SUNDAY, MAY 05, 2024
Level playing field for all candidates a must
Ultimately, the discretionary power is vested with the Election Commission of India to take a decision between for example whether to disqualify a candidate for crossing the line, but since all candidates in the fray are seeking election, they should all be subject to the same yardstick, immaterial of how high an office a candidate may hold at the present moment.
The ECI has its own rules and regulations and these should be enforced without fear or favour, meting justice to all candidates in the fray. Those that have crossed limits should not be spared and should be dealt with equal measure.
No candidate is above the law and should know and follow the laws governing the conduct of election ethics and integrity. Under no circumstances should anyone be spared or receive preferential treatment merely because of his or her holding high office now.
Measures for following the diktats of the ECI should be dealt with justice, without fear or favour, in the true spirit of a democratic exercise of strength. Canvassing has to be done within the ambit of the ECI norms.
Elvidio Miranda, Panjim
Goa’s Taj Mahal crashed down once again
Kala Academy, known as the Taj Mahal of Goa as per Goa CM, is now battling with poor engineering. The Kala Academy at Panaji, Goa, newly renovated of a section of its false ceiling crumbles for the second time with no casualty and the same government authorities made a laughing stock of itself for misusing public money and playing with the lives of the people. This is not the first time that a portion has come down crashing at the Kala Academy. On July 17, 2023, a huge portion of the structure of an open-air auditorium at the Kala Academy had collapsed raising concern serious questions over the quality of work being put into renovating the iconic Kala Academy building.
The state cultural minister pointing fingers at the PWD for the quality of work and shows that negligence and substandard workmanship. This Kala Academy project seems to have massive irregularities and corruption including from past collapse and this needs judicial inquiry into the disasters.
K G Vilop, Chorao
Heatwave back to square one
With Goa witnessing the first showers of the season, there was some respite from the heat wave that Goans had to bear with for the past several days. Now it is back to square one. Dry and warm weather is expected to continue across the state over the next seven days and no rainfall alert has been issued by the meteorological centre for the next 48 hours.
The maximum temperature is likely to remain in the 33-35 degree centigrade range over the next seven days. Citizens have to bear the heat, quite literally, as the temperatures recorded have been above normal. What is making things worse is that the humidity levels are also on the higher side.
A recent analysis by the IMD has noted a long-term significant increase in 'heat stress' due to high temperatures along with humidity over India. It is learnt that by 2050, India will be among the first places where temperatures will cross survivability limits, according to climate experts.
Heat stress can result in heat stroke, heat exhaustion, heat cramps, or heat rashes. The best way to beat the heat is to drink plenty of water, to stay cool indoors, wear light clothing and sunscreen and schedule outdoor activities carefully. Dehydration is a primary contributor to heat exhaustion. One should make it a habit to drink water even if one does not feel thirsty.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
Russia-Ukraine war needs to stop
On the Ukraine conflict, time to call it a day since both Russia and Ukraine are not achieving anything with almost 2 years having elapsed from the time the fighting first started. Russia being the Big Brother should have realised by now that they will not be able to win this war.
They are surely aware that they are bleeding money with the war effort which could have been easily used within the country to support the much needed economy hungry for resources. Where the haemorrhaging of Ukraine has been regularly bandaged with aid support from the European bloc and mostly the US which most recently announced an aid package of US$61 billion, Russia does not have the wholehearted support of anyone except Iran and North Korea whose supplies extend only to arms and ammunitions.
Thus the war for Russia is not one on one but one against many. The aid givers to Ukraine may not have put boots on the ground but they have delivered material as well as money to keep the war going.
Despite this, Ukraine is slowly but surely crumbling against the Russian advance. The other reason for stopping the war is that infrastructure is being destroyed by Russia in Ukraine like dams, power stations, industries etc. This will have a severe adverse impact on the Ukrainian population and economy also which will make the process of re-building the country more difficult if and when the war stops.
War does not look at the problems and difficulties that the people in the war zone face, the traumas they suffer to carry the brunt of the oversized egos of their leaders and their desires and ambitions which the common people rarely understand and they are also none the wiser. This needs to be understood by both warring adversaries and measures have to be taken to protect such infrastructure.
The Gaza conflict has been getting international attention with the UN Security Council while the same sort of focus is missing on the Ukrainian war which has been going on longer, on multiple fronts and with the usage of varied weapons. Time this was taken up by the UN and a call made to stop the war. Russia should on their part be graceful and pull back from the conflict. This will add up to Putin's image as a statesman which otherwise is that of a democracy eating bully.
Srinivas Kamat, Alto St. Cruz
Urban planning gone for a toss
Apropos the news report, "One shower, and shoddy 'smart city' floats in muck" (O Heraldo, April 21, 2024), from the tunnel collapse in Uttarakhand's Uttarkashi to flooded roads in Panaji highlight that there is something wrong in urban planning.
Without being sensitive to both ecology and equality, a city cannot achieve smartness. It is dangerous to evade environmental impact assessment before the excavation for building a tunnel or a high-rise.
Moreover, inequality spoils making anything look smart. A smart city does not require a wall to hide. But it was done in Ahmedabad to welcome Donald Trump. Would a model look smart by wearing a brand new costly coat along with a cheap, shabby pair of trousers which he tries to hide?
Sujit De, Kolkata.
