Sing a different tune

Sir ? American singer Alicia Keys has painted a touching picture by asking her peers to imagine the ?global outrage? if millions of Americans, mostly children, died from a treatable disease because they could not afford the medicine (?Alicia clarion call on AIDS?, Nov 29). But simply raising an alarm would be hopeless. Does Alicia know that her own country poses the maximum impediment in WTO?s negotiations with countries like India that seek to export cheap generic AIDS drugs to the countries that need it the most?

Yours faithfully,
Chaitali Chakraborty, Calcutta

Missing link

Sir ? Amit Roy?s report, ?Cadet missing in English Channel? (Nov 26), is in bad taste. The Indian air force has long been carrying out rescue operations in the Himalayas, particularly those involving foreign tourists who often venture into difficult terrain despite warnings. It is unfair to single out one incident ? where an English youth went missing during a paragliding accident ? and blame the IAF. Shouldn?t there be some gratitude for the men who are doing so much to safeguard the interests of the nation?

Yours faithfully,
Amit Bansal, London

Sir ? Amit Roy appears to have no knowledge whatsoever of the humanitarian work done by the IAF. Had he gone through the news pages regularly, he would have found reports of the IAF?s work during natural calamities in different parts of the country. The IAF?s rescue work in the Himalayas have also been exemplary.

Roy is convinced that the British and French authorities are ever-so-helpful, but he should also know that the British and the French are never unfairly critical of their own armed forces.

Yours faithfully,
Shiv Sastry, Bangalore

Thrashing it out

Sir ? We are surprised to note the contents of the report, ?Jindal chrome lease spiked? (Nov 21). First, we would like to express our concern at the headline ? no lease is in existence yet and the matter that has been reported on is sub judice and not final. We are going through the high court judgment and intend to move the Supreme Court shortly. The Jindals were selected (to partner the Orissa government-owned Idcol to exploit the Tangarpada chromite mines) because their technical bid was superior to those of the other two bidders. Tangarpada was allotted to Idcol many years ago, but there was no progress, which resulted in the search for a joint venture partner.

The Jindals had planned a plant to make stainless steel (where chrome is used) in Orissa long before this move was made. The concessions or cooperation they had sought were, in the usual course of business, not special. They have already started construction of a ferro alloys project as a prelude to a stainless steel plant at Duburi in Orissa. It would generate direct employment for about 3,000 people and indirect employment for about 20,000. This was highlighted in the technical bid. The statement about the report of the house committee not seeing the light of day is misleading as the assembly and the committee were dissolved before a report was made.

Yours faithfully,
Swati Bhattacharya,
head of corporate communications, Jindal Stainless Limited

Our correspondent replies:

It is difficult to understand how a matter can be sub judice when the high court has passed a verdict and the case has yet to go to the Supreme Court. While quashing the joint venture agreement between the Jindals and Idcol, the court said the evaluation of bids was not complete. As for the heading, the ?spiking? refers to the agreement between the Jindals and Idcol, which covered the mine lease.