Why was the Rottweiler left free?
On Sunday, a Rottweiler attacked two children in Taleigao area. According to the locals, the dog came near the children and started smelling them, attacked them on their face and head with its sharp teeth. The children are undergoing treatment at GMC.
According to information Rottweilers and Pit Bull are banned in India and they are wild in nature. The owner when contacted said that on Sunday he was not at home and only his maid was there. The dog came out without their knowledge and when it saw the two children it came near them and attacked them.
Such dogs should have a muzzle on their mouth as protective measure and should be handled by a trained person. The dog bites have become common now and government should take some legal actions and provide shelter for street dogs. The above incident has driven fear into the locals and children are afraid to come out and play around this area. The dog owner did not even enquire about the condition of children but when was pressurized he agreed to bear all the cost of treatment to the injured children. The panchayat has also asked for undertaking from the owner about incident and owner has agreed to shift the dogs to other place within a week time. One should have pets and dogs but not at the cost of others safety and life.
Raju Ramamurthy, Vasco
Why were babies exposed to the elements?
The photo with the caption ‘Tiny leaps to new beginning.’ (O Heraldo August 21, 2023) depicted new born babies dressed in similar clothes but in two colours (red and blue) and displayed on a long table. Around the table are more than two dozen doctors and nursing staff with grinning and grim faces who delivered 31 babies in 24 hours at a hospital in Surat, Gujarat. One does not know whether this is a record or an advertisement by the hospital. As a picture it is nice to see the cute sleeping babies lost in their dreamlands. But why are the babies exposed to the elements instead of being next to their mothers or in cradles or in a sterile environment? Perhaps the hospital could have avoided this photo-op. On the lighter side, just imagine the number of babies born in 24 hours in hundreds of hospitals, clinics, maternity homes and at homes across India! No doubt, in nearly 10 years our population has increased from 130 crore to 140 crore!
Sridhar D’Iyer, Caranzalem
Red-Letter day in India’s space programme
Today, August 23, 2023 will be a significant day in the annals of India’s space mission programme. Chandrayan-3 is expected to land on the Moon at 5.47 pm today timed to coincide with sunrise at the landing site in the moon’s South Polar Region when the lander will touch down on lunar surface. Upon landing, the Chandrayaan-3 mission will reportedly operate for one lunar day, equivalent to 14 earth days during which it will conduct groundbreaking experiments. These experiments are designed to provide scientists with a better understanding of the moon’s atmosphere and mineral composition. It may be recalled that India’s third lunar mission was successfully launched on July 14, 2023, from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota. Chandrayaan-3 includes a lander module named Vikram and a rover named Pragyan.
It is a major milestone for the country that has run its ambitious aerospace programme on a comparatively low budget. Only Russia, the United States and China have previously achieved a controlled landing on the lunar surface. Experts say India can keep costs low by adapting existing space technology, and thanks to an abundance of highly skilled engineers who reportedly earn a fraction of their foreign counterparts’ wages. India’s space program has grown considerably in size and momentum since it first sent a probe to orbit the moon in 2008. In 2014, it became the first Asian nation to put a satellite into orbit around Mars.
Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco
Unproductive VIP visits to Goa
Leave aside, the obsession with VIP glorification culture when ordinary citizens are hugely inconvenienced. There are VIP visits to Goa paid for by the hard-working Goan taxpayers which are absolutely unproductive to the people of the state!
Take for instance, the current visit of the President of India this week to Goa. Being aware of the limitations of her post and her track record so far, How can this be productive for Goa? Would it not have been better if she had to pay a visit to Manipur to show her support for tribals and bring more attention to the state for the Indian Govt to resolve the conflict with urgency?
Arwin Mesquita, Colva
World Cup was a win for female athletes
Apropos ‘Spain Crowned Football Queens’ (Sports: The Great Games, August 21), Spain’s 1-0 win over England in the FIFA Women’s World Cup was just a reward for a sporting nation whose female footballers have already achieved much, including winning Women’s World Cups at under-17 and under-20 levels last year. Their superior techniques overcame the tough English resilience.
However, despite the loss, King Charles III, PM Rishi Sunak and others were all praise for the England players for putting up a fight against the Spanish armada. The tournament has demonstrated progress in achieving equality for the women’s game and women’s sport in general – but lots need to be done. Many professional sports women suffer from disparities in pay, media coverage and sponsorship opportunities.
Gregory Fernandes, Mumbai
Dress code for teachers
Can teachers in higher educational institutions wear T-shirts, jeans and leggings to work? The Assam government believes otherwise. It feels these are flashy and indecent and has barred these dresses for teachers in these institutions. The state’s higher education department has issued an advisory listing appropriate dresses for teachers, both men and women. It should be recalled that such a dress code is already in place in the state’s primary schools. There has always been a debate with regards to “appropriate dress for some specific professionals including teachers. It is not as if a decent dress is one that covers the skin without unnecessarily exposing it. Dress should look good and sober, and dressing well is a form of good manners.
Ganapathi Bhat, Akola
India’s Asia Cup Squad a fine blend
The 17-member squad named for the Asia Cup is a fine blend of youth and experience. Rohit Sharma will captain the team with Hardik Pandya as his deputy. KL Rahul and Shreyas Iyer make a welcome return to the side after undergoing thigh and back surgeries. Leggie, Yuzvendra Chahal, whose form has steadily gone downhill, gets the axe. The selectors opted for the spin options of Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, and Axar Patel. Newbie Tilak Varma, who let his willow do the talking in the IPL and the West Indies tour, gets rewarded.
N J Ravi Chander, Bengaluru
