New debate, old ideas

Sir — Few things are more engaging than a good debate. Interestingly, the Oxford Union debating society recently invited an artificial intelligence programme to argue both sides of a debate on its own existence. Experts believe that soon any two people — dead or alive — could be pitted against each other in debate with the help of AI. This can be a fascinating prospect; hearing historical figures debate on issues such as race, gender and so on can be riveting. It may also be fun to watch arch-enemies — say, Nikola Tesla and Thomas Edison — battle it out at the podium. But given that AI is mostly an accumulation of information available in the public domain, one wonders if such debates can throw up new ideas.

Shivani Singh,
Calcutta

Tricky equations

Sir — The pre-poll alliance between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Punjab Lok Congress, the new party of the former Punjab chief minister, Amarinder Singh, will ensure a multi-cornered contest. The fierce quadrangular tussle among the ruling Congress, headed by Navjot Singh Sidhu, the Aam Aadmi Party, the Shiromani Akali Dal and the BJP-PLC combine could yield a fractured mandate. While time will tell how the BJP-PLC coalition fares, it may certainly spoil things for the Congress.

N. Sadhasiva Reddy,
Bangalore

Sir — The BJP has dug its own grave by announcing that it will contest the Punjab assembly elections together with Amarinder Singh’s PLC. Both the BJP and the PLC are living in a fool’s paradise if they believe that they will come to power in the state. The polls may become interesting if farmers’ outfits enter the fray and form alliances with the Congress to defeat the SAD and the AAP.

Bhagwan Thadani,
Mumbai


Suspicious case

Sir — The news that the electronic devices of Rona Wilson, an activist accused in the Bhima Koregaon case, had possibly been infected with the Pegasus spyware makes the National Investigation Agency’s opposition to granting him bail suspicious. (“Pegasus ‘trace’ on Rona phone”, Dec 18). The case against him had been on built the basis of suspected communication with terror groups. But Pegasus would make it easy to plant fake evidence. The NIA needs to explain this.

Anthony Henriques,
Mumbai

Sir — This is not the first time that evidence has been found that Rona Wilson’s electronic devices were tampered with. The Washington Post had earlier disclosed findings by the digital forensics firm, Arsenal Consulting, which showed that Wilson’s computer was compromised. But little came of it. The principle of justice in India is that a person is innocent until proven guilty. The burden of refuting these findings and proving that no incriminating material was planted now falls on the accusers.

Rahul Mathur,
Delhi


Close ties

Sir — Bhutan conferring its highest civilian honour, Order of the Druk Gyalpo, on the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, is a sign of healthy bilateral relations between the neighbours. The Himalayan country is placed at a strategically important location between India and China. Modi has taken care to visit Bhutan and tried to improve its ties with India. The honour is an acknowledgement of these efforts.

D.V.G. Sankararao,
Nellimarla, Andhra Pradesh


Different stance

Sir — The veteran Congressman, Shashi Tharoor, keeps courting controversy. Be it by posing for selfies with colleagues from Parliament or by praising the Pinarayi Vijayan government in Kerala, Tharoor seldom fits in with the rest of his party. His knowledge of the English language has been the cause for much mirth as well as confusion. His controversial stance on the SilverLine project in Kerala has caused quite a stir in the state. Even though the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee president, K. Sudhakaran, has asked Tharoor for an explanation, the leader is unlikely to toe the party line.

K.A. Solaman,
Alappuzha, Kerala


Leading role

Sir — It is fortunate for the Lucknow franchise of the Indian Premier League that it has Gautam Gambhir — a two-time IPL-winning captain — as a mentor (“Gambhir to mentor Lucknow franchise”, Dec 19). The designated head coach, Andy Flower, who helmed Zimbabwe and coached the English side, is likely to make IPL history.

Md. Yousuf Kamal,
Muzaffarpur, Bihar

Sir — Gautam Gambhir has agreed to mentor the Lucknow franchise of the IPL. But Gambhir is also a member of parliament. As such, he must make his financial arrangement with the IPL clear. Neither Parliament nor rules of the Board of Control for Cricket in India allow him to hold more than one office of profit at the same time. As such, his acceptance of the role came as a surprise.

Abhya Vishwakarma,
Calcutta

Costly bite

Sir — When the price of tomatoes touched Rs 100 per kilogramme recently, it made newspaper headlines. But there is little concern about the soaring vegetable prices in Goa. The Bharatiya Janata Party-led government in the state should look into this and provide some relief to the hapless consumers. We have seen how the meteoric hike in fuel prices saw a dramatic reduction just as the poll bugle for the assembly elections was blown. Given the upcoming elections in Goa, perhaps the BJP will do something about the price of produce too.

S. Kamat,
Alto Santa Cruz, Goa