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O HERALD O The Voice of Goa — Since 1900 panjim, saturday, august 21, 2010
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Goa’s Heartbeat: Sonakshi replaces Katrina Pg 14
Democracy means government by discussion, but it is only effective if you can stop people talking. — Clement Atlee
IN BRIEF Bomb scare forces Jet to land airplane A bomb scare on board a Jet Airways Kuwait-Mumbai flight carrying 160 forced it to make an emergency landing at Muscat airport but it turned out to be a hoax. Omani authorities received a tip off that a bomb might be aboard the aircraft following which they alerted its crew. The crew then decided to divert to Muscat where the plane landed safely. — (PTI)
Business: Depositors can opt for floating rate on deposits Pg 13
MPs won’t budge from Rs 80,001 as basic pay PTI NEW DELHI, AUG 20
Dissatisfied by the quantum of hike in the salaries approved by the Union cabinet, members from non-Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) opposition parties today stalled proceedings in the Lok Sabha demanding that wages be raised to at least Rs 80,001. The members, led by Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad and Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, created uproar and forced two adjournments before the one for the day soon after the lunch recess. Hours af ter the cabinet cleared a proposal for raising the basic salary of MPs from Rs 16,000 to Rs 50,000, several non-BJP opposition members raised the issue in the Lok Sabha in the Question Hour, saying the hike was inadequate. Demanding that the salary be raised to Rs 80,001, Re 1 more than a Secretary to the government, the members of Samajwadi Party (SP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Janata Dak(U), RJD, Shiv Sena and Akali Dal chanted slogans like “stop the insult of MPs” and “implement the report of the parliamentary committee on salaries and allowances.’ The members contended that
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Basic salary of Rs 16,000. The salary has been hiked by 300 percent as proposed by the cabinet. Daily allowance of Rs 1,000 for each day when parliament is in session or taking part in house committee meetings. This has been doubled. Constituency allowance of Rs 20,000 a month. This has been doubled. Office expense allowance of Rs 20,000 each month. Also doubled. Conveyance allowance of Rs 1 lakh, which has gone up to Rs 4 lakh now. Spouses of MPs get free train travel from their place of residence to Delhi. They also get up to eight free plane tickets from their place of residence to Delhi.
government had “insulted parliament” by rejecting the recommendation of its own Committee to raise the basic salary to Rs 80,001 per month. Earlier, the Union cabinet on Friday which had tripled the parliamentarians’ basic salary also increased their secretarial assistance allowance from Rs 14,000 to Rs 20,000 a month.
The joint parliamentary committee (JPC) had also recommended a secretarial allowance of Rs 44,000 that was felt too steep by the cabinet, sources said. The cabinet, which approved a bill for hiking the MPs’ salary and allowances that will burden the tax-payer with additional Rs 142 crores, (Continued on page 10)
Barge runs aground; 2-hr ordeal for ferry users HERALD CORRESPONDENT OLD GOA, AUG 20
Over a hundred commuters in the Gaundalim-Cumbarjua ferry were stranded for over two hours, when an ore-laden barge M V Kashi ran aground along the ferr y route on Friday evening. The incident occurred at about 4.45 pm due to the low tide and ferry coxswain was unable proceed from Cumbarjua ferry ramp towards the Gaundalim ferry ramp. The barge was finally removed at about 6.45 pm. It may be noted that as the River Navigation route is narrow for barges to move, such incidents have been frequently occurring along the Gaundalim ferry route. Such incidents have taken place along the route earlier on two occasions, barges carrying ore ran aground, disrupting ferry service along the Gaundalim-Cumbarjua route. Speaking to Herald, Ganshyam Parab of Gaundalim said: “Such incidents have been oc-
The barge that ran aground along the Gaundalim-Cumbarjua ferry route. Photo by Kanzil Rodrigues
curring frequently along the Gaundalim-Cumbarjua route and this creates a problem for us.” “People are under the impression that this is a shorter route to Cumbarjua and surrounding areas, but end up waiting for hours due to such incidents,” he added. “Even today one could see the ramp full of passengers and two-wheeler vehicles waiting for the ferry to cross over. Since it was evening, people were returning to their houses after
their daily work but had to wait due to the problem,” said Parab. Cumbarjua Sarpanch Surendra Madkaikar said “The locals, last year, tried to stop barges using the route during the low tide and the Captain of Ports had even given instructions on how to navigate barges during low and high tides. However, barge coxswains navigate the b a rg e s w i t h o u t t h i n k i n g about the safety of ferr yboats,” he said.
Govt drops sticky word in nuke bill PTI NEW DELHI, AUG 20
Buckling under opposition pressure, government has dropped a controversial change in the Nuclear Liability Bill which was today approved by the Union cabinet, brightening chances of its passage in parliament next week. The cabinet, at a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, accepted 18 recommendations made by the Parliamentary Standing Committee On Science And Technology that examined the Civil Liability for Nuclear Damage Bill, 2010. It, however, rejected one proposed amendment which had triggered a row as it was seen as diluting the right of a nuclear
plant operator, which will be government undertaking, to seek compensation from the supplier of equipment and material in case of an accident. The rejected recommendation was the addition of the word “and” between Clause 17(A) and (B), which had triggered objections from BJP and Left parties on the ground that it would dilute the operator’s right to claim damages. The committee had recommended that Clause 17 should be read as “The operator of a nuclear installation shall have the right of recourse where — (A) “such right is expressly provided for in a contract in writing and (B) “the nuclear incident has resulted as a (Continued on page 10)
‘Resignation withdrawn on CM’s word’ HERALD REPORTER PANJIM, AUG 20
Celebrated playwright Girish Karnad today clarified that he withdrew his resignation from the Golden Jubilee Development Council following Chief Minister Digamabar Kamat’s assurance that no further incidents of attacks on artists will take place in the State in future. Karnad, who was named one of the members of the council – which is to be headed by the renowned scientist Dr Raghunath Mashelkar, offered to resign from the council expressing shock over the attack on Jose Pereira exhibition recently. Speaking to Herald here today Karnad stated, “The chief minister told me that the police were not informed of the incident of attack on the exhibition. If the police were informed they would have given protection to the event.” Also, Karnad continued, “When I sent the letter, the chief minister was in Hyderabad on a official visit and could not discuss the issue.” Expressing shock on the incident, Karnad had said in the (Continued on page 10)
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Sports: Ailing Stephanie Rice Pg 18 pulls out of CWG
Will 42 religious structures face axe or be relocated? HERALD REPORTER MARGAO, AUG 20
Will the axe finally fall on these religious structures or will they be saved by relocation in private properties? This question is staring at the authorities in Catholic dominated Salcete taluka, as 42 religious structures, mostly comprising of crosses and portion of shrines have been cleared for removal or relocation as per orders of the Supreme Court. Given the sensitive nature of the issue, the authorities are hoping that representatives of religious bodies and locally elected members relocate or remove the structures on their own. Says Sub-Divisional Magistrate, Margao Johnson Fernandes: “We had initially identified around 193 structures in private, public or Communidade land coming close to the roads. Later, the structures in private land were struck off from the list identified by the administration, narrowing down the number of structures to 42.”
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Structures comprise mostly crosses and portion of shrines. Initially 193 structures were identified as coming close to roads. A shrine at Sirlim and a monument at PirniVerna are giving authorities a tough time. SDMs have forwarded their report to the government for a final decision.
“As per the government directives, I had an interaction with the concerned people to voluntarily come forward and shift all or any of such structures within the scope of the directives of the court”, he said. Records revealed that barring one or two religious Ghumtis, most of the structures identified (Continued on page 10)
Police record statements of ragging victims HERALD REPORTER PANJIM, AUG 20
Even as nine students of the Goa Medical College arrested for ragging were released on bail, Agassaim police on Friday recorded statements of all seven witnesses. Speaking to Deputy Superintendent of Police Deu Benaulikar, told Herald that a chargesheet against the alleged accused MBBS students will be (Continued on page 10)
Idiot!! You left these things on my table? Opposition realized that my Independence Day speech was only ‘Cut & Paste’