SATURDAY, JULY 27, 2024
Dual Citizenship dilemma
Every so often, this age-old issue about dual citizenship despite various utterances by different politicians over the years comes to the fore. It is an issue that has been of concern to many people. It would be in everyone’s best interests to put to bed this issue once and for all. The Government and the Courts need to find a solution that may resolve the issue faced by many who have obtained Portuguese and other nationalities find themselves in, many through birth and others for historical reasons.
It would be prudent for the Central Government to allow people dual nationality or citizenship as they can have a foreign nationality and still maintain close links with the motherland. According to the World Population Review, 49% of all countries worldwide allow dual citizenship which means that a person can be a citizen of more than one country. We are living in an age where the world is a global village just like no man is an island.
Aires Rodrigues, Ribandar
Greta’s feeling for Mother Earth
Greta Thunberg is the poster girl for the present generation and the epitome of the fight for the preservation of the environment by being a climate activist. We are on the brink of the Climate Conference COP28 starting in Dubai, UAE on November 30 until December 12, 2023. But success has not come easily to this Swedish girl who had to drop out of school to embark on a mission to browse through the libraries in order to bring her to the know of climate change and the effects of the emission of greenhouse gases that has led the earth to be in the grip of heatwaves, wildfires, typhoons, cyclones, and other climatic anomalies
She has not had it easy as she shuns flying, uses an electric car and sails in yachts that do not use diesel as fuel. She is the voice of the youth and has universal allure in the fight against global warming and climate change. People should know that she is suffering from Asperger’s syndrome, where she can see almost everything only in black and white.
Elvidio Miranda, Panjim
Rotate IFFI across the country
The International Film Festival of India came to Goa in 2004 and since then, Goa has become a permanent venue. IFFI should be rotated to other metros of India. This will give a very good platform for both Hollywood, Bollywood and other films to be screened across the States. People from other states too will get to take up career in the film industry. This will improve the film culture and tradition of the other States and good venues can be created for both and film screening and shooting. This will boost IFFI to become a world class platform.
Ashwin Caeiro, Cansaulim
Untimely joyride by PM Modi
Prime Minister Narendra Modi performed an adventurous extravaganza by undertaking a sortie on the Tejas aircraft in Bengaluru on Saturday, when the people of Rajasthan were voting to elect their legislators for their Assembly. Later, he exclaimed in great jubilation that it was an ‘incredibly enriching experience’ for him!
However, Modi has preferred to perform this feat, when a tension- packed rescue team is struggling day and night for more than 15 days now, without sleep to save the precious lives of our 41 workers trapped in the Silkyara- Barkot tunnel in Uttarakhand ruled by his own party, and when every Indian is in great anxiety, anguish and praying for the safe return of all the 41 hapless workers!
Will it be too much to ask that the PM could have postponed this sortie- extravaganza to a later date and visited the tunnel- spot at least for a day, to extend his moral support to those who are engaged in the most strenuous and dangerous rescue operations and also the poor family members of the trapped? That, he is now busily engaged in attending election rallies and meetings in Telangana in support of his BJP candidates contesting the Assembly elections slated for November 30, besides having a dharshan of Lord Venkateshwara in the Tirupati temple with his entourage is also a case in point.
Tharcius S Fernando, Chennai
India must learn from Israel
This refers to the editorial “26/11: India needs formal policy to fight terror” (O Heraldo November 27). It’s been 15 years since the devastating terrorist attacks that shook Mumbai on November 26, 2008. The incident also left an indelible mark on the efficiency of the Indian intelligence apparatus, as the attack exposed the country’s glaring security gaps in sea surveillance, from where the terrorists landed and the security, intelligence sharing and inter-force coordination. The fact that the attackers carried out their planned attack for more than 60 hours, served as a major embarrassment for the country despite the presence of highly trained Mumbai Police, and other security agencies.
The attack also exposed the gaping holes in India’s maritime surveillance to protect the coastal cities. Unfortunately, one of the targeted victims was junior sous chef Boris do Rego, from Divar Island, Goa, training at Taj Hotel. A critical lesson from the 26/11 attack was about the complete lack of preparedness. Repeated terror attacks worldwide have increased. The most recent incident being the gruesome terror attacks on Israel by Hamas. India must learn from Israel the way to deal and retaliate when it comes to terrorism on its soil.
Gregory Fernandes, Mumbai
Leakage of petro products can lead to major fire
There was a major scare in Matvem, Dabolim after a well was found to be contaminated with petroleum products and was later sealed by the authorities. The water drawn from the well caught fire when it was tested by locals. It is understood that the water from the wells was smelling of petrol for the past seven days. The local panch at Matvem-Dabolim has claimed that six wells, some bore wells and a natural spring in the area have been contaminated with petroleum. It may be recalled that in August 2011 Vasco was hit by a major fire in the naval area at Varunapuri in Mangor, due to suspected naphtha leakage.
More than 200 persons were evacuated from the Indian navy’s residential quarters close to the fire site. Five persons were injured, one of them seriously, when they were hit by sparks from the fire. Fourteen fire tenders fought the fire with chemical foam for several hours, whose flames rose as high as 20 meters. The present incident of well water being contaminated with petroleum products is a very serious matter. There could be a leakage in the fuel pipelines of the oil terminal companies which has to be detected and the pipeline repaired. One does not want a repeat of the 2011 fire incident due to leakage of naphtha which led to panic in the locality.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
Nostalgia about The Gabba
The iconic Australian cricket stadium, ‘The Gabba’ in Brisbane is proposed to be demolished and rebuilt for the 2032 Olympics. Renowned for hosting one of the fastest tracks in world cricket, the Gabba became a household name in India and across the world after India breached what was Australia’s fortress until 2021. For good measure, Gabba, the bastion of the Australian cricket team, is bordered by ‘Vulture Street,’ which cricket aficionados will famously know as one of the two ends of the ground. Gabba may not stir emotions and enthuse romantics like the storied Australian cricket grounds of Melbourne, Sydney and Adelaide, but it’s very mention would strike fear in the minds of the visiting teams. For the Indian fans, starting the day, listening to former Australian great Bill Lawry’s cheerful voice early in the morning was music to the ears when he would start with, “very good morning to all our viewers wherever you are.” Again when action gets tense on the field, one will find Lawry saying, “it is all happening here at the Gabba.”
Ranganathan Sivakumar, Chennai
