Edited by Eddie Fernandes editor@goanvoice.org.uk

Death: Caitan Pinto

Final 2 bodies from Costa Concordia disaster still on ship
23 Aug: Digital Journal. Nick Sloane, an engineer for the U.S. company Titan Salvage who heads the operation to remove the Costa Concordia, said the final two missing bodies are on the ship… In January of 2013 a report surfaced saying the final two bodies, a female passenger from Sicily, Maria Grazia Trecarichi, and crew member Russel Rebello from India, had been located in the stern but that report was denied …  click here
Video: Kevin Rebello. In Loving Memory Of My Brother Russel Rebello. 4m. 03s.  click here

Video: Kunbi Goan Folk Dance in Toronto

India remittances surge as rupee slump tempts non-residents
25 Aug: FT (UK). Remittance flows to India have surged over the past few months, as the country’s overseas population takes advantage of the sharp depreciation in the rupee even as a sense of looming crisis takes hold at home…  click here

Video: Mississauga: Alexandre D’Souza 14-year old to begin university at McMaster

Goa: Where Russian tourists are hated
25 Aug: Amic (Russia). Goa . It seems that Russian tourists have fallen out of favor at their favorite resort… Russian engaged in business in Goa, commit crimes, attacking the locals and scare away tourists from other countries .. "Russian tourists are representatives of the lower classes of society” … But locals say that they will not tolerate hostile attacks by Russians, and promise to pay them in the same coin…  click here

Vivek Menezes: How the Goan lost his art: The Old Secretariat chapter

Celebrity traveller: Janet Street-Porter
25 Aug: Sunday Express (UK). Broadcaster, journalist and writer Janet Street-Porter, 66, divides her time between homes in North Yorkshire, Kent and London with her partner Tim. She talks us through her travelling experiences … “Another time I rented a beach house in Goa in India and left after two days because of naked flabby Russian men walking up and down outside all day, and the local bar playing electro-disco all night …” Photo.  click here
12 May 2013: Independent On Sunday (UK). By Janet Street Porter … “I've had massages of all sorts, clothed and unclothed, in five continents… The worst thing that happened to me during a massage was being walkzed on by a semi-naked holy man with very knobbly feet in Goa. But I felt fantastic later…  click here
For a Wikipedia profile of Janet Street-Porter click here.

Selma Carvalho: From Dichotomy to Identity

Goa: The new destination for smuggled gold?
25 Aug: Gulf News (UAE). A rising pan-India trend of gold smuggling and sudden seizures of the yellow metal in Goa, otherwise a narcotics haven, has forced customs authorities in the state to step up vigil not only at the lone airport, but also on the sea routes to stop gold smugglers… Goa had been a smuggling haven for gold and electronic goods in the days of yore. Through the 1970-80s, contraband activity was one of the prime launchpads for aspiring smugglers to leap into politics.  click here

Video: Roland Mascarenhas: Why are there so many divisions within Goan communities across the world?

Roland Mascarenhas

St Francis Xavier’s Letter to Rome
25 Aug: The Sunday Indian. Francis Xavier was born on April 7th, 1506. In the whole history of Roman Catholic proselytization, save Saint Paul, no one has baptized more Christians than Francis Xavier. Pope Ignatius was asked by King John of Portugal to send priests to the new missions in India, and his choice fell eventually on Francis. Following letter discuss about his impression of Christian Converts as well as his interaction with Brahmins in India, whom he used to keep in very low regard. Notice his rant against the practices and beliefs of Brahmins. The style is acerbic and so are the words …  click here

Konkani Wikipedia makes headway

Banks woo diaspora with higher returns; raise NRI deposit rates
24 Aug: Economic Times. Many private and public sector banks have raised their NRI deposit rates following the recent liberalisation of the same by the Reserve Bank…  click here

Roland Francis: CROWDFUNDING - Stray Thoughts of a Toronto Goan

There is a very practical need for the community to take on the freedom that would be afforded by a revenue stream that is always needed for this Goan cause or that. Once well-known tiatrists and musicians now seeing hard days with no money for medical treatment, families already in penury losing the sole breadwinner by an accident, physically or mentally challenged children and students needing better care, food and education funding, legal aid expenses for people in special cases who find themselves in awkward and unjust situations and a host of other crying needs in a country like India that is notorious for slow action and broken government promises.

Why depend on people having to part with a hundred dollars or more for each cause on top of the money they already give to local charities? How many people really exist who are willing to part with such amounts even though infrequently and even though it really doesn't hurt their bank? Why not give an opportunity to as many Goans as possible to donate a small amount like five dollars once or twice a month. That's how much it would cost in Toronto for say a couple of coffee cups and a doughnut. It will open a whole world to the Goan Diaspora to participate in doing some good for their own community. Taken one step further, there could be a pre-authorized system of debit where people can commit to giving five or ten dollars a month, every month, for as long as they want to do it that way.

There are many challenges to such a worthy venture, trust being paramount. Administrative expenses need to be minimized and sponsored by individuals or small businesses. Volunteers preferably retired but active and committed men and women, whose character is aboveboard need to be recruited on a semi-permanent, ongoing basis. There is much work involved not so much in collecting (that is mostly done on the internet) but also in managing the collections, disbursing it and speedily reporting on an active website. A socially and financially savvy core group that is trusted by the general community in each of the major Diaspora countries needs to identify and administer each funding project some of which may run concurrently. These core groups must liaise and enjoy rapport with each other for quick action. Transparency and continuous openness must be practiced with all projects undertaken so that financial and other information is available to everybody, even those who don't participate, at a click of the mouse. Ideas for more efficiency need to be fostered and both major concerns from constructive individuals as well as frivolous objections from self-important individuals whose words and actions are often frustrating to those putting in earnest efforts, addressed.

The work ahead is cut out for us with tantalizing rewards of moral satisfaction at the end of the rainbow. Imagine the whole process one day running like a well-oiled machine that offers succor speedily to those in most need. Imagine us Goans doing something as one body and one soul instead of the constant splitting and bickering that usually takes place. All it takes is for a few good men and women to make it viable and Goan generosity on this micro scale will follow, making small and humble but important impacts to society of which we can all be proud when it happens.

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