Voice of Oppn stiffled
Law-making in the absence of a significant number of Opposition members does not bode well on the legislature. The three bills that replace the body of criminal laws in India were passed by Parliament in its ongoing session in the absence of more than 140 members. This happened swiftly as requests by Opposition members for an extended time period to study them were ignored. Worse, the laws were passed by voice vote where most of the Opposition members were forced to leave for raising legitimate demands.
The government has proved that its brute majority in the Lower House is more than enough to rush through all law-making exercises and that it can afford to ignore the voice of the Opposition.
Gregory Fernandes, Mumbai
Govt should address unemployment issues
Behind the viral images and discussions on the recent security breach in the Parliament, there lies an important and ignored story of India’s educated unemployment.
The intruders did meet online and did conspire to enter the Parliament and sprayed relatively harmless yellow smoke inside. However, by reprimanding the accused under the UAPA (Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act), we are missing the key issue that they were trying to raise.
While we see the problem of India’s educated unemployment, which runs into several lakhs as per reports from the Labour Department and the Human Resource Development Ministry, these educated unemployed youths do occasionally find the guts to rear the heads and draw their attention towards themselves as the security breach in the Parliament suggests. While the Union Home Ministry has ordered an enquiry into the security breach, our netas must understand that they need to seriously address the real and larger issue of the unemployment of the educated youth.
Ranganathan Sivakumar, Chennai
Covid-19 cases are on the rise
India on Thursday reportedly recorded 594 fresh Covid-19 infections while the number of active cases increased to 2,669 according to the Union Health Ministry data. Six more people, three from Kerala, two from Karnataka and one from Punjab succumbed to the viral disease. The health ministry has emphasized the need for states to ramp up testing and strengthen surveillance systems. Four new cases were reported in Goa in the last 24 hours even as seven patients recovered from the disease.
According to officials Goa’s active caseload stands at 16. A top health official said that the JN1.1 sub-variant of Covid-19 was found in 19 samples that were tested over a period of time.
There is reportedly no cause of immediate concern as most of those infected are opting for home-based treatment, indicating mild illness. The number of Covid-19 cases rises wherever there is a gathering of a large number of people. In a few days, Goa will be hosting Sunburn, Asia’s largest Electronic Dance Music (EDM) Festival at Vagator. Will Goa see a spike in the infection post this event? Some may argue that Goans gather in the churches, at dances and parties during the festive season. At the Sunburn festival people come from other states, in the country where there is a spike in Covid-19 cases, and across the globe. Hence the risk of an increase in infection in Goa is great.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
Kim Jong Un spits fire again
The indomitable, but maverick, North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is in an extremely aggressive mood going by his warning that he would not hesitate to use nuclear weapons if his country is attacked by nukes. Kim is perturbed by the ramping up of defence preparedness by the United States, South Korea and Japan subsequent to North Korea conducting the launching of its most potent intercontinental ballistic missile, Hwasong–18. North Korean economy is in a mess, starvation and suffering abound, international sanctions against Pyongyang show no signs of being lifted –but Kim’s brute ability to navigate the administration with power and panache has shown little signs of abating.
One thing the all powerful leader abhors is to usher in atleast a semblance of a demilitarised North Korea because that would considerably weaken his position both domestically and globally. The legendary cat fight between Kim and the then US President Donald Trump that astonishingly translated into a meeting between the two leaders did well to push Kim’s image has done little to reduce Pyongyang’s military power because Kim’s burning ambition. His ultimate mission, unlike his personality, is not enigmatic: diminish Washington’s clout and, thereby, eclipse South Korea’s position in the eyes of the world.
Ganapathi Bhat, Akola
Nip, chill and thrill missing this year
While the Goa Meteorological Department has been this year in particular woefully lacking in the right predictions what with satellite data, kudos to Jose Maria Miranda for his accurate prediction in the Comment column of O Heraldo for having predicted with great accuracy that there is no winter this year and so far the writer has been precise just like our forefathers used to predict weather changes with immense accuracy.
The nip, chill and the thrill of late nights and early morning is definitely missing just as we are on the cusp of Christmas. Jose Maria Miranda rightly called, like he has been always in his writings the spade as a spade. Rarely even our scientists with all their knowledge are not able to predict weather precisely. However, I hope that people in Goa with the lakhs of tourists coming to celebrate beckon and enjoy a very, very Merry Christmas filled with joy and good tidings.
Elvidio Miranda, Panjim
Velsao residents have a right to protest
The protest of the Velsao residents against the blatant misuse of horns by the locomotives is indeed justified. Railways seem to be governed by their own rules. The public protests will not yield any positive results. It is the duty of local government to impress upon the Railways to follow the existing rules and regulations so that the interest of the local population is safeguarded. Disturbing the peace of the villages is criminal since it not only disturbs the elderly but the student community
Antonio F. Fernandes, Arossim
