GOA’S ENVIRONMENT IN DIRE STRAITS

THE DNYANPRASARAK Mandal’s College & Research Centre (DMCRC) signed an MoU with the Goa State Biodiversity Board on Nov 10, 2021. It was signed by Dr Pradip Sarmokadam, member-secretary, Goa Secretary, GSBB and Prof Dilip Arolkar, principal, Dnyanprassarak Mandal’s Colleage & Research Centre-Assagao, in the presence of Goa Minister for Environment Nilesh Cabral.

The DMC RC is a premier higher education institution in Goa offering a wide range of courses from BA, BSc, BCom,   BBA, BCA, MCom, MSc (Organic and Pharmaceutical), MSc Environmental Science and PhD in Commerce and Chemistry. MSc environmental science is an innovative program for higher education and environmental issues are the need of community. This collaboration will help students in training, internship and research with the main objective being to create scientific awareness. The college will also assist GSBB in conducting awareness drives, rallies, street plays, economic evaluation projects, environment impact assessment and other activities for protecting Goa’s eco-systems on a larger platform. Dr Rajesh Pednekar, Associate Professor & HOD of Chemistry, as also co-ordinator for MSc Environmental Science, was present for the signing of the MoU.

USE CLEAN ENERGY!

ALL the countries of the world are facing climate change. The use of natural energy sources is becoming scarce and the use of petroleum and coal based energy is huge. The use of solar energy as a clean energy source will benefit India for it will reduce carbon emissions which contribute to air pollution.

We have no shortage of sunshine. Many other countries do not even see the sun for days or months! We Indians are lucky in comparison but do we appreciate it or take the sun for granted?

We must switch over to more solar energy usages. Concentrate on this. Business must come forward to adopt solar energy in many ways. If we can use solar energy widely in India we will be a great example for the world! The developed countries which are closing coal-produced energy sources will get a clear indication that India cares about how our civilisation and our lifestyles are impacting global climate changes which will make life on earth very difficult to live increasingly.

Please educate young people in the uses of adopting solar energy. India has the second largest population in the world after China. Therefor the demand for energy will continue to grow. India’s carbon emissions account for five per cent of total emissions. US and China have the highest carbon emissions. Despite this efforts are on to control this till it is negligible. Just as developed countries play a big role in polluting the earth, in the same way they pollute space.

Merely beating the drums of science is of no use. How does will impact all life on earth? The developed countries are not worried in the race to be superpowers and  keep fighting with one another on matters of how much science and technology is enough.

What they should learn from India is that despite the highest energy demand, India’s share of carbon emissions is low compared to the rest of the world. At the recent Glasgow conference on the subject of carbon emissions, only the developed countries discussed this! Many are well educated about why climate change happening and how they are more responsible for damage to agriculture and to health.

A damaged eco-system results in losses all around. The environment is crucially important. Nature’s ability to absorb carbon emissions is exhausted and we are facing serious consequences because of this. It is time to be proactive individually and collectively in our own countries first!

— Jayesh Rane, Mumbai

 FEEL OUR SHAME

RECENTLY, just three days after the hospital fire in Ahmednagar which killed 11 people, another fire in Bhopal government hospital four newly-born infants! This is horrible negligence. People are calling for investigation but fail to point out the “new culture” of our politicians.

Politicians of old felt so responsible and accountable that they voluntarily resigned. Lal Bahadur Shastri resigned as railway minister after 140 people died in a train accident, as did Nitesh Kumar in 2000. These hospital fires were due to the negligence of health ministers more interested in making commission on sales deals. They are too corrupt to ever think of resigning!

Strangely, citizens get brainwashed by politicians who never take on any responsibility! So who are masters of brainwashing? Where is accountability? Who is accountable for the oxygen shortage deaths in Goa? Today’s politicians get away with murder and we run after them praising them for our crumbs and even resurrect them, even if they are retired politicians! 

We pat them on the back. Conveniently ignore or forget their sins of omission and commission. Why? We, the people are the kingmakers! Take charge of our own destiny.

— R Fernandes, Margao

PRE-POLL UNDERSTANDING

IF the Opposition is to be united in preventing vote splitting, if there are no pre-poll alliances, at least all Opposition parties should have a pre-poll understanding — in which Opposition candidates extend support to candidates having the potential to win. Support  common candidates to prevent splitting of votes.

Would the opposition parties not rue if they lose particular seats merely because of the vote splitting? Thus, it is vitally important for all Opposition parties to support common candidates by having pre-poll understanding.

In Goa where the size of the electorate in each constituency is very small, every vote counts if the margin of victory is very slim. To reinforce one another a comprehensive pre-poll understanding is the need of the hour. Do not regret later because splitting of votes led to losing seats!

— Elvidio Miranda, Panaji

THANK-YOU, GOVERNOR PILLAI!

WE must commend our Governor PS Sreedharan Pillai for lifting the veil of secrecy and opening the gates of Goa’s Raj Bhavan to welcome Right to Information Act.

As required by the transparency law, the governor’s joint secretary has been appointed as the public information officer while the secretary to the governor is the First Appellate Authority under the RTI Act.

This brings to an end my long protracted litigation with our Raj Bhavan. It  commenced at the State Information Commission and after moving on to our High Court was pending before the Supreme Court till victory recently!

For over a decade the Goa’s Raj Bhavan was adamant about not submitting itself to the RTI Act by strangely claiming that a governor does not qualify as a “Public Authority,” despite all other Raj Bhavans across the country and even the Rashtrapati Bhavan being under the purview of this law, enacted to ensure transparency and accountability in governance.

Governor Pillai has done the right thing and it will send a powerful message on the need of a citizen-centric approach of transparency, openness and accountability in governance. It is in the best interests of our democratic principles and the Constitutional mandate of the RTI Act. Thank-you, Governor Sreedharan Pillai!

— Aires Rodrigues, Ribandar

CHRISTIANS NOT IMPRESSED!

MOST BJP leaders have termed the recent meeting of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with Pope Francis at the Vatican as a most historic one. They have also claimed that this historic meet has finally shown that the BJP is not at all communal but a most secular party from India.

However, I disagree with the claims. The  BJP leaders are currently looking at the recent Pope Francis-Prime Minister Modi meeting purely as a political ploy to influence Christian voters ahead of the Manipur and Goa assembly elections next year – the two states with 41.2 per cent and 25.1 per cent Christian population, respectively.

There is also the hope of using the Pope as a tool to prop-up its sagging fortunes in the poll-bound states and also to strengthen its base in Kerala (18.38 per cent Christian population) where some Church leaders are hand-in-glove in their own self-interest and survival.

Today, the whole world knows that the BJP has spared no efforts and even supported attacks and hate speeches against  Christians in the last couple of years in India. Several states have enacted anti-conversion laws which are in violation of the Constitution. Recently, the BJP government in Karnataka initiated an unconstitutional survey of Christian places of worship.  

I, therefore, personally feel that our opportunist self-publicity seeking Prime Minister Narendra Modi, should first tell all State BJP governments to stop harassing the Christian community on flimsy reasons, get the anti-social elements of all the right wing organizations arrested immediately under the sedition law, for instigating our peace-loving Hindu community by spreading fabricated, anti-minority lies. Nobody is buying the Pope Francis meeting and photo-sessions to woo Christian voters in India! The time for cheap gimmicks abroad are over.

I think Christians know which political parties are secular and which are rabidly communal in India. So, please spare us fake  artificial acting skills whilst touring the world. Leave us alone and allow us to live in peace as civilised citizens of this country. Long live secular India, Jai Hind!

— Jerry Fernandes, Saligao

JOIN GOA TRINAMOOL CONGRESS!

THIS is to inform your readers that the Goa TGrinamool congress launched its flagship online membership drive on Nov 11, 2021 to invite Goans from all walks of life to join forces to usher in a new dawn in Goa.

A state-of-the-art website https://aitcofficial.org/joingoatmc/ is already launched where anyone interested may register through their phone number, fill in personal details and download the Party ID card. Members may also refer their friends and family to join Goa TMC.

–Hardeep Dugal, I-PAC, Goa