Igniting minds

— Y.G. Chouksey

Pune

Failed states

• Your editorial, ‘African mis-unity’, has hit the nail on the head. The decolonisation process, since the speech of Harold Macmillian in Cape Town, saw new African states come into existence. But the lack of good governance and politico-economic stability was an endemic problem. Robert Mugabe is in the long line of African strongmen who have ruled the state through their henchmen, where corruption and political thuggery proliferated. It is no surprise that soon these new or newly-independent states became failed states.The agony that Zimbabweans are suffering for long will not come to an easy end.

— John Alexander

Nagpur

Macro pincers

• The stock market is in the doldrums. Rising crude prices, which are pushing up inflation, has much to do with this slide. RBI’s decision to increase the REPO and CRR rates by 50 bps are negative steps by the government to check inflation. Such interventions and the capping of growth should have been avoided. This would eventually harm the country’s progress. Sharp rise in interest rates is on the cards and most loans would become dearer in the days to come. But what really surprises me is the one-sided action by the government. Why are we not seeing similar actions on the other front where our deposits and savings are concerned?

— S.N. Kabra

Mumbai

Forget the deal

• If the Congress-led government thinks that the nuclear deal is in the best interest of the country, it should clearly say so and go ahead with it without bothering about the consequences. If, however, the ruling combine thinks that the survival of the government is more important than looking after national interests, it should forget about the deal. The state of uncertainty should not be allowed to continue.

— Vinoy K. Sinha

Ranchi