Campus for IIT Goa jinxed again?
The Central government has turned down the 7 lakh sq m of land identified at Sanguem for IIT, as being inadequate. Once a State government identifies a parcel of land, a Central team visits to inspect prior to approving or rejecting the site. This time the team did not even bother to visit Sanguem once it saw the site plans and found them insufficient.
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The Centre’s criteria for an IIT are a minimum of 12 lakh sq m, flat land that is ideal for construction, site should not be more than 50 km from the nearest airport, among others. If these conditions were already known why keen steps taken to go on a land-hunting spree and spot a land of 7 lakh sq m which is under a green cover and has a hillock? The authorities could have avoided wasting time, money, energy and not created bad blood recently with the villagers of Sanguem, in 2016 at Loliem, in 2018 at Cotarli, and in Shel Melauli and Guleli where people revolted violently in January 2021.
The late Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar had informed the Centre that due to land constraints not more than 6 lakh sq km could be provided for the IIT campus. But the government is keen to allot land by seeking to buy/acquire the shortfall of land. No doubt, an IIT in Goa could be prestigious but it could be prudent if the Centre is not too ‘ambitious’ for land. It could build an IIT on a smaller campus, have 3-5 storey buildings instead of individual departments being sprawled around, and trim the number of courses offered. The land on which IIT will operate will be bigger and solely owned than its cramped space at Farmagudi where it shares the campus with GEC and NIT.
Sridhar D’Iyer, Caranzalem
Konkani films at IFFI
The Indian Panorama section of the 53rd International Film Festival of India (IFFI) was reportedly inaugurated on Monday with the opening films ‘The Show Must Go On’ (non-feature) and ‘Hadinelentu’ (feature). This year, the section will include 25 feature and 20 non-feature films.
Incidentally The FIFA World Cup football also commenced on the same day that IFFI got underway on Sunday. It is observed that at the FIFA World Cup the host nation gets the honour of playing the first match of the World Cup even if the host team has not got through the World Cup qualifying rounds. It seems necessary for the host to be given a prominent place at an international event.
Likewise it would have been desirable for the Indian Panorama section at IFFI to be inaugurated with a Konkani film either in the non-feature or feature category. All Konkani films may not be at par with the international or national films. However, Goa being the host State for IFFI, Konkani cinema needs to be given all the encouragement it deserves. Konkani films can reach high standards if they get proper support and exposure. And what better occasion is there than the International Film Festival of India. It would be in the fitness of things to give Konkani cinema the pride of place at the Indian Panorama section at IFFI in future.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
Lions get off to a flying start
England got off to a flying start, hitting Iran for a six, in their World Cup opener in Doha. It was a walk in the park for the Three Lions, who outclassed their opponents 6-2 with goals from Jude Bellingham, Bukayo Saka, Raheem Sterling, Marcus Rashford, and Jack Grealish.
Mehdi Taremi got a brace for Iran. Besides, the game witnessed solemn gestures, with Team Melli shunning the national anthem to support anti-government protesters back home.
N J Ravi Chander, Bengaluru
Control the mind
The brutal killing of a woman in Delhi by her live-in partner has sent shockwaves across the country. There cannot be a more heinous crime than this. Chopping a dead body into more than 30 pieces and disposing them over a period of time is shuddering. Defying families for the sake of a “loving and caring” partner is at a peak. They say “love is blind”, but it is incumbent upon girls to inquire, or go deep into the antecedents of their partners. Though away from families, at least a thin lifeline should be kept open by the youth in times of distress — friends, siblings or parents. The same goes for the parents and friends. Crime rate in India is on an ascendency. Apart from other factors, everything boils down to the mind.
Either you control the mind or the mind controls you because mind is a wonderful servant but a terrible master. The perpetrator of the Delhi shocker is said to have been inspired by an English film; that however does not imply that one should blame the filmmakers.
Perhaps the importance of a stable mind over body cannot be stressed enough.
Ganapathi Bhat, Akola
Congress needs change
If the Congress has to emerge stronger to give befitting reply to BJP to stand a chance to form a government or emerge stronger in other states where it is humiliated by the BJP, the only solution is to remove unproductive leaders from Party position even if they are experienced. This good-for-nothing leaders should be kicked out and leaders like Shashi Tharoor should be brought in the forefront with full authority given to them.
Should we expect such a change in the immediate future? If so, then it will good for the Congress to rejuvenate to take on the BJP at the hustings in 2024 Lok Sabha elections otherwise 2024 will be a cakewalk for the BJP. Drastic changes in Congress is the need of the hour.
Diomedes Pereira, Corlim
Are dating apps unsafe?
The Shraddha Walker murder which has the Internet buzzing about how a girl went against her father’s wishes and ended up chopped into pieces by her chief boyfriend who was inspired by Dexter series.
It makes me wonder how a man who calls himself a food blogger be in a live relationship with a girl and just end her life just because she wanted to marry him .even though he was abusive to her.
Has dating Apps become unsafe for singles…and is love supposed to be so blind that even abusive behaviour is okay as long as he apologies, though he is going to do it again…how do we trust anyone?
Murder series are supposed to be entertainment not used as inspiration to take an innocent person life.
A father loses his daughter and also this news has brought fear to girls who are already unsafe. I just feel like the ego has just been growing thanks to social media and humanity is dying every day.
Reena Maria, Divar
Vikram-S is a significant milestone
The launch of the first privately developed rocket, Vikram-S by the start-up Skyroot Aerospace Private Limited is a momentous pride and a significant milestone in India’s effort to create a commercial space industry and it will help test and validate majority of the technologies in the Vikram series or orbital class space launch vehicles.
It heralds a new era for the space sector which was opened up in 2020 to facilitate private sector participation. The ISRO must be credited for actively assisting this start-up aerospace company in its mission, ending its own monopoly in the satellite launch segment. According to ISRO, there are around 100 start-ups, who have registered with the space agency and are working closely with it in various domains.
Ranganathan Sivakumar, Chennai
