Second chance
Sir — The Men in Blue may have come out second best in the World Cup final but there is no denying the fact that India dominated their rivals in the course of the entire tournament. One poor outing should not cost a consistent team its coveted prize. Perhaps the World Cup should have a best of three final format, something that is not unprecedented in cricket. The Benson & Hedges World Series Cup, which was later called the Triseries in Australia, is a case in point. This would be a fairer way of ascertaining the best side in a particular edition of the competition. Spectators, advertisers and broadcasters surely wouldn’t mind the World Cup lasting for a few more days.
Arjun Roy, Jalpaiguri
In the dark
Sir — Although the 41 labourers trapped in the collapsed Uttarkashi tunnel are being provided with food and medicines through a thin compressor pipeline, more than 10 days have passed without any certainty about when they would be rescued. Attempts to drill through the rubble have been ineffective. A long period of being trapped inside the tunnel can cause tremendous psychological damage to the workers (“Trauma time-bomb ticks away inside tunnel”, Nov 21).
Engineers have claimed that the tunnel was drilled without adequate investigations and by flouting safety protocols, resulting in the collapse. This incident must be investigated and those responsible for it charged with negligence.
Sujit De, Calcutta
Fiery disaster
Sir — More than 40 mechanised boats were gutted when a massive fire broke out in a fishing harbour in Visakhapatnam. The fire erupted at around midnight in one of the boats harboured at a jetty, triggering an explosion of the diesel engine. The police, along with six fire tenders, were able to extinguish the flames. No casualties have been reported yet.
Although the harbour has an annual turnover of some Rs 9,000 crore and nearly one lakh people visit it on weekends, it lacks proper firefighting facilities and does not have any fire engine on the premises. It is important for public places to have ample precautionary measures.
Dimple Wadhawan, Kanpur
Common fate
Sir — The Valmikis in India and those from the community who converted to Christianity in Pakistan grapple with challenges that hinder education, employment opportunities and political representation (“Shared trauma”, Nov 20). Religious persecution and economic marginalisation trap members of this community in exploitative, menial jobs. Overcoming these issues demands a multipronged strategy. Targeted affirmative action that focuses on social welfare, along with skill development and vocational training, can provide this community with better job opportunities.
Amarjeet Kumar, Hazaribagh
Tragic path
Sir — Tragedies are used as tools by political parties to instigate voters against rival politicians (“BJP leaders face bad road fury”, Nov 20). A 25-year-old housewife in Malda died on the way to a hospital five kilometres away from her house. Because of the terrible condition of the road, transportation was scarce and the woman was being carried on a makeshift cot. While the local Trinamul Congress leaders have blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party parliamentarian from the area, it is surprising that the chief minister’s welfare schemes like Didi ke Bolo or Duare Sarkar have not reached people in this pocket.
Jahar Saha, Calcutta
Fake optimism
Sir — The Union ministers, G. Kishan Reddy and Gajendra Singh Shekhawat, the deputy chief minister of Maharashtra, Devendra Fadnavis, and the businessman, Gautam Adani, were among those who took to X (formerly Twitter) to claim that the Indian economy has touched the $4 trillion mark. There is no evidence to substantiate this claim — in fact, several experts have rubbished it. This is nothing but fake news aimed at grabbing headlines.
Bhagwan Thadani, Mumbai
Resource wasted
Sir — The Union minister for education, Dharmendra Pradhan, has stated that knowledge of the vedas will help us move towards social justice, women’s empowerment and women-led development. The education ministry has also set aside Rs 100 crore for projects aimed at introducing the vedas and Indian languages into the school-level curriculum. This is a classic example of wasting money on unnecessary things.
Avinash Godboley, Dewas, Madhya Pradesh
Memory loss
Sir — It is disheartening that Kapil Dev, the captain of the Indian team that won the 1983 World Cup, was excluded from the list of guests invited by the Board of Control for Cricket in India to the World Cup final in Ahmedabad. Perhaps Dev’s opinion about institutional inaction against Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh, the former chief of the Wrestling Federation of India, had led to this sidelining. Politics should not be allowed to interfere in sporting matters.
Sebastian Kujur, Siliguri
Sir — Kapil Dev is one of the greatest cricketers to come out of India and the captain who led the country to its maiden one-day international World Cup title in 1983. It is thus most unfortunate that the BCCI did not invite him to the World Cup final. Dev has graciously said that the BCCI must have forgotten to invite him and praised the Indian team for its performance in the tournament. But how can the BCCI forget a cricketer of Dev’s stature?
Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee, Faridabad
