Letters to the editor dated September 8, 2020

This refers to ‘Imran Khan’s foreign policy fiasco’ (September 8). Pakistan’s hostile attitude towards India and its attempts to garner support of Muslim nations on the Kashmir issue have been lucidly discussed in the article. It is rather unfortunate that the country does not see the need to improve its relations with India. If such a stance continues, India should recast its foreign policy strategy with regard to Pakistan.

Coimbatore

The article ‘Centre’s Covid-19 fiscal stance is flawed’ (September 8) has rightly highlighted that an overcautious fiscal response to the Covid crisis has resulted in uneven recovery with far-reaching implications for the health of the economy. The restrictions imposed have also cast an ugly shadow on virtually all spheres of economic activity. The fiscal stimulus is inadequate to reverse the economy’s slide. The lockdown has severely dented consumption, investment and exports — the key drivers of the economy.

Injecting money into the manufacturing and services sectors has to be a priority in order to avoid supply-demand mismatches. Public spending should be encouraged to keep recession at bay. Economic crises have forced countries to take giant strides. India will do well to take cues from economies such as Taiwan, Vietnam and China, which are moving forward amidst the pandemic.

Nainital

In the Bhushan Power and Steel case, SBI’s attempt to invoke personal guarantees against the promoter is likely to set a bad precedent. The effectiveness of such guarantees has also been challenged by other large corporate groups recently, though the lenders’ practice is to obtain them as additional collateral. Currently, in case of corporate defaults, equity investors like venture capital and private equity funds are denied insolvency resolution under the IBC process, since they are categorised as unsecured creditors. If the tribunal considers legal remedies for them, these equity investors can also safeguard themselves by taking personal guarantees from promoters and benefit from the IBC.

Bengaluru

The current economic situation is no doubt alarming but it is not beyond repair. India’s GDP growth in Q2 was the lowest among all G20 nations. However, the data should not be read in isolation and the value of the stimulus package of each country should also be considered. Further, India and the UK, which had stricter and longer lockdowns, suffered more in terms of negative GDP growth.

As agriculture has done well, it is likely to boost rural demand. As the kharif season is getting over, migrant workers are turning towards urban employment and this is likely to speed up many activities. Also, the forthcoming festival season should push up demand and unlocking all activities will give a boost to growth. The RBI’s restructuring scheme should help firms concentrate on business.

Mumbai

Apropos ‘Hypersonic cruise vehicle test puts India in elite club’ (September 8), India now joins the US, Russia and China after successfully demonstrating the hypersonic air-breathing scramjet engine. From being a weapons importer, India must turn into an exporter, said by the DRDO chairman a few days back, indicating that India is now ready to become self-reliant in defence products.

New Delhi

This refers to ‘Pandemic provides a chance to change tack’ (September 8). Nobel Peace laureate Muhammad Yunus brings to fore the need to develop social enterprises using market based entrepreneurial strategies. His plea that migrant workers need to be organised under a separate ministry to recognise their micro-entrepreneurial skill is significant, especially for post-pandemic revival.

Sivakasi

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