N Goa ex-collector fails to reply to Shirgao stampede notice

Panaji:
Except for the North Goa collector at the time, Sneha Gitte, all other officers who were issued a show-cause notice in connection with the Shirgao Jatra stampede have filed their replies.
Six people were killed and 74 injured in the stampede.
Recently, Gitte was transferred from Goa to Arunachal Pradesh. Goa chief secretary V Candavelou told
TOI
, 'Due to some reasons, Gitte sought time to reply.'
On May 13, state govt issued show-cause notices to eight officials, including the district magistrate, North Goa SP, deputy collector of Bicholim, DySP of Bicholim, PIs of Bicholim and Mopa police stations, and panchayat secretary of Shirgao.
These officials were on duty during the tragedy and have been transferred since.
Chief minister Pramod Sawant, making the report of the fact-finding committee public, said the report collectively held the temple committee, district administration, district police, village panchayat, and crowd behaviour, particularly that of 'dhonds', responsible for the tragedy.
Based on the preliminary inquiry, govt transferred Gitte, then North Goa SP Akshat Kaushal, Bicholim DySP Jivba Dalvi, Bicholim PI Dinesh Gadekar, and Bicholim deputy collector Bhimnath Khorjuvekar, with immediate effect.
Three of the stampede victims — two women and a 16-year-old boy — were identified as 'dhonds', special devotees of the goddess. The stampede, perhaps the first in the post-Liberation history of Goa, occurred on the second day of the five-day jatra that began on May 3.
The Shree Devi Lairai Devasthan committee said the state administration fell short in making the necessary arrangements for the jatra.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Time of India

16 minutes ago

• Time of India

Donald Trump strikes Iran: How India got its nukes – and defied US and other nuclear-haves

There's a running meme on X, the hellhole formerly known as Twitter, where a doctor asks a patient: 'Do you have a history of mental illness in your family?' To this, the patient replies: 'I have an uncle who believes Iran is close to a nuclear weapon for the last 50 years. ' Perhaps that's why Operation Midnight Hammer – a blow-by-blow remake of Top Gun: Maverick – was carried out with such haste that even half of Donald Trump's base were still railing against it as the bombs dropped on Fordo, Natanz, and Isfahan. While Iran's Godot-like wait for nuclear weapons continues, it's illustrative to see how India, a nation that didn't evoke very warm feelings from Uncle Sam in the past, became a nuclear superpower. How did a newly freed, partition-bruised, socialist-leaning, and largely illiterate country go from famine queues and imported milk powder to becoming one of the world's most improbable nuclear powers? The truth is that politicians of various vintages played a part, irrespective of their worldview or political leanings. Every one of them was of the opinion that the Ayatollahs of Potomac (a delightful term coined by TOI legend K Subrahmanyam, the father of the current external affairs minister) couldn't be the only ones with the power of the sun in the palm of their hands. As George Fernandes, the erstwhile Defence Minister of India in the Vajpayee government, summed up this grit: 'I am not a former socialist; I am a socialist. I am not a former pacifist; I am a pacifist. I am even today an anti-nuclear weapon man. But as a defence minister of the country, I will do whatever is best to protect its border, and if that means nuclear bomb, then why not?' When pressed on how one could do so at the risk of contradicting oneself, Fernandes dug deep into the Lord Krishna rationale that one's dharma trumps all contradictions, pointing out: 'Yes, even at the cost of contradicting oneself, even at the cost of dying. If the security of the country requires me to die, I shall die. It's about being realistic. It's about being patriotic.' While with the benefit of hindsight, it might seem inevitable that the land that gave the world the Bhagavad Gita would come up with nuclear weapons, here's the tale of how it went down. The Science Segue What is a nuclear weapon — and why do countries want one? Let's say you haven't seen Oppenheimer , skipped physics class, and think 'fusion' is what happens when you have tandoori gravy momos. To understand nukes, we need to rewind to 1905, when a wild-haired Swiss patent clerk named Albert Einstein wrote four papers that changed science forever. One of them suggested that mass and energy are two sides of the same coin. A few months later, he dropped a tiny but terrifying equation: E = mc². That means energy equals mass times the speed of light squared. Since light travels really fast — about 300 million metres per second — squaring it makes even a small amount of mass release a huge amount of energy. So, how do we turn that into a weapon? That's where nuclear physics steps in. Certain heavy atoms like uranium-235 or plutonium-239 are naturally unstable. If you shoot a neutron at them, they split — releasing heat, radiation, and more neutrons. Those neutrons hit other atoms, which split too. It's called a chain reaction — kind of like a viral WhatsApp message, but instead of arguments, you get a mushroom cloud. That's how atomic bombs work. The ones dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki used two designs: Gun-type: smash two pieces of uranium together I mplosion-type: use explosives to compress plutonium until it explodes Both use Einstein's idea: a little mass disappears, and a huge burst of energy takes its place. There's also the hydrogen bomb, which is even more terrifying, but beyond the scope of this piece. By the 1960s, nuclear weapons were the privilege of a select five—America, the Soviet Union, Britain, France, and China—enshrined as permanent members of the global atomic aristocracy, the kind that liked to invade Vietnam in their spare time and host disarmament conferences in their downtime. There is something about nukes and their miasma. Once you have them, you don't want others to get them. You start doing everything in your power to stop anyone else from joining this super-exclusive club, because deterrence is always more comfortable when it's a monopoly. And then in 1974, India came knocking—with Smiling Buddha, gatecrashing the party with a silent explosion in the Rajasthan desert. If Israel was the nuclear sphinx, India was the grinning intruder who didn't wait for an invitation. Act I: Nehru's Noble Atom and Bhabha's Quiet Calculations How did a socialist, beggared and non-aligned country acquire nuclear weapons? It all started with Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, the Fabian socialist who wasn't beyond making a Faustian deal if it was for the nation's betterment. While he publicly championed atomic energy for rural electrification, privately he laid the groundwork for a weapons programme. Enter Homi Jehangir Bhabha—part physicist, part institution-builder, all ambition, played with élan by Jim Sarbh in the heavily fictionalised Rocket Boys, whose cheekbones are capable of setting off a different sort of chemical reaction. A Cambridge-trained genius with a velvet accent, Bhabha envisioned a self-sufficient Indian nuclear complex. He set up the Atomic Energy Commission in 1948 and Trombay's Bhabha Atomic Research Centre (BARC) soon after. His three-stage nuclear plan was audacious: heavy water reactors for plutonium, fast breeder reactors for more fissile material, and eventually, thorium-based systems. In 1955, India obtained the CIRUS reactor from Canada, with heavy water courtesy the United States—both under the Atoms for Peace programme. It was a masterclass in strategic procurement. Act II: The Dragon Strikes, the Buddha Smiles Enter the dragon. In 1962, Chinese troops stormed Indian posts in Ladakh and Arunachal. The result wasn't just military humiliation; it was psychological trauma. Nehru aged a decade overnight. And two years later, when China tested a nuclear bomb in Lop Nur, India realised it wasn't just behind—it was vulnerable. And then came the prodigal daughter. Indira Gandhi had no qualms about the world or any delusions about power. By the early '70s, the scientific community—led by Raja Ramanna, P.K. Iyengar, and M.R. Srinivasan—had weaponised the plutonium harvested from CIRUS. On May 18, 1974, India conducted its first nuclear test in Pokhran, Rajasthan. Codenamed Smiling Buddha, because what better name for a nuclear bomb than the progenitor of peace, the device yielded around 8 kilotons, billed as a 'peaceful nuclear explosion'. Canada fumed and threw a Trudeau-level fit. The US imposed sanctions. But much like she did when Richard Nixon threatened her during the Bangladesh Liberation War, Indira Gandhi didn't flinch. Act III: Recessed Deterrence—Weapons Without Words From 1974 to 1998, India lived in nuclear ambiguity. We had tested a bomb—but never declared a doctrine. This era, later dubbed "recessed deterrence", saw India perfect the art of silent readiness. Prime Ministers like Morarji Desai were openly anti-nuclear. Others, like Rajiv Gandhi, were more nuanced—calling for universal disarmament while funding missile programmes. In this period, India commissioned the Dhruva reactor for weapons-grade plutonium. Ballistic missiles like Prithvi and Agni were tested under the Integrated Guided Missile Development Programme, overseen by Dr. Abdul Kalam. Still, New Delhi avoided another test. The 1985 NPT Review Conference slammed the door shut on India's membership. But India refused to sign a treaty that said: 'You can't have nukes, but the P5 can.' Act IV: Narasimha Rao 's Nuclear Poker By the 1990s, India was ready. And P.V. Narasimha Rao, India's philosopher-king of pragmatism, knew it. In 1995, with the Clinton administration distracted by Yeltsin's vodka diplomacy and Pakistani warlords, Rao greenlit preparations for Pokhran-II. Shafts were drilled. Scientists were mobilised. Dr. Kalam, Dr. R. Chidambaram, and their teams stood by. Then, American satellites picked up movement. The CIA raised alarms. A New York Times exposé spooked Washington. Clinton dialled Delhi. Rao, deadpan as ever, stonewalled. The tests were paused. But he didn't stop the programme. Instead, he ensured everything stayed intact—ready for a more audacious successor. As legend has it, Rao whispered to Atal Bihari Vajpayee before leaving office: 'Everything is ready. You just have to press the button.' Rao never took credit. But when the mushroom clouds rose in 1998, they bore his blueprint. Act V: Pokhran-II—India Goes Loud On May 11 and 13, 1998, India conducted five nuclear tests. Codename: Operation Shakti. This time, it wasn't a 'peaceful' explosion. It was a declaration. Fission and fusion devices were tested. Thermonuclear capability was claimed (though some scientists later debated the yield). Prime Minister Vajpayee announced: 'India is now a nuclear weapons state.' Sanctions came. Condemnations followed. India shrugged. The team that delivered this feat: Dr R. Chidambaram – chief scientific coordinator Dr. Abdul Kalam – DRDO's key missile man K. Santhanam – test range commander Anil Kakodkar, V.S. Arunachalam, S.K. Sikka – technical leads Pakistan tested six devices in response. South Asia was officially a two-bomb region. But India's message was clear: deterrence, not domination. Act VI: From Outlaw to Operator—The Indo-US Nuclear Deal Having proven its capabilities, India now wanted respect. In 2005, under Manmohan Singh , India signed the Indo-US Civil Nuclear Agreement with President George W. Bush. It was historic. For the first time, a non-NPT country gained access to civilian nuclear trade. The deal was backed by the US Congress, the IAEA, and the NSG. It marked India's transformation from global pariah to trusted partner—without dismantling a single warhead. Critics cried foul. Proponents hailed it as a realpolitik victory. For India, it was simple: we earned the bomb. Now we wanted the fuel. Epilogue: From Fallout to Future The bomb was never the endgame. It was the insurance policy. A radioactive reminder that India wouldn't be bullied into compliance or bribed into silence. The scientists were the magicians, the politicians their illusionists. But behind them stood a civilisation that never wanted conquest—only the right to decide its destiny. From Bhabha's lab bench to Vajpayee's launch pad, India's nuclear odyssey was built on a foundation of paradoxes: peaceful atoms turned potent, idealism wrapped in pragmatism, and restraint forged through power. Today, India's nuclear arsenal isn't about posturing. It's about posture—calm, calculated, credible. We built the bomb not to drop it, but to make sure no one else could. So the next time someone scoffs at Indian statecraft, remind them: we cracked open the atom, outfoxed the CIA, kept our doctrine unspoken, and still walked into the world's nuclear club with our head held high. We didn't explode to destroy. We exploded to exist. And that, in the final analysis, is how you detonate a dream.

Indian Express

an hour ago

• Indian Express

Trump's ‘2 weeks' bluff: Inside the White House decision to secretly strike Iran

When President Donald Trump told the world on June 19 that he'd decide 'within the next two weeks' whether the US would enter the Israel-Iran conflict, few believed the clock would run out so quickly. Just 48 hours later, three of Iran's nuclear sites were bombed by US B-2 stealth bombers in a strike shrouded in secrecy, known only to a handful in Washington. As The Washington Post reports, Trump's now-signature 'two weeks' deadline may have been more strategic smokescreen than genuine hesitation. According to The Washington Post, even as Trump offered the two-week timeline publicly, a strike plan — Operation Midnight Hammer — was already being finalised in the White House. 'Very few people in Washington knew the timing or nature of the plan,' said General Dan Caine, chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff. Many officials only learned about it after Trump posted on Truth Social. 'Within the next two weeks.' That was Trump's public timeline. But behind the scenes, the decision had largely been made. According to a senior administration official quoted by The Post, the remark 'was our attempt to throw the Iranians off guard. But there was also some truth to it.' The report by Post reveals that Trump directed military leaders to prepare the strikes even as he asked advisers daily how to keep the mission narrow and avoid a broader war. Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, called the mission 'highly classified,' adding that 'very few people in Washington' were aware of its timing or nature. Although Trump said he remained open to a diplomatic solution, he became increasingly inclined toward military action. Talks with Iran's Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, facilitated by European officials on Friday , went nowhere. 'He knew there probably wouldn't be a breakthrough, which is why the Pentagon was putting together a plan,' said a senior official to The Washington Post. Another diplomat added, 'Friday's session was a genuine effort by Europeans for diplomacy, but no interest from Iran at all.' Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, continued back-channel diplomacy throughout the week. But the lack of Iranian flexibility reportedly frustrated the White House. Vice President JD Vance, an Iraq War veteran known for his skepticism about military entanglements, urged caution during internal discussions. He wanted to 'make sure all the tires were kicked.' Yet, as plans progressed, Vance supported the decision. As Israeli strikes degraded Iran's air defenses, the window for a successful US operation widened. Retired Lt. Gen. Charlie 'Tuna' Moore told the Post: 'Israel had achieved air superiority over Iran,' making the US strike far more feasible. A small team, including Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, CIA Director John Ratcliffe, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, DNI Tulsi Gabbard, and press secretary Karoline Leavitt, had been read in on the plan. Contrary to reports of discord, a senior official as per The Post described a sense of 'camaraderie' among the group. The B-2 stealth bombers took off Saturday morning, while Trump was at his golf club in New Jersey and Vance was flying back from California. Neither their travel nor their appearances at fundraisers gave any indication of what was underway. As the bombers entered Iranian airspace, Trump returned to the White House. By 7:50 pm, 20 minutes after the strike concluded, he posted the announcement on Truth Social. In the Situation Room were top officials including Hegseth, Gabbard, Witkoff, Rubio, Gen. Caine, and others. Attorney General Pam Bondi joined the group later. The strike targeted Iran's nuclear sites under Operation Midnight Hammer, marking a sharp shift in US strategy. Just days earlier, Washington had insisted Israel acted alone. But by Tuesday, Trump claimed that the US and Israel had 'complete and total control of the skies over Iran.' According to The Post, while the operation was long in planning, officials said there was no clear moment when Trump decided definitively to go forward. 'It was based on a feeling,' said one senior official. Vance echoed this in a Meet the Press interview: 'I don't know that any of us knew exactly when the president made the decision except for the president himself.' Trump had reviewed the plans on Tuesday and told aides he reserved the right to abort the mission until the final moment. Throughout the week, White House aides consulted with key conservative voices — including Steve Bannon, Charlie Kirk, and Jack Posobiec — to ensure alignment with Trump's base. Though these figures were skeptical of involvement, they didn't change Trump's mind. 'He was listening to people across the ideological perspective,' said a senior official as reported by The Washington Post. 'Ultimately, the president felt this is a decision the base should support, because he's preventing a conflict that very well could have happened if the supreme leader instructed Iran to create the nuclear weapon.'

India Today

2 hours ago

• India Today

Do Gujarat, Punjab bypoll victories mark explosive return of Arvind Kejriwal?

Arvind Kejriwal was everywhere, then he was nowhere. It was as if the AAP chief had a distinct pre- and post-Delhi election era. After four months of remaining evasive from the public eye, this could be the very moment that Kejriwal, The Mufflerman who seemed to have unravelled, makes a comeback. Thanks to the victories in the bypolls in Gujarat and question being asked by many now -- will Kejriwal become a Rajya Sabha MP from Punjab? The path has been cleared twin victories revived hopes after a lull of four months. It was the February 2025 Delhi election that shocked the AAP as the state is the party's political nursery. That the angst remained was evident from the remarks of AAP's Delhi unit President Saurabh Bhardwaj, who termed the Delhi loss the BJP's "deceit", even as he heralded Kejriwal's return to national politics. Results of the bypolls in five seats in four states were declared on Monday. While the BJP, Congress and the Trinamool Congress won one seat each, it was the AAP that managed to win two AAP secured massive victories in Punjab's Ludhiana West and Gujarat's Visavadar. The Congress-led United Democratic Front (UDF) won Kerala's Nilambur, while the BJP managed to bag Gujarat's Kadi. The TMC is on course to retain Kaliganj in West is the victory in Gujarat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home state where the BJP has been in power uninterrupted since 1998, that the AAP and its leaders showcased as the feather in the electoral cap."Now that's an Arvind Kejriwal-style comeback. A stellar victory for AAP's Gopal Italia in Modi's fortress Gujarat," the party posted on X after the results were most parties in India do, the AAP was super-quick in laying the credit for the victory on Kejriwal's doorsteps."The credit goes to Arvind Kejriwal's policies, Bhagwant Mann government's work, the hard work of our workers and volunteers, and the decency of Sanjeev Arora [the candidate]," said Punjab AAP president and state minister Aman months in the political wilderness must have been a long time for Kejriwal, so used to being in the thick of things. Right from taking over the Jan Lokpal agitation of Anna Hazare in 2011 to launching the AAP as a political party to taking oath as Delhi CM thrice, to sidelining detractors, Kejriwal modelled the AAP in his own when the image received a setback with leader after leader, including himself, being sent to jail in corruption cases and a drubbing in the 2025 Delhi Assembly election, Kejriwal merged into the a politician like Kejriwal, nurturing national ambition, it was just a chance that was required for bypoll election results in Punjab, and, more importantly, Gujarat, might have gifted him just a former Delhi minister, said Arvind Kejriwal was making an explosive re-entry into national politics."This loss in Gujarat's Visavadnagar is a big setback for the BJP, which won Delhi against the AAP with deceit. With this victory, Arvind Kejriwal is making an explosive re-entry into national politics," said Punjab and Gujarat will go to Assembly polls in 2027. While the AAP has a massive majority in Punjab -- the only state outside Delhi it was able to crack despite contesting in several -- the party stood third in Gujarat in AAP leaders are heralding a return for Kejriwal in national politics, the issue is that he will need a national platform to announce his is what has sparked the buzz of Kejriwal entering the Rajya Sabha from Arora of the AAP, who won from Ludhiana West on Monday by a margin of 11,000 votes, will most likely vacate his parliamentary seat now. He has 14 days to resign as an MP, else his election as the MLA stands leader Anurag Thakur had alleged earlier in June that Kejriwal wanted to get into the Rajya Sabha through Punjab and that was why Arora, an MP whose term as an MP extended till 2028, was fielded in the the AAP's loss in Delhi, it had been increasingly speculated that Kejriwal would look for a role via Punjab. That seems to be a possible now with Arora being elected as an potential demotion to an MLA, giving up his MP post for a state legislator's role, might be sweetened with a plum ministry or even the Deputy CM's Arvind Kejriwal use the seat vacated by Arora for the Rajya Sabha entry? That is a question that will be answered in time, but in politics, nothing is impossible. The buzz has already intensified as AAP leaders announce the "spectacular comeback" of Kejriwal into national Reel