Acquiring military prowess through ICBMs is meaningless if it is not accompanied by pragmatic statesmanship.

R NARAYANAN, Ghaziabad

Power saver

Only 1% of the total national energy consumption is met by solar power, whereas in a tropical country like India where the sun shines throughout the year, solar energy could be one of the best solutions to the growing power woes.

In Queensland and many other states in Australia, energy providers have initiated schemes to buy back energy from the public, industries and farmers who have installed solar panels for their own consumption but any extra electricity is supplied back to the grid. This helps the consumers to get monetary benefits and the satisfaction of using clean energy and reducing national carbon footprint.

In India, if the government cannot provide financial incentives to people using solar energy, it can atleast start a scheme to install solar panels at subsidised prices to generate energy for individual use and if possible supply surplus energy back to the power grid.

Dr RAJESH JALOTA, Australia

Elitist education

The system of acquiring education is directly proportionate to the capacities of ‘buying and selling ’and has nothing to do with aptitude of the learners. The elite class has come to stay, govern, rule and dominate the marginalised ones.

Life is all about opportunities and one’s potential is at test only when one gets a chance to show it. The have-nots do not get enough opportunities to explore, expand or demonstrate their potential.

The elite class most of the time lacks sense of justice, empathy, equity, consideration and love for mankind. American union leader Eugene Victor Debs said,” I am opposing a social order in which it is possible for one class who does absolutely nothing that is useful to amass a fortune of hundreds of millions of dollars , while millions of men and women who work all the days of their lives secure barely enough for a wretched existence”.

Until equal opportunities are made available to every aspirant irrespective of his class and creed, we shall continue to witness lop-sided development of the society. Equality and love towards each other is the answer, as Mother Teresa said, “Hungry for love, He looks at you; Thirsty for kindness, He begs of you; Naked for loyalty, He hopes in you; Homeless for shelter in your heart, He asks for you. Will you be that one to Him?’’

SUSHMA KUMARI, Hamirpur (HP)

Hands off

Owing to rampant corruption, coupled with greed, land under tea plantation in Kangra is shrinking at a fast pace. Blanket ban on selling land under tea plantation must continue and the government should encourage small farmers to go for massive tea plantations in their barren land, by providing them high-yielding tea plants and other assistance.

In connivance with the state governments, major chunks of big tea estates were sold to locals as well as outsiders to further set up housing colonies or commercial ventures.