New panel, data review
It is fine to be enhancing the quality of data assessment. However, with time, the mandate of the Standing Committee on Statistics (SCoS) must include within its coverage other surveys besides the National Statistical Office ones such as water body census or air quality index as these are priority issues now.
Manas Agarwal,
New Delhi
IITs and women
I do not dispute the statement of Preethi Aghalayam, the first woman director of an IIT (Inside pages, July 17), that women are still a minority in the Indian Institutes of Technology. But the rules in IIT admissions and appointments do not discriminate against women in any way. At the most, there exists only some constitutional ‘reservations’, which, of course, sections of citizens might hold as discriminatory. But the case of women as such does not figure there.
If women can fare better academically and are prepared mentally, there is nothing that prevents them from doing very well in any engineering college. Perhaps Ms. Aghalayam can do her best to encourage women to think this way too.
P.R.V. Raja,
Pandalam, Kerala
Wimbledon thriller
The Wimbledon men’s final in 2023, between Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz, was spellbinding. For the last five decades the men’s champions at Wimbledon have been dominated by the illustrious four — Bjorn Borg, Pete Sampras, Roger Federer, and Djokovic. Djokovic may have been defeated, but his legacy as a great champion is secure.
G. Parameswaran,
Coimbatore
Alcaraz played stunningly delightful and fearless tennis, bringing another distinctive level of a never-say-die attitude, elegance and sportsmanship to the game. To his credit, Djokovic was immensely gracious in defeat. Meanwhile, Marketa Vondrousova proved most of the pundits wrong by winning the women’s title without much ado.
C.G. Kuriakose,
Kothamangalam, Kerala
A new star is born. Alcaraz’s memorable victory on Sunday is indeed a great one and the young Spaniard is sure to shine in the year ahead.
Sravana Ramachandran,
Chennai
