letterstoeditor

LOSING A LEADING LIGHT

The death of Marshal of the Indian Air Force (IAF) Arjan Singh is a huge loss to the country. He is the only person from the IAF to get the five-star rank. His active participation in the 1965 Indo-Pak war made him popular among the rank and file of the defence forces. From becoming a pilot to serving as an ambassador, his journey has been magnificent as he earned a lot of respect in all these positions. There is no denying the fact that he has been a guiding principle for aspiring pilots.

Taranpreet Singh, Moga

HALFHEARTED ROHINGYA RELIEF

Airlifting 50 tonnes of relief supplies to the Rohingya refugee camps in Bangladesh is too less and too late to cover Modi’s declared intention of deporting 40,000 Rohingyas who have come to India over time. Such half-hearted approach to the international issues sends out a wrong signal to the global community. If the Indian government is unwilling to give shelter to these refugees, it should at least not brand these destitute as terrorists. The RSS and the BJP propagate the slogan ‘Atithi devo bhav but they should apply this noble concept to all irrespective of their religion and creed. RM Ramaul, Paonta Sahib

UK MUST RETHINK ASYLUM POLICY

This refers to the September 15 subway blast in London. This was the fifth terror attack on the UK soil this year — earlier ones in Manchester and London. It sounds uncharitable but it seems as if the UK’s policy of opening its arms to mi grants from anywhere has boomeranged. Earlier, Khalistani militants were offered asylum in the UK and many Kashmir ia nd Pakistani radicals have been protected there despite the Indian government’ s appeals for their extradition. It is high time these so-called liberal countries have a second thought on offering asylum to fugitives from Asian and Middle East nations. PS Kaur

BELOW PAR PSPCL SERVICES

The services of Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) are very poor. Their machines for payment of electricity bills remain out of order for days. On the other hand, if one tries to make online bill payment their website does not works properly. Moreover it is not generating online payment receipts for the past several months. When will the Punjab government realise the need to upgrade this department for providing satisfactory services to the consumers? Sanjay Chawla, Amritsar

OIL FIRMS MINTING MONEY

Diesel and petrol prices are skyrocketing due to increased taxes and dynamic fuel pricing. Daily price changes largely go unnoticed and rarely make headlines. Oil companies are in a win-win situation owing to higher fuel prices and lower international crude rates. The present dispensation must bring down the excise duty rather than allowing the oil companies to raise prices at will. It should at least bring the fuel under the Goods and Service Tax (GST) umbrella. Only time will tell whether‘ A ch he Din’ will continue to remain a mirage!

Akash Kumar, Jagraon

II

The daily revision of petrol and diesel prices introduced in July has only burdened the consumers who are already reeling under skyrocketing prices of vegetables, pulses, edible oils and other articles of daily use. The petrol prices have gone up by more than ₹7 and diesel rates by about ₹5 per litre since. At a time when the agrarian distress in escalating, this exorbitant hike in prices of diesel is bound to worsen the crisis. It will threaten people’ s livelihoods. When the rate of international crude fell between 2014 and 2016, the government earned about ₹3 lakh crore from July 2014 to March 2017 from these two items through taxes. Neelkanth Nikhil, Bhogpur

INSENSITIVE BJP MINISTER

This is with reference to reports in which Union tourism minister KJ Alphons was quoted saying that car owners can affords higher fuel prices and those who want to visit India should eat beef in their country and then come here. Can this il logical and in sensitive B JP minister answer as why MPs, MLAs and ministers keep revising their pays and perks every now and then? Are they really starving as they enjoy highly subsided food from canteens ,don’t pay income tax, get free air and rail travels? Why does not suggest Modi to stop the advertisements costing crores of rupees? Capt Amar Jeet Kumar,

Mohali

A MOMENT OF PRIDE

The opening of the Sardar Sarovar Dam by Prime Minister Narendra Modi was a historic event in the country’s march to development. That this dam will be used by four states — Gujarat, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan — to get water and power and will help changes their industrial and farming sectors. It is still more creditable that a project initiated by the first PM of the country six decades back was completed after overcoming legal hurdles and downbeat activism. Dr BN Anand, Mohali