Goenchem Prize

Honorable chief guest, guests of honor, ladies and gentlemen, My name is Santosh Helekar, and I am delighted and honored to be in your presence this evening at this inaugural award ceremony of the Goenchem Prize for the promotion of public honesty, rationality and common sense. Yes, the name of this prize does sound rather trite, but the name is deliberately made to be so, given the nature of the cause that the prize represents. This prize symbolizes the irreverence we feel towards the social ills that it denounces, even as we bow in reverence before its recipient. Indeed, the practice of giving silly and tasteless names to prizes has a rich and hallowed tradition in public awareness philanthropy. Goenchem Prize does not sound nearly as silly as the IgNobel Prize awarded on the Harvard University campus for scientific research and literature, not worth publishing, or the Methuselah Mouse Prize for extending the human life span, or the Golden Fleece Award for wasteful Government spending. And unlike a couple of these examples, we would like the world to regard the Goenchem Prize as a badge of high honor on its recipient. Yes, the world is our audience, the world made small by electronics, compressed by the indomitable might of one of the smallest particles in the universe, the electron. This prize has been established by a committee of Goans whose bodies are separated in time and space by massive bodies of water and great masses of land, but whose minds are united in the space-time continuum of cyberspace and in common purpose. It is an annual prize whose lofty goal is to promote the cause of honesty, rationality and common sense in public service, public policy, public education, public safety and public health. The award process is initiated by nomination. The nominee must be an individual or a group of individuals who are Goan by birth, ancestry, marriage or residence. This prize is intended to educate the public about harms done by the following practices and concerns in today's society: 1. Corruption 2. Financial scams 3. Superstition 4. New age cults 5. New age fads 6. Pseudoscience 7. Quackery 8. Unfounded and unsubstantiated issues in environmental activism 9. Politically motivated historical revisionism 10. Infusion of religion into public policy and education 11. Mass hysteria caused by paranormal phenomena 12. Public deception and disinformation campaigns, and 13. Unchecked influence of poseurs and frauds The winner is chosen from nominees who have addressed the above issues by taking actions such as: A. Publicly exposing a cult, superstition, fad, practice or attitude that continues to cause significant harm in terms of physical, psychological or socioeconomic pain and suffering within the community. B. Becoming a whistleblower to uncover corrupt practices in any governmental, statutory, autonomous or non-governmental organization supported by public funds. C. Making a significant contribution to educating the public about false claims regarding cures for diseases, bogus health scares, fake environmental threats, phony New Age fads, paranormal hysteria and pseudoscientific breakthroughs. D. Offering a public refutation of politically motivated historical revisionism and infusion of religion into public policy and education. E. Publicly unmasking a quack, poseur, corrupt professional or organization that is perpetrating a financial or health scam, or F. Presenting in a public forum in Goa an exposé on a public scam, racket, fraud, deception or disinformation campaign. Potential contenders for the prize are entered into the selection process each year by nomination. The nominating letter should be submitted by the nominee herself/himself or any other person by email to GPcommittee-owner@yahoogroups.com, or by regular mail or in person to Cecil Pinto, 3rd Floor, Vijaya Apartments, above Satkar Restaurant, 18th June Road, Panaji, Goa. It should include a brief description of the specific accomplishment for which the nominee is deemed to be worthy of the prize. The deadline for submission of nominations is the inauspicious last Tuesday in July each year. The Goenchem Prize Cyber-Committee meets, deliberates and votes in cyberspace to choose the prizewinner. The winner selection process involves three deliberative phases, namely the affirmative phase, the objections phase and the rebuttal phase, and two rounds of voting. The names of this year's cyber-committee members are given on the back of your invitation card. I would like to thank them for doing a wonderful job this year, and move on to introducing the chief guest and guests of honor. We are deeply honored to have Prof. Kashinath Mahale as our chief guest. Prof. Mahale is one of Goa's pre-eminent educationists and scholars. He has shaped the destinies of not one but three universities. First at Dharwad University in Karnataka, then as founding member of the faculty and later acting Vice Chancellor at Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi, and finally, as Vice Chancellor at Manipur University. What someone has said of Kanji Munshi applies in equal measure to Prof. Mahale. He will always remain to many of us a university in himself a veritable personification of the sprawling citadels of learning of modern times. Even in his retirement, Prof. Mahale has remained actively involved in research work conducted by the Goa Konkani Academy, the electronic language project for Konkani of the Government of India. He is also the founder-chairman of the Institute of Indo-European Studies. Our guests of honor this evening are Mr. Yadneshwar Nigalye and Prof. Isabel Santa Rita Vaz, Mr. Nigalye is the President of the Goa Andhashraddha Nirmoolan Samiti, an association for the eradication of superstitions. Among his many achievements are the successful organization of a "Scientific Awareness" camp for 150 primary teachers from Ponda Taluka, the organization of lecture/demonstrations in colleges and secondary schools to inculcate the scientific spirit, and to promote the constitutional imperative of adopting a scientific attitude in India. The deficiencies in my spoken and written English belie the fact that Prof. Vaz was my English professor at Dhempe College of Arts and Sciences. She was and is a fine teacher one of the best I have had. She has now given full expression to her literary creativity and become an outstanding playwright. She also lectures at the Goa College of Architecture and at the Goa College of Music. She is actively involved with 'Positive People' (an NGO dealing with AIDS- related issues), with the Research Institute for Women (an organization concerned with the study and research of women's issues in Goa), and with the Mustard Seed Art Company, a theater group that fosters artistic talent. Concluding my chores here, I would now like to invite my friend Dr.Basilio Monteiro to introduce the winner of the 2003 Goenchem Prize. Thanks very much for your attention. Cheers, Santosh

In keeping with the spirit of the World Goa Day, we, the members of the Goenchem Prize committee are delighted to announce that the 2003 Goenchem Prize for the promotion of honesty, rationality and common sense is awarded to ROLAND MARTINS. We thank Mr. Martins for graciously accepting the award.

Roland Martins is a remarkable citizen of Goa, whose main occupation and preoccupation has been and continues to be social activism. He is the founder member of Jagrut Goenkaranchi Fouz (JGF), which, since 1980's, has spoken out against the reckless promotion of modern tourism industry in Goa, and heightened the awareness of this problem both locally and globally. His voice on issues of social justice has been very loud and uncompromising. In the last four years Mr. Martins has been working hard for the consumers movement of Goa in many of its villages, due to which, people are slowly learning to participate in the civic affairs of the village, keeping the local authorities in check, and promoting authentic development. The consumer and civic cells function autonomously under the inspiration and guidance of Mr. Martins.

In 1995 Mr. Martins established GOADESC, a center which maintains a vast library of books, magazines, and other relevant materials, available to interested people. It organizes fortnightly the Friday Balcao - an interactive session on various Goan social issues. GOACAN is a rich information service provided by GOADESC to Internet users all over the world. It has raised the educational process to new heights, and facilitated liaison among all those committed to a progressive and well-developed Goa. Through all this, Roland Martins has kept himself apart from party politics, and dedicated all his energies and talents to the task of empowering the Goan people for democratic participation in the affairs of their communities.

The choice of this year's Goenchem Prize winner was a difficult one because we had six outstanding nominees. The two finalists were Roland Martins and Yadneshwar Nigalye. Mr. Nigalye is the President of the Goa Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti, an association for the eradication of superstitions. Among his many achievements are: the successful organization of a "Scientific Awareness" camp for 150 primary teachers from Ponda Taluka; effective assistance of law enforcement authorities in prosecuting godmen who exploit the public; organization of lecture/demonstrations in colleges and secondary schools to inculcate the scientific spirit, to debunk eclipse-related superstitions and provide scientific explanations for "miracles"; and holding of public meetings on pseudo-spiritualism and the constitutional imperative of adopting a scientific attitude in India.

The other extraordinary nominees were: Floriano Lobo, a social activist par excellence; Deepa Murkunde, whose efforts to ensure the provision of clean public toilets have now become legendary; Somu Rao, a brave man on a mission to promote rationalism and scientific skepticism in Goa; and Stephen Fernandes, who courageously exposed a corrupt Parra Village Panchayat secretary.

The Goenchem Prize award, consisting of a citation plaque and a cash amount of Rs. 13,666, will be presented to Roland Martins in December 2003.

Sincerely,
The Members of the Goenchem Prize Committee

OPEN INVITATION FOR NOMINATION OF CANDIDATES
for "THE GOENCHEM PRIZE"
FOR THE PROMOTION OF HONESTY, RATIONALITY AND COMMON SENSE

A committee of cyber-Goans invites members of the public to nominate candidates for an annual prize called the Goenchem Prize, established to promote the cause of honesty, rationality and common sense in public service, public policy, public education, public safety and public health. The nominee should be an individual or a group of individuals who are Goan by birth, ancestry, marriage or residence.

This prize is intended to educate the public about harms done by the following practices and concerns in today's society:
1. Corruption
2. Financial scams
3. Superstition
4. New age cults
5. New age fads
6. Pseudoscience
7. Quackery
8. Bogus issues in environmental activism
9. Politically motivated historical revisionism
10. Infusion of religion into public policy and education
11. Mass hysteria caused by paranormal phenomena
12. Public deception and disinformation campaigns
13. Unchecked influence of poseurs and frauds

The winner will be chosen from nominees who have addressed the above issues by taking actions such as:

1. Publicly exposing a cult, superstition, fad, practice or attitude that continues to cause significant harm in terms of physical, psychological or socioeconomic pain and suffering within the community.

2. Becoming a whistleblower to uncover corrupt practices in any
governmental, statutory, autonomous or non-governmental organization supported by public/government funds.

3. Making a significant contribution to educating the public about false claims regarding cures for diseases, bogus health scares, fake environmental threats, phony new age fads, paranormal hysteria and pseudoscientific breakthroughs.

4. Offering a public refutation of politically motivated historical revisionism and infusion of religion into public policy and education.

5. Publicly unmasking a quack, poseur, corrupt professional or
organization that is perpetrating a financial or health scam.

6. Presenting in a public forum in Goa an exposé on a public scam, racket, fraud, deception or disinformation campaign.

Potential contenders for the prize will be entered into the selection process each year by nomination. The nominating letter should be submitted by the nominee herself/himself or any other person by email to GPcommittee-owner@yahoogroups.com. It should include a brief description of the specific accomplishment for which the nominee is deemed to be worthy of the prize. The final deadline for submission of nominations this year is the inauspicious fifth Tuesday in July i.e. the 28th of July, 2003.

The Goenchem Prize committee of cyber-Goans will vote to choose the prizewinner. The prize will consist of a citation plaque and Rs. 13,666 (Thirteen thousand six hundred and sixty six rupees). This prize amount, donated by three anonymous Goans, is chosen because it contains the unlucky numbers 13 and 36, and the number of the beast 666. The winner will be announced in Goan newspapers and on Goan mailing lists, and the prize will be presented in Goa at an inauspicious time on World Goa Day in August.

Sincerely,

Rene Barreto, U.K.
Dr. Jose Colaco, Bahamas
Marina Correia-Afonso, Goa, India
Vivian D'Souza, Goa, India and U.S.A.
Valmiki Faleiro, Goa, India
Dr. Santosh A. Helekar, U.S.A.
Dr. Samir Kelekar, Bangalore, India
Margaret Mascarenhas, Goa, India
Dr. Basilio Monteiro, U.S.A.
Niraj Naik, Goa, India
Cecil Pinto, Goa, India
Tariq Siddiqui, U.S.A.
Ramrao Wagh, Goa, India
The purpose of this prize is to reward folks who expose specific harms caused by actions or practices carried out by somebody in the public arena. Compiled by Gaspar Almeida for www.goa-world.com & Gulf-Goans e-Newsletter

Goenchem Prize CyberGoans Committee Rene Barreto, U.K. Dr. Jose Colaco, Bahamas Marina Correia-Afonso, Goa, India Vivian D'Souza, Goa, India and U.S.A. Valmiki Faleiro, Goa, India Dr. Santosh A. Helekar, U.S.A. Dr. Samir Kelekar, Bangalore, India Margaret Mascarenhas, Goa, India Dr. Basilio Monteiro, U.S.A. Niraj Naik, Goa, India Cecil Pinto, Goa, India Tariq Siddiqui, U.S.A. Ramrao Wagh, Goa, India