NEWS: PM... in Goa

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PM working on musings 

Agencies/Panaji 

As is his wont in the past, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, who is 
holidaying here, is also working on "musings", similar to the ones he had 
penned at Kumarakom in Kerala in 2000.
 
"The Prime Minister is not merely holidaying in Goa, he is also working on some 
musings," PMO sources said Monday.
 
The sources said his writings would be released Tuesday.
 
Vajpayee arrived here Sunday on a four-day holiday to Goa. 
 
http://www.dailypioneer.com/indexn12.asp?main_variable=FLASH&file_name=cap2%2Etxt&counter_img=2

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PM at Parashuram?s beachhead 
FREDERICK NORONHA 
  
Vajpayee  
Panaji, Dec. 29: The Goa seafront Atal Bihari Vajpayee has chosen on his way 
down from vacation spots among the mountains was also the destination of an 
arrow shot by another Brahmin.

Benaulim, a former fishing village in southern Goa where the Prime Minister 
reached today for a four-day holiday, is supposed to be the place where the 
arrow of the fiery Parashuram ? considered an incarnation of Vishnu ? is 
supposed to have fallen, making the coast recede.

The name Benaulim is believed to have been derived from bana (bow) and halli 
(the Kannada-influenced word for village). The legend goes that Parashuram 
fought back the Kshatriyas along the west coast and invited Brahmin settlers.

The last time Vajpayee had taken a vacation near waters was in 2000 in Kerala?s 
backwater-ringed Kumarakom. He had then penned the famed Kumarakom Musings, 
through which he sought to re-establish his secular credential after a series 
of ambiguous statements.

Since then, he had picked Manali for his holidays. Vajpayee?s return to the 
south coincides with another ? and more polarised ? round of debate about 
secularism in the wake of the Gujarat poll results. It was not known whether 
the Prime Minister would use the four days to pen more musings, but officials 
were quick to underscore that there would not be ?any official engagements? 
during the vacation.

The Prime Minister?s touchdown also marks the beginning of a steady flow of 
VIPs to Goa, despite an alert by Israeli intelligence of a possible terrorist 
strike during the Christmas-New Year season.

Vajpayee?s deputy, L.K. Advani, is expected to follow on January 2. Besides, 20 
other Union ministers are also planning to visit Goa.

Vajpayee, who arrived at 1.20 pm, is scheduled to stay in the Taj Exotica hotel 
in South Goa, a newer entrant in the tourism sector compared to North Goa. 
While the north entered the global tourism arena in the sixties, the south 
started exploring its tourism potential only as late as the eighties.

Some of these areas, particularly around Salcete and Canacona, are still sylvan 
and palm-fringed. This contrasts starkly with the cluttered North Goa coast.

Delhi has projected the Prime Minister?s visit to Goa as a boon for tourism. 
However, residents are gearing up for New Year celebrations cramped by the 
heightened security because of the high-profile visits.

Two companies of a Central paramilitary force have been brought in to enhance 
security during Vajpayee?s four-day visit. Machine gun-toting policemen have 
been posted on some beaches, while Rapid Action Force personnel were deployed 
at some popular tourist locations.

The Goa government has said Vajpayee?s visit would send out the signal that 
things are ?under control? in the state.

On his arrival at the INS Hansa airport at Dabolim, Goa?s only airport, the 
Prime Minister was greeted by the entire state Cabinet. He then took a 
helicopter to Benaulim, which lies 15 km further south. 
 
http://www.telegraphindia.com/1021230/asp/nation/story_1526616.asp

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Frederick Noronha Journalist
Ph 832.2409490 or 2409783
Saligao 403511 Goa India
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