The head of NITI Aayog, Aravind Panagariya, has an uphill task ahead. Planning is an important aspect of any organisation. It is a continuous process and demands new approaches today. As globalisation and economic integration gain ground, the world is seeing sweeping changesIndia is no exception to this rule. So it was only proper to revamp the archaic Planning Commission. Many initiatives are proposed to make the new body a vibrant think-tank and a forum to meet changing needs. Panagariya’s appointment is an important step in the direction given his expertise in different capacities in World Bank, IMF including a stint in the Asian Development Bank.

Srinivasan Umashankar

Nagpur

No beautiful thought this

Though there can be no objection to anyone becoming the President of our nation, it is really shocking that the Chairman of Press Council of India and former Supreme Court judge Markandey Katju has reportedly written on his blog that Bollywood actor Katrina Kaif be made the President because he wants beautiful women like her to adorn such tall positions!

One wonders what grouse he has got against the otherwise good looking Pranab Mukherjee, the incumbent President, to prefer a more beautiful person in his place. On a careful analysis, it is really unbecoming of someone who has held such a tall position as an SC Justice to comment thus.

Tharcius S Fernando

Chennai

In letter and spirit

This refers to the editorial “Reinventing India Post” (January 16). You have struck a right chord by stating that India Post should opt for a payment bank (PB) and not a universal one. Universal banking is a very risky business model. Even the top public sector banks in India could not tame the model to its advantage. It is a miracle that private sector peers (read HDFC Bank) have incorporated the model and have given a tough competition to public sector banks.

As a payment bank, India Post can compete with other such entities even if they are from the private sector. It is, of course, better if India Post spruces up its operations and add customer-orientation to it. That will automatically add up to its competitive advantage.

KV Rao

Bengaluru

In tandem

The Reserve Bank lowering the repo rate by 0.25 per cent is an ideal Makar Sankranti and Pongal gift. The near-perfectly-timed gesture/step has easily proved to be a feel good factor all around.

The signals emerging from the rate cut is that both the government and the RBI are acting in tandem to energise the economy.

CG Kuriakose

Kothamangalam, Kerala

Personally speaking

The AAP has been known to have honed the art of political innuendos and has managed once again to create suspicions within the BJP leaders in Delhi.

It took advantage of BJP's inability to anoint a name for its prospective chief minister. But it must be delighted to see Kiran Bedi being placed under the spotlight by the BJP, at election eve.

This gives the first hint of a non-Modi centric Delhi campaign. The BJP is wary that the Parivar may well be out to hold up the Modi bandwagon just that little at Delhi. To be fair, the RSS has never allowed the tallest of its leaders to exceed a prescribed stature. And even Modi, an electoral pied piper, cannot be an exception. Only the Left and the RSS have been martinets of discipline with little regard for individual fame.

R Narayanan

Ghaziabad

Interesting contest

The induction of former top cop Kiran Bedi into the BJP should come as a shot in the arm for the saffron party ahead of the crucial Delhi assembly polls. Given her credentials, Bedi should emerge as the face of the party and be a frontrunner for the post of chief minister if the BJP emerges triumphant.

That she will be pitted against her former Team Anna colleague and Aam Aadmi Party convenor Arvind Kejriwal in the prestigious New Delhi constituency should only make the contest interesting.

J Ravi Chander

Bengaluru

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