Liquid gold
Sir — Urban spaces around the world are being taken by storm by Liquid Trees — devices that contain 600 litres of water and microalgae that bind carbon dioxide and produce pure oxygen through the process of photosynthesis. This can be an efficient solution to reduce pollution and temperatures in cities where it is difficult to plant trees owing to concretisation. But those who think this is a revolutionary idea clearly have not seen or heard of ponds, which have been doing the same thing for years. Yet, we are losing ponds at an alarming pace to make space for buildings while setting up Liquid Trees in cities.
Basudeb Dutta, Nadia
Pertinent questions
Sir — The kerfuffle around whether or not the member of Parliament, Mahua Moitra, has shared her login details for the parliamentary portal with a buinessman friend of hers is merely meant to distract the attention of the electorate from more important issues (“‘They want me to shut up, and I am not shutting up’”, Oct 29). But it does raise a more important question. If there is a portal where questions can be posed to the government and parliamentarians, should not the public have access to it? After all, in a democracy, the ultimate right to pose questions regarding governance lies with the public.
Noopur Baruah, Tezpur, Assam
Sir — Whether or not Darshan Hiranandani, the businessman, framed pointed questions on behalf of the MP, Mahua Moitra, is immaterial. This is because questions are rarely entertained by the treasury benches these days. In this year’s budget session, for instance, Question Hour included just 19% of productivity in the Lok Sabha and 9% in the Rajya Sabha. In the monsoon session, only 9% of the questions that were listed for oral answers were taken up — that is, just 10 minutes were spent everyday in the Lok Sabha on questions during this session.
Yashodhara Sen, Calcutta
Sir — Mahua Moitra seems confident about facing the Ethics Committee of Parliament. She has claimed that the businessman, Gautam Adani, made several attempts to come to a ‘settlement’ with her so that she stops raising questions against him. If Moitra can prove this, it is the Bharatiya Janata Party that shall have no place to hide its face.
Arun Gupta, Calcutta
Sir — It is intriguing that the Trinamul Congress has chosen to remain silent on the controversy raging over Mahua Moitra’s actions. While Moitra has claimed in her interview with Sankarshan Thakur that the TMC chairperson and chief minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee, is too busy to comment on such petty issues, a word of support might have bolstered the MP’s image. The silence of the party and of Banerjee casts a shadow of doubt over Moitra.
Abhijit Kumar Sen, Hooghly
Sir — Leaders of the INDIA bloc of parties should prepare for attacks like the one that has been launched against the MP, Mahua Moitra. Since the BJP has no way of countering the alliance on the questions that it has raised about misgovernance, it is likely to go after individual members in an attempt to sully the image of INDIA.
Jang Bahadur Singh, Jamshedpur
Sir — Women cannot be seen partying or having a good time. This is the unfortunate truth that has been proved over and over again, be it in the controversy regarding the former Finnish prime minister, Sanna Marin, or the one about the current Indian MP, Mahua Moitra. Women have always been expected to excel as homemakers. But the new licences given to them by society include the role of an able administrator or businesswoman or, even worse, the role of a woman who expertly juggles home and the world. A woman who works hard and parties hard must thus be cut to size — that is a domain still reserved for men.
Romana Ahmed, Calcutta
Sir — If it is alright for the prime minister, Narendra Modi, to travel in private jets owned by big businessmen, why can Mahua Moitra not be given a lift by one? Such paltry matters — although debatable ethically — distract the electorate from bread and butter issues.
T.K.R. Noori, Mumbai
Behind the smiles
Sir — The untimely demise of the iconic television actor, Matthew Perry, renowned for his unforgettable portrayal of Chandler Bing on the popular American sitcom, Friends, is a profound loss. Perry was a versatile entertainer who had five Emmy nominations to his credit. The legacy of his comedic genius will live on.
Ramesh G. Jethwani, Bengaluru
Sir — Why does comedy extract such a steep price from those who excel at making people laugh? Be it Robin Williams, Chris Farley or Matthew Perry, comedy has taken a heavy personal toll on a lot of its practitioners. Chandler Bing — Perry’s character on Friends — had said that he used humour as a defence mechanism. Perhaps that is true in real life too.
H.K. Isha’ati, Mumbai