Hats off to Brian Rucker
I read the news (vide Radiance of 8 Oct., 2022) about a 22-year old brother who grew up as a Christian and considered himself an atheist at 18. After thorough study and research of various religions, he, ultimately, chose the religion of Prophet Muhammad ﷺ and embraced his religion (i.e. Islam) from atheism. I salute his exemplary courage for changing his ideology and coming to the path of light from darkness, in spite of hostile atmosphere and Islamophobia. No words are sufficient to describe his courage and maturity. He is welcome to the fold of Islam. My sympathies are with brother BRIAN RUCKER. May his tribe increase. Hats off to him.
Farooq Abdulgafar Bawani
Rajkot, Gujarat
Indian Rupee Losing Value
The Indian Rupee has been losing value against American Dollar. Earlier this week, the Dollar crossed the Rs. 83 level. The newly elected Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge tweeted, A falling Rupee can prove to be quite dangerous for our country. The unhealthy obsession with the Dollar-Rupee conversion rate started a decade back when claims were made that if Narendra Modi came to power, a Dollar would be worth only Rs. 40, but it is always wrong to associate the strength of economy with strength of its currency. Of course, on the flip side, given that India imports more than 85% of the oil it consumes, a weaker Rupee makes petrol, diesel, kerosene and domestic cooking gas expensive, and that feeds into inflation.
Nazeer Ahmed Kazi
Prof SECAB, Vijaypur
Welcome Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge
Recently elected Congress president Kharge has said that his utmost duty is to look after party workers. He will uphold the Constitution of this country, respect everyone’s rights and give equal opportunities, defeat those who spread hate, fight inflation, unemployment and hunger, etc.
It’s a welcome gesture, he should be congratulated and every citizen should support this secular ideology of the Congress president.
Chowdhry Nisar Ahmed,
Noorullah pet, Ambur (T.N.)
Hate Speeches
This refers to the news item “Shocking for a religion-neutral national: SC on hate speech crimes”. We should not forget that ours is a secular country. No one has the right to strike at another’s religion by delivering a hate speech. It is not only unjust but also illegal. So, the Supreme Court’s direction to state governments and police authorities to act against such offenders even without formal complaints is no doubt appreciated. The role of the Muslim community to gain independence of India was not insignificant. This community should not be insulted and hated.
Shyamlal Thakur
Ramnagar, Uttarakhand
Learning Crisis
In a school context, standard is generally defined as benchmarks for accountability or goals that students (or teachers) will attain. In education, the concept of standard is very rich in its dimension that includes both the description of what is to be learned and to be taught, and the results of assessments. Educational assessments measure the extent to which learners are supposed to acquire knowledge, skills and expertise in a particular field, together with their abilities to apply what they have learned.
The standard may be the outcome of an assessment simply as a mark or grade, or at times as pass or fail. There is no denying the fact that in India high and low performers were ‘diverging’ in the pre-pandemic times. But the learning crisis became a burning problem since children had to stay out of school for days. Teachers doubt if the education system will ever overcome the problem of children spending almost two years without gaining foundational skills. The recent findings of national tests in the USA hinted at the dysgraphia plus dyscalculia of the vulnerable segment.
The pandemic pushed out country’s girls into child marriages and boys into child labourers. With a view to improving the learning standard, every government should spend a substantial chunk of the budget for child education. And it is the need of the hour to boost up the confidence of children.
Mohammad Mijanur Rahaman
Murshidabad, West Bengal