Promising project

Sir — It was exciting to read that Columbia University Press will publish the English translations of Bengali literary works by great authors (“Bengali texts’ English translation from Columbia varsity press”, Oct 28). Led by the academic, Gayatri Chakravorty Spivak, with a generous contribution by Rudra Chatterjee, a New York-based businessman, the project will be bilingual, including the original Bengali text alongside the translations. Although even the best translations often lack the spirit of the original, this endeavour is a step in the right direction. It will help many probashi Bengalis reconnect with their roots. Moreover, members of the Bengali diaspora are not the only ones who find it difficult to read the Bengali script.

Jahar Lal Saha, Calcutta

Change is in the air

Sir — After acquiring Twitter, Elon Musk, the new owner of the micro-blogging platform, has fired three of the company’s top executives. The list of departures includes the chief executive officer, Parag Agrawal, the chief financial officer, Ned Segal, and the legal and policy chief, Vijaya Gadde. The latter had been instrumental in permanently banning the former president of the United States of America, Donald Trump, from Twitter for his inflammatory remarks. There is concern that Musk might transform Twitter into a right-wing forum by easing its content moderation rules. This will purportedly make its algorithm more transparent, but, at the same time, allow a lot of hateful content to be published online.

Bhagwan Thadani, Mumbai

Sir — The technocrat, Elon Musk, has finally acquired Twitter after much drama. With many governments going on the offensive against social media platforms, things could get tough for Musk, the self-styled ‘chief twit’ who claims “the bird is freed”. Although Musk has other business interests, such as Tesla, SpaceX and Starlink — the satellite internet company which has been crucial for the Ukrainian army’s communications — many of his key business ventures are facing various challenges. There are chances that the Musk commercial model will be tested in the European Union, where the Digital Services Act is about to come into effect. In India, too, the government expects Twitter to comply with defined laws, irrespective of its ownership.

S.S. Paul, Nadia

Major losses

Sir — Last month, the Vedanta-Foxconn project worth Rs 1.5 lakh crore slipped out of Maharashtra’s hands. Now the Rs 22,000- crore Tata-Airbus project has been given to Gujarat, the home state of the prime minister, Narendra Modi. This is undoubtedly a pre-election gift to Gujarat. The present chief minister of Maharashtra, Eknath Shinde, is haplessly watching project after project being shunted to Gujarat by his political masters.

Jang Bahadur Singh, Jamshedpur

Fill the gaps

Sir — The chief of the Delhi Commission for Women, Swati Maliwal, deserves praise for writing to the prime minister, Narendra Modi, asking him to be more proactive in the matter of amending remission and parole laws against rapists so that rape victims like Bilkis Bano need not live in fear of reprisals. There is no denying that laws relating to remission and parole of rape convicts have some loopholes. These gaps need to be plugged immediately.

Arun Gupta, Calcutta

Keep it clean

Sir — It is heartening that both Rabindra Sarobar and Subhas Sarobar were shut from Saturday to Monday to prevent devotees from accessing them for Chhath Puja. The Calcutta Metropolitan Development Authority and the police barricaded the gates of the premises of both the lakes with bamboo structures. The civic authorities made last-minute preparations to develop the ghats in the city at pre-arranged spots in addition to creating artificial waterbodies in five locations across Calcutta. Such steps ensure that religious festivals are celebrated with minimal damage to the environment.

Khokan Das, Calcutta

Nation’s pride

Sir — National Unity Day is observed on October 31 every year in memory of the first deputy prime minister of India, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. Patel, who was also India’s first home minister, had been accorded the nickname, ‘Iron Man of India’, for his uncompromising efforts to ensure unity in the fledgling nation. This year marks his 147th birth anniversary. He also played an instrumental role in India’s freedom struggle.

Jubel D’Cruz, Mumbai

David and Goliath

Sir — The ongoing Twenty20 World Cup in Australia is at an interesting stage. Traditionally weaker nations, such as Ireland and Zimbabwe, are doing well, while some cricketing powerhouses are finding it difficult to qualify for the next stage. It feels good to see the rising standards of international cricket.

Fakhrul Alam, Calcutta

Alarm bells

Sir — India and other developing economies are justifiably worried about the damage to economic growth from Covid-19, Russia’s war in Ukraine, and the global recession. But these troubles pale in comparison to the climate catastrophe unfolding owing to unchecked greenhouse gas emissions. The worst effects of climate change are being felt by developing economies and the poor. That is why it is imperative that CoP-27 — the United Nations’ climate summit which opens in Egypt from November 6 — makes real advances to stave off the worst effects of global warming.

Rishi Sinha, New Delhi