SBI seeking time is unacceptable
It is baffling that State Bank of India, the sole handler of anonymous donations to political parties through the means of electoral bonds, has sought time from the SC till June 30 to make the details public.
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The SBI’s claim of ‘decoding data and matching donors to the donations is a complex process’ is strange given the fact that living in digital India, everything is computerised and any required data is available with a click of the mouse.
Also, SBI seeking more time to submit the data is unacceptable, since big donations to political parties, palpably haven’t been made on a daily basis to make it difficult to compile the data in a short time.
It is more than clear that the SBI, at the behest of the Modi government, is not willing to share the data by March 6, the SC’s set deadline, as any immediate disclosure of the same before the general elections will be a huge embarrassment and a blow to the ruling BJP, being the biggest beneficiary of the EB scheme.
Ranganathan Sivakumar, Chennai
Act sternly against underage driving
In Goa it is not uncommon to see underage school and Higher Secondary School students zooming to their educational institutions on two-wheelers. In the past there have been instances of road accidents involving underage driving who do not possess a driving licence.
It is for the parents and the authorities of the educational institutions to see that those who are underage do not ride or drive a vehicle without a valid licence.
School authorities can play an important role in dissuading their students from coming to attend classes in motorised vehicles without proper licence. Those who ride a motorised vehicle should be made to go back home without attending classes. This will send a strong message to the parents of the students that allowing underage driving will not be tolerated by the institution.
The security guard of the educational institution could be asked to keep an eye on students riding a two-wheeler and report to the authorities about the same for necessary action.
Minors drive recklessly and not only endanger their lives but can cause harm to innocent bystanders or other drivers. Indian law clearly states the legal age for driving is 18. In case of accidents caused due to underage driving, bike insurance companies do not entertain insurance claims. Thus, a road accident involving a minor is not only emotionally and mentally scarring, but financially draining.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
Ensure strict law implementation
Our golden Goa, which was once known as Rome of the East where Goans used to live in harmony, is no more the same. When Goa opened the tourism doors for tourists, Indian as well as foreigners used to come, live in discipline, enjoy their holidays and go back satisfied. But after that along with good tourists, indisciplined tourists started entering Goa with their hidden agenda without any fear of Goan Police, Goan laws and judiciary.
Some come to Goa only to commit crimes and murders. Some come to Goa to sell their drugs. Some come to Goa only to get drunk and do whatever they feel like doing such as molestation, rape, driving vehicle on beach, gambling, etc, without any respect to Goa government and Goan Police and their laws.
Some even cook on the footpaths and roadside. Recently one mother of a four-year-old child came to Goa only with an intention to commit murder of her own son. One husband came to Goa with his wife only to take his wife on a remote beach and kill her. Another husband killed his wife along with his mother-in-law. Why this happens only in Goa which is a tourists destination. Why are tourists not afraid of Goan laws? Why there is increase in murders, rapes, molestations, drunk driving on rented four wheelers which leads to increase in road accidents in Goa? Why most culprits are migrant tourists? Many tourists come to Goa to consume and sell drugs to other tourists.
Due to this, murders, rapes, drunken driving and drugs, many Goan and non-Goan lives are lost. There is no fear in tourists’ minds of Goan Police and Goan laws.
Is our home ministry functioning? Why murder cases like Sidhi Naik’s murder are not solved till date? Our laws should be strictly implemented so that some sort of fear is created in the minds of the Indian tourists. Then only peace will see the new dawn in Goa.
Natividade Fernandes, Cavelossim
Create database of retired govt staff for poll duties
When an election is declared then most government staff (Central, State, teachers, et al) are apprehensive that they would be called for poll duties. The responsibility could be to apply indelible ink on the voter’s finger or serve as polling, presiding and area officer or be a part of the Flying Squad to check the polling booths. Once the nominees’ are issued a memorandum then they cannot avoid the poll duty. To get the name deleted from the list even for genuine reasons is an onerous task and in case of any fraud, the person is issued a show-cause notice and could be suspended by his employer.
When the polling officers go for training for a few days, their work comes to a halt especially the departments that serve the public. Hence, the Election Commissioner’s office could compile a database of retired government employees who would have participated in the electoral process. An-online registration could help them to provide their details and give their consent and after screening, they could be called for election duties. Assuming 65% are retirees the rest 35% could be from the working staff selected from non-public related departments. This procedure would not hamper the day-to-day work in the other departments too.
Sridhar D’Iyer, Caranzalem
Wake up, help reduce deforestation
Humans have started clearing forests in many places for the purpose of development, agriculture, space, etc. This session is going on globally. According to a report, Brazil alone cut down 43 percent of the world’s forest in 2022. As much as 1. 77 million hectares of huge forests were cut down and destroyed. Followed by Congo, Bolivia, Indonesia, Peru, Colombia, Laos, etc, have also done massive deforestation.
This news war read recently. India is no exception to this. Even in India, a large amount of forest resources have been destroyed for widening roads, making new roads, industrialisation, and urbanisation. New trees are not being planted as much as trees and forests are being destroyed. Due to this, the balance of nature will be disturbed, unseasonable and heavy rains, increased heat and temperature… These are the symptoms.
Many birds have been destroyed or are on the verge of extinction due to this deforestation. If the forests are destroyed, there will be a big crisis in front of the human beings and it will also be on the way to be destroyed from the earth. This is such a terrible tragedy that organisations like the United Nations should pay attention to. So it will come to some extent. Different nations should also look at this deforestation as a future destruction. Let’s hope that in the next few years, humans will wake up to this and reduce deforestation
Shantaram Wagh, Pune
