Cancelling music fest will compromise friendly relations

[feathers]

Cancelling music fest will compromise friendly relations between India and Russia: Diplomat - The Times of India
Anisha Francis,TNN | Feb 1, 2014, 05.59 PM IST

PANAJI: In a bitter turn of events, the Russian Embassy on Saturday got vocal on the Goa government's last-minute decision to cancel the Indo-Russian Rock Music festival scheduled for Jan 31- Feb 1 in Baga, stating that Goa has provoked the loss of the long-standing friendship between Russia and India.

Calling it a 'shameless and frankly unfriendly gesture on the part of state authorities', the Dy Consul General of the Russian federation in Mumbai, Alexey M Mzareulov said, "Their refusal, under false pretenses, to grant permission to hold this cultural event has angered many communities-Indian and international musicians, tourist-guests and local guests-and it runs contrary to common sense."

The biting statement, barely bordering on diplomacy, has been issued by Rusian Ambassador Alexander M. Kadakin himself. ""I have never heard him use such words. There is a very bitter feeling in the heart of all Russians now," Mzareulov remarked.

He stated that the Russian company organizing the festival had applied for all the necessary permissions well in advance, on January 9. "All our documents were in place, we had done all the paperwork perfectly and nobody had any objections until yesterday. There was no reason for the state authorities to cancel it at the last minute-especially if it is because of the baseless protests from some local taxi drivers and tour operators," he said. "If Russian business has no great value for Goa, we have plenty of other destinations to recommend to Russian tourists," Mzareulov said. Russian national media already influencing tourists to visit Kerala and Thailand instead of Goa, he added.

The rock event was slated to attract over 10,000 visitors. Several rock bands scheduled to perform at the event, including Indian bands Parikrama and Indian Ocean, as well as Euro band 'Brainstorm,' have issued strongly-worded statements expressing their disappointment over the event being cancelled.


Why it was cancelled ? anyone

 

[sydsnyper]

Possibly to stem opportunities for the Russian mafia to peddle their wares.....

We can handle and heckle rampaging Nigerians, but no one wants to piss off wayward Russians the same way

Cancelling music fest will compromise friendly relations between India and Russia: Diplomat - The Times of India
Anisha Francis,TNN | Feb 1, 2014, 05.59 PM IST

PANAJI: In a bitter turn of events, the Russian Embassy on Saturday got vocal on the Goa government's last-minute decision to cancel the Indo-Russian Rock Music festival scheduled for Jan 31- Feb 1 in Baga, stating that Goa has provoked the loss of the long-standing friendship between Russia and India.

Calling it a 'shameless and frankly unfriendly gesture on the part of state authorities', the Dy Consul General of the Russian federation in Mumbai, Alexey M Mzareulov said, "Their refusal, under false pretenses, to grant permission to hold this cultural event has angered many communities-Indian and international musicians, tourist-guests and local guests-and it runs contrary to common sense."

The biting statement, barely bordering on diplomacy, has been issued by Rusian Ambassador Alexander M. Kadakin himself. ""I have never heard him use such words. There is a very bitter feeling in the heart of all Russians now," Mzareulov remarked.

He stated that the Russian company organizing the festival had applied for all the necessary permissions well in advance, on January 9. "All our documents were in place, we had done all the paperwork perfectly and nobody had any objections until yesterday. There was no reason for the state authorities to cancel it at the last minute-especially if it is because of the baseless protests from some local taxi drivers and tour operators," he said. "If Russian business has no great value for Goa, we have plenty of other destinations to recommend to Russian tourists," Mzareulov said. Russian national media already influencing tourists to visit Kerala and Thailand instead of Goa, he added.

The rock event was slated to attract over 10,000 visitors. Several rock bands scheduled to perform at the event, including Indian bands Parikrama and Indian Ocean, as well as Euro band 'Brainstorm,' have issued strongly-worded statements expressing their disappointment over the event being cancelled.


Why it was cancelled ? anyone

 

[feathers]

Indo-Russian music festival in Goa cancelled - The Hindu

A two-day international Indo-Russian music festival, slated to begin on Friday at Baga in the north coastal belt, was cancelled due to last minute denial of permission by the State Tourism authorities. This evoked strong reaction from the Russian side and disappointed music lovers and artistes.

The Russian Embassy in New Delhi and the Consulate in Mumbai have expressed outrage and anguish over the development. A long-simmering conflict between local taxi drivers and Russian tour operators is said to be the reason for the cancellation of the Great Live Music International Festival.

The local BJP MLA of Calangute, Michael Lobo, was also reportedly opposed to the fest. He said the festival was being organised in the vicinity of a chapel, where preparations for the Feast were under way. The locals were also against the event due to the novenas.

"The unrighteous approach of the local authorities will affect the flow of Russian tourists here. Most likely, they will have to choose from other more welcoming resorts," said a strongly-worded statement from the Russian Ambassador in New Delhi, Alexander Kadakin.

The organisers of the event had even delayed the music festival on Friday and then abandoned the first day's event. They pinned their hopes on the intervention of the Russian Consulate to ensure that the event was held on Saturday. But it was not to be. Addressing a press conference in the city on Saturday, Alexey Mzareulov, Deputy Consul-General of the Russian Federation, Mumbai, told presspersons that the festival had all the required permissions and no department or Ministry had any objection.

Mr. Mzareulov expressed shock that a conflict between Russian tourist operators and local taxi drivers should be the pretext for the local authorities to cancel the festival and indicate that unless a settlement was reached on this count, it could not be held.

The conflict between local tourist taxi operators in north coastal belt and Russian tour operators is long simmering. A few days ago, Goa's taxi drivers went on a rally protesting against operators working with Russian tourists and offering transport services to them. The local drivers say that by doing so, the foreigners were "snatching their bread."
'Disappointed'

Alexander Antipin, Bureau Chief in India, ITAR-TASS News Agency, said musicians were very much disappointed, so were the Russians, many of whom had specially come in to watch the Indian musicians.

 

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ITAR-TASS: World - Rows between Goa's tour operators and taxi drivers affect Russian travelers

MOSCOW, February 13. /ITAR-TASS/. Russian tourists in India's smallest state, Goa, have repeatedly become victims of rows between the local tour operators and taxi drivers.

Taxi drivers accuse India's travel companies that they provide transport services to their tourists without obtaining relevant permits and steal their daily bread.

During the current tourism season no less than four incidents, when taxi drivers blocked buses full of Russian tourists and took their guide or interpreter to police, had taken place, a representative of Goa's tour company told Itar-Tass.

"For the past five days nobody has stopped any buses," said Franky D'Cunha of Caper Travel.

Franky D'Cunha urges the Indian authorities to issue for tour operators and guides registered in Goa documents confirming that they work officially. "Otherwise, the conflict cannot be resolved," he added.

After a chain of incidents Goa Chief Minister Manohar Gopalkrishna Prabhu Parrikar held a meeting with representatives of travel companies and taxi drivers, urging them "not to take the law into their hands" and instructed police to keep a close watch on incidents with tourist buses.

A managing partner of Tara Travel, Yekaterina Belyakova, said in turn tour operators demanded that Goa's authorities "should issue an official statement on rules regulating the operation of travel companies."

A representative of Goa's another travel company told Itar-Tass that taxi drivers, tour operators and the authorities were to blame of the lingering row. "In Morjim, a village in Pernem, Goa, popular among Russians, 300 hotel rooms account for 150 taxi cars and the authorities continue issuing 50 new licenses per week in their state," the representative said. "There are too many taxi drivers, and this process is uncontrollable."

In 2013 a record high number of tourists, 2.8 million, including 450,000 foreign tourists, visited Goa. Over 120,000 tourists from Russia holidayed in Goa's resorts last year. In 2014 their number is expected to exceed 200,000.