Edited by Eddie Fernandes editor@goanvoice.org.uk

Huge Relief to Goan-origin Portuguese Citizens
22 April. Herald. For the thousands of Goans who are Portuguese citizens and resident in Goa or elsewhere, the Minister of External Affairs, Passport Division’s new memo comes as a huge relief. Those Goans, who for the past three years have been denied the OCI (Overseas Citizenship of India) status will now be eligible for it. In a separate matter, the Passport office has revoked the passports of those Goans who have registered their births in Portugal but not acquired citizenship. Several Goans have petitioned the Bombay High Court to resolve this issue.  click here

Fernandes Showing Different Strokes

Goan Legacy of Karachi: Misquita Bakery
22 April. The Goan. When Goans started to migrate to the port town and cantonment areas of Karachi in the nineteenth century, no one could have predicted the success of this small but vibrant community. The original Misquita Bakery was set up by Joseph Cajetan Misquita on Frere Street Sadar in 1858. JC Misquita was impressively wealthy owning several properties. His son Manuel Misquita was the mayor of Karachi from 1946-1947. In 2000 when the old shops on the street were demolished, the new owners moved the bakery to new premises.  For further details click here

The Untapped Indian Coast with a Hippie vibe
21 April. The Sunday Times UK. Travel writer Chris Caldicott lands at the newly opened Mopa Airport and explores the border regions of Goa, now more accessible because of the airport and road connectivity. From Mopa, he travelled north to find lagoons of crystal-clear water, pretty seaside towns such as Malvan and Tarkarli, and serene mangrove-lined backwaters…Bhogave beach, which stretches for more than two miles from the mouth of the Karli River to Nivati Fort. The fort, one of many constructed by Maharashtra’s 17th-century warrior hero Shivaji along the Konkan coast…Sawantwadi Palace, an elegant heritage hotel soaked in art and culture in the verdant foothills of the Ghats. It’s still home to the Sawantwadi royal family.  For further details click here

New Swindon Restaurant Welcomes First Customers
20 April. Wiltshire Newsletter. Glorio Fernandes and Caetano D’Costa have finished renovating a former café after taking over the building in March. Their newly opened Mandovi Restaurant will be serving a mixture of Indian and Indo-Chinese cuisine, including a range of curries, bhajis, rice dishes, chicken wings, vegetarian options, soups, and desserts. Glorio has worked at management level in London restaurants for the past seven years and jumped at the chance to set up his own eatery in the heart of Swindon.  For further details click here

F. N. Souza Reduced the Cosmos to a Dot
April 21. The Indian Express. F. N. Souza’s early childhood in Goa shaped his art and his deep distrust of clergy, portrayed in several paintings. But his stay in post-war London, where he was to reach the pinnacle of his career, gave him the opportunity to experience first-hand the corruption of the human soul. In works like Six Gentlemen of Our Times (1955), for instance, we see the artist’s powerful heads made with ink and paper to provide a visceral jolt with their malevolent features, revealing the simmering evil underneath. While he exposed the decadence of the upper classes, it is to his credit that he did not spare himself. A self-portrait from this period has the artist’s image pierced with hatchings, with glittering, malevolent teeth.  click here

Goan Village Visible Once a Year
22 April. Business Today. The Kurdi village in Goa is visible just once a year when it re-emerges ghostlike. The construction of the Salaulim dam in the 1980s condemned this entire village to a watery end. Nonetheless, in the dry summer months, the remnants of this village become visible, attracting tourist. Among the ruins is a sunken chapel and temple. Photo gallery.  click here

In Search of Lost Time

History Hour: The Great Goan Land Grab
20 April. Recording by Frederick Noronha. Solano da Silva, Assistant Professor at BITS, Pilani, speaking at Xavier Centre of Historical Research, poses the question as to why, despite having a land usage planning department, Goa repeatedly finds itself embroiled in land-related conflicts. He looks at this problem in four parts, firstly the conflicts surrounding land, the immediate causes and then the deeper causes, and makes some projections. Total time: 1hr 8mins. Web Link.

Goa: Now a two-in-one Holiday Destination
19 April. Gomantak Times. Planning a holiday to Goa? It is all set to become a two-in-one holiday destination. From April onwards, travellers to Goa can combine their trip with a stay on the beautiful Agatti Island off Lakshadweep, Kerala. Goa-based airline FLY91, will fly four times a week to Agatti, departing from Mopa airport. With a 6 km stretch of stunning land blessed with diverse marine life, Agatti is one of Lakshadweep's most sought-after destinations, attracting deep-sea fishing, scuba diving, sailing, water skiing and kayaking enthusiasts.  click here

Rain lashes Goa: Exposes vulnerabilities
21 April. Navhind Times. Following an intense heatwave, rain lashed several parts of Goa through most of Saturday, prompting the meteorological department to put the state on yellow alert for the next five days. The flooding that followed soon exposed Panjim’s vulnerabilities as drains clogged and it became waterlogged. A caved-in footpath and road proved Panjim is nowhere close to becoming the smart city it is being developed as but is instead beset with infrastructural problems.  For further details click here

Goan Dazzled in Hockey across three continents

Cashew: A Peek into Goa’s heritage
21 April. Navhind Times. The cashew travelled with the Portuguese from Brazil to Goa in the 1700s, brought in to control soil erosion and improve river conditions in an era dependent on river navigation. The locals soon discovered the cashew could ferment and provided an alternative to beverages derived from palm coconuts. Later, cashews from East Africa entered Goa. Lacking industry, processing of cashews became the mainstay for many Goans. Today, the Goan cashew is king, commanding prices 5-10 times higher than cashews from other states.  For further details click here

Circa: Goa’s Unique Vintage Shop
21 April. YS Life. Right after independence Nehru got in touch with Hans Raj Suri, a then exporter of sports equipment to South Africa, ‘to showcase India to the world.’ His grandson Mayank Anand follows in his footsteps with his vintage shop Circa, opened in 2021 in Goa. “Goa is the melting pot in India. Instead of opening a store in multiple cities, Goa does the trick,” he tells YS Life. Circa restores art and artefacts to its original state. At the store based in the beach-fronted village of Anjuna, vintage collectibles, curios, and artifacts are all carefully curated, sourced from auction houses, flea markets, individual sellers, making it akin to an art gallery rather than just a vintage shop.  click here

Italian DJ who grew up in Goa to head festival in Palma
21 April. Majorca Daily Bulletin. Indira Paganotto, born to Italian parents, grew up in Goa, where her father was a DJ in 1990s. Back then, Goa’s hedonistic night life had a thriving trance scene and much of it rubbed off on young Indira. Today, she is one of the most sought-after DJs internationally. This summer she headlines the Origen Festival in Palma.  For further details click here

Death: Luiz do Rosario Gomes. Canada.
11 April. Luiz do Rosario Gomes, born in Goa, he had a long career in banking. Husband to Blanche and their three daughters, Lynette Miranda (Angelo), Melonie Maguire (Mike), and Vanessa Meraw (Peter). Funeral arrangements with McEachnie Funeral Home.

Death: Alda Almeida. Ex-Nairobi
16 April. Alda Almeida died peacefully in Croydon, UK. Beloved daughter of Roque Piedade and Luiza Almeida, sister to Sarah/Amarant, Maria/lRui, Ina/Joe, Leonora/Arthur, Jane/lHiram and Sybi/Rui.[via Goan Welfare Society, Nairobi.)

Can Goa’s Khazans save it from Climate change?
4 April. Global Issues. Goa is indeed become a test pilot in climate change projects. Elsa Fernandes is exploring the possibility of staving off climate change by preserving Goa’s khazans. Khazan’s are Goa’s age-old wetlands reclaimed from mangrove forests by a system of dykes and sluice gates. Fernandes recalls growing up in a house where food was abundant and life revolved around crop cycles.  For further details click here

Madkai, Goa selected for Climate Change Project
20 April. Gomantak Times. The luxuriant village of Madkai in Goa has been earmarked for a biodiversity project in partnership with Nippon Life. The project will focus on preserving Goa’s invaluable mangroves and improving coastal community resilience. These projects supported by the Central government aim to mitigate the effect of natural disasters.  click here

A Book set around Goa’s Liberation
20 April. Scroll India. Selma Carvalho reviews the book ‘Rescuing a River Breeze.’ Its author Mrinalini Harchandrai explores the period around Goa’s liberation with grace and agility. In December 1961, the Indian army advanced into Goa and claimed the territory as part of the Indian Republic. By then, Goa had been colonised by the Portuguese for four and half centuries and the long durée had produced a society caught been two worlds – that of Europe and South Asia… Harchandrai’s novel visits these issues without becoming suffocatingly political. Its central focus is on the Quarachim family, caught up in the maelstrom of unfolding events.  For further details click here

UK Goan pushes for Gen X in Goa’s Tourism policy
19 April. The Goan. UK Goan Antonio Fernandes, the co-founder of A&G Events Experts, as a delegate at the Goa International Travel Mart has suggested the involvement of a new generation while formulating Goa’s regenerative tourism strategy and policy. Regenerative tourism is a holistic way of looking at tourism which seeks to benefit all the stakeholders with environmental sustainability as its core ethos. Fernandes had high praise for Goa’s Tourism Director Suneel Anchipaka for his focus on nature and respect for local culture.  For further details click here

Renewing Goa’s French Connection
20 April. Herald. Vivek Menezes reviews Thinnai Stories, an online series of conversations hosted by the distinguished Indo-Malagasy writer Ari Gautier and Shamika Andrade from the Alliance Française in Panjim. Gautier and Andrade are mining rich terrain, of an intense intellectual back-and-forth that has persisted between France and Goa for 250 years, although largely overlooked in the myopic contemporary narrative which misinterprets and falsely represents Pondicherry as the be-all and end-all of French impact and ideas in India.  click here

British-Asian: Fighting the Far Right, 1976-1981
19 April: Channel 4. This three-part documentary traces the South Asian stand against far right violence amidst a rising tide of racist murders. It documents the coming together of young British-Asians to defend themselves against racist attacks and questions the role of police brutality.  click here

Costa for EU Council Chief
20 April. Euractiv. Antonio Costa, Portugal’s beleaguered former prime-minister may soon be returning to public life once again. President Marcelo Sousa has hinted that there is likely to be a Portuguese member of the European Council this autumn in Brussels. Sousa has previously championed Costa for this position, adding it would allow Costa to do what he does well. Antonio Costa can trace his origins to Goa, his father was the well-known Goan writer Orlando Costa.  For further details click here

Dabolim Airport Unlikely to Close
19 April. Gomantak Times. There has been much debate in recent years whether the conveniently located Dabolim airport will permanently close for civilian flights. This has caused anguish to travellers wanting quick and easy connectivity to Goa's towns. Although, for a while it seemed likely that Dabolim was on its way to closure, Vito Gomes, CEO of Aviation Services Management debunks the theory. The Mopa Airport is as yet not equipped to deal with day-time landings of international flights. Gomes feels ultimately both airports will operate in tandem which may come as good news to frequent travellers.  click here

The Brits are Back in Goa
19 April. Gomantak Times. As the tourist season draws to a close in Goa, stake-holders are of the opinion that business has been brisk. British tourist were adequately represented although nowhere near pre-pandemic levels. The Brits are thought to be more friendly and more eager to become part of the local landscape. The Russians too returned to Goa this season and while the British prefer home-stays around North Goa, the Russians prefer to amble along the secluded beaches of South Goa.  For further details click here

F. N. Souza at 100 in Saligao
19 April. Herald. The 12 April marked the 100 year birth anniversary of Goa’s most renowned modernist artist F. N. Souza. The occasion was marked by a visit to Saligao by his daughter Keren Souza and grandson Solomon Souza during which they hosted a remembrance tribute at the Saligao Institute. Francis Newton Souza was born in Saligao but despite the intermittent nature of his stays in the village, it had a profound influence on the artist. Solomon acknowledged that Saligao was the starting point of the journey and where it all began 100 years ago.  click here

Goa Church: Catholics urged to vote for Secular candidates
19 April. The Deccan Herald. In the upcoming general election which will lock-in Goa’s future for the next five years, Goa Church urges Catholics to exercise their fundamental right to franchise and use their vote wisely. The Church's obligation to participate in nation-building and in shaping the moral character of society is a requirement of our faith. It is in this spirit that all eligible Catholic voters need to exercise their franchise on May 7, 2024, casting their vote for persons with secular credentials,’ advised the Archbishop.  click here

Everything you need to know about Sao Joao 2024

Goa’s deep connection to the sea
19 April: Gomantak Times. It was Goan sailors hired by British naval and merchant ships that travelled the world from the 19th century onwards and ensured Goans became a wandering race. Nestled along the western coast of India, Goa has always had a deep and rich connection with the sea and in this picture gallery of the Malim fish jetty that connection is brilliantly captured.  For further details click here

Death: Rita Aguiar. Ex Bombay, Uganda, London

Death: Fr. Melito Dias
18 April. Rev Fr. Melito Dias, Clergy of the Archdiocese of Karachi and St. Anthony's Parish.

Minorities joining BJP to support Modi
18 April. Times of India. In a controversial statement, Minister for Transport Mauvin Godinho alleges that minorities are joining the BJP because “they have realised that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is the only choice for the development of the nation.’ Godinho is convinced Catholic Goans who were never keen on the BJP have now changed course because they have witnessed the progress. He foresees the opposition will ‘simply fly away and will not know where they have landed in this upcoming election.’  For further details click here

Talking Quilt: Tribute to Oral Traditions
16 April. Homegrown. An extraordinary exhibition produced and curated by artist and writer Savia Viegas tells stories through the sewing traditions of Goa. Savia’s childhood unfolded against the backdrop of her mother, Berta Elisa Viegas, a skilled seamstress who possessed a magical touch with needle and thread. Her mother taught stitching and embroidery to several young women as during that time embroidery was seen as a solely feminine activity that was compulsory to learn. A quilt is the centre-piece in this exhibition titled ‘The Talking Quilt.’  For further details click here

Mining contract under Election Commission Lens
18 April. Indian Express. Goa government’s mining contract with Vedanta has come under the radar and been referred to the Election Commission of India, pointing out that it contravenes guidelines as set out by the ECI. The complaint states that “the agreement is now being used by the government to win votes by informing voters that mining has resumed in Goa.”  For further details click here

Wallet Friendly 10 course menu at Bar Goa Toronto
15 April, Streets of Toronto. Hemant Bhagwani owner of Bar Goa in Toronto is set to offer a wallet-friendly 10 course menu. Bhagwani is also the owner of Goa Indian Farm Kitchen in North York and Goa New York, restaurants inspired by his travels to the coastal Indian state. With golden accents, grand arches, and sleek black-and-white tiles, Bar Goa draws inspiration from the churches of Goa, complemented by modern touches like LED lighting and luxurious cushioned seating. To enhance the Goa experience, the restaurant offers prawn balchao served on Japanese milk bread, jackroot xacuti with chai and cutlets, and even a Kashmiri chili-infused gin.  For further details click here

The Top 100 World’s Most Boring Attractions

Goans Seek Legal Aid over Revoked Passports
18 April 2024. Navhind Times. In the ongoing issue by the Goa Government to revoke the Indian passports of Goans who have registered their births in Portugal, multiple petitioners have called on the Bombay High Court to resolve the issue. The issue first came to light in 2022, when 500 passports were revoked and has remained unresolved since then. Kennedy Afonso, the convenor of Goans for Goa, has taken up this matter with the Bombay High Court but sees no early resolution.  For further details click here

Death: Orlando Joseph Figueiredo. UK. Ex Entebbe, Uganda

Death: Rita D’Souza.Cheam, Surrey ex Aldona Goa, Kampala Uganda.

Goan Voice UK Announcement
Selma Carvalho who has previously overseen Goan Voice UK in Eddie Fernandes' absence and is known to the readership will be in-charge of the site in the interim period. She will bring you news items of interest, obituaries and events. Next update will appear here on Wed 17 Apr. at 23:00 GMT. All queries can be addressed to carvalho_sel@yahoo.com

Goans with Portuguese Passport Facing Issues
17 April, The Indian Express. More than a 100 Goans who had registered their births in Portugal, have had their Indian passports revoked and are unable to acquire Overseas Citizenship Status. Being rendered stateless has caused great distress for Goans who have been accused of suppressing information while applying for their Indian passports. Those effected deny trying to deliberately withhold information. Two Goans have now petitioned the Bombay Hight Court.  For further details click here

NRIs Owning Flats Stuck for Resale
12 April, The Goan. Non-res¬id¬ent Indi¬ans and for¬eign nation¬als hold¬ing Over¬seas Cit¬izen of India (OCI) cards who pur¬chased flat in Goa in the 2013-18 five-year period are caught in a bind: they are unable to sell as offi¬cials are requesting an NOC from the Debt Management Unit, which no longer exists. Buyers of flats who had not registered with the DMU are now finding it impossible to resell their flats.  For further details click here

Ladis da Silva: Forgotten Artist
11 April, Herald. Ladis Da Silva was born to Goan parents on the island of Zanzibar, off the coast of East Africa, on April 11, 1920. He combined in himself two notable accomplishments: he was a consummate and a writer of note having published books and written extensively on his work. He joined St Joseph High School for Advanced Studies under the Holy Ghost Fathers where he acquired his basics in art. In Zanzibar, he was the founder member of the Zanzibar Arts and Crafts Society with the support of His Highness, The Sultanate of Zanzibar.  For further details click here

Goan Chef Makes it big in London