Nation8217;s interest

8226; Apropos of the article, 8216;Three Grand Bargains8217; by C. Raja Mohan I...

8226; Apropos of the article, 8216;Three Grand Bargains8217; by C. Raja Mohan IE, July 12, the current negotiations and rapprochement with China, Pakistan and the US should not viewed or measured in terms BJP, Congress or Left support or agendas. The nation8217;s interest and security must drive the negotiations. But making decisions on these three issues should have priorities and planning, although they are interconnected. Since energy and security is very important, it is better to solve this issue with the US. It should not be left on the back-burner. There is no point in pushing the unpredictable, unstable pipe-dream of a pipeline through Pakistan. The boundary issue with China will require more time and strategy. India should wait till it is very strong, economically and militarily.

8212; Nirode Mohanty On e-mail

8226; The article, 8216;Three grand bargains8217; IE, July 12 is a very comprehensive and fair assessment of the situation. The Manmohan Singh government has, by and large, maintained the contours of foreign and strategic policies inherited from the Vajpayee government. The country or the middle classes should have no complaint if, one, statements like that of the PM likening the government bungling in handling the terrorist attack in Ayodhya to the tragic hijacking of the Indian Airlines plane to Kandahar are avoided and, two, if Mr Rip Van Winkle will keep quiet.

8212; G.S. Bhargava New Delhi

RTI regime

8226; The editorial, 8216;Official Secrets8217; IE, July 12, rightly points out that the CBI and the CVC mainly deal with matters concerning public interest and, therefore, they should 8220;help set up an RTI-compliant regime8221;. True, the government has exempted a host of central agencies from the purview of the act, while there should have been 8220;only a few like the IB and the RAW8221;, as correctly echoed by the CBI director. Howevzer, by seeking exemption, it appears both the CBI and the CVC are forgetting the very nature of their job. Given the scenario, it is likely that many more organisations might come forward to seek exemption that can defeat the very purpose of the act.

8212; K.J. John Vadodara

8226; The RTI act basically aims at dissemination of information for all the reasons as rightly known by us. Information generated by the government 8212; especially organisations like CBI and CVC 8212; are crucial for public interest. It can8217;t be undermined in magnitude. The act leaves quite a bit of space for arbitration already and any further amendment would just destroy its aim of development and participatory governance.

8212; Susmita Pratihast Delhi

8226; First President Kalam and then the heads of the CBI and CVC 8212; everyone thinks they are special enough to escape the right to information law 8216;Info law: CBI, CVC say keep us out8217;, IE, July 11. One wonders why such reluctance for transparency, ironically from the CVC whose mandate is open governance. If there is any drawback in the RTI Act, it is that it does not extend to political parties. Why should they be exempt?

8212; Santosh Parikh Delhi

How fair?

8226; I was amused to read Arun Jaitley8217;s piece, 8216;Let8217;s be fair to Imrana8217; IE, July 12. Look who is talking! Jaitley, a good friend and defender of Narendra Modi, was anything but fair when numerous Bilkis Banos and Zaheera Sheikhs faced the fury of the crowds. Not even a word about them was heard.

8212; Pranav Sachdeva Delhi