Make some noise

Sir — Technology has brought significant changes to our lives. Every day seems to herald the arrival of a new model of electric vehicle, which claims to be both eco-friendly and comparatively less noisy. The CEO of Ola Electric, Bhavish Aggarwal, even hopes that India’s two-wheeler market will almost entirely switch over to EVs. However, one cannot help but feel a twinge of nostalgia for the old Bajaj scooters that would often refuse to start, but would still drop us at our destination on time. One yearns for the raucous noise of an ancient M80 — perhaps manufacturers can consider an electronic variant.

Anamitra Ghosh Dastidar, Calcutta

Unjust haste

Sir — Justice Sandeep Kumar of the Patna High Court reprimanded the Bihar police for bulldozing a woman’s house illegally without moving court. He rightly questioned whether the police had been given the power to judge land disputes and, if so, should civil courts be shut down when someone could simply approach the police and pay money to get houses demolished? The Supreme Court needs to take immediate steps to stop this medieval form of justice, which seems to have become a trend in the country.

Jang Bahadur Singh, Jamshedpur

Insecure system

Sir — It is alarming that the largest medical centre in the nation, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences, has suffered a cyberattack. This has not only compromised the data of close to four crore patients but may also have left the medical records of some of the most important people in our nation — current and former ministers and presidents — vulnerable. While the Central government’s ambitious scheme to digitise the medical records of all citizens may make our lives easier, it poses significant risks. The government should learn a lesson from this cyberattack and shore up defences.

Dattaprasad Shirodkar, Mumbai

Sir — The cyberattack on AIIMS is a wake-up call. Considering the growing instances of cybercrime in the country, hgher budgets need to be allocated to strengthen police cyber cells. There is an army of trained professionals whose services could be utilised for this.

Abhijit Roy, Jamshedpur

Neglected lot

Sir — The editorial, “Mixed card” (Dec 6), pointed out that the maternal mortality rate is much lower in Jharkhand than in West Bengal and underlined the possible causes for this. The chief minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, recently held doctors responsible for the death of pregnant women, blaming repeated referrals to hospitals in the city for it. But the super specialty hospitals and suswasthya kendras that have opened throughout the state are ineffective. The state government must take corrective steps and ensure that these facilities are properly staffed and utilised. Basudeb Dutta, Nadia Wrong location „Sir — The Rs 75,000-crore project to develop the Great Nicobar Island will be both strategically important and beneficial to tourism. But the Centre should keep ecological impediments in mind while compensating for the deforestation on the island elsewhere (“Strange logic”, Dec 5). Afforestation in Haryana to cover for the tree-felling at GNI is a strange move that defies logic.

K. Nehru Patnaik, Visakhapatnam

Messi magic

Sir — Lionel Messi has been in sublime form in the current edition of the Fifa World Cup. The Argentine has scored goals against every team that he has faced so far, except Poland. Millions of fans are waiting to see if their idol can bring home the coveted trophy.

Ranganathan Sivakumar, Chennai