GOA ZERO-WASTE STATE SOON!
STATE OF THE ART WASTE MANAGEMENT: Chief Minister Dr Pramod Sawant inaugurated a three-day conference organized by the Goa Waste Management Corporation (GWMC) at the Auditorium Hall, Goa State Pollution Control Board, Saligao, on December 6, 2023. The conference was to showcase Goa’s state-of-the-art infrastructure facilities and initiatives in solid and sewage waste management. Delegates from different states shared their experiences too in the challenging task of dealing with all kinds of waste in the country.
In his inaugural address the CM announced the upcoming collaboration between GWMC, Goa Institution of Management, and Goa Institute of Public Administration & Rural Development to establish a Waste Management Institution. Emphasizing the importance of waste management awareness and segregation starting at home, he lauded the realization of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of Swacch Bharat. Others who spoke were Atanasio Monserrate (Minister for Waste Management & Vice Chairman, GWMC), Dr Anil Kakodkar (former chairperson, Atomic Energy Commission of India), Dr Sharad Kale (former scientist, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre), all of whom shared valuable insights on the subject of waste management. Dr Levinson Martins (MD, GWMC) gave the welcome address and other dignitaries present included Mahesh Patil (chairperson, Goa Pollution Control Board), Ramesh Verma (IAS, CEO, Elections), Nivruthi Parsekar (MD, SIDCGL), Vinod Kumar (chairperson, MPT). Sujeet Dongre (Centre for Environment Education) compered the event and Pradeep Sarmukadam (member secretary, Goa Biodiversity Board) proposed the vote of thanks. The three-day conference promised to be a crucial platform to strategize and implement effective solid waste resource management within the respective local bodies and eventually commit to the vision of Goa as a zero-waste state (like Indore in Madhya Pradesh maybe).
ROAD ACCIDENTS GALORE!
IT IS horrifying and ever so distressing that precious human lives in Goa which is India’s smallest State, continue to be snuffed away on a daily basis due to accidents on the roads and streets. This is true of the entire state where only the main roads are kept maintained while the inner roads continue to be perennially in a state of shambles.
The government has done its bit by amending the law to make penalties for reckless driving and other violations of our Motor Vehicles Act substantially hefty, but the accidents continue with precious lives lost and sometimes they are if pedestrians and innocent by-standers. It’s an unacceptable state of infrastructure maintenance.
The government needs to take a holistic view on this very alarming issue and do more and everything possible to make life safe in public. One way would be to make the issue of driving licenses extremely meticulous and stringent. As driving licenses in our neighbouring states and elsewhere in the country are purchasable, the authorities need to work in conjunction with other states to ensure that only truly qualified drivers are allowed to drive their vehicles on the streets, so that this current death trap is a matter of the past.
Regardless of all the efforts by the government, unless each one of us as responsible citizens try to do our bit by careful, defensive driving, in the full knowledge that any violations will be met with the full force of the law who will exercise zero tolerance, innocent people will continue to mercilessly die on the streets.
The road accident scene in Goa is so very scary and a matter of great concern. Let us not reach a stage where we must frantically pray in the morning thanking God for giving us another day and night, for keeping us alive when we negotiate horrible accident-prone roads. Road safety must always be of paramount importance. It must be a way of life and not just an empty slogan!
–Aires Rodrigues, Ribandar
BE ALERT, CYBER CRIMES SOARING!
LOOK what happened with the CEO of a big company in Hyderabad: 16 lakh rupees stolen online from his account. There was no OTP, no call, no online link was sent or opened. The CEO himself is very tech-friendly but there was no way to know how such an amount was stolen. Cyber Crime elite officers were on the case but could not figure out or understand. Invisible hand? Wireless crime?
All the scanning was done from the mobile but no trace was found, only one clue was found from the CCTV footage in his office. It was found that the mobile charger of the CEO was replaced in the office and another USB charger (exactly identical make/model) was placed in its place. Such a sleek operation was done by cleaning staff who works outside office hours.
All his data was copied, his entire mobile banking was hacked and money was smoothly withdrawn from the account. In this modus operandi, the charger is first replaced and a microchip is already installed in that replaced charger and all the data is copied and hacked. And this is very difficult to detect.
So from now on, keep a special eye on chargers and USB cords. Don’t leave them behind in your office. And don’t use someone else’s or charge your mobile in an unknown place. Don’t get enticed by the dangling chargers/free charging in airports/malls/clubs etc. And when you go abroad, never fall a prey to free wifi passwords in malls/restaurants/tourist coaches, etc.
–Cyber Crime Police, shared online
DON’T TALK OF HATE!
41 workers trapped in the Uttarakhand tunnel for three weeks must have experienced terminal despair. Living without a bath, without change of clothes and sinking faith in survival every day.
Engineers, technicians, drilling experts from all over the world tried, tried and tried. They gained a certain quantum of success, but never a final solution to the problem. Drills broke, rocks cracked and attempts failed several times.
Then was pressed into service a team of people skilled in a banned and banished art. They were the rat hole miners. The team was led by a 29-year-old man from Delhi. They are called so because they remove all debris by bare hands and burrow down narrow holes like rats. The one they dug in Uttarakhand was 2.6 feet in diameter. The 29-year-old leader of the team was the first to remove the last rock in the burrow and see 41 trapped men staring at him.
The trapped workers must have felt like watching the Vishwaroopam of Bhagwaan Shri Krishna. The name of this young saviour is Munna Qureshi. He says he and his entire team will not collect a single rupee as charges for their services in saving these men. He says he has earned so much pride by saving the lives of 41 Indians, that the pride will last him for a lifetime. He doesn’t need any money for this work.
If ever life is kind enough to grant you an opportunity of saving somebody’s life, and if the faith or religion of those you save, even once comes to your mind …you are a lesser soul yet to attain the stature of Munna Qureshi. He might be an uneducated, un-groomed rat hole miner, but he represents the godliness in every human. He has sent the whole country thinking. May his tribe grow and may every Indian think like Munna Qureshi! Long live the spirit of Munna Qureshi.
–Rabbi, courtesy WhatsApp post