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3-day international conference on ‘Goa: 1961 and beyond’
TNN Dec 8, 2011, 04.46AM IST

PANAJI: Over 65 papers are scheduled to be presented at a three-day international conference on the subject ‘Goa: 1961 and Beyond’ to be held at the Goa University (GU) from December 18.

This was announced at a press conference by former GU professor Peter Ronald D’Souza, who is currently the director of the Shimla-based Indian Institute of Advanced Study (IIAS). The conference is being jointly organized by the IIAS, GU and the Centro de Estudos Sociais (Coimbra University).
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D’Souza said the conference will be organized around the following themes: ‘Decolonisation and the imagination of Goa’; ‘The beginning of the end’, where the date 1961 is seen to mark the unraveling of the Portuguese empire; ‘The loss and afterlife of the metropolis in the colony’ and the ‘Dynamic of post-colonial Goa’.

D’Souza said the objective is not to reduce 1961 as a mere event in the history of India but to focus on the end of the ‘ultra colonialism’ of the Portuguese in Goa and the subsequent impact on the world.

The key conceptual framework is to map the afterlife of a territory where colonization first set foot in 1510 and how 1961 marked the beginning of the end for the Portuguese empire, he said.

Vibha Puri Das, secretary of higher education, government of India, will be the chief guest and professor Basudev Chatterji, chairman Indian council of historical research, will be the guest of honour.

The conference has received overwhelming response from scholars from across India and also from countries such as Portugal, UK, Australia, USA, Mozambique, Canada, Brazil, Macau and Japan.

The conference has accepted 35 papers from the international scholars and 34 papers from India.

Apart from the presentations of papers, there will be prominent scholars for the plenary sessions, which include Vishwanathan, Shahid Amin, Boventura de Souza, Rukmini Bhaya Nair and others. There will also be book releases and an exhibition of books.

On December 18, there will also be a public programme on the theme ‘The struggle for liberation: Aspirations and testimonies’ from 6.15pm to 7.30pm at the Macquinez palace hall, Panaji. The programme will include poetry recital on freedom and also talks by freedom fighters.

Panaji : A day after the Goa government admitted to a specific input about a potential terror strike in Goa during the tourist season, Home Minister Ravi Naik Tuesday said the state was prepared to “counter any eventuality”.

“Two platoons of the central security forces are already in Goa. They will be marshalling the beaches and other places of tourist interest,” Naik said.

“All police stations are on alert. Even the coastal security is in place,” Naik said.

The government has issued prohibitory orders in north Goa, which is home to the state’s most popular beaches, including Calangute, Anjuna, Arambol and Baga, apart from several other places of religious interest like the Bom Jesus Basilica, located in Old Goa about 15 km from here.

A statement by the government said that the terror alert was issued “due to the prevailing situation in the country and intelligence inputs regarding terrorist threats to the western coast of India” and threats of anti-social elements planning to commit crime in Goa.

Naik said that advisories had been issued to hotels, bed-and-breakfast lodge owners, religious places and restaurant owners.

Nearly 2.5 million tourists visit Goa annually, out of which nearly half a million are foreigners.
IANS

Tuesday, 6 December 2011 5:11:24 AM by IANS

Panaji, Dec 5 (IANS) Balancing Goa’s sex ratio is one of the major health related focus of the Goa government as it prepares its approach document for the 12th Five Year Plan from 2012-17.

Official sources said that at a high level meeting in the state secretariat Monday headed by the chief secretary Sanjiv Srivastava, provisions for a gas based power plant to meet the growing energy needs in the fast developing state, were also being made in the document.

“On health sector efforts are being made to reduce infant mortality rate and to keep balance on sex ratio,” an official said.

According to central government statistics, Goa’s female sex ratio currently stands at 968:1,000. The Goa government has already initiated several schemes including the Dhanalaxmi scheme where the government deposits Rs.25,000 in a fix deposit in the name of every girl child born in the state. As per the scheme the money can be accessed by the girl child at the age of 18 years.

“In infrastructure development stress will be laid to build adequate power infrastructure including gas based power,” the official said, adding that the National thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) was studying a feasibility of gas base power projects in Goa.

Baking bread in Goa was an art quite alien to the non- Goan. From crisp katreache unde, to the softer pau or the poie made out of wheat husk, there were Goan podder- families who specialized and excelled at it. But with Goan lads turning to easier options to make more money, it is non- Goans who are entering the trade. Smitha Venkateswaran finds out

A cold December morning.

The chilling weather, strong winds, come with the familiar hooting of the podder’s horn… I scramble up to the balcony and shout… “ teen pau aadd re”. The podder a young lad, barely out of his teens gives me a toothy grin… “ abhi laya” he replies in perfect Hindi.

As I have my breakfast, I am struck by the irony… A traditional Goan custom of delivering fresh bakes home… now served by a complete non- Goan.

I dug a little deeper and found out that even the boys baking the bread are Goans no more.

In the past couple of years some twenty- odd bakers in South Goa are said to have shut shop, while the ones in North Goa; especially along the beach belt have let it out to others.

Lack of cheap wood, escalating costs of inputs, competition from factory- made sliced bread, are among the reasons cited for the decline of traditional bakeries here.

“ Our profit margins have dropped.

The biggest problem is lack of labour, we just do not get boys to work for us,” said Salom who owns a bakery at Britonna and has been delivering freshly baked pau for over twenty years now.

With six hands to help… all people from neighbouring Karnataka, Salom rues that manpower costs along with inflationary prices is ruining business.

Add to this the lack of skill up gradation and we have a perfect recipe for age old traditions to meet a slow and painful end.

An average podder is paid a monthly Rs 2,000 plus a 50 paise incentive on every sale. This is in addition to food and stay costs. The average monthyl profit for a bakery owner ranges between Rs 8,000 – Rs 10,000 per month adds Salon.

But today Goan lads with their fluency in English get paid better working as drivers, waiters at restaurants DYING ART: One of the last standing Goan podder or stewarding on ships. “ So who wants to be seen as a podder?” asks De Souza a senior member of the All Goa Bakers Association.

More than 1000 tonnes of bakers’ yeast is annually sold in Goa. It is a vast quantity for a small population.

But it shows the high consumption of bread in Goa.

But, as competition rises, Goa’s podders are likely to be affected. Some traditional bakers already complain about facing excessive competition, shrinking markets and losses “ making Pau is very easy, anyone can learn it.

As our markets shrink it is becoming difficult for podders to peddle long distances for want of consumers” said Malcom from Thivim.

It may not be a staple food but the pau is an essential item in many households. Many items like the Chicken Xacuti, Caefreal will not be as tasty, if not without local pau.

For some time now Goan podders have been sounding the warning bell… if ignored, this unique cyclemounted boys tooting their horn at the break of dawn could be a story of the ‘ good old days’.

Portuguese Nationality

Cut and paste this on your web browser.

http://goanvoice.org.uk/supplement/PortugueseNationality.html

Contents
1. For the comprehensive guide on eligibility for Portuguese Nationality by Paulo Colaco Dias click here
2.Portuguese Government reviews working procedures at the Consulate in Goa regarding applications for citizenship. 12 July. Diario Digital. (In Portuguese – English translation and comments by Paulo Colaco Dias..
3. Deccan Herald, 14 July 2003. Portugal to tighten citizenship rules for former colonies. By Devika Sequeira.
http://www.deccanherald.com/deccanherald/july15/n13.asp
4. UK Parliament. House of Commons. 18 March 2003. Goa (Portuguese Passports)
5. New York Times, 8 June 2003. Indians Pursue Portuguese Passports as an Entree to Europe.
6. Publico, 9 Feb. 2004. Portuguese nationality has become a lucrative business in the ex Portuguese State of India.
7. Deccan Herald, 23 July 2004. Portuguese passport racket worries UK, US. By Devika Sequeira.
8. Gulf News (Dubai). 10 February 2005. Rush to gain Portuguese passports. By Pamela Raghunath
9. Gunaah. 12 May 2005. Dead men flying: Fraudulent claims to Portuguese Nationality. By Prashant Shankarnarayan
10. Deccan Herald. February 15 2006. ‘Portugal is a door to the European Union’
Devika Sequeira interviews Portugal’s Consul-General in Goa, Pedro Cabral Adao about applications for Portuguese nationality etc. 922
11. IPS-Inter Press Service (Lisbon). February 16, 2006. Portugal: Immigrants And Their Children Can Become Citizens. By Mario de Queiroz.