Forever young

Sir — Even though age is just a number, most of us remain obsessed with the idea of youth. Chasing the fountain of youth, both fiction and real life have shown us, is mostly an exercise in futility. But not anymore, at least for South Korea. The country’s lawmakers have approved a law that would make its citizens a year or two younger. The measure is meant to revise the old system that counted newborns as a year old. Getting younger, though, has its downsides. By virtue of the new calculation, those nearing retirement will now have to work longer years and teenagers who had turned adults recently will go back to being underage.

Ritabati Saha, Calcutta

Clear bias

Sir — On his very first day as chairman of the Rajya Sabha, the vice-president, Jagdeep Dhankhar, has stoked controversy. He attacked the collegium system and chided the Supreme Court for disregarding people’s mandate by scrapping the Centre’s proposal of a National Judicial Appointments Commission. When Rule 267 — this provides for the suspension of listed business to debate a subject in the upper chamber — was invoked to discuss the ongoing border crisis between Maharashtra and Karnataka, Dhankhar said a justification must be provided for doing so, adding another layer of bureaucratic impediment. He also rejected India’s poor ranking on the Global Hunger Index, raising doubts about the methodology used and the vested interests of the researchers (“RS boss on hunger index query: Don’t be captive”, Dec 10). These were unnecessary remarks. Openly siding with the views of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Central government belies the constitutional neutrality of Dhankhar’s position.

S. Kamat, Alto Santa Cruz, Goa

Sir — Jagdeep Dhankhar behaved like a true party ideologue when he dismissed India’s deteriorating performance on the GHI. India ranked 107 out of 121 countries and fared worse than most countries in South Asia. The Union food minister, Piyush Goyal, even claimed that two of the four indicators for GHI, child stunting and wasting, have no relevance for India. It is unfortunate that the government is peddling lies about India’s efforts to mitigate hunger.

Jahar Saha, Calcutta

Sir — The vice-president’s argument for dismissing the GHI findings, citing low credibility, must be equally applied to other global reports which reflect India’s improving performance, such as the Ease of Doing Business Index. In spite of there being allegations of rigging, the report, which is prepared by the World Bank, has been used by the ruling regime as proof of India’s growing economic clout.

Anthony Henriques, Mumbai

Sir — As the governor of West Bengal, Jagdeep Dhankhar waged a stiff battle with the Mamata Banerjee-led dispensation. This greatly affected governance. Dhankhar should see to it that he maintains a neutral stance as the chairman of the Rajya Sabha.

Mugdha Jain, Chandigarh

Costly campaign

Sir — The prime minister, Narendra Modi, held an unprecedented 50-kilometre roadshow in Gujarat while canvassing for votes for the assembly elections (“Heard: Why is Modi toiling?” Dec 5). The fact that he spends so much time campaigning for regional elections shows that the saffron party has no option but to bank on Modi’s popularity for votes. However, the arrangements made for Modi’s security and other requirements during the campaigns cost the State exchequer dearly. At a time when the country is reeling under an economic crisis and rising unemployment, Modi and his party are only concerned with winning elections.

Anju Bansal, Calcutta

Act now

Sir — A campaign by the United Nations to raise awareness against gender violence concluded recently. Studies show that three out of 10 women in Southeast Asia experience violence. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 5 envisions eliminating all forms of violence against women and girls as integral to achieving gender parity by 2030. But rising atrocities against women continue to keep the target elusive. Countries must come together to increase investment and build robust redressal mechanisms to ensure the well-being of women.

Vijay Singh Adhikari, Nainital

Smell the leak

Sir — It is unfortunate that seven people were killed and 52 severely injured after a leak in a cooking gas cylinder caused it to explode at a wedding ceremony in Jodhpur. Industrial areas usually have gas leak detectors. Such safety devices should be replicated in LPG cylinders to minimise chances of accidents.

Ashok Kumar Ghosh, Calcutta

Minnows win

Sir — It was heartbreaking to see Brazil lose to Croatia in the quarterfinal of the Fifa World Cup. But the manner in which the Croats triumphed over one of the tournament’s favourites must be commended (“Croatia come back from dead to knock out Brazil”, Dec 10). They held the opponent to a draw until the last moment and then defeated them 4-2 in the penalty shootouts. In another quarterfinal match, Argentina registered a decisive victory against the Netherlands. ThisWorld Cup has been made exciting owing to such ‘upsets’, where minnows have come out as winners.

Amit Brahmo, Calcutta

Sir — Calcuttans have been left heartbroken by Brazil’s ouster from the World Cup. But they were simply outclassed by Croatia. However, one hopes Croatia manages to lift the Cup this time.

Sudhir Maity, Calcutta