Page 34 - Letters

Letters: Better agri-marketing

With reference to "Farm marketing" (July 25), by incorporating innovative methods and technologies into the farm sector, the government can help improve crop yield in a safe and sustainable manner. Increased allocations under the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojana, proposal for 100 per cent rural electrification and enhanced agricultural credit target were some welcome measures the government proposed in the Union Budget to raise productivity of the primary sector and mitigate rural distress. The exemption of perishable farm output from the ambit of agricultural produce marketing committee (APMC) laws is a low-hanging fruit in agri-marketing reforms that the government must pluck at the earliest. It will not only reduce marketing overheads but also help in eliminating middlemen.Further, the creation of an online National Agriculture Market platform is a great leap forward in ending the monopoly of APMCs and connecting farm gates to retail stores. The electronic trading portal will introd

Letters: Prioritise PSB claims

STATSGURU (July 25) highlighted the public sector banks' (PSBs) capital position over a period of five years. PSBs are helpless when it comes to the recovery of dues of wilful defaulters. Hence, more capital is required for provisioning against the NPAs (non-performing assets). Harping on about capital levels is not the remedy. PSB claims are dealt with by the judiciary on a par with general disputes. Cases in debt recovery tribunals are pending for long. Enforcing recovery certificates is very cumbersome. Sarfaesi proceedings are stayed out by courts defeating the very purpose of the Sarfaesi (Securitisation and Reconstruction of Financial Assets and Enforcement of Security Interest) Act. PSBs' claims for recovery should be prioritised, only then can these banks be strong. Else, there could be a future worse than today. The government should wake up and modify the legal procedures for PSBs.K B N Rao BengaluruLetters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to:The Editor, Business StandardNeh

Letters: Coffee woes

Kodagu area falls into the catchment of the Cauvery river, the water distribution of which has led to disputes in riparian states

Letters: Erdogan not like Trump

I agree with Friedman that if Donald Trump wins the race to the White House it will be a sad day for America

Letters: Growth tied to oil prices

For decades, the global economy has been predicated on oil

Letters: Update the formats

It appears the formats, which are totally outdated, were designed by someone with no knowledge of the basic principles of accounting

Letters: Good days ahead

The simultaneous resignation of his wife, Navjot Kaur, a BJP legislator from the Amritsar (East) constituency, might have poured more salt on the BJP's political wounds

Letters: Switch to hydrocarbons

Having realised this danger in 1985, the first Montreal Protocol of 1987 called upon the world to phase out CFCs in favour of HCFCs (hydrochlorofluorocarbons)

Letters: Taming domestic airlines

Ironically, the extant rules offer a meagre compensation of up to Rs 4,000 for both denied boarding and cancelling a flight

Letters: Offer solutions

T N Ninan's interesting article, "Subbarao tells all" (July 16), compels me to pen my observations as a citizen of India

Letters: Time to take a step back

With reference to the editorial, "Restoring a government" (July 14), during the debate that took place in the Constituent Assembly on Article 356, B R Ambedkar, the then chairman of the Drafting Committee, did not altogether deny the possibility of the Article being abused or misused for political reasons. However, he was optimistic such a draconian provision would never be implemented and remain a dead letter.Unfortunately, soon after Independence, several states found themselves in the throes of an artificial constitutional crisis, with the Centre exercising its hegemony over democratically elected state governments.The Supreme Court, in its landmark Bommai judgement, observed unequivocally that Article 356 could be justified only when there is a breakdown of constitutional machinery and not administrative machinery. It, thus, stripped the proclamation issued under this Article of its immunity from judicial review and subsumed to itself the power to strike down the proclamation if it

Letters: Why leave Swaraj out?

All of Modi's overseas trips has evoked a good response from the countries he visited

Letters: Raised expectations

The ever-improving performance indices of private sector banks in the country bear signs of a maturing economy

Letters: Reforms remedy

The capacity and willingness of public sector lenders are shrinking and the banking sector's role as growth engine is turning ineffective

Letters: Lesson from Britain

We have fought three wars with Pakistan over Kashmir, and billions of rupees that are much needed for the education and health of our people have gone down the drain

Letters: Local rural solutions

Local problems need local solutions and local funding

Letters: Don't need a grand name

Apropos Devangshu Datta's piece, "World War III" (July 9) would it not be more reasonable to compare the ongoing wave of random killings by a few fanatic Islamic volunteers attached to or inspired by the Islamic State with those during the Naxalite uprising of the late 1960s and early 1970s in Kolkata?Apart from creating worldwide revulsion and sorrow among the family and friends of the victims - often, also the family and friends of the perpetrators - will any of these random killings lead to any result whatsoever?Why encourage an effort that can yield no result by giving it a grand name?Alok Sarkar, KolkataLetters can be mailed, faxed or e-mailed to:The Editor, Business StandardNehru House, 4 Bahadur Shah Zafar MargNew Delhi 110 002Fax: (011) 23720201 · E-mail: letters@bsmail.inAll letters must have a postal address and telephone number

Letters: Skill-based education

The new Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar said, "Employment is not the only objective of education, building life skills and personality development are also important."

Letters: Modi in CEO mode

I was delighted to read the front-page story, "In their modified role, junior ministers no longer pushovers" (July 9)

Letters: Impeccable governor

He is in favour of capitalism in the form of entrepreneurship that could create more productive assets and wealth for the betterment of people