THE ECHO of Anna Hazare’s clarion call to the nation has reverberated across India. The time to do something about corruption has arrived. While the world has been silently watching India’s crusade against corruption, we are ashamed to see scam after scam rock the country.

I REMEMBER Arpora as it was more than 20 years ago. It was one of the most beautiful villages in Goa. Paddy fields were green during the monsoon and golden yellow at harvest time. There were trees everywhere. The beautiful Arpora hill looked majestic. Over the years, however, migrants have invaded Arpora because of builders.

AS I read the news about the violence in Miramar, I felt that if choppers and knives were replaced with blazing guns, this act would have been straight from the famous Mario Puzo bestseller, The Godfather.

WITH ALL due respect to Anna Hazare and his team for their relentless effort for such a wonderful cause I would like to place my views before the public. I feel the Jan Lokpal bill is a symptomatic bill. This bill empowers the common man to take action after the crime has been committed. What about stopping the crime itself?

EFFORTS BY our Directorate of Health Services (DHS) to provide us with daily healthy tips are laudable. Yet, one-liners encapsulated in a coffee mug often run the risk of conveying inadequate information. I refer to the health tip provided by the DHS for the 14th instant which reads: “Early use of insulin can add flexibility and good control in the life of a person with diabetes.”

THE FANATICS of BBSM and political parties like the MGP and BJP are currently fighting to give equal official status for Marathi along with Konkani by misguiding Goans on the issue of MOI. Of course, today our tiny Goa might have gone on to become a separate state, but these are the same people who think that it is still an inseparable part of Maharashtra and whose culture and religion is totally dependent on Marathi and the culture of our neighbouring Maharashtrian state.

It is well known that mining in Goa has a very insignificant contribution to the state’s GDP and the profits are not used for the benefits of Goans at large. The profits, in fact, are mainly diverted to ministers at the Centre via their agents in Goa who are also senior ministers in the current Goa government.

THIS IS with reference to various reports appearing in Goa’s dailies that there are 31,759 individuals who have opted for Marathi as the medium of instruction, as against 29,557 for English and 3,145 for Konkani. For the purpose of clarification, Marathi is not the mother tongue of a true Goan. Marathi was forced upon Goa to share space with Konkani as the official language as people at that time ran riot to stamp their authority as true Konkani speaking Goans.

MANOHAR PARRIKAR’S assurance to settle the issue of regularising the houses at Indira Nagar in Chimbel is disgraceful and is that of a desperate CM-in-waiting. Can Goans accept that their land be taken away and given free of cost to outsiders? These acts are worse than prostitution and murder. These areas will only be another breeding ground for slums and crimes to flourish.

FROM prostitutes, drug dealers and underage kids, to drunken people ganging up in horrible brawls, Baga lane is the epicentre of Goa’s worst criminal activity. Many of the bouncers’ here regularly subject tourists to gang style beatings and robberies both inside and outside these clubs. Why these assaults aren’t prosecuted is another question for the anti-corruption movement to investigate.