Letters to The Editor: Unbecoming of a legend

Every game has its legend. Like in cricket it is Sir Donald Bradman, Sachin Tendulkar in Hockey it is undoubtedly Major Dhyanchand, in Tennis, it is Rod Laver, Serena Williams, in Boxing it is Mohamed Ali, in Football it is Pele, Maradona to call a few names. In the ongoing Olympics Siberian Novak Djokovic who is ranked No. 1 in ATP ranking was dreaming to attain immortality in the game by adding an Olympic gold medal in his chequered career as in this year he has won the Australian Open, French Open and Wimbledon. Only legendary Steffi Graf has won all the grand slams and Olympic singles title in 1988. Djokovic competed in two events in namely Men's Singles and Mixed Doubles. Djokovic was easily cruising in early rounds by outclassing his opponents in both the events but in the semi-final against the German opponent he met his waterloo and displayed extreme unsporting behaviour by committing all sorts of tantrums on the court. Djokovic must have forgotten that representing a nation in the Olympics and playing a grand slam and other ATP events are different. The way he threw and smashed his racquet in the court after losing dumbfounded his fans across the globe. We suddenly found out that Djokovic was a different person in Tokyo Olympics compared to what we saw in Wimbledon when he gave his racquet to a young fan after he won the final. Winning and losing are part and parcel of the game which every sportsperson has to accept. In Djokovic's case, it was the opposite as he refused to be graceful in defeat. His dream of becoming a Tennis legend suffered a severe blow.

Sorry, Djokovic, you cut a very sorry figure at that moment. There is always a difference between a champion and a legend.

Dr Ashim Chowdhury,

Guwahati.

Akhil Gogoi

Before the Assembly elections in the State KMSS leader, Akhil Gogoi was lodged in a so-called jail (deluxe cabin of GMCH). He wrote numerous letters to the public to reject both Congress and BJP and give a chance to 'anchalikabadi' Raijor Dol. His pleas were rejected by the voters of the state. Now, Akhil Gogoi is begging Congress to take his party into the 'Mahajoot' for the forthcoming bye-elections. Newly appointed APCC president Bhupen Bora has given him a befitting reply by terming him as an 'infant' in state politics.

In today's internet age people are smart enough to know the background story of each politician. That's why both Congress, new entrants AJP and Raijor Dol were buried by the public in the last Assembly elections.

Purabi Miri,

Jakhalabandha.

Punching glory

Lovlina Borgohain fought valiantly but lost too much experienced Busenaz Surmeneli. Winning bronze in your first Olympic encounter is no small feat. India expects more by investing nothing. Recently according to a report, India spends only 3 paise per person per day on sports. A country that spends close to 5 lakh crores on bullets and tanks expects medals in sports where it spends Rs 2800 crore in sports.

The Indian government spends peanuts and expects melons, and that is never going to happen. Lastly, I want to congratulate Lovlina on her stunning performance. She should savour this moment, she is young and will have many opportunities to brighten the colour of her medal. More power to her punches. India is very proud of her.

Noopur Baruah,

Tezpur.

Wanton cutting of tree

branches by APDCL

On the early morning of 3rd August 2021, a team equipped with four mini trucks from ASEB/APDCL started cutting tree branches along the GS Road between Sixmile and Downtown Hospital. Trimming of branches is one thing and wanton cutting of trees is another. It was a horrific sight. On one hand, we are talking of preserving trees and on the other hand, some groups are indulging in destroying them. When I enquired about the reason for cutting the trees, the simple answer was that they are just following the order from their boss to clear electric lines from obstructions. Fine! But there should be some out-of-the-box ideas to put in place to save both trees and lines. Cutting trees is an easy option.

By now all-electric lines in Guwahati should have been underground. How long we have to wait to see this happen! The way the electric and other lines are jumbled-up, in almost all places in the city, it is for sure that no proper engineering is being applied to this effect. It is disgraceful too. It is also true that without proper brainstorming exercise no good solution ever comes out.

Prafulla Dowarah,

Guwahati.

Cheerful summer vacation

When I was in school, my cheering periods were started on the first of July. It was the best time of every year for me. I enjoyed my vacation in a much cheerful way. I went to my maternal grandparents home or our ancestral native village where I used to go to the paddy field, I used to wet myself in the rain with my cousins. I experienced the fragrance of monsoon-stained mud of the paddy field. As a resident of Tezpur, I grow up in a cultural environment. Every July I use to participate in several drama workshops organised at heritage Baan Theatre where footprints of doyens like Kalaguru Bishnu Prasad Rabha, Rupknowar Jyoti Prasad Agarwala, Natasurya Phani Sarma, Dr Bhupen Hazarika and others remained engraved. We used to visit different historic and tourist places in the state. These were many joyful periods of my life. I think every child wants a summer vacation. But the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has become a barrier in every way. Since 2020 students are by no way getting the chance to enjoy the vacation. This pandemic has robbed every student of his or her happiness. I also want those cheerful days back again by sending back the havoc of the pandemic which is the source of our immense joy, pleasure and knowledge.

Aditya Ankur Nath,

Tezpur.

Women players in Olympic

Till now it is only the women players who have saved the name of the country by winning three bronze medals and more possibly coming our way in men's and women's hockey in Tokyo. While the performance of our women players is laudable, one cannot resist lamenting that India where there is no dearth of talent in sports is lagging in the medals tally and bagging even a single gold appears to be a very difficult task, if not a distant possibility.

Chandan Kumar Nath,

Sorbhog.

Sports in the school curriculum

To possess good physical, mental and social health is that which we always strive for. Possessing good health has become an integral part of our life. Good health improves learning potentials. It helps us in refreshing our minds. Moreover, it may also help to inculcate a good habit among children continuing through adulthood. Keeping given all these the education system of our country must include sports as a compulsory subject in schools or else children will only have a monotonous way of learning without sports. Just like other academic subjects such as mathematics, science, English... etc., sports is also a subject required to be practised for the all-round development of students. It can be seen that 70% of the middle age children mostly suffer from different kinds of problems for not being involved in sports. Besides this, the standard of sports in our country is also still very low. So, I would urge the educationists of our country to make sports a compulsory subject in schools as soon as possible.

Protiva Bismith,

Gauhati University.

Powerplay in the name of feminism?

The entire nation did witness the past Zomato Assault Case where a delivery person was blamed for hitting the female customer, however, the truth never surfaced as the case was closed deliberately because the female counterpart refused to cooperate with the investigation. In most of the cases before that and later happened, were a few females have been illegally using their rights to defame their male counterparts.

After witnessing the recent case where a woman repeatedly slapped a man who reportedly works as a cab driver in Uttar Pradesh's capital city Lucknow, I, as a female have been devastated for not only the lady misusing her power but also the police and onlookers, who never tried to intervene and stop the girl. Only later, another guy who couldn't hold on with the humiliation being bestowed upon the cab driver stood up for the driver.

Such cases are not new and will keep appearing in days to come, but this is my utmost request to every female to stand up for the right things, don't stay mum and rather stand up when something wrong is happening in front of you. A true feminist believes and practices equal rights, strives for a safe environment for herself and the other females.

Therefore, a male being assaulted in the public without being proven guilty is equally offensive, let's not take law into our own hands.

Rajashree Das,

Guwahati.

'Public auditorium' at Teok

Several years have elapsed since the then MP of Jorhat late Bijoy Krishna Handique laid the foundation stone of the public auditorium at Teok, near the Circle Office. But, surprisingly and for reasons unknown to the residents of the locality, without putting the finishing touches to the much-desired auditorium, the ongoing construction work was stopped. Now, the structure stands in a pitiable condition. Being a long-standing demand of the population of the locality, the local MLA should take initiative to restart the construction work and complete this much-needed auditorium at the earliest.

Dipen Gogoi,

Teok, Jorhat.

How has mobile harmed students?

Everyone knows that before the COVID pandemic, students in the country did not have access to mobile phones or smartphones with the internet. Parents did not allow their wards to use smartphones. Very few students used smartphones. But those who were able to use smartphones spent a lot of valuable time playing different games. Many parents did not pay attention to this issue. But the COVID pandemic has brought unimaginable changes to the lives of students in our country. Unexpectedly, an Internet-enabled smartphone has become available to students for online classes. Students have the opportunity to use their smartphones during online class hours as well as at other times. As a result, students are busy playing games available on mobile. They want to keep busy with games and messaging. Social media like Facebook, youtube, Instagram, WhatsApp etc., suddenly became familiar to the students. At the same time, students became preoccupied with these readily available social media platforms.

Recently, a study by the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights revealed some worrying information in this regard. According to the Commission, 90% of children in India are currently engaged in messaging. It may be recalled that the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights under the Ministry of Women and Child Welfare conducted a nationwide survey and study. This survey provides some thought-provoking information. Essential and electronic materials for online classes like a smartphone, tablet, etc. and the internet have become helpful for children's education. But according to the survey, only 10.1% of children in the country prefer to use a smartphone for study. Another 90% of children use smartphones for other purposes besides studying. According to the survey, 59.2% of children use messaging apps like Whatsapp, Facebook, Instagram, etc. the most. Even 30.2 per cent of students between the ages of 8 and 18 have their smartphones. Even many students have accounts like Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram etc. This makes it clear that in recent times students have been focusing more on mobile instead of studying.

All Indian Psychologists and Scholars think that if students focus more on mobile instead of studying in this way, it will have a detrimental effect on the lives and education of students in the future. Therefore, parents of students should take this issue very seriously. Otherwise, if a student is suffering from mental illness, it will not be considered a big or surprising thing.

Towards the end, I kindly request parents of students to seek counselling from an experienced Psychiatrist or Psychologist before they become mentally ill.

Heramba Nath,

Kamrup.

Boost to digital payments

Prime Minister Narendra Modi deserves credit for launching e-RUPI, a person and purpose-specific digital payment system. This is a cashless and contactless digital payment tool. He emphasized that through connecting people's lives with technology, the payment system will assist everyone in targeted, transparent, and leakage-free delivery. eRUPI will make certain that the funds are utilized for the purpose for which any assistance or benefits are being provided. In India, digital transactions have aided the impoverished and disadvantaged, as well as small companies, farmers, and tribal people. This can be seen in the record-breaking 300 crores UPI transactions in July, totalling Rs 6 lakh crore. I hope that State governments and citizens encourage digital payments through e-RUPI to help the country become more digitally empowered.

Amit Singh Kushwaha,

Satna (M.P.)

Income tax assessment

Income Tax Department wants to retain the earnings of tax consultants by making the tax structure complicated and confusing year after year. Tax structure should be so simplified and rationale that an individual may be able to file his tax return by himself by merging so many categories of tax exemptions available for individual taxpayers in one single tax exemption. Extra revenue so earned can be well utilized to simplify tax structure further by abolishing all additives like cess and surcharge by retaining maximum net tax slab at 30 per cent in tune with most countries of the world and as per recommendations of Raja Chelliah Committee.

There is no logic in confusing taxpayers by introducing two parallel tax schemes at the option of taxpayers from the assessment year 2021-22. If tax exemptions are minimized, then a new single tax scheme can be introduced with a basic exemption limit of Rs 3,00,000 further adding Rs 2,00,000 towards a unified tax exemption for various categories like investments. Thereafter 10 per cent of tax may be there for income between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 10 lakh, 20 per cent for income between 10 and 15 lakhs, and 30 per cent on all incomes above Rs 15 lakhs doing away with all other tax exemptions, cess and surcharge for individuals. Misused tax exemptions like on charity, donation and contributions made to or received by political parties may be abolished. The huge expenditure on ongoing farmer agitation and agricultural income shown in tax returns in tax returns filed by super-rich proves that agricultural income must not be tax-free. Since ordinary farmers do not have income above Rs 5 lakh, basic tax exemption for farmers may be Rs 5 lakh instead of Rs 3 lakh with condition that no other income other than from interest on investments in government securities and banks may be there. The best is to raise basic tax exemption from Rs 3 lakh to Rs 5 lakh for all which may not be impossible if agricultural income may not be exempted and misused and unnecessary tax exemptions are abolished.

Practical aspects demand the introduction of a permanent Voluntary Disclosure Income with the highest tax slab of 30 per cent imposed on income from undisclosed sources with a compulsion of investing an additional 20 per cent of such income in long-term low-interest government bonds. If registration fees may be slashed down to 3 per cent with the introduction of such a permanent Voluntary Disclosure Scheme, a major portion of unaccounted money utilized in the purchase of the property will convert into bank transactions paving the country towards a cashless economy.

Subhash Chandra Agrawal,

Delhi.