Tax incentives to COVID victims: Letters To The Editor

It is commendable that the Union Finance Ministry has agreed to exempt from income tax amounts received by a taxpayer for medical treatment from an employer or any person for COVID-19 treatment for the financial year 2019-20 and following years. In addition, during the years 2019-20 and 2020-21, the Ministry has allowed ex-gratia payments received by family members of a person from his or her employer or from another person on the death of the person on account of COVID-19 to be exempted from income tax. The amount received from the employer will be exempted without limit, but the amount received from any other persons will be exempted up to Rs 10 lakh in total. More incentives from the Central and State governments for pandemic victims and their families are needed.

Amit Singh Kushwaha,

Satna (M.P.)

Fair evaluation

Corona has wreaked havoc on everyone's lives, especially on students' future. Many students will miss the thrill and excitement of appearing in an examination that shapes their future. Now the Supreme Court of our country has directed the State governments to prepare a result before July 31. Preparing a result without any examination will be marred with discrepancies. The students will be evaluated based on how they performed in earlier examinations and it is seen that students normally do not perform well in those examinations as they do not push their extremes for those examinations. Students go the extra mile only when the final examination bangs at their doors. And it is also seen that the students who do not perform well in Class 10th examinations shine in their 12th finals or the other way round. Now the boards and our Education department should take in all these aspects to prepare a fair result so that no student is discriminated against.

Noopur Baruah,

Tezpur.

Inactive MP

Queen Ojha, BJP MP from the prestigious Guwahati Lok Sabha constituency is the most inactive MP. Observing her works for the last two years one can easily sum up that she is neither active inside the Parliament house nor outside it. The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the most in Guwahati as far as the Northeast is concerned. Candidly speaking, in the first place she doesn't deserve to get the ticket, it is only because the BJP was looking for a woman candidate she was preferred. Her predecessor Bijoya Chakravorty (MA pass) was very active both in and out of the Parliament. She could voice her concerns at the august house. She was Minister of State in the Vajpayee government. Back to Queen Ojha she neither could raise her voice nor show any activeness on the ground. Her poor command over English and Hindi deters her to open her mouth. The BJP could have done well by selecting some other capable woman in her place. Guwahati being a safe seat for the BJP is the prime reason why a person like Queen Ojha got elected.

Chotu Nath Boro,

Baghbor.

Floor crossers

There is a saying floor, crossers can't be match winners. Though it still holds the ground but Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Ajanta Neog, Piyush Hazarika have proved it otherwise. There are the likes of Dulu Ahmed, Mira Borthakur, Jagadish Bhuyan, Prabindra Deka, Bitopan Saikia, who have proved the wise saying is correct. Rupjyoti Kurmi, the latest to join the floor crossers club, it shall be interesting to see what fate has in store for him. Political chameleons keep us busy with their gimmicks. A chameleon can never be an asset.

Lanu Dutta Chowdhury,

Guwahati.

Third wave of COVID-19

Dr Randeep Guleria, Director, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi and a well-known Pulmonologist, has warned that if the COVID hygiene is violated, the third wave of COVID will occur within 6 to 8 weeks. Some super-specialist doctors are already saying that the third wave of COVID will appear in our country. How terrible and harmful this third wave will be is not yet known. The third wave is not without dangers. This is because of the Delta virus. The United States, the United Kingdom, and other developed countries are already concerned about the delta of this mutant virus, which first originated in Maharashtra, India. Delta has already been reported to reach 80 countries around the world. In the coming days, the Delta virus could be a threat to India. In this case, everyone needs to get vaccinated to be protected. Also, everyone has to abide by the COVID hygiene rules and there is no other option than this. This should be kept in mind by every citizen of our country.

Heramba Nath,

Kamrup.

A forgotten hero

A very few people would know about Bhimbor Deori and his immense contribution to Assam. When Nehru and Jinnah were discussing the fate of Assam, the then young Bhimbor Deori thundered on the table and said Assam can survive alone, it had earlier thwarted the attacks of Mughal, Assam cannot be clubbed into East Pakistan. Bhimbor Deori along with Lokpriyo Gopinath Bardoloi and nationalist leader Shyama Prasad Mukherjee were instrumental in keeping Assam aside of Nehru's designs. He even went to meet Jinnah and warned him to drop the idea of including Assam in his Islamic state. The two unsung heroes Bhimbor Deori and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee's contributions to Assam were lost in oblivion as like most of the anti-Nehru brigade. Today people hardly know about Bhimbor Deori and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, that's why a section of ignorant masses raise questions about Shyama Prasad Mukherjee whenever his name is coined. It was only after a non-Congress government was formed in 2014 many unsung heroes were given due recognition posthumously. The contributions of Sardar Patel, Subhash Bose, Deendayal Upadhya, Veer Sarvakar in shaping modern India were always kept away from school history books. The then historians wrote what their masters wanted. The biggest lie in history books is 'Congress got us independence'. It is an all-around contribution of each patriotic Indian and also weakening of British post-World War II. The second biggest lie is Mughal Empire was a secular one and contributed immensely to Indian culture, art, trade, architecture, etc. Before the Mughal Empire was established, Akhand Bharat was rich in art, music, culture, trade, commerce and architecture.

Julie Bhuyan,

Gaurisagar.

Moral crisis in the modern world

In a world of rising technological advancements and decreasing moral values, humans are no superior to leash or unleash animals. As Francis Chan quotes, "We are a culture that relies on technology over the community, a society in which spoken and written words are cheap, easy to come by, and excessive. Our culture says anything goes; fear of God is almost unheard of. We are slow to listen, quick to speak, and quick to become angry," depicts a picture of the modern society we are a part of.

The world is in crisis now, starving and gasping at the exploitation of resources and witnessing a major climatic change, undergoing the outbreak of a pandemic. Amidst the entire crisis that is going on across the globe, humanity seems to be the worst hit with rapidly rising cases of inhuman acts, be it terrorism, the dispute over power, fight of religion, oppression, molestation, murder, lynching or violation of human rights.

In the ongoing pandemic where millions are falling prey to the virus daily, the threat however does not cease to the virus and its outspread alone, but to the ill mentality of a few that preys on human flesh and bones, leaving the whole human race at fear and confusion.

Cases of rapes, murders, abduction are not new to the scenario; these are somewhere the result of a lack of moral values. The lack of basic moral values and inhuman acts has left humanity questioning humanity itself.

There are numerous cases of theft and plunder, even at the time of pandemic is alarming. The exploitation of nature, slaughtering of animals, polluted water bodies, food scarcity, rising poverty are some of the major concerns of today's world. And somehow, humans are under the complete charge of such exploitation. A moral crisis has deepening roots in humanity and undoubtedly numerous mishappenings are based on the lack of morality. And the possible way out is to implement and practise habits that make humans, human first.

Education is the most powerful tool to foster moral values in the people, helping them to eradicate the crisis that the whole human race is facing and to prevent another pandemic rising out of inhumanity and lack of moral values. It is necessary to practice moral values and bring them out of the textbooks to be implemented in the real world. The crisis is real and so needs to be the solution. Children should be taught proper ethics and basic moral values so that they can inculcate habits and practice them. The need is to strive towards an environment that is healthy to breathe in. The need is to practice tolerance and acceptance.

Chayanka Talukdar,

Guwahati.

RBI bonds

Reserve Bank of India (RBI) had started issuing 8 per cent RBI bonds with 6 years maturity in the year 2003. However, later these bonds were replaced by 7.75 per cent RBI bonds with 7 years maturity. RBI issues these bonds through select public and private sector banks including HDFC Bank. But some time back there was a news item that China Central Bank had tried to raise its stake in HDFC Bank from 0.8 per cent to 1.1 per cent with China Central Bank already holding about 17.5 million shares in the HDFC Bank. Even though the Indian government subsequently tightened rules for increasing such stake by neighbouring companies, yet the episode developed a feeling of uncertainty amongst investors in RBI bonds made through HDFC Bank. Presently interest on RBI bonds purchased through HDFC Bank is remitted by HDFC Bank.

RBI should in the larger public interest take over complete charge of RBI bonds including sending interest to be credited in bank accounts of investors of RBI bonds directly by RBI itself to remove all types of uncertainty amongst the minds of investors in RBI bonds. Rather it will be better if RBI bonds send new bond certificates with the name of the bank deleted which acted as a middle body for investors in RBI bonds.

From now onwards investments in RBI bonds may be accepted through all branches of all public sector banks only. There should be a provision of auto-renewal in RBI bonds at an interest rate prevailing at the time of maturity.

Subhash Chandra Agrawal,

Delhi.