Gullible investors

The points raised in ‘Battling the Ponzis’ (June 25) are valid. However, FDs are generally not secure and if the company is liquidated there are very remote possibilities of recovering the amount.

How many of us read the risk and offer documents carefully before investing? The answer is none. SEBI, AMFI and others have done their best to protect investors by better disclosures, better format, presentation and so on. But if as investors we blindly trust agents and the past performance of funds, then we can’t blame anyone. Don’t be carried away with the upfront commission; think about the investment and its opportunities in future. Remember what is currently the market condition and market rate. Be tech savvy and inquire about the company, its products, check records.

Kamal Anil Kapadia

Mumbai

The issues have been deftly analysed. I may simply add that saving is in the blood of Indians. Despite being reasonably robust, our financial systems have not so far penetrated into the deepest geographies. The availability of financial services is abysmally low in remote rural areas. Thus, gullible rural savers are easily lured by Ponzis. Despite the efforts of PSBs and the PMJDY, regulatory strings needs to pulled to save these people from being cheated. Those engaged in Ponzi schemes exploit people’s greed and lack of financial awareness.

SP Singh

Meerut, Uttar Pradesh

Encourage plastic cards

With reference to your editorial, ‘Plastic payments’ (June 24), instead of charging extra for credit card usage, there should be a concession. Credit card usage has many advantages. One need not carry cash always. There is no small notes or change problem. It allows you to plan payments. The statement gives an account of expenditure and reward points provide some relief.

The government also stands to benefit because all transactions are transparent, black money transactions can be controlled to a great extent, note printing expenses can be reduced, and cash dealings can be avoided.The credit card is useful as an identity card.

KRK Menon

Tuticorin, Tamil Nadu

In poor taste

It was hard to digest the report, ‘Uncovering Nehru’s other side’ (June 25), which talked about Nehru resorting to desperate measures to prevent Rajendra Prasad from becoming President. All great leaders will have plus and minus points. One should not pinpoint their minus points and try to tarnish their image. We should always remember what they did for the country.

TSN Rao

Bhimavaram, Andhra Pradesh

Clear the case quickly

Karnataka’s decision to appeal against J Jayalalithaa’s acquittal reaffirms the faith that the SC vested in it by making the State the sole prosecuting agency after transferring the case out of Tamil Nadu. It is now incumbent upon the apex court to quickly dispose of the appeal and conclusively settle the doubts raised in the public mind about the High Court judgment. That said, the Congress may have taken a calculated risk in challenging the acquittal, but the repercussions of the decision taken by the government in Karnataka are bound to be felt both at the national as well as the State levels. Yes, in the interest of justice and transparency, and in order to strike a blow at corruption in public life, the case of disproportionate assets against Jayalalithaa needed to be taken to its logical conclusion. But politics, unfortunately, operates on various planes simultaneously.

Jayalalithaa was the highest ranking film star for decades, she had considerable wealth of her own before she joined politics. How about the Mayawatis and Mulayam Singhs, Laloo Yadavs and Sharad Pawars who had nothing to call their own by way of assets before they became politicians?

J Akshobhya

Mysuru

Shameful schemes

This refers to your edit, ‘Battling the Ponzis’ (June 25). All these schemes are run publicly with famous cine actors roped in to advertise them. It is shocking that no action was taken earlier, when the government has hundreds of its people located in metros to watch television channels to monitor them for inappropriate content. It’s a shame that we allow these schemes to take root and grow into gigantic proportions and destroy our own people financially. The mindset of ordinary people regarding the returns they can expect for a particular period needs to change. For this the government needs to do a lot more to create awareness and kill the greed in people, which is also one of the main reasons such schemes survive and thrive.

CR Arun

Email

Futile to shift blame

With reference to ‘Uncovering Nehru’s other side’ (June 25), shifting the blame for the Emergency on to Siddhartha Shankar Ray is a post facto futile exercise to exonerate Indira Gandhi from the charge of treating the people as clods of clay and the Constitution as pulp fiction. The spirit of a statute is supreme which envisages the dignity of freedom for all. Indira Gandhi wanted to stay in power and that’s why she accepted Ray’s suggestion. She was fully responsible for imposing Emergency. That she had many sycophants is well known.

JN Bhartiya

Hyderabad

Say no to drugs

June 26 is the International Day against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking. Drug addiction is a social evil prevalent in society from time immemorial. Often it is the youth with low self-esteem, an identity crisis and who have a vacillating mind who are the most vulnerable lot. Though there are several organisations like Alcoholic Anonymous and Narcotic Anonymous who have done commendable work and can help drug abusers, change has to come from within. Also apart from detoxification programmes, the solution lies in cutting the source of supply by effective policing against drug trafficking.

TS Karthik

Chennai

Make yoga a habit

In ‘Yoga can make the world a better place’ by Mathew PM, (June 24), it is rightly concluded that India should take interest in popularising the legacy of yoga. Instead of politicians and religious coming forward, it would make a world of difference if professionals from the world of medicine pushed yoga. It should also be part of the school syllabus so that it becomes a habit.

RS Raghavan

Bengaluru

Erratum

In the report, ‘Paytm guns for $100 billion and the holy grail, profitability’ (June 25), Flipkart's GMV has been mentioned as $12 billion. However the GMV is $4 billion, and it is valued at $12 billion. The error is regretted.

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