Replace Balrath buses with KTC vehicles
Sixteen teachers and students from schools in Ponda taluka were injured when a Balrath bus reportedly rammed into a tree at Verlem Ghat, while returning from a field trip to a strawberry farm at Netravali.
It is learnt that the Balrath bus was descending a steep slope when the bus driver reportedly noticed some technical fault in the brakes. A major tragedy could have taken place if the bus were to fall off the hill on the other side of the road. It may be recalled that in the month of December, twenty two students were injured, four of them sustaining head injuries, after a Balrath carrying them veered off the road and landed in a trench before turning turtle near Bali when on its way to Cuncolim. If the bus had to fall into a deep gorge or into the river bed after breaking the railing, the consequences would have been disastrous. If (God forbid) there is one more accident involving these buses, students may not be third-time lucky. The government is providing high quality air-conditioned electric buses for the general public while school children are forced to travel to school in rickety buses which have probably outlived their use. It is high time the government utilizes the Kadamba Transport Corporation (KTC) buses to cater to the needs of school students.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
Minimum qualification for politicians needed
There is no minimum educational qualification required in India to become a politician. Unlike other government jobs political leaders need no educational or extracurricular qualifications in order to hold the position of a minister. The only qualification required is that the candidate should be the citizen of India and of minimum age of 25.
A country’s political structure plays a very crucial role in the growth of country. Atleast minimum education is required for politicians as they are the representatives of the society upon whom people rely. Legislators are responsible for drafting and passing laws. An educated representative’s legal literacy enables them to craft well-structured, fair, and constitutionally sound legislation.
Illiterate people are a burden to the country because they are ignorant of the rights and responsibilities guaranteed under the constitution. A law should be passed in the country about minimum educational qualification required for a person to become politician. Politicians should atleast have a universal degree whether it be in any field.
K G Vilop, Chorao
Require relief for other prisoners
The arrest of all the eight former Indian naval personnel by Qatar for alleged espionage for a third country, namely Israel, their sentencing to death by their Court, subsequent commutation of their death sentence to imprisonment terms, however, confirming conviction and now, all of them released without a murmur; all this appear as if we are reading a mystery novel of Agatha Christie! Though we are relieved that our former navy personnel have been saved not only from the gallows but also from imprisonment, the entire episode appears quite unbelievable, as one believes that the Qatar Courts would not have sentenced them to death, unless the charges against them must have been grievously serious and, proved beyond doubt.
That the release of all the eight convicted of alleged espionage has happened just a week after India signing a $78 billion LNG deal with Qatar, makes one believe that even trade- benefit considerations between countries could change the course of the verdict of the courts, despite the courts having condemned someone to death on serious charges, say like, espionage! It is also said that Prime Minister Modi’s direct intervention in the case and his discussions with the Qatari Amir, Sheik Tamim bin Hamad Al-Thani last December in Dubai paved the way for the release of all the eight former naval personnel.
That Kulbhushan Jadav who is still languishing in Pakistani jail convicted of espionage and terror and is also a former Indian naval commander, is also a case in point. One really wonders if only a common man from India is destined to gallows for similar offence by another country, say, Qatar, will our government machinery and the Prime Minister himself have taken similar out of the way efforts to get him back to India unscathed, as they have done in the case of the eight former Indian naval personnel? We learn that many Indians, some of them really innocent, are languishing in jails for years together in many West Asian countries for different offences. Many poor fishermen from the South get regularly imprisoned in Sri Lanka on very flimsy charges.
Our government should play similar quiet diplomacy like what they have played in the case of the eight naval personnel in the case of the above prisoners too and see that all of them get exonerated of their charges by the respective courts and bring them back to India. Will the government come forward to their rescue too?
Tharcius S Fernando, Chennai
Long way to eradicate diabetes in India
There are more than 35 million people living with diabetes in India and there are high chances that this number may increase significantly in the coming years. The government and healthcare organisations are putting forth efforts to raise awareness and improve access to low-cost diabetes care, but we still have a long way to go when it comes to dealing with the problem.
World Diabetes Day is celebrated on November 14, the birthday of Sir Frederick Banting, who co-discovered insulin along with Charles Best in 1922. November 14 co-incidentally also happens to be Children’s Day in India. It is the birthday of Pt Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Prime Minister of Independent India who loved children.
World Diabetes Day is the world’s largest diabetes awareness campaign reaching a global audience of over 1 billion people in more than 160 countries.
Jubel D’Cruz, Mumbai
