The Sardar of America

The Sardar of America
This is regarding Aditya Sinha’s column, ‘Made in America’ (Sept 16). It is interesting to note that the author ends his piece with “I wouldn’t be surprised if he emerges out of coal-gate without a smudge and even becomes prime minister for a third time, in 2014”. That will indeed be a fitting reward (if it does happen) for Dr Singh who, at long last, took the plunge, judging that Romneys’ campaign is floundering in the US. However, one wonders whether he would have had the ‘tacit cooperation’ of the Lotus party to push his big bang reforms, stunning the whole world. Instead, one would go by a former diagnosis in this paper that the exit of Pranab Mukherjee and the return of Palaniappan Chidambaram, another economist to the finance department, must have done the trick.
—V Subramanyan, Thane

II
Aditya Sinha’s column made for interesting reading. The likely reason for the PM’s economic gambit in all likelihood, is pressure from Uncle Sam! The PM is wedded to babudom and serves one master or the other! He was an admirer of Nehru’s socialistic policies and after the push from Narasimha Rao, he became the economic reformer! But Sinha’s contention that the PM has the BJP’s tacit support for the latest policy decisions is doubtful. His final guess that Singh will become PM after the 2014 Lok Sabha polls is wrong on two counts. One, the Congress will be voted out of power whenever the next election happens. Two, in the unlikely event of the Congress managing a majority, the ‘family’ will not name Manmohan Singh PM!
—Shreeram Paranjpe, via email

III
The article ‘Made in America’ seems to be based on the imagination of, and speculation by, the author. It lacks seriousness and objectivity. The strangest argument is that since the PM has decided to help American retail giants, all his sins of corruption, including coal-gate, will get washed away, and he will again become PM in 2014. Is this an obsession towards America or towards MMS and his tainted party?
—Terry John, via email

Welcome FDI
The recent increase of FDI in multi-brand retail and aviation is welcome . It is late, but as they say, it’s better late than never. It is certain to benefit the common man in the future. What it means is more choice, better quality and better price. There will be issues from the opposition, but they should realise it is better for the common man to open up to competition and allow people to chose what is best for them. Kudos to the Central government for these new initiatives. However, the fun is taken away by the hike in the price of diesel!
—Kamal A Kapadia, Mumbai

II
The government’s decision to welcome FDI in multi-brand retail is praiseworthy. Competition among retailers will result in better deals for consumers, who will indeed be the king . Even after the Tatas, Birlas and Ambanis made an entry in the retail sector, local shopkeepers and kirana stores continue to hold their own with better service to consumers. The situation will remain more or less the same even if Wal-Mart, Carrefour and Tesco enter the retail sector. Similarly, it is unlikely that there will be a surge in unemployment. In fact, unemployed youth, who have completed their schooling, will get jobs in these supermarkets.
—Ketan R Meher, via email

Congratulations Sindhu
This refers to ‘Sindhu stuns Olympic champion Xuerui’ (Sept 15). It is heart-warming to see another woman badminton star from India hogging the limelight on the international circuit. The Chinese are always intimidated by outside talents upsetting their stars. Recently, Saina Nehwal was the cause of heartburn for them. Before that, in the late 70s and early 80s, the indomitable Prakash Padukone stunned them with a string of wins over them. Sindhu has it in her genes. Her father was a 2000 Arjuna award winner and her mother too played volleyball. The Hyderabadi, whose height is to her advantage, started early at the tender age of eight and has trained hard by travelling long distances to avail of the facilities required to beome a top notch player. Coach Gopichand appears to have the uncanny ability to spot talent and one only hopes the young Sindhu, already ational champion, goes from strength to strength from here.
—Ganapathi Bhat, Akola

Public memory: Not that short
This refers to the statement by union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde that public memory is very short in India and that the coal-gate scam will soon be forgotten, like Bofors. The arrogance with which the statement has been made is to be condemned . What actually has happened is that the public has given a long rope to the Congress because of the absence of a clear and clean alternative. Because of the exponential volume involved, each successive scam has probably stolen the thunder away from its predecessor. It is possible that the Congress has another gigantic scam in its cupboards which will take coal-gate away from the limelight. I would request Shinde to get along with his business of governing the country and not make comments about public memory. Else, in the 2014 polls, the Congress will pay a heavy price.
—Guruvayurappan K, Navi Mumbai

RR U-turn
This is with reference to ‘RR U-turn: Orders inquiry against cops’ (Sept 16). The Bombay High Court is justified in questioning the merit of charging cartoonist Aseem Trivedi for sedition under Section 124 A of the IPC. State Home Minister RR Patil, who was seen taking the credit for the arrest of the cartoonist until the other day, performed a sudden somersault. Instead of accepting responsibility, the minister is now gunning for a scapegoat from the lower ranks, which is unethical, unwarranted and uncalled for. Such ill-conceived moves at the helm of affairs would de-motivate the police force from performing their stressful duties.
—Deepak Chikramane, via email