Editor,
At a time of Christmas festivities when we are reminded of the holiness and purity of the Saviour,I dont want to unnecessarily remind readers about the contrast with impurity. But the brash words of Ravi Shankar Prasad, Union minister in defending his boss, Narendra Modi(vide news dated 22 Dec) to the extent of saying.”Our PM is as pure as the Ganga river” is too much to be left unanswered.A 2006 measurement of pollution reveals the Ganga has fecal coliform counts upto 100,000,000 MPN(Most probable number) per 100ml.An estimated 2958 crores of rupees has already been spent up to July 2016 for cleaning the Ganga but it is not yet complete. I am truly sorry for this country. If that is the level of the PM’s purity, then what is impure? As Shakespeare would have said about Mr.Shankar Prasad, “hoist with his own petard”.
Sincerely
Rasputin Bismarck
Kolkata
Demonetisation and currency notes
Editor,
During the British period, currency notes issued by the Bank of Bengal were categorized in the following 3 series – the Unfaced series, Commerce series and Brittania series. The Brittania series replaced Commerce series in !9th century and the new series had some better features to prevent forgery . Then the paper currency of 1861 gave the Government monopoly of currency notes throughout the vast expanse of British India, which was a considerable task . Eventually , the management of currency notes was entrusted to the Mint Masters , the Accountant Generals and the Controller of Currency. The first sets of British India currency notes were “ Victoria Portraits “ of 10, 20, 50, 100 and 1000 denominations. Then came the “George Series “ in 1923. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) emerged eventually and in 1938 issued the first 5 rupee note with the portrait of George VI . Following the Independence of India, Government of India brought out the new 1 rupee notes in 1949 and this was eventually replaced by the portrait of Gandhi and he continued to feature on all currency notes and also in all the new brand of currency series after Demonetisation. This time , I personally felt that Netaji Subhas Ch Bose would definitely feature at least on one series, but Prime Minister Modi did not allow that to happen. Has Bose not done anything for this country? The Indian economy is now at the crossroads and hence even a tiny sentiment should be respected . I personally feel that many people of India want to see some new portraits on the currency notes . We expect the same tricks propagated for 70 years to be defeated. Time has come to design everything afresh , not only demonetisation !
Yours etc.,
Anjan Kr Das,
Shillong- 6
Liquor sale on highways
Editor,
The Supreme Court deserves kudos for its decision to ban States and Union Territories from granting licenses for the sale of liquor along National and State highways across the country, noting that drunken driving was the main culprit behind a large number of road accidents in the country. Liquor remained one of the foremost evils of Indian society. Since the national and state highways are more prone to accidents, the apex court has taken a good decision. It is the stringent laws against drunk and rash driving, proper and effective enforcement of the laws and the tough and sincere judiciary in dealing with the accidents alone which could ultimately have a positive effect in dealing with the ever growing accidents.
Yours etc.,
Vinod C. Dixit
Via email