log on to thegoan.net @thegoanonline WEDNESDAY AUGUST 27, 2025 GOA The Goan E-Paper (Playstore/IOS) 14 pages PRICE ` 10 PANAJI MARGAO GOA VOLUME XI, NO. 70 UGDP, Goa Vikas Party fade into political oblivion, face prospect of de-listing by ECI CHATURTHI Facebook.com/thegoan 2 GOA Aadhaar-linked payment rule deferred to ensure welfare aid 3 Instagram.com/thegoanonline RNI: GOAENG/2015/65729 INFO Myths and misconceptions regarding breastfeeding 11 SPORTS 14 Rifle shooter Sift Kaur makes it golden double for India at Asian C’ships Census 2027 pre-test set for October in Goa Greetings DIGITAL TRIAL IN CORGAO AND MARGAO; TEACHERS THE GOAN extends warm wishes to its readers, advertisers and well-wishers on the occasion of GANESH CHATURTHI. WE ARE CLOSED TODAY The offices of THE GOAN will be closed today on account of Ganesh Chaturthi. Hence there will be no edition of this newspaper dated August 28, 2025. >> pg 8 Sacred duties meet modern aspirations in Paurohitya IN SHORT >> Steep 50% US tariffs set to hit Indian exports from today NEW DELHI: Indian exporters are bracing for major losses as the US enforces fresh tariffs of up to 50% on Indian goods from Wednesday, after trade talks collapsed. Washington’s move, announced by President Trump in retaliation for India’s Russian oil purchases, leaves little hope of relief. The Centre plans financial aid and will push exporters to tap China, Latin America and MidEast markets. Taps in Colvale ward run dry for 5 days MAPUSA: Amid Ganesh Chaturthi festivities, about 200 houses have been struggling for water supply in Chikhali-Colvale since the last five days. Affected residents have expressed anger and have accused authorities of failing to resolve the issue.  >> See pg 5 9 pilgrims among 13 dead in Jammu floods JAMMU: Raging floods and landslides wreaked havoc across Jammu on Tuesday, killing 13 people, including nine pilgrims on the Vaishno Devi route, as rivers overflowed and boulders, trees and rocks swept down the slopes.  >> See pg 10 AND GOVT STAFF TO SERVE AS ENUMERATORS THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI As the country’s largest enumeration exercise, Census 2027, is expected to commence in February 2027 after a five-year delay, the Directorate of Census Operations (DCO) in Goa has swung into action by announcing a pre-test in October–November this year. For the pre-test, the DCO has identified Corgao village in Pernem taluka and the Margao municipal area in Salcete, where teachers and government servants will be roped in as enumerators to carry out the exercise. The pre-test process, which serves as a trial for testing and refining all aspects of the Census operations, will be carried out in select places in rural, urban, and remote areas across India as per the directions of the Union Home CENSUS: THE TRIAL RUN „„Corgao village (Pernem taluka) and Margao municipal area (Salcete) chosen for the trial run „„Pre-test to refine Census operations, including logistics, training, and data quality checks „„First digital trial to test mobile app, self-enumeration, digital mapping, and a web-based monitoring portal „„Special focus on practical challenges in remote/low-connectivity areas Ministry. With the upcoming Census being the country’s first digital exercise, the pre-test — a crucial step before every Census — will focus on practical issues, including challenges in remote areas with poor connectivity, to check whether mobile devices function properly. “As a preparatory step towards Census, a pre-test will be conducted encompassing all facets of Census operations as per the Act. This crucial ex- ercise is being done for evaluating the proposed questions, data collection methodologies, training effectiveness, logistics, printing processes, data quality assessment, identifying potential field issues, etc,” Census Commissioner Mritunjay Kumar Narayan said in the communication to the State government. Narayan said that a mobile app will be used for the first time to collect data. “Self-enumeration, digital mapping tools, and a web-based por- tal for real-time monitoring and management will also be tested during the pre-test,” he added. The Union government has said the Census 2027 will be conducted in two phases, along with the enumeration of castes. The first phase will be house-listing operations, which involve creating a comprehensive list of all buildings, structures, and housing units across the State, scheduled for April to September 2026. The second phase will be the population enumeration – the headcount of the population – which will take place from February 2027 onwards. The pre-test, being a full dress rehearsal, requires the engagement of teachers and government/ semi-government officials as census enumerators/ executive officers, etc, as Charge Officers. PANAJI he Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that the offence of child abuse cannot be stretched to cover minor or incidental acts involving children, such as a blow during a quarrel. A two-judge Bench comprising Justice Sanjay Karol and Justice Sandeep Mehta said that for an act to amount to child abuse, it must be marked by a clear intention to cause harm or by cruelty, exploitation or ill-treatment. It also held that anything short of deliberate cruelty falls outside the law’s ambit, warning that imposing serious criminal penalties without evidence of such intent would unduly expand the scope of the law. “The offence of child abuse T Chavath spirit grips State as Ganesha comes home MARKETS ABUZZ, PANDALS LIT UP, AND CHANTS OF ‘GANPATI BAPPA MORYA’ FILL THE AIR THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI People of Goa welcomed Lord Ganesha into their homes as the country celebrates Ganesh Chaturthi with devotion and joy. Since Tuesday morning, a day before the Ganesh Chaturthi, families across the State were seen bringing home Ganesh idols amid chants of “Ganpati Bappa Morya”. The State is alive with the enthusiasm of the festival, despite heavy rains. Markets in Ponda, Mapusa, Panaji, and Margao were packed with eager customers with last minute shopping as shops remained crowded. >Continued on P10 GSPCB chief yet to Chaturthi rush: Heavy Mapusa Council defies CM’s order, collects fees from Matoli vendors take charge as govt vehicles barred on sits on notification Goa-Mumbai highway THE GOAN I NETWORK APPOINTMENT STALLED AMID ENVIRONMENT PORTFOLIO VOID THE GOAN I NETWORK MAPUSA More than a month after Chief Minister Pramod Sawant publicly announced the appointment of senior bureaucrat Levinson Martins as chairman of the Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB), the government is yet to issue the formal order, leaving the post effectively vacant. The Board has been functioning under the temporary charge of the secretary (environment) for the last four months. This arrangement began soon after the tenure of former chairman Mahesh Patil, who completed his three-year term in January 2025, and was given a short extension until April 4. On the sidelines of the monsoon session of the Assembly last month, the Chief Minister had declared that Martins would succeed Patil and that a notification would follow shortly. But officials admit privately that the order is caught in procedural limbo, as the Environment Ministry has been left unattended after Minister Aleixo Sequeira’s resignation last week. The portfolio is yet to be reassigned. “Day-to-day functioning of the Board is unaffected since policy directions largely come from the Central Pollution Control Board,” an official told The Goan. “However, reconstitution of the Board can only take place once both the chairman and member secretary are formally appointed,” he added. The GSPCB is also awaiting the appointment of a Member Secretary. At present, Sanjeev Joglekar is officiating, but sources said Geeta Nagvenkar tops the selection list and could be named to the post soon. Martins, who most recently served as Commissioner of Labour and Employment, is no >Continued on P10 MAPUSA In a brazen defiance of government instructions, the Mapusa Municipal Council (MMC) has continued to collect market fees from Matoli vendors ahead of Chaturthi celebrations, despite a clear order from the State THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI The Maharashtra government has stepped in to tackle the chaotic vehicular movement on the heavily monsoon battered Mumbai-Goa national highway-66 putting restrictions on its use by heavy vehicles during the Ganesh Chaturthi season. The Maharashtra transport department has barred the use of this highway by heavy vehicles until August 28 and during the day time between 8 am to 11 pm from August 28 to September 2. Again on September 6 and 7, heavy vehicles including trucks, lorries, trailers and multi-axle vehicles, will not be permitted to use the highway. The restrictions were imposed since large influx of people happens in the Konkan region during the Ganesh festival and to make their travel safe, Maharashtra Additional Director General of Police, Praveen Salunkhe has said. Salunkhe has also communicated the decision to Goa Director General of Police, Alok Kumar, IPS, with a request to TRAFFIC CURBS FOR FESTIVAL TRAVEL „„Complete ban on trucks, lorries, trailers and multi-axle vehicles till August 28 „„From August 28 to September 2, heavy vehicles barred between 8 am and 11 pm „„Full ban returns on September 6 and 7 alert all police stations in his jurisdiction and implement the restrictions to avoid traffic chaos in the Konkan region. The restrictions however do not apply to vehicles carrying essentials including milk, petrol, diesel, cooking gas cylinders, medicines, liquid medical oxygen, food grains, vegetables and perishable goods, Salunkhe said in his communication. SC narrows child abuse law, overturns Goa conviction THE GOAN I NETWORK BAPPA AALA RE…: An idol of Lord Ganesha finds its way to a household in Bhatlem, Panaji, on Tuesday, as the State ushers in the festive spirit.  Narayan Pissurlenkar KEY COURT OBSERVATIONS & ORDER „„The offence of child abuse requires clear intention to harm, or acts of cruelty, exploitation, or ill-treatment „„Incidental or momentary acts, such as a single blow during a quarrel, do not amount to child abuse „„Expanding the law to cover minor scuffles would unduly widen its scope and risk imposing disproportionate penalties „„The Goa Children’s Act provision on child abuse necessarily presupposes an intention to cause harm, cruelty, exploitation, or ill-treatment directed towards a child in a manner that exceeds a mere incidental or momentary act during a quarrel,” the order reads, as it was pronounced in connection with a scuffle at a Thivim school in February 2013. “A simple blow with a school bag, without any evidence of deliberate or sustained maltreatment, does not satisfy the essential ingredients of child abuse. To invoke the penal consequences of such a serious offence in the absence of clear intention or conduct indicative of abuse would amount to an unwarranted expansion of the provision.” The trial court convicted the appellant for offences under Sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 352 (use was intended to address sustained maltreatment, cruelty, and exploitation, not trivial altercations „„The Court directed that the appellant be released on probation instead of serving the sentence of criminal force) and 504 (provoke a breach of peace) of the IPC and also under Section 8(2) of the Goa Children’s Act and sentenced him to one year rigorous imprisonment under GCA besides smaller concurrent sentences for other offences. On appeal, the High Court of Bombay at Goa reduced the sentence in 2022, holding that the Act did not warrant a severe punishment. However, it upheld the conviction under all provisions. In the Supreme Court, the appellant argued that a single blow with a school bag without intention to harm would not amount to child abuse under the Act. The State opposed leniency, stressing that the GCA was enacted to address rampant child abuse in the State and granting probation would undermine its deterrent effect. The Bench held that the GCA provision on child abuse was intended to address cruelty, exploitation, or sustained maltreatment, and not incidental acts arising from a scuffle. The conviction under Sections 323 and 352 of the IPC was upheld, while the conviction under Section 504 was set aside. The Court directed that he be released on probation. directing civic bodies not to levy “any kind” of charges on the sale of traditional festival items. Vendors were forced to cough up steep charges, raising serious suspicions of corruption and a possible contractor–politician nexus operating within the civic body. Under the Chief Minister’s order, conveyed through the Urban Development Department, municipalities were barred from levying “any kind” of charges on Matoli vendors during the Ganesh Chaturthi season. Yet, in Mapusa, the reality has been starkly different.   >> See pg 2