Ukraine crisis
There are two sides to the Ukraine crisis. One has the Russian President who is being cursed for invading Ukraine and the subject of sanctions imposed by much of the western world, while on the other side one has the American President-led NATO and the European Commission. America’s war-time stories are terrible. One has its war with Vietnam; with Iraq under the guise of seeking out weapons of mass destruction, and then Afghanistan, where nothing much was gained. In none of these blunders and misadventures did one find the U.S. either being questioned or warned. When it comes to Ukraine, it must be noted that Russia has genuine concerns which the West ignored and went against by violating key agreements.
Manoharan Muthuswamy,
Chennai
While the Russian full-scale military invasion of Ukraine has invited global condemnation (barring China), India finds itself on the horns of a dilemma given the mutuality of strategic and trade interests between India and Russia spread over several decades. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s appeal to President Vladimir Putin for a return to dialogue and conveying his concern about the safety of thousands of Indian nationals stuck in Ukraine, was a minimum diplomatic initiative in the given situation. Questions will, however, be raised about India’s apparent failure in anticipating the inevitable fallout of such a military offensive and its inability to organise a timely evacuation when a war seemed quite imminent even to a layman. While Russia may have its genuine security concerns in view of the prospect of Ukraine joining NATO, attacking Ukraine in the absence of any imminent military threat to its territorial integrity or sovereignty is in violation of established norms. It is also a challenge for the UN’s own credibility in ensuring global peace. With Russia and China enjoying veto powers, any resolution considered against Russian interests is bound to fail.
S.K. Choudhury,
Bengaluru
A farm outreach
Though the Green Revolution has remedied the situation of hunger by enhancing productivity with hybrid seeds and fertilizers, there is a mismatch when one looks at the country’s rank in the global hunger index — where micro malnutrition is prevalent (Editorial page, “Ploughing a new channel for India’s food systems”, February 25). To alleviate this, a new channel is required to reach the masses. The mention of the Training and Visit scheme in the 1970s takes one down memory lane when extension — now often termed as outreach — played a lead role taking technologies, varieties, etc. to the target audience in their own language. The role played by All India Radio in popularising the IR8 variety — which was often called Radio nel (paddy) — is a good example.
Television media has grown phenomenally now but more time is spent on entertainment and politics. There is very little time and programming devoted to farm and related activities. It could very well be ploughed into a new channel so that there is planned progress in India’s food systems.
Dr. V. Purushothaman,
Chennai
