Tears in the eyes of the common man
Once again the skyrocketing of onion prices have brought tears to the eyes of the common man and burnt a hole in his pocket. The delay in the arrival of Kharif onion crop has led to the exhaustion of the stored Rabi onion crop, thus the shooting of prices. Furthermore, the onion prices vary from Rs 65 to 75 and even Rs 80 in some of the States across India. The prices of onions may even touch Rs 100, thus bringing suffering to the common men.
Needless to say as there’s no accountability whatsoever, as to who’s responsible for the said mess. Will the government do something to safeguard the common man’s interest?
Joseph Savio Desouza, Candolim
Zero tolerance to driving on the beach
Calangute police arrested a Delhi tourist driving a jeep on Candolim beach on Tuesday. Some weeks ago a tourist vehicle got stuck in the sand at Morjim beach. Morjim Beach is a turtle nesting site in North Goa. Driving on the beach can destroy the micro-organisms and other marine life. It also leads to destruction of sand dunes. Driving on the beaches also poses danger to other visitors, especially children playing in the sand and senior citizens.
Violators can be booked under Section 279, Section 336 and Section 188 of IPC and with fines ranging from Rs 5,000 to Rs 50,000. Signboards warning people against driving on the sand need to be put up at all beaches in the state.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
Importance of All Souls Day
November 2 is annually observed as All Souls Day in Roman Catholic Church and by Eastern Orthodox Church, Lutherans, Anglicans, Methodists and other Protestant denominations.
It is a day when we pray for the departed faithful, those baptized Christians who are believed to be in Purgatory as they died with guilt of lesser sins on their souls. Catholics believe that prayers of the faithful living on earth will help take these souls before God in Heaven.
Sometime in the 10th century, the Catholic priest St Odilio of Cluny instituted Souls Day to pray for the souls of the deceased family members ordinary men and women who lived good lives and were waiting in Purgatory to enter the kingdom of Heaven.
Diomedes Pereira, Corlim
Is 70 hours of work every week sensible?
Infosys co-founder Narayana Murthy’s recent suggestion for ‘70-hours-work-a-week’ among Indian youngsters will no doubt boost productivity, but it will certainly affect the balance of work-life approach, which is equally important. Unsurprisingly Murthy’s comments have evoked a nationwide controversy, and many have criticised his idea. In fact, a Bengaluru-based cardiologist wrote in his X (formerly Twitter) account saying, “such an inhumane working hours can create a whole generation with a host of heart-related comorbidities.” The cardiologist’s comment gains prominence, as WHO says that India accounts for at least one-fifth of the 17.9 million cardiovascular disease-related deaths globally, especially in the younger generation.
Currently, India’s labour codes mandate 8-hours work per day, capping the weekly work hours at 48. Global data shows that India ranks fifth in the world among countries with long working hours. Research revealed that productivity falls sharply after 50 hours per week, and drops off a cliff after 55 hours. Rather than extended working hours, a streamlined approach with set working hours will work for large enterprises that have plentiful resources.
Ranganathan Sivakumar, Chennai
Ajit Ninan wrapped his cartoons with satire
Ajit Ninan, a renowned cartoonist, possibly second only to the incomparable RK Laxman died in Mysore due to a cardiac arrest. Through the stroke of his pen and the wit of his imagination Ninan crafted cartoons that transcended mere humour and were a reflection of society’s most pressing issues wrapped in satire. He had the unique ability to effortlessly transform complex issues into easy thought provoking visuals with a sharp sense of humour. He was also a contributor to children’s magazines with his ‘Detective Moochhwala’ being a very popular character. Rest in peace Ajit and may you continue to bring a smile to the Gods with your pen.
Vinay Dwivedi, Benaulim
In Matthew Perry we lost a friend
The news of Actor Mathew Perry passing was like losing a best friend…cause he played the iconic character Chandler in the sitcom ‘Friends’. He used sarcastic jokes that we use in our conversations ….he made the whole world laugh. We all wished we had a friend like him in our lives cause he was extremely loving funny and caring …and girls wished they married a Chandler.
But what we didn’t know that he was battling with drugs, substance abuse alcoholism etc which destroyed his life. So he decided to help those who were battling the same and help them recover. His death also is a reminder that no amount of alcohol or drugs can get rid of whatever problems you have in life it just makes it worse.
Reena Maria, Divar
Reveal the extent of electoral funding
The Supreme Court has taken the right decision so far to instruct the Election Commission to prepare a detailed submission of electoral funding by parties. Why is the BJP government shying away for revelations being made compulsory? What does it have to hide? The present dispensation is sending the CBI, ED and the Income Tax authorities in order to probe political rivals. Also the demonetization was introduced to unravel black money. The BJP government has forced the people of India to link the Aadhaar card with PAN card so that they will be able to have control on the finances of the people of India.
The BJP government has taken measures to trace the sources and extent of people of India having money in foreign banks. But why are they scared of revealing the sources and quantum of their party funding. Just like the government wants everyone else to be transparent, so should they also come out clean.
Elvidio Miranda, Panjim
Camel in the tent!
Israel and Palestine war is a fight between Palestinians who want to reclaim their land and the avarice of Israel to grab the entire Gaza strip by chasing out the Palestinians. While it is highly condemnable that recently the Hamas has conducted such a highly condemnable brutal attack on Israel, which has resulted in a more brutal attack by Israel on Gaza in retaliation.
This has resulted in the death of more number of Palestinians than the Israelites who got killed in the Hamas attack. In both cases, innocent civilians have lost their lives. With the manner in which Israel is going ahead with its bomb attacks on Gaza in the garb of annihilating the Hamas, it appears as if they are determined to eliminate or chase out all Palestinians from the territory and settle Israelites in the occupied land.
Tharcius S Fernando, Chennai
