Dangerous Signals"The Government's hesitation in introducing sex education in schools is incomprehensible. Are not the ominous signals warning enough?"- Sunil Chopra,LudhianaOut of the ClosetThe allure of forbidden fruit and a wrong perspective are responsible for the increasing promiscuity among youngsters ("An Early Awakening", September 21). In this era of information explosion, it doesn't pay to keep sex in the closet as it only forces children to absorb half-baked information. It should be stressed that sex is a physical culmination of a mature relationship, not a biological urge that needs to be answered by indulging in it indiscriminately.- Shwetabh Jha, DelhiThe report on sexual awareness among children was factual. However, solutions to the growing predicament children find themselves in have not been provided. The main problem is that parents do not discuss sex with their children or give them proper guidance. So they simply go astray. Oscar Wilde's words that "the best way to overcome a temptation is to succumb to it" seem to ring true for teenagers today. It's about time something was done about this.- S.P. Sharma, MumbaiAt a time when the world is abuzz with the Clinton-Lewinsky sex scandal, it is a trifle amusing to note India Today decided to make adolescent sex the cover story. What was particularly disappointing is that the rather provocatively illustrated feature had nothing new to say apart from mouthing the usual platitudes on the need for sex education in India and the collective prudery of parents and teachers. A country in which school girls are discouraged from wearing short skirts but where pornography is easily accessible on the screen is nothing short of hypocrisy. One can't help but wonder whether such a cover story is anything more than a circulation-boosting gimmick.- Pradyosh Mitra, on e-mailMake Government Functioning More TransparentThe number of cities and villages submerged because of floods, the plight of people rendered homeless, the lethargy of the administration as far as rescue operations were concerned-all told a sorry tale of the state of affairs in our country ("Depths of Despair", September 21). Evidently, bureaucratic apathy is rampant. An illiterate population will continue to suffer so long as it doesn't realise the current system has a number of loopholes.- Avinash Pande,on e-mail from Iowa, USAI fully agree with the views expressed in the editorial ("Control Those Babus", September 21). This "rusted steel frame" of India is interested only in endorsing the British legacy. Ram Jethmalani's actions being scuttled by a babu and the Tata Airlines project left hanging in midair are two pointers to a babudom that has besmirched the system. It's time bureaucratic powers were reduced. - R.S. Dhar, LucknowUrban affairs minister Ram Jethmalani should be congratulated for defanging his secretary ("Battering Ram", September 14). The single greatest impediment to India's development has been the IAS brotherhood. It's time we did away with licence raj and made government functioning more transparent. Corrupt bureaucrats need to be put in their place. - Baldev Singh, on e-mail from Little Rock, Arkansas, USAUneasy DeadlockIt is pathetic that India's Premier airline is in such a deep quandary ("The Plane Truth about Air India", September 21). This is certainly a far cry from what J.R.D. Tata, the founder of the airline, had envisaged for it when he started the airline way back in 1948. It suffers from the usual ailments that other PSUs suffer from. Yet it's inexplicable why the Government has not yet privatised the airline. It is still thinking in terms of restructuring the ailing airline service without wanting to lose its hold over it.- N. Sudhakaran, Thiruvananthapuram.preferred-source-banner{ margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom:10px;}Strict Guidelines NeededThe article paints a vivid picture of how adulteration in mustard oil takes place and shows the consequences of consuming such contaminated oil ("Poisonous Network", September 14). Adulteration is not restricted simply to mustard oil but is prevalent in various food products. If the Government enforces rules for marketing and selling only packaged consumable products, adulteration could be effectively checked. Packaging will definitely increase the price of the product but it will make the consumer more aware of details related to the product, which might ensure the quality of the item. This step could prevent further adulteration from taking place in the market.- S. Bakthavathsalan,DelhiMisinterpreted TextRafique Zakaria has selectively quoted from the Quran to establish that the fanaticism of the Taliban is due to the misinterpretation of Quranic injunctions ("Uneasy Edict", September 14). According to the Quran, men and women (except family members) should not come face to face with each other and there should be a veil between them. The truth is that the gender apartheid imposed by the Taliban in Afghanistan is the faithful implementation of Quranic instructions, not its misinterpretation.- D.P. Sinha, Gautambudhnagar, UPNo Premature JudgementsThe report on the economy ("The Great Depression", September 7) made interesting reading. Only mature economies can afford balanced or surplus budgets. Let us hope Finance Minister Yashwant Sinha is right about the imminent revival of the economy- buoyed by the lead given by public spending. One should also remember the BJP has held the reigns for only five months while others had much longer to tinker with the economy. Let us not pass premature judgements!- D. Sitaramaiah, Tehran, IranApathy in our BloodHaving read of the malpa tragedy, one cannot help but wonder about how insensitive we have become ("The Indignities of Dying", September 7). General apathy reflects in our reactions. The Government reacts only after tragedy has struck. Incompetence as was evident in Pithoragarh district is rampant everywhere. How many more tragic events will it take before India realises it is time to overhaul the system?- Shivajee Samdarshi, on e-mail from Santa Clara, California"An Islamic Pakistan reminds one of Benjamin Franklin's sardonic words: 'If men are so wicked with religion, what would they be without it?'"K. Gopakumar Menon,SonepatA Different Point of ViewTavleen Singh had no idea of what she was talking about when she cited the case of Tushar Kulkarni ("Great Indian Paradox", August 24). The child is suffering from progressive neuro-muscular atrophy. From day one, he has been put on a ventilator in an air-conditioned room with a monitoring facility. Singh's claim that the child would have been in a condition to go to school had he been in a speciality hospital in the US is not matched by ground realities. Tushar's family, with help from influential contacts occupied the AIIMS guest house for five months. They vacated the room only when the faculty protested. For the past two months, the Kulkarnis have started a media campaign to pressurise the institute and the Government to facilitate their foreign visit. We have full sympathies with the ailing child but have been forced to put the record straight to counter Singh's bluff.- B.K. Dash, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, DelhiThe mess created by earlier governments in the past five decades cannot be wished away in 100 days. It takes time to remove corruption, inefficiency and red-tapism and Tavleen Singh has rightly pointed out that the BJP need not take the responsibility for past mistakes. The "Tryst with Destiny" speech to the nation by Jawaharlal Nehru has brought us nothing but poverty and misery-the "Garibi Hatao" campaigns notwithstanding. We should overcome this Nehruphobia and have a leader straightforward enough to call a spade a spade.- Kumar B. Bhatia, MumbaiClarificationIn the offtrack ("DRIVING AMbition", June 8) it was erroneously reported that Mr A. Ranga died in 1989. Further, Mr Ranga claims that the open car model was neither designed nor manufactured by him at the stated cost of Rs 1 lakh.Published By: AtMigration Published On: Oct 5, 1998--- ENDS ---
