This is with reference to the ruling of the Supreme Court which made the playing of the national anthem in cinema halls before screening of movies optional. The national anthem should be played at places where it gets respect. In a democratic country like India, while it would be undemocratic to force people to do this or that, respect for the anthem should come on its own. It should be voluntary. Having said that, if someone does not stand up for it, it should not be taken as lack of respect or patriotism. You don’t have to explicitly show respect, it’s if you feel for your country.

VS Jayaraman

Chennai

Don’t panic

As S Kalyanasundaram says in ‘Business as usual’ (January 9), there is no need for panic reactions to the FRDI Bill. The Government and the RBI have taken enough precautionary steps. For example, SBI, ICICI Bank and HDFC Bank have been classified as D-SIB, which means they are too big to fail and have a different set of policy measures regarding systemic risks and moral hazard issues. There is strict follow-up by the RBI of the activities of weaker banks to improve their financial health.

The Parliament Standing Committee is supposed to go through all aspects of the Bill. In the current political scenario, it is unlikely that the Government will be able to even table the FRDI Bill in the next session. Given the hue and cry raised by the Opposition and the ruling party being unable to muster enough strength in the Rajya Sabha to carry it forward on its own, we will have to wait longer to see the Bill in final shape.

Raghunath SR

Chennai

IOB’s bold move

The bold step of IOB to offset accumulated losses against share premium account is a welcome move. With none of the numbers going to change and the initiative under due corporate governance policies, other banks should also follow suit. One silver lining is that the chances of dividends to investors have brightened. IOB should be lauded its game-changing move which will reduce dependence on government for capital.

S Veeraraghavan

Madurai

Sops are good

Providing incentives to States to promote exports is a good idea. Overseas buyers prefer to buy directly from State governments. The recent removal of bamboo from the forest produce list should help many North-Eastern States. There is a need to provide market development assistance (MDA) to local participation in trade fairs; overseas buyers should be invited to these. Our missions abroad should publicise these events and interact with local importers. The Council for Trade Development and Promotion needs to meet regularly to take decisions that have a bearing on the export scenario.

A Sathyanarayana

New Delhi

Honest defaulters

In light of recent pro-lender IBC amendments, the stance of the Government and the RBI of questioning the viability of borrower-disclosures on defaults is quite realistic. Although SEBI's initiative may promote market transparency, the NPA situation can be effectively controlled by restricting the market entry of dubious promoters and enforcing an absolute lien over the assets of a firm’s promoters and/or guarantors.

Contrarily, a premature disclosure of the financial position and/or stressed assets can impact the capital market sentiment, induce price volatility and affect the goodwill of borrowers and lenders. Moreover, it’s unlikely for a proven defaulter without credibility to proactively comply with a regulation and implicate himself.

Girish Lalwani

Email

Stay out

With regard to ‘India is obsessed with feudal democracy’ by KS Dakshina Murthy (January 9), the suspicion of the people that Rajinikanth has the blessings and tacit support of the BJP for an alliance cannot be overlooked. Kamal Haasan’s clumsy comments will make a mess. Their political debut is neither desirable nor essential by any reckoning.

B Rajasekaran

Bengaluru

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