Better late than never
Congratulations to our learned CM & Health Minister for taking steps to visit the Goa Border Check Post and instructing the authorities to be vigilant of all those entering Goa by roads.
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It is observed that even after vaccination there are Covid cases and deaths, so Covid negative certificates should be made mandatory from those entering Goa, which should be issued from proper test centres.
Anyone trying to get false certificates and those officials trying to take bribes should be suspended and it should go viral so that message goes to other States that Goa government is serious in their implementation.
It’s better to have few thousand migrant workers or tourists entering Goa who are Covid free than allowing Covid positive cases.
Are the other Border Check Posts and Railway stations also implementing the same checking?
It’s learned that only Thermal Gun checking is done at the Railway stations. If so the very purpose at other places will be defeated. What is the use of closing the doors and keeping the windows open?
Anthony Fernandes, Assagao
Halting traffic for politicians
It was shocking to read about the demise of a middle-aged lady, Ms Vandana Mishra, Head of the women’s wing of Indian Industries Association (Kanpur Chapter). She had recovered from Covid-19 about one and half months back but was rushed to a hospital due to complaints of uneasiness. On reaching a flyover her car was stopped because the President of India and his entourage were in a special train that was running below the flyover!
The car was allowed to go only after the train had passed and by that time the poor lady passed away. A sub-inspector and 3 constables were suspended, perhaps for carrying out the orders to stop the traffic. The unfortunate incident at Kanpur begs the question as to why Indian politicians are so obsessed about security?
Agreed that some level of security is needed but these are paranoid situations where traffic is stopped for hours just because a VIP or VVIP will be travelling. Politicians need to be aware that what is destined to happen would happen. History is replete with examples where rulers were done away with by their close associates and even by their own bodyguards.
Sridhar D’Iyer, Caranzalem
We are facing dark days
The 1976 Emergency needs to be unequivocally condemned, there is no doubt about that. But Narendra Modi has to answer for the Dark Days we are now going through, though it is not called an Emergency. The Acche Din promised are a mirage now which everyone including Modi would like to conveniently forget.
India has been stumbling through one disaster after another since 2014 and this period will surely known as the most forgettable period in the country’s history. No amount of self-congratulation, sycophancy, fudging of statistics can change that.
Srinivas Kamat, Alto St. Cruz
Preparedness for 3rd wave: ambiguity
Dailies have brought out serious lapses in SOPs. Goa is still under curfew, yet we see: beaches are thronged with tourists. Margao Railway Station is oblivious to SOPs with even the felicitation of health workers at the GMC violating protocols, despite being organised by the Health Minister.
A hotel held a marriage function with more than the stipulated guests, that too without permission. They had permission on the wedding day but gathered on the engagement day as well. The hotel criminally faulted by allowing the same. Goa’s loss of thousands of lives and in the economy was due to these same hotels. Why is this hotel not shut down and the owner/director arrested? It means the govt is allowing the hotels to legally observe such lapses. See the many mature Political leaders and newbies: so silent!
This govt is an expert at directing any problem in a particular direction. They scream from the rooftops that they are prepared for the third wave: in what way? They cannot say they will ensure no deaths, that they will be better prepared than Singapore, that the positive cases will be less than the 2nd wave, that there will be no cause for lockdowns or curfews: so in what way are they prepared? Laissez faire?
The President of the Ahmedabad Obstetrics and Gynaecological Society claimed the Union Health Dept gave the green signal for vaccination of pregnant women. What advice does the Goa Govt give? Is this preparedness? Surely such people must be protected from infection: work from home, all home people and daily contacts be vaccinated, the Gynaecologist clinic/hospitals to be manned by vaccinated staff with proper sanitisation procedures in place and no visitors.
Simple question: prepared for what, when, how long, and for what final outcome? When there is no objective set you cannot be prepared.
R Fernandes, Margao
Fraudulent sale of Goan land
The news of fraudulent sale of a number of properties in south Goa is very disturbing. What is alarming is the increase in the number of such cases and the ease with which it is done. The fraudsters are said to target such properties whose original owners are dead and their kin are either abroad or in other parts of India with none close by to look after them.
More shocking is the news that in several cases the sale deeds which are submitted to the Mamlatdar for change in the Survey Record of Rights are found to be manipulated and different from those registered with the Sub Registrar while in some other cases, the sale deeds have been found to be not registered at all. The Police and Govt authorities should carry out a thorough inquiry into the whole issue and spare no effort to see that the culprits are brought to book and given severe punishment.
This is a wake-up call to all absentee landowners. They cannot leave their properties which were bought by their ancestors with hard earned money, untended anymore.
l would suggest that all land owners visit the official website of Directorate of Settlement and Land Records periodically, say once a month or so, and view the status of Form I & IV of their properties to check if they have been fraudulently transferred in someone else’s name so that they can take recourse to remedial action without loss of time. The time to act is now.
Rodney de Souza, Assagao
Beware of Chinese instant loan apps
The instant loan app racket boomed in India. Chinese loan apps misuse KYC details of Indians to set up fake bank accounts. Chinese-operated instant loan and online betting apps since March 2020, has been assisting loan app users who have been duped and connecting them to law enforcement agencies. There are instances where accounts were created on crypto exchanges using KYC details of the loan defaulters. There have been cases of people saying that their KYC details were used to open bank and crypto exchange accounts in their names, without consent.
Some Chinese and proxies of Indians had been arrested as part of a crackdown on instant loan apps. In some States it is under investigation. There are apps in Google play store, don’t use it. However, cyber security researchers say many of these loan and betting apps are still operating with impunity. There could be many such fake bank accounts being used for crypto exchanges that we are unaware of.
Chinese owners, Indian proxies and ghost address are the instant loan swindlers.
K G Vilop, Chorao
