Anticipating reforms

It refers to “ Time for big bang”. With economic indicators giving a positive signals after a long time and slash in crude oil prices giving a huge breather to the government , we are bound to be impatient to see major flow of reforms seeing the light of the day. And with our PM Mr. Narendra Modi showing the right intent all through his short tenure till date, it looks a case sooner than later, best example being allowing private sector companies to participate in coal mining and auction to reduce the Coal India monopoly. But at the same time we should not forget that present government does not have a majority in upper house of the parliament, unlike lower house, which can create hurdle in it's ambition to pass long pending legislations like insurance laws, land acquisition and GST.

Thanking you

Bal Govind

Noida

Golden glitter

Buying gold or investing in gold is very beneficial. The fall in demand for gold and its lower price are only temporary. India continues to be the largest importer of gold and smugglers still continue to fill any gap in the supply of gold.

Apart from Indians’ traditional craze for gold, people use it as an investment option. Gold’s rival in India is not costly diamond or platinum but bank deposits. If bank deposit interest rates are low, people invest in or buy gold and when rates are high, instead of purchasing gold, they keep their savings as bank deposits. Nowadays, no investment other than gold can beat inflation. However, when people invest in gold, what is savings for individuals is actually capital outflow for the nation’s economy and hence not quite good for the country.

To control gold prices, the Government should increase deposit rates and put a cap on gold imports which will stabilise the falling rupee value. Being the largest importer of gold, India can bargain better and import gold at lesser prices. If India imposes a ban on gold imports, world gold prices will crash. Some political and economic will is required to achieve this.

S Raghunatha Prabhu

Alappuzha, Kerala

Deadly cocktail

The sentiments expressed in Adil Hussain’s piece, “A deadly cocktail” (October 24) are questions in themselves. We can eliminate dependence on pesticides by improving bush health just as farmers do with their crops.

Ashok Trivedi

Assam

Dealing with black money

We must appreciate the Government revealing some names in the black money list. But at the same time, this is not the end of the road to the black money issue. The point that the huge amount of black money stashed abroad can be used for the betterment of the country should be debated in order to come out with the whole truth about the issue. Also, the Government must take necessary steps to make a proper business connection with the foreign banks and such efforts will go a long way in bringing back the money without difficulty.

P Senthil Saravana Durai

Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu

The Government disclosing the names of just three Indian industrialists is arbitrary. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s contention that revealing all the names provided by the Swiss authorities would be doing injustice to the individuals’ right to privacy, and Swiss accounts held by every Indian may not be illegal, is not logical. At the same time, Digvijay Singh’s reaction to this announcement only politicises the issue.

R Prabhu Raj

Chennai

Win-win on oil front

Oil prices were not always high and hence the fiscal deficit which has disturbed the growth equation since 2009 was not so pathetic. The Government had started raising the price by 50 paise since January 2013 and by 2016, it would have otherwise deregulated the prices of diesel. The impact of the 50 paise increase was not visible in the inflation as the people have learnt to use diesel judiciously.

The US was heavily dependent on West Asia and fought wars with countries there whenever there was a crisis. In any case the US is to be treated independently so far as oil consumption is concerned. This is the one source of price crash. For the time being China’s growth is slipping and the problem in Europe is going to stay for sometime. Consumption of oil will fall automatically for the reasons of lower growth.

India does not have any problem to grow except the fiscal deficit, trade deficit and inflation which are benign with commodity prices falling. In case it does not take advantage of commodity prices at this stage, it can’t control the fiscal deficit and hence investment will remain sub-optimal. Even if by chance the prices shoot up again, the Government has already given the signal that products are to be utilised according to appropriateness of usage and not because these are cheap due to subsidies. I think it is a win-win situation and hence the Government has appropriately exploited the oil price crash.

RK Arya

Faridabad, Haryana

Good buys

The Modi sarkar has shopped for good defence material worth ₹80,000 crore for the security of our nation. I liked the purchase of over 8,000 Israeli anti-tank guided missiles, Spike. It’s also worth noting that security on the waters has been given great importance by shopping for submarines worth ₹50,000 crore. The grounding of MIG fighter planes is also a wise step. National security is much more important than international relations.

Hansraj Bhat

Mumbai

Political scenario

“Modi walks into a vacuum” (October 28) by A Srinivas is a fair assessment of the current political scenario in the country. It is undeniable that almost every political party in India except the Left dispensation is either family-oriented or individual-centric. The recent election results prove that the electorate is fed up with them barring a few exceptions. This should be a healthy sign for our democracy.

The most disquieting fact is that the Congress, the only party with an all-India presence, utterly lacks ideas and leadership. For so long, Congressmen have been banking on a single family for their electoral prospects. The youth in India are not enamoured with the stalwarts of the Nehru-Gandhi family. Their priorities have undergone a sea change. Today, they want growth and development along with decent livelihoods.

CG Kuriakose

Kothamangalam, Kerala

Left’s comfort zone

The CPI(M) is introspecting on the direction for the future. History records that so long as the Left stayed away from the extremes, it had stature. Every time it reached out to the red borders, it had steep slides.

The Left evolved as part of the Congress around 1920 and did well till it veered to too far left and lost heavy ground in 1928. It then moved to the centre and prospered in the Congress collective. In 1942 it went fully Marxist, going so far as to dub Congress leaders lackeys of the West, and as a consequence, it lost its standing. Post the 1960s it re-allied with the Congress.

For three decades the Left’s clout grew as it learnt to occupy the much sought after left-of-centre space in a growing economy.Then came Singur as the CPI(M) inexplicably took a sharp left turn on the pro-industry policy of its own chief minister in Bengal. Its decision to withdraw support to UPA-I over the nuclear deal took the Left to near political rout.The Left had learnt its lessons repeatedly and yet is unable to resist the fatal charm of the extreme red. The CPI(M) must realise that its comfort zone is never in the extremes, it lies closer to the centre.

R Narayanan

Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh

Inspiring story

Rasheeda Bhagat’s “Smashing gender stereotypes” (October 28) is an inspiring account. It needs a visionary like Sudarshan Agarwal, a helpful State government, broadminded business houses and individuals for funds, and a committed staff to establish and run such an excellent centre of learning. The write-up also reveals that there is no dearth of talent among the poor, but it needs to be discovered and channelised effectively.

YG Chouksey

Pune

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