Letters to the editor dated July 21, 2021

This refers to ‘This is not ‘The Manifesto’” by Poornima Joshi (July 21). The BJP–ruled UP government allowed Kanwar Yatra and CPM-ruled Kerala govt relaxed norms for Bakrid.

This makes it clear that such measures, tampering with Covid-appropriate- behaviour in spite of the threat of third wave, have little to do with religious practices and more to do with vote bank politics. We have now a political system in the country in which the meaning of public good varies from State to State.

Pune

With reference to the article ‘EV makers getting all charged up’ (July 21), it is an open secret that electric is the future as far as transportation is concerned and Ola's Bhavish Aggarwal's two- wheeler launch might have laid the foundation stone for a greener future.

In electric two-wheelers space there is a lot of activity from automakers and hopefully car makers will follow suit.

The government needs to come out with a clear road map so that all stakeholders know what to expect in future and besides this, it must aggressively create the required infrastructure in all major cities, like additional charging points at all petrol pumps.

Lastly, reduction in cost of final product by way of providing subsidies to automakers will go a long way in buyers shifting from petrol diesel to electric vehicles.

Noida

With reference to the report ‘Now, postman can help to update mobile numbers with Aadhaar’ (July 21), it was interesting to learn that India Post Payments Bank and Unique Identification Authority of India, under an arrangement, will allow postmen to update mobile numbers of Aadhaar cardholders at their doorsteps. Though the proposed service will be provided ‘free of cost’, the moot question is: Why ‘engage’ the services of a ‘postman’ for this purpose, more so when any one could do so of his/her own, even now.

UIDAI deserves ‘kudos’ for having issued as many as 128.99 crore Aadhaar numbers (as on March 31, 2021). But what about early ‘detection and weeding out’ of the whole lot of ‘Fake and Duplicate’ Aadhaar cards? Let the UIDAI seriously consider devising some fool-proof technology to ‘immobilse’ all of them.

Bengaluru

With reference to the Editorial ‘Card games’ (July 21), the RBI’s strong action against Mastercard is welcome. The central bank had instructed all system providers, as early as in April 2018, to ensure that “within six months the entire data relating to payment systems operated by them was stored in servers, within India”. The idea was to facilitate easy regulatory access to the sensitive payment data in India. With the phenomenal growth of the payments data comes greater regulatory responsibility to ensure its security from breaches, potentially jeopardising the financial ecosystem, through frauds and money laundering.

It is indefensible that even after a lapse of three years, the said payment intermediary has reportedly not complied with the directive. Excuses lose credibility if not followed by action. Instead of ‘feeling disappointed’ at the RBI action, MasterCard would do well to remember the adage ‘When in Rome, do what the Romans do’.

Chennai

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