POWER SHRIPAD
SHRIPAD Naik, who won the Lok Sabha election for the sixth time, has been again appointed minister of state at the centre. Shripad has been given a renewable energy portfolio. Shripad has commented that Goa will be on his priority list. Goa does not have any captive sources of energy. It gets its power requirement from the national grid through Karnataka and Maharashtra. Goa does not have any sources of solar or wind energy. The state has also not explored the chances of securing power through the energy of the sea waves. It has been estimated that an investment of Rs1.3 lakh crore will be needed to implement 100% renewable energy by 2015.
BACK SEAT FOR PRAMOD
A CONTROVERSY has broken out on social media over Chief Minister Pramod Sawant being given a back bench at the oath taking ceremony of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi. Videos of the oath taking ceremony shows Pramod Sawant being seated far behind Mukesh Ambani, Gautam Adani and Shah Rukh Khan. Clearly, the Ambanis and Adanis are more important to Narendra Modi than the chief minister of Goa. This is the first time Shah Rukh Khan has been invited to the swearing-in of Narendra Modi and given a seat in the front row.
SMART CITY IN TROUBLE
IN a comprehensive survey, it has been revealed that most of the Smart City Project works are incomplete. A stretch of 1,760 meters between Hotel Goa International and Taj Vivanta is still under process. Similarly, the stretch between the Madhuban complex to Sheetal Hotel at St Inez of 407 meters is still under progress. Work has yet to commence on the road from old Patto bridge to the Four Pillars. In respect of drainage pipes, the manholes have not been placed in central Panaji. In St Inez the sewage pipeline has not been completed, in Ribandar only 90% of the manholes have been put, in Miramar and Caranzalem the manholes have not been placed. In Altinho, only 50% of drainage has been completed.
MIRAMAR OVER BRIDGE
THE overhead bridge at Miramar just outside the Sharada Mandir School is likely to be demolished. Ironically, this over bridge was built for the benefit of Sharada Mandir students, staff and parents usage and initially has an escalator incorporated. The escalator stopped functioning within a month. Students and tourists refused to use the over bridge to cross over from one side to the other to access Miramar beach. Many fears have been expressed publicly about the rusting and derelict broken parts of the bridge and how it may collapse sooner or later. Interestingly, this is the most prominent bridge useful for government publicity hoardings. Now it seems as in the recent Mumbai hoarding tragedy, which led to the death of 19 people, this Miramar bridge too has become a bad omen and needs to be dismantled on an SOS basis before it invites some monsoon tragedy.
PORTFOLIO ALLOCATION
THERE was a long delay by Narendra Modi in announcing the portfolio of members of his new cabinet. The portfolio were given to the minister in an envelope kept on their seats during the cabinet meeting. However, the details were leaked to several electronic channels. Maybe they were deliberately leaked to test the reaction of those who were given the cabinet portfolio. The final list was announced 24 hours after the swearing-in at 7:30 pm on Monday, June 10.
SCHOLARSHIPS FOR POOR KIDS
STUDENTS who get high secondary scholarships will soon be announced. The scholarships for underprivileged kids cover the cost of education at the undergraduate level. The scholarship is offered by the Sarojani Damodaran Foundation set up by Kumari Shibulal, the daughter of INFOSYS founder director SD Shibulal. Students of parents with annual salaries of less than Rs 4 lakh are eligible to apply for the scholarship on behalf of their children.
OPRAH WINFREY GENEROSITY
OPRAH, the world’s most famous American television hostess and much adored personality, recently announced her retirement. Fans of Oprah Winfrey celebrated at a football stadium where over one lakh people were present. It was revealed that the famous TV-program owner and anchor has helped 65,000 people to complete their education. Many of them were present at the farewell celebration with lighted candles in hand. Thank-you, mama Oprah!
RSS BJP RIFT
THE rift between the RSS and the BJP is out in the open. The RSS magazine “Organiser” insists that the poor performance of the BJP down south Goa in the Lok Sabha election was due to the overconfidence of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The RSS also complained that its karyakarta were not allowed to participate in the election. The “Organiser” says that such arrogance is not acceptable to the RSS. BJP’s president claimed before the election that the BJP did not need the RSS for election work. The RSS also deplored the 400-plus (“400 paar”) campaign of Narendra Modi, it was in bad taste.
RELIEF FOR GOAN NRIs
THE Union government has declared that a revocation order issued by the regional passport officer is enough to get overseas citizens an identity card. This applied to Goans who have registered their birth in Portugal. Those wanting OCI would have to cancel their citizenship in Portugal. India does not permit dual citizenship.
BRITISH HINDUS
HINDUS in the United Kingdom have launched a manifesto of demands on the eve of the July 4 general election in the UK. Thirteen Hindu organizations have drafted their manifesto which calls for action against hate Hindu speeches and hate crimes. Hindus have been targets of attack in the UK. There are reportedly one million Hindus in the UK. The manifesto also demands protection of Hindu temples and the setting up of schools teaching Indian languages.