Cosmetic action won’t help control dengue
Dengue infection seems to be getting worse every year in Goa. I have observed that the cases are higher in municipal areas, slum areas,where structures are set up without proper provisions to rent out to tenants, and finally areas of rampant/unplanned/destructive constructions (mostly illegal and ‘illegally converted to legal’ constructions, courtesy the corrupt politicians!
It is clear that this is a man-made problem created in part by corrupt/inefficient governance headed by the respective ministers and government vigilance/health/sanitary/pollution departments which do not do their job properly. What’s worse is that the government is continuing with its destructive/ dangerous policies instead of any remedial actions.
I request the ‘Double Engine Goa Government’ that instead of just showing some ‘cosmetic’ action and spraying the affected areas (which is a knee-jerk reaction), it should identify the root cause of the problem and implement a proper plan to address the same.
Arwin Mesquita, Colva
Award Bharat Ratna to Kurien & Swaminathan
Dr Verghese Kurien was appointed as the first manager (and later Chairman) of Anand Milk Utpadak Ltd Dairy (Amul). Thus started ‘Operation Flood’ whereby milk was procured from local farmers, processed and distributed.
Due to Kurien’s hard work, vision and with the help of H M Dalaya, who came up with the idea of skimmed milk powder and condensed milk, Amul slowly rose to fame. Later followed ice-creams, butter, cheese, paneer and now even sweets are marketed by Amul. From a humble beginning in Anand, Amul went on to capture peoples’ imagination and the national and international consumer markets.
Dr Swaminathan revolutionised agriculture by introducing genetic engineering. In 1970 his collaborator Dr Norman Borlaug (USA) received his Nobel Prize and thanked Swaminathan and others. In 1987 Swaminathan was awarded the first World Food Prize and with that money he set up a research foundation at Chennai.
Drs. Kurien and Swaminathan, fathers of the White Revolution and Green Revolution respectively, should be posthumously honoured with Bharat Ratna for having secured India’s food security.
Sridhar D Iyer, Caranzalem
Vehicle fire suppression systems necessary
A taxi was completely gutted in a fire in Tivim on Sunday night. The driver immediately stopped the car and tried to extinguish the fire. However the fire spread quickly and the flames burnt the face and hands of the driver. It must be said that incidents of cars catching fire have been taking place at a disturbing frequency in Goa. A car can catch fire due to a collision, a manufacturing defect, or a simple electrical failure.
Other reasons could be design flaws, poor maintenance, illegal modification, hybrid and electric vehicles. Leakage of vital fluids such as coolant, transmission fluid, power steering fluid, etc can cause a fire in the car. A loose or missing oil filler cap can cause the oil to spill all over the engine. The electric vehicles (EV) fire incidents are primarily attributed to the high energy density battery packs, which are concealed in a compact space and store a large amount of energy. When damaged, an internal short circuit triggers a chain reaction. Following this, the battery pack generates more heat than it can dissipate and catches fire. Given the risk of cars catching fires it would be prudent to have ‘vehicle fire suppression systems’ installed by car manufacturers for safety just like there are
seat-belts and air-bags.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
Religion as an instrument of love
A knife as an instrument or weapon depends on the one holding it. Similarly the effectiveness of a religion depends on the believer. The recent tensions in our country have made us doubt whether religion is an instrument of love or a weapon of hate. Although, every religion has its own truths of faith, still there are common core values, eg: Peace, forgiveness, charity, love and so on. If we go to the roots, every religion is built on love of God, humanity and nature. Religion is for the betterment of humanity. If our religion teaches us love then why hate?
Meliston Fernandes, Davorlim
Is India ageing fast?
According to the United Nations ‘India Ageing Report 2023’, the share of the elderly population – people above 60 years – will reach 20.8% of the total population at the national level by 2050, compared with 10.1% in 2021. Increasing longevity and falling fertility have resulted in a dramatic increase in the population of adults aged 60 and above in India, resulting in complex health, social, and economic challenges, to which this diverse and heterogeneous country must
rapidly adapt.
Ageing issues being multi-disciplinary in nature, no single-disciplinary focus can give a holistic understanding of the same. Therefore, approaches to understand these issues from a multi and inter-disciplinary perspective need to be initiated. Studies on nutritional aspects, impact of migration on the elderly, strengthening community-based institutions, and family support systems should receive greater attention so as to enhance the quality of life of the elderly people. To successfully address these challenges, it requires complex and ambitious changes and innovations in health, fiscal and social policies.
Ranganathan Sivakumar, Chennai
Celebrate animal life in all its forms
World Animal Day celebrated on October 4 is a reminder for us to treat our pets and stray animals with respect. If we look around our neighbourhood and our streets, we will find plenty of stray animals, especially dogs, cats and cows roaming about. That’s no way to show respect to these animals. It’s like we have disowned them. Animals enrich us in ways we don’t even know.
October 4 is also the feast day of St Francis of Assisi who loved animals. It is a day to celebrate animal life in all its forms. It is a day to acknowledge the diverse roles that animals play in our lives. It is a day to acknowledge and be thankful for the way in which animals enrich our lives.
The theme for World Animal Day 2023 is “Great or small, love them all’. The mission of this year’s World Animal Day is to raise the status of animals in order to improve welfare standards around the globe.
Jubel D’Cruz, Mumbai
Need to conserve forest cover, wildlife
In order to maintain the existing beauty and a tourist attraction of Goa we need to protect our architectural houses, monuments, beaches, forests etc and the government needs to do a walk the talk by being selective in avoiding development projects such as double tracking, Tanmar project which would destroy the forest cover. It should also avoid polluting industries, coal transportation for industries in Karnataka. This will not only affect the residents of Goa but also the tourist influx and the tourism industry which is dependent on domestic tourists and on which local population mainly coastal areas of North and South Goa are dependent.
There is also need to protect our forest cover and wildlife.
We need to protect our ecological balance from environmental disaster and this should start with each and every individual and also the environmentalists of Goa who are doing a phenomenal work advising the government on the imminent disaster if environment is not protected. Government needs to bring in legislation to protect the environment or else Goa will no long qualify as ‘Rome of the East’ or ‘Pearl of the Orient.’
Diomedes Pereira, Corlim
