Ministries under fire

RAJA MENON’S ‘A tale of two ministries’ (IE, October 2) was wonderful to read, barring one point....

RAJA MENON’S ‘A tale of two ministries’ (IE, October 2) was wonderful to read, barring one point. He says the general perception that the runaway population would affect the availability of the land and food is wrong. He says the agricultural produce of the world has outpaced the rate of population. At a macro level, he might have a point.

However, in a micro level assessment it need not be true. In India, for example, the quantum of yearly agricultural produce depends upon the availability of rainwater or collected water. If monsoons were to fail us for two consecutive years, the abundance of foodgrains that is now available in government warehouses might not be sufficient to meet the demands of the burgeoning population.
— V.P. Damodar Pune

ONE sentence in the article, ‘A tale of two ministries’, says it all: Advani and Joshi fiddle their way through their tenures. What can one expect from the Indian politicians, who are inward bound in pursuit of just greed for power and money?

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Apart from being politicians whose job is to twist the facts to suit their goals, they lack the knowledge, education and experience to discharge their responsibilities. No wonder the nation keeps falling back from the goals that should have been achieved.
— Arvind Amin, On e-mail

A well-fed Bengal

I WAS glad to read ‘Bengal will not be Left behind’ (IE, October 1). As a Bengali I still like to eat pumpkin squash and prawns. I was happy therefore to read about the state’s self-sufficiency in food production. In 1944 we were small and we sacrificed one meal a day to help feed the less fortunate.

Therefore, Mr Bhattacharjee, may God bless you!
— Subhash Mitra, On e-mail

Modi’s conduct

NARENDRA MODI’S insidious and dishonest conduct was highlighted
by the global media even as the BJP encashed on Hindu sentiments to win the assembly polls. Loss of faith in the Gujarat government, as observed by the Supreme Court while hearing the Best Bakery case, leaves no space for Modi to wriggle out of the mess which is of his own making.

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It is, therefore, desirable that Modi quits forthwith rather than face more humiliation at the hands of the Supreme Court and bring disgrace and ignominy to the BJP.
— S.K. Shah, New Delhi

Clarification

THIS refers to a report titled, ‘Iran strikes deal: buy LNG, get an oil field’ (IE, September 29). It is necessary to clarify certain points. Agreement regarding cooperation between Iran and India in the field of energy, was arrived at
during the visit of President Khatami of Iran to India and his talks with the Indian Prime Minister in January this year.

During these talks, energy was identified as one of the fields of cooperation and the past few months have witnessed considerable progress in this sphere. Cooperation of Iran with India is based on the national determination of both countries. Contrary to the views of the writer, this cooperation has nothing to do with Iran being under the scanner of any other country.
— H.R. Kheardmand
Second Secretary (Press)
Embassy of the Islamic
Republic of Iran
New Delhi