IT Dept was to name and shame
About a decade back the Income Tax department (ITD) had planned to name and shame tax defaulters especially of the habitual offenders and their names were to figure on the IT’s website. Since not everybody in India is net savvy or would know about this fact, the ITD could publish the defaulters’ names in newspapers. Or, it could print and circulate a tabloid titled ‘Taxing Times,’ since there would be a long list of defaulters or those who conveniently ‘forget’ to pay their taxes.
An Indian film star, who is a Canadian citizen, is supposedly the highest tax payer for the 4th consecutive year. This is paradoxical since several hi-profile corporate people figure in the Forbes list and recently an Indian was declared as the 4th richest person in the world.
Aren’t these people the highest tax payer? Ironically, the ITD annually honours the people who pay high taxes. What is so remarkable about this aspect? It is the duty of a person who earns more or makes huge profit to pay enhanced taxes and the ITD need not waste money of other tax payers to arrange a function to compliment such persons. Let those persons felicitate themselves and claim tax rebate and relief!
Sridhar D Iyer, Caranzalem
Tired of using face mask?
It seems people are tired of using the face mask which is why we see most of them not wearing it now be it in the market, restaurants or elsewhere. The tourists never wear masks even though they are the ones who contribute to rise in Covid 19 cases in Goa. So far as social distance is concerned this was always difficult to observe due to rush everywhere.
Goa reports more than 100 cases of Covid-19 every day. In addition to this, like in the neighbouring states, we too are seeing rise in viral infection cases resulting in cough, cold and fever all of which suggest that we cannot afford to lower the guard.
Your journal has been advising people not to stop using the face mask. Although it does cause some inconvenience and discomfort and in some cases some side effects, it is still our best bet against infections. It is always better to be safe than sorry.
Rodney de Souza, Assagao
Vote wisely for Panchayat polls
The Panchayat Elections are round the corner knocking the doors of each and every village where elections are due. It is good to see lots of youngsters showing interest to contest the Panchayats elections; simultaneously sad to see some old faces who are in their seventies and already finished to 3 to 4 terms are seen going door to door begging for votes.
How can people forget that these old faces show their faces only at the time of Elections and once elected they’re not be seen around except for Gram Sabha meetings and that too sitting quietly throughout the meeting.
All these old faces have got only one aim to become the Sarpanch of the Village by hook or crook. Some even offer lakhs of rupees to gather votes for them and also to their opponents to withdraw from the race. It’s time now for the villagers to vote wisely and elect right faces who are new, clean by heart and who has got a vision for their respective wards and the whole village.
And send home all those old faces who are in their late seventies and who already finished more than three terms. So let’s vote wisely on August 10, and let better sense prevail which will enable us to see fresh and good faces by evening of August 12, the counting day. Let’s hope for the best.
Natividade Fernandes, Cavelossim
Hooch deaths becoming common
Illicit liquor related deaths are quite common in India. A few are highlighted and the rest go unreported. In early 2021, spurious liquor claimed precious lives in the districts of Morena and Bulandshahr in Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh respectively. It is common knowledge that no state is spared of hooch deaths. But what is tragic about last week’s hooch tragedy in Gujarat is that there is prohibition in place in the state.
Botad district was the worst hit while there were some casualties in Ahmedabad district. Nearly fifty people breathed their last in Botad district with many in the know claiming the state was not revealing the exact numbers. Manufacture, storage, sale and consumption of liquor has been banned in the State since 1949 through the Bombay Prohibition Act. After Gujarat became a state in 1960, the law was further “tightened”. Select star hotels in the state can “permit” guests to consume liquor in the safe confines of their rooms.
But illegal liquor sale has been going on unabated, and the Botad tragedy is a stark example. In liquor related deaths, bootleggers are routinely rounded up, and materials used in preparing hooch are seized and destroyed. Those from the lower socioeconomic sections are easy targets for illicit liquor vendors because they fall prey to inexpensive and powerful liquor sold by unscrupulous elements.
When a person indulges in partake of the spurious liquor, the toxic actions of methanol onsets slowly but surely. Since the initial symptoms simulate routine alcohol effects, lives are lost due to delay in shifting the patient to a hospital.
There is also an urgent need to scrupulously regulate the manufacture, transport and sale of hooch. The spiralling cost of regular and legal alcohol has pushed the less affluent sections to go for the cheaper ones that are laced with danger. Same goes to the industrial alcohol, an essential ingredient in the making of illicit brew. Smuggling of rectified spirits across the borders should become a thing of the past because districts that have banned alcohol in all forms may otherwise be hit.
Ganapathi Bhat, Akola
Two great events on Aug 15
On August 15, we Indians will celebrate two great significant and related events. One is the Assumption of Our Blessed Virgin Mary and the other is Independence Day. The reason as to why these two events are related is because they are both about freedom.
Independence Day is celebrated as freedom from foreign rule and domination to self-rule and governance of our country and the feast of the Assumption of Our Blessed Mother Mary may be seen as freedom from this limited and incomplete life to bliss of eternal and perpetual life.
There is indeed a happy coincidence to celebrate our Independence Day on the feast day of the Assumption of Our Blessed Mother Mary. It is to our Blessed Mother Mary that we dedicate our country as she is our patron saint.
Jubel D’Cruz, Mumbai
Breast Milk, perfect for the new-born
Every year the world celebrates breast-feeding week from August 1 to 7. To improve the status of breastfeeding globally, the World Health Assembly had set a target of increasing the rate of exclusive breastfeeding in the first 6 months to at least 50 per cent by 2025, as compared to the prevailing rate of 38 per cent. Breast Milk is the perfect food for a new-born, and the nutrition it offers is unparalleled. Feeding infants with breast milk has proven a lot of health benefits for the mother and the baby as well, and it can have a profoundly positive effect on the emotional well-being of both.
Also, the skin-to-skin contact of breastfeeding boosts the levels of oxytocin (the calming hormone) for the mother. It may be recalled that 4 years ago hundred odd mothers from the Philippines made their nation proud when they nursed their babies in a government-backed mass breastfeeding event aimed at combating child deaths.
Ranganathan Sivakumar, Chennai
