@thegoanonline THURSDAY JULY 31, 2025 GOA TOKYO: One of the strongest earthquakes ever recorded struck off Russia’s sparsely populated Far East early Wednesday, sending tsunami waves across the Pacific - Japan, Hawaii and the US West Coast. Several people were injured, but none gravely, and no major damage has been reported so far.   >> See pg 8 Contempt notices to Tourism Director PANAJI: The High Court of Bombay at Goa on Wednesday issued contempt notices to the Tourism Director and other respondents for allegedly failing to prevent cremations near the turtle nesting site at Vithaldaswada in Morjim.  >> See pg 3 ED seizes more assets of land grab accused PANAJI: Days after arresting land grab accused Rohan Harmalkar, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) Panaji has provisionally attached immovable properties situated across various prime locations in the State, having a total value of Rs 212.85 crore.  >> See pg 3 Mizoram waiter gets 10-yr RI for rape PANAJI: A Fast Track Special Court (POCSO) has sentenced a waiter from Mizoram to 10 years of rigorous imprisonment for raping and attempting to kill the woman owner of a resort in Arpora, where he was employed in 2019.  >> See pg 5 Youth killed in road mishap at Dhargal PERNEM: A youth from Bhatiwada-Nerul was crushed to death by a Maharashtra bus near the Don Khamb Junction in Dhargal on Wednesday afternoon. The incident took place as the bus, which was proceeding from Kolhapur to Panaji via Pernem, struck the scooter from behind.  >> See pg 5 NASA-ISRO’s Nisar satellite launched SRIHARIKOTA: Marking ISRO’s maiden collaboration with NASA, a GSLV rocket on Wednesday blasted off from Sriharikota spaceport to place the NISAR earth observation satellite, jointly developed by the two space agencies, in an intended orbit.  >> See pg 9 WEATHER >> Max: 28 C Min: 26 C Humidity: 82% TIDES Low: High: 08:19 21:30 03:02 14:19 Instagram.com/thegoanonline RNI: GOAENG/2015/65729 5 15 3 10 Online property fraud: Bill moved, houses encroaching Centre steps in, Shah on govt land to be regularised responds in Konkani GOA Margao Municipal Council faces `45.92 cr tax arrears crisis THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI In a move which is expected to bring relief to owners of homes on encroached government land, a bill to amend the Land Revenue Code and grant ‘Class I’ occupancy rights in respect of the land on which the encroachment stands was introduced in the Goa Legislative Assembly by Revenue Minister Atanasio (Babush) Monserrate late on Tuesday night. The bill seeks to introduce a new sub-section 38A in the Goa Land Revenue Code, 1968, which will make encroachers owners of the government land they have encroached to build their dwelling house built prior to February 28, 2014. However, once granted ‘Class I’ occupancy, which in effect means ownership, the REGULARISATION: THE CRITERIA „„Construction must have been completed prior to February 28, 2014 „„Maximum limit: 400 sqm per applicant and any excess land will revert to the government „„Only the land occupied by the house plus an additional two metres on all sides will be regularised applicant is barred from selling the house for the next 20 years. The new sub-section empowers Deputy Collectors to regularise these lands on which the houses are built by granting ‘Class I’ occupancy to the concerned person. Charges will be levied as ‘occupancy fee’ at a rate to be fixed by the government via a Govt relaxes JEE rule again to fill vacant Engg seats FORMS TO BE SUBMITTED BY AUG 6 THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI With over 400 engineering degree programme seats going vacant, the Directorate of Technical Education (DTE) has relaxed the mandatory JEE criteria for admissions to the Bachelors programme. This is the second year in a row that the government has relaxed JEE criteria. After the first round of admissions that ended on July 5, around 400 seats were left vacant, across four engineering colleges. While almost all seats in the State-run Goa Engineering College at Farmagudi were filled, the va- O N JUL cant seats are spread across private colleges – Padre Conceicao College of Engineering, Verna; Don Bosco College of Engineering, Fatorda; Rayeshwar Institute of Engineering and Information Technology (RIEIT), Shiroda; and Agnel Institute of Technology and Design, Assagao. “Government has approved the admissions of aspirants to BE Degree Engineering courses, who have not answered JEE-MAIN 2025 exam,” the DTE said in a circular issued adding that the benefit will >Continued on P8 Application process „„Applications must be filed within six months of the amendment coming into force „„The Deputy Collector must decide each application within six months „„Deputy Collectors empowered to regularise such encroachments special order. The amendment will provide a strong legal footing to hundreds of structures which have come to be built on government land across the State provided there is documentation to prove that the structures existed prior to February 28, 2014. However, only the land on Fees & conditions „„A ‘occupancy fee’ will be charged and once granted, the property cannot be sold for 20 years Penalty clause „„Anyone submitting false information may face a fine up to Rs 2 lakh and imprisonment up to two years which the pucca house exists and an additional two metres on all four sides of the structure will be permitted to be regularised thus through this amendment. Any additional land will revert back to the government and in no case more than 400 square metres can be granted by the Deputy Collectors thus. THE GOAN I NETWORK THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI While the government claims that the State has a paucity of industrial land, the fact is that over 13.97 lakh sqm of land — comprising more than 31 per cent of plots across industrial estates — is either vacant or occupied by sick and closed industrial units. The information provided on the Floor of the House by Industries Minister Mauvin Godinho also reveals that the Investment Promotion Board (IPB) is left with close to one lakh sqm of land for new investors who approach them. As per the data, of the total 3,011 industrial plots, spread across 23 industrial estates, 417 plots are vacant and available to be leased out, while another 319 plots are occupied by sick and closed industrial units. There are 209 plots, which are already leased out by the Goa Industrial Development Corporation (GIDC) but continue to remain vacant with no ground work. There are a total of 2,066 plots where the industries are currently functioning. The data shows that the Verna industrial estate has U TRUMP’S ‘RECIPROCAL’ RESPONSE Penalty for Russia trade „„In a social media post, the US President describes India’s trade policies as ‘strenuous and obnoxious’ „„Move comes a day after Indian officials announced a US trade team visit on August 25 for the 6th round of negotiations „„Impact: Unclear whether the 25% tariff is in addition to the existing 10% baseline duty already in place „„India already faced a 26% proposed tariff in April, which was suspended until August 1 „„US also imposes: 50% duty on steel and aluminium; 25% on auto sector major partners like Japan, the UK and the European Union. In a post on social media handle, Trump termed India’s trade policies as “most strenu- ous and obnoxious”. “All things not good! India will therefore be paying a tariff of 25 per cent, plus a penalty for the above, starting on Au- The Bill says those who have been residing in Goa for at least 15 years can apply for regularisation of their encroachments on government land and the construction should have been completed prior to February 28, 2014. Also, it stipulates that all applications for regularisation and the grant of ‘Class I’ occupancy rights will have to be made within six months of the amendment becoming law and coming into force. The Deputy Collector will have to decide on an application made under this amendment within six months. Interestingly, anyone providing false information to secure the ‘Class I’ occupancy rights in respect of an encroachment on government land under this amendment will be fined up to Rs 2 lakh and face imprisonment of up to two years. EOB REGISTERS CASE IN MUMBAI Union Home Minister Amit Shah’s reply in Konkani to Chief Minister Pramod Sawant’s letter regarding the online property fraud. THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI The Union Ministry of Home Affairs has acted on the Goa government’s complaint regarding an online property fraud racket, which allegedly duped tourists of crores of rupees. A case has been registered through the Economic Offences Bureau (EOB) in Mumbai. While the development has come as a relief to the Goa government, Chief Minister Pra- mod Sawant expressed greater delight over Union Home Minister Amit Shah responding to his letter in Konkani. Sawant, on Wednesday, posted Shah’s reply on his official X handle. The letter, dated July 25, was in response to Sawant’s February communication urging a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the scam. “Thank you, Union Home Minister Amit Shah ji, for >Continued on P8 Over 13.97 lakh sqm of 906 dog bite cases reported in industrial land unused, Mandrem’s beach belt in 2.5 yrs Assembly data reveals DATA PRESENTED IN HOUSE „„Govt cites land shortage, but 31% of plots are vacant or with sick/closed units „„IPB has only 99,522 sqm land for new investors „„Functioning units: 2,066; vacant plots: 417; sick/closed units: 319; leased but idle: 209 „„Verna: 5.68 lakh sqm vacant; 17 sick units, 9 leaseable, 54 idle leased plots „„Quitol: Highest leaseable plots – 169 got the maximum of 5.68 lakh sqm of vacant land having 17 plots occupied by sick and closed units and nine are available for leasing. There are 54 leased plots but lying idle. The Quitol industrial estate has got maximum of 169 plots available for leasing followed by Latambarcem with 68 plots, Sanguem with 58 plots and Panchwadi with 44 plots that could be leased out. The >Continued on P8 Unspecified penalty for buying military equipment and crude oil from Russia WASHINGTON S President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced the imposition of a 25 per cent tariff on all goods coming from India starting August 1, plus an unspecified penalty for buying military equipment and crude oil from Russia. The surprise announcement came a day after Indian officials said that a US trade team would visit from August 25 to negotiate a trade deal. The announcement is being seen a pressure tactics to get New Delhi to agree to demands made by the US, which has in recent days got favourable trade deals with Oval decider tilts India’s way as England loses key players Reasons why butter is healthy in moderation US to enforce 25 pc tariff on India from August 1 PTI SPORTS INFO ELIGIBILITY FOR HOUSES BUILT ON GOVT LAND PRIOR TO FEB 28, 2014; LIMIT OF 400 SQM PER APPLICANT 8 Quake near Russia triggers tsunami scare across Pacific The Goan E-Paper (Playstore/IOS) 15 pages PRICE ` 10 PANAJI MARGAO GOA VOLUME XI, NO. 44 CJM issues summons to 27 Areal villagers over Shivaji statue protest IN SHORT >> Facebook.com/thegoan Y log on to thegoan.net „„India’s oil imports from Russia surged from 0.2% pre-Ukraine war to 35–40%, making India the second-largest buyer after China „„India also continues purchasing Russian military hardware at a time when everyone wants Moscow to stop the ‘killing’ in Ukraine gust first,” Trump said. The penalty because India has made large purchases of oil and military equipment from Russia. India’s import of crude oil from Russia has risen from 0.2 per cent of total purchases before the Russia-Ukraine war to 35-40 per cent. New Delhi is the largest buyer of Russian oil after China. Trump said though India is America’s friend, “we have, over the years, done relatively little business with them because their (India) tariffs are far too high, among the highest in the world, and they have the most strenuous and obnoxious non-monetary trade barriers of any country”. He said India have always purchased significant amount of military equipment and energy products from Russia at >Continued on P8 PANAJI The popular northern tourist belt of Mandrem constituency has been witnessing a worrying trend in dog bite cases, with nearly 906 incidents reported at three beach belts in the last two and a half years. According to figures tabled by Minister for Animal Husbandry & Veterinary Services, Nilkanth Halarnkar in the Legislative Assembly, Arambol alone recorded 163 dog bite cases in 2023, which spiked to 268 in 2024, and stood at 93 till date in 2025; totalling to 524 cases. Keri reported 55 cases in 2023, 116 in 2024 and 31 cases in 2025 so far, while Morjim saw 41, 94 and 45 dog bite incidents in the same years, respectively. The data was provided in response to a question by Mandrem MLA Jit Arolkar, >Continued on P8