Editor,
The people of the North Eastern region are not yet out of the trauma of the recent 6.7 magnitude earthquake that shook the region on January 4 when some so called environmentalists have come up with the pathetic theory that yet another massive earthquake is going to strike the whole of the Himalayan region. Where were these environmental experts before the 6.7 magnitude earthquake took place? Did the bells of the minds of these predictors only ring after the recent earthquake? It would be very rare to hear of an earthquake prediction coming true. It is of utmost shame that these citizens, instead of comforting the victims, are busy circulating rumours! Such rumours should be immediately dealt with as they are causing a feeling of insecurity among many people. The rumour mongers should rather do some constructive work for the nation rather than act as ‘Environmental Terrorists’!
Your’s etc,
Sanbeer Singh Ranhotra,
Via email.
Quest for Gold
Editor,
Apurvi Chandela a 23 year old Jaipur girl has done an “Apurv” (Rare) feat by winning two Gold Medals at the Swedish Cup Grand pre. In the women’s 10 Meter Air Rifle she won Gold Medal by scoring 211.2 points beating the existing world record created by a Chinese shooter in the last Olympics. Subsequently she won Gold in the 10 Meter Tri series. She was adjudged as the best shooter of the championship in view of her stupendous feat. For a country which is not a super power in sports even in the Asian circuit, such incredible performance is few and far between and hence deserves high accolades. The Rio Olympics is less than 8 months away and she is one of our best bet for an Olympic Gold Medal; perhaps even more than one. For a country which faces severe drought of medals in International competitions, Apurvi’s achievement is a silver lining (or Gold lining) in the sports horizon of the country. At a time when newspapers are flooded with negative news like gang rape, murder, scams, scandals, corruption, allegations, counter allegations etc, such positive news is a welcome relief . Hence it is essential to highlight and give wide publicity to such feats (which occurs once in a blue moon), not only to inspire and motivate the sporting fraternity but also to reduce the disillusionment and despair of the common man. Sports is a unifying factor and it can play a pivotal role in national integration as watching the Indian sports persons at international meets creates, at least momentarily, a sense of patriotism and nationality in a country otherwise divided by caste, creed, region, religion, language etc. Let us hope that she will make millions of countrymen proud with her superlative performance at Rio. Hats off to Apurvi! Let us all support, encourage and pray for her. Her achievements will inspire many budding youngsters to accomplish greater heights in their sporting career. Government should announce in advance the prize money for Olympic medal winners and podium finishers in Olympics. This will be a great motivation for the sportspersons who are toiling very hard for the Olympics and also to maintain transparency and impartiality. Haryana Government had some time back announced prize money for winners of various categories in different national/international meets. It had a salutary effect on the Haryana sports which is evident from the fact that a state whose sporting interest was confined to few disciplines has become a force to reckon with and is producing several national/international champions in various disciplines.
Yours etc.,
E M Adithyan
Elangalloor Mana
Kerala
Kudos to the CM!
Editor,
The recent decision taken by the cabinet to prevent government employees from holding office as Rangbah Shnong and/or executive members of the Shnong is a landmark and bold decision. That this was not done in the past speaks of the poor leadership that had been the bane of Meghalaya for the past forty three years. It is so obvious that that government employees are not free agents to go around holding the very government, that pays them to ransom. How can a government employee forget that he earns his bread from public money funded largely by the tax payers of this country? Yet they dare to declare themselves as self proclaimed leaders of the Jaitbynriew? The leader of this roaring pack who is a medical doctor running a lucrative nursing home can afford to take on the government. And the other businessman walking hand in hand with the doctor might not need the government too, but the others who are government employees need to make a choice. They can either serve the general public through the government or they can serve only their Jaitbynriew through the Dorbar Shnong. To do both is a clear conflict of interests and we can only thank the Chief Minister for bringing to an end this ‘hunting with the hare and running with the hounds’ scenario.
Yours etc.,
SR Nongrum,
Shillong-4