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LETTER TO THE EDITOR FOR THE ISSUE DATED AUGUST 28, 2026
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LETTER TO THE EDITOR FOR THE ISSUE DATED AUGUST 28, 2026

Aug 28- Sept 04, 2026, Letters To The Editor August 28, 2026 , by

SHASHIKALA KAKODKAR VERY ABLE ADMINISTRATOR!
LIZ and I had the privilege to attend the book launch of “Tai-Smruti Sugandh” — a tribute to our late Shashikala Kakodkar, Goa’s only woman chief minister, penned by her younger sister Jyoti Bandekar. The function at the Panjim Gymkhana was spectacular and very well organised.
Son Sameer Kakodkar spoke from the heart of facts that are far-fetched in today’s Goa, it was simply the truth and left a lot to introspect and soul search.
After the sudden demise of Goa’s first chief minister, our late Dayanand Bandodkar in 1973, his daughter Shashikala Kakodkar succeeded him.
As a student at the time, I was privileged to be close friends of her very down-to-earth sons Yatin, Sameer and Abhay. As childhood friends, we played together at their bungalow in Porvorim, carrom being the favourite.
Given my very close association with the then chief minister, she was so very kind when I visited her residence that she would personally serve lunch to her sons and me. Even though as the chief minister at the time and having a close friendship with Tai, when the students of Goa revolted to demand 50% concession for students travelling in buses, I firmly stood by my fellow students during that agitation, a decision of utmost priority for the welfare of students.
Even on other issues I raised against her government, Shashikala Kakodkar was fair and never ever vindictive. The student community also had a friend by the way of then Development Commissioner Dr JC Almeida who went on to be the Chief Secretary of Goa who painstakingly was always concerned about the welfare of the student community.
Granting the students of Goa 50% bus concession was one of the many landmark decisions taken by Shashikala Kakodkar as chief minister.
The very glamorous Shashikala Kakodkar always remained a friend and I was privileged to have her raise the toast at my 50th birthday celebration at Ribandar on May 24, 2010. Very warm memories of our dear Tai will never fade away. She was an Iron Lady with a golden heart.
— Aires Rodrigues, London

VM SALGAOCAR TRUST CELEBRATES ‘TIGER DAY’ IT was a not to be missed wildlife lovers evening – this one for the magnificent cat of the jungle, the tiger – at the ESG auditorium on July 31, 2026. There was a special documentary screening to celebrate International Tiger Day – the title of the documentary was “Looking for Sultan.” This 43-minute documentary has been directed by Doel Trivedy and Gautam Pandey, with Mike Pandey as the executive director. The riveting documentary traces the story of Sultan, Ranthambore Tiger Reserve’s dominant tiger. Followers of disappearing tigers in India’s tiger reserves are still wondering whatever happened to Sultan – the tiger who disappeared. The keen tiger followers who are a father-son wildlife team and filmmakers, Mike and Gautam Pandey, have been following Sultan since the tiger was a cub. They set out to solve the mystery of Sultan’s disappearance and uncovered a larger truth about tiger conservation in India, as young tigers roam far beyond park borders in search of territory, prey and a mate. The evening was sponsored by the VM Salgaocar Trust and Sunaparanta Goa Centre for the Arts in association with Riverbank Studios and it was a treat to listen to the documentary’s director Gautam Pandey who interacted with the audience after the screening. Amongst the many big-time wild lovers in India and in Goa there is industrialist-hotelier Raj Salgaocar, who over the years has been visiting the big game tiger and wildlife reserves in Africa — to photograph tigers and other wildlife in their protected habitats, and as many of the desktop “Spirit of the Wild” calendars distributed by him testify every year!

IS ETHANOL BOON OR BANE?
 NOWADAYS ethanol has become famous in the world for many reasons. Ethanol is naturally produced by the fermentation process of sugars by yeasts or via petrochemical processes such as ethylene hydration. Historically it was used as a general anaesthetic, and has modern medical applications as an antiseptic, disinfectant, solvent for some medications, and antidote for methanol poisoning and ethylene glycol poisoning.
It is used as a chemical solvent in the synthesis of organic compounds and as a fuel source for lamps, stoves, and internal combustion engines. Ethanol also can be dehydrated to make ethylene, an important chemical feedstock. As of 2023, world production of ethanol fuel was 112.0 gigalitres (2.96×1010 US gallons), coming mostly from the US (51%) and Brazil (26%).
The term “ethanol”, originates from the ethyl group coined in 1834 and was officially adopted in 1892, while “alcohol” — now referring broadly to similar compounds — originally described a powdered cosmetic and only later came to mean ethanol specifically.
Ethanol occurs naturally as a by-product of yeast metabolism in environments like overripe fruit and palm blossoms, during plant germination under anaerobic conditions, in interstellar space, in human breath, and in rare cases, is produced internally due to auto-brewery syndrome. So is it boon or bane for humankind? This question needs to be answered!
— Rajesh Banaulikar, Arpora, Goa.

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