SATURDAY, APRIL 20, 2024
Molly Fernandes
“Unless the Lord builds the house, in vain do its builders labour” Ps 127: 1
I really don’t like to read the newspaper. What good news do you get tell? She retorted when said I never see you reading the dailies! Hmmm! That’s her experience and many would agree with her. Infact, it really drains one’s energy when one see’s the negative news. If only the structure of the dailies was changed and energy draining incidents had a separate supplement! Even during this precarious time nothing changed on the contrary things became worse. And more dirt unearthed with sting operations; more ‘hakikat’ unraveled through the untimely deaths, lies and the lies upon lies… it is sad to see the plight of Mumbai and UP Government over developments in last 30 days. Goa too had its share and continues its fight against the darkness and the malicious vested interest plans of those in Power to stamp upon the Aam aadmi.
Goa woke up on Monday to come on the streets to continue their fight over double tracking project, where, over hundreds Goans across Goa came in large numbers shouting slogans, singing protest songs. They stood outside deputy collectors’ office in Vasco since afternoon 3.00 till late 7.30 pm which forced the government of Goa to defer the hearing over the land of people acquired by South Western Railways.
Few days back I came upon an article on the Guardian where the UN secretary general has urged, aiming to revive global action on the climate crisis as the world begins to emerge from the pandemic. The Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said India is at a crossroad and should speed up its shift from fossil fuels to renewable energy by committing to no new coal projects after 2020. India must swiftly and permanently turn away from coal despite its need for cheap energy. He told a virtual audience that coal use must be phased out in India, with no new coal-fired power stations after this year, and that fossil fuel subsidies must be ended. “Investing in fossil fuels means more deaths and illness and rising healthcare costs,” he said.
“That is why the world’s largest investors are increasingly abandoning coal – they see the writing on the wall,” said Guterres in the 19th Darbari Seth memorial lecture, held in honour of the founder of the Energy and Resource Institute, a renowned Indian centre of research. He even addressed a similar call to the Chinese government, calling for an end to investment in new coal-fired power plants. Guterres has also urged rich countries to forsake fossil fuels and forge a “green recovery” and that “There is no such thing as clean coal, and coal should have no place in any rational recovery plan”.
Amidst the pandemic very soon we will see some of the States going in for elections where lot of empty promises (specially of lakhs of jobs) are made as a part on their election manifesto to bully the voters. Voters should not forget the unfulfilled promises and act consciously without falling prey to tactics. An amazing leadership of the New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Arden, who is elected for another term on her efforts to control the pandemic through early lockdown efforts, widespread testing, and contract tracing, who was also praised, is a model to bring people to Power to bring in the needed Change.
