Health alert

Sir - Getting tested for HIV/AIDS before marriage ought to be made mandatory. This will go a long way in controlling the spread of AIDS. Indian families check horoscopes before getting their children married, but never think of checking health reports. In fact, complete health check-ups should be conducted before marriage. This is not to say that people suffering from HIV/AIDS cannot marry, but their prospective partners should be aware of the fact. Young people must insist on getting health check-ups done before marriage. This will also help curb child marriages.

Yours faithfully,

K. Ravi, Bhubaneswar

Brilliant show

Sir - The announcement made by the skipper of the New Zealand cricket team, Brendon McCullum, about his retirement from all forms of international cricket at the end of the Kiwis' home series against Australia in February has surprised every cricket lover ("All good things have to come to an end", Dec 23). He is one of the most aggressive and skilled batsmen New Zealand has produced. It is a treat to watch him play. At present, he holds the record of having played 99 Test matches. He also holds the record for hitting the highest number of sixes in Twenty20 matches. He shares the world record for a hundred Test sixes with the former Australian player, Adam Gilchrist.

Under McCullum's leadership, New Zealand reached the final of the ICC World Cup for the first time in March last year. He has been rated as the best captain New Zealand has had for one-day internationals. He has also become the first ever batsman to score a triple ton in a Test for New Zealand. Most batsmen can only dream of creating records such as these.

Most bowlers fear McCullum when he comes to the crease. His presence in the New Zealand team will be greatly missed. One hopes that he is able to end his career on a high note when New Zealand faces its arch-rival, Australia, in McCullum's last home series.

Yours faithfully,

Iftekhar Ahmed, Calcutta

Flight plan

Sir - In May last year, Air India started a flight service to Mumbai and Delhi via Calcutta at the new airport in Andal, close to both Durgapur and Asansol, which are important industrial hubs in West Bengal. Most Burdwan residents may never use the flight services. Yet, they were ecstatic that a small place like Andal has become part of India's aviation map. In December last year, a helicopter service was started at Digha, to connect it to Calcutta at affordable rates. The residents of East Midnapore have been elated.

The new air services at Andal and Digha do nothing to solve real problems - the lack of a proper food supply, good roads, quality education, jobs and so on. Nevertheless, the electorate in Burdwan and Midnapore may reward Mamata Banerjee handsomely in the upcoming assembly polls for the air projects.

Yours faithfully,

N.K. Das Gupta, Calcutta

Casual approach

Sir - This concerns the confusing signals given by the state government regarding the enforcement of prohibition in Bihar from April 1. Initially, it was reported that complete prohibition would be in place. Later, one heard that only country liquor would be banned. Now we are being told that foreign liquor would be available.

The policy to sell liquor from government outlets only is expected to leave some people unemployed. It is not the government's business to sell alcohol. The practice should be left to private vendors. The government should restrict its role in the trade. It should only be concerned with stopping the entry of illegal liquor so that it does not eat into the state's tax revenue.

Significantly, prohibition has seldom been a success in any of the states that has implemented it. Additional law-enforcing forces are required to implement the policy successfully.

The chief minister, Nitish Kumar, has made this announcement just for the sake of keeping his pre-election promise. Better monitoring by law enforcement agencies should be able to minimize alcohol-related violence.

The government should leave the choice of drinking in the hands of the people. The government's flip-flops indicate that it is not serious about implementing prohibition.

Yours faithfully,

Sudha Kumar, Patna

In the shadows

Sir - Bihar is witnessing proxy governance. The chief of the Rashtriya Janata Dal, Lalu Prasad, reportedly inspected the Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences in the company of health department officials and gave instructions to doctors and officials. Prasad's eldest son, Tej Pratap, is Bihar's health minister. It is amusing to see Prasad running the health department. Doctors' delegations apparently meet Prasad and not his son.This is not the first time that Prasad has been running the government machinery by proxy. He had made his wife, Rabri Devi, the chief minister so that he could rule the state from behind the curtain. The image of Nitish Kumar's government is taking a hit. People describe Prasad as the 'Super CM'. One would have expected Prasad to respect his pledge and give Kumar a free hand.

Yours faithfully,

Sashank Kumar, Patna

Points to ponder

Sir - The Union tribal affairs minister, Jual Oram, has spilt the beans to show why the Central Bureau of Investigation has slowed down in its investigation into the multi-crore mining and deposit collection scams. Oram said that had the CBI not slowed down in its investigation, the government led by the Biju Janata Dal would have been finished by now. He is right. Oram's view has a lot of takers. In fact, the leader of Opposition, Narasingha Mishra, had first hinted at a secret deal between the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government at the Centre and the BJD government in the state. But no one had taken that seriously.

As the CBI started its probe, a number of BJD leaders, including senior MLA Pravat Tripathy and MP Rama Chandra Hansdah, were put behind bars. The government's advocate-general was also not spared. But no one knows what happened after that. Suddenly, the investigation seems to have lost momentum.

Yours faithfully,

Rabi Das, Bhubaneswar

 

Sir - Jual Oram's statement has opened Pandora's box. The secret deal between the chief minister and the leaders of the BJP at the Centre has been exposed. But Congress leaders from the state have no reasons to cheer as yet.

The ministers in the erstwhile United Progressive Alliance government had praised Naveen Patnaik's government and given it a clean chit, even as state Congress leaders were critical of the latter because of its alleged corruption and misdeeds. Patnaik has clearly mastered the art of managing the Central government to his advantage, be it the National Democratic Alliance or the UPA government.

Yours faithfully,

Abhijit Mohapatra, Bhubaneswar

 

Sir - We should not politicize Jual Oram's statement regarding the slowdown of the CBI inquiry into the mining and deposit collection scams. The way the Congress suddenly sprang up to grab the opportunity to corner the BJP and the BJD was unfortunate. After Oram said that he was misquoted, the case should have been dropped.

One must remember that the investigations into the two scams are continuing as per the Supreme Court's direction. The CBI is only the executing agency and it is an independent body. We should not doubt its integrity.

Yours faithfully,

Madhusudan Biswal, Cuttack