Lucky dog
Sir — Humans may scoff at leading a dog’s life. But would that be such a bad thing? This can be delineated by two recent incidents in China. Zhang, a worker at a chemical company for 20 years, was fired from his job after getting caught sleeping in the office after he had worked till midnight the day before. Similarly, Fuzai, a police dog, was deprived of his year-end bonus for falling asleep on the job and urinating in his food bowl. Like the rest of us, a tiny slip-up on the job can lead to heavy penalties, even for a dog: his treats were thus confiscated. However, after a wave of public sympathy for Fuzai, the officers were forced to compensate him with lavish gifts and acknowledge his hard work. Perhaps humans would like to be blessed with Fuzai’s stroke of luck.
Namrata Dutta, Mumbai
New threat
Sir — After Covid-19 and the Human Metapneumovirus, the outbreak of Guillain-Barré Syndrome in Pune has caused concern among the medical fraternity (“Rare nerve disorder linked to infection”, Jan 26). GBS is a rare neurological disorder that affects the peripheral nervous system.
Doctors have attributed the cause of GBS to Campylobacter, a bacterial infection typically contracted through contaminated water and food. The number of GBS cases has crossed 100 in Pune and it has already led to one death. This is alarming. The authorities should be on alert to check the outbreak and provide cheap medical treatment to the public.
A.K. Chakraborty, Guwahati
Sir — The GBS has emerged as a serious threat. The health expenditure of the country needs an immediate review considering the potency of this life-threatening autoimmune neurological disorder. People should be cautious and follow protocols to circumvent the spread of infection. The government should take steps to raise awareness about HMPV and GBS to avoid an unprecedented health crisis.
Kirti Wadhawan, Kanpur
Thaw in ties
Sir — The resumption of the Kailash Mansarovar Yatra and direct flights between India and China comes as welcome news (“India, China nod to Kailash Yatra, direct flights”, Jan 28). The cold ties between the two countries in the past few years have severely impacted their economies and tourism. The Kailash Mansarovar Yatra remained suspended for five long years.
It is heartening that both nations have finally realised that dialogue is the only way to have better bilateral ties. Steady bilateral communication will also lead to the resumption of cooperation regarding hydrological data and transborder rivers.
Jayanta Datta, Hooghly
Tech storm
Sir — The Chinese Artificial Intelligence firm, DeepSeek, has taken the world of technology by storm with its cutting-edge and low-cost AI model (“DeepSeek set to disrupt AI arena”, Jan 28). The Chinese company has managed to train a foundational model to get results similar to those achieved by its American rivals, such as ChatGPT and Meta’s Llama, but at much lower costs and using far fewer chips. Expectedly, this has set off a dramatic collapse of the shares of the American graphic chip-maker, Nvidia.
With cheaper Chinese models threatening to upend the economics of the AI revolution, the demand for specialised hardware to train AI models will now taper off. India needs to do more to position itself as a force to reckon with in this field.
M. Jeyaram, Sholavandan, Tamil Nadu
Sir — The open-source and low-cost powerful AI models of DeepSeek are not only challenging OpenAI, Google, and Meta but also shaping a new direction in the AI world. For India, this is both an opportunity and a challenge.
DeepSeek’s affordable models present a golden opportunity for technology startups, giving a fresh boost to initiatives like Digital India and Atmanirbhar Bharat. Now is the time for India to strengthen its technological prowess. The government and the private sector must collaborate to develop indigenous AI models.
R.K. Jain, Barwani, Madhya Pradesh
Hollow words
Sir — Chandrima S. Bhattacharya must be lauded for penning the article, “When words fail” (Jan 24), in which she reflected on the so-called messages of comfort heaped on a person who is grieving. In this context, I would say that while a namaskar icon or the abbreviation, R.I.P., in response to social media posts revolving around the death of a person is hardly objectionable, responses like social media ‘Likes’ get my goat.
Kajal Chatterjee, Calcutta
Worthy recipient
Sir — Jasprit Bumrah, the Indian pace bowler, has been honoured with the prestigious Sir Garfield Sobers Award for the International Cricket Council’s Men’s Cricketer of the Year at the ICC Awards. One can hardly think of a better recipient for the honour than Bumrah. His hard work, consistency and ability to improvise have made him a modern legend. His precision, ability to perform under pressure and the skill to read his opponents’ weaknesses make him a master bowler from whom young cricketers can learn a lot.
M. Pradyu, Kannur
Sir — It will not be an exaggeration to say that Jasprit Bumrah is India’s national treasure. Bumrah is only the sixth Indian player and first pace bowler to receive the prestigious ICC Test Cricketer of the Year award after Rahul Dravid, Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag, R. Ashwin and Virat Kohli. Displaying his magic in every major tournament, Bumrah’s sublime control over the ball and his cricketing intelligence make him the most lethal and feared bowler in world cricket today.
Bal Govind, Noida