Letters to the Editor: Legendary singer Vani Jayram

Within a fortnight of the announcement of the conferring of the Padma Bhushan Award, the passing of legendary singer Vani Jayram has made her fan-followers spellbound. Her brief stint in Hindi cinema has also left an indelible mark. She will be remembered for rendering Meera Bhajan in the film Meera under Pandit Ravi Shankar's baton. For this, a Filmfare award for best playback singer (Female) was also bestowed on her. Three-time national film award winner for the best female playback singer, Vani had also won state Government awards from Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu, Odisha and Gujarat for her momentous contribution to the field of music. Her singing talent was discovered by the music director of yesteryear Vasant Desai. Desai offered Vani to record three songs in the film amongst which the song "Bole Re Papihara", featuring Jaya Bachchan in the lead role, became a talk-of-the-town song and gave her instant recognition. Later she sang for Naushad in Pakeeza, Madan Mohan in Ek Mutthi Aasmaan. In this film, she had a duet with Kishore Kumar. For music director Rahul Dev Burman, she sang a duet with Mukesh in Chhalia. She also sang for OP Nayyar, Chitragupta, Laxmikant Pyarelal, Shyam Ji Ghanshyam Ji and Jaidev in the brief stint she spent in Bollywood.

Abhijit Roy,

Jamshedpur 831017

Online fraudsters

It's a known fact that going digital has made us more vulnerable to online fraud. Online fraudsters trick millions of people into sending money or giving out personal information. These cybercriminals use secure software to remain anonymous which are proxy servers that hide their location and route their communications through multiple countries to evade direct detection. Since the method of how they commit these crimes is very complicated, law enforcement needs to coordinate with government agencies, international partners and private corporations. Also, Call Centres need to be set up so that the victims of such frauds can lodge complaints without delay. The police, on receiving a complaint of this kind, should immediately notify the bank authorities through the National Cyber Crime Reporting Portal so that the transfer of money can be stopped instantly. Besides, people should also utilize some tips to help lessen the chances of becoming prey for these fraudsters. One should not open, respond to, download attachments or click on links from unknown emails. While entering payment information one should be ensured one is using secure websites. It can be verified by ensuring the website's URL that begins with HTTPS.

Last but not the least, severe punitive action must be taken against the convicted and should be shown no mercy.

Dipen Gogoi,

Teok, Jorhat.

Of fighter jet crash

India had to witness another tragic incident of a fighter jet crash in Madhya Pradesh a few days ago during a routine operational flying training session. It is a very sad incident for the people of India that we have lost a promising young pilot, who is a real gem of our country. Losing our brave soldiers is not everyone's wish but when it comes to pilots it is quite an irrevocable loss as piloting is not everyone's cup of tea. Becoming a pilot in the Indian Air Force requires hard work, too much talent and above all a sense of supreme patriotism. We sleep well at night because they guard our sky round the clock. It is hoped that the government will find out the cause of the incident and do everything possible to avoid such an untoward incident in future.

Bhushan Ray,

Bijni, Chirang.