BEAT THE HEAT: UK citizens and particularly those living in London are jumping into public fountains for some relief from the blistering heat. This is a dramatic change in a country when in winter the temperature goes down to -30 and you cannot see the sun for eight months a year.

AND a few stray thoughts for yet another Saturday. For a Saturday following the week when the Indian rupee dropped to its lowest level since Independence. For a Saturday following the week when the Indian economy has come down to such a bad state that GST has been imposed on atta. For a Saturday following the week when the Supreme Court bench which has lashed out at Nupur Sharma for her comments on Prophet Muhamad seems to have softened its stand. For a Saturday following the week when it is senior police officers who have now become the victims of the Modi government. For a Saturday following the week when I discovered that in the GMC unlike in other hospitals, Sodexo only does the distribution of the food to patients — but the kitchen is under the control of Health Minister Vishwajit Rane.
AND a few stray thoughts on the Indian rupee which dropped to its lowest level since Independence. On Tuesday, July 19, 2022 if you were lucky enough to be a citizen of the United States you could get as much as Rs80 per doller. Conversely, if you are unfortunate enough to be born in India, you will have to pay more if you order anything from Amazon or any other US online shopping center.
But more seriously businessmen who export their products will benefit while those who import raw materials will have to pay more. Students who have already paid their fees for studying in United States will have their pockets pinched even more. Since the Ukraine war started over the last 815 days the value of the Indian rupee has fallen from Rs75 to the dollar to Rs80 currently. The depreciation of the rupee is also due to the sharp increase in the rates of central banks in the United States and in the UK. The RBI has reportedly spent over US$50 billion in defending the rupee.
India’s reserves have fallen from a peak of 642 billion to 580 billion. This is the same economy which has the largest number of billionaires who want to become trillionaires. Indeed, Narendra Modi the PM, boasts of converting India into a trillion dollar economy. The only time the rupee was in such a bad shape was when Manmohan Singh, the then Congress PM had to devalue the rupee.
For those who are not familiar with the working of economics this means that with the devaluation the value of the rupee has fallen. A sale of Rs100 which used to buy you ten liters of petrol will now get you only one liter. Historically, the value of the rupee has always been lower with that of the dollar and the pound.
I had a very unique experience when the British pound was devalued and I was on a holiday in London. Which meant that the miserable 500 pounds which the government used to ration out those days was worth much less to me than when I bought it. It was Margaret Thatcher who devalued the pound because of the sinking British economy.
Interestingly, the leader in the race to become the next British PM is Rishi Sonak, who is married to the daughter of Sudha and Narayan Murthy, the founders of Infosys.
At the rate at which the rupee is tumbling down we should not be surprised if Narendra Modi is forced to devalue the rupee. Through the back door by increasing the GST on goods of mass consumption like milk, curd, pulses and edible oil; the BJP government as already cut your pocket. So may be PM Modi should be called the pickpocket of India.

POLLUTION GROWS
AND a few stray thoughts on the dramatic changes in climate worldwide due to pollution. While we in Goa are shivering because of continuous rain fall the people in the United Kingdom are witnessing a heat wave with the temperature rising to over 40 degrees C. It is a case of UK bheja fry. In normal times the temperature in the UK is below 10 and very often in winter it is -10 to -20 degree. I have personally experienced the bitter cold and turned down a job offer some years ago because in UK may not see the sun for as much as 10 months in a year.
The reason why all the charter tourists come rushing to Goa between October and March is to escape the biting, bitter cold in the UK. In the UK everyone has some kind of room heaters around instead of air-conditioners as is the case with us in tropical India. If you are a paying guest in London there will be only a normal heater around in the house and you will have to pay according to the amount of heat you use and how much more you willing to pay.
As many as 29 places in UK have recording the beaches of over 38%. The increase in temperature has led with the grass catching fire. It is not only UK which is suffering from a heat wave. Other traditionally cold countries like France Spain and Portugal have witness 750 deaths due to heat wave. The climate changes have been so drastic that the huge glacier in Antartica are melting faster than ever. This will create floods even as far as Europe.
The primary reasons for the climate change is pollution. The west has historically been blaming India as one of the biggest contributors to climate change. This is because of the mass slaughter of trees particularly in the villages for cooking purposes. Delhi becomes one of the most polluted city in the world due to burning of field stubble. After the harvesting of crops the left behind portions of plants remain in the soil and remain like dried stalks in the soil and this is traditionally set to fire to start the process of planting a new crop anew. Before renewal of planting the stubble has to be removed and the soil prepared again for planting.
Again, in the urban setting, most countries in the world including India are trying to shift over to powered transportation in the form of electric two-wheelers and four-wheelers and the same applies other industrial sectors. Our coal and thermal power generation is also a major contributor to the drastic climate change we are witnessing. Over 40% of India’s power is from thermal generation which means power produced by burning coal.
Goa will be amongst the worst affected states for as much as 36 million tons of coal annually is being planned to be imported from Australia from a coal mine in Christ Church. The coal is being imported by Gautam Adani, one of the ten richest persons in the world and a very close friend of Narendra Modi.
The other major contributor of climate change is the nitrogen gas used in air conditioning equipment. It has been predicted if there are no global efforts to bring down carbon emissions and the average temperature goes 40C plus, plus it will be doomsday for the world and mother earth.
It is matter of pride for us in Goa that one of the major warriors engaged in mitigating the environmental crisis facing the world is Ligia Noronha, she was recently appointed assistant secretary general of the United Nations Environment Council. She is undoubtedly trying her best to safe her home state of Goa from environmental catastrophe.

NUPUR SHARMA
AND a few stray thoughts on when the Supreme Court bench, which had earlier lashed out at Nupur Sharma for her comments on Prophet Muhammad, has now softened its stand on her. Perhaps because of all the criticism from the majority saffron brigade the SC decided that discretion is the better part of wisdom. It may be recalled that the SC had accused Nupur Sharma of contributing towards the hate Muslims campaign going on in some parts of the country courtesy Hindutva organisations. The SC bench had at first demanded that Nupur Sharma should apologize to the entire country for all the havoc her remarks had provoked. Or perhaps it is just a case of trying to strike a balance between judgments on similar cases relating to provocative comments about Muslims in the country.
A bench of the SC recently extended the bail granted to co-founder of Alt News Muhammad Zubair, the fact-checking agency which had made some strong remarks on Nupur Sharma for her ill-conceived comments on the Prophet. Just as some Muslim leaders had filed a series of cases against Nupur Sharma in various parts of the country and we even saw the beheading of a Hindu tailor in Udaipur who praised Nurpur Sharma, there have been cases filed against her in half-a- dozen other states in India.
But unlike in the case of the Alt News co-founder Muhammad Zubair, there are no arrest warrants against Nupur in any part of the country. Admittedly Nupur has received threats to her life from various fanatical fundamental Islamic groups. In the wake of all this the SC had transferred all cases filed against Muhammad Zubair to itself and granted him bail till August 10, 2022; perhaps the SC felt that it should be equally fair to Zubair as Nupur. Both are out on anticipatory bail.
AND a few stray thoughts on whether it is now senior police officers who are becoming the victims of the Narendra Modi government. The latest high powered police officer who is a victim of the Modi government is Sanjay Pande, he has been arrested by the Enforcement Directorate. The Enforcement Directorate deals with cases of tax evasion and money laundering.
Again, for the benefit of those not familiar with the term of money laundering, it does not mean putting dirty notes into a washing machine. Money laundering is the expression used for converting black money into white money. We do not want to encourage money laundering. But every politician in the country and in Goa goes to casinos with bags of cash. They don’t play at the gaming tables in the casinos. They only collect the checks which show they have won large amounts of money in white, which is actually black money converted into white.

GMC’S SODEXO SERVICES
AND a few stray thoughts on when I discovered that in the GMC, unlike in other hospitals, the services provided by giant company Sodexo, does not only mean distribution of food – but that the GMC kitchen is under the control of Health Minister Vishwajit Rane.
Sodexo is an international company based in Italy and it has been acquiring a virtual monopoly in not only preparation but the distribution of food to patients in public and private hospitals; as also performing other housekeeping services.
In the majority of hospitals Sodexo has a control over its own staff including the their own dietitian and cooks who prepare food for various patients as per their needs and status of health and the budget funds allotted to them.
At the GMC I am currently discovering that it is the only hospital where Sodexo has been entrusted only with the distribution of food. Its staff have no control over the kitchen or so I am given to understand. The kitchen and the preparation of food is a corollary to the purchase of large quantities of food grain, vegetables, fruit and other requirements – but this purchasing rights remain the monopoly of Health Minister Vishwajit Rane.
The GMC has its own dieticians but Sodexo has no control over them. The dieticians report to the Dean and the Health Minister. The manager and the majority of the employee of Sodexo are also appointed by the Health Minister. So if you are patient at the GMC, exercise some caution about the food served to you by way of Sodexo meals, they don’t look edible at all!