Kudos to Indian women cricket team

Sunil Gavaskar once said, “The willow wand chooses the wizard.” India’s U-19 women’s cricket team has indeed proven themselves to be wizards with the bat and ball, defending their title in the ICC U-19 Women’s T20 World Cup. Trisha’s role played vital in the tournament and defined character to the victory. Their “coruscating” performance, to quote Gavaskar, has left the cricketing world in awe. The team’s “Duckworth Lewis” approach to the game, balancing caution with aggression, has paid rich dividends.

Raju Kolluru, Kakinada

India must brace for tariff war

American President Trump has started trade war within no time after assuming office. The America’s fresh raising of tariffs on imports from Mexico, Canada and China, the three countries that form major share in exports to that country, to significant extent is unconventional. If former two countries are thinking of raising taxes in retaliation, China is in view of lodging complaint against that move in WTO. The fresh salvo of Trump will have a direct effect on global economy and trade. India cannot expect any exemption from tariff wars sponsored by America. It should get well prepared for any eventuality and search for new opportunities to strengthen its economy by means of bilateral pacts with every country. To completely rely on a protectionist country may not be a good idea.

Dr DVG Sankara Rao, Vizianagaram

WEF-like summits a mere PR exercise

Apropos ‘WEF pledges..’, it would be interesting to know how many of the MoUs signed at forums like WEF and investor summits have actually taken off on the ground. An investigation is needed to figure out whether this is just a foreign jaunt at the expense of the taxpayers. For instance, an agreement was said to be signed between the Maharashtra government and some business houses whose corporate offices are situated not far away from Mantralaya. Had all the money promised as investments come in, there would have been no unemployment in the nation. Any businessman worth his salt is not going to wait for summits in invest, if he smells an opportunity. Therefore, most of such forums are a mere PR exercise concentrating more on optics rather than the business transacted.

Anthony Henriques, Mumbai

Delhi poll battle takes a curious turn

Delhi assembly elections is shaping up to be a fascinating battleground for survival and dominance with AAP and BJP locked in a heated contest and Congress at a distant third even as opinion polls sends mixed signals due to lack of transparency in polling methodologies. What works against Kejriwal is his once pristine image dented on account of corruption, liquor scam and overall governance failures that have consequently placed BJP at an advantage due to its emphasis on Delhi’s infrastructure woes and environmental challenges, which appear to be striking a chord with voters across all parts of Delhi. Congress is also cutting into a minority base of AAP. It is clear that voting may not be on the past patterns despite every party announcing attractive freebies.

K R Srinivasan, Secunderabad

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It refers to “Delhi polls : Micro Management holds the key”. It is a huge irony that late Shiela Dixit who literally transformed the national capital, her party Congress seems to be a distant third in the electoral race in Delhi. Despite 10 years of anti-incumbency and huge corruption charges coupled with the fact that many stalwarts of AAP were sent to jail, Congress has not been able to revive its fortune. AAP has lost much of its sheen and Kejriwal has lost his aura but still it would be foolish to believe that AAP is not in the race. BJP has made AAP’s task much tougher in this no-holds-barred elections but ultimately it will boil down to which party is able to take out its voters to the voting booth and how fence sitters vote that day.

Bal Govind, Noida

Address smart phone scare for sr citizens

One has to use a smart phone to book a taxi, railway reservation or flight ticket or to book a doctor’s appointment, to get a tiffin or meals from restaurant, to book a movie ticket or to book provisions and vegetables online etc. But most of the seniors do not know how to use smart phones and book online. Hence, I suggest that colleges / NGOs / service clubs teach elders how to use smart phones for online booking etc This is the need of the hour.

Kantamsetti Lakshman Rao, Visakhapatnam