Leading on the frontline
The recent visuals of Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Keerthi Jalli walking through the flood-affected areas of the Cachar district have gone viral on social media platforms. She walked through muddy waters wearing a sari while reaching out to the affected people. Her painstaking efforts to alleviate the sufferings of flood victims have taken the Internet by storm. She became the cynosure of all eyes as the netizens heaped enormous praise on the Deputy Commissioner. In these desperate times, such incidents reaffirm and rekindle people's faith in the country's administrative structure. The IAS officer has set a new benchmark in public service by going beyond her call of duty and leading on the frontline. She became a glaring embodiment of the motto of the Indian Administrative Service – 'Excellence in Service' - and not merely a social media sensation. Her endeavours amid these onerous circumstances will not only inspire other bureaucrats, but will also be a subject of hope and optimism for the people of the State.
Arindam Kashyap Ray,
Guwahati.
Mockery of investigation
Just a few days ago the Madhya Pradesh High Court delivered a judgement regarding a student who was studying in the Fourth Year MBBS course and had to remain in the jail for a number of years after being falsely implicated in a criminal case. The court passed stringent strictures against the investigation agencies and questioned as to who was responsible for falsely implicating the innocent student.
Now present case is of Aryan Khan, who had been also implicated in a false case just for the purpose of exortion of money. This type of witch-hunting in the name of the law should be stopped immediately. The charge sheet filed by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) dropped the case against Aryan because of "no evidence", ensuring an anti-climax. It also raises a question mark over the courts which failed to live up to the basic principle of justice that an accused is innocent until proven guilty and bail and not jail is preferable during the period of trial. It was even submitted during trial it was presented as if Aryan had international drug connections. Now the department has dropped all charges against the son of actor Shahrukh Khan and it is clear that someone wanted to put Aryan in jail for fulfillment of malicious designs so that the actor's image may be fully tarnished. The officials responsible for this botched-up investigation should be appropriately punished, which will serve as a lesson for others. If no punishment is given for such erring officials, then there cannot be any improvement in the system. Both the above cases relate to false implication of innocents and make a totally mockery of the investigation process.
Yash Pal Ralhan,
Jalandhar -144003.
Kudos to Gujarat Titans!
Kudos to Gujarat Titans (GT), which have become only the second team after the current runners-up Rajasthan Royals (RR) in 2008 to lift the IPL title in their debut season. The Hardik Pandya-led GT weren't expected to go very far in the IPL 2022 edition. Comprising some key players and a lot of inexperienced players, Gujarat stunned one and all as different players rose up to the occasion in every game to see them top the group stage and then become the first-ever team to reach the IPL 2022 final. Though GT have without player like RR's Orange Cup awardee Jos Buttler, who has been awarded five other awards like Most Valuable Player, Power Player, Most fours and sixes, and Game Changer of the Season, or Purple Cap awardee Yuzvendra Chahal (27 wickets). Believe me, I desperately wanted RR to win in honour of Shane Warne. Unfortunately, that was not so. RR didn't display the same spirit that was visible against Royal Challengers Bangalore. Moreover, captain Hardik Pandya not only put on an all-round show (Player of the Match for his all-round performance both with the bat (34 runs off 30 balls) and with the ball (3/17) as GT thrashed RR by 7 wickets to lift their maiden title in front of a record crowd, but have also proved critics wrong as no one expected the Gujarat franchise to go on to win the elusive title - with every game won by them seeing different players perform at their best. Among them David Miller deserves special mention. GT reserved their best bowling performance for the IPL 2022 final, restricting RR to 130/9. It is the second-lowest total in an IPL after RPS (129/8) in 2017 final. Debut winners in the IPL like RR (2008), GT, also like RR, finishing first in the league phase & winning title in 2022, is a coincidence. Congratulate to GT for its brilliant maiden IPL victory as a better team!
Bidyut Kumar Chatterjee,
Faridabad -12100.