By Francis Cardozo

Pace and guile are his forte.

13-year-old, Arnold Oliveira, has fashioned many wins for his school team or otherwise.

Arnold's silky skills and dazzling performances have grabbed headlines, and put him on the radar of professional football clubs.

In recognition of his talent and dedication, the promising striker was picked up by the GFDC Football Academy where his skills are being honed in.

Last year, his school--Holy Spirit Institute--won the State Subroto Mukherjee Cup. 

Arnold has a golden run in the ongoing Zonal Subroto Mukherjee Cup. He has already bulged the nylon 10 times, and is the top scorer so far. 

Arnold, who hails from Paroda, counts Ronaldo among his favourite footballers. 

Ronaldo's pace and atheleticism impresses him the most. 

His father and mentor, Antonio Oliveira, spotted his talent when he was in Class One and offered him his unstinted support all along.

Arnold has numerous awards in his kitty. 

However, the Man of the Match Award, he won for scoring a lone goal in a pulsating school match is etched in his mind like a serial number.

With the Under-17 World Cup just around the corner, Arnold's sights are locked on it, and he is closely monitoring every development.

Arnold's dream is to play for the National team. Hope his dream comes full-circle some day.

                 PI Pravin says criminals are evolving

By Francis Cardozo

Sirvoi, a village in Quepem, was rocked by a sensational murder - not so long ago.

Worried villagers were clueless, and groping in the dark for answers. The gruesome crime knocked the stuffing out of the locals, who failed to understand the motive.

Acting on a complaint, a police team led by Police Inspector Pravin Gawas swung into action. PI Pravin narrowed down the suspect list. He persistently worked on a lone lead and within four hours - the criminal was in the police dragnet.

That earned Pravin the goodwill of the locals, and sent his stocks soaring.

"It was a difficult case as the criminal had covered his tracks well. But we rode on our experience to get to the bottom of the matter," avers Pravin, who has investigated high profile cases including, the Tarun Tejpal and Ruby Building Collapse cases.

Pravin, who joined Goa police as Police Sub Inspector in 2002, underwent training at Police Training College, Delhi.

"It was my childhood dream to be a police officer, and I thank God for fulfilling my dream. Whatever I have achieved thus far - I attribute it to my family," Pravin told this witer with a sense of pride in his words.

Besides doing stints at various police stations, including Ponda, Collem, Anjuna etc., he has managed to secure convictions in a whopping 30 cases.

Asked to single out any case he enjoyed working on the most, Pravin shrugged off saying: "every case is important. At the end of the day, conviction is paramount - be it small or a big case."

In recognition of his incisive investigating skills, Pravin was promoted to the rank of Police Inspector in 2013, and posted in Crime Branch, Ribandar. 

Pravin was drafted into a Special Team tasked with probing the sensational Vasco Double murder case in which Pratima Naik was recently sentenced to life imprisonment.

He, along with the team, were rewarded for cracking the case with fluency in what earlier looked like a blind case.

Pravin recently added another feather to his cap when he was awarded the DGP Insignia.

"The criminals are evolving with their techniques, and so we need to keep pace with them," he concluded on a final note.

Dr Sreeram K. Dhakankar performs rare Knee Regeneration Surgery

         

        Dr Shreeram:breakthrough innovation

By Francis Cardozo

Classic surgeries!

That's how patients describe this German-trained doctor's surgeries. 

Meet Dr Shreeram Kamat Dhakankar, a well-known orthopaedic surgeon, who specializes in joint, hip replacements and anthroscopy.

He is presently a Senior Orthopaedic Consultant at the Classic Hospital, Margao - Goa. 

Dr Shreeram has the distinction of successfully carrying out the first of its kind - knee regeneration surgery - in Goa with breakthrough innovation.

His patient portfolio includes athletes, cricketers as well as professional Indian football players.

Dr Shreeram has broadened and sharpened his skills in Germany at ATOS hospital, which attracts famous sports personalities, including Steffi Graf. 

"ATOS was a huge shot in the arm for me," notes Dr Shreeram.

In yet another achievement, he was the first to successfully perform 'Oxford Partial Knee' surgery in Goa.

During his stint at ATOS, Dr Shreeram received a well-rounded exposure in knee relacement and anthroscopy. Besides having a brush with cutting-edge technology, he worked with some of the best German doctors.

He is a Life Member Indian Society of Hip and Knee Surgeon (ISHKS) and fellow in Joint Replacement Surgery (DePuy, J $ J).

He is also a Fellow in Computer Navigation Joint Replacement Surgery (Brisbane Australia).

"At the end of the day - if my patients are happy, then I am happy," avers Dr Shreeram on a concluding note.