An outrage

From all accounts, it appears that there is no credible evidence to sentence Kulbhushan Jadhav. Repeatedly denying consular access to New Delhi casts a shadow on Islamabad's integrity. India has every reason to feel outraged. The sentencing will only further deteriorate the already strained relations between the neighbours.

NJ Ravi Chander

Bengaluru

Good suggestions

In ‘We need a bank just for long-term credit’(April 10), C Rangarajan and S Sridhar rightly suggest the need for an exclusive bank for medium- and long-term credit for manufacturing and infrastructure. The money lent by bankers does not belong to the bank or its owners, but to the depositors. The leverage ratio of commercial banks grew exponentially only after the banks ventured into long-term and infrastructure loans, which should be the domain area of development financial institutions.

In India, in the name of universal banking, DFIs were unwisely allowed to close down and banks inappropriately expanded their business by lending long. This not only created huge asset liability mismatch but also paved the way for banks taking on the burden of industry and infrastructure development. Hence, the exponential growth in the stressed assets portfolio of banks, in general and PSBs in particular. Therefore, the suggestions advocated in the article need to be examined in all seriousness.

RS Raghavan

Bengaluru

The idea of LTCB is conceptually sound but in practice it would not be of much use. It’s virtually impossible for a government-owned bank to have “full operational autonomy” because ‘vigilance’ rules and questioning by the CBI would inevitably follow. Without autonomy, an LTCB cannot function effectively. This was amply proved by the great performance of the then ICICI (privately owned) compared to the poor show of IFCI (government owned). Why not consider starting a few LTCBs with the sponsorships of World Bank, Asian Development Bank and the new development bank started by China in collaboration with other BRICS countries?

R Viswanathan

Email

Tremendous potential

This is with reference to the editorial, ‘Building bridges’ (April 11). A sector that will benefit from good relations with Bangladesh is tourism. The five States bordering Bangladesh, namely West Bengal, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Assam and Tripura, are rich in scenic beauty and can be developed as great tourist centres if there is peace in the region.

We cannot have industrial development and economic growth if militancy is not controlled. Good relations with Bangladesh will also help curb the growing disturbances on the India-Pakistan border.

Veena Shenoy

Thane, Maharashtra

EVMs a must

The EC should not bring back the old method of voting with ballot papers. The reason why some politicians are questioning EVMs is to help them play mischief during elections through booth capturing, bogus voting and so on. With EVMs in place, they cannot do this. Hence all the drama around EVMs.

VS Ganeshan

Bengaluru

Blame game

It is routine for the losing side, whenever it loses an election, to accuse the Election Commission of being hand in glove with the BJP. Nothing can be farther from the truth. It is not easy to hold elections in a country with multiple caste equations, communal incitements and criminal elements trying to vitiate the election process.

Such uncalled for accusations undermine the relevance of an institution performing its job against heavy odds. All this only sows the seeds of suspicion in the minds of the common man; the only way people can vent their opinion is by exercising their franchise. The opposition parties, instead of blaming the EC, should introspect about where they went wrong in attracting voters to its fold. It is not necessary to hold power to serve the public.

V Subramanian

Chennai

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