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GOA STILL HOT DESTINATION
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GOA STILL HOT DESTINATION

Dec 27- Jan 02, 2026, Stray Thoughts December 26, 2025 , by

AND a few stray thoughts for yet another Saturday. For a Saturday following the week when it appeared that Goa continues to be as hot a tourism destination as ever, despite the loss of 25 plus lives in the Birch by Romeo Lane inferno at Arpora. For a Saturday following the week when on the mounting attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh. For a Saturday following the week when some normalcy seems to have returned to the airline sector. For a Saturday following the week when on the Congress –Goa Forward combine sweeping the elections to the Goa University Students Council.
And a few stray thoughts on when it appeared that Goa continues to be as hot a tourism destination as ever, despite the loss of 25 plus lives in the Birch by Romeo Lane inferno at Arpora. Except for half-a-dozen night clubs like Goye and the infamous Curlies the rest of the night clubs continues to thrive.
Indeed, Facebook is full of images of frenzied dancing with the focus on Russians and Russian nightclubs. The entry rate ranges from Rs500 to Rs2,000. Shilpa Shetty’s hi-fi new nightclub The Bastian in Morjim, is reportedly swinging despite the Rs5,000 entry deposit and claims of total violation of the CRZ rules.
Fortunately for Shilpa the Morgim zilla parishad candidate supporting has been re-elected and the local MLA Jit Arolkar continues to extend his patronage, never mind that the Calangute MLA Michael Lobo is not too happy over consistent demands to demolish his Anjuna property for violating the CRZ. His Nizar property where the ESG vice-chairperson Delilah Lobo hosted the IFFI dinner for delegates this year we understand will continue to be open for Christmas and New Year celebrations also.
All of Michael and Delilah Lobo’s zilla parishad candidates have got re-elected, boosting their image in the party. The Lobos, like the other couples, the Ranes and Monserattes are invincible. Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant has no control over them as they have strong patrons in Delhi.
As it has happened in the past air fares have shot up to the sky for New Year’s eve celebrations in Goa. The fare from Calcutta to Goa has doubled from Rs8,000 to Rs16,000 for December 31. Similarly, the fares from Delhi to Goa have doubled almost from Rs5,000 to Rs9,628. You will have to spend an additional Rs3,000 if you want to travel from Chennai to Goa and Rs5,000 one way from Bombay to Goa. The return fares from Jan 2 to 4 are equally exorbitant. The rates being cited by travel agencies are Rs14,000 to Kolkatta, Rs10,000 to New Delhi , Rs9,000 to Chennai and Rs6,000 to Mumbai.
Four and five star hotels have put up their rates by 50 percent to 100 percent. Curiously, the only one complaining that the tourist traffic has actually declined by 50 percent is the Calangute MLA Michael Lobo. Michael who used to be the main patron of Sunburn believes that the cancellation of Sunburn has badly affected tourism in Goa.

COMMUNAL TROUBLE IN BANGLADESH
AND a few stray thoughts on the mounting attacks on Hindus in Bangladesh. Ever since an Indian diplomat was lynched by Muslim goons there has been panic in Bangladesh. The latest report claims that there was an attempt to burn two Hindu families alive after locking them inside their houses. In Bangladesh’s Chittagong eight people escaped by cutting through the tin roof.
Amongst the major targets has been a neutral newspaper which has been trying to export confusion and mayhem in Bangladesh. Local journos are claiming that they’re facing death threats and intimidations in the run-up to the February parliamentary elections in Bangladesh. The targeting of media took a serious turn after mobs attacked and set fire to the offices of “Prothom Alok” and “Daily Star” on Dec19, trapping over two dozen media people. Counter protests have started in India. On Tuesday several rightwing organizations in Calcutta, New Delhi, Mumbai, Ranchi and Dhanbad protested against the murder of Dipu Das in Kolkatta.
Many countries including the United States have expressed concern over the flare up in Bangladesh. Ironically, Bangladesh is currently run by Nobel laureate Mohamad Yunus, an economist who won his award for starting a people-friendly bank.

NORMALCY RETURNS TO AIRLINES
AND a few stray thoughts on when some normalcy seems to have returned to the airline sector. It may be recalled that the airline industry was plunged into chaos with the virtual collapse of Indigo airlines. Indigo accounts for virtually 60 percent of the air traffic in the country. Apparently, the disruption was caused by a change in the schedule of pilots and cabin crew in an attempt to optimize profits. This led to a mass strike by pilots and crew forcing the cancelation of hundreds of flights across the country.
Several thousand tourists were reportedly stranded at the Goa airport also. It needs to be mentioned that Indigo besides being the largest airline in the country, is also considered the most economical in its fare, which is its main attraction. However, the disruption of Indigo flights did not affect its international flights. Remember the Luthra brothers were tipped off and they escaped by Indigo flight to Bangkok in Thailand, early morning after the tragic midnight fire at the Birch by Romeo nightclub in Arpora. The government has intervened and ordered the aircraft to reduce its number of flights to provide relief to its overworked pilots and crew. There have been strong complaints about the government encouraging monopolies as Indigo virtually controlled the airline market.
The country also seems to be heading for a monopolistic control of airports since the Adanis seem to be getting the contract for all the new airports coming up in the country. Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated the new airport in Mumbai at Navi Mumbai, which acts as a parallel airport to the existing two airports in Mumbai city. The crisis in Indigo let to surge pricing with other airlines including the Tata owned Air India hiking up the prices and taking advantage of the situation.

CONGRESS-GOA FORWARD COMBO WIN
AND a few stray thoughts on the Congress –Goa Forward combine sweeping the elections to the Goa University Students Council. This has boosted the ego of the partners who did not fare as well as they expected in the zilla parishad polls. The Congress-Goa Forward combine inflicted a crushing defeat on the Akhilya Bharatyiya Vidyapeeth Parishad which is the BJP student front. The university even tried to delay elections to try to rig it in favor of the BJP, but the Congress–GFP has won the Goa University’s students council elections continuously for the last 15 years.

PROPERTY RENTAL RULES
AND a few stray thoughts on the Central government drawing up new standard rules for the renting of accommodation. The rules are based on the lines of the Model Tenancy Act of 2021 and introduced clear guidelines on registration, eviction, rent hikes and dispute resolutions. Under the new framework all landlords and tenants must register the entire agreement online within 60 days of signing the same. Agreements must be digitally stamped.
It is no longer adequate to record the agreements on stamped paper. This is intended to prevent frauds and protect the rights of tenants. Landlords who fail to register agreements online will be fined Rs5,000 per month. Eviction rules have been clarified. Landlords are now legally required to obtain an order from a rent tribunal or court before evicting a tenant. Abrupt notices to vacate are not permitted. Landlords must provide at least three months written notice for rent hikes, tenants are entitled to at least 24 hour prior notice for inspection of the property by the landlord to look after their privacy. The new bill which has not yet been extended to Goa also stipulates that all maintenance and repairs are the responsibility of the landlord.

MODELS RESIDENCES
AND a last stray thought for yet another Saturday. The late Peter Socorro Vaz, the promoter of the controversial Models group of residential complexes, had his 5th death anniversary observed on Christmas eve, Dec 24, 2025. The one time junior engineer in the PWD was lucky enough to build a very good relationship with the Church. Peter managed to persuade the Church to give him power of attorney to develop residential properties on land gifted to the Church by Canon Souto Mayor in Caranzalen.
Indeed, all the residential Complexes bearing the Models name are actually built on land belonging to the Church. In gratitude Peter Vaz built the Our Lady of Rosary Church and an 8-storeyed building which has several conference halls and is a wedding venue attached to the church. Peter Vaz also struck a deal with a Don Bosco order to build their headquarters free in Odxel in exchange for a 99 year lease on a beachfront property which has become a very popular wedding destination. The tribal mundkars were re-located in chawl-type accommodation close to the beach here.

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