No drugs, rave parties in Goa this tourist season

October 5th, 2009 THIRUVANANTHAPURAM - All boats at tourist destinations in Kerala would undergo a safety check to ensure the vessels are in good condition, state Tourism Minister Kodiyeri Balakrishnan said here Monday. "This would be done in the next 10 days and once we receive the report we would consider floating a law in this regard," Balakrishnan said after meeting with Minister of Irrigation N.K.

October 5th, 2009 PHNOM PENH - A police officer, who was less than a week into his post in Cambodia's anti-drugs squad, has been arrested after police found 10 kg of heroin stashed at his home in the capital, national media reported Monday. The raid on the house of Bun Pov, a first lieutenant in t he anti-drugs squad, also uncovered two kilogrammes of methamphetamines as well as large quantities of chemicals used to process and make drugs.

September 23rd, 2009 NEW DELHI - A Nigerian national was arrested in the national capital with over one kg of heroin worth Rs.1 crore (Rs.10 million), Delhi Police said Wednesday. Banzi Babatunde, member of an international drug cartel, was arrested Tuesday from Lodhi Road area on a specific information, a police officer said.

September 11th, 2009 KULLU - The picturesque Kullu valley in the Himalayas, also known as the valley of gods, attracts thousands of backpackers from abroad. But some never return home -- they simply vanish without a trace.

August 23rd, 2009 AMSTERDAM - An 18-year old was killed and seven others injured as a beach rave party attended by thousands of people turned into a mass brawl in the Netherlands. It was not immediately clear whether the teenager was shot dead or died from other injuries at the party entitled "Sunset Grooves" near Hoek van Holland Sunday.

August 5th, 2009 PANAJI - The Goa Government will invoke the Epidemic Act only after the tourist season commences at the end of September. "We do not intend to invoke the Epidemic Act at this point of time.

July 16th, 2009 PATNA - Nearly 45 days after an Australian tourist Osborne Michael David was found dead in a guest house here, the police said that he had not been murdered or suffered a drug overdose as suspected, but had killed himself due to penury. An Australian tourist whose body was found in a guest house committed suicide by consuming rat poison.

July 11th, 2009 LUCKNOW - Four men who had allegedly robbed and shot a German tourist two days ago in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur district were arrested after a shoot out, the police said Saturday. "Acting on a tip-off, we intercepted the four motorcycle-borne men near a culvert in the Sisaiya locality in Lakhimpur.

July 8th, 2009 LUCKNOW - Unidentified men shot a German tourist in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur district before escaping with his bag containing some cash, passport and other documents, the police said Wednesday. "Unknown assailants early Wednesday fired at George Galose, 45, after which he was rushed to the district hospital, where his condition is critical," Additional Superintendent of Police Ramakant Prasad told IANS over phone.

July 7th, 2009 KUALA LUMPUR - Malaysian customs police detained a 25-year-old Indian man and seized 25 kg of the drug ketamine, a news report said Tuesday. The narcotics division of the airport customs department discovered the drugs, worth about 450,000 ringgit ($121,621), hidden in two boxes supposedly containing printing paper from Tamil Nadu in India.

May 3rd, 2009 PANAJI - Irrespective of global recession, job losses and wage cuts, for thousands of vacation-going Russians this season, the sun has continued to shine in Goa. Even as the coastal state with its palm-fringed coastline and sun-soaked beaches saw a drop in the number of tourists from other European countries, which form the bulk of its foreign tourist numbers, it was the 'Russians are coming' buzz, which kept tourism alive and kicking in the coastal tourism pockets.

March 26th, 2009 PANAJI - The Goa government will crack down on the sale of clothes, particularly beachwear, carrying images of Hindu deities and quotations of scriptures on them. The action follows a representation made to the North Goa collector by the Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS), a right wing organisation, which says unrestricted sale of such 'vulgar' beachwear caused affront to the religious sentiments of Hindus.

March 24th, 2009 PANAJI - Three foreigners have been arrested for assaulting policemen trying to stop a rave party in a North Goa beach, the police said Monday. The incident occurred at around 5.00 a.m.

February 8th, 2009 PANAJI - Curlies shack at Anjuna beach, notorious for rave parties, is back under the scanner after Scarlett Keeling's newly surfaced email claiming that attempts were made to gang rape her at the shack a couple of days before her murder a year ago. Edwin Nunes, owner of Curlies shack, has claimed that he is being harassed by Scarlett's mother Fiona Mackeown and his political rivals.

January 11th, 2009 PANAJI - In a sudden crackdown on beach-side rave parties Sunday night, the Goa police arrested four persons including a German and a Russian national. 'We arrested a German and a Russian, who are notorious for holding such parties in the beach belt,' Mapusa Police Inspector C.L.