Manohar Parrikar - a financial burden and NPA (Non performing Asset) to the ex-chequer. -- By Nisser Dias

The ailing chief minister Manohar Parrikar made most of the Goans think that he is all about morals, ethics, above the begging bowl et al but very few had seen through the mind of this wolf in sheep’s clothing.

We also knew that his mind was not simple as he wanted us to believe, simply put his thought process and his ways of attire were poles apart. That some intelligent personalities seeing his dress code gave him the tag of a simple man and they were way off the mark.

Manohar Parrikar is the most power hungry chief minister Goa has ever experienced. We have seen arrogant chief ministers like Pratapsing Rane and Luizinho Faleiro, we have seen corrupt chief minister like Ravi Naik, we have experienced the most inefficient chief ministers in Laxmikant Parsekar and Digambar Kamat, but the Parrikar is all rolled in one and more – he is dictatorial, arrogant and despotic.

So much so that even being terminally ill he does not want to pass the baton to a young colleague but sadistically wants to inflict a deathly blow on Goa and Goans by paralysing the administration which it is most despicable.

Rajan Ghate on indefinite
hunger strike demanding
CM's resignation

In all these years we have not heard about individuals resorting to indefinite hunger strike to urge his to step down from office. We have not heard about protest marches demanding the resignation of chief minister but here we have to resort to non-violence movement to make the defunct Manohar Parrikar listen.

Lots of video clips on social media of the Parrikar giving moralistic interviews and talks about when politicians should make way for youngsters are moving around in cyberspace and also when he would quit politics and power. For most of 2018 he has been weakly batting for his life but is not leaving the crease of power.

How power hungry can this man be? Of course his mis-rule as chief minister from 2012 had earned him a nickname as the U-turn CM and along with it he had lost sympathy but his clinging to power from his bed has stripped him of every ounce of respect and pity he had from the people as along with himself he has put the administration of Goa into Intensive Care Unit.

Goans demanding CM Parrikar steps down from
office

One can understand that the exchequer can pay upto to a certain limit for the well-being of their elected representatives however it cannot be limitless so much so that quite a chuck of tax collected from the hardworking Goans is being used for Parrikar’s maintenance.

The saddest part is that such treatment would never be made available for the common-man. In fact the common man sometimes does not get the basic medicines for which they contribute and many a times influence have to be used for government medical doctors to even examine or attend to patients.

The people have a right to know if not the status of Parrikar’s health at least how poorer the ex-chequer has become with his illness. We have to set a certain limit of how much of tax payers money can be used to maintain the health of elected representatives.

God forbid if in his place a member of another party had contracted terminal illness and was continuing as chief minister, Manohar Parrikar would have brought hell on earth and have the government turned upside down and ruthless as he is would have even cast aspersion on the family itself for using public money.

Administration Paralysis

His ministers, party colleagues have now and again been demanding that he steps down not only on health grounds but also because Manohar Parrikar is no longer in-disposable to the government or the BJP party but has become a huge liability to the Goan tax-payer.

In the history of Goa a social activist Rajan Ghate also had to resort to indefinite hunger strike to make people aware that there is total paralysis of administration and breakdown in law and order and the imported and laced ministers in his cabinet are making merry.

There is talk that chief minister Manohar Parrikar want his statue erected in the state of Goa and his supporters will surely demand it but they can be assured that there will be a huge opposition to it and all the dirt that is stock-piled in cyberspace and on the internet will be handy ammunition. Manohar Parrikar will also go down in history as the 4 times CM who never completed his term even once, though he had the opportunity to do so. He will be remembered for all the U-turns, he will be remembered for not being to solve the garbage lying our highways and roads which he has been promising to solve December 19, year after year. He name will commit to memory how he did not spare the students and curtailed their annual vacations. Can we forget how he mishandled the rape of a student in a school in Vasco?

Goa and Goans being gangraped

The list of his mis-rule and mis-deeds can fill reels of paper, how Manohar Parrikar’s decisions were taken not in the interest of Goa and Goans but in the interest of BJP to make himself a hero.

Unlike yester years the real facts of how he stuck to his chair even when he could not perform the duties he swore on the Constitution of India, his integrity as a guardian of the State’s treasury has been proved hollow as Goans are paying through their nose for the treatment to keep his heartless heart beating.

After almost nine months of pumping precious money to nurse him back to health has failed even after incisive treatment in New York, Manohar Parrikar has become a financial burden and NPA (Non performing Asset) to the ex-chequer as a chief minister. It is utter shameful and disgraceful of him to remain in power. And to realize that some called him educated and intelligent. An educated and an intelligent man or woman would never try to destroy their State or people but only cruel dictators in the likes Hitler, Salazar and Goa’s chief minister Manohar Parrikar is instintively following their footsteps. All tyrannical, autocratic rulers have the same mind set.

Even if Parrikar resigns now, it will not be considered graceful and it will go down in history as he was forced to step down. It required like minded people and social activists to take a morcha to his residence urging him to step down.

Shame on you Manohar Parrikar.

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.”