Looking at the future

T he effort put in by the Dubai government and the Roads and Transport Authority should be applauded and respected for being able to achieve such developments in a short span of time with such perfection (“New 32km Dubai cycling track to be ready by November”, Gulf News, October 1). Life in a city can be enjoyed only if residents or visitors can commute without congestion, find destinations without much search, and use public transport as much as they can, which is both wallet and environmentally friendly. A flying taxi might be considered as a Chief Executive Officer’s toy, but by the time infrastructure is built, it will benefit the economy and the community as well. To embrace change, achieve heights and do anything new needs courage; that is what we witness in this city of future every day. to run the trains at a speed of 100 to 120km/h, however, in reality, except a few trains like the Shatabdi and Duronto, who, too, struggle to clock 120 km/h, all the rest are running at a speed of not more than 60km/h.

Take the example of a train travelling from Chennai to Bangalore, which is at a distance of 358km, with a minimum travel time of six to seven hours. Even these trains are unable to be punctual and invariably reach destinations with a delay of around 10 to 15 minutes.

The worst is the issue of safety of the passengers. Even now, there are many accidents and thousands of lives are lost in a year, mainly due to derailments, collapse of old and dilapidated bridges and more. Even surveillance cameras have not been installed at all stations.

Hence, it would be nice if the Indian Railways concentrated on this and spent some time and money to ensure the safety of its existing lakhs of passengers. From Ms Kavitha Srikanth Chennai

A wake-up call for sportsmen

T his is a wake-up call for sporting clubs after the video of the Ben Stokes brawl became public (“Stokes’ victim a former British Army soldier: report”, Gulf News, October 1).This incident should be a wake-up call to all sporting clubs, to tell their players of the ambassadorial role they play in public.

It is high time that sporting clubs demand morals and ethical values on and off the playground. It will prevent these embarrassing videos from surfacing. Sports committees should emphasise the impact such reports will have on the club and its players. Because of the presence of modernised mobile phones, sportsmen should be very careful in their activities in public spaces. It is advisable to be proactive always. From Mr Robson Chiambiro Auckland, New Zealand

Need to act like role models

I t was sad and equally shocking to see the pictures of Ben Strokes fighting on a street. We cannot pass any judgements on the matter as we do not know all the facts. All we can say is that he is a brilliant cricketer, not only for Durham, England but also for international cricket.

It was a very sensible and mature decision by the England cricket authorities to not let him play, as it would have given the wrong impression. Bear in mind, cricket is trying to bring in a new audience with day-night test matches, the T20 Leagues, and such bad behaviour is not what cricket needs. Once this settles

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down, I hope he realises the importance of being role model for children who want to be like him. From Mr Ghanshyam Vyas Middle East

More chances to players

T hough some of the former Australian players have projected our captain Virat Kohli to be an Australian in attitude, but in reality, it is not so (“Ton-up Rohit, Kohli make light of target at Nagpur”, Gulf News, October 2). He has to learn to be ruthless to grind the opposition.

I feel Kohli had made a mistake in resting for three of his series winning bowlers for the fourth one day match at Bangalore. Had he retained two of them, or at least Jasprit Bumrah, the best bowler in the Indian team, the Australians would have scored at least 20 runs, their winning margin. Then comes the promotion of Hardik Pandya to number four.

Now that he is proving to be a finisher, I feel like Mahendra Singh Dhoni is the best bet at number four. Anyway, even in defeat he supports his players. Time and again, Rohit Sharma is getting run out and this is not good for the team.

Incidentally, since the Indian captain is keen on having more all-rounders in the team, I hope that Washington Sunder would be a safe bet. Hope the selectors would give him a chance in the next series against the New Zealanders. From Mr N. Mahadevan Chennai

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