Dacoity cases
Goa is witnessing a rise in dacoity cases since the last six months. After a dacoity at a house in Dona Paula in April and the following dacoity at a doctor’s house in Mapusa in October, the Vasco dacoity, which occurred on Monday night, is the third such incident in the state. The dacoits entered the flat by breaking grills and attacked the family members with rods, tied them up and fled the scene with gold, silver and cash. The rise in dacoity cases is an alarm for Goans. The attackers are now using rods and wear helmets and masks to keep their identity in dark. Night patrolling is important; police personnel should conduct the same in plain clothes and without using vehicles having sirens. With the main accused in the earlier dacoity cases still at large, the police now have a tough job at hand.
Raju Ramamurthy, Vasco
Vote theft allegations
Bihar assembly elections were held recently and the BJP-led NDA won
the polls with a thumping majority. Once again the ‘vote chori’ or vote theft allegations have surfaced from the opposition parties, especially from Rahul Gandhi, the leader of opposition in Lok Sabha. Every now and then, such baseless charges are levelled against the Election Commission of India (ECI) by Gandhi in the name of atom bomb, hydrogen bomb etc. However, the Bihar poll results have shown that such acts have no effect on the electorate. Renowned author, Anand Ranganathan, has rightly said that Indians are now angry not at Rahul Gandhi, but rather at the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC), “who continues to disrespect Indians by not suing Gandhi”. It is time the poll panel acted against Gandhi so that such baseless allegations are not made in the future.
Praveen N Shanbhag, Chimbel
Unethical practice
It is unfortunate that a South Korean footwear major, after executing an agreement with the Tamil Nadu government to set up a non-leather footwear manufacturing facility in Tirunelveli district at a cost of Rs 1,720 crore, has now decided to move the investment to Andhra Pradesh. It seems Andhra Pradesh has lured the Korean investor with free land and higher subsidies for power and other resources. With the new term sheet from Andhra Pradesh in hand, the firm tried to arm-twist the Tamil Nadu government to match with the package offered by Andhra Pradesh. Sensing the competitive game the firm was trying to play to eke out more benefits, of course, in breach of the agreement already executed, the Tamil Nadu government rightly refused to accede to the firm’s unethical demands. If Andhra Pradesh is guilty of stealing from Tamil Nadu, an investment already inked by the Korean firm, in a clandestine manner, the Korean firm deserves condemnation for breach of trust. As a former senior executive of an international bank, I have had several opportunities to be a part of execution of bi-partite/tri-partite agreements among MNCs and state governments and or banks, but I never came across a reputed foreign entity going back on its commitments after signing the agreements/term sheets. It is good that the Tamil Nadu government has refused to entertain the unethical and two-timer act of the investor. When the firm is ready to violate the terms of agreement with the government, where is the guarantee that it will adhere to its commitments to the vendors, business associates and particularly, the employees? The Tamil Nadu government should claim damages from the investor for breach of trust.
Tharcius S Fernando, Chennai
Hygienic toilets
There could not have been a better theme for the 2025 World Toilet Day on November 19 than ‘We’ll always need the toilet’. Over six hundred million people practice open air defecation even today. Twenty years were added to the lifespan of human beings over two centuries as a direct result of addition of toilets in their houses. Clean toilets, exclusively theirs, is the first safe sanitation requisite for a family. Second, human excreta should not be allowed to come in contact with others. Third, human waste should be safely disposed of without coming, or remaining, in contact with soil and water. In brief, human waste has to be contained, transported, treated and disposed of safely. Mere sanitation is not enough; safe sanitation is required to keep the society free of disease. Toilets should be properly constructed, and methods like filtration, landfills, recycling and ecology-based sanitation are practised across the globe. On world toilet day, the aim is to create public awareness on wastewater treatment, faecal sludge management, solid waste management and storm water management.
Ganapathi Bhat, Akola
