log on to thegoan.net @thegoanonline The Goan E-Paper (Playstore/IOS) 16 pages PRICE ` 10 PANAJI MARGAO GOA VOLUME XI, NO. 128 Instagram.com/thegoanonline VINTAGE RO-KO LIGHT UP SYDNEY IN FAREWELL SHOW >>8 RNI: GOAENG/2015/65729 CBC 15502/13/0042/2526 SUNDAY OCTOBER 26, 2025 Facebook.com/thegoan >> SEE PG 2 SAFETY CHECK: FATAL FIRE EXPOSES LAPSES MAGAZINE MAGAZ Goa’s shoreline goes desi: Chhath Puja takes centre stage The effigy burnt, but the demons stayed The Verna village: Cradled by hills, blessed by faith Fair comment and accountability: The true test of democracy 09 11 IN SHORT >> SEC notifies Zilla delimitation PANAJI: The Goa State Election Commission has released an Extraordinary Official Gazette Notification outlining the proposed delimitation of North and South Goa Zilla Panchayats. The notification details the division of constituencies ahead of the upcoming elections. The Zilla Panchayat elections are scheduled for December 13, covering 50 constituencies in total -- 25 each in North and South Goa. Messi's Kerala visit in Nov postponed KOCHI: The Argentina football team and star player Lionel Messi will not be visiting Kerala next month, the event's sponsor said on Saturday. The Argentina team led by Messi was to play a friendly match in Kochi on November 17.  >> See pg 8 B’wood actor Satish Shah no more MUMBAI: Bollywood actor Satish Shah, whose very presence in films such as Jaane Bhi Do Yaaron and Main Hoon Na and sitcom Sarabhai vs Sarabhai elicited smiles and many a laugh, has died. He was 74. Phase-I of nationwide voter list revision likely next week POLL COMMISSION TO BEGIN EXERCISE WITH 10-15 STATES PTI NEW DELHI The Election Commission is likely to roll out the first of pan-India Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voters' list next week beginning with “10 to 15 states”, including those going to polls next year, officials said Saturday. Assam, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala and West Bengal will to polls in 2026 and they are amongst the States where the voters' list cleanup exercise will begin first. The poll authority is likely to announce the first phase of SIR middle of next week, in which as many as “10 to 15 States” would be included, officials said. The EC will not hold the electoral roll cleanup exercise in States where local body EC’S ROLL CHECK: WHAT’S ON CARDS „„Special Intensive Revision of voter lists to being with 10-15 States, including Assam, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala, and West Bengal „„States with ongoing or upcoming local body elections will have SIR later elections are taking place or are due, as the grassroots poll machinery is busy with it and may not be able to focus on SIR, they said The SIR in such States will be held in later phases. The voters' list cleanup exercise has concluded in Bihar where the final list with nearly 7.42 crore names was published on September 30. Bihar will go to polls in two BIHAR UPDATE: Cleanup done; 7.42 crore voters finalized; elections Nov 6 & 11, counting Nov 14 phases, on November 6 and November 11, and the counting will take place on November 14. The Commission has already held two conferences with state chief electoral of- Controversial power charges spark political storm in Goa OPPOSITION SLAMS GOVT, DHAVALIKAR FOR 20% SURCHARGE ON ‘EXCESS’ POWER AT PEAK HOURS THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI The decision of the State government to introduce the 'demand pricing' principle for billing domestic electricity consumers announced by Power Minister Ramkrishna (Sudin) Dhavalikar came under fire from every Opposition party on Saturday who demanded that it be rolled back immediately. Dhavalikar  had on Friday said that under the new billing system, domestic  consumers will be levied a 20% surcharge on electricity consumed during peak hours, triggering the political firestorm on Saturday, with opposition parties across the spectrum condemning the move as regressive, anti-people, and economically burdensome. Dhavalikar had declared that from December, electricity consumers in Goa will be billed under a “dynamic pricing” model, with a 20% surcharge levied on power used between 5 pm and 9 am — hours considered peak de- „„CONGRESS: ‘Cruel „„GOA FORWARD: This is attack’ on common not dynamic pricing, its dypeople… daylight namic exploitation… robbery and a govt is punishing betrayal of the VOICES OF people for its own common man CONCERN inefficiency „„AAM AADMI „„REVOLUTIONPARTY: Decision ARY GOANS: A ‘anti-middle-class’ betrayal of public and ‘insensitive’… trust… govt targeting the govt wants to penalworking class who rely on ise people electricity for basic needs  WHAT SUDIN HAD SAID Dhavalikar said consumers using less electricity will receive a 20% discount, while those misusing power between 5 pm and 9 am will incur a 20% surcharge mand.  The minister had defended the move as a step toward energy efficiency and demand management. The Congress condemned the move on Friday itself with its spokesperson, Amarnath Panjikar calling it a "cruel attack" on common people. The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Saturday held a press conference where it launched a scathing attack on the government, calling the decision “anti-middle-class” and “insensitive.”  AAP Goa President Amit >Continued on P6 „„Last SIRs in most States were 2002–2004; last SIR to be used as cut-off for revisions „„Aim is to weed out foreign illegal migrants, relevant amid crackdowns on migrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar ficers (CEOs) to firm up the SIR rollout roadmap. Several CEOs have already put the voter lists published after their last SIR on their websites. The website of the Delhi CEO has the 2008 voter list when the last intensive revision took place in the national capital. In Uttarakhand, the last SIR took place in the year 2006, Govt to simplify immigration for passengers at select airports and that year's electoral roll is now on the state CEO’s website. The last SIR in States will serve as the cut-off date, just as the 2003 voter list of Bihar was used by the EC for intensive revision. Most states had the last SIR of the voter list between 2002 and 2004. Most have nearly completed the mapping of current electors with the voters according to the last SIR held in their respective states or Union territories. The primary aim of the SIR is to weed out foreign illegal migrants by checking their place of birth. The move assumes significance in the wake of a crackdown in various states on illegal migrants, including from Bangladesh and Myanmar. Indore horror: Two Australian women cricketers stalked One molested; police swing into action, arrest accused PTI INDORE Two Australian women cricketers, taking part in the ICC Women's Cricket World Cup, were allegedly stalked, and one of them was molested by a motorcycle-borne man in Madhya Pradesh's Indore, police said on Saturday. The police on Friday arrested the man involved in the incident that occurred in the Khajrana Road area on Thursday morning, an official said. Sub-Inspector Nidhi Raghuvanshi said the two cricketers had stepped out of their hotel and were walking towards a cafe when a bike-borne man started following them. He allegedly touched one of them inappropriately and rode off, she said. According to the FIR, the duo contacted their team security Police said that the two cricketers had stepped out of their hotel and were walking towards a cafe when a man on a motorcycle started following them. He allegedly touched one of them inappropriately and rode off officer, Danny Simmons, and shared their live location with him, and he then passed it on to the local security officer. Based on this, the police team was able to reach the spot immediately. On getting information, Assistant Commissioner of Police Himani Mishra met the two players, recorded their statements and registered a first information report. IN FULL FLOW PTI NEW DELHI The central government is looking to put in place a seamless immigration procedure in which a passenger planning to travel overseas through Delhi or Mumbai airports can complete his or her immigration at select origin airports. The plan being considered by the Civil Aviation Ministry is part of efforts to make key Indian airports international aviation hubs by ensuring seamless, smooth transfer processes. In response to a PTI query on the efforts to address the issues related to making India an international aviation hub, Civil Aviation Minister K Rammohan Naidu on Saturday said the ministry has identified Delhi and Mumbai airports for the first phase to make them international hubs. For example, Naidu said that if a person is flying from Surat to London, can he or she come to Surat, complete the immigration process there, and then take the flight from Delhi without leaving the terminal. Chapoli dam overflows at its spillage after incessant rains over the past 24 hours. This is the second time this monsoon that the dam has overflowed.  (Report on pg 2) State on alert for heavy rain; IMD warns of flash floods, landslides THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI The India Meteorological Department (IMD) on Saturday warned of continued rainfall with thunderstorms and lightning across parts of Goa, cautioning that strong winds could trigger flash floods, landslides, and damage to plantations and kutcha houses. In its latest bulletin, the IMD said that rainfall between 7 cm and 20 cm was recorded at isolated places over Goa, Coastal Karnataka, Tamil Nadu & Puducherry, and the Nicobar Islands during the past 24 hours. The department has attributed the widespread weather activity to active monsoon conditions prevailing over peninsular India. For the ongoing month, Goa has recorded 185.4 mm rainfall as against the normal 146.6mm – surplus by 26.5 percent. IMD Goa has extended the yellow alert for the State till October 28. >Continued on P6 Goa still among India’s inflation NEW TWIST TO KURNOOL BUS TRAGEDY hotspots; signs of relief in sight Batteries of smartphone consignment intensified blaze THE GOAN I NETWORK PANAJI Goa continues to rank among the States with the highest inflation rates in the country, though the latest figures offer a faint glimmer of relief. After emerging as India’s second-most inflation-hit region in July, the State has slipped to the fourth position with 3.87 per cent inflation in September, marking a modest improvement. Data released by the Centre shows that Goa recorded a 6.34 per cent inflation rate in INFLATION FOR SEPTEMBER National average..........1.54% Lakshadweep .............9.07 % Kerala ..........................9.05 % Jammu & Kashmir...... 4.38 % Goa..............................3.87 % Karnataka....................3.33 % Andaman & Nicobar....3.27 % Punjab......................... 3.06% Tamil Nadu..................2.77 % Himachal.....................2.74 % Uttrakhand..................2.25 % Mizoram...................... 2.15 % Arunachal....................2.12 % July -- second only to Kerala’s steep 8.89 per cent -- before easing slightly to settle below Kerala and two union territories last month. In June, Goa’s inflation stood at 5.51 per cent, placing it among the poorest performers, behind Kerala (6.71 per cent) and Lakshadweep (6.28 per cent). However, despite the recent decline, Goa’s price rise remains far above the national average of 1.54 per cent. Larger economies such >Continued on P6 AGENCIES HYDERABAD s the investigation into the Kurnool bus fire case continues in Andhra Pradesh, a new development has emerged. A consignment of 234 smartphones was inside the bus that exploded when the accident occurred Friday morning. Forensic experts have suggested that the exploding batteries of these phones contributed to the intensity of the blaze that engulfed the bus, killing 20 passengers. The 234 smartphones were Close shave for 40 in Ranchi bus fire A RANCHI: Over 40 passengers had a narrow escape as a moving bus caught fire in Ranchi on Saturday evening, police said. “Fortunately, the bus was stopped in time and the passengers were brought out safely. A fire tender arrived shortly, but by then, local shopkeepers had doused the flame. None of the passengers suffered any injury, nor any major damage was caused to goods,” police said. The mangled remains of the bus that caught fire in Kurnool on Friday. worth Rs 46 lakh. They were being shipped as a parcel by a Hyderabad-based businessman named Manganath. The consignment was destined for the e-commerce company in Bengaluru, from where the phones would be supplied to customers. Eyewitnesses reported hearing the batteries exploding as the phones caught fire. P Venkataraman, director-general of the Andhra Pradesh Fire Services, pointed out that in addition to the smartphones' explosion, the electrical batteries used for the bus AC system also burst. The heat was so severe that it melted the aluminium sheets on the bus floor, he said.