That the Centre has withdrawn its draft encryption policy (according to which users cannot delete their SMSes, e-mail, WhatsApp, Viber, for 90 days, the messages had to be kept in a plain text format, and these records were to be made available on demand to security agencies) is welcome. The government must understand that if it wants to survive, it cannot interfere with personal freedom. People have not forgotten the dark days of the Emergency.

S Ramakrishnasayee

Ranipet, Tamil Nadu

Sense seems to have finally dawned on the Centre. The move to make it mandatory for storage of all messages, mails, WhatsApp chats and social media communication for a period of 90 days had caused much consternation. The move has also been met by the opposition parties with sniggers and sneers. It is heartening to note that social media websites and applications will be exempted from the purview of the exemption policy.

NJ Ravi Chander

Bengaluru

Simplistic explanation

The article ‘Throwing sand in the wheels of finance’ by Ratna Sahay (September 23) tries to simplify the genesis of the financial crises of Asia in 1998 and the US in 2008 as one size fits all.

While the Asian crisis was due to the inability of the countries to  have enough buffer stock of foreign currencies  to facilitate the fast  expanding imports and exports, the US crisis was precipitated by growing unemployment and consequent depreciation of housing assets triggered by  foreclosures of impaired assets by banks and financial institutions.

In India, housing assets rarely depreciate. But the asset impairment of banks is due to failure on the part of borrowers to repay the loans in time, interference from politicians in the sanctioning and recovery work of banks, delay in the legal recovery processes which immobilise bank funds, and the apathy of the RBI in  protecting the banking system.

There are enough funds in the hands of investors and right interest rates  can bring more. But due to the  appeasement policy followed by the ruling dispensation, there is always a demand for  interest rate reduction to curry favour with the business lobby. The right course is to give reasonable rates of interest to depositors and facilitate speedy recovery of the loans from recalcitrant borrowerswhich will bring down the bad loans and cost of credit as provisions and loss of revenue from impaired  loans increases the cost of credit. If the government and the RBI can ensure this, the sky is the limit for growth and financial expansion and deepening.

P Esakki Muthu

Email

Banks wrong-footed

This refers to the editorial, ‘Taking a haircut’ (September 23).The worst sufferers are the lending banks and not the equity shareholders. They have huge exposure to infrastructure and core sectors of the economy. A huge chunk of stressed assets of banks come from stalled projects in the roads, power, steel and cement sectors. Control of these projects is often in the hands of big industrialists. Mismanagement and diversion of debt funds results in the assets turning bad. In PPP projects, government apathy, litigation and mismanagement are the root causes of failure. Either the Union or State governments must find a holistic solution or banks should implement the structural restructuring of debts under the RBI’s policy. Once the situation stabilises, the interests of shareholders will be taken care of.

TRN Sharma

Hyderabad

Investment in equity has its risks and investors must well be aware of it. Selling assets is a legitimate business decision to shift priorities and redirect investments in the face of adverse circumstances. Some days back, you argued against bailing out debt investors and now this volte-face! SEBI can protect investors against unfair business practices but cannot be responsible for providing a safety net when bitter medicine has to be administered to revive a business. Equity investors are part-owners of a business and have residual rights only after creditors have been paid off.

Anand Srinivasan

Bengaluru

Small plans, big business

This is with reference to ‘It’s time to take that leap of faith’ by Sidharth Birla (September 23). Modi is right in asking industry captains to invest in India. More than the government, it is the private sector that creates jobs for the educated unemployed. We can create more jobs by revamping our education system and getting students to learn various skills. Big business houses should be encouraged to help with the upkeep of our tourist sites, which in turn will create employment opportunities for local youth. They should also be encouraged to invest in rural areas in small projects which in turn will boost small and cottage industries. Finally, India Inc should be encouraged to provide markets for locally produced goods.

Veena Shenoy

Thane, Maharashtra

In the midst of clamour for all kinds of reforms to accelerate economic growth the writer does well to point out that the present scenario has enough in it for more investment in India. Among the speed-breakers for this he links risk-taking to availability of capital. This is true for new investors like startups only. All big business houses began on a modest note whether it was GD Birla or Narayana Murthy.

However, those already in business need real risk-taking ability to explore new or uncharted markets as Sunil Mittal did for Airtel, cashing on mobile phone possibilities. In fact, innovation in business, now recognised as the differentiator, is strongly related to risk appetite and finds its best expression in creating rather than meeting customer demand — Sony’s walkman and Apple’s iPod come to mind. We have companies sitting on piles of cash waiting for the demand to come up.

YG Chouksey

Pune

Outrageous idea

Public pressure managed to force a change in the government's position on Internet use vis-a-vis user privacy. Evidently it has become a habit with the government to first introduce measures and then shelve them in the face of public opposition. The land Bill, net neutrality and net policing are easy-to-cite cases in point. If wishes were horses, beggars might ride.

The government’s think-tanks must be entirely out of touch with reality to draft such a daft encryption policy and cause huge embarrassment to the government. Nothing could be more intrusive than forcing ‘netizens’ to store all digital communications for a period of 3 months for perusal by intelligence and security agencies. Thanks to the prompt withdrawal of the flawed policy, the threat to spontaneous massaging and the threat of snooping are frustrated for good. In this day and age the government cannot play Big Brother.

A majority in the Lok Sabha does not confer on the government the authority to impose its whims and fancies on the people against their will. The only way forward for the government is to focus on the common people, their existential problems and their transformation to be able to live better and more fulfilling lives.

G David Milton

Maruthancode, Tamil Nadu

Depressing deaths

It is very depressing to see the number of deaths rising every day because of dengue. Dengue doesn’t require huge sums of money for treatment. Most cases of dengue can be treated with paracetamol and close monitoring, with constant infusion of fluids. When the nation’s capital is in such a disarray, can you imagine the plight of villagers? The government should know that over 70 per cent of our population lives in villages.

CR Arun

Email

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