Pillion riders equally at risk in an accident
A 26-year-old woman pillion rider from Rivona reportedly died while the scooter rider was injured in a road mishap at Dharbandora late Monday evening. In another instance, a woman from Quepem succumbed to injuries five days after a scooter accident reported in Benaulim while she was riding pillion.
It must be said that there is a rise in the number of deaths involving pillion riders on two-wheelers. One prime reason for this could be that pillion riders in the state do not wear a helmet. As per Section 129 of Motor Vehicle Act every individual aged above four years has to “wear protective headgear” when riding a motorcycle in a public area.
It is mandatory for all riders including pillion riders to wear a good quality BIS-certified helmet while riding on all roads including highways. They should clip it properly and not just keep it on head. As per section 194 D those who do not wear a helmet shall be punishable with a fine of Rupees one thousand and shall be disqualified for holding a license for a period of three months.
It must be said that in case of an accident a pillion rider is equally at risk of suffering head injuries as the rider of the bike. In Goa, while there is a crackdown on those two-wheeler riders not wearing a helmet, no action is forthcoming against helmetless pillion riders.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
Awards conferred to gain political mileage
With the LS elections around the corner, the decision to award a plethora of Bharat Ratnas is aimed at gaining political mileage. Both Rao and Charan Singh could have been honoured much earlier if the government sincerely wanted to appreciate their valuable contributions. While Ex-PM Manmohan Singh was praised for his work in the RS, he could have been honoured too as he implemented the agenda given to him as FM and did his best to carry forward reforms when he was PM.
We owe much to MNREGA, the Food Security bill, RTI and more to the UPA in his tenure, on which the BJP built and took ahead. That could have been acknowledged too.
Brian d’Sousa, by email
Why no Bharat Ratna for Kailash Satyarthi?
It is raining ‘Bharat Ratnas’ all around with the ‘posthumous’ honours dominating the show. Yet why doesn’t the fully living and walking Kailash Satyarthi, Nobel Laureate for Peace, get treated as ‘Ratna’ of Bharat? Does such indifference towards him draw ‘inspiration’ from his ‘sin’ of registering valiant fight and work, which have blatantly exposed the dark scandals of child labour and slavery in front of the international community, thereby bringing shame and disgrace to the ‘Ram Rajya’? Perhaps such naked truth about the relentless assault upon childhood is too much for the nation to digest, which is ‘valiantly marching’ towards the goal of emerging as ‘world’s third largest economy’. Maybe Satyarthi doesn’t fit in the scheme of things as this selfless epitome of humanity doesn’t represent any particular caste/regional/linguistic/religious vote bank and so is absolutely irrelevant in the ‘Electoral market’. The marginalisation of Kailash Satyarthi from the national limelight bears testimony to the callous negligence towards millions of hapless innocent children of much zealously ‘worshipped’ Bharat Mata.
Kajal Chatterjee, Kolkatta
A significant day for Catholics
Ash Wednesday is a significant day in the Catholic Church year beginning with a period of forty days of prayer, fasting and charity. At church services, Catholics are traditionally marked on their foreheads with a cross with ashes of burnt palm branches as a sign of their recognition of their human frailty as well as sinfulness and need for repentance in their lifelong journey of conversion.
Ash Wednesday and Good Friday are days of fasting within the Catholic Church for those between the ages of 18 and 59. They may eat only one vegetarian meal on these two days. Anyone whose health is threatened by fasting is exempted from the fast.
Catholics from age 14 and older also abstain from meat on Ash Wednesday, Good Friday and all the Fridays of Lent.
Jubel D’Cruz, Mumbai
Lent is a season of penitence
Today, on Ash Wednesday, Christians consciously take a decision to embark on a new journey of contrition and conversion in their daily living. This day marks the beginning of the start of Lent – a season of penitence and preparation renewing our commitment to the call of Prophet Joel to journey with the Lord to a new Risen life with him. At this liturgical celebration, a designated priest imposes ashes and signs the cross on their foreheads, saying the words, ‘Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return’, to unfold the significance of Lent.
Anish Esteves, Mumbai
