Wah English!

8226; So English is why India is developing 8216;In praise of Thomas ...

8226; So English is why India is developing 8216;In praise of Thomas Macaulay8217;, IE, May 26. Wah bhai wah! So why is Liberia not developing as the people there speak mostly English and have forgotten their African heritage? Why did Japan develop even though the Japanese don8217;t use English? English is a source of our poverty, illiteracy and slavery, not of our modernity.

8212; Shabu Adelaide

8226; I think in English, but regret that fact. Native language ability develops greater strategic abilities to negotiate the world as seen with the Chinese, Koreans, Taiwanese, Japanese etc. This comes from the ability to realise one8217;s place in the world. We Indians don8217;t have it.

8212; S. Manohar On e-mail

It8217;s Saltoro

8226; Pranab Dhal Samanta, like other Indian journalists, refers to the area under dispute in Jammu and Kashmir as Siachen 8216;On the table for Siachen talks: freeze on troops, thaw in chill8217;, IE, May 25. Siachen glacier has been fully under the Indian army8217;s control for years; the de facto Indo-Pak troops standoff is to the west of the glacier in Saltoro Ridge area. Therefore, the talks should be correctly termed Saltoro talks.

8212; Arun Khanna Indianapolis

A good person

8226; My family and I were shocked when we heard that Sunil Dutt is no more with us. Dutt saab was a very good person and very hard working. Whether in Bollywood or in politics, he took care of his duties and responsibilities. India has lost a very good person and no one can take his place.

8212; Paramjeet S. Ajmani Pune

Research is key

8226; This refers to Deepak Nayyar8217;s 8216;Universities in the sick bay8217; IE, May 25. I have taught at both Indian and western universities. The major difference is that in the west, a university vice-chancellor, a head of the department and every university teacher is judged on the basis of the continuing research output of the individual.

8212; A.K. Aggarwal Ahmedabad

8226; I was once invited by the CSIR through the TOKTEN scheme Transfer of know how through expatriate nationals of the UN, and was surprised to see the minimal impact that research institutions have on university education, and therefore on the people that ultimately get into those institutions. Teaching and research must go hand in hand, one stimulates the other. Also, as Nayyar has correctly pointed out, the lack of reward and penalty for performance and non-performance, respectively, is a great hindrance to progress.

8212; Jibamitra Ganguly On e-mail

Bofors tales

8226; V. Gangadhar8217;s 8216;O Cinderella8217; IE, May 24 brings to mind my daughter8217;s complaint, 8216;8216;other children are brought up on Cinderella; we were brought up on Bofors!8217;8217;

8212; Mani Shankar Aiyar On e-mail