Letters to the editor dated December 16, 2021

This pertains to ‘Preventive strike’ (December 16). The decision of the banking regulator to enforce the Prompt Corrective Action (PCA) framework on NBFCs too from October 2022 will not only secure the interest of depositors and bondholders, but will support the financial system to remain financially strong.

The PCA framework must be made applicable to all financial institutions that are part and parcel of the financial system to safeguard the entire system from the contagion effects.

The PCA framework needs to be enlarged to check financial irregularities, frauds and violations of various norms governing the deployment of funds. As liquidity risk is always posing threats to the financial entities, the PCA tool must be in place to mitigate the risks. It is better to invoke the corrective actions well in advance to speed up the process of correction to avoid the entity from becoming a defaulter.

At a time when the banking sector is playing a crucial role in the economic development of the country, it is paramount to sustain the financial system robustly and to ensure that the application of PCA is vital.

Changanacherry, Kerala

For India, the Afghan theatre is vital to ensure lasting tranquillity in our north-west borders. With ceaseless internal skirmishes in Pakistan and a powerful China, a fresh Indo-US politico-economic paradigm needs to be set for our common minimum agenda. The Taliban will get a reasonable grip on governance soon enough.

As China enters Afghanistan to access to its natural resources, it will meet wizened new rulers skilled in political manoeuvring. In time, China too should find the Taliban intractable.

The absence of a physical border with Afghanistan is our strength as well as main weakness. Few Afghans distrust India as we are the rare “soft power” in the region and still are a popular nation with the Afghans.

Navi Mumbai

Bangladesh has many reasons to cheer as it now celebrates its 50th birth anniversary of being an independent country by strengthening its democratic institutions and keeping religious nationalism at bay.

Sceptics had indeed raised doubts about Bangladesh's tryst with democracy following its liberation from Pakistan in 1971, but it proved them wrong with successive governments, particularly the one led by Awami League, having taken concerted steps to strengthen and deepen the roots of democracy.

Bangladesh stands tall today as one of the fastest growing economies of South Asia on the strength of its strict adherence to its constitutional secularism.

Sholavandan, TN

This refers to the report ‘40% of Indian agricultural soil is zinc deficient’ (December 16). However, the larger issue is that the overall soil condition has been deteriorating due to the rampant use of chemicals without scientific basis.

Reduced soil carbon or humus is one major cause for poor soil fertility and yield. There is a strong possibility that zinc supplements are blindly dumped onto farmlands oblivious of their ill-effects. Farm universities and state agricultural departments must swing into action to educate the peasants on the significance of soil parameters on crop yield, failing which the cost of food production could climb steeply.

Halekere Village, Karnataka

This has reference to ‘A green approach to producing steel’ (December 16). Taking a lead role in the Glasgow Summit, India committed to reaching net-zero green gas emissions in 2070, pragmatically a difficult task in the backdrop of the emphasis on manufacturing.

Steel producers account for 9 per cent of the total greenhouse gas emissions in India. Substituting coal with green hydrogen to power steel plants can help reduce emissions.

Sivakasi, TN

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