Take fire safety seriously
I am a resident of the Marina Square area in Dubai, and witnessed a fire drill (“Bodies of six fire victims in Al Ain repatriated to Pakistan”, Gulf News, April 15). I got a chance to observe people taking part in it. As usual, a handful of people responded by coming down to the lobby by stairway as elevators are not used during a real fire. The community manager had to face the anger and basic complaints from people, as it was a ‘drill’, meaning it was a false alarm.
But one has to remember that these drills are conducted to save lives in case of a real emergency.
One should not take the fire alarm lightly as you never know when there could be a real fire. If you respond to it the right way you will be safe. We should thank the community for conducting such drills. It’s all for our safety.
From Mr Arvind Dhumale
Dubai
Justice has been served
Finally special investigation team has filed charge sheet against Bishop Franco who has been accused of raping a nun (“Indian bishop charges with raping nun”, Gulf News, April 10). The accused is powerful and we hope the rule of law will take its own course and the court will provide justice for the victim. Despite lot of opposition within the Catholic church, its the victory of the nuns who stood behind the victim and fought for justice. Always there is ray of hope. Now, the Catholic Church should take immediate steps to relieve Bishop Franco Mulakkal from pastoral services and head of Jalandhar diocese. The church should also do justice for the victim. Sexual abuses were worst in Churches in Europe, South America and Latin American countries, and this has resulted in people being driven away from the church.
From Mr Eappen Elias
Dubai
Vote responsibly
There is a lot of talk on Indian news channels and social media about Rahul Gandhi and Narendra Modi (“India’s Election Commission bars Yogi Adityanath and Mayawati from campaigning”, Gulf News, april 15). If we want to play the blame-game we can. However, we have pressing issues at hand. Farmers are committing suicide, unemployment is on the rise, women are still unsafe in India and The economy is suffering. Instead of making a list of where which party went wrong, can we try and form a government that helps India for the next five years? Can we vote for a government that does well for the people? Democracy gives people power, let us exercise this now. People get lazy and think that their vote will not make a difference, which is why a lot of people don’t vote. But I know how important these elections are for India. If you complain about the way things are in the country then you have to exercise your right. I hope the voter turnout is much better this year and we truly bring the change we seek.
From Ms Bharti Sharma
UAE
Will Modi get another term?
The Indian Congress party has ruled India for several decades post-independence. They never did anything to eliminate or mitigate unemployment and poverty. Today, they mislead the common people as if the unemployment and poverty originated only during Narendra Modi’s five-year term. Compared to the 10-year rule of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA), the achievements of the present NDA government is far more remarkable in external affairs, national security, inflation, fiscal deficit, tax collection and infrastructure development. Biggest relief is that there has been no scams and corruption in the last five years unlike in the past. Prime Minister Modi has been proactive and showed political will and courage to take tough decisions despite knowing it would incur the wrath of the public. People of the country will certainly give Modi another chance to take India to greater heights.
From Mr G. Srinivasan
Chennai
Don’t forget the middle classes
This is in reference to the recent election manifesto presented by the Bharatiya Janata Party for the elections. Personally, I am unsure of what to make of the BJP’s latest move. On one hand, I am happy that the ruling government has addressed major Indian problems such as national security, the living conditions of farmers and plans to implement welfare programs, but on the other hand the middle class has been clearly neglected during this campaign. Non-pensioner’s deposit rates continues to rise and life is harder for us now. As a non-pensioner myself, I suffer from rampant inflation and a higher cost of living. Even earlier, non-pensioners are neglected. This is a delicate issue the new government should address without further delay. I do hope the BJP will give more thought to this point in the future.
From Mr K. Ragavan
Bengaluru, India
Liverpool to finally break the title curse?
As the English football season is coming to an end everyone around the world is wondering who will triumph in this season which has seen both Liverpool and Man City football club fight it out for the top spot (“Zen-like Salah silences his critics”, Gulf News”, April 15). Yesterday, was the potential title decider between Liverpool and Chelsea where the Egyptian King Mohammad Salah led Liverpool to victory with possibly the goal of the season. Man City play Tottenham Hotspurs football club where if Spurs come out victorious they would hand Liverpool their first title in almost 18 years. However, if Man City win the title, the race would go down to the last game of the season. Either way, it’s going to be an exciting few last games.
From Mr Wasif Naushad
Sharjah
The spirit of the game
We fully endorse the views of legendary West Indies pace bowler, Curtly Ambrose that both Steve Smith and David Warner of the Australian cricket team should have been punished for at least two years for their ball tampering act. Fearing sterner action by the International Cricket Council (ICC), Cricket Australia jumped in to limit the damage and banned the culprits only for one year, so that they would be free to participate in the World Cup in England. Even if their ban continued for another year, they would not have missed their services, as the present team lead by Aaron Finch is capable of winning the World Cup in England. Anyway, the past is the past. We can only hope that at least in future the ICC and all other cricket boards would not be so lenient and educate their players to play the game in the right spirit.
From Mr N. Viswanathan
India
What others think?
Quiet often, we think so much about the opinions of others that we stop thinking about our own opinions. For every small matter we worry what others will think, if they will like it or not, or, if they will accept us or not.
Somewhere or the other, we are giving up our power and letting others dictate our life. Most often, we spend time proving to others that we are right or we try to change our image. We worry too much about social norms of society and we fear getting rejected. Once we start to understand how to use the comments of others for our growth then, it will become easier to accept them and grow stronger.
Try to focus on the moment and accept yourself for who you are. Do not worry about the ‘could’ and ‘ifs’ of the future. This can make it much easier to stop worrying about anyone judging you.
We should understand that we can’t please and make everyone happy all the time. There will always be people judging you, we need to stay away from them. We need to surround ourselves with people who keep us happy. Life is too short to worry about other people and their opinions.
From Ms Tejal Shah
Dubai
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