MyVoice: Views of our readers 23rd January 2023

Ragging menace in educational institutions

It is dismaying to see the menace of ragging continuing unabated in educational institutions - whether government-run or private-aided. The practice assumes such a sadistic proportion that it becomes a sort of third degree punishment for the newcomers who are not quite used to such situations and cannot mentally and physically put up with such irrational treatment by senior students. Ragging in the olden days used to be an occasion for acclimatisation and getting to know one another among students bereft of any violence or rudeness. Strict disciplinary action must be taken against those who take lead in such practices, so that others fall in line to behave normally.

S Lakshmi, Hyderabad

Uphold supremacy of Rule of Law

Law is equal to any person whether in self esteem level or at bottom line. Britain Prime Minister Rishi Sunak paid the fine for not wearing seatbelt and put his hands straight up and also apologised, exhibits his respect in the law of land. Incidentally, the cartoon 'Irregular by Manjul' sarcastically commented as "What a weak PM the UK has! He was fined for not wearing seatbelt" shows the adamant, careless, nasty and irresponsible behaviour on our legal codes by all the cadres in our society including lawmakers. Disobedience to constitution, legal system, ill treating others, etc., should come under the lable of traitors of the nation.

NSK Prasad, Hyderabad

Ghost of Guj riots refuses to go away

The ghost of Gujarat riots still refuses to go away as evidenced by the controversy surrounding BBC's documentary critical of the then Chief Minister of Gujarat Narendra Modi. By blocking the online links to the documentary, the government denied people access to the BBC's version of what happened in Gujarat in 2002 and did something unworthy of the 'world's largest democracy.' We are not a closed society for the government to resort to the desperate measure of censorship. Much of what is said to be said and shown in the documentary titled "India: The Modi Question" is not something new; it is something already widely known; it comes as a corroboration of on-the-ground reports of those dark days of mob violence. The invocation of 'national sovereignty' to disparage and dismiss the documentary is a double-edged sword in that while it provides a sort of immunity to India from criticism by the rest of the world, it deprives it of the right to comment on what happens in the wider world.

G David Milton, Maruthancode, TN

II

The Government of India did the right and prudent thing in blocking YouTube videos and Twitter posts sharing links to BBC documentary 'India – The Modi Question' based on the 2002 Gujarat riots in the aftermath of Godhra train burning incident in which Kar Sevaks travelling in the train were burnt to death. In fact, such kinds of BBC documents are whipping up communal passions to come handy for the pseudo-seculars to score their brownie points. If the British Broadcasting Company was sincere in its endeavour it should have included similar such incidents like Sikh killings in Delhi by Congressmen and the genocide of Pundit community in Kashmir by marauding muslims – be level headed and balanced in its outlook and analysis.

K V Raghuram, Wayanad

Majority religion can't be a punching bag

Lyricist and screenwriter Javed Akhtar missed out on the vital point about which the majority community is angry at some portrayals in Bollywood movies that show Hindu Gods and ethics of the religion in poor and dismal light. Every Indian enjoys watching Bollywood movies, which goes beyond country's borders; but the tendency to berate the majority religion to reduce it to a favourite punching bag irks them. The so-called boycott call is in the right spirit as it is proving one-sided in targeting the community, while similar exercises on Islam are out of bound for the producers and actors.

K R Parvathy, Mysuru

Tough challenges facing BRS party

The recent public meeting of BRS at Khammam could gather people as expected but could not make a good impact on the national party. It is evident that the AAP and Punjab and Karala CMs and Akilesh Yadav President of Samwajd Party attended the meeting. They spoke about BJP and criticized the policies and could make some impact on public. KCR wishes to do miracles by way of providing drinking water to all citizens of India and also uninterrupted electricity to all. He was visulising transformation of India with his good policies. But, other regional parties are not taking him (KCR) as seriously as they should be. Again, without Congress, they cannot succeed in ousting the Modi government.

Kanagiri SN Prasad, Hyderabad

K'taka govt conducts vaccination drive as expiry dates approach

Bengaluru: The government held a major vaccination drive across Karnataka to provide the second and booster doses to individuals who missed them, as the health department's Covid vaccine stocks approached their expiration dates. Nearly 2.5 lakh doses of Covaxin and about 8 lakh of Covishield are scheduled to expire on January 31 and February 9, respectively, according to departmental sources.

The department has not established any particular targets for the districts during these vaccination programs, according to D. Randeep, commissioner of health and family welfare. "Simply put, we are mobilising sufficient beneficiaries to cut down on vaccination wastage. All the districts have been told to use the Covaxin and Covishield doses allotted by making sure the largest number of beneficiaries are covered. Overall, 50% of the target population is the goal," he added. Officials from the health department declined to respond when asked if the vaccination wastage might have been prevented.

BBMP cancels OC for 2,000 flats for producing fake NOC

Bengaluru: For allegedly submitting fake documents to get building plans, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) on Saturday revoked the occupancy certificate (OC) for almost 2000 apartments at the apartment complex Sobha City.

A two-bedroom flat in Sobha City, a project developed and available for sale by Sobha Ltd in Bengaluru's Thanisandra Main Road, costs between Rs 90 lakh and Rs 1.30 crore, according to an order from the BBMP.

According to the order, the building plan permission given on June 4, 2013, as well as the OCs given on June 21, 2016, June 29, and January 24, 2020, have all been withdrawn.

"In case of any false information, misrepresentation of facts, or pending legal cases, the permission shall be presumed to be cancelled," the building plan approval and OCs declare.