Help a girl child to grow
International Girl Child was on October 11 and it has been marked as the International Day of the Girl Child. The day highlights and addresses the women empowerment and the needs and challenges that girls face including the fulfilment of their rights. We must eliminate all forms of discrimination against girls, eliminate negative cultural attitudes and practices against girls.
Eliminate discrimination against girls in education, and promote and protect the rights of girls and increase awareness of their needs and potential. Today, these movements have expanded. They are being organised by and for adolescent girls, and tackling issues like child marriage, education inequality, gender-based violence, climate change, self-esteem, and girls’ rights to enter places of worship or public spaces during menstruation. Girls are proving they are unscripted and unstoppable.
Sahili S Sawant Dessai, Curchorem
Seeking blessings of Our Lady of Fatima
October 13, every year is celebrated with solemnity, especially in Portugal as well as the Catholic world as the feast of Our Lady of Fatima. Under the shadow of the sufferings in the world due to the pandemic, let all those who believe in the intercession of Our Lady of Fatima through Jesus Christ pray that blessings be showered on our various pharmaceutical companies that are striving for a vaccine and a cure for Covid-19 pandemic so that safe and effective vaccines and cures may be developed to protect the world from the deadly Covid-19.
Also may blessings in great measure be showered on the doctors, nurses, Covid-19 laboratory testing personnel as well as all other health care frontline workers who are putting their lives at risk to treat and care for the large number of patients infected with the coronavirus.
May they be blessed so as to have the strength and stamina to carry on their yeoman service to mankind across the world. If our collective devotion to Our Lady of Fatima can result in a miracle, the world will have been saved from this pandemic. Belief of men and women of goodwill can make a miracle happen for all.
Elvidio Miranda,
Panjim
Cricket and rape threats
Cricket is one of the most popular games in lndia, a religion to many cricket fans but a fact that these fans should bear in mind is that cricket is a team game and only one team can win on any given day. While it is quite normal for the supporters to be disappointed at the defeat of their favourite team and also criticise the performance of the players, resorting to violent trolling and abuse of the player’ wives who have nothing to do with cricket is not in order. Not only wives, the hate now seems to be spreading to their innocent children.
The latest disturbing incident is the trolling of MS Dhoni after CSK team lost a match in the ongoing IPL tournament. While many did so, some tweets and Facebook posts threatened physical harm to and rape of Dhoni’s six-year-old girl Ziva. The language and expletives used are unprintable. This is definitely crossing the line and cannot be tolerated.
At a time when our nation is grappling with the issue of rape and violence against women, such threats cannot be taken lightly. These elements should be hunted down and punished severely. The time to treat them with kid gloves is over.
Rodney de Souza, Assagao
‘Count Us In’, aiming to cut pollution
An unprecedented global movement ‘Çount Us In’ to mobilise one billion people to act on climate change has been launched in India. The movement will mobilise citizens to take practical steps that will make a significant impact in reducing carbon pollution and challenge leaders to act more boldly.
For the first time a diverse coalition of individuals and groups spanning culture, sports, entertainment, business, and civil society in India have announced their participation in this one of a kind global campaign against pollution. It is a fact that pollution, extreme weather conditions and rising sea levels due to climate change threatens communities and economies around the world including India.
‘Count Us In’ is reportedly a call to build the most ambitious citizen-led front to avert the impact of climate change. It is understood that if one billion people take practical action in their own lives, they could reduce as much as 20% of the global carbon emission. To date, climate action campaigns have inspired activists, researchers, scientists and more. Incidentally FC Goa and Forca Goa Foundation happens to be a partner of this global initiative. It is understood that FC Goa and the Forca Goa Foundation are taking sustainable initiatives such as zero waste stadium, sensitising children and using football as a platform to spread awareness towards reducing pollution. Every action taken towards reducing the carbon footprint, does count.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
Survey for Covid tests
Couple of months back Goa Government has done a house to house survey by appointing health workers and even teachers all over Goa. What was the outcome of that survey? Or was it a waste of time and waste of hard work? Anyway let’s not waste time debating on that. Let’s talk about future plans.
How about a house to house survey to check each and every family member to find out the exact number of positive patients? If house to house tests are conducted we will get the exact number of positive cases and Chief Minister will not get an opportunity to say that people are coming late for tests. As we have done the earlier survey within a short time this is also possible as Goa is a small state.
Is this not a good suggestion? Experts please apply your minds. It seems Goa Government has already raised hands up and waiting for the arrival of the vaccine. Aam Admi Party is doing a very good job by visiting each and every house in each and every village with Oximeter to check oxygen of one and all and advising them accordingly.
Natividade Fernandes, Cavelossim
Water woes still persist
Last week the CM’s chest must have swelled with pride when the Ministry for Jal Shakti declared that Goa had become the first state to provide 100% functional water supply connections to all rural households. The PWD minister crowed that this ‘stellar’ achievement had enabled Goa to access additional central funds to set up water treatment plants in every taluka.
Now consider the irony… in the PWD minister’s own constituency of Sanvordem there are close to 800 households without piped water supply since the time of Goa’s liberation! Residents have to depend on tankers, which at most trundle in twice a week and their arrival is marked by fights, with every villager trying to get the maximum amount of water for himself.
Mining companies which earlier used to supply water have stopped doing so owing to cessation of mining activity in the region. Also open cast mining in the past has resulted in a drastic drop in water table and even borewells have run completely dry.
Overhead tanks as part of the government’s ‘Har ghar jal’ initiative have not been completed in the area, what to talk of pipelines. This is a double whammy for the people, high time the state government walked the talk instead of patting itself on the back for imagined achievements.
Vinay Dwivedi,
Benaulim
