With reference to “Opting out of the digital economy for one day” (March 5) for digital currency to be acceptable, it must posses certain parameters such as integrity, privacy, non-repudiation and authenticity. Otherwise, it is said to be a risky transaction. Bitcoin is purely a cryptographic currency and is not yet validated in any of the money exchanges. Hence users must be wary.

M Vignesh

Madurai

Make implementation easy

“CSR still has some grey areas” by Sidharth Birla (March5) presents a balanced view. Bringing more companies into the CSR net would be a welcome move. At the same time government should make sure companies are not made to feel its “irritating” pinch, they should want to come forward with enthusiasm to do their duty to uplift the downtrodden. Still, the onus is on the government to make this innovative concept more popular.

NR Nagarajan

Sivakasi

Well-timed call for calm

This refers to the report “Kerry, Obama firm on Russia’s actions in Ukraine” (March 5). It is unfortunate that when the world is recovering from the effects of fighting in Syria and elsewhere, the Ukraine crisis has erupted, causing enormous concern for world peace and economy.

In this context, the editorial, “Ukraine lessons”, calling for calm on both sides, is well-timed. We hope the meeting between US the secretary of state and the Russian foreign minister would find some solution. This sudden flare-up should be a warning that external shocks can affect the economy. But we should always be prepared to meet any situation to maintain our economic stability.

A Jacob Sahayam

Thiruvananthapuram

The leader of the ‘free world’, the US, invaded Grenada, sent troops into Haiti, played an active role in the fighting in Nicaragua and El Salvador, and waged full-scale wars in Asia and Indochina. Over time, such military interventions have debilitated the US economy. An abyss of debt, huge fiscal gulf and mounting joblessness, no longer permit it to pursue such aggressive foreign policies.

For the US, getting its economy back on track comes above everything else, notwithstanding its time-tested hawkish inner core.

Crimea, on the other hand, is on Russia’s border, and is the site of an important Russian naval base, which gives the Russians far greater cause to be pre-emptive in their geo-political initiatives across the border. The Euro Zone, battling near-recession and highly dependent on Russia for energy, is averse to precipitating the conflict.

Even Putin has been mellow in his moves. Diplomacy is likely to remain the default home page of the big powers for a while.

R Narayanan

Ghaziabad

The scientific temper

In connection with “Science research happens in a vacuum” by Anu Acharya (March 5), India need not replicate anyone’s model of research. Just because in the university-based research works in the US doesn’t mean we should give more weightage to university-based research over institution-based research.

What India should look at is improving the administration of research institutions by inducting bright staff. We need professionals to manage research institutions.

They should be autonomous and corruption-free. More funds should be allocated to CSIR and other institutions. Make CSIRs attractive destinations for BTech Graduates from IIT.

By bringing together technical and administrative talent with funding we can outpace the US.

Kranthi

e-mail

A serious tech transfer office can make a real difference, and over time it will pay for itself. It helps avoid the gross inefficiency associated with each individual scientist having to figure out the regulatory and legal framework for commercialisation ab initio .

Nilima

New Westminster

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