log on to thegoan.net @thegoaneveryday Facebook.com/thegoaneveryday WEDNESDAY NOVEMBER 25, 2020 Company promises ‘VVIP’ Indians vaccine package in US The Goan (Playstore) 10 pages PRICE ` 6 VOLUME VI, NO. 159 GOA 8 Security guard found hacked to death at Cuncolim industrial estate 2 Instagram.com/thegoaneveryday RNI: GOAENG/2015/65729 NEWS Trump virtually concedes, agrees to Biden transition Coal cess: Govt moves to recover `208 crore from 19 companies NOTICES ASK DEFAULTERS TO PAY UP OR FACE ACTION THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI The Goa government, through the Directorate of Transport has sent demand notices to as many as 19 companies involved in the import and transportation of coal through Goa who owe the Goa government a cumulative of Rs 208odd crore for the period between 2014 to 2018. The notices sent earlier this month reveal that 42 million metric tonnes of coal and coke were transported through Goa via road, rail and water with the bulk of the transportation being carried out by the JSW Group through its companies JSW Steel which imported 31.26 million metric tons during the said period and subsidiary JSW Energy which imported 2.5 million metric tonnes of coal and coke. The two companies which cumulatively owe the Goa government Rs 169-crore in IN SHORT >> Centre blocks 43 more mobile apps NEW DELHI: The Centre has blocked 43 mobile applications for “engaging in activities which are prejudicial to sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of State and public order”. Several apps owned by Chinese companies are among the freshly banned apps, including four owned by China’s retail giant, the Alibaba Group. The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India issued the order. >> See pg 7 TN, Puducherry brace for cyclone today NEW DELHI: Cyclone Nivar, which will likely become a “very severe cyclonic storm”, is expected to make landfall Wednesday evening between Mamallapuram in Tamil >> See pg 7 Nadu, WEATHER >> Max: 35.0 C Min: 22.7 C Humidity: 79% TIDES Low: 24.52 High: 07.23 14.12 20.42 JSW writ plea to be heard on Nov 26 VASCO: Jindal South West (JSW) which has filed a writ petition before the Goa bench of the Bombay High Court challenging the applicability of the Goa Rural Improvement and Welfare Cess Act, 2000 on goods transported by rail and the issuance of a show cause notice for non-payment of the cess to the extent of Rs 156.34 cr will come up for hearing on November 26. According to a press statement from the desk of JSW Group’s official spokesperson, the case came up for admission on 22nd October, 2020 and was heard on preliminary issues. “JSW defended the challenge on maintainability of the petition by stating that the constitutional vires of the Act was being challenged in the instant case, which did not require the issuance of any particular notice. dues making up more than three-fourths of the total dues the state Government is claiming from companies involved in coal transport in Goa. Among the companies that have transported coal through Goa only Goa Sponge Ltd, (Rs 1.625 crore), Amby Metallic (Rs 1.12 crore), Goa Carbon Ltd (Rs 55-lakh), Goa Sponge and Power (Rs 25-lakh), Indian Cane Power (Rs 25-lakh) and Bharat Nre Coke Ltd, (Rs 5-lakh) have paid their dues. Other including Sesa Sterlite (Rs 11.69-crore), BMM Ispat (Rs 10.49 crore), Adani Get plan ready for Covid vaccination, Modi tells States THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI Prime Minister Narendra Modi emphasized the need for both safety and speed in vaccine distribution, in a review of meeting of Covid preparations of seven States including Goa. In a virtual meeting, Modi asked State governments to work out logistics and modalities for administering Covid vaccine saying, “whichever vaccine India gives its citizens will be safe on all scientific standards”. Chief Minister Pramod Sawant who participated in the virtual meet disclosed that “while there is no fixed date for the launch of the vaccine, States have been asked to be prepared as it can happen any time after January”. Sawant said the health workers and Covid warriors would be the first to be vaccinated. The vaccine will then be given to people above the age of 65 years and those suffering from co-morbid conditions. Modi said, “priority is to We need to speed up our efforts to reduce transmission of the virus. Testing, confirmation, contact tracing and data must be given top priority — Narendra Modi make vaccine available for all. States should put in the necessary mechanism including cold storage”. While the overall countrywide figure has dropped below 50,000 for several days now, the situation in certain states -- including Delhi -- has given rise to concern. There is a need to increase testing, he said. Warning the states not to let any laxity creep in, PM asked them to work towards bringing the positive rate to less than 5 per cent and the fatality rate to under 1 per cent. “We need to speed up efforts. Testing, confirmation, contact tracing and data must be given top priority,” he said. MAJOR DEFAULTERS JSW Group (Rs 169-cr) Sesa Sterlite (Rs 11.69-cr) BMM Ispat (Rs 10.49 cr) Adani Enterprises Ltd (Rs 7.15 cr) Vedanta (Rs 3.19 cr) West Coast Paper Mills (Rs 2.65 cr) Enterprises Ltd (Rs 7.15 crore), Vedanta (Rs 3.19 crore) and West Coast Paper Mills (Rs 2.65 crore) are among the major defaulters to whom the Goa govt has sent notices. The Cess was initially imposed in the year 2006 “promote the welfare of the peo- Shetkar killed for naming pal in theft case? THE GOAN I NETWORK MAPUSA Police investigations into the murder of Rajesh Shetkar at Cunchelim-Mapusa on Monday have revealed that Shetkar may have been murdered by a friend in revenge for having disclosed his name in a theft case last month. According to sources, Mapusa police had arrested Rajesh Shetkar on the night of October 13 on connection with the theft of a two-wheeler parked near Hotel Satyaheera. He told police at the time that the two-wheeler did not have petrol and he was pushing the vehicle to a petrol pump, but police noticed that Shetkar had no keys of the vehicle. A few days after the arrest, Shetkar reportedly told police that Salim Nadaf had told him to take the two-wheeler. The police later detained Nadaf but released him as he wasn’t seen in CCTV footage nor could they could find any other evidence against him. However, Nadaf was upset that Shetkar had revealed his name to the police and >Continued on P6 ple residing in the rural areas affected by the movement of carriers transporting (hazardous) material on public roads” and was initially targeted at the movement of ore transport but was later expanded to include coal/coke and other hazardous material through the roads of Goa. The pending dues of cess have been a long-standing issue with the major coal importers failing to pay their dues as sought by the Goa government for several years running. The demand notices come at a time when the Goa government is facing a cash crunch and has resorted to borrowing to meet its revenue shortfall in the absence of other sources of revenue. CESS UNPAID, BUT COAL TRANSPORTATION STILL GETS A PUSH >> See Edit pg 4 9 LUCKNOW mid furious nationwide debate over “love jihad” -- the right-wing conspiracy theory that Muslim men enter into relationships with Hindu women to forcibly convert them -- the Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday evening passed an ordinance to check forced religious conversions. The ordinance comes less than a month after Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, while campaigning for UP Assembly bypolls, cited an Allahabad High Court order to invoke “Ram naam satya” -- a Hindu funeral chant -- to issue a thinly-veiled threat to “those who... play with our sisters’ respect”. The Uttar Pradesh Unlawful Religious Conversion Prohibition Ordinance (2020) says religious conversions that use falsehood, force or an incentive, or take place solely for the A WHAT THE ORDINANCE SAYS „„Religious conversions that use falsehood, force or an incentive, or take place solely for the purpose of marriage will be declared a crime „„Those who plan to convert after marriage will have to inform the District Magistrate of their intention at least two months in advance „„The burden of proof -- that the conversion was purpose of marriage will be declared a crime. Those who plan to convert after marriage, the government said, will have to inform the District Magistrate of their intention at least two months in advance. The burden of proof -- that the conversion was not forced or for marriage -- will be on the not forced or for marriage -- will be on the person converting, and all cases filed under the ordinance will be non-bailable person converting, and all cases filed under the ordinance will be non-bailable. “Over 100 cases were before us where forcible conversion has taken place (and so) framing a law was necessary. Yogiji’s cabinet has brought in an ordinance and there are many penal provisions,” Siddharth Nath „„Forced conversion will be punished by up to five years’ imprisonment or a fine of Rs 15,000 „„If the forced conversion involves a woman from the marginalised communities, then this will increase to between three and 10 years’ jail and a fine of Rs 25,000 „„Mass conversions will attract a similar jail term and a fine of Rs 50,000. Singh, a UP cabinet minister, said. According to the ordinance, forced conversion (or conversion through fraud) will be punished by up to five years’ imprisonment or a fine of Rs 15,000. If the forced conversion involves a woman from the marginalised communities, then this will increase to India to host England for four Tests instead of five: Ganguly 10 CM: Covid under control, no need for M’rashtra-like SOPs THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI Days after Health Minister openly batted for adopting SOPs like those of the Maharashtra government in Goa, Chief Minister Pramod Sawant said the Covid situation in the State was under control and there was no need for any stringent SOPs like the ones imposed in the neighbouring State. “The Maharashtra SOPs say that even if the person is symptomatic, the person will be subjected to an antigen test. How can that work? If a person is symptomatic, the person will have to undergo an RT-PCR test. Only then can a person be successfully segregated or else it will be of no use,” said Sawant. Maharashtra has now laid down a requirement of an RT-PCR Covid negative certificate for travellers entering the State from four States. According to Maharashtra’s SOPs for domestic air travel, all domestic passengers travelling from airports in Delhi, Rajasthan, Gujarat and Goa shall carry a RT-PCR negative Travelling to Mumbai? Get your test done at Pvt labs: Health Min PANAJI: Health Minister on Tuesday urged people who intend to travel to Mumbai to get RT-PCR test done at private labs instead of stressing government infrastructure for travel purposes. Visibly miffed at the changed SOPs announced by Maharashtra government for passengers travelling to the state from Goa, Rajasthan, Delhi and Gujarat, he stated, “Those who intend to travel to Mumbai should get RT-PCR test done at private labs. We cannot stress government infrastructure for travel purposes.” He further added that Directorate of Health Services and Goa Medical College and Hospital, Bambolim have been told not to carry out Covid tests for travel documentation. test report not older than 72 hours validity at the time of boarding. Those who do not have such a report will have to undergo a mandatory RT-PCR test upon arrival at airports in Maharashtra at their own cost. Similarly, all passengers travelling to Maharashtra by trains originating or having a halt at stations in Delhi, KTC to stops buses to Maharashtra PANAJI: In the light of the new restrictions unveiled by Maharashtra for passengers travelling from Goa, KTC has temporarily put on hold its bus routes and schedule to Maharashtra from Wednesday. >Continued on P6 People’s power prevails at Davorlim again; Railways forced to stop work   PROTESTORS, VILLAGERS ALONG WITH LUIZINHO ASSEMBLE IN LARGE NUMBERS   OFFICIALS SAY WILL IMPLEMENT THE DECISION THAT GOVT TAKES THE GOAN I NETWORK MARGAO Davorlim became the flashpoint yet again as anti-track doubling and coal transportation protestors, Davorlim villagers along with Navelim MLA Luizinho Faleiro once again got the district administration and the railways to stop work on the track doubling on Tuesday. Better to die of police bullets than coal dust: Goencho Ekvott >> See pg 2 Locals warned the administration led by deputy Collector, Margao Jyoti Kumari that the issue could snowball into a major law and order problem if the authorities dare resume the work when the railways have not obtained permission from the Davorlim panchayat body and when Cabinet Minister Filipe Neri Rodrigues had announced stoppage of all double track- Protestors assemble at Davorlim to stop railway work on Tuesday.  Farmers ready to return railways’ compensation MARGAO: Davorlim farmers, who had received compensation from the railways in lieu of land for the double-tracking project, have volunteered to return the compensation to the railways saying coal transportation will affect their health and destroy >> See pg 2 agriculture and water resources.  ing work in the State. After much discussion near the railway crossing, Deputy Collector Kumari announced Up to 10 years jail for forced religious conversions in UP PTI SPORTS Love Jihad needs to be defined legally: Sena MUMBAI: The Shiv Sena on Tuesday said ‘Love Jihad’ needs to be first defined legally, and BJP leaders should come out of the “illusion”” that they can trouble the Maharashtra government by harping on the issue. between three and 10 years’ jail and a fine of Rs 25,000. Mass conversions will attract a similar jail term and a fine of Rs 50,000. Hours before the ordinance was passed the Allahabad High Court, in its final order in a significant case, cancelled a case against a Muslim man by the parents of his wife, who converted to Islam last year to marry him. “Interference in a personal relationship would constitute a serious encroachment into the right to freedom of choice of the two individuals,” the court observed, adding, “The courts and the constitutional courts, in particular, are enjoined to uphold life and liberty of an individual guaranteed under Article 21 of the Constitution.” “We do not see Priyanka Kharwar and Salamat Ansari as Hindu and Muslim, rather as two grown-up individuals who - out of their own free will and choice - are living together peacefully and happily over a year,” the two-judge bench said. “Love jihad” is a pejorative used by right-wing groups to target relationships between Muslim men and Hindu women, which, they say, is a ruse to forcibly convert the women. Relationships between Hindu men and Muslim women are ignored. It is a term not recognised by the centre. the stoppage of the double tracking work in Davorlim village, but made it abundantly clear that the administration Santosh Mirajkar will implement whatever decision that is taken by the government on the issue in the future. As anticipated, railway officials led by Rail Vikas Nigam Ltd General manager (Projects), Sahoo, deputy Collector, Margao Jyoti Kumari, Salcete mamlatdar Prataprao Gaonkar arrived at >Continued on P6