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Journalism of Courage
8226; The report by Varghese K. George, 8216;Bihar paradox: worst schools, best kids8217; IE January 18, has rightly pointed out that at a time when the top priority of the HRD ministry8217;s agenda is to stop an IIM from going to Singapore, a national survey shows nearly 60 per cent of the country8217;s schoolchildren cannot read a paragraph with long sentences. The survey conducted by Pratham defines the real picture of basic education in India. It is surprising, as well as worrying, that more than half the nation8217;s schoolgoing children are not able to read a paragraph. The better position in is because of many educational programmes run by the state and central government over the past few years. It is only when the Central and state governments show concern about the dismal educational state that we can achieve results.
8212; M. Mudassir Alam New Delhi
Abuse of power
8226; Coomi Kapoor8217;s 8216;The gun8217;s got a nasty recall8217; IE, January 17 succinctly notes that 8220;few will swallow the line that the law minister and the personnel minister acted on their own.8221; But what is pathetic in all this is that, faced with a fait accompli, the prime minister denies the undeniable, the law minister exercises extra-jurisdiction and the CBI chief who, a day earlier was howling, repudiates his own repudiation!
8212; M.K.D. Prasada Rao Ghaziabad
Hope belied
8226; The day the UPA government took over under S. Manmohan Singh, Indians heaved a sigh of relief that at least the country has got a prime minister whose integrity, intelligence and capability is under no doubt. But, with the passage of time, it has became clear that the actual power is with Congress President Sonia Gandhi, without whose consent nothing can move.
8212; Ashok Jain Mumbai
Nitish8217;s agenda
8226; This refers to Shaibal Gupta8217;s 8216;Rebranding of Bihar8217; January 18. With an image of a sincere politician and long experience in JP socialism, Nitish Kumar stands a good chance of bringing in a renaissance of social justice, while at the same time upholding secularism and democratic functioning. After the indifferent administration and callous exploitation of the Laloo regime, Bihar stands at the lowest level of development. It has been subjected not only to a systematic de-industrialisation but vested political interests have wrecked its administrative institutions.
8212; Ved Guliani Hisar
Tap legislation
8226; The telephone tapping issue of Samajwadi Party General Secretary Amar Singh has been blown into a rather murky affair. The latest uproar is a reminder of the need to review the safeguards of the existing surveillance system. Surveillance of messages and conversations may become imperative under certain circumstances, particularly when tackling the terrorist menace. The Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, gives the Centre and state governments, the power to intercept messages in times of 8220;public emergency8221; or 8220;in the interest of public safety8221;. But the rapid expansion of the telecom sector has changed the ground rules. To prevent serious abuse by intelligence agencies, we need an effective law to deal with tapping complaints.
8212; M. Ziyaullah Khan Nagpur
