Normal And Abnormal

Measures taken by government to avert the collapse of rupee could not yield results, because the reason for the fall could not be identified. W hy the spurt of demand for dollar? Where all the dollars have gone? Is the theory 'demand and supply' stands good in the case of dollar? Can this be artificially created? Can any country corner dollars from our court yard? Can it be an internal sabotage? W hatever it may be, there can be a new economic theory- artificial/forced devaluation. KVGeorge Kerala, India

Protest is the basic right of the people under any form of governments. Different methods are adopted by different sects of people to express their dissent. Harthal, Bundh, Gherao etc are the common methods used in India. All of these used to suspend work and discontinue public services. Throwing stones to damage, burn and destroy, killing etc are the harder forms of protest. Harmless forms like streaking, topless procession etc are also used to attract the authorities concerned. Most of these protests have their origin during the freedom struggle. These were to express the dissension of the people against the foreign governments ruled us, but now we are setting our own houses ablaze. H aving wedded to democracy our protest also should be governed by democratic norms. All types of protest of today have one common goal, maximum distress to the people. The impetus behind any protest under the leadership of any political party is nothing but to get their presence felt. To achieve a