The 0.50% rise in CRR announced by the RBI is only a half-hearted effort to the curb runaway inflation due to excess liquidity. Large inflows of foreign funds into the stock market is the main problem. The RBI should have directed banks to stop lending against shares and also to liquidate all present loans against shares over the next two months. The Sensex is not an index that measures the well-being of the masses of this poor country.
?Sudhir K Bhave
Ulterior ecosystem
It is a surprise that Pascal Lamy has suddenly discovered the disputable link between trade and environment (?Environment linked with multilateral trading system?, Oct 29). Lamy should read principle 11 of the Rio Declaration (1992) which states: ?Environmental standards, management objectives and priorities should reflect the environmental and developmental context to which they apply. Standards applied by some countries may be inappropriate and of unwarranted economic and social cost to other countries, in particular developing countries?. As the WTO chief, Lamy should definitely know the plethora of non-tariff barriers innovatively conceived and notified to WTO by the developed world with the singular objective of restricting the entry of goods from the developing world. It is unfortunate that Lamy subtly toes the line loved by the EU. He must realise that he is now chief of WTO, and shed all shades of his former self as the EU Trade Commissioner.
?S Ganesan, Hyderabad
