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regular-article-logo Monday, 21 July 2025

Letters to the editor: Pets can communicate with their owners without AI help

Readers write in from Calcutta, East Burdwan, Mumbi, Navi Mumbai, and Bengaluru

The Editorial Board Published 21.07.25, 08:10 AM
Representational image

Representational image Sourced by the Telegraph

Love language

Sir — Anyone who has eaten around a Labrador retriever knows from the puddle of drool what the dog is trying to say. The same goes for those who have received affectionate head butts from a cat. A tail thump, a pointed look, a deep sigh at bedtime — these require no algorithmic decoding. Yet, several Artificial Intelligence companies are now promising to ‘translate’ what our canine or feline companion is trying to say when she wags her tail, sulks for attention or purrs. Pets do not need subtitles. They have managed to communicate without speaking a human language for millennia before even the first computer existed, let alone AI.

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Monidipa Mitra,
Calcutta

Water wars

Sir — China has formally started the construction of the $167.8 billion dam over the Brahmaputra river in Tibet, close to the Indian border in Arunachal Pradesh. This reflects reckless disregard for regional stability. Hydrological projects of this scale in ecologically fragile and politically sensitive zones are power moves. It is provocation dressed in concrete and steel. For downstream countries, particularly India and Bangladesh, this construction means less water security and more geopolitical unpredictability. Diplomacy cannot remain silent while one country plays hydro-hegemon in a shared river basin.

Anil Bagarka,
Mumbai

Sir — A dam of the mag­nitude as the one that China is building in the eastern Himalayas is an ecological folly. The Brahmaputra ba­sin holds some of the world’s most volatile sedi­mentation, earthquake risks, and precious bio­diversity. Large dams up­stream threaten aquatic life and the agricultural and cultural systems tied to the river’s natural rhythms downstream. No amount of electricity generation justifies bulldozing ecosystems that took millennia to form. What begins as an engineering marvel often ends as a long-term environmental mistake.

Gregory Fernandes,
Mumbai

Sir — China’s unilateral construction of the Nyingchi hydropower project highlights the urgent need for a regional water governance mechanism. India and Bangladesh cannot continue to rely on reactive diplomacy or press statements. Multilateral pressure and legal recourse must be explored. The absence of transparency and joint oversight on riverine projects only leads to suspicion and instability. The Brahmaputra is a transnational artery and demands cooperative stewardship.

Atul Krishna Srivastava,
Navi Mumbai

Sir — China’s decision to push forward with the Brahmaputra dam project poses an immediate threat to the future water security of India and Bangladesh. Downstream flows will now be at the mercy of upstream decisions taken without consultation.

Pinaki Majumdar,
Calcutta

False promises

Sir — In Bihar, jobs have now become the final litmus test of political credibility. The Rashtriya Janata Dal’s promise of 10 lakh government jobs and the National Democratic Alliance’s counter with even grander figures reflect a shift in focus. However, the electorate is not impressed by numbers alone. Voters can see the gap between slogans and execution. Both camps would do well to remember that hollow figures cannot substitute real employment. Public patience is wearing thin.

Hasnain Rabbani,
Bengaluru

Sir — Migration statistics ring louder than campaign speeches. For decades, young Biharis have left the state in search of dignity and wages. If any political party wishes to take credit for job creation, it must first explain why migration remains so high. Neither industrial sheds nor digital dashboards can mask that reality. Jobs on paper mean nothing if families continue to be torn apart by economic compulsion. Whoever wins Bihar must stop treating employment as a numbers game and start treating it as a humane priority.

Mihir Kanungo,
Calcutta

Sir — Election season in Bihar has become a contest of announcements. Schemes are unveiled weekly, policies renamed, and slogans sharpened. The RJD claims urgency. The NDA insists on its record. Voters, in the meantime, are watching the theatrical flourish with some amusement. Both sides speak of crores of jobs but few explain how or where. Skill development and industry need more than catchy acronyms. Bihar’s unemployed youth need less noise and more certainty. Real progress does not arrive on a rally stage. It comes from well-executed plans.

Shyamal Thakur,
East Burdwan

Dire straits

Sir — There comes a point when even the fiercest love for literature must bow before an empty stomach. Omar Hamad’s decision to barter books for flour captures the cruel absurdity of Gaza’s present. It is no longer about blockades or geopolitics. It is about children crying from hunger, aid withheld, dignity reduced to ration cards. In Gaza, food is a bargaining chip. Until this basic wrong is addressed, no summit, no statement, no ceasefire can claim success. Books, once a symbol of hope, now mark desperation.

Fakhrul Alam,
Calcutta

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