Fraud in banks
This refers to ‘NICB depositors on tenterhooks, worried over how they will pay salaries and bills’ (February 19). The different types of fraud and embezzlement in the banking space, particularly in cooperative banks, posits that the preventive measures in vogue aren’t robust enough to thwart such incidents. Consequently, the depositors of those entities face uncertainties about the redemption of their deposits.
Even though a deposit of up to ₹5 lakh is insured, it is insufficient as a large number of the depositors keep their earnings in cooperative banks as the interest income is generally higher than in other banks.
Further, the repayment of deposit money from DICGC is time-consuming.
The RBI must not only look to enhance the insurance coverage but simultaneously enforce more preventive measures to detect scams beforehand to avoid hardships and losses to all stakeholders of banks.
VSK Pillai
Changanacherry, Kerala
Holistic education
This refers to ‘The humanities are essential for STEM to thrive’ (February 19). It is undeniably true that STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) builds the tools for economic growth and humanities provide the ethical guide. In short, STEM coupled with humanities (literature, economics, etc) can provide wholesome or holistic education to students. After all, “Education is the manifestation of perfection already in man,” to quote Swami Vivekananda. That said, can a student pursuing humanities do a STEM course? The answer for this cannot be in the affirmative. It is because those who are not comfortable in STEM subjects opt for humanities, which, of course, have a wide scope in the job market these days
S Ramakrishnasayee
Chennai
Climate finance
Apropos ‘Laying rules for climate finance’ (February 19), indeed a well-defined and a comprehensive taxonomy for climate finance will foster India’s commitment to climate control under the Paris Accord. The full transition to a low carbon economy in India requires commensurate finance, scaling to $10 trillion which can be achieved by a robust taxonomy which categorise the needed financial instruments and investment, based on their nexus to climate change. A triangular coordination among regulators, financial institutions and the private sector with a fine balanced taxonomy will help achieve a low carbon future.
NR Nagarajan
Sivakasi, TN
F-35 option
This refers to ‘India did not seek F-35 jets, but will look at US proposal with open mind’ (February 19). US President Donald Trump’s proposed sale of the F-35 stealth fighter jets is a significant move towards US-India defence partnership.
Its processing power, open architecture, sophisticated sensors, information fusion and flexible communication links make the F-35 an indispensable tool for major combat operations.
It is advisable to maintain long term defence deals with the US despite in-house defence R&D involving latest technology.
Vinod Johri
Delhi
