This refers to ‘The runway for a losing leader’ (May 9). An additional factor that affects the performance of a leader and his individual team members is the price of failure associated with their contribution.

There is nothing to lose in IPL matches as the players are bought for a fixed price for the entire season. More importantly, IPL performance plays a negligible role in selecting the national team, including for the World Cup.

The captain of an IPL team has also little at stake. If Virat Kohli had lost international T-20 matches, he might have been replaced by Rohit Sharma.

Ultimately, it is the intrinsic motivation which inspires a team and its leader to give their best irrespective of rewards or punishment.

Pune

With reference to ‘Mamata draws parallel between ‘Quit India’ and her fight against Modi’ (May 9), it was intriguing to learn that the West Bengal Chief Minister, while sharpening her attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has alleged that a “fascist government” was being run at the Centre and she also went ahead drawing parallels between her campaign (against the PM) and the ‘Quit India movement’.

One genuinely wishes that she, as the TMC chief, also makes an honest assessment of her own government in the West Bengal which has, of late, been toeing the Leftist line by displaying ‘zero tolerance’ to opposition of any kind. Since the communists too had to make an unexpected yet unceremonious exit even as they were safely saddled in the seat of power, Mamata must be sadly mistaken if she is also holding the view that her party would rule this State for ever.

Ironically, the ongoing battle between her and the PM refuses to die down as she launched yet another anti-Modi tirade by calling him a “liar” and a “bad influence on young minds”. Modi, too, has repeatedly accused Banerjee and her party of being involved in “tolabaazi” — a Bengali slang that means organised extortion.

One wonders whether such a political situation sans morality was ever visualised by the makers of the Constitution? Could such blatant and mindless violation of Section 123(3) of the Representation of the People Act, 1951 by most of the political parties ever be endorsed and justified in any true democratic set-up?

Bengaluru

Mindless exploitation of natural resources and its resultant debilitating impact on our rich biodiversity needs no explanation. The faster rate at which several flora and fauna have been pushed to the verge of extinction over the decades is a case in point. The startling revelation by the Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services that one million species are now facing the threat of extinction, many within a decade, should serve as a wake-up call for the international community to usher in concrete measures to stem the steady and systematic destruction of nature. The report also highlights the imperative need for the international community to take steps to benefit from the knowledge system of indigenous and local communities when it comes to preserving and protecting nature. It is time the international community reaches out to indigenous and local communities and learn more from their harmonious living with nature. Concrete steps to protect their rights and homelands also brook no delay.

Sholavandan, TN