GOANVOICE DAILY NEWSLETTER SUN 23 MAY, 2010
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| Adv. Aires Rodrigues: 50th Birthday | |||
24 May 2010. Adv. Aires Rodrigues celebrates his 50th birthday, For a photo and
message from the Navhind Times of 24 May 2010, click
here. For a profile of Aires Rodrigues click here. You may congratulate him by writing to him at airesrodrigues1@gmail.com | |||
| Toronto: Chris D'Souza : Catholic 'bumblebees' to take flight | |||
 21 May: The Tribune (Canada). Chris D'Souza was the keynote speaker at the Niagara Catholic District School Board's graduation day held at the Niagara Regional Exhibition … He recalled an incident as a 16-year-old being told to "go back to his country," when in fact he was born and raised in Toronto. But his brown skin was enough for someone to believe he was an immigrant… 587 words.
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| Toronto: Supt. Sam Fernandes: Cops haul in moving-scam suspects | |||
 21 May: Toronto Sun. Supt. Sam Fernandes, at the podium, details a lengthy investigation into fraudulent moving companies… He said such scams prompted Prime Minister Stephen Harper recently to call on police for a nationwide crackdown… 644 words + comments.
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| Beach boys of Goa live it up | |||
 23 May: Deccan Chronicle. Krishna came to Goa from Karnataka at age 13. Six years later he speaks English with a Newcastle accent, is conversant in Hebrew and can hold his own in Russian. He has a snazzy laptop and a different foreign girlfriend every month for six months of the year… There are hundreds like him in Goa …In 2008 Krishna visited Newcastle and hated it … He hopes a foreigner will marry him someday and he will live off her… 899 words.
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| Mississauga: Dr. Colin Saldanha recognized | |||
21 May: Mississauga News. Top dad. The Mississauga Real Estate Board and The Mississauga News hosted the 2010 Civic Awards Reception at the Civic Centre today. Dr. Colin Saldanha, 2010 Mississauga Citizen of the Year with his family, from left, sons Jason and Warren, wife Sheila and daughter Diane. … 557 words.
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News Summary | |||
| Goa CM’s sexist remarks angers women activists 24 May: IANS. Goa chief minister Digambar Kamat’s statement urging women not to join politics has invited criticism from the women’s rights lobby in Goa… 203 words. Full Text. | |||
| Realty firm to invest Rs 750 cr in Goa 23 May Economic Times. Realty firm Vigneshwara plans to launch an Industrial Park in Goa. "We have acquired 150 acres of land in Goa at Rs 15 crore to develop an industrial park," he said, adding the project would be built in association with Goa Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC)… The plan outlay for the project is Rs 750 crore, which will be funded through equity and debt … Full Text. | |||
| Ultrasound moves to hi-tech level 24 May: Hindustan Times. Oman-based hardware engineer Christopher D’Souza (36) was in Goa last month. He fell sick and a Goa hospital diagnosed liver cirrhosis and five other doctors agreed with this. He went to Mumbai and a liver specialist there performed an ultrasound test which revealed that he did not have cirrhosis… 456 words. Full Text. | |||
| Learn Portuguese to earn a passport. By Armstrong Vaz 23 May: Merinews. If you want a Portuguese passport you need to learn Portuguese, ok? This is a familiar question which Indians of Goa, Daman and Diu hear in Portugal, when they make the trip to the Europe … Antonio Joao Vaz and Gill Cardozo, two Goans and Portuguese experts based in Qatar are much sought after for linguistic help … 887 words. Full Text. | |||
| FDA to keep watch on artificially ripened mangoes 24 May: Navhind Times. Consumers are foxed between the normal and the artificially ripened fruit, and are taken for a ride. Come June and imports of poisonous mangoes are dumped by the tonnes as the month of May ends the Goa mango crop… unscrupulous traders are dumping poisonous fruit into Goa… 553 words. Full Text. | |||
| Deaths 18 May: Tivim, Goa. JOAQUIM ELIAS LOBO. (Born 1909; Ex-East African Railways, Nairobi). Husband of late Francisca. Father of Cajetan/Flora, Abel/Monica, Philo, Joseph, Mary/Lawrence Fernandes, Patric, Catherine/Vincent Pereira, Rita/Raj Rajah, Bernadette, Jude/Juvina and Jacinta. Funeral cortege will leave his residence on 24 May at 4 pm for Eucharistic Celebration at St Anne's Church, Tivim, followed by burial at the Cemetery. For photo & full details, click here. 19 May: Auckland, NZ. SANDRA SEQUEIRA (ex-Mumbai). Wife of Ron. Mother of Suhail & Rehan. For photo & full details, click here 21 May: Wilkins Township. Allegheny, Pennsylvania. RUDOLPH STEPHEN DIAS (Born Goa; age 75). Son of Dr. Antonio F. and Maria Dias. Husband of Odette. Father of Antonio/Amy. Brother of Gilbert Nelson/Fernanda; Miguel/Vira; Dr. Raul/Dorothy; and Dr. Ernest/ Maura Dias. A maverick in the steel industry, Rudy was responsible for the design of many of the nation's most innovative and productive steel mills. Mass of Christian Burial in St. Scholastica Church on Monday at 3:30pm. Burial will be private. For photos and full details, click here.
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| WHO THE BLEEP CARES. Weekly column by Selma Carvalho. 82. Who the Bleep cares about the Costas of Margao? The death, earlier this month, of Roque Francisco "Bebe" da Costa at the age of 43 must have come as a shock to the da Costa family, but then, the da Costas of Margao are no strangers to tragedy. Most of us know the family name because it sits large on the packets of sausages, bebinca and other packaged products we love to buy off the shelves at general stores in Goa. Much less is known about Da Costa's tryst with Goa's history, their spectacular contribution to its political and social cause. My interest in the family was aroused when I read a book by one Francisco Joao da Costa, who wrote under the pseudonym Gip. Gip was an unusual writer. J. A. Ismael Gracias, the doyen of 19th century Goan intellectuals, called Gip, the Mark Twain of Goa, and his particular genre of writing has never been matched in Goa for its skill and incisiveness. Writing a column, Notas a lapis, in O Ultramar, the first Goan newspaper, in the 1890s, he mercilessly pilloried the elite society of Margao. He satirised their pretensions of caste and preoccupation with all things Portuguese, particularly the language; their ability to mimic the language but not speak it with any amount of fluency. For this he earned the ire of his contemporaries. Goan society was not about to forgive Gip. He died young at forty, quite forgotten by both literature and history, until his tepid revival by literary critics in the 20th century. The newspaper Gip wrote in, O Ultramar, was started by his uncle, Bernardo Francisco da Costa, one of the most notable personalities of mid-nineteenth century Margao. When Bernardo was just 32, he was elected to the Cortes, the Portuguese parliament in Lisbon. Upon returning to Goa, he founded the O Ultramar in 1859, to give voice to the native Goan. The possibility of successfully running the O Ultramar seemed bleak. Yet Bernardo was insistent that it was necessary for the advancement of the people of Goa. The Goan man of Bernardo's time came of age firmly believing in the heady ideals of Republicanism which Portugal espoused. They flourished, in an atmosphere when Goans were considered equal citizens of Portugal, although hemmed-in by the realities of racial discrimination both in Goa and Lisbon. Bernardo also established the Clube e Teatro Harmonia, in an area which then must have been the hub of Margao, surrounded by the elongated houses of Margao's gentry delicately painted in hues of pastel pink and deep yellows. For anyone born on the Salcete side of the Zuari River, the Harmonia is still a bastion of the upper-echelons of Margao high society. It bears the faith smell of moth-balled blazers and pre-1961 imported wines served in cut-glass decanters, while porcelain-skinned women talk Portuguese in hushed tones. There is an aura of exclusivity which clings to its name despite the many advances Goan society has made in overcoming the ugly barriers of caste. The Da Costas were formidable social reformers in their time. To laugh at this society in its face, to try and change it through the printed word, at a time when it constituted an absolute social, economic and political hegemony, required the bravery of a David against a Goliath, at times, literally risking lives. Bernardo himself, would be falsely charged with plotting against Portugal and exiled to Diu, where he died in 1896. Bernardo's most enduring legacy was however, opening a canning company in 1885, by the name of Costa and Cia, which eventually became the Costas that we know today. The House of Costa has a long and varied history dating back to the 15th century, when many an illustrious son and daughter from the family manoeuvred the course of Goa's social and political history. Given the turmoil that Goa is in today, I hope we can find the Gip or Bernardo Francisco da Costa within us and rise to redefine Goa, yet again. For we Goans are not yet ready to become a footnote on the pages of history books. (Sources used: Assis Correia L., Goa through the Mists of History, Maureen Publishers, 2006 and Genealogia da famille Costa da Margao by Joaquim Bernardino Catao da Costa.) Do leave your feedback at carvalho_sel@yahoo.com | |||
