Editor,
The tussle amongst the hospital authorities and the management of NEIGRIHMS cost the life of a precious soul – a lady from Mawphlang who was suffering from heart ailments. Despite knowing the medical causes and the urgency to take critical decisions the management was busy playing to the gallery and fighting out their battles at the cost of the suffering public. It is evident that NEIGRIHMS has become an area for a battle of egos with complete disregard for human life, thereby violating the patient’s right to life – a fundamental right guaranteed by the Constitution of India. It is also a medico-legal and negligence case for which necessary action must be taken by the state and central government. The hospital has lost it’s name,fame and dignity and all the good work of the past has now been cancelled out. It will take a long time before people’s confidence can be restored in NEIGRIHMS.
Yours etc..
Dominic S. Wankhar
Shillong:
Purpose & role of educational institutions
Editor,
Institutions serve people in various ways. We are proud to say that in Shillong people from different North Eastern states have come to educate themselves to be equipped for better living and to render better services to their own community and to the country at large. The recent Class XI results were appreciable. This is something that each student has to learn from. Parents, friends and others who know and even those who don’t know the toppers should appreciate good news like this. How much more would teachers who were guiding them for the past two years rejoice at the success of their students! I hope the coming results for the Class X MBOSE students will be as good as that of the Class XII. In addition, the expectations of all are that it becomes better than that of the Class XII exam.
But there is another about the institutions in the North Eastern region particularly those in Shillong. From the part of the students, it is very clear that they have done the best they can. But our educational system does not include extra curriculum activities and subjects apart from classroom learning. Is education only about imparting bookish knowledge in the classroom? Why do our students find it difficult to find a successful career after completing their studies? What is the reason behind the failure of our students to get through the public services exams? Also why do our students find it very difficult to compete with students from other states? The reasons may vary, but there is a clear sign that students from the very first stage itself were not given liberal education to help them study independently; how to engage with the world outside the classroom; to foresee the challenges they would face in the future, and how to face those challenges!
Identifying the potential of students is very important and that is an important task of teachers but unfortunately, it has not taken place in most of our Institutions. If the students are asked to identify what they are good at, most of them will find it difficult to identify their talents. This goes against the very spirit of education which is meant to be the holistic development of the individual.
Another issue is why local students from Meghalaya hardly top the list of achievers. Again, the reasons may be uncountable. Many students complain that they are not admitted in the institution of their choice. I do not challenge the standards of admission of the particular institutions but even those who got distinction marks were not considered fit to be admitted. Institutions exist in a particular place to help local students. In that case the people from the land must be given first preference. No discrimination should be shown based on their backgrounds. How many local students are admitted in the institutions around Shillong? Again, as I said before, I do not challenge the standards of admission the institutions but what is the reason for students not finding a place in such institutions? The statistics of students in both the private and public run institutions show that many students are from outside! If that is the case then these Institutions are not meant for the people here, and if they are not meant for the local students then why are they being set up here and provided land? What is the use of having big structures which do not serve the people of the land? It is sad to hear complaints from students about not being admitted to particular institutions. However, a good number of institutions have also done well in this matter, which is something to be appreciated! I hope the people in authority will reconsider and think seriously about the very purpose of our educational centres, which are supposed to be places of learning or a ministry which has unfortunately become a business and which is the root cause of all these discriminations!
Yours etc.,
Rivaldo Kurbah,
Mawkalum,
East Khasi Hills
Clouds & Balakot air strike
Editor,
Several comments some perceptive; some humorous and some very serious and well thought-out regarding Prime Minister, Narendra Mod’s concept on RADAR and Cloud. The one serious comment was how political leadership could advise the experts on the field. That aside, here are excerpts that may throw vital information.
Sources familiar with IAF attack on the Jaish-e-Mohammed terror camp have told NDTV that the presence of low clouds prevented the launch of the Crystal Maze missiles meant to accompany the SPICE 2000 glide bomb. The Crystal Maze was not launched as the missile works on the pilot flying the missile to the target. The weather conditions of under cloud precluded this. Once launched, the Crystal Maze requires acquisition of the target visually by the pilot in the last phase of the attack. In other words, the weapon flies to its target based on pre-fed Global Positioning System (GPS) co-ordinates but requires the pilot of the launching platform to manually steer it to its precise point of impact through an electronic data link between the launch aircraft with the weapon.
Thus the above report appearing on April last on NDTV throws important light on the Balakot final stage of attack. The terms used in the report are highly scientific on which some Physics post graduate or for GPS the ones from Geography could help the layman. To sum up clouds played a vital role in the Balakot air strike though not the ones our Prime Minister is currently raving about.
Yours etc.,
- Khyriem,
Shillong-14