Goa miraculously spared from cyclone’s effect
Cyclone Fengal caused widespread devastation, bringing record rainfall and flooding to Puducherry and parts of Tamil Nadu. Due to continuous heavy rainfall warnings, all government and government-aided schools, private schools and all colleges in Puducherry remained closed on December 3.
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The forecast indicated widespread light to moderate rainfall across Kerala, with specific regions expected to experience intense precipitation and storms. Bengaluru and other Karnataka regions experienced heavy rainfall.
There was apprehension on social media that the cyclonic storm, which intensified from deep depression over Southwest Bay of Bengal, may have an effect on Goa. However the system which started moving at 15 km per hour had miraculously slowed down to a speed of 7 km per hour.
The weather conditions in Goa remain unchanged. Lakhs of devotees have descended at Old Goa for the feast of St Francis Xavier. There was apprehension that rains as a result of Cyclone Fengal would have caused inconvenience to the devotees But Goa was miraculously spared from the effects of the cyclone. Whether it was due to the intervention of St Francis Xavier is best left to one’s faith in Goencho Sahib.
Adelmo Fernandes,
Vasco
Hats off Australian Senate
Just a few days ago, the Australian Senate banned teens from social media restricting the age from 16 & above. The amount of teens active on Tiktok, Instagram and others is insane with them being addicted to it. In India, in the name of extra classes teens spend hours on the internet and sometimes even get webbed thereby increasing the rates of cybercrime.
In the name of becoming cool among their friend circle, they imitate adults on social media, create meaningless reels on Instagram and end up becoming a rebel at home. Everything has its time. Let them enjoy their nurturing years in doing activities & focusing on studies.
Social media can wait until then. Here’s to hoping India will do the needful by educating students on the adverse effects of social media & also restrict the age limit thereby preventing our future generations from getting webbed.
Monaliza D’Costa, Curchorem
Nationalism not at the cost of humanity
Just because certain lumpen goons in Bangladesh have allegedly “insulted” the Indian national flag, absolutely innocent vulnerable patients from that country would be denied treatment in a Kolkata hospital! Nothing can be more bizarre, atrocious and heartless than this!
Now based upon the fatal assaults upon the Indian Muslims in the name of “Gaumata” beef, harassment of the minority community through “love jihad”, infringement upon their diet attire or mode of prayer, if the Gulf nations deny “petty” jobs to millions of Indians who have flocked there for livelihood so as to escape drastic poverty in India, will the “proud nationalist” Indian Hindus appreciate it?
Based upon the assault on Christian Kukis in Manipur, harassment of the missionaries by accusing them of indulging in “conversion”, vandalism of Churches or inhuman treatment meted to the selfless humanitarian Stan Swamy till his death in darkness of jail – if the Western nations deny jobs and medical treatment to the Indians, would the Indian Hindu “nationalists” appreciate it!
Nationalism is fine, but it should not come at the expense of the vulnerability and human rights of innocent patients, whatever be their citizenship or religion!
In this extremely insensitive context, the other hospitals of Kolkata must be thanked for boldly asserting that a patient has no nationality, creed, caste or religion.
Kajal Chatterjee, Kolkata
Soil health as important as water and air
Soil pollution has not received the same level of attention as water pollution and air pollution. Land degradation is destined to cause soil pollution and the chemicals emerging from industrial and agricultural practices are the culprits.
Untreated waste and waste waters have also destroyed thousands of species of fish, birds and plants among others. Though soil has the innate property to filter out contaminants, it can do so only to a limited extent.
The rest of the contaminants may trickle into the atmosphere to add to the air pollution, not to mention water pollution. Direct contact with contaminated soil is a plausible reality. More than ninety per cent of people’s food is accrued through soil and, therefore, its conservation is crucial for the eco chain.
The crippling effects of soil pollution, including congenital health disorders, infective diseases and non-contagious diseases like cancer, have awakened the health professionals to the dangerous possibilities of soil contamination.
No doubt, environmental scientists have in their armoury various remedies to combat soil contamination like surface leaching, bioremediation, thermal remediation, mycoremediation and phytoremediation. Nonetheless, on December 5, the World Soil Day, the responsibilities of an individual to prevent and eliminate of soil pollution cannot be overstated.
Ganapathi Bhat, Akola
Maha delay in govt formation
It’s been almost 10 days since the results of the Assembly election for 288 seats were declared with BJP, NCP (Ajit Pawar faction) and Shinde Shiv Sena alliance ‘Mahayuti’ getting the majority. The chief minister is likely to be BJP’s Devendera Fadnavis and one deputy chief minister each from NCP and Eknath Shinde Shiv Sena.
The oath ceremony is to be held on December 5, but Eknath Shinde is under treatment for his health issues in a Thane hospital. The delay in the said meeting of Mahayuti alliance partners has given Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) to question the reason for not forming a government as yet, in spite of people’s mandate in their favour. The delay in the decision to give cabinet berth has raised the question of integrity in the Mahayuti coalition.
The party with majority should give people a stable government so as to resolve various issues faced by the voters and public at large in Maharashtra. The BJP has appointed Vijay Rupani and Nirmala Sitharaman as observers in the State. Hope the Maharashtra State will get a CM and cabinet berth to the hopefuls soon so as to run the government.
Raju Ramamurthy, Vasco
