Editor,
In the recent running event, Turathon 2019 held on November 10, 2019 the race organizers chose to cancel the 42Km Full Marathon event category few days before the event, only for women. The reason given is that there was only one female participant and they called and informed her of it. The last time Turathon was held in 2017, there were five female participants who had showed up to run 42km and even then they were informed that they would be running and competing with men and there was no separate prize money category for women since there were only five of them. I want to emphasize that if a running club really wants to encourage sports equally among both sexes they have to allow women to compete for prize money even if there is just one woman participant because she has trained for months and made the effort to compete. Are her efforts less than a man’s? Initially there will only be a few women but as word spreads and these women are allowed to be inspiration for others, then more women participants will make the effort and come forward to join the run. If we shut down women’s efforts in this nascent stage of running then we are promoting only the male marathon and not female. I urge Tura Runners’ Club to change their policy for the coming year and do not discriminate on gender basis. Sports is for everyone, not just males.
Yours etc.,
Habari Warjri
Treasurer
RunMeghalaya
Hollow promises of RelianceJio
Editor,
People were overjoyed when Reliance Jio came with a bang and offered “free” internet service along with free unlimited calls. Its app was very attractive and had a lot of features. All this generosity was only for the purpose of baiting the customer. Many were envious of the Jio-users watching their favorite songs or videos just at a click — so smooth, so seamless. It was an unprecedented shower of entertainment for the mobile freaks. But in a span of two years, JIO gobbled up all the customers of major players in the field. So much so, that his own brother’s company – “Reliance Communication,” received a death blow. This “Reliance Communication” has allegedly defrauded lakhs of its customers by not “refunding” the security deposits till date. One wonders what kind of laws we have in the country that protect the defaulting company/owner from being punished while ordinary mortals will be hauled up and sent to jail for such deliberate crime. Jio also dealt a crippling blow to the Government-run BSNL and Aircel. Most of their customers have migrated to JIO. The most remarkable thing that came about after Jio’s entry is that it drastically brought down the tariff. One who used to recharge the cell phone with a whopping Rs 1500 to Rs 3000 can now recharge with just Rs 399 and make unlimited calls and use the internet for about three months. It became possible due to internet-based 4G technology.
But all this bonanza of offers is short-lived. Jio is no longer the same now. It has virtually lost its initial fervour and earnestness to serve the customers. What is really disgusting now is that its tall promises have only turned out to be hollow. People can hardly download/upload their important files. There are many areas where users can’t check their emails nor can they respond to phone calls. It does not mean that the service of other companies – like Vodafone, Airtel, BSNL, is better. They too have disappointed their customers. So where do we turn to for better services. So far there’s none in sight! Moreover, we have already become “dependent” on the mobile set. The cell phones have excessively overpowered our minds. We can’t do away with them. We are incessantly distracted by “silly temptation” to check how many likes our FB posts have received. All our happiness rests on all this frivolous stuff. No kidding, if the mobile companies have stolen our hard-earned money, the mobile phones have stolen our peace of mind. We are double losers.
Yours etc.,
Salil Gewali,
Shillong
PR in Maharashtra
Editor,
President’s rule in Maharashtra is the fallout of the elected parties’ greed for power as the elected parties, to which people gave their mandate to rule the state for five years, were quarrelling among themselves over power sharing. None of the three parties the Governor had invited to form the government, the BJP, Shiv Sena and the NCP could produce enough numbers to stake claim to power even after 20 days from October 24 when the state election results were announced.
Placing Maharashtra under the President’s rule is also the classical example of how the craze for power has corrupted these parties thereby derailing the system of government formation. It is also the reflection of egoistic mentality among the parties. Had they paid a little more regard to the mandate of the people, they would not have behaved thus and the President’s rule would have been averted.
It is very unfortunate that these parties have not been able to stand by the people’s aspirations, and have miserably failed to see the writings on the wall. They must open their eyes to see that people are watching all this dramas thumbing their noses at them. People gave their mandate to the BJP-Sena alliance and these two parties parted even before they came together to form government. While the heady potion of power maddened the Sena party, the thought of losing the Chief Minster’s post saddened the BJP. Thus, birds of a feather fell apart without flocking together. NCP too under the leadership of the stalwart Sharad Pawar tried to fish in troubled waters but to no avail.
Thus, no parties acted responsibly but acted in an irresponsible way to the chagrin of people, who, in turn, will judge the errant parties at the appropriate time.
Yours etc.,
TK Nandanan,
Via email
Inconvenience for passport applicants
Editor,
We are given to understand that an applicant can apply for a normal passport at all Post Office Passport Sewa Kendras (POPSKs) and Passport Sewa Kendras (PSKs) spread across states and at respective PSKs in a capital city. Further were are informed that for Tatkal passport applications- an applicant can only approach any of the few select PSKs located within the state. Thus under the present circumstances for an applicant there is no possibility of applying for a Tatkal passport at any of Post Office Passport Sewa Kendras located in the district headquarters states, across India.
The current non-availability of Tatkal appointments at POPSKs is causing inconvenience to the applicants to otherwise apply for Tatkal passport in the nearest passport issuing center. Tatkal applicants are therefore compelled to approach the nearest PSK located within the state. The move thus causes inconvenience to many Tatkal applicants owing to logistical factors and more commuting distance to reach the PSK venue from the district headquarters of POPSK location.
Hence the Ministry of External Affairs is kindly requested to accept Tatkal based passport applications and allot appointments under Tatkal quota even for the applicants applying at Post Office Passport Sewa Kendras spread across various locations within a state. The suggested move will further enable quick processing of Tatkal applications at POPSK centers and otherwise also reduce the burden currently prevailing in the rest of PSKs that are accepting Tatkal appointments.
Yours etc.,
Varun Dambal,
Via email