Uneven playing field

This refers to the article “Bias in higher education” (April 11). The discretion proposed to be given to foreign universities to set up campuses in India will result in charging of high fees and thus restrict the intake to affluent students. Students passing out of these universities are likely to be preferred by recruiting companies, which will hinder chances for students from Indian institutions.

Allowing foreign universities to function here is conceptually a good idea as it will induce Indian universities to improve their quality, but a lack of level playing field will prevent this from happening.

YG Chouksey

Pune

The ChatGPT challenge

Apropos the article, ‘ChatGPT, a double-edged weapon’ (April 11), Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformer is unequivocally one of the finest examples of Artificial Intelligence. From writing poems to having coherent conversations with humans and from creating new hypotheses to giving delicious recipes, ChatGPT is designed for a multitude of activities.

Nonetheless, one should not ignore the negative consequences of this AI tool. Excessively relying on it can definitely hinder genuine thinking, creativity and natural emotions especially in children and youth.

A case in point, having casual conversations with an artificial entity on a planet inhabited by more than 8 billion humans is nothing less than pathetic. Being natural-beings, our usage of technology must bridge the gap between us and nature and not create one.

Ramala Kinnera

Hyderabad

Coop banks: political play

This refers to ‘The knotty business of running cooperatives’ ( April 11). Cooperative banks being an integral part of the financial system and thus key to economic advancement and welfare are now not free from political interference.

Lack of prudential lending is resulting in financial irregularities, frauds and failures. Consequently, a sizable number of depositors lost their hard-earned wealth. The cooperative banks falling under the regulations of the banking regulator also are violating the norms and guidelines due to the undue influence of State politics. The financial irregularities have destroyed the credibility of those institutions and caused losses to investors.

Bad customer service, low productivity, inadequate internal checks and balances, no optimum use of technology in products and services and undeveloped compliance culture are persisting in cooperative banks. The RBI and Nabard must strengthen their surveillance on the capital structure, the quality of the loans disbursed and the return on the assets. It is crucial to restore credibility and ensure the extensive use of technology to compete with other banks.

VSK Pillai

Changanacherry

Pointless fracas

The political row over Nandini vs Amul is preposterous on two counts: First both are Indian brands. Secondly Amul is not price competitive with Nandini. Amul is caught in a political crossfire and once elections are over the controversy will die down.

It is counterproductive on the part of political parties to rake up this issue. The government looking to import milk makes this fracas even more pointless.

Deepak Singhal

Noida

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