The winners of Rs 3000 are...

The magic of China
The editorial “Lessons for India...” by Prof. Arindam Chaudhuri (TSI, Sep 12 -18) was a good analytical piece. I have just returned from a water supply related convention held in Xian, a city in central China. The theme was “Cities of the future — Reclamation and reuse of waste water”. China has started experiencing shortage of drinking water due to huge influx of rural population into the cities for job opportunities. Thus they have started treating their waste water, reclaiming and reusing it for road washing, public parks watering, toilet flushing, fire fighting etc. Xian is one of their cities in which this experiment is being implemented, and we were shown the same at a site in the Xian University of Architecture and Technology. In the long run this practice will help in elongating the life of the drinking water sources. India too will have to resort to this scheme in the very near future as the rate of migration to the cities increases. 
Biswanath Roy
via email 

They need treatment
The interview of Afzal Guru made for a disturbing read (TSI, Sep 26-Oct 2). What is most disturbing is the absolute lack of remorse for such an atrocious act of terror. Afzal Guru laments the lack of comforts provided to him in Tihar jail. He even goes to the extent of proclaiming public support for himself, so much so that there was all likelihood of violent backlash if he was hanged. Afzal Guru does not utter a single word of sympathy all through his interview for the valiant security personnel who lost their lives defending the ultimate symbol of Indian democracy. Being a psychiatrist by profession, I would like to share with the readers that a significant number of terrorists who do not have any remorse for the mindless acts of violence abetted or perpetrated by them actually suffer from psychiatric disorders like Anti-social Personality Disorder and Adult Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. Terrorists are known to suffer from psychiatric disorders more frequently than the common people. Afzal seems to be one such case. They should all be subjected to a detailed psychiatric assessment and appropriate treatment should be instituted wherever needed. This way, at least a small percentage of them could be guided away from the path of violence.
Dr Deepali Gul
Jalandhar

Poor sports facilities
This refers to the editorial “Chinese Olympics versus the Indian Commonwealth Games...” by Arindam Chaudhuri (TSI, Sep 26-Oct 2). Sports is a neglected subject in schools. Playgrounds are vanishing, lonely children have no companions to play with and they are obsessed with video-games and Internet and they learn crude violence from the virtual world. Chinese government was careful to protect national prestige in organising international sports events while India has failed on this count. 
Uttam Kumar Bhowmik
Tamluk