Goa offshore casino official arrested with prostitute

October 1st, 2009 PANAJI - Casino Royale, Goa's biggest offshore casino, is technically "inferior" and "unfit" to carry 888 passengers as per a certificate issued by the Union of Comoros, says the union shipping ministry. In a written submission to the Panaji bench of the Bombay High Court, Deputy Director General of Shipping (Technical) Captain K.P.

September 8th, 2009 PANAJI - Offshore and onshore casinos in Goa will shut down Wednesday in protest against the state government's decision to sharply hike the entry fee from Rs.200 to Rs.2,000 per person. "The steep hike is throttling business," Casino Association of Goa (CAG) spokesperson Narinder Punj told reporters Tuesday.

July 30th, 2009 PANAJI - In a collective response to the "tough" measures proposed in Goa's additional budget 2009-10, the offshore casino industry has objected to the proposed 10-fold increase in the entry fee to casino vessels from Rs.200 to Rs.2,000. In a memorandum submitted to Chief Minister Digambar Kamat and leader of opposition Manohar Parrikar Monday, the Association of Offshore Casinos (AOC) has asked the government to whittle down the proposed enhanced entry fee from Rs.2,000 to Rs.500.

July 27th, 2009 PANAJI - Goa Ports Minister Francisco Pacheco Monday told the state assembly that no activity would be permitted now on the five offshore casinos whose no objection certificates (NOC) for berthing off the Mandovi River have expired. "I assure the house that all activities on these five ships will be sealed," Pacheco said, promising prompt action.

June 23rd, 2009 PANAJI - The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Goa Tuesday watered down its aggressive 'no-casino' policy, saying it opposes offshore casinos but onshore casinos were a "necessary evil" for the sake of tourism in the state. "We are completely opposed to offshore casinos.

June 22nd, 2009 PANAJI - After training its guns on the Congress-led coalition in Goa for allowing both offshore and onshore casinos to run amok, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) now finds itself in the crosshair of an onshore casino operator. Update Recreation and Gaming Private Ltd (URGPL), a firm which operates mechanised casinos in several five-star resorts in Goa, has accused leader of opposition Manohar Parrikar of pandering to the offshore casino lobby during his tenure as chief minister.

June 16th, 2009 PANAJI - Representatives of the offshore casino operators and the Goa government's ports department will meet Wednesday, in an attempt to break the deadlock between the two parties as the operators refused to move anchor from the Mandovi river. In a hearing at the Panaji bench of the Bombay High Court Tuesday, the offshore casino operators however conceded, that they would be willing to park their vessels along either bank of the river, in order to ensure that the river's navigation channel is not obstructed.

June 3rd, 2009 PANAJI - The standoff between the offshore casino operators and the Goa administration continues with the former refusing to budge from the river Mandovi, off Panaji. While the captain of ports department, which oversees all minor ports in the state, has asked the offshore casino operators to move out of the river by June 8, Narendra Punj spokesperson for the Association of Offshore Casino (AOC) said that the vessels would stay put.

May 11th, 2009 PANAJI - The Goa government is forcing offshore casinos to move their vessels out of the Mandovi river and park them into a bay 'known for choppy seas and unstable navigation conditions', casino operators said Monday. The 'ill-conceived' cabinet decision to move the casino vessels into the Aguada bay was enforced on the Captain of Ports (CoP) department, which overlooks Goa's minor ports along the various water bodies, Srinivas Nair of the Association of Offshor Casinos (AOC) told reporters.

May 6th, 2009 PANAJI - Casino operators in Goa have decided to collectively stave off the sustained pressure heaped on them by civil society groups and political parties, who want offshore casino vessels to sail away from the state. John Snowball, spokesperson for the newly formed Association of Offshore Casino Operators (AOCO), said the recent protests against the casinos were only 'political noises' made before the elections.

March 20th, 2009 PANAJI - The Congress' Goa unit does not have a problem in opening up the state's coast to several more offshore casinos, as long as the vessels are berthed in the Arabian Sea, a party spokesperson Thursday said. Addressing a press conference, party spokesman Vishnu Wagh said that the Congress was for the offshore casino industry, as long as the common man was not affected.

March 18th, 2009 PANAJI - After dragging its feet for months, the Goa government has directed the state's six offshore casinos to suspend their operations on grounds of pollution and sealed restaurants on board five of them ahead of a Bombay High Court hearing on the issue. The Goa State Pollution Control Board (GSPCB) Tuesday night directed the six offshore casinos to suspend their operations for violation of air and water pollution norms.

March 7th, 2009 PANAJI - Offshore casinos in Goa do not conform to the definition of the term 'offshore' accepted by the global shipping community, which is 12 nautical miles from the shore, a shipping expert said Friday. Speaking on the sidelines of an event here to mark the launch of an international shipping company, former director of the Shipping Corporation of India (SCI) Captain Taru Hazari said the word offshore automatically meant that the casino ships should be anchored at least 12 nautical miles from the shore.

February 4th, 2009 PANAJI - After alleging fraud and corruption in the licensing for offshore casinos, the opposition has accused the controversial offshore gambling vessel managements of dumping untreated sewage in the Mandovi river. Speaking during question hour, Leader of Opposition Manohar Parrikar said the half a dozen casino vessels parked in the Mandovi river have no sewage disposal systems in place.

February 3rd, 2009 PANAJI - Under fire from the opposition over charges of corruption in giving offshore gambling licences to ships, Goa Chief Minister Digambar Kamat Wednesday assured the assembly that the state's casino policy would be reviewed. The Leader of Opposition Manohar Parrikar said that several offshore casinos were operating in Goa without proper licences.