log on to thegoan.net @thegoanonline SATURDAY AUGUST 30, 2025 GOA Relief for South Goa as district hospital hits 500-bed strength Facebook.com/thegoan The Goan E-Paper (Playstore/IOS) 14 pages PRICE ` 10 PANAJI MARGAO GOA VOLUME XI, NO. 72 2 GOA Patchwork goes for a toss, city roads flooded, riddled with potholes again 3 Instagram.com/thegoanonline RNI: GOAENG/2015/65729 INFO Naturally occurring toxins in food and how to reduce them Crucial facts suppressed in power rebate case: Court TEARS INTO PROSECUTION FOR PRESENTING A WEAK CASE AND FAILING TO PROVE CONSPIRACY AGAINST ACCUSED THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI Amid silence from both the government and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the acquittal of Minister Mauvin Godinho and others in the power rebate scam, the Court of Special Judge (North Goa) has come down heavily on the prosecution, stating it failed to establish criminal conspiracy or misconduct against the accused. In a detailed 175-page order, the Court criticised the prosecution for also not examining key witnesses including the late Manohar Parrikar and former chief minister Pratapsing Rane. The Court interpreted this omission as a deliberate move to suppress crucial facts, weakening the case. “Examination of the complainant late Manohar Parrikar, the acting Chief Minister at the relevant time Pratap Singh Rane and Pachau are not examined by the prose- KEY OBSERVATIONS OF THE COURT „„Examination of complainant late Manohar Parrikar, the acting Chief Minister at the relevant time Pratap Singh Rane and Pachau not examined by prosecution „„Inference is that witnesses did not wish to enter the witness box deliberately to conceal material facts cution. The inference is that the witnesses did not wish to enter the witness box deliberately to conceal material facts. Therefore, applying the said principle the prosecution case weakens to a great extent,” an extract of the order by Judge Irshad Agha stated. The Court noted that although there may have been procedural lapses and irregularities in the official handling CASE TIMELINE „„Applying the said principle the prosecution case weakens to a great extent „„Prosecution failed to prove any criminal conspiracy was hatched by accused „„Records presented failed to show any dishonest action or benefit gained by accused „„Investigation report was neither included in the chargesheet nor produced in court „„MAY 1998: Offense & FIR „„MAY 16, 2001: Mauvin arrested, remained in custody for 6 days „„NOV 6, 2001: Chargesheet filed „„JAN 4, 2019: Charges framed „„APRIL 12, 2022: Examination of evidence „„AUGUST 25, 2025: Final Order (acquittal) of the rebate requests, there was no evidence of dishonest intent or pecuniary gain -- the main components required to establish corruption charges. “The prosecution has therefore failed to prove that any criminal conspiracy was hatched by accused No 1 (Godinho), 2 (then Chief Electrical Engineer T Nagarajan), 3 (Vithal Bhandary, who passed away during the trial), 4 (Radhakrishna) and 5 (Katreddi Venkata Sahaye Krishnakumar) for the benefit of accused No. 6 (M/s Marmagoa Steel Ltd) and 7 (M/s Glass Fibre Division (A Division of Binani Zinc Ltd) at the cost of government exchequer,” the judgment stated. The Court elaborated that offences under Section 13(1) (d) of the Prevention of Corruption Act require clear evi- dence of criminal misconduct. However, the records presented failed to show any dishonest action or benefit gained by the accused. “The accused No. 1 & 2 may have committed mistakes while dealing with request for rebate. However, they cannot be said to have done it deliberately with any criminal >Continued on P5 8 SPORTS Asia Cup: Harmanpreet hat-trick takes India to 4-3 win over China 14 2 balconies of dilapidated building crash in Vasco FRESH CONCERNS OVER UNSAFE STRUCTURES THE GOAN I NETWORK VASCO Vasco witnessed a frightening incident on Friday morning when two balconies of Happy Apartments collapsed. Fortunately, no one was injured in the mishap, though a two-wheeler parked in the basement of the building sustained damage. Vasco MLA Krishna Salkar, along with councillor Shami Salkar, rushed to the spot and alerted authorities including the Mamlatdar, Traffic Cell and Fire Brigade. Officials quickly arrived to assess the damage. Calling for accountability, Salkar said, “It is high time owners of dilapidated buildings are held responsible, and liability fixed. Many of these structures are abandoned, yet they pose a huge risk to residents and passersby.” He pointed to a vacant, crumbling building near the Vasco police station that could collapse anytime. “Hundreds use that road daily. I have raised this issue multiple times in the Assembly, urging strict action and a clear policy,” he said. Salkar urged Chief Minister Pramod Sawant to initiate im- The debris of the two balconies that crashed onto the road in Vasco on Friday. mediate demolition of unsafe structures. “The government can demolish such buildings, seal the area and recover costs with penalties from owners. Today’s incident is an eye-opener. Thankfully, due to Ganesh Chaturthi, no one was present, or we could have seen a tragedy,” he remarked. The MLA stressed that owners of unsafe properties must bear liability and provide compensation in case of mishaps. He further urged residents to make use of the new FAR scheme offering 300 FAR for redevelopment. “People >Continued on P5 First Goan Community Day hosted in Southampton Canadian-Goan talent showcased at Viva Goa Festival in Ontario Centre grants green Digital push stalls, Std 9 girl gives birth in school toilet nod to Fomento’s 63% p’yats lag in Kalay mineral block online payments EC FOR 0.75 MT ANNUAL IRON ORE OUTPUT IN SHORT >> THE GOAN I NETWORK pages 6 & 7 No flood threat from dam water: WRD  MAPUSA: With most of Goa’s dams filled to capacity following the heavy rainfall over the past week, the Water Resources Department has been releasing water in a controlled manner to maintain safe levels and have assured that there is no immediate risk of flooding despite swollen rivers. >> See pg 3 GED to explore energy storage PANAJI: Uninterrupted supply of power may still be a distant dream but if the Goa Electricity Department does execute the plans for energy storage and setting up mini-hydro electric projects then getting steady supply during peak load hours can be a reality for consumers by 2030. >> See pg 3 PTI PANAJI The Union Ministry for Environment, Forest and Climate Change (MoEF&CC) has granted environmental clearance (EC) to Kalay Mineral Block located in Sanguem taluka, belonging to Fomento Resources Pvt Ltd. EC is granted for production of 0.75 million tonnes of iron ore annually. The project proponent had approached the Ministry seeking EC for the Kalay Mineral Block – Block IV (Auction Block), for the mining of iron ore with a production capacity of 0.75 MTPA and waste generation of 3.0 MTPA, over a mine lease area of 152.5073 hectares, following recommendation from the Goa State Expert Appraisal Committee (SEAC). The Ministry has directed the company to obtain all the required permissions including forest and wildlife clearance, Consent to establish and operate from the Goa ROAD AHEAD „„Ministry has directed the company to obtain all required permissions including forest and wildlife clearance, Consent to establish and operate from GSPCB before commencement of mining activities State Pollution Control Board before commencement of the mining activities. As per the proposal,  the Bhagwan Mahaveer Wildlife Sanctuary lies 1.04 km from the eastern boundary of the lease bound area, however, the mineral block located at Sanotana village falls outside the notified Eco-Sensitive Zone (ESZ) boundary of the sanctuary and national park. The Project Proponent was granted the Letter of Intent by the Directorate of Mines and Geology in January 2023 for a >Continued on P5 99% HAVE UPLOADED DEVELOPMENT PLAN THE GOAN I NETWORK MAPUSA Despite nearly all panchayats in the State going digital with their planning, only about a third of them are accepting payments online, according to the Union Ministry of Panchayati Raj. Out of the 191 village panchayats registered on the e-Gram Swaraj platform, 189 (99%) have uploaded their Gram Panchayat Development Plan (GPDP). However, just 71 panchayats – 37 per cent – have enabled online payment facilities. Data shows that through these 71 panchayats, 502 applications have been processed so far, with transactions amounting to Rs 8 crore. Launched under the Centre’s Digital India initiative, the e-Panchayat Mission Mode Project aims to bring transparency and efficiency to rural governance. DEPT’S DATA „„Only 37% have enabled online payment facilities „„Through these, 502 applications have been processed so far, with transactions amounting to Rs 8 cr Its key component, the e-Gram Swaraj platform, facilitates planning, budgeting, accounting and monitoring of works online. Integrated with a financial management system, the portal allows citizens and service providers to make payments in real time. A senior official in the Directorate of Panchayat said, “The infrastructure has been made available to all panchayats. What is needed now is greater adoption at the grassroots level to ensure that citizens fully benefit from the wide range of convenient, time-saving online services.” Goa emerges as India’s No. 2 inflation hotspot Central data shows price rise is over 4 times compared to Nat average THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI oa has emerged as one of India’s inflation hotspots. The State – ranked high on the human development index with high per capita income – recorded a 6.34 percent inflation rate in July 2025, the second highest in the country after Kerala’s steep 8.89 percent. This was at a time when the national average stood at just 1.55 percent, according to data released by the Centre. While most States managed to keep inflation below 5 per cent -- though above the national average G MONTH-WISE INFLATION IN GOA only moderate price rises. The contrast sharpened Month 2023 (%) 2024(%) 2025(%) further with States experiencing deflation. Telangana January 3.72 2.64 4.64 (-0.44 per cent), Odisha (-0.3 February 3.09 2.76 4.64 per cent) and Dadra and March 3.21 2.17 5.57 Nagar Haveli (-0.27 per cent) all reported falling prices, April 3.19 1.52 6.54 even as Goa struggled with May 2.87 1.51 7.11 soaring costs, raising fresh concerns about affordability June 3.21 1.61 5.51 and the rising cost of living. July 3.55 1.77 6.34 In June too, Goa had stood among the poorest perform--Goa’s figure was more than cent) and Uttar Pradesh (0.05 ers with 5.51 per cent inflafour times the all-India level. per cent) reported much lowtion, only below Kerala (6.71 Larger economies such as er inflation. per cent) and Lakshadweep Karnataka (2.73 per cent), Others, including Jammu (6.28 per cent). Maharashtra (2.28 per cent), and Kashmir (3.77 per cent), A glance at the monthly Gujarat (1.53 per cent), Punjab (3.53 per cent) and trend indicates Goa’s inflaAndhra Pradesh (0.5 per Mizoram (2.91 per cent), saw tion refused to cool through 2025 -- 4.64 per cent in January and February, rising to 5.57 per cent in March, touching 6.54 per cent in April, peaking at 7.11 per cent in May, dipping slightly to 5.51 per cent in June before climbing again to 6.34 per cent in July. The contrast with earlier years could not be sharper. In 2024, inflation hovered between 1.5 and 2 per cent, dipping even lower in some months. July last year, for instance, saw a modest 1.77 per cent rise. In 2023, the figure was relatively higher but still manageable, averaging around 3 per cent. BENGALURU A 17-year-old class 9 student of a government-run residential school gave birth to a baby boy in the school’s toilet, police said on Friday. The incident occurred at around 2 pm on August 27 at a school in Shahapur taluk of Karnataka’s Yadgir district. The matter came to light after the girl’s classmates, who reportedly saw her in labour, alerted the school administration, police said. According to the FIR, the girl, aged 17 years and seven months, was full-term pregnant and had been “sexually assaulted” by an unidentified person about nine months ago. Initially, the girl, said to >Continued on P5