Editor,
Most of the Government offices are such that there is regular interaction with the general public, and hence most of them receive a steady flow of visitors. Now, one notices that all available parking space is already blocked by the vehicles of the office staff, beginning with the peons to the directors. All of them seem to own vehicles and they need to flaunt them. One wonders why they all need to bring their vehicles and park them in the office premises and thereby clog up all the available space. Where will the public that come to these offices for a short visit, park? Parking in offices should be meant for the public and not for the staff. Period.
Another important aspect in almost all government offices is the toilet facility. Toilets in most of these offices are kept locked, for use of ONLY the staff and officers. That is downright wrong and discriminatory. The toilets should be available for use of the visiting public, without any fuss. What if the poor visitor has an urge to use the toilet and it is not available? Is he supposed to go and relieve himself in the bushes or by the road-side outside the office? If cleanliness is an issue, then what are the sweepers etc employed in these offices doing? They should be taken to task, and proper maintenance of the toilets ensured.
Yours etc.,
Lambok Dkhar,
Via email
Well played Indian team
Editor,
I would like to extend my heartiest gratitude to the best Indian wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant who finished with 11 catches, and equalled the record for most dismissals in a Test by a wicketkeeper, sharing it with England’s Jack Russell and South Africa’s AB de Villier in the opening clash against Australia in Adelaide Oval. He could have had 12 dismissals but unfortunately he dropped Lyon in the 105th over off Bumrah. Before Pant, Wriddhiman Saha held the record for most catches in a Test match by an Indian wicket-keeper. I am really proud of him because he has made the country proud. I hope that he will play such a brilliant role again and again for the Indian team.
Yours etc.,
M T Khan
Via email
Mind-boggling acronyms
Editor,
Modern scientific literatures, newspapers, magazines as well as media in both electronic and hard copy versions are using too many acronyms for an ordinary individual to understand and grab the context. It is being increasingly noticed in all forms of education and research including Sciences, Social Sciences as well as Humanities. Often only experts from the field could understand the complete meaning and the significance of such acronyms being randomly used in all forms of communications both technical and non-technical. Furthermore, the exact same acronym often carries a completely different meaning and context, thus adding to this grand confusion. In this modern era of social media use such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, WhatsApp as well as smart phone based texting, messaging and imaging, many common words are getting formatted into convenient abbreviations that often makes no sense to people who do not use them frequently. It is therefore important to develop a comprehensive dictionary for such acronyms to be broken down into and listed alphabetically. Perhaps in the not so distant future such lexicographic initiative will be adorning our book shelves and work desks at both home and offices as a ready reckoner to help us understand random acronyms used in technical and non-technical communication and literature.
Yours etc.,
Saikat Kumar Basu
Lethbridge AB Canada
