USA: Clement D’Souza: Honda hoping bigger is better for Accord
27 Aug: Business First. Honda of America has unveiled the new take on the Accord … "Our concept was to make it more powerful, bring more luxury," said Clement D'Souza, Accord launch team leader. "That's what the market is ....We definitely hope to spur sales …”. D'Souza said that while the Accord has grown in size, so, too, has the Civic … 1024 words. Click here
[Clement D’Souza was born in Mumbai and both his parents are Goans]. For links to more information about Clement D’Souza click here

Toronto: Tony and Janet Lewis: Celebrating culture at picnics
30 Aug. Inside Toronto … With scores of immigrants choosing summer to land here, people can literally choose from a number of South Asian picnics dotting the metropolis. Almost 14 years ago, a Toronto couple, Tony and Janet Lewis, originally from a Bandra, a Mumbai, India, suburb, decided to organize a picnic that would bring friends and family here together. The common element being all of them were once from Bandra, then predominantly loaded with Catholics. The picnic, which was meant for only 20 at that time, has now become a mega-gathering with more than a 1,000 people attending it, all of whom are not necessarily from Bandra or Catholic … we are glad we went for one such Bandra picnic and met Rodney and Noreen Almeida, who have now become lifelong friend. 616 words. Click here

Otilia Mascarenhas: A Head for tales
2 Sep: Indian Express. Jaideep Sahni is the scriptwriter of Chak De India, the sporting drama that the nation can’t stop talking of. The film is the story of story of a spunky women’s hockey team … He is just back from Los Angeles where the film was screened at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and he says, “At the LA premiere, I saw an old lady trying to catch my attention. I went up to her. She was crying and asked me, ‘How did you know about my life and about the things we said in the hostel? Thank you for giving back my life’.” That woman was Otilia Mascarenhas, a surgeon now and Goa’s first woman Arjuna award winner, who captained the Indian women’s hockey team in Auckland in the 1971 World Cup. Click here

Tearful daughters farewell murdered Corryn
2 Sep: Sunday Times (Aus). Caitlyn and Sarah Rayney have spoken of their pride and love for their murdered mother, Corryn Rayney, at an emotional funeral service in Bull Creek. … In a service that drew mourners from Canada, Britain, Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth, Mr Rayney delivered an emotional eulogy to his wife in front of 500 mourners at the Westminster Presbyterian Church … Mrs Rayney's sister Sharon Coutinho had the congregation in tears … Audible sobbing also filled the church when Mrs Rayney's mahogany coffin strewn with a bouquet of red roses was wheeled into the church. 469 words. Click here
From other reports: … Ms Rayney's younger sister Sharon said she and her sister were born in Uganda, of Goan descent. The family moved to Perth in 1973 … About 800 mourners packed the Church …
For links to the latest news regarding Corryn Rayney click here

Joan Pires: Bollywood glamour goes to Trafalgar Square
3 Sep: Asian Age … Namastey Trafalgar Square rang in the finale of the three-week Trafalgar Square Festival. A collaboration between Bollywood poster painters, London-based choreographer of Goan origin Joan Pires, music composer Niraj Chag and the French aerial company Les Passagers … the troupe of dancers hanging from top of the poster with ropes danced to the moves by Joan Pires to enact the typical Bollywood romance … The main challenge in choreographing Namastey Trafalgar Square was to transpose energetic Bollywoodesque dance moves into a dance for aerialists, said Joan Pires, who was one of the co-choreographers of Akademi’s Escapade in 2003 and is a trained ballet dancer and a dance therapist. 616 words. Click here

NZ: Ruth DeSouza: Outstanding contribution to race relations
4 Sep: Western Leader (New Zealand). AUT University’s Ruth DeSouza contribution to race relations has been recognised at the New Zealand Diversity Forum in Auckland … DeSouza, who is AUT University’s Asian and Migrant Health Research Centre co-ordinator, is also director of Wairua Consulting which received the award … DeSouza operates the Aotearoa Ethnic Network which provides daily news and a lively discussion forum on ethnic community issues … She also edits an on-line publication, the AEN Journal, which provides more in-depth discussion of current issues affecting ethnic communities. Photo and text, 131 words. Click here

International Goan Organization (IGO) of Ontario Meeting of 26 Aug 2007
4 Sep: G.O.A. Toronto website. From Al Mathias (I.G.O.): Just under 100 people with a host of real estate, property management, and investment issues on their mind attended the International Goan Organization (IGO) of Ontario meeting on August 26, 2007. Cellie Gonsalves, Director of the IGO reviewed the “Best of Both Worlds” project which dealt with the major issues facing Goans living in Canada … For photos and text click here

Travel: Weddings in Goa
31 Aug: Travel Trade Gazette UK. Group bookings present the perfect opportunity to use DIY packaging to meet clients' demands - and boost your margins. TTG talks to Jan Handley who has moved into organising weddings abroad … The fact that Handley has a contact in Goa has made it easier for her to begin dynamically packaging for weddings there, and this has become her specialist area … She also offers her contact's services out in India to help plan the wedding itself as another part of the package: "My contact works for the tourist board and he can help me put together a package for the wedding … 310 words.

Lost & found: Bill Marchetti: From Melbourne to Goa
31 Aug: The Age - The Melbourne Magazine. Bill Marchetti was the king of Italian food in Melbourne, with a three-hat restaurant and a string of other businesses. Then overnight the empire went belly-up, and he vanished … "He just ran away," his estranged second wife, Fiona Snedden, had said… He is now executive chef at the Kenilworth Beach Resort and Spa in Goa … For now, he is concentrating on turning the resort into a five-star dining destination. He is employed there as executive chef and food and beverage consultant. "I had been coming to India since the early '80s and loved the country at first sight," says Marchetti … “we can get rucola, radicchio and all the other vegetables, fruits and salad greens 12 months of the year here. We have locals making excellent mascarpone and other fresh cheeses. There is even an Italian chap in the hill station of Manali who makes buffalo mozzarella as good as out of Italy." 1262 words.

Goa: Forward with Mopa
1 Sep: Navhind Times. Editorial. With the announcement of the central government approval for the Mopa airport, the clouds over the second airport in the state have cleared out. The project generated emotions and the political articulation of them on both sides—one side wholeheartedly supporting it and the other squarely opposing it. It was even made to look like a North-South divide of the global kind in which the already well-endowed North was trying to snatch away the bread and butter that the South was getting from the Dabolim airport. 632 words. Click here

Goa is Sossegado India
1 Sep: La Vanguardia. Feature article on Goa. Excerpts: … Goa is one of the few places in India where the breakfast and lunch schedules resemble those of Lisbon. Similarly women dress in skirt and blouse instead of sari and the obituaries reflect the Portuguese customs down to the names of the deceased … 1191 words. Click here

Deals of the Week
2 Sep: The Sunday Mirror (UK) … £659 Go to Goa on October 21 for a 14-night, all-in break at the four-star Sun Village Hotel for just £659pp with flights from Manchester. Details: 0141 242 1300 …

Adam Gilchrist: My Top Holiday Destinations
2 Sep: Sun Herald (Aus.) Adam Gilchrist is wicket-keeper in the Australian cricket team. Among his top 5 holiday destinations: Goa… The cities are humid and crowded with an amazing mix of aromas, from spices to sewage, but that's what makes Goa so different and special. The locals live a simpler lifestyle and it really flows through to the atmosphere

Goa: Front warns govt of violence
3 Sep. Herald. Intensifying its month-old agitation against the casino boat and River Sal dredging, the Save River Sal Front on Sunday warned the Digambar Kamat government that the people would resort to violent means if the authorities fail to respond to the peaceful and just demands of the people … GBA Convenor Dr Oscar Rebelo said the people have a mission to get the boat out and unitedly they will succeed … Fr Maverick Fernandes sought to know whether any government exists in the State as the people are forced to come on the streets time and again. 408 words.
Click here

High land cost, expensive hotels
3 Sep: Dawn (Pakistan). India’s luxury hotels sector is faring extremely well. But for guests staying at these hotels, it means exorbitant prices, and lack of adequate rooms … In states like Goa and Kerala – which have witnessed a boom in 5-star properties in recent years – many of the hotel chains face extortionate demands from petty politicians, corrupt trade union leaders, so-called environmentalists and other activists, who demand a price for ‘staying quiet.’ The price for not bribing them could mean stiff ‘local’ opposition to the projects, ‘mass agitations,’ even court cases and media campaigns by the well-oiled and funded ‘anti-5-star lobby.’ Not surprisingly, some of the established properties also fund the agitators, worried that the new properties could eat into their business. Click here

UK: Postal Applications for Visas to India
3 Sep: Leicester Mercury. Three city businesses have been given the power to help people with visa applications to India … Luxor Travel Limited, in Humberstone Road can now help with the process … Eric Fernandez, managing director of Luxor Travel Limited, said the firm was pleased to hear it had been chosen to provide the service … For further details click here and select Visas. For details of the newspaper article click here
Eric Fernandez of Luxor Travel Limited, http://www.luxortravel.co.uk/ 161, Humberstone Road, Leicester, LE5 3AP. Tel: 0116 2627667. e-mail: sales@luxortravel.co.uk has clarified that anyone in the UK can send their passports to him by special delivery along with the prepaid special delivery envelope and a cheque for the total amount of the visa fee and the service charge of £10.

Cheap flights to Goa
3 Sep 2007: Charter Flight Centre. View a graph showing the average and lowest costs for flights to Goa so that you can pinpoint exactly when those cheap flights are available … We are currently developing a suite of tools to help you narrow your search for cheapflights. Amongst other tasks you will be able to view the price fluctuations by month or track a particular flight route and departure date. [Warning: Flight prices shown do not include supplements - click here

Gatwick-Mombasa Flights from £279
3 Sep: African Safari Club. Dep 8 Sep. 7 or 14 nights, £279. Click here

Goans debate if more casinos are ok
4 Sep: PTI. Off-shore casinos, a gambling den onboard a ship, has sparked off a debate in Goa with different opinions being expressed for and against the new licenses. 268 words. Click here

Floating casinos to lure more tourists to Goa
4 Sep: New Zealand Herald. The palm-fringed beaches of Goa attract millions of tourists lured by the white sands, dreamy blue water and trance parties held alongside the pounding surf. But the idyllic coastline of Goa is poised to get a controversial new addition in the form of a flotilla of floating casinos that will operate off shore in order to get around federal laws restricting such enterprises on the land. Reports suggest that up to 11 ships could be operating along the coast by the end of the year. Click here

The hidden side of Goa
5 Sep. TravelBite (UK). Goa, on the east cost [sic] of India, has a reputation as a hedonistic beach paradise. Around Christmas time revellers from all over the globe gather to celebrate under the palm trees of the state's warm beaches and enjoy the prestigious local cuisine. 491 words. Click here.

Goa Comes to Bangkok
4 Sep: The Nation (Thailand). Bhagwant Bishnoi, deputy of Mission at the Indian Embassy in Bangkok recently presided over the opening of the Goan food festival ‘Flavours from Goa’ at the Tandoor restaurant, Holiday Inn Silom, Bangkok. For photo and text click here

Jumbo romance
30 Aug: The Guardian (UK). A tame female elephant has fled an Indian circus after eloping with a wild bull elephant that broke open a gate and led her off into the jungle … Click here

Rise in India's female feticide may spark crisis
31 Aug: Canada.com. Increasing female feticide in India could spark a demographic crisis where fewer women in society will result in a rise in sexual violence and child abuse as well as wife-sharing, the United Nations warned … an estimated 2,000 unborn girls are illegally aborted every day in India. Click here

Fatal Blow
1 Sep: The Australian Magazine. Isabella Blow, discoverer of Alexander McQueen and Philip Treacy, wearer of the extravagant, darling of the beau monde, loved fashion more than life … In May this year she committed suicide. She had made a failed attempt to do so last Christmas in Goa when one afternoon she drove her rental car to the beach, took a handful of sedatives, and set out for the sea, determined to die in the manner of Virginia Woolf. Blow passed out well before reaching the water and was rescued by a taxi driver who found her hotel name on a key in her pocket and returned her to it …For text of article, click here
For a photograph and profile of Isabella Blow click here

The Cross and the Communist
2 Sep: The Times of India. By Ashley D'Mello. It's a question that many have asked over the years. What draws middle-class Christian boys from educated and fairly affluent backgrounds to Marxism? What makes them give up the comforts of the city to answer the call of the village? … the route to activism came through a radical Christian ideology called Liberation which transformed the way many Catholics viewed charity and social work … In 1978 in Mumbai, two Jesuit priests, Peter D'Mello and Niki Cordoso broke away and formed a group for a more direct and radical approach to help the poor … they were handcuffed and tied in ropes and later jailed to serve as an example to anyone who wanted the uplift of tribals … Some nuns argue that instead of picking up people from the streets, Christians should try and stop people being thrown on the streets … The Vatican came down heavily on the new theology. It condemned the connection with Marxism and sidelined senior clergy. 1062 words. Click here

Much curiosity is invoked in several Goanet posts about "taking ownership". To whet Goan Voice (UK) readers' appetite, here is a clue where the emphasis is on ... "Goa for the Goans, Bardez for the Bardezkars and Mapusa for the Mapusakars..." On the other hand, such a view is derided with the rationale that ...”people do what is in their best interests. If it is to merge, assimilate, grow economically, culturally and politically, they will do so. If not, people will fractionalise." In contrast to some in Goa, who seem to want to become increasingly atomised geographically, we hear on Goanet that the European Union is exemplary in generating unification and is keen to have a common language. If so, should it be English?

When members of a political family like that of Alemao, in Goa, have Christian names such as Churchill, Reagan, and Kennedy, is a dynastic political orientation inevitable? Churchill Alemao has been pressed on this issue and about his daughter's political aspirations on her return from the UK as a lawyer. This is reported in the Herald Newspaper and Goanet.

Goa feni-liquor producers are working hard to obtain a patent for the drink before others 'expropriate' it. The All Goa Feni Bottlers and Distillers Association represents some 4000 small scale industrial units and clearly, they urgently ought to display some muscle into the patenting process.

For many GV(UK) readers who are not terribly au fait with Konkani, it can be helpful when a Goanet contributor provides texts in English as well as in Konkani. One such text on the morbid issue of death, by outstanding author, Domnic Fernandes, may to be of particular interest to us. The text is on the lyrics of the Konkani song 'Morn' as originally written by the late playwright and actor Jacinto Vaz.

Sanny Vaz and several others have highlighted the atrocious parking conditions in several cities in Goa. Many suggestions have been offered to alleviate the situation, including European and American models/approaches to parking. The speed at which towns and cities have been overwhelmed by the car in Goa is quite remarkable. Clearly, time flies but it does not seem that long ago when some of us could park comfortably by the Municipal Gardens in Margao. Would we even consider this as a possibility today?

A substantial article by Valmiki Faleiro in the Herald Newspaper and subsequently on Goanet informs us about the power of the mine owners in Goa. Arising from this article, a question has been posed by Venantius J. Pinto, to discover if a deal had been made by the mine owners with former Prime Minister Pandit Nehru, to retain the mines in private hands? Can GV(UK) readers throw some light on this issue please?

Finally, presented here is an intriguing statement... "The Portuguese language is not the past of Goa but to a great extent its future." This was stated by Dr Sergio Mascarenhas de Almeida when inaugurating the annual Portuguese Day under the theme, 'O Mundo Lusofono' (The Lusophone World). The event was organised by St Xavier's College on 29/8/07 in association with Fundacao Oriente, dedicated to Portuguese language and culture. Well, do GV(UK) readers have a view on the statement?

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