This is about Outlook’s cover story on the cram-packed digital highway slowing down internet connections for millions(Bullock Cart Bitcoin, May 9). The failure of telecom companies to honour their commitments is like a guy confirming a date with more than one girl at the same time and not being able to keep his promise due to non-availability of technology to replicate himself.
Rajneesh Batra, New Delhi
Why would anyone be surprised by the constant use of mobile phones in the techpropelled world of today, though issues of speed and connectivity hamper consumers. Internet connectivity in India needs a lot of improvement, but even if it is done, rural India will lag behind. There is huge demand in the educational sector, but service providers pay no attention to a number of core issues facing consumers. I have also experienced such issues while on holidays back home. I would recommend a third-party monitoring on the services being offered.
Ramachandran Nair, Muscat
Internet in India is just like the road on which traffic is swelling by the day but there is no capacity upgrading. With the sudden ubiquity of smartphones and laptops, everybody everywhere is hooked to the net always. If there’s no upgradation of the infrastructure to clear internet traffic, irritatingly slow speeds and frequent notifications on login screens saying ‘this site can’t be reached’ will become the fate of Indian net users.
M.C. Joshi, Lucknow
To make India fully digital as an enabling factor for equitable and sustainable growth, a high-quality internet service is a sine qua non. It is the collective responsibility of the ministry of communications and information technology, telecom companies and its stakeholders to upgrade old infrastructure. While the government needs to find spare funds, greedy companies should act in a responsible manner. Network congestion can only be lessened if subscriptions don’t exceed network capacity.
Sanjiv Gupta, Perth
Network speeds are slow unless one opts for higher tariff. A minimum speed of 2 mbps must be provided under all firms’ schemes. but only very few Indians use higher speed net as it costs a lot, with metros being the only possible exception.
M. Kumar, Delhi
The article on India’s strange flip-flop over the visas of the Uighur nationalists/dissidents was interesting (How Not to Xinjiang, May 9). It’s good that India and China have already affirmed the need to keep the LAC peaceful. The border will keep simmering and needs courage and vision to resolve. What the two countries should do is move towards coordination in areas like economy, education and technology. Only through sharing of knowledge and power can both India and China go a long way on the global stage.
P. Senthil Saravana Durai, Mumbai
The cancellation of Dolkun Isa’s visa was a messy business. Most of us thought India had shown enough guts by granting him a visa, but we were disabused cruelly all too soon. Though Isa has publicly condemned violent methods of seeking political rights, China has declared him a terrorist after the 2009 riots in which 197 people were killed. This act will surely diminish India’s standing as a great democracy. The conference at Dharamshala had great meaning for Chinese dissidents—the chief organiser was Yang Jianli, a Tiananmen protest veteran, and the Dalai Lama, an icon of protest of China’s occupation of Tibet.
B.N, On e-mail
I thought granting Isa a visa was India’s tit for tat response for China’s vetoing UN action against Masood Azhar. But our satisfaction was short-lived. On the face of it, neither the issue of a visa nor its denial is a big thing in the hurly-burly of international relations, but the context, manner and people involved in this affair says a lot about the world’s largest democracy.
J. Akshobhya, Mysore
Meetu Jain’s Bofors-2 Comes a Chopper (May 9) reminded me of Chitra Subramaniam and N. Ram’s expose of the Bofors case. Some names have changed, but it’s essentially the same story: for instance, it was Ottavio Quattrocchi then; it’s Christian Michel now. In both cases, the source of the documents is not India. And V.P. Singh was the crusader against corruption then; now, it’s Narendra Modi. Has any wrong-doer paid in the Bofors case? No. The show goes on, as it will with this case. May I hasten to add that I do believe that the initials ‘AP’ actually stand for Andhra Pradesh!
V.N.K. Murti, Pattambi
Instead of trying to present the facts of the case, Outlook tries to discredit any information pointing to the involvement of the Congress high command in the AgustaWestland case. No one—not even the most ignorant—will say the purported note is clinching evidence of corruption. It merely corroborates what’s well known—that there are people in high places who received bribes. When some executives in Italy are convicted for bribe-giving, it has to follow that there were some bribe-takers in India. If the CBI only has evidence of Rs 43 crore—a small sum, considering the value of the deal—making its way to India, it could well mean the rest of the money allocated for bribery has been stashed away in safe havens abroad.
D.L. Narayan, Visakhapatnam
For a nation boasting a nuclear arsenal, ICBMs and advanced rocketry, we paint a dismal picture indeed when it comes to developing our own defence equipment such as choppers or heavy artillery. Of course, we have to import so that our politicians can cut a deal.
Ashok Raipet, Secunderabad
The 76-year-old Subramanian Swamy has done what many young BJP MPs would have wished to do—hit out straight at the Gandhis, without mincing words.
J. Akshay, Bangalore
Remember, in India, no politician is ever involved in any scam—for these cases never get proved in courts of law. The same will happen with the AgustaWestland case. In fact, the shocking news in India will not be of corruption—it will be of a politician getting convicted for corruption.
Mahesh Kumar, On E-Mail
Apropos Did They Brush By Each Other? (May 9), if what Christian Michel says is true about the Indian and Italian PMs having an unscheduled meeting, then the onus is on the Supreme Court to take up the matter of the Italian marines.
Jasbir Singh Tiwana, On E-Mail
It’s shameless to take Michel’s word for gospel truth. This man has been caught lying so many times, but to protect Sonia Gandhi, Outlook will allow him space to drag Modi into the Agusta deal.
Novonil Guha, On E-Mail
The AgustaWestland scam reminds me that the old saying, ‘People who live in glass houses should not throw stones,’ needs to be rewritten. It should be: ‘People who live in glass houses should keep on throwing stones; in fact, they should keep up such a fusillade that no one comes close to their house.’
Nandi Budha, On E-Mail
The AgustaWestland deal is costing the nation far more in lost parliamentary hours than people imagine. Worse, it’s vitiating the atmosphere and spoiling any chances of cooperation between the ruling coalition and the Opposition on serious legislation that would bring long-term improvement in the nation’s economy.
Hema Satyakal, Secunderabad
Uttam Sengupta’s It’s As Clear As Fog (May 9) offers a good argument. The previous UPA regime looted Rs 60,000 crore in the 2G scam, so for Sonia Rs 45 crore is peanuts.
Akash Verma, On E-Mail
It’s difficult to believe, Mr Sengupta writes, that Sonia would accept bribes from a defence dealer after her husband’s Bofors experience. By that token, Modi should not be accused of being against the minorities because of the criticism he has faced for the 2002 riots in Gujarat.
Maha, On E-Mail
It has come to light that some crores were allocated for managing the media. No wonder, then, there are articles highlighting the innocence of the family.
Chandrasekar, Bangalore
In 2004, Sonia Gandhi declared war on corruption—and finally, corruption has won.
Mohan, Adipur
In his opinion piece Advertently So (May 2) on the changing meaning of advertising, the writer misspells the poet Nazir Akbarabadi’s name as “Naseer Akbarabadi”. And he did not write ‘a few decades back’, but some centuries ago. He lived before Ghalib and Zauq. All his poetry may not be uniformly great but it would be wrong to describe him as “a poet by the name of”. Almost no other poet can match him in sheer diversity of themes. In Aab-e-Hayat, Mohammad Husain Azaad observes that some of his couplets compare with those of Mir (“inke kuchh ashaar Mir se pehloo marte hain”). Makhmoor Akbarabadi even quotes couplets from both Ghalib and Nazir to show how even Ghalib was influenced by Nazir’s poetry. It is not the choice of subjects or themes that makes a poet great. What he makes of the themes decides the calibre of the poet.
N.P.M., Delhi
My congratulations to Ajaz Baba for writing The Parables of Chotta Chetan (May 2), a hilarious piece of writing that had me in splits. It was a welcome relief from the singular lack of humour in Indian magazines and newspapers. I suggest you start a regular humour column giving space to writers like Ajaz. We can all expect an insightful and fiery commentary on the circus of Indian politics.
Vikas Gupta, On E-Mail
This refers to Nine Acres of a New Green (May 9), your story on organic farming in Punjab. It was heartening to read about organic methods of farming catching on in the every epicentre of the green revolution. It’s good that the SGPC is taking the lead, for that would inspire more farmers across the state—and perhaps even other states—to make the shift.
C.V.K. Manoj, Hyderabad
On reading Pink Palace Firmaans (May 9) I thought I, too, should make a point as a proud alumnus of JNU. The culture on campus always thrived on four Ds—debate, discussion, disagreement and dissent—and we learnt more outside the classroom than inside. I am saddened, therefore, by the new autocratic firmaans of the university authorities, who were clearly biased and working under pressure from the government. They have added two new Ds to the JNU mix: ‘disparage’ students in order to eventually ‘destroy’ their careers. But ultimately the first four Ds will prevail and JNU culture will continue to thrive.
Rakesh Agrawal, Dehradun
The Trivandrum Diary (May 9) was brilliantly done. It caught the sweeping changes that are afoot in Kerala’s capital city without making the city sound alien.
Indumathy Narayanan, Pune
I was shaken by the review of Delhi’s Mister Chai restaurant (Eat, Pray, Live, May 9). A pot of tea for Rs 749? That’s nothing but just plain obscene!
Thrivikram Kona, Hyderabad
The short descriptive spread on the Kohinoor (May 2) was excellent. Though Maharaja Ranjit Singh willed the diamond to Jagannath temple in Puri, the East India Company did not execute the will. The rest has been recapitulated well. Needless to say, in spite of the UNESCO resolution directing all artefacts in possession of colonial rulers to be returned to the original owners, the British are quite reluctant to return the gem. With the number of claimants going up now, it’s also considered safe to keep the diamond in British custody.
Buddhadev Nandi, Bishnupur, WB
The Delhi Diary by Krishna Prasad (May 2) was enjoyable. I quickly checked Mr Prasad’s head—just the surface, to see what locks warranted such a hefty fee. After careful comparison, I found more tufts on my pate (not not many more) than on his. I spend Rs 1,400 perhaps on a whole year’s haircuts. I visit my barber every three weeks; how often does the editor go? And does the barber use the same scissors that his forebears used on Wilde and Winston?
Ravindranath Ramakrishna, On E-Mail
This is about the review of Tavleen Singh’s book (More Target Practice, May 2). The review has instilled a desire in me to read the book because it “has acquired the contours of a deep-seated personal animosity” of Tavleen with Sonia Gandhi. Ironically, the reviewer also fails to hide his own bad terms with the writer. Prima facie, it fails to convince one of being a fair comment.
Amba Charan Vashishtha, Delhi
