Goan Voice Newsletter: Saturday 10 Jan. 2015
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Frozen: Pensions bias leaves UK Asians cold
8 Jan: Eastern Eye. Elderly British Asians who choose the subcontinent for their retirement are being forced to return to the UK because their pensions are being frozen. Britons who leave the UK upon retirement and live in countries such as India, Bangladesh, Pakistan and Sri Lanka do not benefit from the annual increase in their basic pension. The “discriminatory” rule affects over half a million British state pensioners because they retire to the “wrong” country. The government, which said it has “no plans to change the longstanding policy”, added that the cost of uprating the state pension in countries where it is frozen would be over half a billion pounds a year… Campaigners claim that the government will end up saving money because of fewer constraints on the NHS and other age-related benefits when people move abroad… Keith Vaz said that the current rule was “economically foolish” and needed to be “re-examined.” … 1397 words. click here
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CM Parsekar invites diaspora to invest in Goa
10 Jan: Times of India. Chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar extended an invitation to the Indian diaspora at the 13th edition of Pravasi Bharatiya Divas (PBD) convention-2015, in Gujarat, to invest in Goa's tourism, aviation and other sectors… click here
Chief Ministers beckon overseas Indians to cash in on Investment opportunities in States. 9 Jan: MeriNews.
click here
10 Jan: Herald. Mopa Brand Ambassador CM sells airport to NRIs. …
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Nuno Mendes would enjoy a Goan beach picnic with loved ones
10 Jan: The Guardian (UK). Q: What would you choose to have for your last meal? A: : I'd have my last meal on Ashwem Beach in Goa … We'd have shrimp poppadom, chana puri, prawn samosas, onion bhajis, goan prawn soup with caramelised onions, preserved sour fish, apa de camarao (prawn pie), chicken xacuti (coconut curry), pork vindalho (basically a vindaloo) and prawn xec xec - one of my favourite Goan recipes … For dessert, there'd be bebinca … Drinks would be a mixture of Portuguese beers and wines and feni … Someone would probably bring a guitar … click here
Nuno Mendes is the executive chef of the Chiltern Firehouse, “London's hottest celebrity hangout”. "Fancy booking a table at Chiltern Firehouse? Well unless your name is written on the Hollywood Walk of Fame then you may as well give up!" For a Wikipedia profile of Nuno Mendes,
click here
For the Wikipedia profile of the Chiltern Firehouse restaurant,
click here. |
After joint meeting, sleuths ‘will search charter flights for drugs’
10 Jan: Times of India. The anti-narcotics task force (ANTF) has decided to constitute a 10-member team to carry out search operations on charter flights and tourists landing at the Dabolim international airport. It will be functional within 15 days…. Goa police sources said that so far, there is no fool-proof mechanism in place at the airport to check drug smuggling. Police will also build a special enclosure at the airport to search suspected drug peddlers landing at the airport… click here
ANC to deploy special team at Dabolim airport. 10 Jan: Herald.
click here
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Christians divided over Goa's subsidy for Sri Lanka pilgrimage
9 Jan: UCAN News. Christians in Goa are divided over a state government subsidy covering travel costs of poor Catholic pilgrims to Sri Lanka for the canonization of Blessed Joseph Vaz during Pope Francis' visit to the island nation next week… The Goa Govt. launched a scheme to provide a subsidy for the travel of 500 Goan pilgrims who want to witness the canonization. The government says it will cover half the airfare or 12,000 rupees (US$190), whichever is lower. The subsidy will be for those whose annual income is less than 300,000 rupees… However, Father Eremito Rebello, Goa-based vice-postulator of the Cause for Canonization of Blessed Joseph Vaz says, “The government should not give such subsidies. It should cut down on expenditure. The government could help in making arrangement for events at holy places but subsidy trips abroad and within India should not be given for any religion.” click here
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Goa drug battle is a political challenge for BJP
10 Jan: Deccan Herald. The issue of narcotics and drug peddling in Goa is fast rousing political parties out of their post-New Year stupor. Several U-turns by ruling party legislators and a minister appear to have exposed the will of the ruling BJP to take on the drug menace, especially after Prime Minister Narendra Modi called for a battle against drugs in his radio address to the nation in December. Tourism Minister Dilip Parulekar, after declaring that he would shut down mega-scale EDM festivals if any suspicious activity or drugs were found at such events, lashed out at the deceased Isha Mantry, linking the death of the constume designer to binge-drinking, even before the post mortem examination… click here
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Video: The Russians not going to Goa
9 Dec: BBC. For the past few years the Indian holiday state of Goa has been building its tourism industry around the demands of Russian visitors. Until recently they have been fun-loving and free-spending, but the falling price of oil and Western sanctions have led to a real downturn in the Russian economy. And the effect of all that is being felt in Goa, as the BBC's Sameer Hashmi found out for India Business Report… 3m. 25s. click here
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Commemorative volume on Christians in Goa
10 Jan: Herald. The Archdiocese of Goa and Daman recently released their volume on ‘Commemorating Christ in Goa’ as part of an initiative to highlight some of the significant aspects of Christianity in Goa. Twenty-four Goan writers contributed articles on various themes to the book … click here
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Wendell Rodricks: The shame and sleaze of Baga
10 Jan: The Goan. A post by Wendell Rodricks said it all. Taking off from a report in the Times of India, “It is truly upsetting what happened in Baga over the New Year. Shacks getting converted in cabaret drinking and sex venues with crossdressers and prostitutes plying their wares under protection from bouncers? Where are the Police? Should not the CM get these people arrested and thrown in jail? And revoke their licenses. As I had predicted Goa will become Bangkok if we don’t check the kind of tourism we. Want. Sorry to say in 2015 it has gone to Bangkok and not the Singapore style family tourism that 1 aspired for. Sad!” The Goan invited this world famous designer, who has always worn his love for Goa on his sleeve, no matter where he is in the world, to elaborate on his initial facebook post click here
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More foreign jaunts for tourism babus
10 Jan: Herald. The dull tourist season notwithstanding, a team from the Tourism department will travel abroad later this month to promote brand Goa. The department is also planning to advertise different facets of Goa Tourism on the mass transport systems of different countries… In the department’s first foreign tour this year, tourism officials will attend the FITUR international tourism trade show in Madrid, Spain from January 28 to February 1. Besides Spain, a tour to Berlin is also on the cards this financial year, despite the austerity measures announced by the Parsekar government on Thursday… Tourism Director Ameya Abhyankar said, “Like in London, each person spends about 30-40 minutes while travelling to different places using the London Underground. If Goa Tourism’s advertisement display board is put up, it can help further boost footfalls to Goa.” … click here
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Sonia Faleiro: Christmas on the Coast
25 Dec: Fox News (Detroit). By Sonia Faleiro. It was a tropical Christmas, steaming hot and bright as an egg yolk. Mosquitoes buzzed, gray-backed monkeys rummaged through the mango trees. The geese that live in our front yard waddled over to the fishpond for some relief. I was in Goa, where I was born and my father still lives … Last Christmas my husband and I returned to Goa to spend time with my father, sisters, extended family, and friends. The holidays are filled with invitations to our relatives' rambling old houses for dinner… What I most look forward to is Christmas lunch at our friend Elaine de Lima Pereira's house in Panjim … 634 words. click here
For the Wikipedia profile of Sonia Faleiro,
click here
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Ribandar Causeway sinking under the weight of the traffic
8 Jan: Navhind Times. The 1632 Ribandar causeway, also known as Ponte de Linhares and once referred to as the longest bridge in Asia, has dilapidated at some sections and may not withstand the heavy flow of traffic for long as it is sinking … it has been declared as ‘No Development Zone’. The condition of the causeway is so bad that it can neither be rebuilt nor renovated but only restored… a notification for the permanent closure of heavy traffic will be issued soon… Photos. click here
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