Outstanding innings

Legal notice on PM over Kudankulam
Serving of a legal notice on prime minister Manmohan Singh by people’s movement against nuclear energy (PMANE) convenor SP Udayakumar lends credence to the belief that the accusations of the prime minister that Kudankulam agitators were funded by some NGOs from the US and Scandinavian countries are not well founded. Right from the day the people in and around Kudankulam started their agitation, the Central government had only been accusing them and was trying to cast aspersions on the intentions of the people, a majority of them poor fisherfolk who had been fighting against the atomic plant only out of genuine fears. Instead, the Centre could have deputed right teams to sit and talk with the people and assuage their apprehensions if it  had valid reasons for the commissioning of the plant. The grievous mistake committed by the Centre was to have assigned this job to Narayanasami, MOS at the PMO, who with his most unpleasant body language and arrogant utterances created an absolutely non-conducive atmosphere to break the ice. The latest fiasco of arresting and deporting Sonnteg Reiner Herman, a German national, by the government accusing him of organising funds for the agitators has boomeranged and has made the people to realise the real intention of the government as Herman himself was staying in a budget hotel paying a paltry rent of Rs200 per day.
—S Fernando, Chennai

Get correct facts
This has reference to ‘Schoolgirl conquers world, eyes marathon win’ (February 27). Swapnali Yadav did not win the 20km swim ‘against girls and boys older than her’. She came second from a field of two and was the first female across the line in the 20km solo with a time of 7 hours and 7 minutes. Michael Skrodzki came across the line first with a time of 4 hours and 36 minutes. It would be appreciated if the writer gets the facts corrected. 
–Taneille Anderson

Outstanding innings
‘Kohliveri Di!’ (February 29) is an apt acclamation of the Virat Kohli’s incredible, power-packed innings of 133 not out during which he hit the rather difficult Lasith Malinga to  all parts of the park and in the process showed that there is light at the end of the tunnel. Overhauling a target of 321 runs with nearly 14 overs to spare is truly remarkable. Irrespective of whether Team India makes it to the final or not, Kohli has breathed fresh life into our one-day game and deserves to be elevated to the captaincy of the team for his consistency and commitment.
—Dr V Subramanyan

No time to lose
It was a golden Sunday on February 26 when a packed Dhayan Chand hockey stadium roared with cries of ‘Chak De India’. The unprecedented enthusiasm was created due to the Indian team’s fine display of thrashing France 8-1 in the Olympic qualifiers. The sport edit ‘Just the beginning ...’ (February 27) saluting the Indian players has rightly complimented that at long last they have made us smile and the win over France has come as a welcome boost to the sport that has been mired in controversies for some years now. Credit for the magnificent show by our players goes to the team’s coach Michael Nobbs. The ‘Nobbs’ effect has proved to be a noble effect on the struggling hockey team. Full marks to Nobbs who in a span of six months consciously worked to leverage the team’s traditional skills while inculcating the modern techniques that used by countries like Australia. It was he who had imaginatively tweaked the tactics to convert India’s weakness into strength and spiked the players’ combined stamina with his rotation policy. And this was quite visible to the delight of the spectators. With superb display the game has effectively made a grand return to the Olympic arena and the whole country is proud of it. The editorial concludes rightly with a precautionary note that although the moment calls for celebration, it is important not to get carried away. The quality of opponents in the qualifiers was nowhere near world standards. But in London, it will be a different ball game. There is no time for the team to rest on its laurels. Preparations for the Games have to begin now!
—Dilbag Rai, Chandigarh

Be emphatic with China
The routine practice of raising implausible objections by China on every visit to Arunachal Pradesh by an Indian dignitary is a cause for nagging worry and constant irritation. India and China are two of the world’s oldest civilisations and have co-existed in peace for millennia. It was only since 1950 the relationship has been characterised by border disputes. Thereafter, continuous negotiations have not even achieved the bare minimum results. It appears that China is not at all interested in resolving the border issue with India, other than on its own terms. Unfortunately, the MEA has always been down playing the Chinese irritants, rather than acting from any strategic sense. Lack of engagement of Indian diplomacy in this issue has diminished New Delhi’s capacity to authoritatively counter the steadily increasing involvement of China in the Indian region.
—Mathew Oommen, Pune

FIR against Singh
The Bombay high court directive to Mumbai police commissioner Arup Patnaik to file an FIR against Kripashankar Singh is justified. That Singh managed to amass wealth worth Rs320 crore within no time of his landing in Mumbai from native UP indeed raises eyebrows. The SIT should spare no time in arriving at a logical conclusion to nail the culprits. Meanwhile, the properties of the entire family should be seized and the bank accounts frozen instantly. We have seen enough of scams and would not like to  see a repeat of swindling tax payers’ money.
—Deepak Chikramane