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This is an archive article published on June 18, 2015
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Opinion Letters to the Editor

Letter of the Week Award To encourage quality reader intervention, The Indian Express offers the Letter of the Week award. The letter adjudged the best for the week is published every Saturday. Letters may be e-mailed to editpage@expressindia.com or sent to The Indian Express, B-1/B, Sector 10, Noida-UP 201301. Letter writers should mention their postal […]

June 18, 2015 12:27 AM IST First published on: Jun 18, 2015 at 12:27 AM IST

Letter of the Week Award
To encourage quality reader intervention, The Indian Express offers the Letter of the Week award. The letter adjudged the best for the week is published every Saturday. Letters may be e-mailed to editpage@expressindia.com or sent to The Indian Express, B-1/B, Sector 10, Noida-UP 201301.
Letter writers should mention their postal address and phone number. The winner receives books worth `1,000

Soft power win
This refers to ‘Whose Yoga Is It Anyway?’ (IE, June 17). Amid the noise around International Yoga Day, we must not forget that, among other things, yoga has emerged as a valuable tool to enhance India’s soft power in the 21st century. It must be recognised that yoga has
contributed to creating a niche for Indian culture and ethos in the global arena. International Yoga Day must therefore be seen in light
of foreign policy and international diplomacy too.
Suyash Saxena, New Delhi

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Herculean task
The apex court is right in maintaining its stand on the re-examination of the All India Pre-Medical Test, however harsh it may seem to parents, students and the CBSE (‘Credibility retest’, IE, June 17). When there are so few seats and so many candidates, the authorities conducting the test ought to weed out all possibilities of cheating. Their failure to do so gave an unfair advantage to several students, who made use of technology to get the answers on a platter. The fact, however, remains that conducting an exam involving such large numbers, with more than 1,000 centres, is no mean task.
A long-term solution must be found, a repeat of what happened cannot be allowed.
J. Akshay, Bangalore

Retirement Woes
In addition to the plight of ex-servicemen, retired employees of companies such as Coal India Ltd are also suffering, as their pension is fixed with no dearness allowance. It is a contributory pension fixed at 25 per cent of last pay drawn. The pension was supposed to be revised every three years, but 17 years after its implementation in 1998, it has not been done even once. Consequently, some retired employees are getting as little as Rs 100 per month. Attention to their plight is also needed.
I.P. Anand, Chandigarh

Credibility crisis
Even before it could wriggle out of its first major credibility crisis, the BJP-led NDA government faced another jolt with a revelation pointing to the involvement of Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje in Lalit Modi getting immigration clearance, (‘Vasundhara caught in Sushma storm: “pushed Modi plea, said keep it secret”’, IE, June 17). The impression of this being a government for the rich is gaining ground by the day. This will take a toll on its electoral prospects in the upcoming assembly polls in Bihar, West Bengal and UP. Rather than defending the indefensible, the BJP-led NDA government should sack Union Minister Sushma Swaraj.
M. Jeyaram, Sholavandan