“Rating agencies deserve a low rating” by S Adikesavan (March 10) is timely and significant. The problem with foreign-based rating institutions is that their assessment is highly subjective. One reason for this could be their racial instinct or bias against emerging economies, which places Spain ahead of India even when the latter does better in terms of enumerated parameters.

Given India’s steady and faster economic growth and its expanding global business outreach it is time we developed our own rating agency for global ranking. We need to have a system of informing foreign investors in a regular manner about the unscientific approach of international raters.

YG Chouksey

Pune

UP verdict

A happy ending is on the cards for the BJP with the exit polls predicting that the party would do well in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Goa. The news that the Congress could emerge as frontrunner in Punjab and Manipur is some consolation for the ‘grand old party’.

The fight in UP as expected will be keen and sharp with no party likely to get a majority. If the saffron party indeed does nose ahead it will be an affirmation of its policies and decisions.

NJ Ravi Chander

Bengaluru

Pollsters have predicted a hung assembly in Uttar Pradesh and a clear-cut majority for some parties in the recently concluded elections to some States. However, if after spending such a lot of time, money and energy for the elections there is no majority government in some States, that becomes hard to accept. This is the bane of the multi-party democratic system, which throws up alliances and coalition governments.

S Ramakrishnasayee

Ranipet

Bank consolidation

If the developments in the recent past are anything to go by, the new generation private banks have clearly established a lead even in the matter of acquisitions. As a matter of fact, they have never been averse to inorganic growth.

ICICI Bank, for instance, took over Sangli Bank and Bank of Rajasthan to become the number one private sector lender. HDFC Bank and Kotak Mahindra Bank have also done well. They have demonstrated the inherent benefits arising out of merger and achieving the economies of scale.

Consolidation in the public sector banking space has been extensively debated but with no concrete actions forthcoming. While the mergers of five associates with the parent SBI is a good attempt made in the direction, it has to be quickly followed by the cross mergers of the PSBs as well.

Srinivasan Umashankar

Nagpur

Draconian step

The SBI’s decision to step up minimum balance to ₹5,000is not a good move in the context of the paltry interest rate being fetched by the depositors. Parking ₹5,000 will not do any good to senior citizens.

RK Sridharan

Email

Up it goes

This refers to the report on hikes in third party insurance premium. Insurance firms keep increasing premium every year on some or the other pretext; however, the maximum no-claim bonus is restricted to 50 per cent. Why can’t they reward those who have not placed claims for, say, three, five or 10 years but still keep on paying?

Lalit Daga

Email

Mallya’s wrong

This is with reference to the news report “Mallya to apex court: Am I the poster boy of loan defaulters” (March 10). Mallya’s contention that there are bigger defaulters than him also does not hold good. If Mallya siphons away a large portion of the bankers’ funds, banks cannot finance infrastructure projects, small businesses and other employment creating ventures.

A country with large scale unemployment, poverty, farmers’ suicides due to drought cannot afford public money to go waste. If Mallya does not want to become the poster boy of NPAs he should immediately offer his properties for sale and clear the banks’ dues.

Veena Shenoy

Thane

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