Life's a stage

LETTERS

Buddhadeb Bhattacharya is well known for his literary inclinations and I presume he will be receptive to an idea derived from the most famous dramatist in history, Shakespeare.

It is clear that Tatas will not resume work at Singur in the face of Mamata’s belligerent attitude over the 300 acres of land to be returned to the owners, reportedly 2,000 families. Fair enough. Let the dissident owners identify their piece of land. They will get just that and no connectivity if they happen to be islands in the pro-Tata landowners.

This is precisely how Portia checkmated Shylock in The Merchant of Venice.

Vasant Gokarn, on e-mail

Managing inflation

This refers to “Is it demand or costs that are driving food inflation?” (September 29) by R Gaiha and V Kulkarni. The article is an insightful inquiry into the recent surge in price inflation in many developing countries, including India. It is difficult to ignore the impact of cost-push factors such as increases in the prices of petroleum products and food, as Gaiha and Kulkarni rightly argue. Demand factors may have played a role to the extent that exchange rates were excessively managed. However, when the inflationary shock is supply-driven, demand-pull may act to complement this shock. A purely demand-side approach to controlling inflation is likely to falter, as it will only lead to lowering the growth of output. An inherent difficulty in India, in this regard, is that supply-side policies to boost anti-inflation, essentially boosting productive capacity in all sectors (including agriculture) and making labour and product markets more competitive, have been sluggish with the result that there is excessive burden on monetary policy.

Raghbendra Jha, Professor and Executive Director,  Australia South Asia Research Centre,
The Arndt-Corden Division of Economics,  RSPAS, Australian National University, Canberra

Timely Call

Prime Minister’s Manmohan Singh call to fight terror resolutely is timely and appropriate. His statement on strengthening the country’s investigation and prosecution processes is the need of the hour and worthy of emulation by lawmakers.

The recent Delhi blast could have been carried out by some local terror group and is a sign of growing extremism in the country. Such dangerous symptoms should be nipped in the bud. In the fight against terror attacks, citizens should also be alert. If anyone finds any suspicious parcel in their area, they should immediately notify the police. The death of 10-year-old Santosh (killed in the Delhi blast) is a lesson for everyone.

More than enacting tough laws, the police has an important role to play in handling terror. A multi-pronged, comprehensive and effective legal framework is also necessary to fight the menace of terror.

P Senthil Saravana Durai, Hyderabad

Personal loan problem

Apropos A V Rajawade’s article, “Banking reforms and growth” (September 29). While it is good to know that credit growth as a percentage of GDP has increased from 28 per cent in 2001-02 to 55 per cent in 2007-08, it has also brought in a sizable increase in non-productive personal loans and credit card dues. The segment of personal loans stands at Rs 5,05,000 crore.

This consists of 30 per cent loans that are unsecured personal and credit card loans, the increase of which is one of the reasons for inflation — people tend to spend more from the funds made available on easy terms. These loans are also difficult to recover, as the cost of recovery of the loans will be more than that of the outstanding dues, thereby jeopardising the profitability of the banks.

P Esakki Muthu, Mumbai