Sheer guts

‘The unconquerable soul’ by Rasheeda Bhagat (April 19) is an inspiring article. D Ravi of Ambur, afflicted by polio, is determined to get into the ‘Limcas’ by undertaking a non-Stop 24-hour road trip from Chennai to Delhi. He wants to help differently abled persons suffering from loneliness and feeling dependent, to emerge from their shells and undertake various activities.

The professional achievements mentioned in the article are difficult even for ordinary folk. The achievements therefore deserve honour because they require pure guts.

KS Raghavan

Mumbai

The Mallya mess

With reference to ‘No respite for Mallya; court issues non-bailable warrant’ (April 19), when negotiation for settlement is under way, do we not have legal processes to bring Mallya back to India, even by sending across a government or bank official? The LIC-Mundra case in the fifties was a prelude to what was in store for PSBs. Eventually, some lower grade bank officials will be punished to close the loan default case.

RS Raghavan

Bengaluru

Smart alright

This refers to your edit, ‘Temporary respite’ (April 19). The RBI has forecast inflation by CPI will be around 5 per cent. At the same time, the RBI has allowed all banks to pay just 4 per cent interest on their balances in savings account. So the real value of any deposit in the savings account will depreciate every day. When income tax payable is taken into account, the depreciation may be more.

On the other hand, borrowers will be benefited as the real interest paid by them will be marginal cost minus inflation rate. Rather a good way of punishing fund providers and rewarding fund users.

S Kalyanasundaram

Email

Generally, the outcome of the agri sector in India is poised between risks and uncertainty owing to the failure of the monsoon. As there are some positive signs of revival in both production and consumption of agri produce, demand and supply can be equated; that would result in contained food inflation.

In view of good rainfall this year as predicted by the IMD, the Government should encourage farmers to enlarge the acreage of cultivation. Apart from that, rainwater harvesting should be encouraged without delay; NREGA resources can be mobilised for this. Had rainwater harvesting been implemented successfully, there would not be water crisis such as the one Maharashtra is experiencing.

S Lakshminarayanan

Cuddalore, Tamil Nadu

We need ideas

Looks like the second round of odd-even traffic has not achieved the desired result (‘Fewer vehicles, but no drop in pollution’ April 19). But instead of dismissing the idea, corrective action should be taken. We need new ideas. Levying fines, improving public transport, encouraging e-friendly/battery-driven vehicles, and replacing diesel with CNG in a phased manner besides discouraging people from burning dried leaves and garbage will go a long way to mitigate pollution levels.

HP Murali

Bengaluru

Rain dance

This refers to ‘Will it rain or not’ by Yoginder K Alagh (April 18). There is no doubt that statistical methods are reasonably reliable. But this is not enough. The monsoon is the backbone of the Indian economy. Ocean temperature, atmospheric pressure, ocean current, La Nina, El Nino and climatic variations are critical determinants of the monsoon. The IMD should not only be equipped technologically but also with competent meteorologistsThis will complement the statistical analysis of historical data and make meteorological forecasting more reliable.

Trupti Goyal

Jodhpur, Rajasthan

Erratum

In the article ‘Being rich per se is not an issue’ (April 19), a phrase in the second sentence was inadvertently edited out. It should read: ‘The sobering voice of the RBI governor and the RBI tried to restore maturity to these debates.’ The error is regretted.

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