Wayannad catastrophe is as an eye opener for Goa
The recent devastating landslides at Wayannad in Kerala should act as a eye opener to all those who indulge in unplanned urbanization of this beautiful state of ours.
Random hill cutting, chopping of trees, filling up of fields and water bodies has become the order of the day. When will our authorities and netas take notice of these illegalities that are happening right in front of their eyes n under their tutelage. Do they want another Wayannad to happen on our state?
Looks like the Madhav Gadgil who undertook so much trouble in finalising this report as to how to protect the Western Ghats, has been confined to the dustbin of history, otherwise the calamity that has taken place in Kerala would not have taken place in the first place. This is a wake up call to all those who take nature for granted n they better take remedial measures before it is too late. There is no use crying over spilt milk later on.
Lucas D’Souza, Verna
Jail those creating a mess, drinking on beaches
This is with reference to the editorial titled ‘The anti-beach drinking law must be enforced in letter and spirit’ published in the O Heraldo on August 2, 2024. Well, I fully agree with every view expressed in the said editorial.
Yes, our law enforcement agencies have indeed failed miserably to put hefty fines on those found openly drinking and breaking alcohol bottles on beaches to really discipline them in Goa.
Basically domestic tourists coming in groups from neighbouring states are seen openly consuming alcohol on our beaches and casually breaking glass bottles everywhere just to enjoy their own inner kicks in Goa.
The law enforcement agencies should not just impose hefty fines using artificial intelligence (AI) cameras but should also catch and put such nuisance creating domestic tourists behind bars to really discipline them and set an example to others from casually messing our beautiful golden beaches.
Jerry Fernandes, Saligao
Enforce anti-beach drinking law in Goa
Goa’s coastline is a favourite for tourists from India and abroad. But over the years, it seems to be getting deteriorated with the trash including beer/alcohol bottles strewn along the beaches.
The editorial in the O Heraldo seems to suggest that the anti-beach drinking law must be enforced in letter and spirit. That may be a good step as people seem to be losing their civic sense. And this menace of alcohol/ beer bottles alongwith all sorts of trash strewn all over the beach, is not limited to Goa, it is prevalent at beaches like Gorai in Mumbai as well. One would not like to deny people the pleasure of having a drink on the beach, with the sea breeze caressing their cheeks but the important point is, the disposal of the empty bottles.
If people don't want to understand their responsibility, then ‘cracking the whip’ seems to be the only option!
Melville X D’Souza, Mumbai
Woes of Indian sports
As one who has had the pleasure of witnessing the golden days of Indian Hockey winning gold medals consecutively in the Olympics and the last of the gold won by our team under the captaincy of our legendary R Bhaskaran, it is really painful to witness the present sickening state of Hockey, our national game.
It is a pity that we get defeated by the European as well as some of the South American teams. The tragedy is that they have learnt to play Hockey only from us! One is also reminded of Milkha Singh, ‘The Flying Sikh’ and P T Usha who brought many gold medals to India in the Asian games breaking the track record of many.
One of the main reasons for the poor state of Hockey and the other games is the step motherly treatment meted out to the national game Hockey and other sports by our government compared to the patronage given to Cricket and it's players. Even the allocation of funds for the promotion of sports in our budget is in minuscule, compared to other countries.
The partisan attitude of the selection committee in recognising real talent and their failure in imparting world class training to them is another major impediment in creating strong teams of highly skilled players.
Unless the selection process is thoroughly revamped, it will be Utopian expecting our Hockey team or other players to win gold not only in the Paris Olympics but also in any of the subsequent Olympic events and also the Asian games.
Tharcius S Fernando, Chennai
Urgent need to fill 85 vacancies at GU
Last week in the ongoing Assembly, the Chief Minister informed that only 16 of the 101 faculty positions have been filled over three years at the Goa University (GU) and of these 16, two were associate professors and 14 were assistant professors.
The prime reason for not being able to fill the vacancies were that there were no suitable candidates for the remaining 85 posts, although the two essential conditions of domiciled in Goa for 15 years and knowledge of Konkani were not relaxed. During the 35th Convocation of the GU on 28 July, the Governor-cum-GU’s Chancellor P S Sreedharan Pillai, expressed his displeasure at the high number of vacant positions in the university.
He has asked the university to soon fill up the posts and is willing to give his permission. By not doing so, the suffers are the eligible candidates who are without jobs or on contract and lecture basis (at the university or in various colleges). Even the faculty at the university are stressed being burdened with teaching, field and administrative tasks, and many are on the verge of retirement. The government could undertake a study as to why the students who are domiciled and know Konkani are either not applying to / not selected by the GU. Or have they found greener pastures, within or outside the State?
Sridhar D’Iyer, Caranzalem
Friendship glues people and nations
It is said a few relations on earth never die, and friendship is one of them. Inter-personal friendship, and friendship between societies and nations, are key to foster global goodwill and peace. This, of course, is fraught with roadblocks.
The harmonious relation between the peoples of the world is threatened by many factors---some negotiable; some not. People-to-people understanding and peer support, that usually cement friendship at all levels, stand to be broken by poverty, violence, prejudice and hatred. The global conflicts, and ill--will, would be things of the past if people and communities of the world stand as one.
The only consoling factor is friends of these nations are contributing their mite to infuse sanity among countries hell--bent on destroying one another. In a similar vein, exchange of people between countries, through tourism, education and employment, have tremendously buffered friendship between different countries so dissimilar in culture and traditions. The General Assembly of the United Nations (UNGA) in 2011, recognised July 30 as “International Friendship Day” and a few countries like the US and India celebrate friendship day on August 4.
Ganapathi Bhat, Akola