Free hand

This refers to ‘Why the RBI is miffed with banks’ by Radhika Merwin (October 17). It is clear that RBI has given too much leverage to commercial banks for fixing the base rate using MCLR. When banks have the liberty to set the ‘spread’ on their own, what impact will rate changes have? The RBI should have clearly set measurable yardsticks to prevent misuse. Now, there is not only delay on the part of commercial banks in transmission of new rates they also use their own discretion in arriving at new rates.

Since neither the BPLR rate system nor the average or marginal cost of funds method has proved effective, the RBI is now toying with the idea of experimenting with external benchmark rates in place of bank-specific benchmarks. The downside is that external rates will not reflect the cost of funds of individual banks. Hence changing the base rate linking it to an external benchmark rate may lead to a bigger problem.

Srinivasan Velamur

Chennai

Decongest Mumbai

There is no land available for constructing a new suburban rail network in Mumbai adjacent to the existing one (‘Mumbai needs a new rail network’ by TS Ramakrishnan, October 17). Though elevated or underground metro trains are an option, considering the dense population and right of way issues, projects are going to skip milestones many times resulting in escalation of costs. This may render the tariff unaffordable.

Now the bulk of the travel is towards the south. Efforts should be made to decongest the city by denying permission to new commercial or housing constructions. Government establishments should move to Navi Mumbai in phases. A separate corridor outside city limits should be opened to house software companies which are now scattered all over the city. These initiatives would facilitate dispersal of the crowd evenly on both directions.

V Subramanian

Chennai

Stop fooling yourself

With reference to ‘Toxicity, the bane of our food exports’ by Arpita Mukherjee et al (October 18), why go up to the country's borders, when interior States themselves are afraid of pesticide-laden agri produce from their neighbours? Two years ago, Kerala expressed concern over vegetables coming from Tamil Nadu.

The sad fact is only a small percentage of the insecticides/pesticides target pests; most of it seeps into the ground or pollutes land and water. “Minimising” the use of toxic synthetic agricultural inputs is to keep fooling ourselves. Switching to natural farming is the only solution for ensuring a sustainable agriculture and healthy future.

CV Krishna Manoj

Hyderabad

Sinking ship

This refers to the statement that Air India “has sought offers from “banks/financial institutions to arrange a bridge financing up to $555 million for financing the acquisition of the three B777-300 ER aircraft to be drawn equally at the time of taking delivery of the aircraft” (October 17). Air India is a sinking ship. Any loan to it would go down the drain, and would eventually turn into a NPA.

K Mundanad

Navi Mumbai

Catch the culprits

It is unfortunate that the investigating agencies failed to nail the culprit or culprits in the Aarushi Talwar case due to lack of evidence. Unfortunately, even after nine years the culprit roams freely. Until now, only political cases lacked evidence.

Now, the same seems to be true of non-political cases too. All the investigating agencies must pledge to discharge their duties more vigilantly and honestly and unravel the mystery.

Mahesh Kumar

New Delhi

Women power

According to a study, the female workforce in Indian companies has increased by five per cent this year. This is heartening. With their commitment and good communication skills, women enhance their prospects of getting jobs of their choice.

S Ramakrishnan

Ranipet, Tamil Nadu

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