The winners of Rs 3,000 are...

Trying to break free
This refers to the editorial “This is the pathetic reality of the Chinese judiciary” (TSI, Jan 15). In spite of being counted as the second most powerful nation in the world just after USA, it lacks proper judicial system. The citizens of the country are denied freedom of  justice along with other freedoms which are basic  parameters of being a civilized country. Denying the freedom of justice to an individual is human rights violation.  To ensure perpetual authority over the country, the Communist party of China (CPC) has given its people a brittle judiciary. The concept of 'Black Jails' reminds the anarchic rule of medieval  history. After going through the article it appears that the country is still fighting for freedom. The NPC and CPC should do some justice to the basic  philosophy of communism which is a wonderful concept to ensure equality among people. 
Niloy Kumar Roy, Kolkata

So many doomsdays
Apropos of your cover story “21.12.2012: Apocalypse now?” (TSI, Jan 15), we can only hope and pray for the best but can never predict it for sure. Many thanks to Almighty that he did not bless us with the capability to develop any device to peep into His studios. I would like to make some serious statements for all those who subscribe to the Doomsday theory. Was it less than a Doomsday for 183 families when 10 terrorists struck Mumbai on 26/11? Wasn’t it a Doomsday for 5000+ when WTC was brought down? Wasn’t it the Doomsday when 10000 lives went to their watery grave of tsunami in 2007? Wasn’t it the Doomsday when lakhs of people died or devastated in Kutch and Bhuj on January 26, 2001? It is only a matter of perception how one defines a Doomsday. In a nutshell, every day of present times starts with the threat of ending in a Doomsday in one form or the other. So why wait or fear for a particular day?
Rajneesh Batra, New Delhi

Privatise Indian Rly
Prasoon. S. Majumdar has rightly pointed out that in the interest of the commuter, trains must be punctual and their operation should be economical and efficient (TSI, Jan 15). The government needs to initiate steps on priority to privatise Indian Railways before it becomes an unmanageable white elephant. Though we brag about the Indian Railways network being the biggest in the world, sadly, the government has been compromising on passenger and freight tariff by not increasing it in proportion to the rising input costs for the past several years. Due to this, accidents are taking place regularly, late running and cancellation of trains has become common, and above all passenger amenities are going from bad to worse. Even cargo traffic has shrunk with no revival plan to increase the volume. It is only imperative that privatisation of Indian Railways is given priority.
R.Srinivasan, Secunderabad