NAM and nothing

As NAM members condemn the Indo-US nuclear deal and Iran joyfully joins in, it is not just the UPA and Left but India that is cringing...

8226; As NAM members condemn the Indo-US nuclear deal and Iran joyfully joins in, it is not just the UPA and Left but India that is cringing 8216;Egg on both UPA and Left faces as NAM and Iran slam nuclear deal8217;. The UPA has not only negotiated a poor deal but also antagonised Iran and thereby scuttled our prospects for oil and natural gas from Iran. India dare not even back out from the N-deal; for we will then be seen as reneging on the 123 Agreement. Soon, India will have to beg for energy. How sad it is that just when India was shaking off the 8220;man with a begging bowl8221; image of the 8216;60s, the UPA has injected new life into this caricature.

8212; R.P. Subramanian

Delhi

Caving in

8226;Somnath Chatterjee8217;s volte-face came as a huge disappointment 8216;Let them speak8217;. Having finally taken a bold but overdue decision against recalcitrant MPs, who lowered the dignity of the House, he should not have stepped back. It appears that he has opted for 8220;immediate peace8221; at the cost of the need of the hour. For now, one hopes that better sense will prevail on the habitual offenders from the opposition benches and that they will refrain from repeating their theatrics.

8212; Shahabuddin Nadeem

Bangalore

Middle muddle

8226; To be fair, George W. Bush was taking the heat off the diversion of foodcrops for biofuels in the US 8216;Bushsays Indian middle-class fuels food prices8217;. But, as usual, he got the facts wrong when he quoted the size of India8217;s middle class as 8220;350 million8221;. A recent report on the informal sector estimates that 880 million Indians subsist on less than 2 a day. The millions living on 3-5 a day cannot be termed as middle class either.

While the true size of India8217;s middle class is the subject of much political self-congratulation and corporate research, not much credibility lies with the methodologies on which many of these estimates are based. Despite the heated response in India to Bush8217;s remarks, no one seems to have mentioned the role of rapidly rising obesity in the West. Some 25 per cent of adult Americans and a similar proportion of children are now counted among the obese. Bush should have mentioned chronic over-consumption and greed as a driving factor for high food prices.

8212; Sanjeev Prakash

New Delhi

Neighbourly succour

8226;Cyclone Nargis has caused large-scale devastation in Myanmar, killing over 22,000 people and causing incalculable damage to infrastructure. People who have been rendered homeless face power and water supply breakdowns. Food and medical aid are also in short supply. The people of Myanmar need India8217;s help. True, years of military dictatorship has isolated Myanmar from rest of the world, but this is not the time to dwell on such matters. One hopes that the world, and India in particular, rushes to the help of the people of Myanmar.

8212; R.J. Khurana

Bhopal