Betalbatim News

Martin's Corner, Betalbatim  has come a long way from a small eat out with just two tables to a celebrity destination for goan sea food.  The FOODIE AWARD 2012 in the category of the best coastal food restaurant is not just another milestone but affirms why the who's who of India including film celebrities ,sportmen and corporates choose this family run seafood restaurant.  Sachin Tendulkar always does a pits stop at Martin's Corner when on Goa for his favourite CRAB MASALA FRY, the very fact that Anjali Tendulkar chose to celebrate Sachin's century of centuries speaks it all.

With just two short of celebrating their silver Jubilee , Mrs. Carafina Pereira a perfect example of true Goan  entrepreneur has painstakingly  manoeuvred to make a mark on the tourist map. Mrs. Carafina has set high standards when it comes to the kitchen and monitors it personally till date. The next gen. Bonny and Jose  have stood by the principles their mother has imbibed that they have got involved in the running of this much sort after hangout which gets crowded beyond capacity especially on weekends. 


Mrs' Carafina was awarded " THE LIFE TIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD" at the International Cuisine  Conference in 2007 and recently was awarded  "THE ENTREPRENEURSHIP AWARD " by the Gomantak Vidya Niketan

A new wave of hope has filled the air, the farmer is excited that his hard work has finally found favour with the C.M of the masses. Mr. Manohar  Parrikar has promised to frame a new Agricultural policy , so that critical issues like land use, production, management, and employment generation. 

The support price for paddy will be raised from Rs 7 per kilogram of paddy to Rs 17 per kilogram. The money will be paid by the government directly into the farmers’ bank accounts. This should bring larger areas under paddy cultivation. “My aim,” says Parrikar, “is to see that Goa becomes self sufficient in basic food items.”

Cashew nuts Rs 90 per kg, arecanut rs 170 per kg

Cashew plantations will benefit by the new support price of Rs 90 per kg of cashew nuts. Cooperative societies will be encouraged to be set up. Kullaghars are a unique symbol of Goa’s agrarian society. These are slowly vanishing. Arecanut plantations form a different ecosystem with intercrops like spices, bananas, vegetables, etc. which are unique to our state. To protect this ecosystem, and to make it an economically viable proposition and assured support price of Rs 170 per kg as against an assured price of Rs 100 per kg at present.

Coconuts Rs 8 per pc, sugarcane Rs 2400 per ton

Coconut farmers will celebrate with a new support price of Rs 8 per coconut. Locally grown fruit and veggies will be given a fixed support price. It will be sold at designated outlets for a fixed rate regardless of whether the market price rises or falls. Sugarcane gets a support price of Rs 500 per ton to assure of sugarcane growth in the state. Now the government will guarantee a support price of Rs 2400 per ton of sugarcane sold by the farmer to the Sanjeevani Sugar Factory in Goa from February 2012. Due to the high cost of inputs, an advance payment of Rs 1000 per ton will be paid to the farmer in September 2012 provided the farmer is a regular supplier of sugarcane to the Sanjeevani Sugar Factory cooperative. 

Cash crop centric subsidies

Other local cash crops like cashew, coconut, etc will get a subsidy for cultivation to the extent of 75% of the cost of cultivation. Other subsidies from various Government of India schemes will be adjusted within this 75% subsidy. Groundnut cultivation will get a 100 percent subsidy for the cost of the seed. Rs 40 crore will be kept aside for these measures.

With the summer heat already knocking ,  gallons of bottled drinking water , soft drinks  will be guzzled will leaving heaps of pet bottles adding to the ever increasing garbage issue. Village Panchayat Betalbatim in association with Betalbatim civic and consumer forum, under the watchful guidance of Clinton Vaz, has made successful attempts to collect dry waste including plastic from houses that have registered for the same. A number of workshops were conducted to educate and demonstrate how to segregate household garbage and systematic use of 3 potted KAMBHA composter for wet waste.

Betalbatim is probably one of the first if not first villages in Goa that provided a recycling station to its villagers. The illiterate nature of some educated morons have made a mess of the recycling station. There are rumours that adjoining villagers find it quite convenient to fling un-segregated garbage from the comforts of their cars adding to the stink. Maybe it is time we learn from our former rulers ( foreign tourist temporarily  residing in Betalbatim carry to the recycle station and dispose off segregated garbage separately) and rag pickers whom we fail to thank when our garbage is collected the traditional way. Some houses which contributed to the door to door scheme instead of helping others to join ,have stopped for reasons best known to them.

Maybe our elders find it difficult to understand the grave nature of garbage issue, but it is the youth of today including those who opt for N.S.S who collect garbage only on garbage collection drives and forget when littering otherwise can make a difference to make the future much cleaner for themselves and the generations to come.

The economics of converting garbage into gold is best understood by those who mess their hands collecting, segregating, processing and recycling it.  Read an article in heraldo dated 26th march 2012 to educate yourself

A page in history it will be

Goa Animal Welfare Trust will organise anti-rabies camp on sunday 25th March 2012 at Betalbatim near Our Lady of Remedios Church . Besides vaccination GAWT  will have pups for adoption and also exhibit  animal related items in their shop for sale. The camp will be from 9.00 a.m  to 12.30 p.m.

Sachin Tendulkar became the first batsman to make a 100 international centuries, getting to the milestone against Bangladesh at the Shere Bangla stadium in Mirpur at 5:05pm local time on March 16, 2012. 

When Sachin Tendulkar scored a century of centuries ,his favourite eat-out in Goa , Martin's Corner was the ultimate choice for his family to celebrate. Sachin Tendulkar frequents this famous eat out in the sleepy village of Betalbatim.

Mrs. Tendulkar with her son Arjun Tendulkar, daughter Sara Tendulkar and her parents joined by close family celebrated Sachin Tendulkar's 100's of 100's at Martins Corner.  The atmosphere was lit up by smiles and chuckles of joy as the champagne popped and the unplugged music played by Johnny filled the air. Johnny one man band played to flute with his nostrils and entertained the celebration.,latter he picked up the saxophone and everyone enjoyed the music