Priests, Bishops and Popes are master tacticians, they are very innovative. To fulfil the need of the hour was their speciality, if not by fair means then by unfair means. What is important for them is the attainment of their goal. If nothing works in their favour then they will use the name of God and Heaven and faithfuls fearful of God’s wrath will surely surrender to the will of the supposed to be holy men in cassocks. Clergy are known to create fear into the minds and hearts of the faithfuls in the name of God even though many Theologists say that our God is not punishing, our God is loving, caring and forgiving.
Bishop Stella was the first Bishop of Kuwait who was responsible to establish firmly the Catholic Church in Kuwait. Under his leadership, Ahmadi Church first and later on Kuwait’s Cathedral were built. At the time of construction of Kuwait’s Cathedral, need of finance was imperative. He borrowed money from here and there as loan but did not harass the faithfuls by taxing them for this service and that service though there were no cries at that time from the faithfuls saying ‘No Taxation – Without Representation’. Even though he borrowed money yet it was not sufficient enough to fulfil the job. Then he used one nice and intelligent tactic to put forward in front of the faithfuls to get money from them without giving a financial pinch to their pockets. According to this tactic, he preached in his sermon asking the faithfuls not to put Coins in the Weekly Collection Box but instead put Notes with the excuse that when Coins are put it makes sound which disturbs the attention of the faithfuls concentrating on the Church Service, this type of disturbance is not good, he said. But when Notes are put in the Collection Box, it makes no sound and hence no disturbance in the Church during the Church Service. By using this tactic Bishop Stella convinced the faithfuls to give more money in the form of Notes by using religious code.
During those days in Vatican the then Pope wanted to build St. Peter’s Basilica and for this job lot of money needed. In order to get this finance the Pope issued especial Bulls to the faithfuls, purchasing of Bulls means remission of your sins. Also, during my younger days in Goa when Goa was still under Portuguese colonialism, in 1959 I still remember purchasing Bulls at one Anna each. Coming back to Pope’s Bulls in Rome, Martin Luther was very vocal Prelate that time having lot of influence at Vatican affairs. Sensing this was not the proper way of collecting funds for the construction of luxurious Basilica when the same money could be used for the development of the faithfuls who were facing so many financial hardships, Martin Luther Protested over this cunning tactic of the Pope of taxing the faithfuls by selling the Bulls in the name of God and told the faithfulls not to purchase these Bulls. Pope got angry, he called Martin Luther for explanation but sensing the omnipotence of Pope who could inflict any type of cruel punishment on him by virtue of being all powerful Pope, Martin Luther fled from Rome for safety elsewhere and from where he established Lutheran Christianity, one more Christian denomination. Before fleeing Rome, he declared that the Pope was using the name of God to collect money from the poor faithfuls to build rich Basilica which was not necessary. He further declared that Catholic Church and Clergy cannot live in luxury and pomp with pride and arrogance; they must imbibe the qualities of Christ who lived a humble life in humble dwelling without pride and arrogance and then only he said Clergy will serve the Lord Jesus Christ. Martin Luther disliked Pope and other Church leaders including priests spending faithfuls’ money recklessly without producing transparency of the money coming from faithfuls’ contribution.
Talking of omnipotence of Popes then, They could inflict any type of punishment even brute punishment on the erring people. For example, Gallileo discovered that it is not the Sun that moves round the Earth but it is Earth that moves round the Sun. Hearing this, the Pope at Vatican got annoyed at Gallielo, called him, reprimanded him for this discovery and asked him to withdraw this statement. To do this, as a punishment, Pope made Gallileo to climb on top of the Leaning Tower of Pisa and with the help of Megaphone told Gallileo to declare to the multitude of the people gathered down there “it is not the Earth that moves round the Sun but vice versa”. But Gallileo was real Gallileo who instead said what he really discovered and loudly told the crowd down below “Dear brothers and sisters, from here I tell you that “It Is Not The Sun That Moves Round The Earth But It Is Earth That Moves Round The Sun, and for your further information the Earth still moves and I feel it MOVES”. Then Pope with his brute power punished Gallileo.
Recently in Goa I noticed a latest trend among the new Pe. Vigars to make money for them and for their concubines, many of them when they get new postings in new parishes, first thing they do is to go for the renovation or repair of the Churches where they are going to serve with the excuse that the House of God should be clean and neat. Many of the Pe. Vigars are not sincere to their principles but with the excuse of changing the face of their Churches at their new postings, they want to make money. With this motto in mind, they go to the faithfuls for the donations with inflated bills thru the cunning help of the contractors who also get their cut. Faithfuls being weak and always at the mercy of God, immediately surrender to the decisions of the Pe. Vigars who easily exploit them financially.
I remember some years back our former Bishop how he stopped a young Goan girl from collecting donation for the construction of the Church in her locality in Goa. When our the then Bishop noticed the Goan girl in the Church compound asking donation he stopped her from proceeding further and advised her ‘first collect donation for constructing your own house’. The Bishop knew how difficult it is for us in Kuwait to sustain ourselves in the midst of so many difficulties. He did lot of construction work but never taxed the faithfuls directly or indirectly because he knew the difficulties the faithfuls are undergoing in this part of the world.
And while concluding, let me say that for the Clergy it is not enough to preach from the pulpit only, they must help alleviate the hardships of the people thru practical help. It is said that “the hand that serves humanity does better service than the tongue that preaches divinity”.
A. Veronica Fernandes,
Kuwait.
April 29, 2010
Kuwaiti ‘Soccer’ overwhelms Churchill’s Indian ‘Football’
Churchill Brothers let in 7 goals to 1
Kuwaiti 'soccer' overwhelms Churchill's Indian 'football'
By Gasper Crasto / Kuwait
Defending Champions Kuwait SC proved too good with their 'soccer' tactics for Churchill Brother's 'football' as the hosts overwhelmed the Goan outfit by a huge margin of 7-1 goals .
N. Silveira was the lone goal scorer for Churchill while the Kuwaitis scored at will scoring 3 in the first half and 4 in the second. Needless to say, once again an Indian club failed to break the jinx of continued losses in Kuwait.
The first leg between Kuwait SC and Churchill Bros played in Goa was a 2-2 draw. Both teams, however, have already qualified for the round of 16. Kuwait SC topped the group with 10 points.
The match played at Kuwait SC stadium, Kaifan, Kuwait City was attended by a large number of Indian spectators, mostly Goans working here. However, the Kuwaitis gave the crowd little to cheer throughout the match.
Churchill Brothers patron and PWD Minister with the Goa Government Mr. Churchill Alemao was among the crowd. Churchill's striker captain Odafe was absent suspended following two yellow cards while Kuwait SC's Brazilian coach Arthur Berinandes was nowhere to be seen with the team, apparently resigned just a day before the match.
Its hard to believe.!!! Such a huge loss. What happened?
Well, look around and the result can be said as – "it was coming".
Gahwas (coffee/hookah) shops in Kuwait are generally filled with males of all ages staring at a glaring TV screen, which is most likely broadcasting a 'soccer' match.
Most of the teams regularly followed here will not be local or national, but a major game between two internationally popular teams. If they happen to watch a local game, it might be the Gulf Cup or the Kuwaiti Amiri Cup final between Al Arabi or Qadsiya – two major 'soccer' rivals in Kuwait.
But why is it that local youths are more likely to be Manchester, Barcelona or Chelsea fans than say, Salmiya SC – a local Kuwaiti 'soccer' club, supporters?
The answer was all there to be seen at the Kuwait SC stadium for the Churchill-Kuwait match. The Goan supporters outnumbered the Kuwaitis. That Churchill Brothers failed to live up to people's expectations is another ball game altogether.
There are several reasons why Kuwaitis are looking toward foreign 'soccer' as a means of entertainment rather than their own. Some fans argue that there is a lack of quality in the local product despite such huge victories as 7-1 against Churchill, and Qadsiya winning 4-1 against East Bengal.
The late 1970s and 1980s was considered the golden age of 'Kuwaiti football' for the national team – they played in their first and last, their only appearance in the FIFA World Cup in 1982, and had the most talented players in Kuwait's footballing history.
On the other hand, the current clubs and national squad lack the standards that allowed the older team to qualify for the world cup just a few decades ago. Teams today, are perhaps badly managed, and they say the local sports federation has become an inheritance for the rich and connected types. This lack of proper management reflects on the professionalism of the clubs and the 'soccer' leagues, and subsequently its games.
The players are kept at an amateur level because of the absence of proper guidance and leadership. This could be one reason why Kuwait SC failed to fulfill the criteria and qualify for the more lucrative Asian Champions League despite being Champions last year.
In addition, the performance of local teams is always overshadowed by European and South American 'soccer'. These western teams are 100 years old – or older – and their collective histories arguably add to their grandeur and professionalism.
It can also be argued that what has spurred the rising popularity of Western 'soccer' and killing of local games is the growth of satellite TV, specially the 10 plus Al-Jazeera Sports channels available in the region. Today one can watch all of the English, Spanish, Italian, German and Champions league 'soccer' games with Arabic and English commentary – and at the finest prime time in Kuwait.
Unfortunately, it is only when a major international 'soccer' team like AC Milan (2000), Brazil (2006), Barcelona (2009) comes to play a match with a local team, do you hear any local buzz. There was hardly any news in the local media on the Kuwait SC - Churchill Bros match and perhaps there won't be any despite such a huge tennis score victories.
Hopefully, with time, Kuwaiti clubs will gain the same professionalism and credence as their Western counterparts, to be really appreciated. As for Churchill Brothers, well, what can we say? Indian bikes are fit for Indian roads only..?
Check Gasper Crasto's blog:
http://gaspersworld.blogspot.com/
Kuwaiti 'soccer' overwhelms Churchill's Indian 'football'
By Gasper Crasto / Kuwait
Defending Champions Kuwait SC proved too good with their 'soccer' tactics for Churchill Brother's 'football' as the hosts overwhelmed the Goan outfit by a huge margin of 7-1 goals .
N. Silveira was the lone goal scorer for Churchill while the Kuwaitis scored at will scoring 3 in the first half and 4 in the second. Needless to say, once again an Indian club failed to break the jinx of continued losses in Kuwait.
The first leg between Kuwait SC and Churchill Bros played in Goa was a 2-2 draw. Both teams, however, have already qualified for the round of 16. Kuwait SC topped the group with 10 points.
The match played at Kuwait SC stadium, Kaifan, Kuwait City was attended by a large number of Indian spectators, mostly Goans working here. However, the Kuwaitis gave the crowd little to cheer throughout the match.
Churchill Brothers patron and PWD Minister with the Goa Government Mr. Churchill Alemao was among the crowd. Churchill's striker captain Odafe was absent suspended following two yellow cards while Kuwait SC's Brazilian coach Arthur Berinandes was nowhere to be seen with the team, apparently resigned just a day before the match.Its hard to believe.!!! Such a huge loss. What happened?
Well, look around and the result can be said as – "it was coming".
Gahwas (coffee/hookah) shops in Kuwait are generally filled with males of all ages staring at a glaring TV screen, which is most likely broadcasting a 'soccer' match.
Most of the teams regularly followed here will not be local or national, but a major game between two internationally popular teams. If they happen to watch a local game, it might be the Gulf Cup or the Kuwaiti Amiri Cup final between Al Arabi or Qadsiya – two major 'soccer' rivals in Kuwait.
But why is it that local youths are more likely to be Manchester, Barcelona or Chelsea fans than say, Salmiya SC – a local Kuwaiti 'soccer' club, supporters?
The answer was all there to be seen at the Kuwait SC stadium for the Churchill-Kuwait match. The Goan supporters outnumbered the Kuwaitis. That Churchill Brothers failed to live up to people's expectations is another ball game altogether.
There are several reasons why Kuwaitis are looking toward foreign 'soccer' as a means of entertainment rather than their own. Some fans argue that there is a lack of quality in the local product despite such huge victories as 7-1 against Churchill, and Qadsiya winning 4-1 against East Bengal.
The late 1970s and 1980s was considered the golden age of 'Kuwaiti football' for the national team – they played in their first and last, their only appearance in the FIFA World Cup in 1982, and had the most talented players in Kuwait's footballing history.
On the other hand, the current clubs and national squad lack the standards that allowed the older team to qualify for the world cup just a few decades ago. Teams today, are perhaps badly managed, and they say the local sports federation has become an inheritance for the rich and connected types. This lack of proper management reflects on the professionalism of the clubs and the 'soccer' leagues, and subsequently its games.
The players are kept at an amateur level because of the absence of proper guidance and leadership. This could be one reason why Kuwait SC failed to fulfill the criteria and qualify for the more lucrative Asian Champions League despite being Champions last year.
In addition, the performance of local teams is always overshadowed by European and South American 'soccer'. These western teams are 100 years old – or older – and their collective histories arguably add to their grandeur and professionalism.
It can also be argued that what has spurred the rising popularity of Western 'soccer' and killing of local games is the growth of satellite TV, specially the 10 plus Al-Jazeera Sports channels available in the region. Today one can watch all of the English, Spanish, Italian, German and Champions league 'soccer' games with Arabic and English commentary – and at the finest prime time in Kuwait.
Unfortunately, it is only when a major international 'soccer' team like AC Milan (2000), Brazil (2006), Barcelona (2009) comes to play a match with a local team, do you hear any local buzz. There was hardly any news in the local media on the Kuwait SC - Churchill Bros match and perhaps there won't be any despite such a huge tennis score victories.
Hopefully, with time, Kuwaiti clubs will gain the same professionalism and credence as their Western counterparts, to be really appreciated. As for Churchill Brothers, well, what can we say? Indian bikes are fit for Indian roads only..?
Check Gasper Crasto's blog:
http://gaspersworld
April 28, 2010
BOYCOTT GOAN POLITICIANS.
Boycott Goan Politicians.
This morning as I was proceeding to office in a bus, all of a sudden I found myself uttering the famous rhyme, Twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are, up above the world so high, twinkling like a diamond in the sky, and the Filipino sitting next to me burst out laughing, asked me, man are you going to a kinder garden or office ? This put me in a rather embarrassing position, thank God there were just a few of us in the bus and no ladies around.
I was fascinated by the stars right from my childhood and this rhyme, in a way was my connection with them, in fact this was the very first rhyme I taught my kids and now I am a grandfather, but till today I often recite the old rhyme unknowingly, mostly when I am alone, at home or walking or sitting by the sea or admiring the beauty of nature, it just pops out of my mouth without me making any effort.
Yes ! we are all fascinated by the stars, up in the sky or on earth, we often try to reach out to them or emulate them, most of the youngsters today want to be like one of the top film stars, sportspersons or wealthy business man, but seldom do we like to be a social worker like Bapuji or work for the destitute like Mother Theresa and others like them, why, may I ask ? Are they not the shining stars ? The truth is there for all to see, the glitter of the film stars and the sportspersons dwindles and disappears after a period of time, but the glitter of the true stars like Bapuji and Mother Theresa is everlasting and these are the stars that we should emulate.
It is tradition that for any occasion, we invite chief guests and guests of honour, mostly they are stars in films, sports or politics. People invited to be chief guests or guests of honour by default should be role models with an impeccable persona. But unfortunately that is not what we do, today we invite our bloody politicians to do the honours knowing that they are the worst possible role models that we could ever display. What message are we trying to convey to the future and the budding generations ? Is it okay to loot, rob, rape, murder and to be involved with all the drug lords, scams, pimps and gangsters ? Is this what we want flashing before their innocent eyes ?
It is beyond my imagination, inspite of all that we hear and know about our Goan politicians and their corrupt practices, we still run hitter and thither to invite and honour them. Does it make any sense that activists and social workers in Goa and abroad are crying for their blood and some of us want to honour them, it’s disgusting, in fact pigs in the muck would be better company, than to sit with these stinking reptiles.
Even here in the Gulf, some people go out of the way to invite these skunks, all expenses paid, run around them like Man Fridays awaiting their master’s commands. Why and for what ? Do we work for them ? Do they pay our bills ? Do they support our families ? Remember my dear Goans, we have elected these damn skunks and it is we who put them in power, to work for the common good of Goa and Goans, and not for themselves.
What good have our politicians done for the Aam Aadmi and for Goa ? Ever since we elected them to power they have been sodomising and destroying the natural beauty of Goa and selling Goa to the highest bidder, thereby inflating their own fortunes and their bank accounts, least interested in the welfare of Goa and Goans, and their simmering greed will never ever dissipate or be quenched. So why are we honouring these monkeys ?
I make a fervent request to all the committees, organisations and welfare groups, in Goa and outside Goa please do not promote these corrupt Goan politicians, who are responsible for the rape and destruction of our beloved Goa. Put a blanket ban on Goan politicians, boycott all their functions and those they are present, as a sign of protest, a sign of solidarity with Goa and Goans. If we keep on honouring our corrupt politicians, we are only encouraging them to do what they do best, which is worst for Goa and Goans.Yes ! Intrinsically we should love our true stars, invite them to be our role models and emulate them but surely not our neo-rich corrupt Goan political “glitterati”.
Freddy Agnelo Fernandes,
Dubai - UAE
This morning as I was proceeding to office in a bus, all of a sudden I found myself uttering the famous rhyme, Twinkle twinkle little star, how I wonder what you are, up above the world so high, twinkling like a diamond in the sky, and the Filipino sitting next to me burst out laughing, asked me, man are you going to a kinder garden or office ? This put me in a rather embarrassing position, thank God there were just a few of us in the bus and no ladies around.
I was fascinated by the stars right from my childhood and this rhyme, in a way was my connection with them, in fact this was the very first rhyme I taught my kids and now I am a grandfather, but till today I often recite the old rhyme unknowingly, mostly when I am alone, at home or walking or sitting by the sea or admiring the beauty of nature, it just pops out of my mouth without me making any effort.
Yes ! we are all fascinated by the stars, up in the sky or on earth, we often try to reach out to them or emulate them, most of the youngsters today want to be like one of the top film stars, sportspersons or wealthy business man, but seldom do we like to be a social worker like Bapuji or work for the destitute like Mother Theresa and others like them, why, may I ask ? Are they not the shining stars ? The truth is there for all to see, the glitter of the film stars and the sportspersons dwindles and disappears after a period of time, but the glitter of the true stars like Bapuji and Mother Theresa is everlasting and these are the stars that we should emulate.
It is tradition that for any occasion, we invite chief guests and guests of honour, mostly they are stars in films, sports or politics. People invited to be chief guests or guests of honour by default should be role models with an impeccable persona. But unfortunately that is not what we do, today we invite our bloody politicians to do the honours knowing that they are the worst possible role models that we could ever display. What message are we trying to convey to the future and the budding generations ? Is it okay to loot, rob, rape, murder and to be involved with all the drug lords, scams, pimps and gangsters ? Is this what we want flashing before their innocent eyes ?
It is beyond my imagination, inspite of all that we hear and know about our Goan politicians and their corrupt practices, we still run hitter and thither to invite and honour them. Does it make any sense that activists and social workers in Goa and abroad are crying for their blood and some of us want to honour them, it’s disgusting, in fact pigs in the muck would be better company, than to sit with these stinking reptiles.
Even here in the Gulf, some people go out of the way to invite these skunks, all expenses paid, run around them like Man Fridays awaiting their master’s commands. Why and for what ? Do we work for them ? Do they pay our bills ? Do they support our families ? Remember my dear Goans, we have elected these damn skunks and it is we who put them in power, to work for the common good of Goa and Goans, and not for themselves.
What good have our politicians done for the Aam Aadmi and for Goa ? Ever since we elected them to power they have been sodomising and destroying the natural beauty of Goa and selling Goa to the highest bidder, thereby inflating their own fortunes and their bank accounts, least interested in the welfare of Goa and Goans, and their simmering greed will never ever dissipate or be quenched. So why are we honouring these monkeys ?
I make a fervent request to all the committees, organisations and welfare groups, in Goa and outside Goa please do not promote these corrupt Goan politicians, who are responsible for the rape and destruction of our beloved Goa. Put a blanket ban on Goan politicians, boycott all their functions and those they are present, as a sign of protest, a sign of solidarity with Goa and Goans. If we keep on honouring our corrupt politicians, we are only encouraging them to do what they do best, which is worst for Goa and Goans.Yes ! Intrinsically we should love our true stars, invite them to be our role models and emulate them but surely not our neo-rich corrupt Goan political “glitterati”.
Freddy Agnelo Fernandes,
Dubai - UAE
Can Churchill Bros break the jinx...???
:::Goa's top team to play in Kuwait on 28/04/2010:::
By Gasper Crasto
Kuwait: Kuwait has their pride and prestige at stake to prove their superiority in football over Indians when defending champions Kuwait Sports Club trained by Brazilian coach Arthur Berinandes take on India’s Churchill Brothers in their return leg home game of the AFC Cup 2010 on 28th April 7.30pm.
Kuwait SC stadium, Kaifan, Kuwait City (Near City Centre, Shuwaikh)
The first leg between Kuwait SC and Churchill Bros played in Goa, a former Portuguese colony in India, was a 2-2 draw. Both teams have already qualified for the next round of 16.
The match to be played at Kuwait SC stadium, Kaifan, Kuwait City, will be very interesting for the Indian spectators, particularly the large number of football crazy Goans working here.
Churchill Brothers is one of India’s top teams and the only family sports club in India having a large number of supporters. The patron of the club Shri Churchill Alemao, a politician with Congress government, is expected to attend the game. A number of top Indian clubs such as East Bengal, Mohun Bagan, Dempo, etc, have played in Kuwait but haven’t won a single match against the physically strong Kuwaiti clubs.
Throughout the season, Churchill have almost always played the same players when they have been available. Coach Carlos Pereira seems to be bent on having his best men finish the job for him. Churchill have arguably the best defensive lineup in India currently with Arindam at goal, Naoba, Gouramangi, Rowilson and Robert playing in defence.
India's highest paid player Odafa to play
India’s highest paid player Odafa Okolie (No. 10) will most likely pair up with Felix upfront, the two have a great chemistry. The Nigerian Odafa has given sleepless nights to opponents over the last couple of seasons and is currently the highest scorer in the ongoing I-League in India. When he strikes, Churchill Brothers have a higher chance to win. Currently though, Churchill trail behind in the Indian League in fourth place. Ironically, the Goan side has only one Goan player featuring in the playing elevens – Nascimento Silveira.
Kuwait SC’s major game on their home ground has been their 0-4 loss in a friendly to Brazil in 2006. They won the last AFC Cup 2009 final played on this ground last November was won beating Syria’s Al Karamah 2-1 playing in front of a capacity crowd.
AFC Cup & AFC Champions League
The AFC Cup is played between clubs from nations who are members of the Asian Football Confederation. A total of 32 clubs qualified to participate in the 2010 AFC Cup. Different teams from elite Asian countries have been given a chance to take part in the competition.
In recent years, the UEFA Champions League and European ‘soccer’ is more famous than Asian ‘football’. Apart from the AFC Cup, there is also the AFC Champions League in Asian football.
The AFC Champions League is the premier Asian club football competition hosted by Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The tournament is contested among the top 30 clubs from top 10 Asian leagues joined with 2 more clubs who qualify through the playoffs. The champions receive about US$2.25 million in prize money and most importantly a spot in the FIFA Club World Cup at the end of the year.
This competition started as the Asian Champion Club Tournament back in 1967.
Each country receives up to 4 slots, though no more than one third of the number of teams in that country's top division, rounded downwards, depending on the strength of their league, league structure (professionalism), marketability, financial status, and other criteria set out by the AFC Pro-League committee.
The assessment criteria and ranking for participating associations is revised by AFC every two years. This year, Kuwait SC failed to fulfill the criteria to qualify and were left to play in the AFC Cup. West Asian countries like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Iran and Uzbekistan and East Asian Countries such as Japan, Korea, China, Australia whose leagues are the most lucrative among Asian countries automatically have their top teams playing in the Asian Champions League.
Dempo SC lost the qualifying play-off final to Sharjah FC in 2009 and thus missed out to become the first Indian team to participate in the Asian Champions League. Japan’s Pohang Steelers were the eventual winners beating Al-Itihad of Saudi Arabia 2-1 in the final played at Tokyo last November.
The winners of the Asian Champions League qualify for the FIFA Club World Cup. Barcelona won the last World Cup championship beating Argentina’s Estudiantes 2-1 in the final played at Qatar in December 2009.
By Gasper Crasto
Kuwait: Kuwait has their pride and prestige at stake to prove their superiority in football over Indians when defending champions Kuwait Sports Club trained by Brazilian coach Arthur Berinandes take on India’s Churchill Brothers in their return leg home game of the AFC Cup 2010 on 28th April 7.30pm.
Kuwait SC stadium, Kaifan, Kuwait City (Near City Centre, Shuwaikh)The first leg between Kuwait SC and Churchill Bros played in Goa, a former Portuguese colony in India, was a 2-2 draw. Both teams have already qualified for the next round of 16.The match to be played at Kuwait SC stadium, Kaifan, Kuwait City, will be very interesting for the Indian spectators, particularly the large number of football crazy Goans working here.
Churchill Brothers is one of India’s top teams and the only family sports club in India having a large number of supporters. The patron of the club Shri Churchill Alemao, a politician with Congress government, is expected to attend the game. A number of top Indian clubs such as East Bengal, Mohun Bagan, Dempo, etc, have played in Kuwait but haven’t won a single match against the physically strong Kuwaiti clubs.
Throughout the season, Churchill have almost always played the same players when they have been available. Coach Carlos Pereira seems to be bent on having his best men finish the job for him. Churchill have arguably the best defensive lineup in India currently with Arindam at goal, Naoba, Gouramangi, Rowilson and Robert playing in defence.
India's highest paid player Odafa to playIndia’s highest paid player Odafa Okolie (No. 10) will most likely pair up with Felix upfront, the two have a great chemistry. The Nigerian Odafa has given sleepless nights to opponents over the last couple of seasons and is currently the highest scorer in the ongoing I-League in India. When he strikes, Churchill Brothers have a higher chance to win. Currently though, Churchill trail behind in the Indian League in fourth place. Ironically, the Goan side has only one Goan player featuring in the playing elevens – Nascimento Silveira.
Kuwait SC’s major game on their home ground has been their 0-4 loss in a friendly to Brazil in 2006. They won the last AFC Cup 2009 final played on this ground last November was won beating Syria’s Al Karamah 2-1 playing in front of a capacity crowd.AFC Cup & AFC Champions League
The AFC Cup is played between clubs from nations who are members of the Asian Football Confederation. A total of 32 clubs qualified to participate in the 2010 AFC Cup. Different teams from elite Asian countries have been given a chance to take part in the competition.
In recent years, the UEFA Champions League and European ‘soccer’ is more famous than Asian ‘football’. Apart from the AFC Cup, there is also the AFC Champions League in Asian football.
The AFC Champions League is the premier Asian club football competition hosted by Asian Football Confederation (AFC). The tournament is contested among the top 30 clubs from top 10 Asian leagues joined with 2 more clubs who qualify through the playoffs. The champions receive about US$2.25 million in prize money and most importantly a spot in the FIFA Club World Cup at the end of the year.
This competition started as the Asian Champion Club Tournament back in 1967.
Each country receives up to 4 slots, though no more than one third of the number of teams in that country's top division, rounded downwards, depending on the strength of their league, league structure (professionalism), marketability, financial status, and other criteria set out by the AFC Pro-League committee.
The assessment criteria and ranking for participating associations is revised by AFC every two years. This year, Kuwait SC failed to fulfill the criteria to qualify and were left to play in the AFC Cup. West Asian countries like Saudi Arabia, Qatar, UAE, Iran and Uzbekistan and East Asian Countries such as Japan, Korea, China, Australia whose leagues are the most lucrative among Asian countries automatically have their top teams playing in the Asian Champions League.
Dempo SC lost the qualifying play-off final to Sharjah FC in 2009 and thus missed out to become the first Indian team to participate in the Asian Champions League. Japan’s Pohang Steelers were the eventual winners beating Al-Itihad of Saudi Arabia 2-1 in the final played at Tokyo last November.
The winners of the Asian Champions League qualify for the FIFA Club World Cup. Barcelona won the last World Cup championship beating Argentina’s Estudiantes 2-1 in the final played at Qatar in December 2009.
April 27, 2010
CELEBRATIONS ONLY WHEN POWER IS BESTOWED TO THE GRAM SABHAS.
Celebrations Only When Power Is Bestowed To The Gram Sabhas
On the 23rd of April as I was reading the news papers on the net, one advertisement caught my eye, it was a half page advertisement, with the picture of our Prime Minster at the centre and it said, power to the people celebrate 24th April as the Panchayati Raj Day. Is this for real or is it a joke ?
The Panchayats in Goa are become chess boards for our politicians, manipulative tools in creating fiefdoms of their own, power modules to establish power and extract revenue. The prime purpose of Panchayati Raj was to make it an autonomous body and for the devolution of power to the people, wherein the people were suppose to decide what is good for their village as a community. This aspect, the very essence of Panchayati Raj has been choked and ignored, the voices and the wishes of the people are suppressed, so do we have Panchayati Raj, worthy of a celebration in Goa ?
Some time back there was a bill introduced in the Assembly which was approved by the Assembly and sent to the Governor for his final approval, which in fact was contrary to the norms and the principles of Panchayati Raj, where the Secretaries who are the puppets of the corrupt politicians, were suppose to have all the power. Thank God the Governor was enlightened at last and rejected it. The Secretaries have been very manipulative and have taken advantage of some of the illiterate Panches and Sarpanches and some of the educated as well. A good number of the Secretaries have been the cause of all evil in the Panchayats, corrupt to the core and get away with it, because of the protective hands of our corrupt politicians.
Gram Sabhas all over Goa are up in arms against the corrupt practices of the Panchayats, corruption is the main cause of descent, as illegalities are carried out in large numbers to facilitate the powerful builders backed by our corrupt politicians, without adhering to the resolutions of the Gram Sabha. So what is it that our Prime Minister was asking us to celebrate Panchayati Raj Day for, in Goa, where our rights and the very essence of Panchayati Raj is being debouched ?
People have been fighting for the 73rd and 74th amendments for a long time, which in fact gives power to the people through the Gram Sabha, but nothing is being done about it, as it will clip the wing power of our politicians. All that is being done by our corrupt politicians is to subjugate the power of the people and oppress them with their might, using their political clout, money power and the police brutality, people who fight for their rights are harassed, beaten up and imprisoned, and the police on their part are only too happy to oblige the builders and the politicians, for their share of the spoils.
It is obvious why our politicians are not at all interested in passing the 73rd and the 74th amendment. In Goa everyone in the political sphere is out to make fast money, none of them are really interested in the wellbeing of Goa or the Goan people, as long as they get the maximum benefits for themselves, which they do with great exuberance digging themselves deeper into the quagmire of corruption.
People of Goa will only be able to celebrate Panchayati Raj and reap it’s fruits when our Panchayats are freed from the political clout and made autonomous and power bestowed to the Gram Sabha by the 73rd and 74 Amendment. Nothing less will empower the people at the grass root level.
Freddy Agnelo Fernandes
Dubai - UAE
On the 23rd of April as I was reading the news papers on the net, one advertisement caught my eye, it was a half page advertisement, with the picture of our Prime Minster at the centre and it said, power to the people celebrate 24th April as the Panchayati Raj Day. Is this for real or is it a joke ?
The Panchayats in Goa are become chess boards for our politicians, manipulative tools in creating fiefdoms of their own, power modules to establish power and extract revenue. The prime purpose of Panchayati Raj was to make it an autonomous body and for the devolution of power to the people, wherein the people were suppose to decide what is good for their village as a community. This aspect, the very essence of Panchayati Raj has been choked and ignored, the voices and the wishes of the people are suppressed, so do we have Panchayati Raj, worthy of a celebration in Goa ?
Some time back there was a bill introduced in the Assembly which was approved by the Assembly and sent to the Governor for his final approval, which in fact was contrary to the norms and the principles of Panchayati Raj, where the Secretaries who are the puppets of the corrupt politicians, were suppose to have all the power. Thank God the Governor was enlightened at last and rejected it. The Secretaries have been very manipulative and have taken advantage of some of the illiterate Panches and Sarpanches and some of the educated as well. A good number of the Secretaries have been the cause of all evil in the Panchayats, corrupt to the core and get away with it, because of the protective hands of our corrupt politicians.
Gram Sabhas all over Goa are up in arms against the corrupt practices of the Panchayats, corruption is the main cause of descent, as illegalities are carried out in large numbers to facilitate the powerful builders backed by our corrupt politicians, without adhering to the resolutions of the Gram Sabha. So what is it that our Prime Minister was asking us to celebrate Panchayati Raj Day for, in Goa, where our rights and the very essence of Panchayati Raj is being debouched ?
People have been fighting for the 73rd and 74th amendments for a long time, which in fact gives power to the people through the Gram Sabha, but nothing is being done about it, as it will clip the wing power of our politicians. All that is being done by our corrupt politicians is to subjugate the power of the people and oppress them with their might, using their political clout, money power and the police brutality, people who fight for their rights are harassed, beaten up and imprisoned, and the police on their part are only too happy to oblige the builders and the politicians, for their share of the spoils.
It is obvious why our politicians are not at all interested in passing the 73rd and the 74th amendment. In Goa everyone in the political sphere is out to make fast money, none of them are really interested in the wellbeing of Goa or the Goan people, as long as they get the maximum benefits for themselves, which they do with great exuberance digging themselves deeper into the quagmire of corruption.
People of Goa will only be able to celebrate Panchayati Raj and reap it’s fruits when our Panchayats are freed from the political clout and made autonomous and power bestowed to the Gram Sabha by the 73rd and 74 Amendment. Nothing less will empower the people at the grass root level.
Freddy Agnelo Fernandes
Dubai - UAE
April 25, 2010
GALLANT GOANS IN THE SKY.By Valmiki Faleiro.
Gallant Goans in the sky-3
=========
VALMIKI FALEIRO continues with the concluding part of the sequel to his story
published in the HERALD Sunday Mirror on 28 Feb 2010.
=========
Last Sunday, we reviewed some Goan IAF officers who died in service. Let’s now
look at those who retired or are serving, some decorated for gallantry or service.
Names are arranged first by rank, then by seniority. Where seniority is not known,
they are listed alphabetically under the sub-heading, “Others.”
We checked Gallantry awards (in war and in peace) last time. Service awards are:
Vishist Sena Medal, Ati Vishist Seva Medal and Param Vishist Seva Medal. These
are used in abbreviated form. Citations, if available, are in quote marks and within
brackets, but condensed from the original.
Air Marshal
*Terence Joseph de Sa, PVSM. Com. Oct-1947, he was a versatile fighter pilot who
flew 31 types of aircraft including helicopters. He was the first AOC-in-C of Southern Air Command. A talented and multi-skilled officer, he was invited for diverse IAF honorary work in India and abroad after retirement. Died Jan-1998. From Sangolda.
*Dinanath Ramchandra Nadkarni, VSM when Sqn Ldr, AVSM when Gp Capt and PVSM when AVM in 1996.
*Gordon Peter D'Souza, AVSM when AVM in 2004.
Air Vice Marshal
*Loreto Pestana Pereira, PVSM in 1982. He was Systems expert at Air HQ. His brother, late Reinerio Pereira, was a neighbour in Margao. From Ganapoga-Raia.
Air Commodore
*Angelo Reginald Lobo. President’s Gold Medal in the wake of Bhopal Gas Tragedy.
He was with a transport SQN flying Packet-C119. An off-duty road accident almost
cost him a leg (read about that incredible story another day), but he resumed flying
and was CO of Paratroopers Training School. He opted for Civil Defence as its Dy
Director General. Was in action after the Union Carbide factory gas leak in Bhopal on
03 Dec 1984. Exposure to radiation during sorties to Bhopal felled him with cancer.
From Bodiem-Tivim.
*Kevin Fernandes, VSM in 2007.
Group Captain
*Sidney Basil Noronha, MVrC in 1950 in J&K ops. (“Completing more than 37 sorties
with maximum success in the face of adverse conditions, Wg Cdr Noronha showed
outstanding gallantry and set an inspiring example to all under his command.”) One
of only two known IAF Goans to earn a Maha Vir Chakra.
*Emanuel Raymond Fernandes, AVSM. He was amongst the best-regarded and loved Goan fighter pilots, with high qualities of competence, helpfulness and charity.
“Fighter Fernandes” was adept at Spitfires, Vampires, Hunters, and the rather
difficult-to-navigate Gnats at 2 SQN. He wrote the virtual IAF bible on maneuvering
Gnats in dogfights. Read more about him another day. The youngest of his three
sons is a serving Brigadier in the Army. From Badem, Salvador do Mundo.
*Trevor Joseph Fernandes, Bar-to-VM in 1971 when with 26 SQN (Sukhoi-7,
Adampur) and VSM. Ref: Gazette of India : No.53-Pres/71 dt. 26 Jan 1971. During
the 1971 war on the western front, his aircraft was damaged in ack-ack fire. For the
singular courage flying it back safely, he was again decorated with the Bar-to-VM.
Brother of Cdr Stanley Fernandes and Col Herman Fernandes. From Siolim/Pilerne.
*Norbert Joseph Misquitta, VM for gallantry. On 12 Aug 1968, Sqn Ldr Misquitta was
in a malfunctioning Vampire that any pilot would have ejected from. A fighter pilot that he was, he held his wits and landed it safely at base. Not the end of the story. In 1969, as a Vampires flying Instructor, he was on a flight with a co-pilot trainee when the aircraft developed trouble. He told the co-pilot to eject and went on to land the aircraft safely. He also few MiG-21s. Son is Wg Cdr Neville F Misquitta. Settled in Pune. From Candolim.
*Ashley Malcolm Rodrigues. A MiG-23 fighter pilot, he was injured in the 1971 ops,
and to date carries the anti-aircraft bullet in his left leg. Let’s save that story of courage and other interesting elements for another day. Originally from Carambolim, his family settled in Velcao after the then capital city (Old Goa) was hit by the plague.
*Leyland Fernandes. From Aldona.
*Peter D’Souza. A transport SQN pilot (and, like most defence officers, a helpful
human being!) From Mapusa.
*Christopher Fernandes. Retired and settled in Pune. Presently flies aircraft for the
Aditya Birla group. From Curca, Tiswadi.
*Conrad Anthony Dalton, VSM. (Many Goans in British India tweaked their Luso
surnames to blend better in the Anglo-India ethos.) Was a Bomber Navigator on
Canberras. Also commanded the Sambra-Belgaum airbase. Gr Capt Dalton is adept at the violin, saxophone, clarinet and synthesizer. Married to daughter of the famous
St. Estevam artist, Angelo da Fonseca, pioneer of Indian Christian Art. Lives in Pune. From Siolim.
*Sunil Jayant Nanodkar, VSM. (“As Director of Ops-Tactical from 2003, Gp Capt
Nanodkar trained operational status of all offensive fleets in IAF. He led a IAF team
with six Jaguars, two IL-78 Flight Refuellers and two IL-76 heavy lift aircraft to a
multinational exercise in Alaska, USA. Successfully executing it, he put a template in place for the IAF to follow in such future endeavour.”) From Nanora.
Others
*Colville de Souza. VSM in 1996.
*Godfrey Salins (retired as Air Cmde?)
*Henry Rebello. Was also an Olympic triple-jumper.
*Kevin Braganza, pilot. From Mapusa.
*PV Karapurkar. VSM in 1996.
Wing Commander
*Frank Aloysius Rodrigues. Com. 05 Oct 1944.
*Anthony Frank Gama, VSM. (“Sqn Ldr Gama commanded a transport SQN. In about a year and a half, between Sep-1959 to Jul-1962, he carried out more than 1000 hours of flying on air transport ops over NEFA and NHTA.”) With exceptional flying skills, he later commanded the elite Comm Sqn that flies VVIPs.
*Ulrich Anthony D'Cruz, KC. Was shot down over Akhnur-Bhimbar in the J&K ops
and captured by Pathan tribesmen. Let’s save his heroic story for another day. He
died in 1999.
*Paul Louzado, VSM. Retired 31 Dec 1976. Wg Cdr Louzado’s wife, Lorna Almeida,
is from Raia. He hails from Aldona.
*Alban Anthony D'Rozario, VSM when Sqn Ldr in 1973. Wg Cdr Rosario was also an
accomplished pianist.
*Raul Silva Rodrigues. Com 14 Jan 1956. Was a General Duty Pilot.
*Cecil Barreto, VSM in 1976. One of the five sons of a Raia-born dentist settled in
Nagpur, all of whom joined India’s defence services. (More on them another day.) From Ganapoga-Raia.
*David Joseph de Figueiredo, M-in-D in 1972, SC when Sqn Ldr. In the 1971 ops, he
was tasked with bombing and strafing deep inside enemy territory, and saw some of
the severest fighting on all the three fronts. Flying over Behrampur in Fazilkha sector, his Hunter was severely damaged in ack-ack fire. Under MiG escort, he managed to return and land the aircraft back at base. In the mid-1970s, on a Republic Day flypast rehearsal over Delhi, the left aileron of his Hunter malfunctioned. Instead of ejecting, he landed his aircraft safely. For this act of gallantry, Wg Cdr Figueiredo earned the Shaurya Chakra (Medal for Valour.) He pioneered Micro Light Flying in India. Lives in Mumbai and does his hobby flying-training in Gujarat. From Neura.
*John V de Silva, a helipilot, now settled in Australia. He is brother of the wife of Air Cmde Peter K Pinto (the genteel face of the Goa Chamber of Commerce & Industry.) From Duler-Mapusa.
*Desmond (“Dinky”) Fialho. Transport pilot. Father of serving Sqn Ldr Rajnish Fialho.
Amongst the men Goa can count to promote local awareness on defence careers.
From Baga-Calangute.
*Sunith Francis Soares. Before the 1971 war actually began, three Dacca-based
Pakistani Sabres attacked an advance Indian Army position near the border at Boyra
in 24 Parganas on 22 Nov 1971. Four IAF Gnats were scrambled to intercept them,
with Flt Lt Roy Massey, Flt Lt MA Ganapathy, Flt Lt Don Lazarus and Fg Offr Sunith
Soares in the cockpits. Fg Offr Soares was the first to spot the Sabres. In the ensuing combat, all three mighty Sabres were shot down. All four Gnats triumphantly returned to base. A David v/s Goliath story. (Read about it elsewhere in this edition.) Wg Cdr Soares later flew MiGs. From Torda, Salvador do Mundo.
*Oscelyn Faria (com.1965.) General Duty Pilot.
*Ivor Mario Simoes, VSM. Helipilot. Lives in Mumbai.
*JG Fernandes, VSM.
*Michael Fernandez, VSM.
*Eslin Paul D’Couto, VSM.
*Neville F Misquitta. Son of Gr Capt Norbert J Misquitta. From Candolim.
*Bolivar Dias, Met officer, serving. Lives in Margao. From Chinchinim.
*Ajay John Rebello, serving. From Chandor.
Others:
*Antonio Dias, Admin branch, retired and settled in Bangalore.
*Christopher Paul (Logistics), serving.
*Giles Gomes. Retired and settled in Goa.
*R Paul. Retd and settled in Pune. Father of Wg Cdr Christopher Paul.
*Raul Rodrigues, retired and settled in Delhi. From Cavelossim.
*Stanley J Nazareth, Logistics. Settled in Nagpur. From Panjim.
Squadron Leader
*George Menezes, com. Pilot Officer in Dec-1951, was Asst Air Attaché (1959-62) in
the Indian Embassy in Paris. Retired early, joined the corporate world … and turned
out to be one of the top humour writers in India. Son of the legendary Prof. Armando
Menezes, HoD-English Literature, Dharwar University. From Divar.
*Shreekant Harishchandra Pednekar, VSM.
*Henry Vivian D'Costa, M-in-D. Brother of Gr Capt Allan Albert D’Costa. From
Aldona.
*RA Prabhu was with 6 SQN, Canberras. Participated in Kutch Ops, 1965 and 1971
wars. From Bicholim town.
*Sunil Ramnath Laud, VSM.
*JV Rodrigues. AEM branch.
*Francis da Cunha, a fighter pilot who peers describe as an “electronics genius,”
which was his hobby. Mother hailed from Benaulim, father from Daman. Born and
bred (and now lives) in Bangalore.
*Sunil Charles D'Souza, M-in-D when with Unit 2307.
*Rajnish D Fialho, serving. Son of Wg Cdr “Dinky” Fialho. From Baga-Calangute.
Others:
*Ascension Almeida, joined Air India on retirement.
*Avertano P. Fernandes. Bomber Navigator. Was decorated. From Cansaulim.
*Edsel Rodrigues, joined Vayudhoot on retirement. Of Goan stock settled in
Vijayawada.
*Jovita A Pacheco, Met branch. From Majorda.
*Tereza Sequeira (IMS). From Saligao.
Flight Lieutenant
*Vijay A Rodrigues, quit early on account of then little promotional prospects and
settled in Australia. Brother of Gen SF Rodrigues. From Curtorim.
*NT Lobo, VSM when with 43 SQN. Later joined Air India. Settled in Pune.
*(?) Fernandes, is related to the wife of Air Marshal Tipnis. Settled in Pune.
*Pilot Offr Vishwanath Varik resigned soon to join Goa Police and retired as Dy SP.
Brother of Cdr Sharad V Varik, Masters in Naval Architecture. From Canacona.
There are/were other Goans in the IAF whose details I could not ascertain, like:
*Adolfo Condillac (“Condy”), a former St. Xavier’s-Bombay student, initially Fg Offr
with 31 Sqn.
*Lawrence Menezes, was Sqn Ldr during the 1971 war, later joined Hindustan
Aeronautics Ltd. Settled in Delhi after retirement.
*(?) Mendania, a Bombay Goan.
*Merwyn Pinto. Father-in-law of Naval Cdr Kevin Pinto. Settled in Pune.
* * * * * * *
Due to lack of timely information, the name of Flt Lt Shrikant Mahajan was not
included in last Sunday’s piece. On a bombing sortie over Sargoda airbase near
Lahore towards end of the 1971 war, his aircraft, co-piloted by Flt Lt Goswami,
disappeared. Both were presumed dead. His parents were from Khandola-Marcela,
settled in Belgaum.
Similarly, Fg Offr Zenon Aleixo Verissimo Fernandes was with 47 SQN at Halwara
when his aircraft crashed near Ludhiana, killing him on 10 Oct 1977. He was young,
unmarried, and hailed from Pilerne.
* * * * * * *
The number of Goans in the IAF alone – India’s youngest and smallest of the three
services – demonstrates how a small place like Goa provided officer ranks to the
nation’s armed forces far above her proportionate population.
(With help from retired IAF officers and their relatives, both Goan and not, and info
and photo courtesy of: www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF)
(Concludes)
(The author can be contacted at: valmikif@gmail.com)
=========
Erratum
In Part-2 of Valmiki Faleiro’s series on Defence officers of Goan origin, we carried a photograph of late Sqn Ldr Francisco Xavier Menino da Silva in the HERALD
MIRROR of 18 April 2010, the date (as we later learnt) he was commissioned in IAF.
The photo caption inadvertently omitted his name. The error is regretted. -Editor
========================================================
The above article appeared in the HERALD, Goa, edition of Apr 25, 2010
========================================================
RELATED STORY (a first-person war account):
The Boyra Story
=======
Wg Cdr SUNITH FRANCIS SOARES (Retd.) tells the story of how, on 22 Nov 1971,
four aircraft of 22 SQN of the IAF shot down three Sabres of the PAF based at Dacca
in East Pakistan.
=======
It was a few days before the 1971 war with Pakistan actually began. We were based
at Kalaikunda, near Kharagpur. For many months, we had maintained a detachment
at Calcutta for air defence duties. The ORP was makeshift, with sand bags to protect
the aircraft and tents for the crew.
The Indian army was geared for battle. In the Boyra sector, it moved adventurously
close to Pakistan territory setting up defensive positions in preparation for the coming battle. This sort of aggressive posturing must have provoked the military authorities at Dacca and they decided to use some airpower to displace our troops.
The first strike by the PAF Sabres was around 10 AM, no sooner the sun dispersed
the morning fog. Four Gnats were scrambled but arrived too late to pose a threat. A
second strike followed soon thereafter but once again, the Gnats could not make
contact and returned to base a trifle dejected. Wg Cdr BS Sikand, our CO, who had
led the first two sorties, then decided to take the afternoon off and handed over lead to Flt Lt Roy Massey. I was slotted in as number 2. Flt Lt MA Ganapathy and Flt Lt Don Lazarus retained their positions at 3 and 4.
As I settled into the makeshift ORP, I silently prayed for another strike. Don and I
were playing scrabble when the klaxon went off once again. One more formation had
been picked up on the radar heading towards Boyra. Our flight controller this time
was Fg Offr Bagchhi and the time was 1440 Hrs. We soon were hurtling through the
skies at low level with the throttles against the stop.
At this speed and height, the Gnat is not easy to fly as the noise level is atrociously high and the aircraft bucks like a rodeo horse. It became difficult to hear Bagchhi and after a slight reduction in speed and a modest gain in height, we reached the border to be told that the enemy was at 2 o’clock 4 miles. Ganapathy and Don being on the right flank and therefore closer to the target should have been able to spot the aircraft but the afternoon haze made this difficult.
I then saw a glint of metal. Sharply focusing my vision, I saw one aircraft at about
three kms, perched as if to commence a dive. I called out contact and commenced a
crisp commentary on the flight path. Roy having spotted the aircraft, decided to pull
over the flank pair to manoeuver behind the aircraft. This positioned us at about 1.5
kms behind the Sabre. Someone by this time must have warned him about us, as he
went into a classic steep turn with the intention of shaking us off. With slats out and full power, he executed a motherless turn.
The Gnat not only kept up with him degree for degree but gained some distance in.
After the incident, we found that we had clocked more than 9G during this turn. The
Sabre now came out of the turn to gain some speed and this allowed us to close in,
as the Gnat has a very good acceleration, and we were soon at firing range. Roy
fired a small burst that missed but followed quickly with another which hit the right
wing near the fuselage. I saw the wing catch fire, canopy fly off, and the start of the ejection process before we overshot the flaming aircraft. Strike one Sabre.
While we were in combat, I heard Ganapathy call out that he had spotted a Sabre
and he manoeuvred behind the aircraft very quickly to fire his first burst. It missed the target. In the meantime while this was happening the third Sabre cropped out of the blue – literally – between Ganapathy and Don, at a distance of 200 yards or so.
With lightning-quick reflexes, Don swerved his aircraft and in a flash, fired his guns, which struck the Sabre on the wing causing it to explode. The debris hit Don’s aircraft on the nose and drop tank. Yes, drop tank – in our enthusiasm, we had forgotten the cardinal principle of combat – jettisoning the tanks. Strike two Sabres.
The pilot ejected. This pilot, a PoW, was released, to later become the Chief of the
Air Staff of the PAF. Meanwhile, Ganapathy fired a second burst that this time was
better directed and hit the Sabre on the right wing, setting it aflame. Strike three
Sabres.
During our combat that I estimate did not take more than 3 minutes, I saw small puffs
of incandescent lights. I later found to my dismay they were AA shells bursting all
around. The Indian Army AD regiment was having a field firing practice at our peril.
It’s a good thing their gunnery was not as good as ours.
It was now Bagchhi’s turn to take over and he assembled us for our return to base.
After our rendezvous, we came in a finger four formation for a run in, but because of
Don’s damaged aircraft did not intend to do any dramatics, but Ganapathy would not
have any of it. After peeling off he came in for a victory roll to tell the world that we had shot down three Sabres without any loss. (ENDS)
=========
VALMIKI FALEIRO continues with the concluding part of the sequel to his story
published in the HERALD Sunday Mirror on 28 Feb 2010.
=========
Last Sunday, we reviewed some Goan IAF officers who died in service. Let’s now
look at those who retired or are serving, some decorated for gallantry or service.
Names are arranged first by rank, then by seniority. Where seniority is not known,
they are listed alphabetically under the sub-heading, “Others.”
We checked Gallantry awards (in war and in peace) last time. Service awards are:
Vishist Sena Medal, Ati Vishist Seva Medal and Param Vishist Seva Medal. These
are used in abbreviated form. Citations, if available, are in quote marks and within
brackets, but condensed from the original.
Air Marshal
*Terence Joseph de Sa, PVSM. Com. Oct-1947, he was a versatile fighter pilot who
flew 31 types of aircraft including helicopters. He was the first AOC-in-C of Southern Air Command. A talented and multi-skilled officer, he was invited for diverse IAF honorary work in India and abroad after retirement. Died Jan-1998. From Sangolda.
*Dinanath Ramchandra Nadkarni, VSM when Sqn Ldr, AVSM when Gp Capt and PVSM when AVM in 1996.
*Gordon Peter D'Souza, AVSM when AVM in 2004.
Air Vice Marshal
*Loreto Pestana Pereira, PVSM in 1982. He was Systems expert at Air HQ. His brother, late Reinerio Pereira, was a neighbour in Margao. From Ganapoga-Raia.
Air Commodore
*Angelo Reginald Lobo. President’s Gold Medal in the wake of Bhopal Gas Tragedy.
He was with a transport SQN flying Packet-C119. An off-duty road accident almost
cost him a leg (read about that incredible story another day), but he resumed flying
and was CO of Paratroopers Training School. He opted for Civil Defence as its Dy
Director General. Was in action after the Union Carbide factory gas leak in Bhopal on
03 Dec 1984. Exposure to radiation during sorties to Bhopal felled him with cancer.
From Bodiem-Tivim.
*Kevin Fernandes, VSM in 2007.
Group Captain
*Sidney Basil Noronha, MVrC in 1950 in J&K ops. (“Completing more than 37 sorties
with maximum success in the face of adverse conditions, Wg Cdr Noronha showed
outstanding gallantry and set an inspiring example to all under his command.”) One
of only two known IAF Goans to earn a Maha Vir Chakra.
*Emanuel Raymond Fernandes, AVSM. He was amongst the best-regarded and loved Goan fighter pilots, with high qualities of competence, helpfulness and charity.
“Fighter Fernandes” was adept at Spitfires, Vampires, Hunters, and the rather
difficult-to-navigate Gnats at 2 SQN. He wrote the virtual IAF bible on maneuvering
Gnats in dogfights. Read more about him another day. The youngest of his three
sons is a serving Brigadier in the Army. From Badem, Salvador do Mundo.
*Trevor Joseph Fernandes, Bar-to-VM in 1971 when with 26 SQN (Sukhoi-7,
Adampur) and VSM. Ref: Gazette of India : No.53-Pres/71 dt. 26 Jan 1971. During
the 1971 war on the western front, his aircraft was damaged in ack-ack fire. For the
singular courage flying it back safely, he was again decorated with the Bar-to-VM.
Brother of Cdr Stanley Fernandes and Col Herman Fernandes. From Siolim/Pilerne.
*Norbert Joseph Misquitta, VM for gallantry. On 12 Aug 1968, Sqn Ldr Misquitta was
in a malfunctioning Vampire that any pilot would have ejected from. A fighter pilot that he was, he held his wits and landed it safely at base. Not the end of the story. In 1969, as a Vampires flying Instructor, he was on a flight with a co-pilot trainee when the aircraft developed trouble. He told the co-pilot to eject and went on to land the aircraft safely. He also few MiG-21s. Son is Wg Cdr Neville F Misquitta. Settled in Pune. From Candolim.
*Ashley Malcolm Rodrigues. A MiG-23 fighter pilot, he was injured in the 1971 ops,
and to date carries the anti-aircraft bullet in his left leg. Let’s save that story of courage and other interesting elements for another day. Originally from Carambolim, his family settled in Velcao after the then capital city (Old Goa) was hit by the plague.
*Leyland Fernandes. From Aldona.
*Peter D’Souza. A transport SQN pilot (and, like most defence officers, a helpful
human being!) From Mapusa.
*Christopher Fernandes. Retired and settled in Pune. Presently flies aircraft for the
Aditya Birla group. From Curca, Tiswadi.
*Conrad Anthony Dalton, VSM. (Many Goans in British India tweaked their Luso
surnames to blend better in the Anglo-India ethos.) Was a Bomber Navigator on
Canberras. Also commanded the Sambra-Belgaum airbase. Gr Capt Dalton is adept at the violin, saxophone, clarinet and synthesizer. Married to daughter of the famous
St. Estevam artist, Angelo da Fonseca, pioneer of Indian Christian Art. Lives in Pune. From Siolim.
*Sunil Jayant Nanodkar, VSM. (“As Director of Ops-Tactical from 2003, Gp Capt
Nanodkar trained operational status of all offensive fleets in IAF. He led a IAF team
with six Jaguars, two IL-78 Flight Refuellers and two IL-76 heavy lift aircraft to a
multinational exercise in Alaska, USA. Successfully executing it, he put a template in place for the IAF to follow in such future endeavour.”) From Nanora.
Others
*Colville de Souza. VSM in 1996.
*Godfrey Salins (retired as Air Cmde?)
*Henry Rebello. Was also an Olympic triple-jumper.
*Kevin Braganza, pilot. From Mapusa.
*PV Karapurkar. VSM in 1996.
Wing Commander
*Frank Aloysius Rodrigues. Com. 05 Oct 1944.
*Anthony Frank Gama, VSM. (“Sqn Ldr Gama commanded a transport SQN. In about a year and a half, between Sep-1959 to Jul-1962, he carried out more than 1000 hours of flying on air transport ops over NEFA and NHTA.”) With exceptional flying skills, he later commanded the elite Comm Sqn that flies VVIPs.
*Ulrich Anthony D'Cruz, KC. Was shot down over Akhnur-Bhimbar in the J&K ops
and captured by Pathan tribesmen. Let’s save his heroic story for another day. He
died in 1999.
*Paul Louzado, VSM. Retired 31 Dec 1976. Wg Cdr Louzado’s wife, Lorna Almeida,
is from Raia. He hails from Aldona.
*Alban Anthony D'Rozario, VSM when Sqn Ldr in 1973. Wg Cdr Rosario was also an
accomplished pianist.
*Raul Silva Rodrigues. Com 14 Jan 1956. Was a General Duty Pilot.
*Cecil Barreto, VSM in 1976. One of the five sons of a Raia-born dentist settled in
Nagpur, all of whom joined India’s defence services. (More on them another day.) From Ganapoga-Raia.
*David Joseph de Figueiredo, M-in-D in 1972, SC when Sqn Ldr. In the 1971 ops, he
was tasked with bombing and strafing deep inside enemy territory, and saw some of
the severest fighting on all the three fronts. Flying over Behrampur in Fazilkha sector, his Hunter was severely damaged in ack-ack fire. Under MiG escort, he managed to return and land the aircraft back at base. In the mid-1970s, on a Republic Day flypast rehearsal over Delhi, the left aileron of his Hunter malfunctioned. Instead of ejecting, he landed his aircraft safely. For this act of gallantry, Wg Cdr Figueiredo earned the Shaurya Chakra (Medal for Valour.) He pioneered Micro Light Flying in India. Lives in Mumbai and does his hobby flying-training in Gujarat. From Neura.
*John V de Silva, a helipilot, now settled in Australia. He is brother of the wife of Air Cmde Peter K Pinto (the genteel face of the Goa Chamber of Commerce & Industry.) From Duler-Mapusa.
*Desmond (“Dinky”) Fialho. Transport pilot. Father of serving Sqn Ldr Rajnish Fialho.
Amongst the men Goa can count to promote local awareness on defence careers.
From Baga-Calangute.
*Sunith Francis Soares. Before the 1971 war actually began, three Dacca-based
Pakistani Sabres attacked an advance Indian Army position near the border at Boyra
in 24 Parganas on 22 Nov 1971. Four IAF Gnats were scrambled to intercept them,
with Flt Lt Roy Massey, Flt Lt MA Ganapathy, Flt Lt Don Lazarus and Fg Offr Sunith
Soares in the cockpits. Fg Offr Soares was the first to spot the Sabres. In the ensuing combat, all three mighty Sabres were shot down. All four Gnats triumphantly returned to base. A David v/s Goliath story. (Read about it elsewhere in this edition.) Wg Cdr Soares later flew MiGs. From Torda, Salvador do Mundo.
*Oscelyn Faria (com.1965.) General Duty Pilot.
*Ivor Mario Simoes, VSM. Helipilot. Lives in Mumbai.
*JG Fernandes, VSM.
*Michael Fernandez, VSM.
*Eslin Paul D’Couto, VSM.
*Neville F Misquitta. Son of Gr Capt Norbert J Misquitta. From Candolim.
*Bolivar Dias, Met officer, serving. Lives in Margao. From Chinchinim.
*Ajay John Rebello, serving. From Chandor.
Others:
*Antonio Dias, Admin branch, retired and settled in Bangalore.
*Christopher Paul (Logistics), serving.
*Giles Gomes. Retired and settled in Goa.
*R Paul. Retd and settled in Pune. Father of Wg Cdr Christopher Paul.
*Raul Rodrigues, retired and settled in Delhi. From Cavelossim.
*Stanley J Nazareth, Logistics. Settled in Nagpur. From Panjim.
Squadron Leader
*George Menezes, com. Pilot Officer in Dec-1951, was Asst Air Attaché (1959-62) in
the Indian Embassy in Paris. Retired early, joined the corporate world … and turned
out to be one of the top humour writers in India. Son of the legendary Prof. Armando
Menezes, HoD-English Literature, Dharwar University. From Divar.
*Shreekant Harishchandra Pednekar, VSM.
*Henry Vivian D'Costa, M-in-D. Brother of Gr Capt Allan Albert D’Costa. From
Aldona.
*RA Prabhu was with 6 SQN, Canberras. Participated in Kutch Ops, 1965 and 1971
wars. From Bicholim town.
*Sunil Ramnath Laud, VSM.
*JV Rodrigues. AEM branch.
*Francis da Cunha, a fighter pilot who peers describe as an “electronics genius,”
which was his hobby. Mother hailed from Benaulim, father from Daman. Born and
bred (and now lives) in Bangalore.
*Sunil Charles D'Souza, M-in-D when with Unit 2307.
*Rajnish D Fialho, serving. Son of Wg Cdr “Dinky” Fialho. From Baga-Calangute.
Others:
*Ascension Almeida, joined Air India on retirement.
*Avertano P. Fernandes. Bomber Navigator. Was decorated. From Cansaulim.
*Edsel Rodrigues, joined Vayudhoot on retirement. Of Goan stock settled in
Vijayawada.
*Jovita A Pacheco, Met branch. From Majorda.
*Tereza Sequeira (IMS). From Saligao.
Flight Lieutenant
*Vijay A Rodrigues, quit early on account of then little promotional prospects and
settled in Australia. Brother of Gen SF Rodrigues. From Curtorim.
*NT Lobo, VSM when with 43 SQN. Later joined Air India. Settled in Pune.
*(?) Fernandes, is related to the wife of Air Marshal Tipnis. Settled in Pune.
*Pilot Offr Vishwanath Varik resigned soon to join Goa Police and retired as Dy SP.
Brother of Cdr Sharad V Varik, Masters in Naval Architecture. From Canacona.
There are/were other Goans in the IAF whose details I could not ascertain, like:
*Adolfo Condillac (“Condy”), a former St. Xavier’s-Bombay student, initially Fg Offr
with 31 Sqn.
*Lawrence Menezes, was Sqn Ldr during the 1971 war, later joined Hindustan
Aeronautics Ltd. Settled in Delhi after retirement.
*(?) Mendania, a Bombay Goan.
*Merwyn Pinto. Father-in-law of Naval Cdr Kevin Pinto. Settled in Pune.
* * * * * * *
Due to lack of timely information, the name of Flt Lt Shrikant Mahajan was not
included in last Sunday’s piece. On a bombing sortie over Sargoda airbase near
Lahore towards end of the 1971 war, his aircraft, co-piloted by Flt Lt Goswami,
disappeared. Both were presumed dead. His parents were from Khandola-Marcela,
settled in Belgaum.
Similarly, Fg Offr Zenon Aleixo Verissimo Fernandes was with 47 SQN at Halwara
when his aircraft crashed near Ludhiana, killing him on 10 Oct 1977. He was young,
unmarried, and hailed from Pilerne.
* * * * * * *
The number of Goans in the IAF alone – India’s youngest and smallest of the three
services – demonstrates how a small place like Goa provided officer ranks to the
nation’s armed forces far above her proportionate population.
(With help from retired IAF officers and their relatives, both Goan and not, and info
and photo courtesy of: www.bharat-rakshak.com/IAF)
(Concludes)
(The author can be contacted at: valmikif@gmail.com)
=========
Erratum
In Part-2 of Valmiki Faleiro’s series on Defence officers of Goan origin, we carried a photograph of late Sqn Ldr Francisco Xavier Menino da Silva in the HERALD
MIRROR of 18 April 2010, the date (as we later learnt) he was commissioned in IAF.
The photo caption inadvertently omitted his name. The error is regretted. -Editor
========================================================
The above article appeared in the HERALD, Goa, edition of Apr 25, 2010
========================================================
RELATED STORY (a first-person war account):
The Boyra Story
=======
Wg Cdr SUNITH FRANCIS SOARES (Retd.) tells the story of how, on 22 Nov 1971,
four aircraft of 22 SQN of the IAF shot down three Sabres of the PAF based at Dacca
in East Pakistan.
=======
It was a few days before the 1971 war with Pakistan actually began. We were based
at Kalaikunda, near Kharagpur. For many months, we had maintained a detachment
at Calcutta for air defence duties. The ORP was makeshift, with sand bags to protect
the aircraft and tents for the crew.
The Indian army was geared for battle. In the Boyra sector, it moved adventurously
close to Pakistan territory setting up defensive positions in preparation for the coming battle. This sort of aggressive posturing must have provoked the military authorities at Dacca and they decided to use some airpower to displace our troops.
The first strike by the PAF Sabres was around 10 AM, no sooner the sun dispersed
the morning fog. Four Gnats were scrambled but arrived too late to pose a threat. A
second strike followed soon thereafter but once again, the Gnats could not make
contact and returned to base a trifle dejected. Wg Cdr BS Sikand, our CO, who had
led the first two sorties, then decided to take the afternoon off and handed over lead to Flt Lt Roy Massey. I was slotted in as number 2. Flt Lt MA Ganapathy and Flt Lt Don Lazarus retained their positions at 3 and 4.
As I settled into the makeshift ORP, I silently prayed for another strike. Don and I
were playing scrabble when the klaxon went off once again. One more formation had
been picked up on the radar heading towards Boyra. Our flight controller this time
was Fg Offr Bagchhi and the time was 1440 Hrs. We soon were hurtling through the
skies at low level with the throttles against the stop.
At this speed and height, the Gnat is not easy to fly as the noise level is atrociously high and the aircraft bucks like a rodeo horse. It became difficult to hear Bagchhi and after a slight reduction in speed and a modest gain in height, we reached the border to be told that the enemy was at 2 o’clock 4 miles. Ganapathy and Don being on the right flank and therefore closer to the target should have been able to spot the aircraft but the afternoon haze made this difficult.
I then saw a glint of metal. Sharply focusing my vision, I saw one aircraft at about
three kms, perched as if to commence a dive. I called out contact and commenced a
crisp commentary on the flight path. Roy having spotted the aircraft, decided to pull
over the flank pair to manoeuver behind the aircraft. This positioned us at about 1.5
kms behind the Sabre. Someone by this time must have warned him about us, as he
went into a classic steep turn with the intention of shaking us off. With slats out and full power, he executed a motherless turn.
The Gnat not only kept up with him degree for degree but gained some distance in.
After the incident, we found that we had clocked more than 9G during this turn. The
Sabre now came out of the turn to gain some speed and this allowed us to close in,
as the Gnat has a very good acceleration, and we were soon at firing range. Roy
fired a small burst that missed but followed quickly with another which hit the right
wing near the fuselage. I saw the wing catch fire, canopy fly off, and the start of the ejection process before we overshot the flaming aircraft. Strike one Sabre.
While we were in combat, I heard Ganapathy call out that he had spotted a Sabre
and he manoeuvred behind the aircraft very quickly to fire his first burst. It missed the target. In the meantime while this was happening the third Sabre cropped out of the blue – literally – between Ganapathy and Don, at a distance of 200 yards or so.
With lightning-quick reflexes, Don swerved his aircraft and in a flash, fired his guns, which struck the Sabre on the wing causing it to explode. The debris hit Don’s aircraft on the nose and drop tank. Yes, drop tank – in our enthusiasm, we had forgotten the cardinal principle of combat – jettisoning the tanks. Strike two Sabres.
The pilot ejected. This pilot, a PoW, was released, to later become the Chief of the
Air Staff of the PAF. Meanwhile, Ganapathy fired a second burst that this time was
better directed and hit the Sabre on the right wing, setting it aflame. Strike three
Sabres.
During our combat that I estimate did not take more than 3 minutes, I saw small puffs
of incandescent lights. I later found to my dismay they were AA shells bursting all
around. The Indian Army AD regiment was having a field firing practice at our peril.
It’s a good thing their gunnery was not as good as ours.
It was now Bagchhi’s turn to take over and he assembled us for our return to base.
After our rendezvous, we came in a finger four formation for a run in, but because of
Don’s damaged aircraft did not intend to do any dramatics, but Ganapathy would not
have any of it. After peeling off he came in for a victory roll to tell the world that we had shot down three Sabres without any loss. (ENDS)
April 23, 2010
VILLAGE IN GARDEN - GUEST HOUSE.
VILLAGE INN Restaurant in Kuwait City is very popular for Goans and other Indian communities. Currently it is run by our two Goans, Francisco Vaz and Bosco Coelho but it is owned by a Malyali Abraham Skaria who is very much known to Goans. Mr. Skaria is also having his Guest House in Kerala, Chengannur known as "VILLAGE INN GARDEN". This Guest House consists of Rooms and Villa. Besides renting of rooms, other facilities are also provided such as Boating and Ayurvedic Massage. Since Skaria is a good friend of Goans, he would like to offer special discount to Goans willing to stay in his Guest House during their visit to this place. If any Goan is interested to utilise "Village Inn Garden" services at Chengannur, Kerala, he/she can contact the management on Tel. No. 9947345466. Or on email:abrihamz@yahoo.com.in
Seen in the picture above are (first) View of the Guest House and (second) Mr. Abraham Skaria.
Seen in the picture below are two more photos of the Village Inn Garden.
A. Veronica Fernandes,
Seen in the picture above are (first) View of the Guest House and (second) Mr. Abraham Skaria.
Seen in the picture below are two more photos of the Village Inn Garden.
A. Veronica Fernandes,
Kuwait.
April 22, 2010
TWEETING GONE SOUR.
Tweeting Gone Sour
Mr. Shashi Tharoor, gave up his job at the UN and jumped into the sleazy jamboree called Indian politics, without knowing what he was getting into. As soon as his name was released by the Congress Party as their candidate, a lot of us became optimistic about the future of Indian politics, here was a gentleman worthy of the top-notch job in Indian politics, well educated, well bred, intelligent, carried himself with grace and poise, most of all a person with a clean chit and without any blemish, a sight for sore eyes compared to the, illiterate, egoistic, bulging out of shape, dumb with no ethics, corrupt politicians that we have been used to seeing around.
Tharoor became an over night celebrity, the poster boy of the elite Indian fraternity, his accented English and his dexterity with words and a perfect body language, made him stand out by a good distance from the teeming millions, a diamond in the muck or the coal mines of Indian politics, if I may say so, but oh boy ! Were we wrong ? Mr. Shashi Tharoor, had contested for the top UN job but lost and all his experience at the UN did not do him any good in Indian politics, although highly regarded at the UN, was made only a secondary minister in the Indian cabinet.
Ever since his advent into Indian politics, call it over confidence or lack of experience in the brutal Indian politics, he often suffered from the “foot in the mouth disease” and was becoming more of an embarrassment rather than an asset to the ruling Congress Party on a regular basis, now to top it all, he got himself tangled in the IPL imbroglio. A pretty face or a damsel has not only been the cause of the fall of many empires and governments but has brought down powerful men to their knees as well, history has been a witness to all these ever so callous intricacies.
Today, yet again we have seen the fall of an affluent because of the “Sundara Sunanda effect”, it’s not just cigarette smoking and tobacco chewing that is injurious to health, I am sure Tharoor and Modi by now know, just how dangerous, if not altogether lethal or fatal tweeting is, as the two emperors have fallen form grace, victims of their own “tweeting”.
The resignation of Shashi Tharoor is just an act of relatively poor symbolism, is Tharoor the only politician in the Parliament with a cross-connection ? His entry into Indian politics has been a baptism by fire. In the Indian Parliament more than 40% of our politicians have criminal records and all the Parties are harboring criminals, so asking tweeter Tharoor to resign doesn’t help the cause in any way, inorder to clean our Parliament of the undesirables, it has to be fully fumigated and sterilized and the infected quarantined permanently in cells.
Mr. Lalit Modi on the other hand has been articulate and arrogant, in his quest for supremacy in the bureaucracy of Indian cricket, there is absolutely no doubt he is the man behind the successful vertical graph of fortune, of the BCCI, on this path he has been ruthless, crushed many ambitions and aspirations not to mention egos and made a success for himself and for Indian Cricket. IPL his own creation and brain child has already had three successful seasons and is become the most sought after entertainment.
The whole world is reeling in recession but IPL is booming, values have gone up more than fourfold, but as it is said, a shining object always draws attention, so too the IPL. At the moment who is right and who is wrong, is not the most important issue, what is important is our National Security, why did the investigative authorities stay dormant for three years, even after knowing the amount of money that was being channeled into the IPL ? Or is it just because some feathers have been ruffled in the ruling Congress Party, that this all out war against IPL and it’s agencies is being carried out ? If infact wrong organizations were involved in financial aspects of IPL, aren’t we three years too late ?
How many more lessons do we have to learn before we tighten our belts and set filters to all the possible conduits open for aggression ?
Freddy Agnelo Fernandes
Dubai - UAE.
Mr. Shashi Tharoor, gave up his job at the UN and jumped into the sleazy jamboree called Indian politics, without knowing what he was getting into. As soon as his name was released by the Congress Party as their candidate, a lot of us became optimistic about the future of Indian politics, here was a gentleman worthy of the top-notch job in Indian politics, well educated, well bred, intelligent, carried himself with grace and poise, most of all a person with a clean chit and without any blemish, a sight for sore eyes compared to the, illiterate, egoistic, bulging out of shape, dumb with no ethics, corrupt politicians that we have been used to seeing around.
Tharoor became an over night celebrity, the poster boy of the elite Indian fraternity, his accented English and his dexterity with words and a perfect body language, made him stand out by a good distance from the teeming millions, a diamond in the muck or the coal mines of Indian politics, if I may say so, but oh boy ! Were we wrong ? Mr. Shashi Tharoor, had contested for the top UN job but lost and all his experience at the UN did not do him any good in Indian politics, although highly regarded at the UN, was made only a secondary minister in the Indian cabinet.
Ever since his advent into Indian politics, call it over confidence or lack of experience in the brutal Indian politics, he often suffered from the “foot in the mouth disease” and was becoming more of an embarrassment rather than an asset to the ruling Congress Party on a regular basis, now to top it all, he got himself tangled in the IPL imbroglio. A pretty face or a damsel has not only been the cause of the fall of many empires and governments but has brought down powerful men to their knees as well, history has been a witness to all these ever so callous intricacies.
Today, yet again we have seen the fall of an affluent because of the “Sundara Sunanda effect”, it’s not just cigarette smoking and tobacco chewing that is injurious to health, I am sure Tharoor and Modi by now know, just how dangerous, if not altogether lethal or fatal tweeting is, as the two emperors have fallen form grace, victims of their own “tweeting”.
The resignation of Shashi Tharoor is just an act of relatively poor symbolism, is Tharoor the only politician in the Parliament with a cross-connection ? His entry into Indian politics has been a baptism by fire. In the Indian Parliament more than 40% of our politicians have criminal records and all the Parties are harboring criminals, so asking tweeter Tharoor to resign doesn’t help the cause in any way, inorder to clean our Parliament of the undesirables, it has to be fully fumigated and sterilized and the infected quarantined permanently in cells.
Mr. Lalit Modi on the other hand has been articulate and arrogant, in his quest for supremacy in the bureaucracy of Indian cricket, there is absolutely no doubt he is the man behind the successful vertical graph of fortune, of the BCCI, on this path he has been ruthless, crushed many ambitions and aspirations not to mention egos and made a success for himself and for Indian Cricket. IPL his own creation and brain child has already had three successful seasons and is become the most sought after entertainment.
The whole world is reeling in recession but IPL is booming, values have gone up more than fourfold, but as it is said, a shining object always draws attention, so too the IPL. At the moment who is right and who is wrong, is not the most important issue, what is important is our National Security, why did the investigative authorities stay dormant for three years, even after knowing the amount of money that was being channeled into the IPL ? Or is it just because some feathers have been ruffled in the ruling Congress Party, that this all out war against IPL and it’s agencies is being carried out ? If infact wrong organizations were involved in financial aspects of IPL, aren’t we three years too late ?
How many more lessons do we have to learn before we tighten our belts and set filters to all the possible conduits open for aggression ?
Freddy Agnelo Fernandes
Dubai - UAE.
April 21, 2010
Navelim play with black armbands; Maroons bow out: NYC Trophy
Report by Gasper Crasto for www.goa-world.
Kuwait: Hosts Navelim Youth Centre (NYC) played with black armbands while a minute's silence was observed in each of the matches played in the ongoing 21st Edition of the NYC Trophy as a mark of respect to Peter Colaco, founder member and ex-footballer of NYC, who died on 13th April onboard a Kuwait Airways flight whilst returning back from India.
In a statement to the media NYC President Agnello A.S. Fernandes said, "Peter Colaco's loss is colossal to the club. A founder member, Peter was one of those for whom discipline meant everything. An excellent footballer, he was one the favorites on Soor Grounds during his prime playing days. To his family, Peter was a caring father and a loving husband. To us, Peter was a very kind person, always ready to help. He always had a solution to any problem and had a way of making things simple. In him, we have lost a stalwart supporter of NYC. The abyss created by him will be felt for a long time to come."
Navelim advanced to the semifinals beating CRC Chinchinim 2-1 while strong contenders and tournament favorites GOA Maroons bowed out of the tournament with a tie-breaker defeat.
The tournament played at Sabah Hospital Grounds under the auspices of Kuwait Indian Football Federation (KIFF) is sponsored by international corporate houses Gulf Custody Company, Axis Bank and My Money Mart.
Navelim took the lead through captain Americo Fernandes only to see goalkeeper Britto Pereira, one of the most popular players in Kuwait, commit a silly mistake in advancing out of his den unnecessarily to allow Chinchinim's Sedwin Gomes to level the scores.
Navelim's playmaker Duarte Ferrao combined superbly with medio Bernard Pires to scramble the match winner late into the match. Chinchinim goalkeeper Anthony Fernandes and striker Sony Gomes were outstanding throughout the match while stopper back John Furtado, Kelwin Rodrigues, Simon, Bernard and Christi Pires excelled for NYC.
Navelim meet United Goans (UG) Strikers in the first semi-finals on 23rd April 2010.
:::Mighty Maroons bow out:::
Goa Maroons dominated most of the first session against United Friends Club (UFC), hitting the post more than once but could not get the much needed goal. Jaime Figuera, Carlos D'Sa, Ian D'Souza, Gabriel Fernandes, Joseph and Steven Correia played well for Maroons. United Friends Club, watched by their club President Cajetan Pereira played a defensive game almost intentionally holding the much superior Maroons to go in for the tie-breaker. Anthony Fernandes, Alino Silvano Mendes and Godwin were on target for UFC.
It may be noted that despite winning the game, some senior players of UFC were seen screaming abuse in a language perhaps not understood by the officiating referee P.A. Tony, one of the best referees in Kuwait. Many of the spectators raised questions whether clubs or officials do anything to curb this kind of 'uneducated' behavior from players playing in the Kuwait Indian Football Federation (KIFF) tournaments where much importance is emphasized on discipline and fair-play.
In another match, Curtocares United beat Santos Football Club 2-0 to reach the last four stage. Zico Fernandes and Minguel Mouro scored for the winners. Curtorcares will face United Friends Club in the semi-final clash.
In an earlier match, United Goans beat Rising Stars in the tie-breaker for a semi-final berth. Francisco Fernandes, Edward Britto, Alwyn Pontes, Frederick D'Souza, Ravi Narvekar and Anthony Silveira took the spot kicks for United Goans.
Semi-final line-up (23/04/2010):
Navelim Youth Centre v/s United Goans at 6.45 am
Curtorcares United v/s United Friends Club at 8.15 am
:::The above news report appeared in Kuwait's Arab Times dated 21 April 2010. The news is also featured on http://mangalorean.com/ , http://www.indiansinkuwait.com/, http://www.indianfootball.com/ and Goanet.
Other Links:
April 20, 2010
SATANISATION OF PRIESTHOOD BY OUR PRIESTS.
SATANISATION OF PRIESTHOOD BY CATHOLIC PRIESTS.
Since ascending to the throne of Papacy, our Pope Benedict is facing lot of controversies and opposition from all sides. Some of these controversies are his own making while others are the making of his own rascal Priests and Bishops. His first and the major controversy after becoming Pope was his statement on Islam which hurt the feelings of Muslim all around the globe leading to the demonstrations against the Pope in many parts of Islamic world. Public meeting condemning Pope’s statement was even held in Kuwait opposite Holy Family Cathedral whence first time during normal period in Kuwait Church History, Church doors were closed with no evening Mass. Elsewhere public demonstrations were held and many people were inconvenienced because of this upheaval in the Muslim World due to unwarranted comment by our Pope. Because of his keeping silence over the complaints against the priests performing Child Sex Abuses, Pope’s position is very much weakened now. Like Politicians Pope also sided with his erring priests by keeping his silence thereby giving free hand for Child Sex abuser priests and thereby creating agony for the poor children. Worst part of this scenario, there are moves now to get the Pope arrested for his being lethargic on this topic instead of taking action on the erring priests. I don’t think Pope will be able to bear this pressure even though in the beginning he said “it is nothing but gossip”. Finally it proved that it is not gossip but reality. In these circumstances, will our Pope be able to bear the consequences of the faults of his priests? Though he looked capable of facing the current tirade on him and Catholic Church yet we as faithfuls must pray for him to cross this hard journey. May God give our Pope courage to face the current onslaught.
As we all know the recent problem the Pope facing now is the outcome of the controversy created due to Child Sex Abuses done by the rascal Roman Catholic Priests in many parts of the world thereby giving a very bad image of our religion. It is very disturbing to know that some of our priests are become so perverted sexually. I don’t know why our Church leaders like Bishops and Pope tolerate this sacrilege from our priests. Good that these sinful incidents from the priests came to the light but those that are exposed form only a tip of an iceberg while greater number is still remained undisclosed. It is not only European and American priests involving in this crime but also Indians and Goans as well. From my early age I interacted with priests in Church School (Parochial) in my village and Church run school and College in Goa and what I noticed and seen the actions and scenes were horrible. Some of the Goan priests were really horrible. Why this is happening with our priests?
Priests by virtue of being priests are very smart because of their educational background and the training they get in the Seminary, they know how to play on the psychology of youth and women and thru this tactic they easily woo the innocent souls in youth and in women. Most of the women who are having sex with the priests are innocent and ignorant; they are the victims of priests canvassing power over them to trap them easily. Many of the sex acquisitions done by the priests originate from Confessions. Why our priests are after illicit sex and that also recently? Earlier some years back such incidents were not happening as it is now because earlier priests were persons of discipline and character inherited from their disciplined parents and families. Their family background and discipline was super while the current ones who are involved in all sorts of mischief are from indiscipline family background. Earlier persons coming from “Rostad” family background were denied entry into Seminary but now it is totally opposite promoting many “Rostad” priests. Earlier priesthood was a real vocation while currently for many priesthood is a mode of gaining luxurious life with easy sex. Priesthood is no more a sacrifice now, many of the priests now are not ready to do sacrifice, even in having sex they want full freedom with the excuse “we are also human beings having all the desires as any other human being”. However, they fail to accept the fact that they are different human beings trained for years in the Seminary to control their wants and desires including Sex. Abstaining from sex (celibacy) is the top commandment for priesthood and if they cannot follow this commandment then they should not become priests or they should leave priesthood instead of “Bastardising” their priesthood and "prostituting" our religion. Going for Sex by priests is not only a Sin but a Crime on those with whom they have sex and for which the guilty priests must be give highest punishment.
The other aspect rampantly followed by many of our priests was arrogance and pride. Recently I came across a Capuchin priest who was so revengeful and arrogant that it looked to me he is a replica of Saddam Hussein. Good that his power is concentrated only in the Church otherwise he would send every one under him including the Deacon, Ushers, Choir persons and his priest colleagues to the gallows. While preaching he looked saintly but otherwise he is so revengeful, rough and ruffian like. Priests should not have such devilish attributes; such priests serve not Jesus but Lucifer. Because of such “Rostad” priests many of the Catholics are leaving Catholicsm and embracing other religions and other Christian denominations. I have witnessed his anger, pride, rudeness and roughness, it goes against the doctrine of Christt. Jesus Christ professed and practiced humility but unfortunately His followers are disgracing the fair image of Christ and yet they boast of spreading the gospel of Christianity. If this Capuchin ruffian who is acting like a wild beast with his subordinates and faithfuls is not controlled by his superiors where he is serving the Church then I am afraid there will be lot of disorder and commotion in the Church. Faithfuls have already started a campaign on the rough and rude behavior of this beastly priest by means of mouth to mouth propaganda and more and more faithfuls are coming to know the rough quality of this ruffian priest. In his earlier posting elsewhere he has done lot of damage to the faith of Catholics. He was cursed there by many faithfuls. If a priest cannot treat the faithfuls with humility then how he will respect Christ who is the symbol of humility?
Is it right on the part of the Catholics to respect and obey priesthood of all those priests who are sinful and bad in character? According to one Theologist, faithfuls must refuse to give their allegiance to rascal priests, faitfuls should not make their confessions with such priests, they should not receive holy communion from such sinful priests and not even go for the masses said by such priests because they lack humility, respect for human beings, holiness and godliness in them as they are full of evils in them. Such priests will turn faithfuls into devils. Sex, arrogance, roughness, rudeness, anger, revenge and pride go against Christianity and those priests who possess such devilish characteristics must leave priesthood and leave Catholicsm into peace. Catholicsm is not the monopoly of priests, Bishops and Pope. Rascal priests must not think that they are the landlords of Catholicsm and others are tenants. It is these rascal priests who damage the sanctity of our religion and not this blog and not this writer as maliciously stated by the ruffian Capuchin who is just a “kalcho porcho potto" . Priests should use Church forum to preach sense and not non-sense. I am ashamed to know that such a rascal is existing in our community. In fact he is a disgrace not only on our community but more on our Catholicsm.
A. Veronica Fernandes,
Kuwait.
Since ascending to the throne of Papacy, our Pope Benedict is facing lot of controversies and opposition from all sides. Some of these controversies are his own making while others are the making of his own rascal Priests and Bishops. His first and the major controversy after becoming Pope was his statement on Islam which hurt the feelings of Muslim all around the globe leading to the demonstrations against the Pope in many parts of Islamic world. Public meeting condemning Pope’s statement was even held in Kuwait opposite Holy Family Cathedral whence first time during normal period in Kuwait Church History, Church doors were closed with no evening Mass. Elsewhere public demonstrations were held and many people were inconvenienced because of this upheaval in the Muslim World due to unwarranted comment by our Pope. Because of his keeping silence over the complaints against the priests performing Child Sex Abuses, Pope’s position is very much weakened now. Like Politicians Pope also sided with his erring priests by keeping his silence thereby giving free hand for Child Sex abuser priests and thereby creating agony for the poor children. Worst part of this scenario, there are moves now to get the Pope arrested for his being lethargic on this topic instead of taking action on the erring priests. I don’t think Pope will be able to bear this pressure even though in the beginning he said “it is nothing but gossip”. Finally it proved that it is not gossip but reality. In these circumstances, will our Pope be able to bear the consequences of the faults of his priests? Though he looked capable of facing the current tirade on him and Catholic Church yet we as faithfuls must pray for him to cross this hard journey. May God give our Pope courage to face the current onslaught.
As we all know the recent problem the Pope facing now is the outcome of the controversy created due to Child Sex Abuses done by the rascal Roman Catholic Priests in many parts of the world thereby giving a very bad image of our religion. It is very disturbing to know that some of our priests are become so perverted sexually. I don’t know why our Church leaders like Bishops and Pope tolerate this sacrilege from our priests. Good that these sinful incidents from the priests came to the light but those that are exposed form only a tip of an iceberg while greater number is still remained undisclosed. It is not only European and American priests involving in this crime but also Indians and Goans as well. From my early age I interacted with priests in Church School (Parochial) in my village and Church run school and College in Goa and what I noticed and seen the actions and scenes were horrible. Some of the Goan priests were really horrible. Why this is happening with our priests?
Priests by virtue of being priests are very smart because of their educational background and the training they get in the Seminary, they know how to play on the psychology of youth and women and thru this tactic they easily woo the innocent souls in youth and in women. Most of the women who are having sex with the priests are innocent and ignorant; they are the victims of priests canvassing power over them to trap them easily. Many of the sex acquisitions done by the priests originate from Confessions. Why our priests are after illicit sex and that also recently? Earlier some years back such incidents were not happening as it is now because earlier priests were persons of discipline and character inherited from their disciplined parents and families. Their family background and discipline was super while the current ones who are involved in all sorts of mischief are from indiscipline family background. Earlier persons coming from “Rostad” family background were denied entry into Seminary but now it is totally opposite promoting many “Rostad” priests. Earlier priesthood was a real vocation while currently for many priesthood is a mode of gaining luxurious life with easy sex. Priesthood is no more a sacrifice now, many of the priests now are not ready to do sacrifice, even in having sex they want full freedom with the excuse “we are also human beings having all the desires as any other human being”. However, they fail to accept the fact that they are different human beings trained for years in the Seminary to control their wants and desires including Sex. Abstaining from sex (celibacy) is the top commandment for priesthood and if they cannot follow this commandment then they should not become priests or they should leave priesthood instead of “Bastardising” their priesthood and "prostituting" our religion. Going for Sex by priests is not only a Sin but a Crime on those with whom they have sex and for which the guilty priests must be give highest punishment.
The other aspect rampantly followed by many of our priests was arrogance and pride. Recently I came across a Capuchin priest who was so revengeful and arrogant that it looked to me he is a replica of Saddam Hussein. Good that his power is concentrated only in the Church otherwise he would send every one under him including the Deacon, Ushers, Choir persons and his priest colleagues to the gallows. While preaching he looked saintly but otherwise he is so revengeful, rough and ruffian like. Priests should not have such devilish attributes; such priests serve not Jesus but Lucifer. Because of such “Rostad” priests many of the Catholics are leaving Catholicsm and embracing other religions and other Christian denominations. I have witnessed his anger, pride, rudeness and roughness, it goes against the doctrine of Christt. Jesus Christ professed and practiced humility but unfortunately His followers are disgracing the fair image of Christ and yet they boast of spreading the gospel of Christianity. If this Capuchin ruffian who is acting like a wild beast with his subordinates and faithfuls is not controlled by his superiors where he is serving the Church then I am afraid there will be lot of disorder and commotion in the Church. Faithfuls have already started a campaign on the rough and rude behavior of this beastly priest by means of mouth to mouth propaganda and more and more faithfuls are coming to know the rough quality of this ruffian priest. In his earlier posting elsewhere he has done lot of damage to the faith of Catholics. He was cursed there by many faithfuls. If a priest cannot treat the faithfuls with humility then how he will respect Christ who is the symbol of humility?
Is it right on the part of the Catholics to respect and obey priesthood of all those priests who are sinful and bad in character? According to one Theologist, faithfuls must refuse to give their allegiance to rascal priests, faitfuls should not make their confessions with such priests, they should not receive holy communion from such sinful priests and not even go for the masses said by such priests because they lack humility, respect for human beings, holiness and godliness in them as they are full of evils in them. Such priests will turn faithfuls into devils. Sex, arrogance, roughness, rudeness, anger, revenge and pride go against Christianity and those priests who possess such devilish characteristics must leave priesthood and leave Catholicsm into peace. Catholicsm is not the monopoly of priests, Bishops and Pope. Rascal priests must not think that they are the landlords of Catholicsm and others are tenants. It is these rascal priests who damage the sanctity of our religion and not this blog and not this writer as maliciously stated by the ruffian Capuchin who is just a “kalcho porcho potto" . Priests should use Church forum to preach sense and not non-sense. I am ashamed to know that such a rascal is existing in our community. In fact he is a disgrace not only on our community but more on our Catholicsm.
A. Veronica Fernandes,
Kuwait.
April 19, 2010
WHITE ANTS "ATE" 24 KG CHARAS.
White ants 'ate' 24 kg charas: Prosecution tell court Humans over the period of evolution finally set up courts to deliver justice and punish the guilty, but men in all his wisdom says “innocent till proven guilty” for this men came up with the judiciary, where the judge is the arbitrator of justice, sometimes helped by a nominated jury, so far so good, but what comes next has often made a mockery of our renowned system of justice.
In any court case, there is always the transgressed and the transgressor, whereby one of the two has to be guilty, but the irony of our justice system is, both swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth and yet one of them is lying and to complicate it even further we have two guys in black coats knowingly or unknowingly trying to prove the other wrong or guilty. From personal experience I know a lot of innocent people have been proved guilty or a lot of guilty people have been acquitted of their transgressions. As far as I am concerned I would prefer a solution outside the court any given day. Our justice system has been hijacked by the brilliance and manipulative powers of some of the men in black coats called Lawyers. Are they a blessing or a curse on humanity ?
If my memory serves me right, the case of the old Zuari bridge where one of the pillars of the bridge was knocked down by a barge, the owner of the barge won the case saying that the unstable pillar fell on his barge, and was paid compensation for the damage to his barge, is that what really happened ?
Here is another case of the vanishing drugs, the lawyer for the defendants claiming that the drugs were devoured by an army of white ants, incredible ants and even more incredible lawyer. First and foremost, where these drugs kept in a mud house or a secure cemented and concrete structure ? Why is it, nobody noticed the receding amount of drugs ? I am sure, all those drugs could not have been consumed by the ants in a jiffy. So who is selling the cock and the bull story and the important factor is, who is buying it ?
When asked about the drugs imbroglio in Goa, our Home Minister Mr. Ravi Naik, not so long ago proclaimed in public that there were no drugs in Goa, is now finally convinced that it is not so and is trying to assure Goans, that he will get to the bottom of this issue and punish the guilty, I won’t be surprise if this issue turns out to be a bottomless pit like many others, wherein he could never reach the bottom, it just occurred to me, could these white ants be domesticated and trained by our politicians ? Today in Goa our politicians are capable of doing anything !
It would be most appropriate to put up boards around the parameters of the said drug storage facility warning people, to beware of any “zombie” white ants, highly contaminated, dangerous and armed with potent drugs, in the vicinity and to report any suspicious acts by any other reptiles in the vicinity to the nearest police station or the court in the area.
Zombie white ants, God Almighty !! What next !!
Freddy Agnelo Fernandes,
Dubai - UAE.
In any court case, there is always the transgressed and the transgressor, whereby one of the two has to be guilty, but the irony of our justice system is, both swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth and yet one of them is lying and to complicate it even further we have two guys in black coats knowingly or unknowingly trying to prove the other wrong or guilty. From personal experience I know a lot of innocent people have been proved guilty or a lot of guilty people have been acquitted of their transgressions. As far as I am concerned I would prefer a solution outside the court any given day. Our justice system has been hijacked by the brilliance and manipulative powers of some of the men in black coats called Lawyers. Are they a blessing or a curse on humanity ?
If my memory serves me right, the case of the old Zuari bridge where one of the pillars of the bridge was knocked down by a barge, the owner of the barge won the case saying that the unstable pillar fell on his barge, and was paid compensation for the damage to his barge, is that what really happened ?
Here is another case of the vanishing drugs, the lawyer for the defendants claiming that the drugs were devoured by an army of white ants, incredible ants and even more incredible lawyer. First and foremost, where these drugs kept in a mud house or a secure cemented and concrete structure ? Why is it, nobody noticed the receding amount of drugs ? I am sure, all those drugs could not have been consumed by the ants in a jiffy. So who is selling the cock and the bull story and the important factor is, who is buying it ?
When asked about the drugs imbroglio in Goa, our Home Minister Mr. Ravi Naik, not so long ago proclaimed in public that there were no drugs in Goa, is now finally convinced that it is not so and is trying to assure Goans, that he will get to the bottom of this issue and punish the guilty, I won’t be surprise if this issue turns out to be a bottomless pit like many others, wherein he could never reach the bottom, it just occurred to me, could these white ants be domesticated and trained by our politicians ? Today in Goa our politicians are capable of doing anything !
It would be most appropriate to put up boards around the parameters of the said drug storage facility warning people, to beware of any “zombie” white ants, highly contaminated, dangerous and armed with potent drugs, in the vicinity and to report any suspicious acts by any other reptiles in the vicinity to the nearest police station or the court in the area.
Zombie white ants, God Almighty !! What next !!
Freddy Agnelo Fernandes,
Dubai - UAE.
April 18, 2010
GALLANT GOANS IN THE SKY-2. By Valmiki Faleiro.
Up, up and high...
Gallant Goans in the sky-2
=========
VALMIKI FALEIRO follows up his story carried in the HERALD Sunday Mirror on 28 Feb
2010, on the gallantry of Goans in the Indian Air Force, in this two-part sequel.
=========
Reader response to the cover story in the Sunday Mirror (HERALD, 28 Feb 2010)
warranted this sequel. Grouse was there were many more gallant Goan airmen who laid
down their lives. Besides, the article did not convey the extent of Goa’s contribution to
the Indian Air Force (IAF).
Goa, as I said before, provided officers to India’s armed forces far beyond the ratio of
her population. Most joined the army and navy, fewest went to the air force. IAF men
occupy only 8-10 houses out of some 150 at Porvorim’s Defence Colony. Yet, a listing
only of IAF Goans provides fair judgment of Goa’s singular contribution to the ranks of
the three wings of India’s defence services.
But, before that, two corrections to Part-I of this serial.
Sqn Ldr “ML” was actually “Emil” (Emiliano) Fernandes, from Dramapur proper, not
Sirlim. He was, in fact, a maternal nephew of Valerian Cardinal Gracias, from
Battiavaddo-Dramapur, now claimed as a son of Navelim. (Cardinal Gracias’ mother
hailed from Navelim.) Two, I wrongly ranked Sqn Ldr FX da Silva as Wg Cdr. More on
them below.
This list is largely sourced from the IAF website. Today, let us look at those who died in
harness, in action or of other causes. Names are listed by the date of death, and where
not known, by seniority or alphabetically. Ranks are in abbreviated form.
IAF gallantry awards in war are, in ascending order: Mention in Despatches (M-in-D), Vir
Chakra (VrC), Maha Vir Chakra (MVrC) and Param Vir Chakra. Ditto for peacetime: M-
in-D, Shaurya Chakra, Kirti Chakra and Ashoka Chakra. Citations, if available, are in
quote marks within brackets – but in abridged form.
This list is not comprehensive, much less exhaustive. There would be many more IAF
Goans who died in service, unsung…
*Flt Lt Aloysius William Barrette, VrC in 1950. Commissioned (hereafter, com.) 1943,
he died in a Tempest-II of 8 SQN on 08 Aug 1948 during the J&K Ops. He battled
bravely (but let’s keep that story for another day.)
*Flt Lt Agostinho Gracias Monteiro joined the IAF after a brilliant academic record at
St Xavier’s-Mumbai and was based in Jalahalli. On a visit to Mumbai, he died of a heart
attack in 1950.
*Pilot Officer Hugo Pacheco Gracias was with 2 SQN (Unit 3) when he died in a
Tempest-II crash on 24 Nov 1951 during a dive-bombing practice with the army, at
Halwara, at age 21.
*Fg Offr Gerald B. Cabral, VrC, was with 8 SQN during the 1948 J&K Ops. Let’s leave
his rarest of rare stories for another day. The third time he crashed, during peacetime,
he was unlucky. He died on 01 Dec 1951 when his Tigermoth-DH82 crashed into a glass
factory at Begumpet.
*Fl Lt Salvador (“Sally”) Rodrigues died in Jamnagar in 1951 in a flying accident.
*AVM Erlic Wilmot Pinto, M-in-D in 1951, PVSM posthumous. His death is the most
known among IAF Goans. Com. 1940, he commanded Goa Ops in Dec-1961. He was
AOC-in-C, Western Air Command and tipped to be Chief of Air Staff when he died in a
Chetak of 107 HU flown by Flt Lt SS Sodhi. The chopper crashed over the Poonch River
(in J&K) 22 Nov 1963. Also killed: Lt Gen Daulat Singh (GOC-in-C, Western Command),
Lt Gen Bikram Singh (GOC, XV Corps), Lt Gen Rustom K Nanavati and others. Death of
so many senior officers in an accident raised suspicions, but the Court of Inquiry ruled
out sabotage. Goa’s airport road was fittingly named after AVM Pinto. But when the road
was widened sometime ago, roadside signage of hotels, etc. was shifted – but, the road
name signboard of one of the best-known Goans in the IAF was, scandalously, not. It
vanished, despite appeals to the current Goa PWD minister. A monumental shame!
*Sqn Ldr AV D'Lemos was flying a Packet C-119 transport aircraft that blew up after
takeoff from Barrackpore on 06 Mar 1964.
*Flt Lt Raymond Vaz, a Gnat pilot with either 9 SQN or 15 SQN, died in a crash over
the home airfield in 1965.
*Fg Offr RHC Vaz, again flying a Gnat, was killed in a crash at takeoff from Ambala on
20 Apr 1968.
*Flt Lt Andre Rudolph da Costa, VrC, was among IAF’s earliest losses in the 1971 war
(Op. Cactus Lily), when his severely damaged Hunter SD-F56 of 7 SQN crashed on 04
Dec 1971.
*Flt Lt Lawrence Fredric Pereira, VrC, a Su-7 pilot, was killed in FAC strafing in 1971.
(“Flt Lt Pereira of 26 SQN was on FAC duty with a Brigade in Shakargarh. He directed
aircraft on close air support missions. He was killed on 14 Dec 1971 when an enemy
aircraft strafed the brigade location.”) His dying words were, “Tell my girl (his wife
Isabelle) to be brave.” He had an eight-month old daughter.
*Fg Offr Joe D’Souza, VrC, a young pilot of 43 SQN was tasked with a maintenance
sortie from Mohanbari to Monigeng. He was killed when his Dakota-C47 crashed at
Machuka in NEFA on 17 Dec 1971. He was unmarried, parents worked in Mumbai.
*Wg Cdr Vishwanath Balakrishna Sawardekar, Kirti Chakra in 1965, AVSM in 1972.
Let’s keep the story of his heroism in 1965 for another day. When CO of 29 SQN
(“Scorpions”), his MiG-21FL crashed following a bird hit over Hindon on 04 Apr 1972.
Hailed from a well-known family whose storeyed homestead with two courtyards still
stands in Sanvordem. His family later lived in Panjim.
*Sqn Ldr Owen Joseph D'Sena, VSM. (“Sqn Ldr D'Sena is today one of the top fighter
pilots on new aircraft and is an invaluable fighter combat instructor. He was assigned
strenuous tasks of combat flying and xxx hours of mission analysis. He ensured timely
completion of special flight trials. He displayed skill of a high order.”) Sqn Ldr D’Sena
was with Unit TACDE when he died in a Sukhoi-7 crash on 24 Jul 1976.
*Sqn Ldr Francisco Xavier Menino da Silva was with 48 SQN in the 1965 war and
with 19 SQN in 1971. On 12 Aug 1976, at age 34, a massive heart attack, his first and
last, felled him. His widow and son live in Goa, a married daughter is in USA.
*Wg Cdr Clarence Joseph D'Lima, VSM in 1973. Commanded the New Delhi-Tezpur
flight carrying Prime Minister Morarji Desai and others that crash-landed near Jorhat on
04 Nov 1977. All passengers survived, all five aircrew died. No awards bestowed despite
their evident self-sacrifice. Civil society decided otherwise. Pune changed the name of
the road by which his family lived from Irwin Road to Wg Cdr Clarence D'Lima Marg. The
main road from NH-17 to Limavaddo-Socorro where the family originally hailed from was
named after him.
*Gr Capt Allan Albert D'Costa, VSM and MVrC. As CO of SQN 222, Sukhoi-7 fighter-
bombers in 1971, he was among the best-organized and daring IAF pilots. Let’s save the
story of his heroism for another day. Wg Cdr D’Costa died in Jodhpur of a massive heart
attack in 1977. He was son of a Chief Engineer of Central Railway and brother of Sqn
Ldr Henry Vivian D’Costa. One of only two known IAF Goans to earn a Maha Vir Chakra.
*Sqn Ldr José (“Joe”) de Jesus da Conceicao e Souza was with IAF Unit 117 based
at Bombay Flying Club. On 07 Nov 1979, he took off from an oilrig at Bombay High in a
Chetak with two Germans onboard, when a technical failure brought the chopper back to
the rig, breaking it into pieces. Sqn Ldr Souza and his two passengers perished. He was
33. His widow lives in Goa and two sons, both engineers, work in USA.
*Wg Cdr Emiliano Augustine Fernandes of 48 SQN was sent to the USSR to take
delivery of three new Antonov AN-32 transporters. During return, after a stopover in
Oman, the three aircraft took off at 1328 hrs for Jamnagar on 25 March 1986. Flying in
reverse-V formation, 60 miles apart of each other, the aircraft piloted by Wg Cdr UM
Bheemiah and co-piloted by Wg Cdr Fernandes was last in line. Over the Arabian Sea,
some 450 kms. from Jamnagar, the aircraft abruptly disappeared. Extensive search by
IAF’s IL-76s and naval IL-38s (36 aircraft in all, plus 6/7 naval ships) yielded no trace of
debris. It is the only mystery of its kind in the annals of the IAF. At the time, the US 7th
Fleet and Pakistan Navy were in joint exercises in the region. Was the aircraft force-
landed and the crew taken captive? One may never know.
*Sqn Ldr Rodrigues was a fighter pilot at Car Nicobar (Andaman & Nicobar Islands).
He lived there with his family. It was the season of Christmas-2004 and his mother had
joined them. The Tsunami struck. The entire Varca-origin family perished.
*Wg Cdr Oswald Manuel Francis de Abreu, Flight Commander of 222 SQN died on
takeoff in a MiG-27 on 16 Feb 2010. Preliminary Inquiry revealed “failure of low-pressure
turbine blades” of the R-29 engines. IAF’s fleet of over 100 MiG-27s, its frontline swing-
wing fighter aircraft, was grounded.
There are others like Fl Lt Phillip D’Souza, who ejected from a Marut, but died. Charles
D’Souza, an IAF helipilot, was young, yet unmarried, the only son of Brig George F
D’Souza. He died of cancer – a tragedy that irretrievably shook his otherwise gregarious
parents.
The valiant stories of patriotism and gallantry on part of Goans not only in the IAF but in
all the three services during the 20th century would never cease to amaze. We will look
at some of those inspiring stories another Sunday.
(To continue next Sunday)
(The author can be contacted at: valmikif@gmail.com)
Gallant Goans in the sky-2
=========
VALMIKI FALEIRO follows up his story carried in the HERALD Sunday Mirror on 28 Feb
2010, on the gallantry of Goans in the Indian Air Force, in this two-part sequel.
=========
Reader response to the cover story in the Sunday Mirror (HERALD, 28 Feb 2010)
warranted this sequel. Grouse was there were many more gallant Goan airmen who laid
down their lives. Besides, the article did not convey the extent of Goa’s contribution to
the Indian Air Force (IAF).
Goa, as I said before, provided officers to India’s armed forces far beyond the ratio of
her population. Most joined the army and navy, fewest went to the air force. IAF men
occupy only 8-10 houses out of some 150 at Porvorim’s Defence Colony. Yet, a listing
only of IAF Goans provides fair judgment of Goa’s singular contribution to the ranks of
the three wings of India’s defence services.
But, before that, two corrections to Part-I of this serial.
Sqn Ldr “ML” was actually “Emil” (Emiliano) Fernandes, from Dramapur proper, not
Sirlim. He was, in fact, a maternal nephew of Valerian Cardinal Gracias, from
Battiavaddo-Dramapur, now claimed as a son of Navelim. (Cardinal Gracias’ mother
hailed from Navelim.) Two, I wrongly ranked Sqn Ldr FX da Silva as Wg Cdr. More on
them below.
This list is largely sourced from the IAF website. Today, let us look at those who died in
harness, in action or of other causes. Names are listed by the date of death, and where
not known, by seniority or alphabetically. Ranks are in abbreviated form.
IAF gallantry awards in war are, in ascending order: Mention in Despatches (M-in-D), Vir
Chakra (VrC), Maha Vir Chakra (MVrC) and Param Vir Chakra. Ditto for peacetime: M-
in-D, Shaurya Chakra, Kirti Chakra and Ashoka Chakra. Citations, if available, are in
quote marks within brackets – but in abridged form.
This list is not comprehensive, much less exhaustive. There would be many more IAF
Goans who died in service, unsung…
*Flt Lt Aloysius William Barrette, VrC in 1950. Commissioned (hereafter, com.) 1943,
he died in a Tempest-II of 8 SQN on 08 Aug 1948 during the J&K Ops. He battled
bravely (but let’s keep that story for another day.)
*Flt Lt Agostinho Gracias Monteiro joined the IAF after a brilliant academic record at
St Xavier’s-Mumbai and was based in Jalahalli. On a visit to Mumbai, he died of a heart
attack in 1950.
*Pilot Officer Hugo Pacheco Gracias was with 2 SQN (Unit 3) when he died in a
Tempest-II crash on 24 Nov 1951 during a dive-bombing practice with the army, at
Halwara, at age 21.
*Fg Offr Gerald B. Cabral, VrC, was with 8 SQN during the 1948 J&K Ops. Let’s leave
his rarest of rare stories for another day. The third time he crashed, during peacetime,
he was unlucky. He died on 01 Dec 1951 when his Tigermoth-DH82 crashed into a glass
factory at Begumpet.
*Fl Lt Salvador (“Sally”) Rodrigues died in Jamnagar in 1951 in a flying accident.
*AVM Erlic Wilmot Pinto, M-in-D in 1951, PVSM posthumous. His death is the most
known among IAF Goans. Com. 1940, he commanded Goa Ops in Dec-1961. He was
AOC-in-C, Western Air Command and tipped to be Chief of Air Staff when he died in a
Chetak of 107 HU flown by Flt Lt SS Sodhi. The chopper crashed over the Poonch River
(in J&K) 22 Nov 1963. Also killed: Lt Gen Daulat Singh (GOC-in-C, Western Command),
Lt Gen Bikram Singh (GOC, XV Corps), Lt Gen Rustom K Nanavati and others. Death of
so many senior officers in an accident raised suspicions, but the Court of Inquiry ruled
out sabotage. Goa’s airport road was fittingly named after AVM Pinto. But when the road
was widened sometime ago, roadside signage of hotels, etc. was shifted – but, the road
name signboard of one of the best-known Goans in the IAF was, scandalously, not. It
vanished, despite appeals to the current Goa PWD minister. A monumental shame!
*Sqn Ldr AV D'Lemos was flying a Packet C-119 transport aircraft that blew up after
takeoff from Barrackpore on 06 Mar 1964.
*Flt Lt Raymond Vaz, a Gnat pilot with either 9 SQN or 15 SQN, died in a crash over
the home airfield in 1965.
*Fg Offr RHC Vaz, again flying a Gnat, was killed in a crash at takeoff from Ambala on
20 Apr 1968.
*Flt Lt Andre Rudolph da Costa, VrC, was among IAF’s earliest losses in the 1971 war
(Op. Cactus Lily), when his severely damaged Hunter SD-F56 of 7 SQN crashed on 04
Dec 1971.
*Flt Lt Lawrence Fredric Pereira, VrC, a Su-7 pilot, was killed in FAC strafing in 1971.
(“Flt Lt Pereira of 26 SQN was on FAC duty with a Brigade in Shakargarh. He directed
aircraft on close air support missions. He was killed on 14 Dec 1971 when an enemy
aircraft strafed the brigade location.”) His dying words were, “Tell my girl (his wife
Isabelle) to be brave.” He had an eight-month old daughter.
*Fg Offr Joe D’Souza, VrC, a young pilot of 43 SQN was tasked with a maintenance
sortie from Mohanbari to Monigeng. He was killed when his Dakota-C47 crashed at
Machuka in NEFA on 17 Dec 1971. He was unmarried, parents worked in Mumbai.
*Wg Cdr Vishwanath Balakrishna Sawardekar, Kirti Chakra in 1965, AVSM in 1972.
Let’s keep the story of his heroism in 1965 for another day. When CO of 29 SQN
(“Scorpions”), his MiG-21FL crashed following a bird hit over Hindon on 04 Apr 1972.
Hailed from a well-known family whose storeyed homestead with two courtyards still
stands in Sanvordem. His family later lived in Panjim.
*Sqn Ldr Owen Joseph D'Sena, VSM. (“Sqn Ldr D'Sena is today one of the top fighter
pilots on new aircraft and is an invaluable fighter combat instructor. He was assigned
strenuous tasks of combat flying and xxx hours of mission analysis. He ensured timely
completion of special flight trials. He displayed skill of a high order.”) Sqn Ldr D’Sena
was with Unit TACDE when he died in a Sukhoi-7 crash on 24 Jul 1976.
*Sqn Ldr Francisco Xavier Menino da Silva was with 48 SQN in the 1965 war and
with 19 SQN in 1971. On 12 Aug 1976, at age 34, a massive heart attack, his first and
last, felled him. His widow and son live in Goa, a married daughter is in USA.
*Wg Cdr Clarence Joseph D'Lima, VSM in 1973. Commanded the New Delhi-Tezpur
flight carrying Prime Minister Morarji Desai and others that crash-landed near Jorhat on
04 Nov 1977. All passengers survived, all five aircrew died. No awards bestowed despite
their evident self-sacrifice. Civil society decided otherwise. Pune changed the name of
the road by which his family lived from Irwin Road to Wg Cdr Clarence D'Lima Marg. The
main road from NH-17 to Limavaddo-Socorro where the family originally hailed from was
named after him.
*Gr Capt Allan Albert D'Costa, VSM and MVrC. As CO of SQN 222, Sukhoi-7 fighter-
bombers in 1971, he was among the best-organized and daring IAF pilots. Let’s save the
story of his heroism for another day. Wg Cdr D’Costa died in Jodhpur of a massive heart
attack in 1977. He was son of a Chief Engineer of Central Railway and brother of Sqn
Ldr Henry Vivian D’Costa. One of only two known IAF Goans to earn a Maha Vir Chakra.
*Sqn Ldr José (“Joe”) de Jesus da Conceicao e Souza was with IAF Unit 117 based
at Bombay Flying Club. On 07 Nov 1979, he took off from an oilrig at Bombay High in a
Chetak with two Germans onboard, when a technical failure brought the chopper back to
the rig, breaking it into pieces. Sqn Ldr Souza and his two passengers perished. He was
33. His widow lives in Goa and two sons, both engineers, work in USA.
*Wg Cdr Emiliano Augustine Fernandes of 48 SQN was sent to the USSR to take
delivery of three new Antonov AN-32 transporters. During return, after a stopover in
Oman, the three aircraft took off at 1328 hrs for Jamnagar on 25 March 1986. Flying in
reverse-V formation, 60 miles apart of each other, the aircraft piloted by Wg Cdr UM
Bheemiah and co-piloted by Wg Cdr Fernandes was last in line. Over the Arabian Sea,
some 450 kms. from Jamnagar, the aircraft abruptly disappeared. Extensive search by
IAF’s IL-76s and naval IL-38s (36 aircraft in all, plus 6/7 naval ships) yielded no trace of
debris. It is the only mystery of its kind in the annals of the IAF. At the time, the US 7th
Fleet and Pakistan Navy were in joint exercises in the region. Was the aircraft force-
landed and the crew taken captive? One may never know.
*Sqn Ldr Rodrigues was a fighter pilot at Car Nicobar (Andaman & Nicobar Islands).
He lived there with his family. It was the season of Christmas-2004 and his mother had
joined them. The Tsunami struck. The entire Varca-origin family perished.
*Wg Cdr Oswald Manuel Francis de Abreu, Flight Commander of 222 SQN died on
takeoff in a MiG-27 on 16 Feb 2010. Preliminary Inquiry revealed “failure of low-pressure
turbine blades” of the R-29 engines. IAF’s fleet of over 100 MiG-27s, its frontline swing-
wing fighter aircraft, was grounded.
There are others like Fl Lt Phillip D’Souza, who ejected from a Marut, but died. Charles
D’Souza, an IAF helipilot, was young, yet unmarried, the only son of Brig George F
D’Souza. He died of cancer – a tragedy that irretrievably shook his otherwise gregarious
parents.
The valiant stories of patriotism and gallantry on part of Goans not only in the IAF but in
all the three services during the 20th century would never cease to amaze. We will look
at some of those inspiring stories another Sunday.
(To continue next Sunday)
(The author can be contacted at: valmikif@gmail.com)
April 16, 2010
THE LATE PETER COLACO.
It is with deep grief and chagrin I write these few lines on our friend and colleague the late Mr. Peter Colaco who died an untimely and sudden death on 13th of this month while still on Kuwait Airways flight in the morning. He boarded the flight early in the morning in Bombay and while flying to Kuwait just before flight landing at Kuwait International Airport, he breathed his last, leaving behind his sorrowful wife and daughter who according to information is reading for her Doctorate, the cause of his death was Heart Attack.
Seen in the photo above is the late Peter Colaco.
Peter Colaco was a long timer in Kuwait, first time I came in contact with him was in 1979 when we played competitive soccer at Sour ground, he was playing for United Goans Strikers as an attacking forward. Though he was muscular boy having athletic body features yet he always played a calm and cool game. It was very difficult to control his dashing bursts near the goalmouth. He was aggressive shooter in both his leg and exceptionally good in the aerial duels having good height also. While playing he was always cool, never argued with referees nor with his opponents. Retaliation was his last option. He was quick in running near the citadel of his opponents. He always worked for the promotion of our soccer either as a player or organizer. During those days he played with some of the top Goan players for UG Strikers and during his time most of the championships were won by UG and Peter Colaco was one of the players responsible for UG Strikers success. During those days especially in the beginning there were lot of commotions and controversies on and off the field and many of the controversies were the making of UG but Peter Colaco always refrained from joining these controversies, on the contrary he tried to bring about peace among the warring factions. In his death a peacemaker has disappeared from our midst. 
A. Veronica Fernandes,
Seen in the photo above is the late Peter Colaco.Peter Colaco was a long timer in Kuwait, first time I came in contact with him was in 1979 when we played competitive soccer at Sour ground, he was playing for United Goans Strikers as an attacking forward. Though he was muscular boy having athletic body features yet he always played a calm and cool game. It was very difficult to control his dashing bursts near the goalmouth. He was aggressive shooter in both his leg and exceptionally good in the aerial duels having good height also. While playing he was always cool, never argued with referees nor with his opponents. Retaliation was his last option. He was quick in running near the citadel of his opponents. He always worked for the promotion of our soccer either as a player or organizer. During those days he played with some of the top Goan players for UG Strikers and during his time most of the championships were won by UG and Peter Colaco was one of the players responsible for UG Strikers success. During those days especially in the beginning there were lot of commotions and controversies on and off the field and many of the controversies were the making of UG but Peter Colaco always refrained from joining these controversies, on the contrary he tried to bring about peace among the warring factions. In his death a peacemaker has disappeared from our midst.
Peter Colaco is seen in the picture at extreme left holding a Banner in support of the freedom of Kuwait POW's. Navelim were the winners of first ever 7-A-Side soccer tournament organised at Sour ground after the liberation of Kuwait. (Photo courtesy: Lino Fernandes - Nuvem)
Being the citizen of the land Navelim that gave birth to the great Goan Patriot Dr. Francisco Luis Gomes, Peter Colaco loved Goa, Goan causes and Goan language Konkani. Though he was not very vocal in Goan causes yet he many times supported my activities in support of Goa, Konkani and Goan causes. At three to 4 times he attended our meetings held at my residence for the cause of Goa, Goans and Konkani. He was very logical in his arguments and always discussed the matter with clarity and logic. He loved to put forth his views with clear conclusion so that others participating in the discussion always accepted his version. He was not robust in his discussion nor rough, he maintained his decency always. It was pleasure to discuss with him some finer points of the subject. He was always decent in his talk and dress code.
In his death not only Navelkars lost one of their colleagues but Goans in Kuwait lost a great man coming from the Goan village that gave birth to the first Cardinal of India, Cardinal Valerian Gracias who inaugurated the Holy Family Cathedral in Kuwait City.
May the soul of our Peter Colaco rest in peace and may the Heavenly Father give courage to his wife and daughter to bear this colossal loss.
A. Veronica Fernandes,
Kuwait.
April 15, 2010
MINING IS A RESIDENT EVIL IN GOA.
From Sattari to Canacona along the eastern border mining thrives, no doubt it is a source of the badly needed income to the Goan coffers. Mining in Goa has been going on for ages. Along with the income to the Goan coffers, the miners too have made a fortune for themselves and with this acquired wealth they have managed to take control of the police, the bureaucrats, as well as the politicians. Money is a powerful commodity that can turn wrong into right in no time, and our miners are having a ball, with the politicians, bureaucrats and the police in their pockets.
Even with all the hue and cry over the dangers of mining to nature, environment and to the human species as well, the government and the police are unwilling to take any action against this highly polluting industry, both legal as well as illegal. The CM who is also the Minister for mines, has promised action against the erring miners umpteen number of times but unfortunately nothing ever materialises. Instead there are only the implicit knee-jerk reactions whenever there have been accidents, with more promises as usual but no action follows, at this point in time, a mature and a tactful handling is required rather than the high-decibel theatrics of our CM.
A lot of people have lost their precious lives, both young and old, to the mining traffic, and after the latest causality, a ban on mining traffic was enforced but again the money power of miners has played a pivotal role in not only lifting the ban, but a free travel time is also being allotted to them from 6 AM to 6 PM, with namesake restrictions on load, speed and number of trips, which are hardly of any consequence, as none of the restrictions are being heeded by the mining traffic and are back to their usual business of F1 racetrack driving, the police when notified of the non compliances, have failed to take any action, thus putting the lives of the public to further risks. Even after the assurances that erring drivers and transporters would be taken to task, by the Advocate General, just yesterday a scooterist had a lucky escape when he missed to get run over by a mining truck which had lost control. What action has been taken against this driver or the transporter ? Why is our Government not showing any concern for the lives of the public ?
The affected people have so far shown tremendous restrain in the face of intimidation and abuse of money and muscle power by the miners, the government has to adhere to the genuine needs of the public and thread this path carefully, because sooner or later the public is bound to loose patience and resort to violence, and before that happens an amicable solution should be sought in earnest, that will reduce the risk to the lives of the public and bring down the pollution to required levels to maintain a healthy environment.
My heart goes out to the people living in these mining areas, who breathe in the dust, day in and day out, their water too in mostly contaminated, their houses full of mining dust, making life, a living hell. It is indeed a good sign that the people of Quepem are on to the streets in unity with peaceful protests putting pressure on the Government and hope the CM sees reason before things get complicated and out of hand.
Freddy Agnelo Fernandes,
Dubai - UAE.
Even with all the hue and cry over the dangers of mining to nature, environment and to the human species as well, the government and the police are unwilling to take any action against this highly polluting industry, both legal as well as illegal. The CM who is also the Minister for mines, has promised action against the erring miners umpteen number of times but unfortunately nothing ever materialises. Instead there are only the implicit knee-jerk reactions whenever there have been accidents, with more promises as usual but no action follows, at this point in time, a mature and a tactful handling is required rather than the high-decibel theatrics of our CM.
A lot of people have lost their precious lives, both young and old, to the mining traffic, and after the latest causality, a ban on mining traffic was enforced but again the money power of miners has played a pivotal role in not only lifting the ban, but a free travel time is also being allotted to them from 6 AM to 6 PM, with namesake restrictions on load, speed and number of trips, which are hardly of any consequence, as none of the restrictions are being heeded by the mining traffic and are back to their usual business of F1 racetrack driving, the police when notified of the non compliances, have failed to take any action, thus putting the lives of the public to further risks. Even after the assurances that erring drivers and transporters would be taken to task, by the Advocate General, just yesterday a scooterist had a lucky escape when he missed to get run over by a mining truck which had lost control. What action has been taken against this driver or the transporter ? Why is our Government not showing any concern for the lives of the public ?
The affected people have so far shown tremendous restrain in the face of intimidation and abuse of money and muscle power by the miners, the government has to adhere to the genuine needs of the public and thread this path carefully, because sooner or later the public is bound to loose patience and resort to violence, and before that happens an amicable solution should be sought in earnest, that will reduce the risk to the lives of the public and bring down the pollution to required levels to maintain a healthy environment.
My heart goes out to the people living in these mining areas, who breathe in the dust, day in and day out, their water too in mostly contaminated, their houses full of mining dust, making life, a living hell. It is indeed a good sign that the people of Quepem are on to the streets in unity with peaceful protests putting pressure on the Government and hope the CM sees reason before things get complicated and out of hand.
Freddy Agnelo Fernandes,
Dubai - UAE.
Eldon Carlos in praise of Goa then and later.
Very informative article... about old era..... planning & execution of the development work in goa. Renovating heritage structures in Old Goa about Bom Jesus Basilica .. great news..
our current politicans & top goverement heads should take note of this
Eldon Carlos,
Q8.
our current politicans & top goverement heads should take note of this
Eldon Carlos,
Q8.
CONDOLENCE FROM UG - kUWAIT.
UNITED GOANS CENTER, KUWAIT, deeply mourn the sudden and untimely death of the
former member of their soccer team Peter Colaco on 13th of this month.
UGC pray to God to give eternal peace to the soul of Peter Colaco and comfort to his family to bear this great loss.
Tony Gonsalves,
United Goans Center,
Kuwait.
former member of their soccer team Peter Colaco on 13th of this month.
UGC pray to God to give eternal peace to the soul of Peter Colaco and comfort to his family to bear this great loss.
Tony Gonsalves,
United Goans Center,
Kuwait.
Condolences from UFC.
CONDOLENCES.
The President and Members of United Friends Club (UFC) - Kuwait , deeply mourn the sudden death of PAUL COLACO, the founder member of Naveleim Youth Centre-Kuwait, expired on 13th April 2010.
May the Almighty GOD give strength and courage to the bereaved family to bear this loss. May his soul rest in peace.
Cajetan de Sanvordem,
President United Friends Club,
Kuwait
The President and Members of United Friends Club (UFC) - Kuwait , deeply mourn the sudden death of PAUL COLACO, the founder member of Naveleim Youth Centre-Kuwait, expired on 13th April 2010.
May the Almighty GOD give strength and courage to the bereaved family to bear this loss. May his soul rest in peace.
Cajetan de Sanvordem,
President United Friends Club,
Kuwait
OBITUARY & REQUIEM MASS ANNOUNCEMENT
PETER COLACO
Died: 13/04/2010
NAVELIM Youth Centre deeply mourn the sad demise of Peter Colaco, founder member of Navelim Youth Centre – Kuwait.
Beloved husband of Brigitte Colaco and father of Stacy Colaco (Kuwait).
Brother of Inacio, Augustine, Tito, Lawrence, Mario, Claudio, Domacian and Maria (Goa); Brother-in-law of Nevie Fernandes, Eliza Rodrigues, Maria/Tony-Anasia-Savio D'Costa (Goa).
Noel Rodrigues and Alice Rodrigues (Kuwait).
Uncle of Avelino Dias/Priscilla-Craig-Gordon and Simon Dias/Olinda Dias (Kuwait).
A Requiem Mass will be offered for the departed soul at St. Therese of the Child Church Hall (Courtyard), Salmiya on 15 April 2010 at 8:00 pm. Relatives and friends kindly accept this as the only intimation.
The mortal remains will be kept open for public viewing at Sabah Hospital morgue on Thursday 15 April 2010 from 9:15am to 10:15am before being flown to Goa for the final rites. Funeral will be held at Our Lady of Rosary Church, Navelim on Saturday 17 April 2010.
Eternal Rest grant unto him, O Lord.
And let Your Perpetual Light shine upon him.
May his soul rest in Peace.
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April 14, 2010
POLITICIANS AND THEIR EMPTY PROMISES.
Politicians And Their Empty Promises “Roti, kapda aur makan”, no !!, I am not talking about the bollywood movie, but rather of the slogan that every political party, trumpets before the elections. Promises have been made in the election manifestos, from podiums and stages and during their election rallies. India has been hearing these very elusive and empty promises for the last sixty odd years. Our economics and statistics departments have been over worked planning a formidable India but there are millions who still hunger for a single “roti” a day, there are still millions who do not have “kapda” to cover their scorched and dehydrated naked bodies, yes, there are still millions in India who do not have a “makan”, a roof over their heads to shelter, from rain, wind and heat, so what went wrong with the “roti, kapda aur makan” express from Delhi ?
“Gharibi hatau” was another slogan that had been making the rounds during elections, a cosmetic surgery for the “roti, kapda aur makan”. Has any of the governments actually taken the desired initiatives to alleviate poverty and provide “roti, kapda aur makan” to the beleaguered millions ? In India the gulf between the rich and the poor is becoming wider by the day and our government has fallen flat on it’s face in fulfillment of it’s promises.
Our politicians are aiming for the stars in the sky but fail to realize and accept the abject reality of mired poverty around, people are thirsting for water, hungry for food, and aimlessly wandering in search of shelter. Children and women begging in the streets, others searching for morsels of food in bins, living on the pavements and footpaths, struggling to survive the day and only hoping for a better tomorrow, is this the shining India that our politicians promise ? Now a days, every politician aspires a halo around his head, in search of their hollow and shallow austerity but it is somehow obvious, that the gluttonous and dysfunctional politicians would not readily want their slices of cake to be reduced and they do that regularly with élan.
Six decades of independence, six decades of self rule, poverty has not declined, we have made immense progress in science and technology but failed miserably to alleviate poverty. The dream of the Father of the Nation, “food, shelter and clothing for every citizen of India”, is still a pipe dream.
Our politicians have forgotten their own pathetic past in the wake of their new tryst with destiny in politics. They would rather build statues of themselves, be garlanded with currency notes, weigh themselves with gold or silver, butcher and roast a few fellow humans and divide the nation in the name of religion but not lift a finger to help improve the quality of life of the poor and the downtrodden or the backward class.
Goan politicians too have fallen flat on their faces in fulfillment of their promises. Last month during the budget session our esteemed CM said that more stress would be given to agriculture, but unfortunately their actions are not entirely in consonance with their statements nor in the interests of Goa and Goans. Agriculture in Goa is on the ebb, and it the duty of the government to encourage farming especially organic farming with subsidies and land, but unfortunately our Government is hell bent on destroying agriculture, allowing land conversion of fertile fields to facilitate mega projects, farmers from the mining areas are forces to change their age old profession of farming because the mining dust and it’s rejects have scorched and made their fertile fields barren and the immense dust pollution causing health hazards to the residents of those areas.
Today the farmers from Thivim are crying “forget cricket, give us water to irrigate our fields” is a perfect example that our government is working against the will of the people. People are crying for food, water and shelter but politicians are forcing cake on the people in form of cricket stadium. The huge amount of money for the stadium and the sea link should be used to alleviate the water and electricity problems of Goa. Do we really need a cricket stadium or the sea link, or is it just to inflate their own fortunes through a few scams ?
We the Goan people want uninterrupted water running through their taps, uninterrupted electricity lighting our homes and our roads, a good, feasible and affordable health policy, education policy which is more practical and for all, better roads and safety measures and above all, a better quality of life with good governance, and for this, a long term strategy has to be built within the precincts of development, economic improvement and political involvement of the grassroots of rural Goa. Is this impossible to achieve ?
Freddy Agnelo Fernandes,
Dubai - UAE
“Gharibi hatau” was another slogan that had been making the rounds during elections, a cosmetic surgery for the “roti, kapda aur makan”. Has any of the governments actually taken the desired initiatives to alleviate poverty and provide “roti, kapda aur makan” to the beleaguered millions ? In India the gulf between the rich and the poor is becoming wider by the day and our government has fallen flat on it’s face in fulfillment of it’s promises.
Our politicians are aiming for the stars in the sky but fail to realize and accept the abject reality of mired poverty around, people are thirsting for water, hungry for food, and aimlessly wandering in search of shelter. Children and women begging in the streets, others searching for morsels of food in bins, living on the pavements and footpaths, struggling to survive the day and only hoping for a better tomorrow, is this the shining India that our politicians promise ? Now a days, every politician aspires a halo around his head, in search of their hollow and shallow austerity but it is somehow obvious, that the gluttonous and dysfunctional politicians would not readily want their slices of cake to be reduced and they do that regularly with élan.
Six decades of independence, six decades of self rule, poverty has not declined, we have made immense progress in science and technology but failed miserably to alleviate poverty. The dream of the Father of the Nation, “food, shelter and clothing for every citizen of India”, is still a pipe dream.
Our politicians have forgotten their own pathetic past in the wake of their new tryst with destiny in politics. They would rather build statues of themselves, be garlanded with currency notes, weigh themselves with gold or silver, butcher and roast a few fellow humans and divide the nation in the name of religion but not lift a finger to help improve the quality of life of the poor and the downtrodden or the backward class.
Goan politicians too have fallen flat on their faces in fulfillment of their promises. Last month during the budget session our esteemed CM said that more stress would be given to agriculture, but unfortunately their actions are not entirely in consonance with their statements nor in the interests of Goa and Goans. Agriculture in Goa is on the ebb, and it the duty of the government to encourage farming especially organic farming with subsidies and land, but unfortunately our Government is hell bent on destroying agriculture, allowing land conversion of fertile fields to facilitate mega projects, farmers from the mining areas are forces to change their age old profession of farming because the mining dust and it’s rejects have scorched and made their fertile fields barren and the immense dust pollution causing health hazards to the residents of those areas.
Today the farmers from Thivim are crying “forget cricket, give us water to irrigate our fields” is a perfect example that our government is working against the will of the people. People are crying for food, water and shelter but politicians are forcing cake on the people in form of cricket stadium. The huge amount of money for the stadium and the sea link should be used to alleviate the water and electricity problems of Goa. Do we really need a cricket stadium or the sea link, or is it just to inflate their own fortunes through a few scams ?
We the Goan people want uninterrupted water running through their taps, uninterrupted electricity lighting our homes and our roads, a good, feasible and affordable health policy, education policy which is more practical and for all, better roads and safety measures and above all, a better quality of life with good governance, and for this, a long term strategy has to be built within the precincts of development, economic improvement and political involvement of the grassroots of rural Goa. Is this impossible to achieve ?
Freddy Agnelo Fernandes,
Dubai - UAE
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