I wish to record my grateful thanks to John J. D'Souza of Toronto for having skilfully edited the last 4 issues of this newsletter.

FORTHCOMING

Friday 12th Jan. 7pm -11pm. Young London Goans Social. New Year and Birthday Party. Bring whomever you want. The Princess Louise Pub - function room 2nd floor. 208 High Holborn, (Holborn tube station). (Collecting donations for the National Association for Colitis and Crohns disease).

21 Jan. 2.00 p.m. Goan Association (UK). EGM followed by adjourned AGM Archbishop Lanfranc School, Mitcham Road, Croydon. Open to fully paid-up members only.

10 Feb. 7pm-midnight. G.C.A. Presents Kenya Night at Goan Community Centre, Keston Road N17 6PW. Entrance £10 non-members, £8 members, unemployed, children, students, senior citizens, £5 members' children. All tickets inc. buffet-choice of Ugali, Irhio, Goat Curry, Rice & Peas or Mogo. Non stop Swahili music to "Say One Do One" Disco. Contact Candy for details on 0958 355 784

17 Feb. Goan, Mauritian & Trinidadian Valentine's Disco and Blind Date. White Hart Lane School, Wood Green. Band: Silver Stardust + Disco. £8 advance; <13, £4. Ricky Rebello 020 8361 4566 (ev.) or 07941 514333. anricko@onetel.net.uk

16 Apr. 12 noon - 10 p.m. Millennium Celebration on Easter Monday at the Goan Community Centre. Anyone who wishes to participate in song, dance, traditional, art, cookery or put up a stall in the car park. A meeting will be held to set up an organising committee. Any volunteers please contact Candy on 0958 355 784.

COMMUNITY NEWS

Congratulations to Dr Cornel DaCosta who has been made a visiting professor of the University of Florida and has also been invited as a scholar at a Brazilian University. Ashgate has published his third book, A Compact for Higher Education, co-edited by K. Gokulsingh. Cornel has been busy travelling all over India on student recruitment drives.

The 5th annual Computers for Goan Schools raffle has now started. This is your chance to help put computers in 100% of Goa schools, wire them to the Internet and train teachers to teach computer education. The raffle draw will be held on the 31st of Jan. 2001.You can buy your tickets online via a secure page at: https://www.goacom.com/community/schools/raffle/

Unfortunately all messages sent to me in the last month have disappeared down a black hole. If you have written to me to unsubscribe or if you have asked for your friends to be included in the mailing list, etc. please write again. Sincere apologies.

DEATHS

24 Dec. London: PEDRINHO RODRIGUES (Majorda and Ex. Standard Bank, Nairobi). Husband of Ermelinda. Father of Wilfred (London) and Wendy (Canada).

27 Dec. St Cruz: ANTONIO INACIO F DE BRAGANZA, husband of Maria Joaquina, father of Joaquim, Caetano/Generosa, Leo/Milagrina, Jimmy (UK)/Evita and Tony (London).

28 Dec. Mapusa: TIMOTEO NUNES, (Ex-Mombasa) husband of Assumption, father of Violet and Denis

5 Jan. Margao. ANTONIETA JULIET ALMEIDA E D'SOUZA, wife of late Crispino, mother of Alvito/Enoe (Canada), Xenia/Heron (USA), Bemvinda/late Brian, Harold/Sabina (Kenya), Terezinha..

6 Jan. Majorda: FRANCISCO JOAO BRAGANZA, husband of Cecilia, brother- in-law of Agnes/Bosco (Kenya), etc.

8 Jan. London (Isleworth): CADRIADE (SONNY) ROZARIO (ex-Mombasa), husband of Mareliz, and father of Janet/Jude, Audrey and Desmond/Jackie. Brother of late Andrew, late Vincent/Alice, late Maxi, Francis, Joseph/Celsa, Cyprian/Anne.

LOOKING FOR

Douglas 0207-511-5469 or 0973-796874 seeks to contact the lady who attended the Harrow Leisure Centre New Years function and Wandsworth Town Hall on 6/1/2001. At Harrow she wore a red ball gown and a distinctive white pearl bracelet. At Wandsworth Town Hall she wore a black velvet outfit with sequins. Her hair was in a bun and she is about 5' 7'' tall.

FLIGHT INFORMATION

Airtours Flight Market Tel: 0870 400 1259. Quote Ref: Travelfind. Gatwick - Goa. Dep. 25 Jan £271 Rtn.

7 Jan. Sunday People. If you've got your bags packed and nowhere to go snap up one of these last-minute bargains... Goa (14 nts, r/o) Jan 13, Gatwick, pounds 419, First Resort (0870 055 6300).

6 Jan. The Independent. Take a luxury break in southern India at the exclusive Taj Exotica. Set on the south-west coast of Goa, in 50 acres of tropical gardens alongside the 800m stretch of palm-fringed white sands that is the famed Benaulim Beach, a seven-night break is priced at £963 per person, based on two sharing, and includes return flights, transfers, and breakfast. Activities embrace everything from beach volleyball to climbing coconut trees. Kuoni (01306 747000).

NEWS HEADLINES
(mainly from Joel D'Souza in Goa, courtesy of GOACOM, e-mail: goanow@goatelecom.com )

Goa is to get an exclusive 24-hour music TV channel within a year.

*Ajay Noronha from Bombay has just finished making a film on tourism related paedophilia in Goa. (Write for details).

Goa Lacks Quality Education: Despite the number of educational institutions in Goa, "The general opinion of a number of persons interviewed in Goa is that the quality of education is not at par with other States", says the Price Waterhouse Coopers report. The report points out that "the majority" of post-graduates take up teaching as profession, while most technical graduates, who have better-than-average capabilities, find jobs outside the State. (H)

Dabolim airport, Goa, is to get a new parking bay for aircraft, a restaurant, snack bars and an increase in immigration counters.

The Goa government is considering setting up a film city following feelers from the Mumbai film industry.

GOANET
(www.goacom.com/goanet. Some of the highlights)

15200 Clothes of Goa: telling a story of the region's history. Frederick Noronha 15155 Questions About Goan Life In Uganda. Barney Hicks seeks background information for a novel that he is writing. 15129 Of luck and destiny... Konkani cinema has past its heyday. Frederick Noronha 15123 Political Incorrectness In Goa. Aires Rodrigues.

IN THE NEWS
(e-mail eddie@fernandes.u-net.com for the full text of items marked *) .

*11 Dec. Telegraph. Feature article on Christmas in Goa. …In Goa, where many of the people are still Catholic, Christmas is celebrated 'vindaloo style'. Jonathan Gregson sees how it's done. 1341 words

23 Dec. Telegraph. By Rosemary Behan Last Christmas I toured Goa on a battered old scooter. In the sparsely populated hinterland behind the palm-fringed beaches, locals hang paper lanterns in the shape of the northern star on their porches. It is a pure sight, and a comforting beacon from an unlit road…

24 Dec. Sunday Mirror. Go to Goa. Hayes and Jarvis have a seven-night package, leaving Gatwick for India on January 27, for pounds 369 per person, including flights, transfers and accommodation on a bed and breakfast basis at the Alphaville Hotel, on the edge of Calangute village. A 14-night package costs pounds 399. Details: 870 89 89 890.

27 Dec. Lycos Environment News Service. Goa's Tourist Boom Backfires With an Ugly Smell. By Frederick Noronha. Full text at: http://ens.lycos.com/ens/dec2000/2000L-12-27-12.html

31 Dec. Times of India. International Goan Convention discusses state-building. http://www.timesofindia.com/today/31indi28.htm

31 Dec. Times of India. Fight ills plaguing Goa. Referring to his meeting with several Goans whenever he went abroad, Julio Ribeiro said all expatriates feel for their own community ... Full text at: http://www.timesofindia.com/today/31mpan5.htm

2 Jan. The Daily Mirror. Goa The south-west coast of India is warm and sunny in December and humidity is at its lowest point. This is an ideal time to explore Goa's 130km of coastline, combing for seashells along Siridao beach, or strolling through the flea market at Anjuna. The days are sufficiently cool to enjoy sightseeing and shopping jaunts into Old Goa. Somak offers a fortnight's B&B at the Holiday Inn during late Nov./early Dec. 2001, from £820, with flights. Call 020-8423 3000.

*6 Jan Times of India. Soprano Patricia Rozario bags OBE 494 words

6 Jan. Financial Times; …one of the UK's most dedicated Indian chefs, Simon Morris, is cooking inspirational regional Indian food at Grafton Manor, Bromsgrove, Worcestershire. Morris, author of Cardamom and Coriander (Metro, £17.99), spends a month each year travelling around India and brings back the fruits of his research for guests' delectation. From January 26 to February 4, he will be staging an Indian food festival focusing on Goa. The three-course prix fixe menu, at Pounds 27.85, includes a demonstration at noon on Sunday January 28 and Sunday February 4. He will also sign copies of his book.

*6 Jan. The Telegraph. Feature article on Blazing Trails, the Enfield motorcycle touring outfit based in Goa and Suzie Lumsden, 34, originally from Essex, the founder.

*8 Jan. Gomantak Times. Francisco D'Souza from London, a member of the Help a Poor Child (HAPC) charity organisation, distributed articles for the needy students of the economically backward classes in Taleigao. 136 words.

*8 Jan. Gomantak Times. Editorial. Whither expat Goan culture? 659 words

*12 Jan. Times of India. The British High Commission will soon open a consulate section in Goa, minister for Europe and Commonwealth Keith Vaz said 238 words.