Retrograde step
That 40-year-old Sunil Chhetri has been “coaxed” out of retirement by Indian football team’s head coach Manolo Marquez to join the team for the AFC Asian Cup 2027 qualifiers is a tribute to the great footballer’s prowess but does not reflect well on the overall Indian football scenario. The Santosh Trophy, which once evoked a passing interest, has almost no takers even among some media correspondents. One cannot say that Indian football lacked the “head turners.”. Far from it, but football is an 11-member team game where individual brilliance is next to nothing. That said, Indian football had its moments of glory when it qualified for the FIFA World Cup way back in 1950. The legendary Syed Abdul Rahim was a classy player who carried the Indian football team to the victory podium in the 1951 Asian Games. The advent of the Indian Super League in India in 2013 has helped the domestic players learn from big international names.
Ganapathi Bhat, Akola
Skilling workforce
To help provide job opportunities to locals, the Goa government has made it compulsory for private companies to advertise vacancies in local newspapers. Many private companies with units in industrial estates like Verna, Sancoale, Kundaim, Khorlim, Tivim, Pilerne, etc., hire staff from neighbouring states. The main issue is getting skilled workers, as the companies don’t want to spend on training the staff. Many workers from Karwar, Belagavi, and other parts of neighbouring states work here after getting trained for one or two years in their areas. Jobs in Goa are mostly in industrial estates in the pharmaceutical sector, where workers are required in packaging, quality control, etc. Workers from neighbouring states are ready to work in any field and learn the work and get better jobs in the same field after getting experience. The Goa government needs to ask private companies to train the workforce and absorb them after training. Every year several students pass out from the university and look for job opportunities. They should be provided training by inviting applications. The government also made experience certificates compulsory to get jobs along with merit. Thus, it’s time to train the young.
Raju Ramamurthy, Vasco
Reach out to needy
As we began the season of Lent with Ash Wednesday on March 5, we are called to participate and involve ourselves and give our sincere contribution in building God’s Holy Church by our active involvement and sincere contribution by participating in various social and pastoral organisations. We have to practice the role of being Pilgrims of Hope and Messengers of Peace and Justice by reaching out to the brokenhearted, the poor, and the needy and empowering those who need our care and care and people who are suffering from loneliness, brokenheartedness, and separation from their loved ones. Rebuilding God’s Church means strengthening ourselves and others at the time of loneliness and suffering. In this season of Lent, we have to help and empower people who are in pain and suffering and are struggling for a hope of living and are searching for a true path of life. As Pilgrims of Hope, we have to help the uneducated, the unemployed, and those who are affected with different sorts of addictions.
Cajetan Peter D’Souza, Mumbai
Trump one-upmanship
Europe is at a critical turning point in its history. The American shield is crumbling, Ukraine has been cast aside, and Putin has strengthened. Washington has become the court of Nero, an unhinged despot, submissive yes men, and a know-it-all jester in charge of purging the civil services, the judiciary, and all right-thinking administrative officials. This is a tragedy for the free world, but it is first and foremost a tragedy for the United States. Trump’s unequivocal message is that there is no point in being his ally since he will not defend you; he will impose more tariffs on you than on his enemies and will threaten to annex your land while supporting the authoritarians who invade you. Never in history has a President of the United States buckled before the enemy; never has anyone supported an aggressor against an ally. Never has anyone trashed the American Constitution, issued so many illegal decrees, sacked judges who could have prevented him from doing so, dismissed senior military staff in one fell swoop, weakened all checks and balances, and taken control of social media. What we are watching in real time is the confiscation of democracy, which anyway was on its last legs. There are many despots who would follow Trump’s example; humanity must brace itself for a ‘grave’ new world. The future looks bleak.
Vinay Dwivedi, Benaulim
