Cleaning up after the farewell
This has reference to ‘BMC starts pulling down banners’ (Oct 02). In order to avoid recurrence, it will not be sufficient to remove the banners after Ganpati visarjan but the politicians/social workers concerned should be penalised for every illegal banner so displayed during the festival and not taking them off later. As usual, this year too, the city beaches turned ‘garbage grounds’ and roads were left with more potholes for the common man to suffer. The paver blocks which were put hastily by the BMC have been dislocated on many roads due to digging by the mandals. The celebrities and politicians who are hungry for ‘name and fame’ pretend to clean the beaches in front of media cameras only, conveniently turning a deaf ear towards hardships of the people. The implementation of the suggestion that if mandals have a clean-up committee designated before the festival itself — which would be responsible for getting things back in order after virsarjan — it would surely mitigate the issue to a great extent. Let us hope that the authorities concerned and the big mandals will take note of this suggestion.
—Kishorekumar J Ved, Mumbai
Phenomenal growth
Congratulations to DNA for its phenomenal growth that has given it an average issue readership (AIR) of 7.38 lakh in the second quarter of this year, eclipsing the records of the two other leading dailies. For a publication that started only seven years back, to be counted as India’s sixth-largest English language daily with an AIR of 9.3 lakh and Total Readership (TR) of 18.05 lakh, is something highly commendable. This is clearly due to its impressive news-spread and its unusual name. One hopes that DNA will not only maintain its fast pace of growth but also improve upon it.
—V Subramanyan, Thane
II
Accept my congratulations for DNA’s ‘scorching growth’ (Oct 02). Though I have been a regular reader of multiple English
dailies, I have observed that DNA has stood out through its crisp and clever news reporting, superb printing and in-depth investigative skills of its reporters. Readers are sure that any sensitive news item, unable to find place in other newspapers due to various compulsions, will appear in the DNA. The catchy captions and the analytical sport reports, which go beyond the headlines, are worth mentioning. Having said so, I have two suggestions to make. First, the Mumbai edition needs to cover news from important districts in Maharashtra and thereby negate the impression that the paper belongs solely to Mumbai. Second, DNA should start its Nagpur edition at the earliest because people of Vidarbha lack a robust and dynamic English daily. I wish DNA takes giant leaps to become the top English newspaper in the country.
—Ganapathi Bhat, Akola
A case in point
This has reference to ‘Post-haste minister and his irrigation circus’ by Seema Kamdar (Oct 02). The irrigation scam that is rocking Maharashtra is just a case in point. In fact, rampant corruption, petty politics and the other administrative loopholes are the major barriers to the country’s growth. Hence, stringent efforts are required to ensure the overall growth of the country and its people. According to a recent UN report, corruption continues to be a crippling problem in the Asia-Pacific. Corruption is not only the root cause of major problems facing India but also a stumbling block to its economic growth. Maintaining transparency and retaining accountability in the administration are the necessary steps to fight the evil. In this regard, the Right to Information (RTI) Act will go a long way in tackling corruption and the other unethical activities that are coming in the way of the growth of our country.
—PSS Durai, Mumbai
Was the match fixed?
It was disgusting to watch the match between Australia and Pakistan in the ongoing World T20 tournament. The way Australia went about it surely gave the impression that they were not playing to win. Even when Pakistani wickets fell, the usual celebrations were lacking. Imagine an Australian team not celebrating! Their batting too was pathetic. They scored just 117 in 20 overs — at less than 6 runs an over?! The plan was so obvious. Allow Australia to score 112 so that they qualify and Pakistan win by a huge margin so that their NRR is beyond India’s reach. Will the ICC take any action?
—Dilip Gurjar, Bangalore
Irrigation white paper
This refers to Ajit Pawar’s challenge to the state government to come out with a white paper on the irrigation sector. However, looking at the way the entire issue has been handled by the government and the guidelines spelt out by NCP chief Sharad Pawar, the white paper is sure to be a damp squib. The frequent threats of issuing a white paper on this issue by the chief minister appears to be only a hollow threat to score a few brownie points over NCP and no one, including the opposition parties, appear to be serious in this matter.
—Sudhakar Shenoy, Mumbai
Mamata’s ways
The rally against Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) at Jantar Mantar in New Delhi by West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee against the UPA government was a flop as people did not respond to her call. The statement made by her at the rally that a No Trust Motion against the government will be carried out in the next session of parliament shows that she has become frustrated after her exist from the UPA. It is high time that she stops this political stunt as no party will help her to topple the elected UPA government.
—Bhagwan Thadani, via e-mail
