Smoke signals

8226; Aamir Khan needs our thanks for the piece, 8216;Dear Ramadoss, this is wrong...8217; IE...

8226; Aamir Khan needs our thanks for the piece, 8216;Dear Ramadoss, this is wrong8230;8217; IE, June 2. He is right. Banning smoking 8216;on-screen8217; will not end smoking. If the government takes this step and the public doesn8217;t protest, it will dangerously compromise our freedom.

8212; Kapil On e-mail

8226; I completely agree with Aamir Khan8217;s justification as to why banning smoking on the screen will not help. As he suggests, we should ban cigarette manufacturing and automatically there8217;ll be no need to advertise cigarettes. This government does not seem to think through its policies.

8212; Keshav Ranganath Los Angeles

8226; Smoking must be banned in films because foolish people imitate the foolish filmiwallahs who are actually polluting the minds of the people rather than entertaining them.

8212; Ganesan Nadarajan Trichy

8226; Aamir Khan has put his views across so nicely. He has simply given a thought process at a conceptual level and put forth the facts. Now, if we are serious about controlling smoking, we have to think in a totally different way.

8212; Jagabandhu Bhoi Bangkok

8226; The Union health ministry needs to be congratulated for banning smoking scenes in films as well as TV. This was long overdue. Many advanced countries have banned it some years ago.

8212; I. Patnaikuni Melbourne

Change in Bihar

8226; Vandita Mishra has analysed every aspect of the game in Bihar, but has avoided any mention of JDU or BJP or NDA, and what they stand for 8216;Return of the pantomime8217;, IE, May 31. The impression one gets is that Bihar is still the private property of Laloo and Rabri. One can only pray to God that wiser counsel prevails and Bihar is saved from the jungle raj that has plagued it for 15 years. Believe me I am not anti- or pro- any party. I am a simple 85-year-young citizen, who would like to see Bihar set right.

8212; Balbir Talwar Delhi

Flood of corruption

8226; It is shocking to note that this IAS officer took the entire country for a ride. And surprisingly Laloo and Rabri are maintaining a conspicuous silence on the whole affair 8216;Goswami, accomplies bought property after flood scam money changed hands8217;, IE, June 2.

8212; Harish H.V. Bangalore

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8226; One now gets an idea of how the mafia operates, not just in Bihar but all over India. No wonder help does not reach the poor and they are trapped perpetually in their poverty. It is the duty of the finance minister to keep track of the money. Ensuring every rupee reaches the poor is his business.

8212; Arvind Amin On e-mail

Hurriyat visit

8226; We need not take a myopic view of the Hurriyat leaders 8216;Hurriyat off to Pak8217;, IE, June 2 wanting to meet Pakistani leaders in Islamabad. But surely if they want to ignore the spirit behind the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad bus what if the GOI were to debar them from returning to India via the LoC?

8212; Mukund B. Kunte London