The Hindu Business Line : Ramanujan, a forgotten genius?

Srinivasa Ramanujan was a genius and a self-taught man. At a very young age he was elected to the Royal Society of London. He is by no means a forgotten genius. Let the Hollywood producers making the movie on Ramanujan prosper.

S. Sivasankaran, Canara Bank

Ramanujan, in his short life-span, proved to be a mathematical genius. Despite lack of formal higher education and battling against poverty and ill health, he triumphed.His notes continue to be a subject of research and a source of further mathematical theorems, formulae and solutions.

S. Krithivasan, e-mail

Srinivasa Ramanujan was a mathematical genius. Though his life span was short from 1887 to 1920 his achievements were great. And it is a fitting tribute to

`A forgotten genius' is a fitting tribute. That two Hollywood movies are being made on his life will help the world learn about the achievements of this intellectual giant and motivate the younger generation.

A. Jacob Sahayam, Thiruvananthapuram

The title, `A forgotten genius?' does not reflect the sentiments of the hundreds of thousands of admirers of the legendary genius Srinivasa Ramanujan.

The President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam in one of his addresses described Ramanujan as a continuing source of inspiration and a "genius well ahead of his time." Commemorating Ramanujan's 75th birth anniversary, the postal department released a stamp. The Pollachi Municipality in Tamil Nadu has named a street as `Ganitha Medhai Ramanujan Street' (Maths Genius Ramanujan Street). Ramanujan's birth anniversary was celebrated in a fitting manner in 1987. Chairs have been established in many universities in his name.

The mathematical prodigy cannot not be forgotten as the title suggests and his works will continue to fascinate.

S. Nallasivan, Tirunelveli

Responses to Sticklish Issues dated March 13 on e-linking villages

According to World Bank Report, "It is estimated that approximately 35 per cent of e-governance projects in developing countries are total failures, approximately 50 per cent are partial failures, only some of 15 per cent can be fully seen as success. "In India, the World Bank was monitoring about 200 pilot projects on e-governance and of these only 110 was scalable and capable of replication. The primary reason for the deficiencies in e-governance projects was that they were over-reliant on technology as the driving force for success while internal processes remained unaltered. The e-component of these services often amount to no more than electronic versions of the stack of pamphlets available in government offices. There must be judicious use of available resources.

Ravi Sharma, Jammu

Responses to Sticklish Issues dated March 20 on full rupee float

Capital account convertibility (CAC) is recognised as one of the hallmarks of a developed economy. It requires serious deliberations. Our stock markets are at the mercy of FIIs and foreign funds. Only one bank from India figures in the top 100 banks in the world. Our forex reserves and exports are minuscule compared to forex reserves and exports of China. On our readiness for CAC, the S. S. Tarapore Committee Report has set out benchmarks for full CAC back in 1997. The committee recommended a three year period ending 1999-2000 to complete convertibility. Even after five-years, we could not move to full convertibility due to obvious reasons. No doubt, the country has forex reserves to the tune of $144 billion. One area of concern is the combined federal and States' deficit which is much higher at about 7.7 per cent.

Tarapore Committee has also recommended the setting up a consolidated sinking fund to meet Government's debt repayment needs; to be financed by increase in RBI's profit transfer to the Government and disinvestment proceeds.

Further, we are more optimistic of continuous inflow of FII funds. Even though stock markets are booming, there are fears of technical correction looming large. Last year, Dr Y. V. Reddy has remarked for imposition of tax so as to check the quality of FII inflows. The need is to see the consistent record for at least three years, otherwise it can be catastrophic to go in for CAC without adequate preparation.

Anil Kumar Angrish, Punjab

Responses to Sticklish Issues dated March 27 on poll reforms

All reforms are important nowadays. Being the largest democracy, poll reforms are vital. What is necessary is a moral code among candidates.

In order to contest for the Lok Sabha, the candidate is required to pay Rs 10,000 as nomination fee, and he must prepare to spend Rs 6 lakh. So is contesting restricted to the rich? This is not democracy. At same time, the candidates are abiding by the code of conduct.

First, spending in elections should be brought down. Money and muscle power should be checked.

In the interest of the country, criminal characters should be stopped from entering politics.

Pentapati Chendrasekharrao, Kakinada

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