THE avian epidemic has hit West Bengal hard (Cover Story, February 15). As the poultry industry is a big source of employment and income for rural youth and women, the outbreak of brid flu has dealt a hard blow to the rural economy.

A. Jacob Sahayam
Thiruvananthapuram

Gujarat

THE Mumbai Special Court’s verdict in the Bilkis Bano case (“Fight goes on,” February 15) is a welcome step. It will give some relief to the victims of the Gujarat riots and restore their faith in the judiciary.

Madhvendra Singh Chauhan
Agra

AS Bilkis put it, the atmosphere of fear in Gujarat has not ended even though her case has come to an end.

Yasar Arafath
Kozhikode, Kerala

Jallikattu

THE Supreme Court’s decision to allow Jallikattu (after having banned it) during the festival of Pongal appears to be unsound (“Taming the bull,” February 15). This was proved by the high incidence of injury to the participants in this year’s events. Sports such as jallikattu cause injury not only to animals but also to human beings. Just because no animal was injured or killed this year, it does not mean that the bulls had a pleasant time.

S. Balakrishnan
Jamshedpur

ALTHOUGH bulls are subjected to torture and a sizable number of participants and spectators are injured or killed during the event, popular interest in this sport has not waned. The Government of Tamil Nadu should make all efforts to conduct the sport in a regulated and organised manner so that tourists from far and wide are attracted to it in large numbers.

At the same time, it should ensure the physical safety of the participants, spectators and the animals. Only then the cloud of doubt that the sport is barbaric and uncivilised will disappear from the minds of all those who have been criticising the continuance of the sporting event.

K.R. Srinivasan
Hyderabad

A PICTURE speaks a thousands words, as yours does. Jallikattu is cruel to the fear-stricken bulls and risky to the young participants. Recent incidents also confirm this observation. It is strange that the State government chose to intervene in favour of an outrageous sentiment in the name of respecting popular sentiment.

S. Soundararajan
Chennai

Stock market

THE stock market crash made small investors poorer (“Global blues and the Sensex,” February 15). Extreme fluctuations in stocks are not good for the country and they often lead to scams.

The Finance Minister and the Securities and Exchange Board of India should see to it that Sensex rises or falls gradually over a long period.

S. Raghunatha Prabhu
Alappuzha, Kerala

Iran vs U.S.

THIS refers to the confrontation between the Iranian and U.S. naval ships in the Strait of Hormuz (“Strait of tensions,” February 15). It was the U.S. that first provoked Iran by threatening its nuclear reactors and the threat still looms large.

In these circumstances, what moral right does the U.S. have to accuse Iran of triggering a confrontation? If the United Nations intervenes to check the U.S., Iranian “provocation” would be a thing of the past.

K.P. Rajan
Mumbai

Small car

PRAFUL BIDWAI’S column (“Small cars, big problems”, February 15) was thoughtfully written and well researched and made an analysis that was very different from the mainstream media hype about Nano.

The media in general happily compared the car ownership ratio of the United States and India and welcomed Nano as the poor man’s car that would improve the ownership ratio in India. It would be interesting to compare the public transport ratios of the two countries.

Rajeev Ahal Maseru,
Kingdom of Lesotho

THE Tata Group has finally managed to unveil its small car. This would certainly help the middle class to realise its dream of owning a car.

Arvind K. Pandey
Allahabad

THIS refers to the column “Far from failure” (February 15). The National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme (NREGP) is an inefficient way to revive rural economy.

It would be better to improve infrastructure such as road and electricity in rural India and encourage the growth of industries. Only this would ensure employment and income to the poor.

Brajendra Kumar Bardhaman,
West Bengal

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