Taking the phrase ‘clinging to power’ to a new level - By Nisser Dias

We all know that politicians of all hues are power hungry and given our electoral system they repeatedly contest and get elected. But chief minister Manohar Parrikar has taken the phrase ‘clinging to power’ to an absolutely new level. 

He is clinging to power at the cost of his life. Which sane person or with average intelligence would hang on to power when his health was deteriorating rapidly.

Maybe he wants to further deteriorate the financial health of Goa along with his own. Or maybe he wants the exchequer to continue to foot his medical bills. He may enjoy the perks of office but that does not mean he has to take advantage of the situation. Every time he has been the chief minister he has never failed to increase the salaries, perks and allowances of the legislators.

Just as he utterly failed to keep the state finances healthy he seems to have failed to save for himself and now that he is severely ill, continues to seek treatment in top hospitals in India and America at the exchequer’s expense, while the tax-payers find it difficult even to get proper treatment and medicines at the government hospitals.

Ironically the ‘know-it-all’ chief minister of Goa did not know what was happening to his body as he was too busy clinging on to his chair while crushing up-coming or budding leaders and keeping the opposition in fear.

The BJP boasts of having more than Rs.10 billion in their party fund account. Chief minister Parrikar must have surely contributed to this fund. It would be interesting to know how much is his party giving back or contributing to help their ailing member or footing his medical bills?

For months now he is hopping from hospital to hospital leaving the State headless and its administration, financial health in shabbles. He is simply not bothered what has happened to the State or what will happen because of these consequences.

If at all Congress or any other party was ruling the State, Parrikar would have sought the opportunity to go hammer and thongs and would not rest till another legislator was appointed as chief minister.

Because the opposition is disoriented and toothless administrative paralysis continues. Recently one Congress spokesperson demanded the status of chief minister health within 24 hours or they would initiate protests all over the state. 48 hours have passed and nothing has happened. Looks like the Congressmen have chickened out.

Another two ministers are fighting for their lives in top hospitals in Mumbai and America besides the Manohar Parrikar and tax-payers continue to foot their bills too. If at all the chief minister was in the pink of health, he would have stripped them of their portfolios and appointed some else but since he is also in the similar dilemma he lets them continue as ministers in his cabinet thereby letting Goa and Goans suffer.

Chief minister boasts of being a financial wiz, but Comptroller and Auditor General has pointed out that Goa lost Rs. 1400 crores due to mismanagement. The CAG report speaks volumes of his financial expertise. Parrikar should hang his head in shame and should have resigned as being incompetent for having caused such a huge loss to Goa, but brazen as he is, continuous to be the CM.

This is an indication that along with his health he has ruined the financial health of the State. At the same Parrikar should also not forget that his party patriarch L K Advani who he compared to ‘rancid pickle’ is in much better health than he. What goes around comes around.

In conclusion, Manohar Parrikar should immediately step-down on health grounds not only as chief minister but also as an MLA thereby setting a precedent for his ailing ministers to also resign.

But we very well know that he will not do so as he has never kept his promise to his late wife to allow him 10 years in public life. Then he reneged his public statement that 2012 would be his last term in politics and again in 2017 he said that as long as he believes he is fit, he will be in politics.

He himself has admitted that he is suffering from pancreatic ailment – it could much more as there is a veil of secrecy around it. Through his own admission he has confirmed that he is not healthy or fit enough to govern or to be in active politics and should resign or hand over the reins to someone else to nurse Goa’s financial health back to shape.

Scientist in the making, Shawn researches and has ants as pets -- By Nisser Dias

Master Shawn Fernandes

Having dogs, cats, birds, fish as pets is as common as having hobbies like collecting stamps, coins, reading and fishing; even bee-keeping, though rare in Goa is heard of. But keeping ants as pets and collecting various species simply takes it to another level.

While most of us do not give two hoots to stamping and killing ants, 12-year-old, Shawn Flavio Fernandes from Benaulim has developed a unique and rare passion for ants. What commenced as a mere hobby has now taken a scientific bent that involves classifying them, studying their life cycle, the habitats in which specific species thrive, the body systems that keep ants alive and the communication strategies they adopt.

Until recently, Shawn was silently going about gaining knowledge and developing an understanding about ants from the internet or books that he came across. It was in the context of a lesson on Ants that his Standard 7 Science teacher Soraya Menezes chanced to come across his interest in ants. When his science teacher encountered Shawn, she realized here was a student with hidden potential.

His knowledge took her by surprise for a lad his age. She was so overwhelmed with his scientific knowledge of ants that she calls him a young scientist and she encouraged him to delve deeper. This is where Shawn hit the limelight.

Moving down memory lane, Shawn recounts that when six years old, he saw a group of ants of different sizes with wings and thought he had found something special which led him to surf the net to gain further understanding. His passion ignited when he browsed upon an episode on U-tube: ‘How to catch a queen.’ He recalls that he got his first queen on his wardrobe and that’s where it all began. He adds, “The next day I told a boy in school and he told me it was a lucky charm as it was one of the most difficult ant to find, and so I was thrilled. I thought of researching about ants so I initially began to study their social behaviour and slowly got into studying the scientific aspects.”

His research has led him to know that there are about 60 species in Goa that have been classified. He acclaims that each is very unique, just like us humans, the only difference being, they are small and vulnerable.

Shawn claims that his research has made him realize that bees and wasps are the cousins of ants given that they belong to the same order of Hymenoptera, and he is now developing a keen interest in their study too.

The first species of ants he had was Camponotus - ‘carpenter ant’ because of its penchant to excavate wood or the ‘black ant’ in common parlance.

This young myrmecologist (myrmecology is a branch of entomology focusing on the scientific study of ants) says that in the year gone by, his collection of ants died. However this did not deter him, rather he decided not to keep any ants for a while but instead, dedicated his time to reading about ants.

Shawn claims he benefited from the website AntsCanada and the person hosting the site helps in identifying ants. There are other sites where enthusiasts can buy and sell exotic ants; so much so America has prescribed punishment for smuggling ants. This year Shawn thought of keeping them as pets. At the moment he has a collection of 12 different ants some of which have been generously donated to him by his classmates.

From his study, Shawn explains that ants inhabit tropical, sub-tropical as well as cold regions except the Antarctic. Goa having a blend of tropical and sub-tropical climatic conditions with high levels of moisture makes it suitable for a wide range of ant species to thrive.

This 12 year old son of Sandra and Sucorro Fernandes (who are a great support in nurturing his hobby), also threw light on the eating habits of ants. Interestingly, contrary to what we tend to believe, ants do not like sugar in solid form and will never get attracted to crisp dry sugar. When sugar is exposed to moisture they liquefy it for their consumption. He rebutted an old belief that the consumption of ants is good for the eyes, stating that ants contain formic acid used as their stinging agent which is harmful for the eyes.

He clarified that red ants that are generally found on trees do not bite but sting. Shawn enlightened us about an interesting observation - the walking pattern of ants, comparing it to a waltz.

Shawn’s hobby would not have developed into a comprehensive study if not for Ms Soraya Menezes (a science teacher at Loyola High School, Margao), who encouraged and challenged Shawn and provided him with opportunities to put forth his passion and whet his appetite to delve deeper into this subject. Shawn has so far shared his passion with students from St. Sebastian Primary School (ICSE board), Aquem; students of Std. VI to X at his own Loyola High School, Margao; Loyola Higher Secondary (biology stream), Margao and the Department of Zoology, Carmel College for Women, Nuvem.

At these sessions, like a young professor, Shawn took into his stride the questions his audience bombarded him with; explaining to them the defense mechanism of ants; that their stings, being their defense weapons, besides being painful could also paralyze the region for around 5 to 7 hours. He elaborated on their mating pattern and reproductive system. He surprised his audience by emphasizing that ants are hygienic creatures and the students were amused to learn that ants had distinct chambers in their colonies that served as toilets and cemeteries. His versatility in connecting to his audience through his little friends the ‘ants’ and the personal connection he shares with them, which even involves feeding them and cleaning up their mess, is commendable.

His teacher and now a mentor Soraya says, “These sessions have made Shawn realize that there is so much more his little brain needs to grasp about his little friends - the ants. Shawn isn’t a boy who throws challenges away. It has made him browse the internet, get in touch with ant-lovers and broaden his horizon on a topic that most of us couldn’t care less. We wish that Shawn continues developing his scientific temper; this is what our educational system needs to inculcate in our students - divergent thinking and exploration.”