MyVoice: Views of our readers 15th February 2021

A gentleman player

Cricket lovers were shocked to hear the news of death of Yashpal Sharma. He was a very conservative family man and impressed all with his dignified behaviour on and off the field. It is a quirk of fate how a fitness freak like Yashpal had to die of massive cardiac arrest that too after returning from his routine walking session. He was a dependable middle order batsman, his contributions with bat helped India won many test matches and he played a vital role as batsman in the first ever won the 1983 World Cup victory. His timely useful knocks and his personal sober behaviour earned him sobriquet 'Gentle man cricketer'. We really miss Yaspal an unsung cricket Hero.

Rama Krishna Rao M, Kakinada

II

Yashpal Sharma was a faster planer, both in between wickets and while fielding, compared to any other player in the world of his times. His speed helped India in adding more runs to the score and he stopped many boundaries too of the opponent team. Hats off to his athletic discipline. Yashpal will ever remain in Indian hearts as 1983 world Cup double-fast (running) hero. 66 years is too early to depart for such athletic and disciplined souls.

Vasudeva Rao P, Secunderabad

Covaxin good enough

The WHO is likely to decide on including Bharat Biotech's Covaxin in its list of vaccines approved for Emergency Use, within four to six weeks, said its Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan. An Emergency Use Listing (EUL) by the WHO is necessary for a vaccine company to supply vaccines to global facilities such as Covaxin or international procurement. The two-dose vaccine is also 93.4% effective against severe disease and 63% protective against asymptomatic Covid-19. Moreover, it is 65% protective against the Delta variant of the Coronavirus. Covaxin may get emergency use list approval and that is good news.

C K Subramaniam, Mumbai

Time to ease restrictions

According to a report, Maharashtra Health Minister Rajesh Tope has urged CM Thackeray to take an early decision on either completely easing the restrictions or imposing strict lockdown. There is a fall in Covid cases. Thus, it is time to give relief to the people by lifting the restrictions. The report says the death toll from famine outpaces that of Covid-19. The anti-poverty organisation Oxfam says 11 people die of hunger each minute. The government needs to focus on both the fronts to protect the people from Covid and hunger. Long-time lockdowns and strict restrictions have left thousands of people hunger-stricken.

Muaz Qasmi, Mumbai

Negligence will cost dearly

This refers to 'Crowd behaviour baffles PM' (July 14). As Covid is still reigning in the country by changing its varients to new heights, the only solution to keep it at bay is strictly sticking to safety norms. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had to appeal the public with folded hands to desist from inviting third wave, after observing huge crowds continuing to gather at various centers in the country. Public must note that governments will be helpless if self-discipline is deficient and defective.

N Ramalakshmi, Secunderabad

II

As expressed by the Prime Minister in his interaction with the chief Ministers of North East, the third wave of Covid won't come on its own, unless we invite it with our complicity. It's appalling to see the people without masks in markets and crowds foregoing Covid appropriate behaviour everywhere. The visuals of sufferings of multitude during previous two waves are still fresh in the minds of people. Still the precautions that should be in place are thrown to the wind even by educated and well-informed people. The State and the central government should do their bit in making the Covid appropriate behaviour mandatory.

Dr DVGSankararao, Nellimarla (Vizianagaram)

III

Leave the two Covid appropriate behaviour of physical distancing and hand hygiene, people moving around without mask is nothing but an invitation to third wave. On masking, people of India and our leaders should hang our heads in shame when a video of a small boy in Dharamshala was seen asking well-heeled people where were the masks. As for the government, it is sad that the CoWin portal, which is accessed by lakhs, still carries PM Modi's photo without a mask and also the vaccine certificate. Unless the head of the state himself is shown with a mask wherever his photos are used, people may not wear masks seriously.

S Natarajan, New Delhi