Stop ‘misuse’ of electricity
In April 2024 the electricity department issued an advisory that if generators and inverters are used without permission and in parallel mode then the consumers would be responsible for damage to the infrastructure and loss of lives and liable to be prosecuted. This is because load sharing and an increase in the power output would result in fatalities. Last year a lineman died in Bicholim due to back-feed of current from an inverter and two months back another staffer was electrocuted in Sattari taluka. Now, as a routine affair, the department has threatened to disconnect the power supply of such consumers and also lack safety measures. It has asked to immediately disconnect power-generating devices and reconnect after isolating them from the internal wiring connected to the department’s main supply. Considering the incident that happened last year, by now the power department should have created an online portal of consumers using generators and inverters in terms of model, installed date, permission availed, power capacity, proper earthing and photographic evidence. If the database has not been created, there is still time to do so. Armed with the information, the department could make surprise checks or make discrete enquires about the consumers. This would avoid recurring casualties to linemen and damage to department’s properties.
Sridhar D Iyer, Caranzalem
Benefits of OCI card
A lot of Goans surrender their passports and move on. Besides the passport office in Goa, many do so at the Indian missions in the world. All are looking for varied opportunities. Some may be also acquiring a foreign passport while continuing to keep the Indian one in breach of the Indian law. This makes no sense, given that an Overseas Citizen of India (OCI) cardholder has virtually all the rights as an Indian citizen except voting rights, unable to contest elections and cannot buy agricultural or plantation properties. The OCI status allows pursuing various specified professions in India. Advocates, architects, chartered accountants, doctors, dentists, nurses and pharmacists are all allowed to pursue their profession. An OCI is also entitled to be appointed on the teaching faculty of IITs, IIMs and central universities. We are living in an age where the world is a global village just like no man is an island. There are no distant places any longer; the world is small, and the world is one. It is encouraging and heart-warming to see that the large Goan diaspora, a vibrant community spread across the world, is still maintaining strong connections with their native land, its language, culture and traditions.
Aires Rodrigues, London
Promoters of war crimes
Fresh off their joint military assault in Iran, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump met in Washington to take a victory lap. But it’s unclear how much closer the two are to achieving a ceasefire deal in Gaza, as Trump pressured Israel to end the 21-month-long war. Interestingly, the most unfortunate development during this meeting was the fact that the Israeli leader, responsible for the murder of tens of thousands of Palestinian men, women and children, nominated Trump for the Nobel Peace Prize. By all means, Trump is all for Israel and Israel is dependent on the US as ever before. In Israel, there is growing demand to end the war. Ultimately, the biggest obstacle to a ceasefire remains Netanyahu himself as prolonged war keeps him in power. His government has been propped up by right-wing warmongers and his corruption trial continues to be delayed on security grounds. The one person, however, who can coerce the Israeli PM into a definitive truce is Trump. The US President should ensure the peace before coveting the prize for it.
Gregory Fernandes, Mumbai
Bengalis targeted
At first, the honest hardworking Bengalis were physically assaulted by the goons and driven out from several BJP-ruled states, compelling them to escape and return to their villages in West Bengal from Rajasthan to Odisha. Thereafter poor Bengalis were being detained in police stations for days in the name of ‘verification’ despite possessing Aadhaar cards and EPIC – both issued by the government of India. Thereafter started deportation of such ‘foreigner’ Bengalis from their very own country to Bangladesh with the ‘lucky’ ones succeeding to return homeland (just because of the intervention of West Bengal government) with many often languishing in ‘no man’s land’. Now, the farce has possibly attained its zenith with even a Bengali, permanently stationed in Cooch Behar district, receiving a notice from Assam government related to the National Register of Citizens and asking him to prove his Indian credentials. Have the Bengalis committed a great ‘sin’ of speaking Bangla as their mother tongue? No wonder why West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee rightly assumes whether a cold-blooded conspiracy has been hatched to erase the identity of the Bengali people in India! The brutal treatment being meted to the innocent Bengalis is highly deplorable.
Kajal Chatterjee, Kolkata
