Double standards

8226; Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh is busy trying to implicate his predecessor, Parkash ...

8226; Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh is busy trying to implicate his predecessor, Parkash Singh Badal, and his family in corruption cases but he is deliberately closing his eyes to what his team is doing 8216;Day after Express report on taped deal, cash is returned to businessman8217;, IE, January 21. I am sure Singh will come up with the usual political statement to save his aides.

8212; Varinder Sarin Kuwait

Table8217;s set

8226; Condoleezza Rice, the new American secretary of state, could be a great asset for India 8216;Rice and curry: Diplomatic time and space for India under Bush II8217;, IE, January 20. Rice is different from her predecessor Colin Powell in that she does not carry baggage from Vietnam and the Cold War. Moreover, her family had intimate experience of the civil rights struggle, and that movement was influenced by the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi.

8212; Khem Harrinarine Toronto

Different strokes

8226; The Core Group on Administrative Reforms headed by Cabinet Secretary B.K. Chaturvedi has recommended that the upper age limit for civil service aspirants should be reduced from 30 years to 25 years in case of the general category 8216;Get on with it8217;, IE, January 17. Another proposal is to review the efficiency of bureaucrats at different points of their career. And if the appraisal committee finds any shortcomings vis-a-vis the officials/bureaucrats, they should be subsequently weeded out of the service. This comprehensive review would be undertaken in the 15th, 20th and 25th years of a bureaucrat8217;s service. Now, the question is, what about inefficient politicians?

8212; M. Srinivasa Rao Guntur

Forty winks

8226; If those who sleep while at work deserve dismissal, what do the courts deserve who took twenty years to decide the matter 8216;Eyes wide shut8217;, IE, January 21?

8212; Nirmala Sunnyvale

Exclusive zones

8226; This refers to your editorial 8216;Sacred and temporal8217; January 18. The responsibilities of civil society cannot be taken over by the government, and nor can the responsibilities of the government be assumed by any civil society institution. For example, an IIM or an IIT would have no business saying that just because politicians are not managing Indian Railways properly, they would take it over and run it.

8212; A.K. Aggarwal Ahmedabad

Once is enough

8226; The Supreme Court has rightly rejected any state-tax on tobacco products as they already carry additional excise duty which goes to the states8217; accounts in lieu of local taxes. In fact, it is time to simplify the tax structure by having a single-point tax at the manufacturing point on all commodities with a simple tax-rate without any surcharge, cess or any other confusing additive!

8212; Madhu Agrawal Delhi