Sunday 28 February 2016

Awareness on Cyber Crimes @Old Goa Free Legal Aid Cell

Old Free Legal Aid Cell conducted an awareness program on Cyber Crimes in Old Goa Panchayat Hall on  28th February 2016. Police Sub Inspector, Cyber Crime Banch, Panaji, Mr Kabir Shirgaonkar of the Goa Police Cyber Crime Cell was the guest speaker for the occasion. 


PSI Kabir Shirgaonkar started his talk by explaining the difference between cyber crime cell and cyber crime branch. He spoke on various types of cyber crimes like Hacking, Phishing, Morphing of Photographs, Pornography, Social Networking offences, etc. He warned the crowd against responding to messages which claim that you have won a lottery or award. He also stressed upon banning porn sites and why it is difficult to completely ban porn in India. He said that day by day cyber crimes are rising and also suggested certain precaution to ensure that we are not victims of those cyber crimes.  

Mr. Sanat Kamat welcomed and introduced the guest speaker. Prof. Sonal Sardesai, Faculty in charge of Old Goa Free Legal Aid cell attended the program. Student in-charge Prasad Kholkar gave vote of thanks.

Friday 26 February 2016

Agricultural Schemes explained at Taleigao (Durgawadi)


This is the second major legal literacy Programme that Taleigao (Durgawadi) Free Legal Aid Cell of V.M.Salgaocar College of Law has taken up during 2015-16. A survey conducted by the students revealed the need for an awareness campaign on Agricultural Schemes in the area. The programme was held on 26th February 2016 at Kshetrapal Damodar Temple, Taleigao, Goa. Prof. Dr. Shabir Ali, the faculty in charge attended the programme.
Dr. Shabir Ali (Faculty in charge), Mr. Nelson Figuerido (Deputy Director, Dept of Agriculture) and
Ms. Kiran Rai (Student in charge)  and members of Taleigao  Free Legal Aid Cell


Mr. Nelson Figueredo speaks on Agricultural Schemes:  The guest speaker, Mr. Figueredo, Deputy Director of Department of Agriculture, Govt. of Goa began his talk by asking the gathering as to what crops they cultivate as each crop has a different scheme applicable. Locals responded that they mostly grow local variety of chillies and alsane . Allthe schemes relating to chillies n alsane were explained which included the discount on seeds that could be availed by them. He informed that demand for local variety of chillies is very high, may it be fresh or dry. He encouraged the locals to cultivate them on a larger scale and earn profits out of it.


Importance of Krishi Card: Now to avail such scheme and discout on seed one must have " Krishi Card" . Without krishi card people cannot avail seed or other benefits provided by agriculture department. Mr.Nelson Figueredo explained the procedure and document required to make Krishi card . Krishi card is not meant only for farmers but also People who have coconut Bhatt can apply for Krishi cards and schemes are available on coconut saplings And manure for the trees. Manure and fertilisers are available for discounted rate for Krishi card holders. 

Schemes/funds for boundaries, cattle, irrigation, vegetable in pots,  horticulture: Other than scheme for seeds n manure, there are schemes or funds available for putting up boundaries for the farming lands , special bobbed wires are provided by the agriculture department. Special scheme are provided for farmers that have cattles , which they use  for agriculture purpose. Irrigation service is provided by the department. Agriculture department has come up with new technique of keeping pest away from crops. A special paper is introduced, which should be placed in between the crops and after which pests get killed and crops are safe. The Speaker encouraged the local people to take up more of agriculture than any other work . He gave many examples as to how people are doing well in this field . One of the example was of a boy from Valpoi who took a plot on rent and cultivated lady fingers on it and earned more than any other local farmer from the village. Hisproduce uses to get sold in no time. Similarly people who stay in flats and houses who don't have field can plant vegetable plants in vase eg. Tomatoes , chillies, brinjal, mint etc . Saplings are available at agriculture department. Other than vegetable and pluses various floral plants are also available.Various business idea like cultivating such crops and later selling it to horticulture departments etc were explained.


The audience has many queries  relating to their farming lands , irrigation etc, which were clarified by Mr. Figueredo. 

Mr. Mangurishi Usgaokar, member of the Legal Aid Cell proposed vote of thanks. 

Thursday 25 February 2016

Moira Legal Aid Cell – Awareness on Domestic Violence (Prevention)


On the 25th of February, 2016, the Moira Free Legal Aid Cell organized their Major programme at the Moira Panchayat Hall, Moira, Bardez, Goa by bringing Adv. Namrata Shirodkar and Adv. Dola Tulkar, two associate advocates of Adv. Caroline Colaço to speak to members of a number of Mahila Mandals and Self Help Groups of the area among others present on the topic ‘Domestic Violence’. 

During the course of the previous month, the cell members with a view on organizing for a resource person to come and speak to the chosen target group of lower income, rural and marginalized women, on an important contemporary topic which would benefit them greatly, systematically planned for this programme. Invitation letters were accordingly sent to 7 different Mahila Mandals and Self Help Groups from different localities of the villages of Aldona, Moira and Nachinola through the cell members. At the same time the general public of these villages were also invited through requested announcements in the respected Parish Churches.


Around 30 women, mostly members of Mahila Mandals and Self Help Groups and even some men attended the program. Also present was Prof. Suchita Timble, the Faculty In-charge of the Moira Free Legal Aid Cell. The student in-charge Miss. Milena Souza welcomed the gathering while cell  member Miss. Siddhi Sirsat introduced the speakers for the day.
Adv. Shirodkar spoke in-depth on ‘THE PROTECTION OF WOMEN FROM DOMESTIC VIOLENCE ACT 2005’. She explained the various kinds of domestic violence that is covered by the Act i.e; Physical, verbal and emotional, sexual and dowry related violence. She then went on explaining the complaint mechanism introduced by the Act and in the process describing the complaint authorities and how to fill the Complaint Form available. For this she brought a complaint form along with her which she displayed to all. She informed the audience that a complaint under the Act could be not only be made against the husband but also against the in-laws and relatives of the husband. She also speak about the remedies available under the Act which are in the form of Orders by the Court and which she explained in detail. These are as follows;
a) A protection Order 
 b) A resident Order
 c) An Order prescribing monetary reliefs
d) An Order of custody i.e. custody of minor children
e) And finally an Order of Compensation.


Adv. Shirodkar, throughout her talk reiterated the informal set-up of the courts established by the Act which are extremely people friendly and where the strict use of procedure of established civil and criminal Courts are not followed and also where the use of advocates are not required. Finally she spoke a little about the encouraged use of out of court settling methods which are highly effectible in these kinds of cases. She also explained the concept of Interim Orders during proceedings before the final Court Orders.

The two advocates then clarified various queries put forth by the audience. Adv. Tulkar clarified some queries about the procedures involved by the Courts and put some light on the peculiar situation where the Husband is subjected to domestic violence from his wife.  After the two advocates ended their session, cell member Mr. Kaushal Shetye highlighted about the functioning of the cell while cell incharge  Miss. Milena Souza divulged some information about the various activities and programmes  conducted by our cell to the audience present. The Vote of Thanks was proposed by cell member Duhita Haldankar. The programme concluded within an hour after which refreshments were served to all present by the cell members. It ended on a happy note due to the cumulative efforts of all the members of the cell, guided by their Faculty incharge Mrs. Suchita Timble

Saturday 13 February 2016

“Telecommunication & Cable Services: What You Ought To Know!” - A Calangute Free Legal Aid Cell Campaign


The Calangute Legal Aid Cell of the V M Salgaocar College of Law organised a legal awareness program titled “Telecommunication & Cable Services: What You Ought To Know!”, on  13th of February 2016 at the Calangute Panchayat Hall. Mr. Roland Martins, co-ordinator of GOACAN was the resource person for the program.
Mr. Martins spoke about the main rights that a consumer has, under the Consumer Protection Act, specifically with regard to telephone operators, mobile service providers, and TV content providers; be they local cable operators, or the large companies who provide digitalised content. His discourse on this subject was startlingly accessible to the audience, despite the fact the subject is technical in nature. His presentation was filled with practical examples of the simplest rights which consumers have, and how to exercise these rights. For instance, his explanation of the extent to which telephone operators such as BSNL have failed to provide services which they are contractually obligated to provide (they are even supposed to lay out the wiring to your telephone), and the quantum of the refunds which consumers are entitled to - but alas, never claim, were met by appreciation by the audience. He explained the most common methods by which consumers are duped by cold calls, and scams and how a responsible consumer ought to protect himself from such calls, and much more.  

In attendance at the program were residents - young and old - of Calangute and the surrounding areas. Professor Aamod Shirali of the V M Salgaocar College of Law, the Professor in charge of the Calangute Legal Aid Cell was also present. Pamphlets on Consumer Protection and details of whom to lodge complaints with were distributed to every audience member. The program ended with the distribution of refreshments to the audience, and a vote of thanks by a member of the Legal Aid Cell.

Tuesday 9 February 2016

Awareness on Cyber Laws and Cyber Crimes @ Porvorim VPP Free Legal Aid Cell




Understanding the importance of the incidence of cyber crimes among the youth, Porvorim VPP Free Legal Aid Cell designed a legal literacy program on the topic and executed it on 9th February 2016 at Vidhya Prabhodini School Hall, Porvorim, Goa. Mr. Joelson Fernandes was the  resource person.


Mr. Joelson Fernandes has extensive experience in imparting education in the field of digital forensics and cyber-crimes investigation and has addressed various schools and colleges across Goa in tune with the company CSR program to educate Goa about various cyber-crimes and preventive measures for the same.


Prof. Sonal Sardessai was present for the function and the VPP legal aid cell student in charge Miss Mehandi Naik Desai was also present on the desk. Miss Malvika Maulingkar was the comperer for the function.
Topics discussed:
The speaker initially raised a few questions like:
  • What do they understand by the word cyber?
  • How many of them have access to the internet in their day to day life?
  • How many of them have an e-mail id?
  • How many of them have a bank account?
  • How many have and use a smart phone?
The speaker then went on to discuss about the “Types of Cyber crimes”
  1. Hacking: he explained that it means an unauthorized control/access over a computer system. An act of hacking can completely destroy the entire data as well as other computer programs. Hackers usually hack telecommunication and mobile networks
  2. Harassment via e-mail: while explaining this he told about the various instances of social media abuse through social networking sites like facebook, twitter, etc. he said the reason behind this is that through our profiles on these sites we inform the whole world about our whereabouts.
He gave us illustrations through some recent cases he handled:
  1. In one of the case a girl was given an assignment to make random friends on ‘Orkut’. She did so. On her birthday one of her friends sent her an e-mail wish. The moment she opened the mail the virus attacked her system. Unaware about this she continued with her daily activities. Due to that virus her webcam would began recording and the friend later on went to post these same video’s on the networking site.
  2. The second instance was one of a navy officer who would post his pictures on a networking site and due to this thee terrorist became aware of his location.


  1. Cracking: it’s a situation where strangers break into your computer system without your knowledge and consent and tampers with your precious confidential matters.
He told a case where an employee on being fired by the boss created a virus which he e-mailed to his boss who on opening it   lost all the precious data.
  1. Cyber stalking: this means an expressed or implied threat that creates fear through the use of computer technologies like internet, e-mail, texts, webcam, videos, etc.
He told of a case where a person when he returned from his travel found his house robbed as he had mentioned about his vacations in his account.
  1. E-mail spoofing: A spoofed email can be said to be one which represents its origin. It shows the origin different form which it actually originates.


Information about certain viruses and preventive measures were given. Mr. Fernandes also informed about websites from where songs or video’s should not be downloaded sites which offer free games are also not safe to be opned.


Miss Yuga Adarkar proposed the vote of thanks


Saturday 6 February 2016

Mapusa Free Legal Aid Cell organises Workshop on Cyber Crimes for School Students


The Mapusa Free Legal Aid Cell of V. M. Salgaocar College of Law in association with the Purushottam Walavalkar Higher Secondary, Mapusa – Goa conducted a workshop on 'Cyber Laws and Cyber Crimes' for the students of local higher secondary schools. on 6th February 2016. Students from Ganesh Vidhya Mandir Higher Secondary, Vidhya Prabhudini Higher Secondary and Purushottam Walavakar Higher Secondary were present for the workshop in large numbers. 



Adv. Asha Desai, Sr. Standing Counsel for Income Tax Department spoke on Cyber Crimes and the legal aspects of cyber-space and PSI Kabir Shirgaonkar, Cyber Crime Branch Panjim- oa spoke on Cyber Crimes. Asst. Prof Shruti Kamat Dalal, the Faculty in charge of Mapusa free Legal Aid Cell gave a brief talk on the importance of understanding the law and legal facets so that one is protected and not wronged by anyone.

  Adv. Asha Desai began the workshop by introducing the concept of crime.She told the students about Cyber Crimes, its applicablility  and the punishment for misuse of information technology, etc. She also covered the topics cyber stalking, cyber blackmailing, cyber terrorism, identity theft, data theft, viruses, hacking of social networking accounts, etc. Adv. Desai advised the students not to use abusive language on social networking Medias like Whatapp, Facebook, Twitter, etc. as this may lead to crimes which the common man won't be aware of.



PSI Kabir Shirgaonkar of Cyber Cell Panaji also spoke about the Cyber Crimes and the Cyber Laws. He enlightened the students with the working knowledge of the Cyber Cell that is how the cell functions. He introduced the students to various new topics like hash value, cloning of devices, tracking of devices, how the servers work, hubs,etc. He also told the students about the different Acts that are used in cybercrimes like the Information Technology Act, Intellectual Property Right Act,etc. He also dealt with the topics of hacking, data theft, morphing of photographs, pornography, social networking offences, bank account hacking, ATM card hacking,etc. Mr. Shirgaonkar told the students that on an average the cyber cell registers 5-6 cases of cybercrimes on a daily basis. He asked the students to avoid clicking on the pop up links as it downloads malicious contents which may lead to system crash and to use genuine websites only.

A question answer round was also there wherein the students' queries were answered by both the keynote speakers. In the end, all the students were given certificates for attending the one day workshop.







The workshop was compered by the students of Purushottam Walawlkar Higher Secondary School, Mapusa. Ms.Neelakshi Paul from Mapusa Legal Aid Cell  spoke about the Legal Aid Cells of the College and the services provided by Mapusa Free Legal Aid Cell. Nikita Salgaocar on behalf of the legal aid cell proposed the vote of thanks.  The idea of having a workshop for students of higher secondary from Mapusa region was put forth by then student in-charge Abhishek Sawant, which was successfully conducted by the members of Mapusa Legal Aid Cell under the guidance of Asst. Prof Shruti Kamat Dalal.  

Thursday 4 February 2016

Awareness Camp on Social Welfare Schemes and Municipal Laws at Margao


Displaying IMG-20160204-WA0003.jpg

The members of Margao Free Legal Aid Cell of V. M. Salgaocar College of Law organised an Awareness Camp on Social Welfare Schemes of Government of Goa, on 4th February 2016 at Ravindra Bhavan, Curchorem. Municipal and other laws were also taken up at the camp.


The Chief Guests were Mr. Nilesh Cabral, M.L.A. of Curchorem and Mrs.MeenaGolatkar, Director of Social Welfare, Government of Goa. Adv. Ajay Dessai and other Councillors also attended the camp.


Adv Dessai spoke on  the powers given to the public under municipal laws. The Director of the Social Welfare Department made the public aware of the various schemes available to them . Asst.Prof. Sonal Sardessai, the faculty from the College informed the people about the legal aid society and its functioning in the college. Miss Jasmine da Costa spoke about the work undertaken by the Margao Free Legal Aid Cell. Mr. Akshay Madkaikar proposed the vote of thanks.



The programme was attended in large numbers the people even asked the members for assistance on various issues and interacted with the staff from the social welfare department.

Monday 1 February 2016

Legal Literacy on Mundkar and Tenancy Law - Marcela Free Legal Aid Cell


D:\201106\COLLEGE days\Camera\20160201_161158.jpg

The Marcela Free Legal Aid Cell of V.M.Salgaocar College of Law organised a legal literacy programme on Mundar and Tenancy Laws in Goa on 01 February 2016, at Talem, Betki village, Goa. The chief guest of the said programme was Mrs. Bhavana Naik, Panch of Betki and the speaker was Dr. Naguesh Colvalkar. Dr. Kim Couto, the faculty in charge of Marcela legal aid cell attended the programme.
The programme started with the lighting of the traditional lamp.
Miss. Vishaya shet (Student in charge), gave brief introduction of the cell and its activities. Dr. Colvalkar spoke on the Mundkar Act, in that he explained about how to get your name enrolled in the I & IV form as mundkar and also told about the rights of the mundkar of which the people of that village were unaware of. As the topic went further several questions were raised by the people, one of the questions from the audience was "Is there any solution to declare mundkar now as many years have passed and they have not done anything to declare themselves as mundkar?" On answering the question, He then moved to the Agricultural Tenancy Act, he explained about how the Act was enacted and also narrated the 5th amendment to the Act. Several questions were raised during this topic also, which were all explained by Dr. Colvalkar. Around 50 villagers attended the programme.
As we had decided to select a part of the village for undertaking village visits, and provide legal aid, the concept was explained to the villagers by Mr. Vithal Naik (cell member), where he told about how Marcela Cell would shift to  Talem ward and Gimona for one month and try to solve most of their problems. We got a good response for this concept of village visit and all of the audience showed interest in this village visit.
Finally Mrs. Rashmi Lambor (cell member) proposed vote of thanks. The students members certify that "Truly this was a good programme because it actually benefited the people and they were willing to help us to help them and the concept of “village visit” was very well appreciated."


D:\201106\COLLEGE days\Camera\20160201_164714.jpg
D:\201106\COLLEGE days\Camera\20160201_164528.jpgD:\201106\COLLEGE days\Camera\20160201_161331.jpg


D:\201106\COLLEGE days\Camera\20160201_170334.jpg