FC Goa in Durand finals
Goans are so glad to know that FC Goa entered the Finals of one of the oldest football Tournament, Durand Cup. And yet there is no celebrations and jubilation that used to be in Goa whenever any Goan team enters the finals of any tournament in India. Is the craze for football dying down in Goa?
Goa was once known as the land of Football, Food and Feni.: Football, Kumer and Beber; FC Goa achieved this entry in the finals in the absence of our key players, Brandon, Glan and Seriton who are on national duty for the seniors and Princeton on national duty for Under-23 team.
Till now full credit goes to FC GOA goalkeeper. We Goans wish FC Goa success and all the best in the finals on Sunday.
Natividade Fernandes, Cavelossim
Reviving the startup ecosystem
The revamped Goa Startup Policy 2021 has set a target to generate employment for atleast 6000 Goans, the aim of the statute is to make the state the preferred startup destination in India and amongst the top 25 in Asia by 2025.
The new policy provides special incentives to women entrepreneurs, technology incubators and sustainable services ; it also facilitates development of innovation hubs , centres of excellence and cutting edge R& D labs. For startups hiring local talent, 50% of the salary of freshers shall be reimbursed subject to a cap of Rs 15,000 per month. Women entrepreneurs shall be extended a monthly grant of Rs 22,000 in addition to marketing and tech support assistance upto Rs 10 lakh. Under the liberalised laws, venture capital funds, private equity and angel investors can infuse upto Rs.1 crore as equity in promising businesses.
Evangelizing the whole startup ecosystem and fostering local talent is the avowed aim of the amended statutes, if implemented diligently this can set the template for all technology enabled endeavours in future.
Rekha Sarin, Benaulim
Significance of Gandhi Jayanti
Today, being Gandhi Jayanti, let us remember the sacrifices made by our various freedom fighters who fought bravely for our country’s independence and pay our due respect to them.
Gandhi Jayanti is a national holiday in India and is celebrated on October 2 every year. This day is celebrated in honour of the birth anniversary of the Father of the nation, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi to all.
Internationally, this day is celebrated as the International Day of non-violence, as Mahatma Gandhi was the preacher of non-violence. He was also a symbol of peace and truth. Gandhiji’s method of non-violence inspired many civil rights movements across the world. He was assassinated by a Hindu nationalist, Nathuram Godse on January 30, 1948. Lal Bahadur Shastri was also born on October 2. He was born in1904 at Mughalsarai, a small railway town seven miles from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh. His father was a school teacher who died when he was only a year and half old. His mother, still in her twenties, took her three children to her father’s house and settled down there.
Lal Bahadur Shastri served the country as the second Prime Minister of India between June 1964 and January 1966 soon after Pt. Jawaharlal Nehru’s death. Due to his old age, he could not continue for long. He died on January 11, 1966.
Jubel D’Cruz, Mumbai
Leopard at large
Residential areas like Aarey Milk Colony are being frequented by wild animals, and the SGNP authorities are brushing it aside saying the animal had strayed into complex searching for food. At times, human life is lost in man-animal conflicts. This is giving the residents sleepless nights. We have to preserve wildlife, but not at the expense of human life.
Leopard scare has given a frightening time and the people in and around Aarey and other places face a nightmarish experience. It was a disheartening sight to see a Leopard attack a 10 year old boy and an old lady of 60 years of the Mulund’s Aarey Milk Colony are facing regular visits of the man eating animal disturbing the lives of common man.
This is a sad state of affairs as the authorities in charge at Sanjay Gandhi National Park failed to spot the animal so far. But human life is lost in such visits by the leopard and people living in these areas are just scared. This is not the first time such a thing is happening and the authorities in charge should take corrective steps to avoid loss of human life and frequent attacks by wild animals.
It is high time authorities pay heed to this fact and find a permanent problem before the situation goes out of hand. That is my clarion call.
C.K. Subramaniam, Mumbai
Labour shortage hits paddy cultivation
It is learnt that in Ponda taluka the area under paddy cultivation for both rabi and kharif season is reportedly on the decline and has dropped by a whopping 63 per cent in the past ten years. The reason for the decline is said to be shortage of labourers, high cost of production and commercialization of the cultivable land according to experts.
This is not the case only in Ponda but throughout the state of Goa. Many Goans have sold their fields to builders and have settled abroad. The youth of Goa are reluctant to till the land handed over to them by their ancestors. They seek white-collar jobs or migrate to a foreign land.
Earlier paddy cultivation was like a family culture and many farmers were engaged in cultivation through community farming. There is no proper guidance to would-be famers to increase the crop yield by using the modern technique. What comes as good news is that the central government is ready to establish an agricultural and horticulture college in Goa. This was reportedly announced by the Union minister of state for agriculture and farmers. From ploughing to harvesting, everything can be done with the help of machines as it reduces the cost of production.
Darshana Pednekar a Goan woman farmer and entrepreneur who is growing 35 varieties of crops, runs a poultry farm and also processes coconut oil was recently felicitated by the union minister. The agriculture and horticulture college also needs to have floriculture as a stream.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
Swachh Bharat Abhiyan a failure
Seven years ago on October 2, 2014, the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan was launched across the country amidst much fanfare. High expectations were raised but the cleanliness drive has however remained a mere paper tiger with the campaign miserably faltering while crores have been poured down the drain only promoting Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP. The drive to ensure cleanliness and sanitation has to be a people’s movement and not a political one.
Even in a tiny State like Goa it has been a total failure as garbage continues to be mounting and accumulated all over. Even the capital city Panjim is festering with dirt galore. The situation is only worsening by the day and the lack of sanitation and hygiene being a matter of concern. Those crores of rupees squandered by the Government on that media blitz for this campaign would have brought smiles and cheers to the poor and downtrodden if all that money was instead judiciously spent for their upliftment.
Under the guise of Swachh Bharat what has infact been cleaned over the years is only the State coffers in what has been a criminal siphoning of public funds.
Aires Rodrigues, Ribandar
