Sign to speak clearly
Sir — Communication is a vital skill in every professional field. Those who fail to communicate effectively invariably suffer. A farmer in Canada will certainly realise the necessity of clarity in communication after he had to shell out 82,000 Canadian dollars for not fulfilling a contract. When a customer had sent him a contract for delivery of flax seeds, the farmer had simply responded with a thumbs-up emoji, indicating what he believed was the receipt of the contract’s image. However, the customer considered the thumbs-up emoji to be a confirmation of the terms of the contract. When he did not receive the flax seeds on time, he sued the farmer for non-fulfilment of the agreement. Complete sentences using words are still the most effective form of communication.
Ajay Shukla, New Delhi
Firm grip
Sir — Although the results are yet to be declared definitively, it seems that the Trinamul Congress has scored a comprehensive victory and maintained its grip on West Bengal’s panchayat system, barring some pockets of resistance (“Verdict: Didi unchallenged”, July 12).
But the number of seats in which the TMC got a walkover has seen a sharp fall — it won around 9.5% of the seats uncontested this time, whereas this figure was roughly 34% in 2018. The final vote share received by each party may give an idea as to which way the political wind will blow in 2024.
Khokan Das, Calcutta
Sir — The disparaging comments made by the Congress leader, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, about the TMC and its leader, Mamata Banerjee, seem to be a case of sour grapes. It is clear that the Congress-Left Front combine has ceded ground to the Bharatiya Janata Party as the principal Opposition in the state (“BJP edges ahead of Left-Cong”, July 12). The TMC knows how to engage with people at the grassroots. Chowdhury should focus on his own party’s performance.
M.N. Gupta, Hooghly
Sir — Victory in a majority of the seats in the panchayat polls was a foregone conclusion for the TMC in Bengal given its superlative performance in the 2021 legislative assembly elections. Its victory would have been assured even without the violence, which has further alienated those opposed to the TMC.
K.V. Seetharamaiah, Bengaluru
Time’s up
Sir — The Supreme Court’s decision to declare the repeated extensions granted to the head of the Enforcement Directorate, Sanjay Mishra, as illegal is a setback for the Bharatiya Janata Party government at the Centre (“SC scraps ED chief extension as ‘illegal’”, July 12). The apex court had earlier prohibited any further extensions to Mishra’s tenure after November 2021 as his original term had expired in November 2020. However, he has been allowed to continue in his post till July 31 in order to facilitate a smooth transition.
Bhagwan Thadani, Mumbai
Sir — It is inexplicable that the Central government has not been held in contempt of court for violating the Supreme Court’s orders about not granting repeated extensions to the head of the ED. If the Union home minister, Amit Shah, believes that it did not matter who was appointed to the post of the ED chief, then why did he keep extending the term of the same person?
Arun Gupta, Calcutta
Sir — It seems that the Supreme Court is the only institution preventing the country from descending into totalitarianism. Its recent rulings, such as its dismissal of the extension granted to Sanjay Mishra as the head of the ED and the notice issued to the Centre asking it to justify the ordinance on bureaucratic postings in Delhi, are some examples of the manner in which it is carrying out its role of keeping a check on the executive’s unbridled power.
P.K. Sharma, Barnala, Punjab
Not enough
Sir — Although I do not agree with the authors of the article, “Master of none” (July 9), about students pursuing engineering and medical degrees being trained adequately in their existing bachelor’s degree programmes, their concerns about the quality of education imparted in most undergraduate colleges in India are justified. The suggested proposal for a two-year training course prior to an integrated master’s and PhD degree is welcome.
Sukhendu Bhattacharjee, Hooghly
Crucial alliance
Sir — It is encouraging that the president of the United States of America, Joe Biden, and the secretary-general of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, were able to convince the president of Turkey, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, to remove his objection to Sweden’s inclusion into NATO. Heightened tensions among global military powers seem to have become increasingly common, as is evident from the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine’s induction into NATO is the need of the hour.
Jang Bahadur Singh, Jamshedpur
Sporting icon
Sir — It was a delight to witness Novak Djokovic contesting his 100th match at Wimbledon this year. The hallowed central court has witnessed some greats of the game showcase their skills on the grass and now, at the age of 36, Djokovic has got the opportunity to add his name to that list. Young players must take inspiration from his passion, perseverance and discipline in order to excel. They must also remember that irrespective of who wins, each game that a player gets to play is a reward in itself.
Kirti Wadhawan, Kanpur
