Bargaining power „Sir — Elon Musk, the new owner of Twitter, has engaged in several online feuds regarding his plan to charge $20 per month for users to keep the blue tick next to their names, lending official credibility to their accounts, since taking over. One of them was with the author, Stephen King. On learning of King’s reluctance to pay, Musk lowered the proposed monthly subscription cost to $8. This squabble reminded me of the haggling over prices that goes on in local bazaars across India. It was amusing to note that no matter how rich one is, bargaining seems to be an activity everyone indulges in.

Subhashish Sanyal, Guwahati

Left breathless

Sir — The air quality of Delhi is in the ‘severe’ category. The pollution levels of surrounding districts are also worsening owing to prevailing wind patterns. Construction activities have already been banned in the national capital region in order to improve air quality. But the focus should be on curtailing stubble burning in states like Punjab. After two years of a global pandemic, people are far more sensitised towards health issues. They might be more open to taking remedial steps.

Swati Pandey, Ujjain

Sir — India is home to 18 out of the 20 cities which have witnessed the sharpest increase in fine particle pollution. In addition to being a health hazard, this has an adverse impact on the economy. Citizens should be involved in mitigatory measures.

Yash Pal Ralhan, Jalandhar

Think local

Sir — It was encouraging to read about the meeting between the chief ministers of Tamil Nadu and West Bengal — both states are ruled by regional parties — M.K. Stalin and Mamata Banerjee (“Didi meets Stalin, calls for regional party unity”, Nov 3). National parties like the Congress or the Bharatiya Janata Party often forget that India is a federation of states. The increasing push towards the centralisation of governance is not surprising as right-wing ideologues like M.S. Golwalkar had always been against the linguistic reorganisation of states. India is a pluralist society, and regional needs and aspirations must be paid heed to.

H.N. Ramakrishna, Bengaluru

Keep the balance

Sir — The Union law minister, Kiren Rijiju, is batting for the revival of the National Judicial Appointments Commission with the sole intention of obtaining control over the judiciary (“Willed again”, Nov 3). His statement that the appointment of judges is the government’s job is a case in point. The NJAC Act would have given the executive disproportionate say over appointing judges. However, it was struck down by the Supreme Court in 2015. India needs an independent judiciary to ensure that judgments are not swayed by the government. S.S. Paul, Nadia Great loss „Sir — It was a shock to hear of the passing of Ela Bhatt, a leading women’s empowerment activist, who was renowned for starting the Self Employed Women’s Association (“Gandhian and founder of SEWA passes away”, Nov 3). She was globally recognised as someone who helped poor women working in the unorganised sector across India.

Khokan Das, Calcutta

Seeds of discontent

Sir — The Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee has stirred a hornet’s nest by giving its nod to a genetically modified mustard crop. The Swadeshi Jagran Manch and the Bharatiya Kisan Sangh have long opposed genetically modified foodcrops. With the general elections a little over a year away, this could turn out to be a contentious issue.

Shovonlal Chakraborty, Calcutta