Hats off to PwD on poll duties
At last, the curtains are down on Goa’s election. It was heartening to read that eight polling booths were solely managed by persons with disabilities (PwD) persons. They held the positions of presiding officers, polling officers and peon and all of them have different degrees of disabilities. Legally, PwDs have a right to refuse poll duties since as per the Election Commission of India (ECI) such persons are exempted. But they did not shirk from their national duty and diligently carried out the allotted tasks when even able-bodied persons try to avoid poll duties by producing false health certificates.
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Hats off to their fighting spirit since they are at risk if violence breaks out in a polling booth. Luckily in Goa this does not happen. The ECI should publicly honour and award the PC persons for their praise-worthy work and in this the Disability Rights Association of Goa (DRAG) could play an active role.
Sridhar D Iyer, Caranzalem
Tense Valentine’s Day for politicos
Probably the most tempestuous election that Goa has witnessed in recent times came to an end with nearly 9.2 lakh citizens or 79% of the electorate exercising their franchise with no clear signs whether any party will touch the Holy Grail of 21 seats to form the next government.
Amidst massive anti incumbency and simmering discontent over unemployment and unbearable cost of living the saffron party is hoping for a third term while the Congress has been able to regroup itself and comes forth as the numero uno challenger.
The presence of AAP and TMC has created a perception of splitting the vote. Goans came from far off lands like Europe and the USA to vote, that speaks for something. Who will breast the tape? The answer my friend is not blowing in the wind, we shall have to wait for the 10th of next month which might prove to be the ides of March for some.
Rekha Sarin, Benaulim
Farcical ban on apps
Citing a threat to national security the Centre on the recommendation of the MHA banned 54 Chinese apps taking the total number of such apps to 278. The bans were triggered by the killing of 20 Indian soldiers in Galwan valley @ 2 years ago. According to the government these apps collect and funnel data to servers in mainland China thereby comprising the digital sovereignty and integrity (whatever that means) of India.
This from a country which uses Pegasus, the Israeli military grade spyware to snoop on its own people as also the Aarogya Setu, the parentage of which the government denies in court. Illegal wiretapping and surveillance of opposition party functionaries and people not subscribing to the saffron ideology is par for the course for intelligence agencies here. Banning foreign apps which supposedly collect data and then going to town with jingoistic cries of ‘digital surgical strike’ is nothing but part of distraction tactics honed to perfection by the sarkar to divert attention of the people from real world issues. It is as if China will come to us on bended knees seeking forgiveness and pleading restoration of their apps. The Chinese have already built two villages in our territory. The ruling dispensation is least bothered about this state of affairs but are busy patting each other on the back for supposedly swift and strong action (kadi ninda, laal aankhein) taken against the Chinese incursions by banning apps; netas, stop hoodwinking people and show some true blue bravery for once.
Vinay Dwivedi, Benaulim
Bringing greyhounds back to India
The relocation of cheetahs to India is a much discussed issue because the project has been in the pipeline for quite some time. Asiatic cheetahs vanished from India as far back as 1950; the cheetah was declared extinct from the country in 1952. Worldwide, its population is almost few and far between except for a few regions in Africa.
Low genetic variability and prolonged inbreeding were once cited as reasons for the decline of cheetahs though many wild life experts claimed that the genetic variability was lost ten thousand years ago.
The only explanation could be poaching and hunting. Minister of Environment Ashwini Kumar Choubey told the Lok Sabha last week that India’s cheetah relocation project was on course.
A sum of Rs 40 crore has been earmarked, from the “Project Tiger”, to introduce cheetah in the country between 2021-22 and 2025-26. The Kuno Palpur National Park in Madhya Pradesh is all set to receive its special guests.
Based on the Wildlife Institute of India (WII) report, and its direct guidance, the reintroduction project is being carried out. As a many as 12 to 14 “greyhounds”, male and female, are to be inducted in Kuno Palpur.
It was after all failed attempts to relocate the greyhounds that Kuno national park, spread over an area of 750 sq km, was identified.
Though initially the Supreme Court had stayed the “Cheetah conservation plan” by upholding the plea of conservationists quoting the National Board for Wildlife’s policies, it later gave the green signal to the introduction of cheetah to India.
Ganapathi Bhat, Akola
Nifty, Sensex suffer losses
The geopolitical woes continued to rattle the markets, with frontline indices Nifty and Sensex tanking three per cent each. The stress was apparent, with 49 of the Nifty stocks closing in the red, TCS being the odd man out. Banks underperformed with the 12-share Bank Nifty index tanking 4.18 per cent at 36,908.55. Foreign Institutional Investors (FIIs) continued their selling spree, and oil prices rose to a seven-year high on the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Monday’s bloodbath at Dalal Street wiped out a whopping Rs.8.48 lakh crore worth of investor wealth. Investors would do well to wait and watch before making fresh bets.
N J Ravi Chander, Bengaluru
Warehouses in residential areas
In a major fire incident reported at Kavlem in Ponda on Sunday, plastic goods and stoves and other goods worth Rs one crore were gutted inside a warehouse located in a residential area. It is learnt that the warehouse was located on the ground floor of the two storey building.
The impact of the blaze was such that the building reportedly developed cracks and is on the verge of collapse. It was by providence that there was no loss of life in the blaze. It must be said that in several buildings the ground floor is occupied by either shops or warehouses.
Stocking of plastic goods and other combustible material in such warehouses could prove very dangerous as there is every possibility of a fire breaking out due to some reason including short circuit. There needs to be a ban on storage of combustible items like plastic goods, mattresses, cloth materials, cardboards and other such goods in warehouses attached to residential complexes.
A major fire can cause damage to the other apartments in the building and can even prove risky to life and limb. Warehouses storing goods which are combustible need to be located away from residential areas. They should also have a proper fire-control system and fire extinguishers.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
