Letters to The Editor — February 24, 2026

The price of membership

India’s entry into the Pax Silica alliance marks a shift from exclusion to inclusion in key technology coalitions. The challenge now lies in meeting scrutiny and conditionalities that test its industrial capacity. Heavy reliance on PLI schemes exposes structural gaps. While telecom has advanced, battery manufacturing lags and upstream solar segments remain weak, highlighting the limits of capital subsidies without strong technology partnerships, skilled labour and R and D depth. Though Pax Silica promises trusted supply chains, it also brings export controls, and technology transfer guardrails.

Sowbakyatha S.U.,

Tiruchi

C.L. Ramakrishnan

C.L. Ramakrishnan, IPS, and a former Director General of Police, Tamil Nadu, who passed away on February 22, was a remarkable personality known for his integrity, erudition, and deep knowledge of police procedure and law, honed over his long tenure in the Central Bureau of Investigation. His genuine simplicity encouraged junior officers to approach him freely and learn the intricacies of criminal investigation. He was also an accomplished Sanskrit scholar, whose discourses on scriptures, especially the Narayaneeyam, captivated audiences far and wide. Personally, his demise is a great loss, as his guidance taught me many subtle nuances of the law.

R.K. Raghavan,

Chennai