Colour code a must for rental vehicles
From the beginning of the year 2024 and especially during the month of February, Goa has witnessed several road accidents, many ending up in fatalities. It is pertinent to note that most of the vehicles involved in the accidents are rent-a-car vehicles driven by tourists. These tourists either indulge in drinking and driving or do not follow the traffic rules and drive in a rash and negligent manner.
They care less about the damage the rented vehicle will suffer due to rough driving and engaging in stunts. It is for the other road-users to remain vigilant against these tourists driving rental vehicles. At times private cars are also rented out to the tourists. Hence it could be difficult to identify a rent-a-car on the road being driven by a tourist.
It is pertinent to note the vehicles used for commercial purposes have a particular colour code. Hence we have black and yellow taxis. Even motorcycle taxis and rickshaws have a black and yellow colour code while tourist taxis are white in colour. In the same way, why not introduce a colour code for rental vehicles. Both rent-a-car and rent-a-bike should be of the same colour. This will allow identification of rental vehicles on the roads by road users and traffic police. It will also stop private vehicles from being rented out illegally.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
Pak official comes clean on poll rigging
Admitting that he was involved in tampering with election results for thirteen seats, a senior bureaucrat from Rawalpindi, Pakistan, Liaquat Ali Chattha has resigned claiming participation in rigging in the election held on February 8 this year, which was deliberately done to lead to loss for the Pakistan Tehereek-i-Insaf Party led by former Pak Prime Minister, Imran Khan.
It is a courageous admission of guilt in election related matters. I wonder whether election officials who might have been involved in tampering EVMs would in like manner accept responsibility and honestly reveal election malpractices in India.
The Opposition have long claimed that EVMs have been tampered with and that EVMs should be replaced with ballot papers to rule out manipulation. Will accountability of malpractices surface in India or do Indians not have the guts to come clean? Let truth prevail.
Stephen Dias, Dona Paula
Crimes against women on the rise in nation
This has reference to the report ‘Karnataka native arrested for impregnating minor girl from Pernem’ – Herald February 21.
That was certainly horrible news. Yet another case of crimes against women. What is wrong with people one wonders, in the present case a man impregnating a class XI student and delivering a baby. No matter what the authorities say, no matter what others say, no matter how much of hue and cry we raise about harassment and sexual molestation of young girls and women the situation only seems to worsen.
In the meanwhile, there is also a news report, of a 51-year old man in Mumbai sexually assaulting his 17-year old daughter and impregnating her; now in her fifth month of pregnancy.
This brings us to the question, how safe is the girl child in our country? Needless to say, the severest punishment out to be meted out to such criminals. Where do we go from here? Perhaps they should be subjected to some out-of-the-box punishment in order to deter such crimes in future. Until then, Beti Padhao, Beti Bachao will remain only a slogan or a ‘myth’ if you would call it.
Melville X D’Souza, Mumbai
Weed out bogus dsss beneficiaries
The report that state probing 13-k plus fraudulent DSSS claims is shocking incident. The Government should crackdown on fake beneficiaries, fraudulently availing the benefit of various social welfare schemes. The crores of taxpayers’ money was given to ineligible and bogus beneficiaries, under the DSSS in past.
In the majority of cases, families understated their annual income, while in some cases the actual beneficiary had passed away. The people have cheated the government by submitting bogus documents or hiding information about their annual income and other details. There is possibility of more cheats still continuing to be on the rolls of welfare schemes like DSSS including Griha Aadhar also.
It is intriguing that despite the findings of many inquiries about people using fraudulent means to avail social welfare benefits the government has failed to set up a fool-proof preventive mechanism to stop this type of theft of public money. These beneficiaries are put on the list on the recommendations of the elected representatives.
A closer scrutiny could help weed out the remaining cheats from the list of beneficiaries under various social welfare schemes. Ensure that genuine beneficiaries get benefits without any delay. By linking Aadhaar cards with bank accounts, the Government can be able to stop the leakages that would have plagued the current government welfare programs.
K G Vilop, Chorao
Bilateral Indo-US ties on an upswing
West Asia, Ukraine and Indo Pacific are areas of grave concern for the United States and India. China’s aggressive posture on the South China sea and the Indian Ocean have propelled friendly nations, that include the two, to join hands to thwart its designs. By the same token, bilateral ties between Washington and New Delhi are on an upswing notwithstanding minor distractions like the case of an Indian ” agent” accused of hatching a conspiracy to kill Gurpatwant Singh Pannum in the US.
That said, 31 MQ–9B predator drones are proposed to be supplied to New Delhi by Washington, a step ahead in the Indo-US ties. Maritime cooperation between Washington and New Delhi is on a roll.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar’s recent meeting with his US counterpart, Secretary of State, Antony Blinken on the sidelines of the Munich security conference was aimed at reassuring India’s commitment to all areas of bilateral concern and mutual benefit. It was Blinken who declared the US’ support to India in areas like defence cooperation, Afghanistan and health security when the two met a couple of years ago soon after he took over as secretary of state besides his country’s unflinching support to India on Indo–Pacific. In Munich, Blinken described the bilateral relation as amongst the most consequential of any relations in the world for the US.
Ganapathi Bhat, Akola
Video games are bad for children?
The British Medical Journal has recently given information about the dangers of video games, especially in this research, scientists from the World Health Organization were also involved. A total of 50,000 people were surveyed in video games using headphones, earbuds, and headphones. Also, the music venue has a definite effect on the ear and reduces the ability to hear. An international research team reviewed 14 studies conducted by a total of nine countries in this regard. North America, Europe, South East Asia, Asia, Australia etc were included in these nine countries.
It is necessary to discourage children from playing video games. If not, a generation of young children will go deaf. This is a very sensitive subject.Parents should pay proper attention to their children and ensure that they do not watch those video games. It is necessary to tell the children about the consequences of this in various schools
Shantaram Wagh, Pune
