Telling prediction

Telling prediction
As if the humiliating defeats in the state polls of UP, Gujarat and Bihar during the last few years were not enough, the Congress has been shattered by three scams of gigantic proportions - Adarsh society, Asian Games and 2G spectrum. The revelations of Wikileaks have further unnerved the Congress and tarnished its image, demoralising its rank and file. It is frantically seeking to focus on the misdeeds of the opposition parties, instead of setting its own house in order, forgetting the adage - those living in glass houses… The dismal scenario reminds me of the words of ex-British prime minister, Winston Churchill, “Power will go to the hands of rascals, rogues, freebooters; all Indian leaders will be of low calibre and men of straw. They will have sweet tongues and silly hearts. They will fight amongst themselves for power and India will be lost in political squabbles. A day will come when even air and water would be taxed in India”; written 64 years ago. The Congress has indeed worked overtime to prove him right.
—Arvind D Tapkire, via email

Nuclear disaster
My heartiest appreciation on an important and timely article (‘Killing ourselves softly’, March 19). However bleak it may seem, we must not get despondent. As a matter of fact, one of the coincidences that I noticed in the article was about Rajnikanth. Please make sure that Rajnikanth reads your article, and through your channels you must request him to make a movie about the potential ‘nuclear danger’. If we appeal to him in the right sense, may be he will take it up. Besides, he has a lot of fans in Japan. He is the man who can help stop our political jokers from destroying us.
—Ashok Bakthavathsalam, via email

Dynastic politics
It is amusing to see Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray flaying the Congress party for promoting dynastic politics (‘Sonia is no Indira, says Thackeray’, March 22). He should run his party on democratic lines before casting aspersions on other parties. We have seen the ludicrous spectacle of even the third generation Thackerays flexing their political muscle. Inner party elections have never been held in Shiv Sena to elect its leaders. So, Bal Thackeray chastising the Congress for dynastic politics is like the pot calling the kettle black.
—Subramanian Venkataraman, Mumbai

About RTI
The blackmail by RTI users occurs only because the information that is sought is “voluminous”, according to your report (‘RTI used to blackmail govt officials’, March 22). If all records and public information was collated regularly and/or computerised, it would not be a problem for officials to access it quickly and hand it over and there would be no scope for blackmail. Also, as RTI activist Vijay Kumbhar pointed out, the RTI Act calls for certain information to be declared publicly whether asked for or not. This is never done. If officials are being blackmailed, it is their own fault and we need not shed any tears over it.
—Sherna Gandhy, via email

Heritage conservation
This is with reference to ‘Heritage society to list new sites’ (March 23). This is indeed a thoughtful and a constructive move by MMRDA. Comprehensive heritage conservation was undertaken for the first time in India by the Tatas for the Army & Navy Building at Kala Ghoda in Mumbai. Later on, Bombay House was done up externally by them. Listing the heritage structures would require involving qualified conservation architects to obtain the historic background and the measures as appropriate to upgrade the old structures with corresponding estimates. The idea of choosing the local corporators to help is definitely a good idea. The MMRDA and the BMC may manage the projects but deployment of experienced and qualified active conservationists is a must to achieve success.
—Bikram Banerjea,  Mumbai

Emulate Shiv Nadar
Hail Shiv Nadar, the founder of HCL Technologies for his decision to donate 10% of his wealth which works out to Rs1,800 crore. It would be great if other successful entrepreneurs emulate Nadar. As regards to politicians who have amassed huge wealth by looting the nation, it would be ‘laudable’ if they donate at least 10% of their ill-gotten wealth, of course, as donation by anonymous donors since they cannot disclose the source of income.
—KRP Gupta, Mumbai