31 Dec 2019 | 05:43am IST
Letters to the editor
The basics have
gone haywire
The religion of our Constitution is independence and happy citizens. The year is ending in riots and mayhem all over India, well aware students in the forefront and images of police beating with lathi the protestors! Any sensible person will fix what is broken first, namely the broken judicial system being further used and strangulated by the politicians, the infrastructure where people cannot safely use a reliable internet, senior citizens regularly cannot get their passbook updated due server down or printer problem, no change in denominations as required/damaged notes cannot be replaced fast enough!
The prices of fruits, vegetables and essential commodities are beyond average reach and petrol prices rising further consequently are most other prices!
There is a time and place for everything and where honesty has not been the best policy, trust crumbles and repression does just the opposite. It is high time to prioritise economics over politics if there is any hope of a better 2020!
John Eric Gomes, Porvorim
Nikhat - a valiant challenger The challenge bout between Nikhat Zareen and MC Mary Kom proved to have been a very controversial affair. In the five-minute clip that I saw, Nikhat Zareen was clearly the winner, having even connected a jab that had Mary Kom down. Nikhat later chased Mary Kom on to the ropes and was a very clear winner in my opinion.
It was unfortunate that the 10 judges awarded Mary Kom a split verdict of 9 to 1, which was very unfair on the young challenger. However, in the light of the happenings of the bout it is clear that Nikhat is here to stay for a very long time and that Mary Kom's age has begun to show.
In defence of Nikhat, it is clear that she has a very good temperament and that Mary Kom was very ungracious when not hugging Nikhat at the end of the much publicised challenge bout wherein Nikhat won the hearts of the crowd.
New Year is a time for celebration. This is not a fairy tale because it is the last day of the year and there is not, and never will be a fairy tale as beautiful as our memories of the last year, or as beautiful as our dreams and hopes for the year that is about to begin.
This is the time to bring all the fairy tales to life frogs that became princes, paupers who became wealthy and greedy and jealous people who unexpectedly became generous and kind; wicked men punished and good men rewarded….The list is endless! It’s time to look back at the past year, decide what went well, what didn’t and what you would like to change.
New Year is a time to celebrate the start of something new. It is a time to make new promises, some to be broken, and some to be kept. It is also a time to look ahead and try to change things for the better. It is also a time to look behind and see what we may have done wrong, and how to change it. It is also a time to start new friendships and a time to ask for forgiveness from your enemies.
New Year is a joyous time of the year because we feel like we get to start all over again. On New Year’s Day, people are happy, laughing, giggling and sharing about the events of the past year and those before.
There is nobody as knowledgeable as Dr Madhav Gadgil about India's ecosystem is concerned. He predicted the natural disasters that struck various parts of the country. But we didn't take it seriously. It is not late even now. Let us correct our mistakes and take Dr Gadgil's advice seriously.
The Western Ghats are fragile and are prone to natural calamities. So, Illegal activities in the Western Ghats should be banned. We have very few conservationists like Ghadgil, who make a profound analysis of the problems we face. The need to save the environment cannot be overemphasised. The onus is on us. I feel ignoring Ghadgil’s suggestions is a transgression.
In this world no
one is yours
In this materialistic and selfish world, no one is yours, everyone is temporary in one’s life, if you have money then everyone is around you, they eat when you are eating, they dance when you’re dancing and so on. But when? It’s the opposite that is when you have no money, and you’re crying that moment you are all alone there won’t be anyone crying along with you, no one not even your parents, brother, sister, wife, children, friends, neighbours, but there will be only one along with you and that is our almighty Lord our God. Even our pets will be more dearest and generous to us, but not the human beings; they will never help you when you have nothing.
On the contrary they will find a genuine excuse to be away from your problems. So if you got something then please my humble request to everyone, save that for your old age, it will be very useful to you, to fulfill the basics needs, otherwise you will cry if you don’t have anything in future.
Specially in this generation it’s very much necessary not to be dependent on your children, they will not look after you in your old age, so it’s better to start saving today itself and I’m very much sure you will have happy and peaceful days in your future, So never trust anyone, but yourself and God.
Edgar Martins, Chinchinim
Can Goa save its tourism? Tourism stakeholders are experiencing the gloomiest Christmas in recent years. Room occupancy is hovering around 50%. Foreign tourists are down to the same level. And this is peak season!
Hopefully, the New Year will bring some cheer. The shacks which had a late start are virtually empty. There is over supply of everything except perhaps electricity. Too many hotel rooms and illegal rooms have resulted in crashing of room rentals.
The govt and tourism dept will have to put on their thinking caps to save the tourism industry. One of the pet peeves of tourists is the exorbitant taxi fares. Govt will have to fix this issue on a war footing, without depriving taxi drivers of their livelihood.
Robert Castellino, Mumbai
In an era when children and adolescents get lured to on-line games and challenges and there have been reports of children and teens even losing their life because of such dangerous cyber games, the Greater Chennai Corporation has come out with an excellent plan which involves a children friendly app for the kids and the teens to take part in a challenge which rather than posing a menace to them will be one that can help them groom to be society conscious citizens.
Children in the city will soon get the chance to be a ‘Secret Agent’ . Named ‘Chennai’s Secret Agent X,’ the app will let children report flaws in civic infrastructure and earn points in exchange. According to the corporation commissioner although the application is targeted at adolescents, anyone can participate.
The app will hold city-wide campaigns. Participants can take snapshots of potholes, illegal banners, unusable toilets and other such public problems and upload them on the app.
Those with the highest number of points will be featured in the app’s leader board ‘The city’s best secret agents.’ He will be given further tasks to see if the reported problems have been attended.
