* This refers to ‘Shadow boxing’. There is need for a formal and systematised means of assessing a judge, apart from the routine bureaucratic system that covers government servants across the board. For the judiciary, the quality of judgment, the speed of justice delivery and the wisdom of their observations need to be compiled on a regular basis and made available for review and evaluation. There is a system in place but it is obviously proving contentious, hence the friction. Such collation will not only be timely but also well worth the effort.

—R. Narayanan, Ghaziabad

Image crisis

* Manmohan Singh has observed that despite performing their duties, the police are often perceived to be extortionists rather than protectors of citizens. However, the police are the only direct and accessible law enforcers around. Their excesses, improper investigations, delayed prosecutions, violation of human rights and their apathy for the common man have damaged their reputation. The politicisation of crime and the criminalisation of politics aggravate this image crisis. On top of all this, the role of the police has evolved to handling terrorism and coordinating cross-state investigations. However, they remain short on manpower and resources. It is time the police were included in the planning mechanism of the country.

—Mathew Oommen, Pune

Theory & practice

* This refers to ‘Of market and math’. It is true that risk distribution based on the market principle demands information accessibility for participants. However, this basic assumption was absent in case of the current financial crisis. Historically, all the major theories are rooted in crises. One hopes that this one too would engender a new round of theorising.

... contd.