Govt grants for sanitisation in schools
Classes for Std X and XII are to commence in Goa from Nov21. With a dip in the number of coronavirus cases in the State, it is possible that the classes for all standards could start sooner than later.It must be said that as and when schools in the state reopen for all classes, carrying out sanitisation and maintaining hygiene will obviously be of prime concern for the school administration.
All the benches in the classrooms will have to be sanitised after each session is over. Other areas within the school premises will also have to be sanitised regularly. High levels of hygiene will also have to be maintained. Obviously the expenditure of the schools will increase significantly as the school administrations will have to follow the recommendations of the government as far as sanitisation and maintaining hygiene is concerned. School administration will also have to procure sanitisers in bulk as well as thermal scanners for use which can cost quite a bit.
It may not be financially feasible for all schools to spend on the sanitisers and extra workers required to sanitise the schools and maintain hygiene as well as procurement of thermal scanners.
The government needs to come to the financial aid of the schools by providing extra grants for sanitisation and maintaining hygiene in the schools as and when schools reopen for all classes.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
India thrives on tamashas!
India is going gaga over the Vice President Elect in the US! These include the die hards who claim Sonia Gandhi is not Indian!
Delhi is the capital of India. That it has its own CM does not absolve the Centre as the fact is pollution levels have been only growing
India sent a man made vehicle to the moon! IIT Faculty spent considerable time to conclude that the Sars CoV2 came to India from 2 foreign countries! The Centre prefers the tamasha route of blaming the Delhi CM than solving the problem.
Delhi also has cold wave deaths added to the Covid 19! All these deaths are from amongst the homeless! Cannot the replaced blankets from the Railways and the Forces be given to these destitute? We see them using newspapers for warmth! Have they been prevented from burning vegetation as this increases pollution?If a rocket can be sent to the moon, surely new blankets with heaters can be provided once a year to these people? Electric outlets can be provided in areas they reside in.
China, yes China, has built the world’s largest air purifier tower- 100m- solar powered and reports say it works. India built the tallest statue -148m- using 1700 metric tonnes of bronze plates from China! Surely if this doubled up as a filter it would have been huge! It could then have come up in Delhi and a replica of Gandhi- as he is the face of Swaach Bharat! Well, at least there appears to be a solution; but then how could the long running tamasha sequels continue?
Hepa filters remove PM2.5 Cannot vehicles in Delhi be fitted with such non-motive filters on the roofs? Petrol pumps can offer a rebate to such vehicles and provide replacement filters. Petrol prices dipped to negative this pandemic and was added fuel for problem solving!
Political tamasha is the elixir of life in India.
R Fernandes, Margao
Is America self-destroying itself?
The pandemic figures are alarming; 2,43,000 have perished to the pandemic in the United States. America now accounts for 10,000,000 infected cases out of the over 50,000,000 cases worldwide, almost one fifth of the total number. 1,60,000 are the current number of cases infected by the corona virus each day.
Is America self-destroying itself? Is the imperialist or capitalist system of government where success is achieved at any cost and those that do not succeed fall by the wayside is damaging the soul of America.
To add insult to injury, the country is embroiled in a divisive battle that is not showing as yet signs of a smooth transition after the presidential elections. Will whichever is the next dispensation be able to heal the deep wounds inflicted by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The contending power seekers have to realise that enough is enough and that America has to begin to find its way from the mess and decay that has tarnished the image of the greatest democracy in the world.
Elvidio Miranda, Panjim
Travesty of justice
The supreme court has come under a lot of flak lately for its comment about “travesty of justice” it so vividly mentioned in the Arnab case. Are who those with powerful connections victims of travesty of justice even if there is evidence of their involvement of a crime? With this topic one classic example that comes to my mind is the case of the 80 plus old Jesuit priest Stan Swamy who has been arrested over a month and is deprived even basic things like a sipper being a patient of Parkinson’s disease as the court thought it needed 20 days to decide on approving it.
We Indians trust the law of our beloved land and still believe it treats each one equally and hope it is so.
Simon Lobo, by email
Digital content is under Govt’s watch
OTT platforms and Digital Content now fall under the jurisdiction and censorship of Information and Broadcast Ministry. After 2016 with the ubiquitous availability of inexpensive data, Web Series and Digital market boomed like anything. Lockdown was a heaven-sent opportunity for OTT platforms which they made the best out of it.
Digital Content received overwhelming support from people of all walks of life and at the same time, it was at the receiving end of severe criticism for delivering erotic, anti-India and provocative content in the disguise of creativity.
People demanded from all the quarters for the framework like Censor Board, so creativity and harmony can be balanced. Now, Digital content creates will have to tread on tight rope while bearing the backlash in mind they might face.
Rahul Chouhan, Ujjain
(Un) Free Press journal
In a worrisome move the Information and Broadcasting ministry shall in future, have absolute control over all online content, news and current affairs, this could be a precursor to more stringent and restrictive legislation in the times to come.Less regulation is the need of the hour, not more and policing digital content is not only an onerous task but amounts to downright censorship. Democracy has already taken a retrograde step with sundry journalists being arrested over benign online posts, websites are blocked over perceived ‘hurting of sentiments’ and imagined insults. Online sectors are already under the purview of draconian sections of the IPC and CrPC and muzzling them would be tantamount to demolishing the fourth pillar of democracy- a free press.
Broadcast media and OTT platforms exercise some form of self regulation and are summarily acted against by the law enforcement agencies over any misdemeanors, what is the pressing need to formally bring it under the ambit of a Ministry.
Diverse opinion should be respected and tolerated,dissent should not be equated with criminal intent.Digital India is also a projection of India’s soft power and such clampdowns would mar India’s image in the comity of nations.
Regulatory overreach ultimately triggers the law of diminishing returns and is at best a self defeating exercise.Let’s not inch towards an Orwellian future (thought police anyone ?) where Big Brother is watching you24/7.
Vinay Dwivedi, Benaulim
