What does he mean by saying that section 103, statement of policy, in the Hyde Act is “not ‘strictly’ binding”? On whom? Is there a guarantee that the US government in future will not act under the pretext of this section?

Seal the deal

• As reported in your paper, the US has told New Delhi to “wrap up N-deal by May or it will be too late”. This should be taken very seriously by the government and it should hasten to seal the deal. The US has warned that if a decision is not taken, we should be prepared to renegotiate the deal on less favourable terms once the new administration takes charge.

Our leftists are intransigent because of their deep-rooted hatred for America. Our scientists are in favour of the nuclear deal, as we require it to generate more electricity. India is in dire need of electric power for industries and agriculture. The comrades should be ignored and the deal done without delay. Otherwise we will miss the bus and do great harm to the country.

Cricket humour?

• Matthew Hayden’s intemperate remarks against Harbhajan Singh bring to mind Steve Waugh’s charge that Saurav Ganguly was fixing matches by dictating the kind of pitches he wanted in home matches. Then we laughed it off. That the current remarks have created such furore shows how the rivalry between the team has sharpened.