full of anecdotes and humorous incidents in the life of the author, which as the author says, must have been experienced by all the past pupils, who may have their own stories to tell. … In “The Konkani Card”, the author describes how a card with a large K inscribed across was worn by each defaulter when he was caught speaking in Konkani in the school and was punished. Click here.

DNA sample of Georgia's St Katevan bone for matching in Goa
19 Nov. Newindpress. India is likely to receive the precious DNA sample of the bone of the queen-turned-patron Saint Ketevan of Georgia now located in the church named after her at its capital Tibilisi, to match with the sample found during recent excavations at the world heritage complex of St Augustine tower in old Goa. Click here.

Goa Festival in Pakistan
20 Nov: Daily Times (Pakistan). A ‘Goa Festival’ in planned for Lahore in which food, attire and fascinating dances from Goa would be offered to Lahoris after the recently organised Rajasthani Festival at Lahore was not as successful as it had been hoped. Click here.

HMCS Ottawa shares smiles and time with children’s charity in Goa, India
20 Nov: Lookout (Canada). Abandoned children in Goa received ball caps and other gifts from visiting crew members of HMCS Ottawa. The sailors spent the day at three shelters playing with the children and refreshing one building with a coat of paint. The shelters are run by El Shaddai Street Child Rescue Charity. Click here.

NRIs find cheaper to get married in India
21 Nov: Daily India.Com. It's cheaper for NRIs to get married in India than in Britain or the US. The big, fat, NRI wedding makes a major splash with its list of global celebrities and extravaganza. But for middle class NRIs, the wedding can be a money saver … take a real life example of wedding that took place last month in Goa. The bride and the groom are both from Britain but without strong roots in India. Since the bride's parents are not so wealthy, they proposed to have the ceremonies in Goa. They bought 12 air tickets for group travel at a good discount and made hotel reservations also at a steep discount. Click here.

Father takes part in gruelling challenge
22 Nov. Dunmow Broadcast (UK). David Davies, 57, is undertaking one of the greatest challenges of his life, to ride through more than 1000 miles of India's breathtaking scenery. The Enduro India event is a fund-raising rally that generates money for essential causes including children's charity Rainbow, the World Wildlife Fund and the Wildlife Conservation Society. 150 bikers riding Royal Enfield Bullet motorbikes, with modest 350cc engines, across a large part of the southern area of the vast subcontinent. Taking in regions including Goa, Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, the two-week ordeal is a gruelling test of both man and machine. For text and photo click here.

Dr Rennie D’Souza: Stressful and insecure jobs take a toll on health
22 Nov: Pakistan Tribune. Australian researchers found that managers and other professionals who were under a strong threat of being laid off were more than three times as likely to report depression, anxiety or being in poor health than people in more secure positions. As a result, study authors, lead by Dr. Rennie M. D`Souza of the Australian National University in Canberra, said that health problems among workers could be on the rise … D`Souza recommended that people working under strain or insecurity seek support from family and friends, and that companies try to keep their workers healthy by providing them with resources to cope with stress and improving the work environment, perhaps reducing stress and increasing workers` autonomy. Click here.

There is much detail and comment about the 37th International Film Festival India (IFFI) to be held in Panjim, Goa, Nov 23-Dec 3, 2006. The organisers now package this international event as "India's Cannes." Some 240 hours of sheer entertainment and fun will mark the event and be launched with a Carnivalesque parade alongside the state capital's riverfront. There will be many bazaars, much street entertainment and an air display by the Indian Navy's Sagar Pawan Formation Aerobatic Team. We hope that Eddie Fernandes (Goan Voice UK editor), and his wife, Lira, currently at the IFFI, will have much to tell us about the event on their return.

Find out from Goanet posts why the Portuguese influence in Goa appears to have made soccer the dominant game of Goa whilst field hockey and cricket are more popular in the rest of India.

Among the many colleges in Goa, and on the pain and risk of being invidious, St Xavier's College appears to provide a wonderful ambience for short courses on a great variety of subjects/themes. One that caught my eye, was the two-day National Level Conference (24-25 Nov) entitled "Concern for the Elderly: Society's Responsibility." As so many GV(UK) readers have ageing relatives in Goa and are quite concerned about their welfare, perhaps they should find out more about the outcome of this particular conference. Additionally, as many from the UK make it to Goa at this time of year, hopefully, they will also check with Goanet about the many 'mind-stimulating' activities, among others, available in Goa at this time of year.

Where have all the "Great Men and Women of Goa Gone?" This is an issue being discussed on Goanet and has received posts from as far away as New York and Karachi. Perhaps, GV(K) readers will contribute further to this intriguing question.

Shushegaad Goenkar is an interesting article by Valmiki Faleiro. His description of Goa as the place where the fun never sets is of course quite true, but his perceptive article explores much of the stereotyped impression of Goa in the media. Valmiki thus asks many searching questions such as about the location of political power in Goa, the extent to which Goa benefits financially from its famed tourist reputation, and about the status of fellow Goans working in Goa.

Finally, do read a humorous article by Cecil Pinto on "Know Your Man by his Mobile: Size Matters, as do Features and Performance." Although strongly tempted to say more about this great article, I must refrain from doing so! I shouldn't ruin readers' enjoyment from reading Cecil's material first hand on Goanet as are so many of his other humorous contributions on Goanet.

More details can be found at the Goanet archives at http://lists.goanet.org/pipermail/goanet-goanet.org/ Or to subscribe to Goanet, send an email to subscribe@goanet.org

DOCUMENTARY: Living the Dream. UKTV Style
Mon 27 Nov. 01:00 to 02:00. Goan Bonkers. We'd all like to be our own boss, wouldn't we? But is it really so easy to start your own company? This is the show where you can find out. Meet a couple who left the country to open a pub in Goa, India. They immediately run into chaos - they arrive in monsoon season, do battle with Indian bureaucrats, must learn to cope with the vagaries of the local workforce and find their feet in the expat community. Never a dull moment!

TRAVEL: Thailand, Goa and Maldives. Thomson TV
Tue 28 Nov. 22:30 to 23:00. Looking for a taste of the exotic?

COOKERY: Great British Food. Discovery Real Time
Wed 29 Nov. 21:00 to 21:30. Tom celebrates the influence of Indian food on British cuisine, as he goes shopping with a spice and chutney queen and whips up vegetable pakoras.

SPECIAL INTEREST: Go Fishing. Discovery Real Time
Thu 30 Nov. 08:00 to 08:30. India. Hunting the mighty mahseer in southern India, John Wilson explains how and when to use different types of tackle and bait.

Sun 26 Nov. Fr. Agnelo's Day - 79th Commemoration Mass. St. George's Cathedral, Southwark at 2.30pm. Thereafter at the Amigo Hall

Sun. 3 Dec. G.O.A. Ruby Feast of St Francis Xavier being celebrated for the first time at St Boniface Church, Tooting. All are welcome to the Mass at 1.30pm and there is no charge. Please do come and enjoy listening to the beautiful choir. The church service will be followed by a Social in the adjacent Parish Hall for which tickets will be required. Adults (17 years and over): £3.00. Children (12 – 16years): £2.00. Under 12 years: “free”. Food and drink will be on sale. Contact: Alfred Rebello 020 – 8337 8022, Diego Pinto 020 - 8767 0663

Sun. 10 Dec: G.O.A. Ruby Children’s Pantomime - Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs at Fairfield Halls, Park Lane, Croydon, Surrey CR9 1DG Reporting time: 11.30am. Tickets in advance only. Tickets: Members - £10, Non-Members - £14. Parents are welcome to accompany their children at the same rates. Price inclusive of refreshments and entertainment. Please bring a gift to the value of not more than £10 for your child. CLOSING DATE FOR APPLICATIONS – 14 Nov. GOA members entitled to 2 tickets at £12 each. For tickets contact: Bernie Gracias 020 8723 1322., Norma Menezes-Rahim 020 8771 4457.

Sat. 16 Dec. St. Diogo's Association (UK) Guirim/Sangolda. Children's Christmas Pantomime "Snow White And The Seven Dwarfs" at Fairfield Halls, Croydon at 12.00 noon sharp, followed by Christmas Party with refreshments, games and distribution of presents by Santa Claus. Please report at 11.15a.m. For details contact: Apolonia DeSouza 020 8686 1876, Jennifer Fernandes 0127 765 1052

Sun. 31 Dec. Saligao Association UK Sparkling New Year's Eve Ball 2006 at Tolworth Recreation Centre, Tolworth KT6 7LQ. Grand Unlimited Buffet / Childrens entertainer / Hot Band and Disco / Showstopper. Book online / reserve tables (no fee) on www.SaligaoUK.com Enquiries to tickets@SaligaoUK.com or call Cedric de Souza on 07725 080239/Marion Pereira 020 8408 0748.

Sun. 31 Dec: 7.00pm to 3.00am. Dark Star Social Club presents a NEW YEAR'S EVE Gala Ball at the NEW Harrow Leisure Centre. Music by live band "SECOND NATURE" and disco "SOUND FX ROADSHOW". For tickets and other information, email info@dssclub.co.uk or call Derrick Pereira 020-8952 8899 or Bernie Gracias 020-8723 1322. GOA members entitled to 2 tickets at £12 each. Contact: Bernie Gracias 020 8723 1322. For the flyer click here.

Sun 31 Dec. 7pm-1.30am. SE Goans New Years Ball. Orpington Hall, 311 Orpington High St, Kent. BR6 0NN, Band & Disco. Contact Dominic 07854 490617; Ron 0208 303 3386.

Sun. 31 Dec. St. Diogo's Association (UK) Guirim/Sangolda New Year's Eve Ball at Civic Suite, Wandsworth Town Hall. For details contact: Apolonia DeSouza 020 8686 1876, Jennifer Fernandes 0127 765 1052.