MyVoice: Views of our readers 24th March 2022

Ukraine war deals blow to India

Two credit rating agencies have downgraded the GDP growth of India due to the burden of oil bills as the Ukraine war is still going and the domestic prices of petrol and diesel as well as LPG cylinder started rising. They will continue to rise in the future also as the trend persists. What now seems safer to assume is that crude oil prices will hover around $100 a barrel for quite some time. If oil prices do not recede, it will be nearly impossible for India to meet its current fiscal deficit targets. RBI may have to raise interest rates. That will increase the cost of borrowing and further postpone any hope for a private investment-led economic revival. The result will be lower than expected GDP growth. In other words, the Ukraine crisis could not have come at a worse time, imperilling India's less robust recovery from the Covid pandemic, with lower agricultural output during a global surge in commodity prices likely to put further pressure on food inflation.

Yash Pal Ralhan, Jalandhar

Gruesome killings in Bengal

The gruesome killing of 10 people in Birbhum district in West Bengal allegedly by the goons of Trinamool Congress, in the aftermath of alleged murder of a TMC leader, is condemnable. The sad and diabolic aspect in the incident is that the houses were set on fire, with children and women inside them, during the early hours. It is clear that CM Mamata Banerjee is following the same tactics as the previous CPM rule in WB, in brutally silencing and eliminating political opponents on slightest and innocuous excuses. The TMC is proven more diabolic and sinister in carrying out such gory acts, without any compunction – particularly when it comes to BJP supporters. This is not the first time that such cruel acts are carried out. The Centre cannot be a mute spectator to the goings on in WB, under TMC, eternally.

K R Parvathy, Mysuru

Centre should cut excise on fuel

The promised acche din days is turning out to be a mirage. It is true that crude oil in the global market is trading at its highest level since the start of the war in Ukraine. But then it need not constrain the government to effect a cut in excise duty levied on fuel (it accounts for almost half of what the customer pays) as a worthwhile measure if it is earnest about stabilising prices and alleviating the burden of the consumers. Provided that the government has the political will, it can certainly find ways to cushion the country from the unbearably high fuel prices, mainly attributed to soaring international crude oil prices in the context of the ongoing Ukraine war.

G David Milton, Maruthancode, TN

II

Apropos, "LPG at record high after Rs 50 hike" (Hans India, March 23). When the cost of petrol and diesel rises, so does the cost of everything else. We are seeing this rise after 137 days of a politically-dictated freeze on prices since December 2021 due to recently concluded state Assembly elections in five states. The point is not about who is in power as about how they handle the pricing. The ruling BJP's record is sullied by the fact that at a time of lower oil prices, the Centre garnered a high income by way of taxes but is resisting demand for cut, citing global prices and Ukraine war. A greedy central government had long ago weaponised fuel as a revenue generator and states played along merrily. Now, with no elections around the corner, Indians will have to bear the brunt of the price hikes.

N Sadhasiva Reddy, Bengaluru

UK should return artefacts

We do appreciate the US, France, Italy and Australia for returning stolen arts and artefacts to their original countries. It is a step in the right direction which other nations should emulate. The British have been long evasive, tight-lipped and non-forthcoming on this issue for the fear of their culpability in this sphere getting exposed to the whole world. They should understand that a stolen property can never give them a sunny life. What is morally wrong cannot be right otherwise howsoever the British might try to cover up or downplay the issue. So, the UK should return all the stolen or illegally acquired arts, artefacts including the famous Kohinoor Diamond to their original countries.

C R Krishnan, Ghaziabad