The same budget?

8226; In the run up to the budget, hopes are high that the FM will do magic so that the economy s...

8226; In the run up to the budget, hopes are high that the FM will do magic so that the economy sees a GDP growth of 7-8 per cent. But I think that even this time, the budget will be the same sordid saga of setting ambitious targets and then scaling down. Although business confidence in India is at an all time high, the economy still suffers from lacunae and the woes are still far from over. We definitely need some hard decisions to spruce up the bottomline while at at the same time not hurting the topline. To boost the economy, the purchasing power of the common man and the poor, and not just the rich, has to be increased.

8212; Siddhartha Raj Guha Jabalpur

Centre versus state

8226; While campaigning for the Haryana, Bihar and Jharkhand assembly elections, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh asked the electorate to vote for Congress state governments stating that better Centre-state coordination will be possible with same party governments at the Centre as well as in the state. Such statements from the PM set a dangerous precedent. So should the people of Rajasthan, MP, Gujarat and other non Congress ruled states in the country expect step motherly treatment from the PM? Is Manmohan Singh the PM of only the Congress ruled states? Such campaign rhetoric should be unequivocally condemned.

8212; Saurabh Rajadhyax Durham

India8217;s strategy

8226; India should have good relations with Iran in the political, petroleum and business sectors. Irani and Iraqi Shias will come together anyway. So we can look for good relations with both. We must have a say in the negotiations with the US and Europe in Iran-US-Europe non-nuclear negotiations like China has had in the case of North Korea.

8212; Balevadu On e-mail

Don8217;t trust US

8226; Your article on India8217;s quest for US Patriot missiles stunned many readers 8216;Next Steps in missile defence8217;, IE, February 22. The US has always been a Pakistani ally, offering them F-16s, which are then used against India. We should therefore not spend our money feeding US defence firms that make the Patriot missiles. Moreover, the US is crafty. It will not sell us the latest Patriots, but the stuff they don8217;t need.

8212; Hemant Kumar Boston

Tainted mess

8226; Apropos of the editorial, 8216;To each its own8217; IE, February 22, it has scanned the present 8216;8216;morality status8217;8217; of the politicians, and future MPs and ministers. The Supreme Court in its wisdom leaves the 8216;8216;taint8217;8217; issue to the legislature to debate and decide. Unfortunately democratic debates are always inconclusive. Firstly, it is impossible to decide as to what is a 8216;8216;taint8217;8217;? Secondly, the wish to do so is lacking. Thirdly, without tainted politicians, political parties cannot survive. Fourthly, it would be difficult to find 8216;8216;untainted8217;8217; politicians to debate the issue, as the 8216;8216;tainted8217;8217; will hurl taint on the 8216;8216;untainted8217;8217; and fifthly, how do we decide upon the norms and rules to grade various 8216;taints8217;8217;?

8212; F.S.K. Barar On e-mail