• On the 30th anniversary of the Emergency, Advani says, “Congress, Left have Emergency mindset” (IE, June 26) and went on to praise “the tremendous contribution of Jan Sangh and RSS workers” in resisting the Emergency. This is wrong. If the RSS was so brave during the Emergency, why did RSS supremo Balasaheb Deoras write to Indira Gandhi promising support? Many RSS leaders apologised and were set free. — Bidyut K.Chatterjee Faridabad Economics! • I am quite confounded (‘Naipaul’s challenge’, IE, June 25). My view is the opposite. We have a lot of intellectual and cultural activity in India. What is missing is clear economic policies. The UPA represents all sorts of contradictions, with the CPM opposing even the most timid reforms, and crooks disguised as apostles of social harmony. In this situation India should go the whole hog for economic development, even if it means giving a back seat to culture. The poor do not have the luxury of reading philosophical works when there is no food on the table. — Lalit Bagai Kalundborg How many light bulbs? • This is with reference to the article, ‘Nuclear power is not cheap’ by M.V. Ramana and A.K.N. Reddy, published in your journal (IE, June 20). The authors have compared the cost of electricity generation by nuclear source (Kaiga I&II) and by thermal source (Raichur TPS). We have confirmed their calculations and find them correct. However, the comparison is irrelevant. Today, it is possible to buy yellow energy-saving fluorescent lamps, of 8W and 11W, which are claimed equivalent to 40W and 60W incandescent bulbs respectively. The retail prices are around Rs 110 and Rs 140 respectively. If we consider the 60W equivalent, it saves approximately 50W in terms of replacement. Hence, 20 bulbs costing Rs 2,800 would save 1KW generation. In comparison, the capital cost of generation for nuclear and thermal power are Rs 93,750 and Rs 27,800 respectively, as demonstrated by Ramana and Reddy. Based on our simple calculation, it’s far cheaper for the government to distribute free energy saving fluorescent lamps to users than invest in new generation and T&D capacity. — M.K. Sambamurti, Sanjeev Ghotge Pune More bucks • Apropos of ‘Indian Idol’ (IE, June 24), the Black Buck is a Schedule 1 endangered species. In the black market today, nobody would pay a paisa for Pataudi, but a Black Buck would fetch more than a couple of thousands of dollars. In fact, killing a black buck is worse than killing a man. There are six billion human beings and only a few black bucks left! — Santhosh Heddese Bangalore Sinha and sinners • If Yashwant Sinha in any capacity has a valid complaint against the Munda government, he should go to the CBI to have the graft looked into rather than make a noise in New Delhi. People report that corruption is rampant in Jharkhand and everyone is minting money as if there is no tomorrow. If Sinha is really honest he should seek the intervention of the PM and the CBI only. — Krishan K. Arora New York Misguided move • It is silly to ask for reservations when the demands of the world cry for merit and creativity. Those who advocate reservations, and there are plenty of them, are really asking to perpetuate the old, the inefficient, the backward sort of attitudes (‘AMU reservation, a good step’, IE, June 25). — Vaman Rao On e-mail
