Letters to the Editor

It is shameful that in last five days four mob-lynching incidents have rocked Bihar. Each passing day makes us feel ashamed when we witness such terrible incidents in our surroundings. It shows that the administration has turned into a mute spectacular. Bad administration is responsible for such disasters. Government should take some concrete steps to stop such crimes which result in death of innocent people. 

M.F.U.Tandvi, New Delhi

A photo combo of a woman attempting to throw garbage into the sea at Caranzalem that appeared in Herald dated September 12 is a fine example of how nature too does not tolerate uncleanliness as the ocean waves washed ashore the litter.  

Every year during the monsoon it is a common to see large amount of litter being washed along the beaches by the waves. The authorities then have to spend public money to clean the beaches. It is a vicious circle wherein we pay for our misdeeds. Nature appears to teach man a lesson to treat garbage and not to throw it into the sea. But people refuse to pay heed to the warning as they dump the waste into the sea and other water bodies. Dumping of trash into the sea has an adverse effect on marine life as well. The fish consume the micro particles of plastic from the waste dumped into the sea. This micro plastic enters the body when people consume fish which causes several dreaded diseases including cancer. The ultimate sufferers are humans. But we refuse to accept this fact and carry on littering the water bodies at will. The authorities cannot keep a constant watch on this illegal activity. It is for each one of us as individuals to realise the folly of our actions and mend our ways.

Adelmo Fernandes, Vasco

In recent times the Chovot has turned out to be noisy and disturbing causing noise and air pollution. This is particularly when bursting high intensity fireworks which cause inconvenience to the elderly, the sick and even small kids. The fireworks pollute the air due to burning of the chemicals which in turn affect people’s health. As far as noise is concerned, the daylong use of loudspeakers is more disturbing than worth listening to. This Chaturthi let us make the celebration holy and divine to respect Lord Ganesh and extend a handshake of love to encourage brotherhood and understanding, by doing away with poverty and illiteracy. Let the seasonal delicacies bring joy and smiles during Chovot celebration. 

Ayres Sequeira,  Salvador do Mundo

Parents of budding footballers lament that their wards are not allotted time to practice on the grounds. The SAG is busy leasing out the same to clubs and the AIFF. The AIFF has made its headquarters in Noida in keeping with its philosophy that the future of Indian football lies in the North due to the physical characteristics of the locals - height and built. North has not been a football hub and what they are doing is wresting control from the rest of India. Most age group trainings of AIFF teams are held in Goa which is seen ideal for its hospitality and cheap ground lease costs, thanks to past GFA members. The SAG first hijacked all village football grounds from the villagers saying they would develop and improve the conditions. They then used Goan tax collections to carry out the work, and finally leased out the grounds out to the AIFF and local I- League teams! Goans are truly second class citizens. Iceland, ranked 131 in 2012, now are 31. A key reason for such rise is the availability of 30 full-size all-weather pitches, seven of which are indoors, and almost 150 smaller artificial arenas that ensure youth at grassroots can continue to play football in winter, often in indoor dome structures.

In Goa, far from building indoor pitches to provide youth to practice in during monsoon, the SAG ensures they are unable to practice in fair season as well!! There is not a single Goan in any age group India team. Compare the thinking of Iceland to that of SAG. This step motherly treatment towards Goans must end and Goa’s hospitality cannot be misused.

R Fernandes, Margao

I have apprehensions as to how this will work for the new Bal Rath scheme? At present the school management was made responsible to efficiently maintain the bus, check on the driver’s sobriety and see that the service to the students is carried out effectively. Now the government intends to scrap the present scheme and existing buses. It has finalised that the driver will be the bus owner and will be paid salary as a driver/attendant through department funds. The driver will maintain the bus and at the same time he will be free to use the bus for private trips which will be an additional income to self. How does this help in employment? The students will be packed like sardines to save on trips to allow the driver to hire his bus during school hours. What will happen to the extra trips that the school uses for the students who participate in the competitions? Will that be charged as additional trip by the driver and at what cost? The government should outsource the school bus service to travel agency such as NONCO Travels to deliver reliable and safe service to our children. Government should explore the possibility of asking GVK or OLA to enter into the transportation system. 

Gregory E D'Souza, Siolim

Congratulations to the Government for allowing decriminalisation of homosexuality in India. I would like to respond to letters submitted by readers. India has at long last emerged from the dark ages ensuring LGBT people in India have equality within society although sadly from reading comments from the correspondents, discrimination and hatred will unfortunately remain in the minds of some. LGBT people are humans and should be respected as any other individual. Homosexuality has existed in most civilised cultures since the dawn of time. It is wrong to say that STIs will increase amidst the population due to new legislation. Majority of STIs in population worldwide are on the rise due to lack of available information. Take for example HIV. It has been researched that the increased cases of HIV are found in heterosexual members due to unprotected sex, multiple partners and casual sex. It is staggering that figures show people at risk are unaware that they are carrying the HIV virus as they don't have regular sexual health checks. Let us embrace society and its communities and ensure people regardless of their sexual orientation have the opportunity to be ordinary people free from discrimination and intolerance.

Peter Blackburn, via email (UK)

I fully agree to Mohd Faheen in the article on Herald dated September 4 wherein he stated that developed countries such as America, England, Germany, Netherlands and South Korea are using ballot papers for the elections and why only India and another two countries Nigeria and Venezuela are using EVMs as  stated by the BJP man Dr  Swamy. He had   said the EVMs can be rigged and he brought some IT specialist from Andhra Pradesh to show that by calling a press conference. Some persons were jailed for some time but still the Election Commission of India maintains that the EVMs are foolproof and cannot be tampered. I don't understand when the main  electronic chip which is used in the machines are imported from Japan and  we call it indigenous technology whereas Japan doesn't use EVMs  for elections but ballot papers and so other developed countries. Why only India is using EVMs? 

Diomedes Pereira, Corlim