Introduce scrabble games in schools
It is learnt that the Scrabble Association of Goa will be organizing the 17th edition of the All-India Open Scrabble Championship from April 21-23 at St Inez. Players from various states will be in action. Each player will play twenty-four games over a period of three days. Scrabble is a word game in which two to four players score points by placing tiles, each bearing a single letter, onto a game board. The game can help the students to understand vocabulary easily. Playing competitive Scrabble won’t just improve one’s vocabulary, but also the memory, analytical skills and strategic movements. Scrabble is a game that involves both skill and luck.
There’s skill in knowing the words one can play and especially the most advantageous ways to play them. But there’s also luck in the tiles you draw randomly from the bag. Perhaps one of the best-known little secrets is that word games really do help improve one’s spelling and of course vocabulary. There are different ways to help expand your vocabulary, like reading. Playing word games like scrabble would usually be the most fun way to learn new words. Hence it would be in the fitness of things to introduce the game of scrabble in the school curriculum as a fun activity. When school students learn the game it would be prudent to have inter-school scrabble tournaments.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
Deadly heatwaves getting hotter
India is gripped by a punishing heatwave. What is most alarming about this heatwave is that the effects of global warming have pushed India and its neighbouring countries to the levels where the climate is a core threat to human health. Heat waves around the world have been made more common and hotter because of climate change, according to Friederike Otto, a Climatologist at the University of Oxford. Ms Otto adds that the heatwaves will continue to get hotter until humans stop burning fossil fuels. Experts say that before climate change such intensity of heat would have only been seen about once in every 50 years in India. However, it is now expected to occur once every four years. The heat waves have led to cascading impacts not just on human health, but also on ecosystems like agriculture, water and energy supplies.
Experts say that climate change can definitely be controlled, which will involve a substantial reduction in fossil fuel use, improved energy efficiency, and use of alternative fuels such as hydrogen.
Ranganathan Sivakumar, Chennai
Protect and preserve heritage, culture
This has reference to “If we bury our heritage and not preserve it, we kill our civilisation” (Herald scrutiny, 18 April 2023).
That was an enlightening & informative write-up on what Heritage is all about. You have rightly stated, Heritage is beyond buildings. Preserving Heritage sites is important but what about the history behind those structures, the message, the sentiments. Yes, and besides preserving Heritage structures, we need to protect and preserve our culture and hand them down to future generations.
According to another news report, Goa has 51 Notified structures & 450 monuments of Heritage value. We need to protect them as we need to protect all heritage structures across the country. Neglecting, demolishing or renaming heritage structures and places for the sake of local pride has no meaning. The authorities need to get their act together and frame a proper policy with regard to heritage sites. Our civilisation is at stake. As you rightly state, ‘if we bury our heritage and not preserve it, we kill our civilisation’.
Melville X D’Souza, Mumbai
Malik’s salvos cannot be taken lightly
We should not forget that, that Satya Pal Malik was a blue eyed boy and trusted lieutenant of the central government, the rulers preferred to abrogate Article 370 in Kashmir when he was the Governor of Jammu and Kashmir. Though it seems he was hurt that the abrogation was announced without even taking him into confidence, he remained silent for obvious reasons.
However, when he was convinced and his conscience was pricking that 40 precious lives of our paramilitary personnel were lost in the Pulwama attack only due to the negligence and lapses of the Home department, it seems he raised the issue with Prime Minister Modi but was instructed by him and National Security Adviser Doval to keep quiet allegedly to milk the tragedy to gain benefit in the 2019 general elections by putting the blame entirely on our enemy state, Pakistan!
In the circumstances, the exposure of the above serious matters and his charges against the Prime Minister, Home Minister and National Security Adviser cannot be taken lightly by all stake holders, particularly the opposition and more importantly the bereaved families of the 40 martyrs in the Pulwama attack. The Supreme Court should also take up the case suo motu as the statement is not made by any Tom, Dick or Harry but the then Governor of Kashmir and Jammu itself under whose very nose the tragedy struck the innocent soldiers.
Tharcius S Fernando, Chennai
Reality cannot be discarded
This refers to the editorial “Pulwama attack result of administrative failure” (April 17), former J&K Governor and senior BJP leader Satya Pal Malik has spilled the beans by claiming that he had apprised PM Modi of the alleged security lapses after the Pulwama attack in 2019 but was asked to ‘keep quiet’. Malik went on to claim the Pulwama episode was a result of India’s Home Ministry ‘incompetence’ as the CRPF had requisitioned for an aircraft ahead of the incident but the request was denied by the Home Ministry.
It may be recalled the crisis was sparked on February 14, 2019 after a deadly militant attack on an Indian convoy in Pulwama which brought India and Pakistan close to war.
India’s warplanes pounded a Jaish-e-Mohammed terrorist training camp at Balakot in Pakistan in response to the Pulwama terror attack that killed 40 CRPF jawans. Former US Secretary of State wrote in his book that India Pakistan came close to a nuclear war.
In fact, the publicity stunt of Balakot air strike added a feather in BJP’s cap before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. The BJP may have sought to use the Pulwama attack to their electoral advantage and succeeded to an extent, but the fact is that Delhi’s reckless actions had set both Pakistan and India on the course to war. One cannot draw far reaching conclusions from Malik’s allegations, but at the same time, one cannot discard the reality from emerging. Nonetheless, Malik’s explosive revelation has given Opposition parties the ammunition to challenge the mighty BJP.
Gregory Fernandes, Marcel
UP’s cold blooded shooting is appalling
The cold-blooded shooting of imprisoned gangster Atiq Ahmed and his brother Ashraf Ahmed in Prayagraj on Saturday is appalling. Their murder follows the elimination of Atiq’s son Asad by the UP police in Jhansi.
Asad was wanted in connection with the Umesh Pal murder case. The assault transpired after the duo showed up at the Prayagraj Hospital for a medical check-up.
They exited the police van and took media questions when an assailant put his weapon on Atiq’s temple and pulled the trigger. Atiq slumped to the ground and was followed by Ashraf. Is the massacre another case of security and intelligence malfunction?
N J Ravi Chander, Bengaluru
