London: Joy Fernandes in Midsummer Night's Dream: Some Reviews
14 Mar: The Telegraph: Joy Fernandes is one of the greatest Bottoms I have ever seen …
14 Mar: Variety: Joy Fernandes' dignified Bottom makes the strongest impression …
14 Mar: The Guardian: Joy Fernandes's performance epitomises the virtues of this production.
16 Mar: The Stage: Joy Fernandes really steals the show
16 Mar: Whats On Stage: Reviews praised all the performances – particularly that of Joy Fernandes
18 Mar: Mail on Sunday: Joy Fernandes can't help but steal the show.
A Midsummer Night's Dream runs at the Roundhouse from 13 March to 14 April, preceding a major UK and international tour. To read the reviews in full click here.

Helga Gomes & Joaquim Goes to investigate climate change
	15 Mar: Boothbay Register, ME. Vol. 130 no.11. Bigelow Scientists Dr. Joaquim Goes and Dr. Helga do Rosario Gomes have received a $1.18 million grant from NASA to investigate the impacts of global warming on marine life in the Arabian Sea … Goes and Gomes will team with atmospheric, ocean and fisheries scientists … During the cruises, investigators will measure seawater properties along a transect from Goa, India to Muscat, Oman. For text, 492 words, click here.
Both Joaquim and Helga were born in Nairobi, Kenya. Joaquim is the son of late Octaviano Goes and Idalina dos Merces Goes and studied at Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, Cortalim, Goa. Helga is the daughter of Jacinto Gomes and Aida Rocha Gomes and was raised in Verna, Goa. For more about the married couple, click here. For the GVUK Dr Gomes Supplement click here. For more about Dr Goes click here.

Collien Fernandes: The 'Dorks' is Getting Remade

Click to enlarge

15 Mar: The German film, Night of the Living Dorks is set to be remade by Warner … The original has gore, nudity, jokes and hot chicks … one of which is hot, hot, hot played by Collien Fernandes … For text click here. For a video trailer of the film click here. To buy a copy of the DVD ($14.99) click here. For the Collien fernandes website click here. For links to more photographs of her, click here.

UK: Jyoti Fernandes: Eco group tackles homes crisis
16 Mar: Bridport and Lyme Regis News. Log cabins and straw bale huts could be the answer to West Dorset's housing problem, say campaigners … Jyoti Fernandes of Fivepenny Farm, Wootton Fitzpaine, told Bridport Environment Group that West Dorset would benefit from adopting a 'Low Impact Policy' for designated areas that would allow people to build their own homes and work the land. She and partner James Wilkes and another couple built their own eco-friendly homes and organic vegetable business on some 40 acres of land in Wootton Fitzpaine in 2005 but were only given temporary permission after a long-running planning appeal. She said: "Lots of people have said they really want to do this but not everyone wants to go through the same appeals.” 563 words. Click here.
Jyoti Fernandes lives on a smallholding in Dorset, England, growing organic produce for local markets. She has four children. For links to more info about her click here.

UK: Hockey: Leicester Goans 1; Loughborough Carillon Hawks 0
16 Mar: Loughborough Echo. Loughborough Carillon Hawks managed to stand their ground against top-of-the-table Leicester Goans. The home team was determined to give Goans a good run-around, and remained cool under pressure … Goans increased their attacks and were the marginally stronger team … Goans only managed to score once from a short corner late in the game, when one of their players was left unmarked at the top of the circle. 253 words.

London: Patricia Rozario: Faultline
16 Mar: The Independent. Queen Elizabeth Hall London. Dance and contemporary racial politics are strange bedfellows, but the choreographer Shobana Jeyasingh’s latest work manages to straddle the line between these two worlds … The music is a hovering cloud of tension, lifted by the searing Indian soprano Patricia Rozario. Situated behind the film screen, dressed in full sari, Rozario sings what seems like a lament for the state of British multiculturalism. As she sings, her projected image is overlaid with that of eerily bland suburban houses, laced with nascent cultural threat. 438 words.
For a video trailer, tour dates etc. click here.

New York/Ontario: Dr. Ivan D'Souza charged with sexual abuse
	17 Mar: Buffalo News: A Southgate Plaza gynaecologist was charged Friday with sexual abuse and forcible touching following an investigation by the state Department of Health, West Seneca police said. Dr. Ivan D'Souza, 53, was arraigned in West Seneca Town Court and released pending a future court date. He was practicing in Evergreen Women's Health, where the crime occurred, West Seneca police said. For text click here.
After completing his medical school training and residency at the University of Western Ontario, Dr D’Souza practiced for several years in London, Ontario.

Toronto: Maria Britto: The secret of real estate investing
	17 Mar: National Post (Canada). … Buyer beware is still the golden rule says Maria Britto, former president of the Brampton Board of Trade, and realtor at Remax Realty Specialists Inc. Brokerage … For the first-time investor, Ms. Britto recommends trying a free-hold townhome. "These can give you an affordable income," she says. This holds true in bigger cities such as Toronto, Vancouver, Montreal and Calgary, where immigrant populations are high.
New immigrants prefer to rent for their first few years in the country and they tend to choose locations close to transportation systems, malls and grocery stores. For full text click here. "I sing for weddings," Maria says. "My mother was a trained opera singer in India. I was born in Bangalore. And I'm classically trained." For Maria Britto’s profile click here.

Floyd Cardoz's Last Meal
20 Mar: Village Voice (USA) … I come from a state called Goa, which is known for its seafood, particularly this shrimp curry, which is coconut-based, and made with okra and green mango. It's served with Goan rice, which is a fat-grained rice, and reddish-brown in color. It looks almost like wheatberries … on the side, I would have pomfret rechad … It would either be my mom who would cook it, or a cook we had growing up, Ermine. She was the best cook ever … Floyd Cardoz's new cookbook, One Spice, Two Spice includes a recipe for Goan shrimp curry, which can also be found on Eat for Victory (villagevoice.com/blogs/food). 462 words. Click here.

UK: Dr Marisa Viegas appears before the GMC Fitness to Practise Panel 21 Mar: Daily Mail. A woman died just days after an alternative medicine guru told her to stop taking drugs prescribed for her weak heart, a hearing was told yesterday. Dr Marisa Viegas, 50, apparently told the patient to use homeopathic remedies instead. Yesterday she denied professional misconduct at the hearing of the General Medical Council. Dr Viegas practices alternative medicine in conjunction with mainstream medicine. Patients from across the world visit her London clinic for therapies such as acupuncture, homeopathy and hypnotherapy. The hearing in Manchester is expected to last ten days. 399 words. For the GMC hearing details Click here. From her website, http://drmarisaviegas.isonlinehere.com/: Dr Marisa Viegas was born in the Middle East of Portuguese Goan parents in 1957. She was educated in English public schools and received medical training at Westminster Medical School, Patient died after being told to stop medicine 22 Mar: The Telegraph (UK). A woman who gave up conventional heart medication on the advice of her homeopath made a "catastrophic" decision, a medical tribunal heard yesterday. The patient, from London, collapsed and died of a heart attack during a visit to France. Her death came within months of Dr Marisa Viegas telling her stop taking all the medication prescribed by cardiac specialists. 272 words. Click here

From Nick De Mello (Toronto):

15 Mar: Kitchener, Ont. Canada. MICHAEL "MICKEY" AGNELO DE SOUZA (aged 59). Beloved brother to Lawrence (Lulu) and the late Maureen (Bombay), Charles and Alba (Toronto), Jackson (Montreal), Lydia and Santaninho (Kitchener), Celina and Anthony (Toronto), Marie (Moira, Goa) and their families. Funeral was on 19 Mar. For a photograph, full details and condolences click here.

15 Mar. Dar-es-Salaam. SATIRO DOMINIC AFFONSO. Husband to the late Joyce and late Valarian. Father to late Derek Affonso, Anne Marie (Tiny) Handford, Patsy Abdulrasul, Libby Demello and Doreen Gomes. Brother to late Antoinette Rodrigues, Eulalia (Egy) Rocha, Doreen Menezes, Anthony Affonso, Gurelmina (Mina) Walthert and Joseph Affonso.
Funeral was on Mar 17. Condolence messages may be sent to diamond@cats-net.com [Info from Diamond Carvalho].

14 Mar: Porto, Portugal. GRACINDA BARRETO CUNHA. Wife of Felipe. Mother of Mibel, Carlos, Milu and Luis Felipe.

13 Mar: Verna, Goa. FRANCIS VAZ (Ex-Dar es Salaam; Vaz Electrical Repairs): Husband of Quiteria. Father of Rose Dourado (Calgary), Associana, Joe/Satira (Toronto), Socorro/Francisca (Dar-es-Salaam). Funeral was on 16 Mar. in Verna. Condolences to jsvtvaz@yahoo.com

9 Mar. Sittingbourne, Kent, U.K. JOAN (JOANITA) D’SOUZA (ex-Nairobi). Wife of Connie D’Souza (widow of Tima Noronha). Beloved mother of Lincoln, Loraine/Kevin, Lester/Louise, Lister, Laura-Lee, & Liam; loving grandmother of 7 grandchildren and 2 great-grand children. Dear sister/sister-in law of Lira/Sidney Rodrigues, Elsie/Hilary Fernandes & Cancio/Bunny Fernandes, Alwyn/Brenda D’Souza, Atwell D’Souza, Lizzie Mascarenhas & Belinda & Ninfa Noronha. Please say a prayer for her. Condolences to: elsiehilary@yahoo.ca

Thank You Message
Philo Sequeira and all the family express their sincere thanks for all the messages of sympathy, support and Masses offered following the death of JOAQUIM CAETANO CAMILO SEQUEIRA (J.C.), ex-Nakuru, Kenya, who died on 1 March 2007 in Mitcham, Surrey. Thank you also for the generous donations in lieu of flowers to the Alzheimer\'s Society

Increased tourist arrivals fuel property boom in Goa
17 Mar: Channel NewsAsia. India's most popular tourist destination, Goa, is seeing a property boom. More and more, frequent and well-to-do visitors are choosing flats and service apartments in favour of expensive hotels … There is a boom in service apartment blocks in the state. A dozen or so have already come up, complete with all the modern amenities. The cost is anywhere between US$100,000 and US$200,000, much lower than Delhi or Mumbai. 394 words. Click here.

Ozone Propex Private Ltd has lined up a luxury resort project in Goa
19 Mar: the Hindu. Ozone Propex Private Ltd., a Bangalore-based property development entity has lined up a luxury resort project in Goa on a 180-acre land. It would comprise luxury villas, high-end spa and a Golf course among others. Click here.

Realty developers dig into diaspora dynamics
19 Mar: Economic Times. The non-resident Indian (NRI) community is fast becoming a major pocket for real estate developers selling residential apartments and villas with a price tag above Rs 1.5 cr to Rs 12 cr. It is estimated that the NRI market is now 20-25% of the total real estate market and is growing at 15-20% annually. In fact, industry pundits says that the NRI investments doubled in the last couple of years followed by easing of rules and increase in the number of NRIs returning home. 435 words. Click here.

Why Goa ticks all the boxes for property investors
22 Mar. Birmingham Post (UK). The Birmingham-based Claremont Group is hoping to tempt buyers to turn their sights to Goa, where property prices have tripled in value in recent years … Having just launched First Goa, a £100 million development - and the first of ten aimed at British investors - Claremont is understandably upbeat … due to open in 2009, with prices ranging from £30,000 for a studio to £190,000 for a five-bed villa … Claremont International has set up a specific investment vehicle to facilitate foreign investment in Goa. This means foreigners can bring the proceeds of any sale back home and minimise their liability for tax. Their website is www.firstgoa.com 523 words.

Feature article: Medical Tourism in Goa
Mar 2007: Express Healthcare. The healthcare market in Goa is undergoing a metamorphosis with more specialties being introduced and major hospitals slated for expansion … aesthetic dentistry and plastic surgery are flourishing, thanks to high volume of foreign tourists. Around 50 to 100 patients troop to Goa every month for plastic surgery due to medical tourism, say analysts. The hospitals surveyed include Apollo Victor Hospital; Vrundavan Hospital; NUSI Hospital and Research Centre; Manipal Goa Hospital and Salgaocar Medical Research Centre (SMRC). 2655 words. Click here.
For the GVUK Health Tourism Supplement click here.

India: A global destination for medical tourism. By Dr Wilfred de Souza
Mar: Express TravelWorld. … An ever-increasing number of foreigners come to Goa for their elective surgery, dental healthcare and other medical needs, drawn by the availability of top-rated surgeons, specialists and technicians trained in the best medical schools … Over the years, Goa has fine-tuned hospitality into an art, making visitors feel completely at home, away from home. The warm, friendly and helpful nature of the Goan people adds a new dimension to our health services. You receive health care with a smile and an extra special personal touch. 1,205 words. Click here.

Goa: A cultural feast
Mar: Express TravelWorld. Long synonymous as the land of sea, surf and sand Goa is aggressively marketing other facets like heritage, culture and nature to combine with the Go Goa 365 Days campaign launched a couple of years ago. 640 words. Click here.

Update: Cluster of malaria cases from northern Goa
9 Mar: Health Protect Report (UK): Since the 26 January 2007 Health Protection Report, there have been four more reported cases of Plasmodium falciparum malaria in UK travellers returning from Goa. The current advice for travellers to Goa from the UK is given. 618 words. Click here.

Goa glamour: Q & A
11 Mar: The Sunday Times (UK). Q: I'm going to a wedding in India that's being held on a beach in Goa. The dress code is Goa Glamour. What does that mean? And what on earth should I wear?
A: Goa Glamour could mean anything from a full-on glitzy sari to a sequined bikini and matching sarong. Go for something bright and colourful. This coral shift from Matthew Williamson would be a good option but at £1,400 it's expensive … Antik Batik is another label that would work at a Goan wedding. It specialises in ethnic-inspired beaded and embroidered pieces that tap into the boho-hippie vibe. 228 words. Click here.

Goldshield Wellbeing (UK) project in the dock
16 Mar: Herald. They thought they had won the battle by entering into an agreement with the Sarpanch of Guirdolim village, Goldshield Wellbeing did not anticipate the tenacity of the villagers who approached the Director of Panchayats to seek justice … Speaking to Herald, Pascoal Pereira says, “This project is mostly for outsiders and not locals. It is for the well being of whom? For the foreigners, the moneyed? …It will be a village within a village with compound walls.” 503 words. http://oheraldo.in/node/23165
From GVUK 2006-26: Goldshield Group PLC [UK] Annual Report 2006: … The land, measuring about 810,000 square feet has been acquired in South Goa. This project is expected to be completed by December 2007. It will house a Medical Centre, Spa, a Hotel and Leisure Facilities.

‘Massage women’ harass tourists on Palolem beach
16 Mar: Herald. Tourists at Palolem beach are reportedly bugged by rampaging ‘massage women’ on the look-out for customers … These women reportedly apply lotions or oil and rates range from Rs 200 to Rs 2,000, depending on the customers … Authorities are aware of the situation, but take little interest in tackling the problem… 212 words. Click here.

Travel: Honeymoon sunsets
17 Mar: Hindustan Times. When in a hurry in Goa, go slow. That’s the mantra for beach hoppers in search of tranquillity … Goa in late February settles down to rather noticeable tourist camps … Anjuna can start grating on the nerves by the end of the second day. Besides, the beach here is rocky and the sea totally filthy. 889 words. Click here.

Travel: Deals of the Week
18 Mar: The Sunday Mirror. Fourteen nights' B&B at the two-star Resort Village Royal Hotel costs from £361pp with flights from Manchester or Gatwick on March 23. Details: 0870 067 2352 Jewel Holidays.

Sri Lankan Airlines adds another flight to Goa
20 Mar: Zee News. Sri Lankan Airlines is adding a third weekly flight to Goa … “Customer demand for our services to Goa has been steadily building up and we are very pleased to offer an additional weekly service," a spokesman said. Click here.

Win a cooking holiday to Goa or Italy
Times Online has joined forces with Lloyd Grossman to offer one lucky reader and a friend a 7 – night cooking holiday to the exotic Indian city of Goa or if pasta is more your dish, 7 nights in the beautiful Italian town of Toffia, just outside Rome. No purchase necessary. The closing date for the competition is April 5, 2007. For details click here.

Preetu Nair and Peter de Souza: Delicate task
16 Mar: Cybernoon (Bombay). The ‘Gomantak Times’ deservers to be congratulated for giving space to two of its reporters Preetu Nair and Peter de Souza for reporting on those two subjects which have won them the UNDP-TAHA and HIV and Human Development Resource Network’s (HDRN) Media Awards for 2006. Competing with over 300 reports in local and national dailies, Nair and de Souza won the Award for pinpointing the people involved in trafficking in Goa. HDRN congratulated the two reporters for going “behind the statistics” and zeroing in on the men and women who add to the traffic in Goa’s sex highway. No easy job, as any reporter can tell. ‘Gomantak Times’ can justly be proud of its staff. Click here.

Cucumber Feast at Goa's St. Anna's
15 Mar: ANI. St. Anna's church, fondly known as "Santana", holds a special place in the hearts of locals because it has fulfilled the wishes of thousands of childless couples who have stepped before its altar … during the annual Cucumber Feast scores of people make offerings of cucumbers to the patron saint and pay obeisance … the belief of offering cucumbers by childless devotees has cut across faiths, making the Cucumber Feast a symbol of communal harmony. 371 words. Click here.

Video: Fish production in Goa faces a setback
17 Mar. ANI. With the fish population depleting in the sea bordering Goa, the fish production is in the doldrums. Vessels are now ground at jetties and several fish packing units slowly closing down. Click here.

Ivana Furtado gets Rs 5 lakh award
	17 Mar: Navhind Times. World under-8 chess champ, Ivana Furtado was today presented a cash award of Rs 5 lakh for her outstanding performance at the prestigious official FIDE-world chess championship held in Georgia. It came as a birthday gift for Ivana who turned eight today. 294 words. Click here.

Computer cool
17 Mar: Hindustan Times. … Delhi leads the states with the highest population of PCs for every 1,000 citizens with 182 PCs, Goa has 30. At the bottom end, Jharkhand has only 0.3 PCs per 1000 citizens … In terms of Internet connections per 1,000 citizens, Delhi again leads with 64 followed by Goa (21) … The study also revealed that citizens in Delhi and Goa are among the luckiest with one in every two persons possessing a phone. In Jharkhand and Chattisgarh, there are only two phones for every 100 citizens. Click here.

No tax on iron ore mining in Goa
18 Mar: MidDay. All’s not well in Goa. Thousands of tonnes of iron ore are extracted from the picturesque valleys in the ecologically sensitive Western Ghats, without paying taxes to the state government … Large-scale mining in Bicholim, Sanquem, Sancoale, Khatapar and Molem has left deep scars on the forests. Ecologically sensitive forests have been gouged to extract ore. 276 words. Click here.

Wrong Initiative to control AIDS
18 Mar: Navhind Times. Despite opposition from people living with HIV and activists working with HIV + persons, the Goa government has decided to go ahead with its proposed plan to make HIV/AIDS testing mandatory before marriage… Even the Roman Catholic Church in Goa has opposed the move. 893 words. Click here.

Goa's health care challenges
19 Mar: India Together. Recent data on health indicators suggest that while health care in Goa remains far ahead of the national average, there are many cracks in the system. Indeed, on many counts the state appears to be losing the ground gained earlier, even as new challenges loom. Rupa Chinai reports. 1947 words. Click here.

Video Report: Margao festival attracts thousands of devotees
21 Mar: UNI. Goa, one of the most popular global tourist destinations for holidays along its golden sun-kissed beaches, is also famous for its cultural heritage that is evident in the well preserved historical churches and variety of festivals. One such famed fiesta here is Gulal, a fun and food festival which is held in honour of Lord Damodar, the local deity of Margao town in South Goa. Click here.

Goa: Tivim locals determined to bowl out cricket stadium plan
21 Mar: Herald. The message was loud and clear. No to cricket stadium, reject the anti-people government and dump the Health and Law Minister and Goa Cricket Association chief, Dayanand Narvekar at the ensuing elections. 402 words. Click here.

Goa: Football: Nicolas Nath profiled
	21 Mar: Dagens Nyheter (Sweden), Nicolas Nath, aged 22, who has an Indian father and a Swedish mother has joined Sporting Clube de Goa, the Premier league Goan football team. 1515 words. Click here.

Docaviv, the international documentary film festival at Tel Aviv
16 Mar: Jerusalem Post. If you're worried that someone you love is planning to become a Goa raver, then you might want them to see Ulrich Grossenbacher and Damaris Luthi's Hippie Masala: Forever in India, a look at the few hippies who went to India in the Sixties and Seventies and stayed on. One Dutch painter married an Indian woman and is doing well, but some of the others live in glassy-eyed poverty … For text click here.

Goa Research Net (an off-shoot of Goanet) celebrates its tenth anniversary on 12, April, 2007. Several posts on Goanet have indicated what has been achieved in this decade by Goa Research Net.

Do read a short piece by Lino Dourado on the Comedy Queen Querobina Carvalho. This multi-talented artiste receives much praise for her outstanding tiatr performances. She also has several Konkani CDs, video films and audio albums to her credit. Her performances have been in Goa and several places in the Middle East.

Recently, this weekly contribution informed readers that there would be an important Seminar in Cuncolim at the CES College of Arts and Commerce. Now we can read about what actually took place at this Seminar in an article by Sharon da Cruz. Details are provided of the many papers delivered and the involvement of many eminent scholars, activists and politicians. The title of the Seminar was Liberation, Integration and Rights in Goa Through the Ages.

An interesting account by Brian Mendonca from Delhi, titled Drawing for Kids tells us about the Noma Concours for Picture Book Illustrations. The article contains much detail of up-and -coming illustrators, graphic designers and artists in Asia, the Pacific, Africa, Arab States and Latin America and the Caribbean. There was a particularly interesting account of Mithila paintings by women from the Mithila region of Bihar state.

Stemming from a 'provocative' article by Carmo D'Cruz that claimed that, "We Goans are unique! We are the only Catholic Community that's Stratified" a lively discussion has ensued with comparisons of Catholic communities in other parts of India like Kerala and Tamil Nadu.

Finally, we perhaps have a timely piece from Selma Carvalho titled Up Ahead, Blue Skies and Cancer Fumes. This is about the practise of burning refuse in Goa of non biogradable materials, namely plastics, in large quantities in Goa causing dangerous fumes of "this vile, odious, toxic cancer causing dioxin."

More details can be found at the Goanet archives at http://lists.goanet.org/pipermail/goanet-goanet.org/ Or to subscribe to Goanet, send an email to subscribe@goanet.org