MyVoice: Views of our readers 25th May 2023

President bypassed; an act of impropriety

The decision by as many as 19 Opposition parties to boycott the inauguration of the new Parliament building is fully justified. The usurpation of the prerogative of the President to dedicate the new Parliament building to the nation by Prime Minister Narendra Modi is undoubtedly an act of impropriety. It is further proof that Narendra Modi has an inflated sense of his own importance and wants to be the cynosure of all eyes all the time. The Prime Minister has unnecessarily given occasion for his detractors to call him a megalomaniac. Unfortunately, he is not able to rise above ‘I, me, myself’ complex. He has certainly erred in bypassing the President to hog the limelight in breach of constitutional niceties. The sidelined First Citizen is now left to stay out of the limelight and watch the inauguration ceremony in the comfort of the Rashtrapati Bhavan. Was it to heap this kind of humiliation on her that a woman hailing from a tribal community was made the President? Should the ‘glorification’ of the Prime Minister or the projection of him as a high achiever be at the cost of the humiliation of the President? BJP’s claim of commitment to women’s and Adivasis’ empowerment is belied by the blatant denial of the opportunity to unveil the Parliament building to President Droupadi Murmu. But then the BJP-RSS combine subscribes to subservience of women and Adivasis on the grounds of gender and genealogy. The relevance of placing sengol or sceptre, otherwise a relic traditionally associated with monarchy, in the Parliament is not quite clear when as free citizens of a free country are all the ‘kings and queens’.

G David Milton, Maruthancode, Tamil Nadu

Sengol Prominence

Ahead of the new Parliament building inauguration, Union Home Minister Amit Shah said “PM Modi will dedicate the newly constructed building of Parliament to the nation on 28th May. A historical event is being revived on this occasion. The historic sceptre, ‘Sengol’, will be placed in new Parliament building. It was used on August 14, 1947, by PM Nehru when the transfer of power took place from the British. It is called Sengol in Tamil, the meaning of this word is full of wealth. Tamil language is getting much needed boost in India’s functional activities.

CK Ramani, Trichy

Adani row: Findings of SC’s expert panel far from emphatic

The Supreme Court granted the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) more time to complete its investigation into Hindenburg Research’s allegations of malfeasance, stock price manipulations and violations of minimum public shareholding requirements in Adani Group firms. Ahead of the Court’s original May 2 limit, SEBI had sought at least six more months, citing complexities and the need to unravel layered deals it deemed “suspicious”. The market watchdog has now got a three-month reprieve. But the findings of a six-member expert panel, tasked by the Court to review Indian securities market’s overall regulatory and investor protection framework in the wake of the dizzying volatility in Adani Group stocks’ prices, do not inspire much hope for an expedient closure. On its most vital term of reference — regulatory failure in dealing with the alleged contravention of securities market laws in relation to the Adani Group or other companies — the committee’s findings are far from emphatic.

Jayanthi Subramaniam, Mumbai 22

Pink turning to Yellow

The RBI’s decision to abolish the 2,000 (pink) note has not caused the uproar seen which we witnessed during the first demonetisation process, but the underlying unease cannot be overlooked. Also reasonably long time of four months, allowing individuals to exchange their pink notes for smaller currency, may have kept tensions bearable. The scramble for gold (yellow metal), on the other hand, is a definite evidence of the volatility generated by the second demonetisation process. Those who had accumulated a big quantity of pink notes appear to favour yellow metal as their new parking lot. Jewellery buying is jumping in the last few days according to reports. Yellow metal abundance has consistently instructed high brown snot esteem, and no huge Indian festivals and functions are complete without a huge quantity of yellow metal. De-adapting the pink notes has abruptly supported large numbers of these negative shades. India has the biggest crowd of secretly held yellow metal. The government has been trying for a long time to free this largely unproductive stash and turn it into a force for growth and production. In any case, the most recent RBI choice will just support the propensity to keep yellow metal secured.

Dr.Vijaykumar H K, Raichur, Karnataka