Raje’s Rajasthan; Dealing Disasters; Green Oceans
Opinion Watch
Raje’s Rajasthan
The Asian Age has in its Editorial sought to read sub-plots in the decision of the BJP to keep former Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje out of key poll panels, arguing that “she may have been sidelined after possible brushes with those in the topmost echelons of the party”. “While rumours about her being in a secret pact with the Congress CM (Ashok Gehlot) are to be dismissed as typically engendered by local politics, her importance in the scheme of things at a crucial juncture is not to be underestimated,” opined the New Delhi-based daily.
Raje nursed the BJP in Rajasthan, and she undeniably is the only leader in the state with appeal across regions. The BJP’s bid to find alternative leadership is at least five years old, which has pace of a snail in the state.
Dealing Disasters
The Tribune in its Editorial has sought to offer evidence-based counter arguments against Centre’s claims of India’s approach towards disasters being no longer relief-centric and reactionary but based on early warning systems, optimum utilisation of mitigation funds and strengthening of the agencies concerned at the national, state and district levels by citing instances of devastation in Himachal Pradesh and Punjab. The Chandigarh-based daily said that the Centre this year had announced major schemes for disaster management across the country, including a Rs 2,500-crore project to reduce the risk of urban flooding in seven top cities and a Rs 825-crore national landslide risk mitigation project.
Flouting of construction (buildings, roads and highways) norms creates so many holes that no amount of funds will be sufficient to stall the rampaging wrath of the nature, and the remedy may lie in undoing the unchecked follies of steamrolling environmental concerns.
Green Oceans
Deccan Herald in its Editorial, while quoting a report of the magazine Nature, said that oceans are turning green – 58 per cent already gone green in last 20 years, which may cripple their capacity to absorb carbon and heat. The Bengaluru-based daily further said that change took place because of global warming, quoting scientists’ conclusion of “frightening and red signal”.
Raging fire in America, floods in Asia, and droughts elsewhere loudly tell tales of men speedily making climate change a reality. Yet, the nations are still busy with tug of war on financing of climate change mitigation efforts.
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