Stepping up

Refer to ‘Back home, she’s busy taking calls to help’; while taking undue advantage of the situation arising out of the eruption of war between Russia and Ukraine, airlines hiked fares and taxi-wallahs spiked fares, Shivani, a final-year MBBS student from Jalandhar, is extending help to students stranded there, offering them tips on how to cross borders and which trains to board to reach there. Some of those stranded had to walk long distances to reach the borders for their return journey. Delayed and conflicting advisories to embassies in the war-torn country failed to provide any succour to those stranded. The lone ranger is taking phone calls and voice messages, 24×7. This braveheart is conversant with the topography and terrain of the country and leveraging it as a tool to help those trapped there. She has also shared a toll-free number among friends and their kin for contact. Hats off to her!

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RAMESH K DHIMAN, Chandigarh

Fight for peace

There is no denying the fact that the Russian President has crossed all limits in invading Ukraine. His vested interests stand exposed, but enforcing sanctions and media-bashing of Putin will worsen the situation. The so-called world leader, the US itself has devastated many a country to fulfil its own agenda. The UK’s imperialist policies that led to the colonisation of many nations is for all to see. Ambitious China is also playing this game. The best and timely solution can be the formulation of a multi-nation peace delegation that can visit Russia and hold talks with the Russian President to end this meddling and mayhem. This is the best opportunity for our PM to employ his diplomatic skills and spearhead the peace forum to calm down all the fire and fury.

SIMRANJEET SINGH SAINI, JALANDHAR

All for a degree

The report ‘Last year, only 24% students cleared FMGE’ does not describe as much the poor standard of medical education in the stated countries as it reflects the desperation for a medical degree. Earning a degree in medicine and then opening a car-wash centre! More alarming is the situation, wherein most students are wards of doctors who want their children to be doctors so that their private clinics remain functional. The Ukraine crisis has brought to the fore the need to increase medical education facilities in the country.

DV Sharma, Mukerian

Medical education

Refer to Indians studying medicine in Ukraine; graduates passing out from such institutions is a matter of concern. It amounts to back-door entry and must be regulated properly by the National Medical Commission. With so many AIIMS and medical colleges coming up in our country, there shouldn’t be any reason for our students to go abroad for a degree in medicine, which may result in lowering of the standards of our health services. Such graduates may not be able to improve their qualification through postgraduation, thus leading to deterioration of health services.

RS Kishtwaria, Palampur

Low cut-off

Reference to ‘Low NEET cut-off behind costly MBBS’; corrupt scales are being used to manage medical education for low-ranked students in India. For 80,000 seats, 8 lakh are made eligible (with just 19% marks). Thereby, 7.5 lakh students are made available for 50,000 private colleges seats for ‘auction’. Merit is openly compromised. Money matters.

Ashok Kumar Goel, Panchkula

Not in the stars

Ahead of the election outcome, politicians, who seem to have a modern approach and present themselves as significant conduits to bring about changes in society’s perspectives, are credulous in reality. Candidates are making a beeline for astrologers. Rather, they need to comprehend that the ‘misdeeds’ done by them cannot be ‘corrected’ by the solutions offered by astrologers, and defeat cannot be turned into victory by following superstitious beliefs. Instead, they can ensure their victory by undertaking welfare programmes for the public.

Sukhmeet Kaur, by mail

Back in action

The successful conduct of back-to-back T20 matches in Dharamsala brought back cricket fans of the region to witness world-class contests after a hiatus of almost two years. During a tepid tourist season, it brought huge tourism to the Kangra valley and mitigated financial woes. The creation of such a world-class venue in an otherwise mofussil setting should make the government take a cue and thematically develop other towns. As it is not possible to provide government jobs to the almost million unemployed youth, tourism has the potential of a huge force multiplier to fill the gap and provide economic succour.

Gurjyot Singh, Shimla

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