Africa and India share a lot of similarities (“The continent of opportunities” by Chandrajit Banerjee, March 10). Apart from the bounty of natural resources and a large hardworking population, both have a set of problems in common.

The tragedy is that both sides have social evils in plenty. Africa is waiting to perform a growth story like how India’s growth pulled a sizeable section of the population out of poverty and illiteracy. But there are still a lot of people suffering from poverty and illiteracy. Technology is coming to aid Africa and India. It must be taken advantage of.

While going ultra modern in development, India’s culture, indigenous knowledge and ecological safety must not be compromised.

A Prabaharan

Puthanampatti, Tamil Nadu

Passport mess

I am a senior citizen and I applied for renewal of passport on January 31 at the Passport Seva Kendra, Lalbagh, Bangalore, and the application was granted.

I had to postpone my journey three times due to non-receipt of my renewed passport, the reason being non-availability of new passport books. When this is the situation, it would be prudent to clear the backlog before holding melas .

S Krishnamurthy

Bangalore

Allocate more funds

While the liberalisation policy in India has scored many plus points, it has not been successful in certain areas.

Sectors such as agriculture, food processing and biotechnology, spices, traditional textiles and engineering sectors must be given a fillip as they would not only generate foreign exchange, but also fetch prices for millions of our farmers and improve the prospects of textile workers.

The exim policy should focus on these sectors and make suitable allocations for their. I hope the new government allocates more funds to increase exports.

B Lakshmi Narasimhan

Coimbatore

Woeful delays

If the trial in a rape case has not begun even after 14 years and in another after 16 years, it says a lot about the police department and the lawyers not being serious enough to take the cases to their logical end. The second relates to a case registered in 1998 relating to death of a Dalit in Veppampatti, Tamil Nadu.

The plight of people involved in civil suits is pathetic as the criminal justice delivery system is really slow. In land dispute cases, just the appointment of a commissioner to fix the boundary drags on for more than five years in many cases.

The main reason for delayed justice is lawyers not pursuing the cases and the courts giving adjournments on flimsy grounds. This is compounded by long summer and dasara holidays. Cases also suffer when judges are deputed for training for two or three months.

KV Seetharamaiah

Hassan, Karnataka

Dubious case

With reference to your editorial “Sahara for whom” (March 8), if there are no genuine investors, then whose case is SEBI fighting? Surely there is more to the case than meets the eye.

The possibility of money-laundering by the Sahara Group on behalf of corrupt politicians cannot be ruled out given their proximity to Subrata Roy. Outsourcing the case to the enforcement directorate will be futile since it too, like the CBI, has the habit of closing celebrity corruption cases at the behest of the government. The Supreme Court could consider appointing a special investigation team.

TG Venkateswaran

Chennai

It looks like a clear case of money-laundering. The Supreme Court must order prosecution by the ED and directly supervise the case since many political functionaries are suspected to be involved. Meanwhile, all of the ₹20,000 crore should be recovered from the company and placed at the disposal of the Supreme Court.

S Kalyanasundaram

San Jose

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