Drone attack

Apropos of ‘New face of terror: Drone attack on Air Force base in Jammu; 2’, the attack confirms that an accessory role was played by a small, off-the-shelf drone which was weaponised to carry payload. This shows the dangerous misuse lurking in technology widely available at offline and online retailers. Unlike military drones that can cost millions and look like small airplanes, mini quad copters can be obtained for a few hundred dollars — and their capabilities are exciting the imaginations of bad actors. In earlier incidents in the Punjab border range, criminals used drones to drop drugs and weapons. ISIS uses them to drop crude bombs on allied forces in Afghanistan. The Centre’s response has been largely haphazard and behind the curve.

Gurwinder Singh, by mail

Intel failure

For the last few years, drones from across the border have been used to drop drug packets and weapons for smugglers and terrorists in the border areas of Punjab and J&K, but taking such adventures by Pakistan as a routine, the defence department did ignore this serious matter till the Jammu incident happened. It is not the first time that MoD kept such adventures by the enemy under the wraps. We would not have lost so many soldiers had the intrusion in the Kargil sector been detected in time. Similar things happened in Galwan where China intruded as far as 10 km into the Indian territory. These are major failures of our intelligence system. Late retaliation by our troops results in huge casualties that could be saved with some forethought and efficient intelligence system. Dropping IEDs at the Jammu base seems to be an attempt by Pakistan to test chinks in our aerial defence.

COL KULDIP S GREWAL (RETD), PATIALA

Income tax portal

All taxpayers may continue to face hurdles if all problems related to the new tax portal are not immediately addressed. When the Union Government announced the launch of the new website, the taxpayers were expecting better functionality. The portal continues to frustrate taxpayers with technical issues for almost every functionality. Even after a snub from the Finance Minister, the technical issues remain unresolved. Taxpayers are unable to view past e-filed returns and many features continue to be displayed as ‘coming soon’.

SC DHALL, ZIRAKPUR

Same-gotra marriages

The murderous attack on a newly married couple of the same gotra of Sonepat district should be criticised by all and the perpetrators should be punished. But it is also an eye-opener for youngsters that they should respect traditionally established social values. The laws of India have been drafted keeping in view the customd prevailing in society. Society is changing fast and the judiciary is also helping tradition breakers on the plea of human rights. For example, the judiciary has approved live-in relationship, but rural society is against it. Therefore, it will be in the interest of society if the police counsels couple with the same gotra coming to it for protection. They should desist from such marriages.

RL Bansal, Kurukshetra

Brain drain

Apropos of ‘Go West, young man’ (The Sunday Tribune), the write-up is a wonderful tribute to the Indian diaspora settled all over the globe as well as a scathing comment on the prevalent scenario. The youth are compelled to go abroad as our own setup seems to paint a dark and gloomy picture regarding their future here. The reality is that they have lost faith in the State. Recruitment here takes ages to be completed and then invariably gets mired in tardy court proceedings. Talent suffers and people decide to move on. Therefore, one comes across long queues of young people waiting outside the passport office. The government is responsible for this sorry state of affairs. Financial literacy and employability should be the hallmark of education. Economic disparities should be constantly addressed to reduce the gap between the haves and the have-nots.

Kapil Sharma, Kaithal

Why power freebie?

The Punjab Government, under fire from the Opposition over the high tariff of electricity, is planning to provide free 200 units to many more consumers of the state. It will not only spell doom for the cash-starved government, but also simultaneously halt development works. The government should, in fact, reduce the tariff so as to ease the pressure on the common man.

Harish malhotra, by mail

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