Thank you, Spidey
Sir — Cometh the crisis, cometh the superhero. A man dressed as Spiderman has been sloshing through knee-deep water in Bhiwandi, mop in hand, attempting to unclog drains and rescue Mumbai from yet another season of waterlogging. A superhero helping clean up a city’s civic disaster seems to be a welcome twist in the tale. After all, in both films and comic books, superheroes are known to wreak havoc on a city’s infrastructure while vanquishing the forces of evil. Yet, magically those cities are resurrected in no time at all because the real superheroes, the city’s civic authorities, are efficient. While superheroes might materialise in Mumbai, such efficient civic authorities who work behind the scenes are clearly to be found only in fiction.
Yashodhara Sen,
Calcutta
Questions remain
Sir — The announcement of reforms in the goods and services tax has rekindled debate on the tariff’s core promise. Narrowing the GST slabs to 5% and 18% may simplify matters on paper but it does not resolve the real problems. Classification disputes, inverted duty structures, and compliance headaches will remain. Moving many items to 5% would risk narrowing the tax base and cutting revenues that states depend upon. The idea of a higher 40% rate for ‘sin’ goods — tobacco, for instance — could deepen distortions if it extends to unrelated items that a certain political dispensation deems to be sinful.
Anil Bagarka,
Mumbai
Sir — The problem of inverted duty structures has plagued Indian businesses since the GST’s launch. Input taxes being higher than output taxes cause refund delays, liquidity shortages, and frustration for small firms. GST 2.0 risks worsening this if products now at 12% are pushed to 5% while intermediate inputs remain at 18%. This is not reform but redistribution of pain. A genuine clean-up would align rates along value chains, especially in construction and manufacturing, ensuring that inputs and outputs fit into coherent brackets.
M. Pradyu,
Kannur, Kerala
Sir — The proposed 40% slab for ‘sin’ and luxury goods raises questions. Will cement continue to share a category with tobacco? Will ultra-luxury cars be taxed at the same rate as gutkha? If the purpose is to address health and environmental costs, a specific excise on tobacco, alcohol, and carbon-intensive goods would be clearer and more efficient. The GST’s task is neutrality, not passing moral judgement. Overloading one tax instrument with social goals risks new disputes and distortions that courts and councils must then untangle.
Mohammad Asad,
Mumbai
Limited access
Sir — The Delhi High Court’s order blocking Sci-Hub and Libgen has reopened the debate on who gets to access knowledge in India. Publishers argue for copyright protection, while researchers lament exclusion. The case underscores an unresolved tension: should knowledge be a private commodity or a public good? Government initiatives like the One Nation One Subscription scheme — aimed at providing access to scholarly research content to all individuals in the country — are steps forward, yet they remain incomplete in reach. Until these gaps close, blanket bans risk deepening the divide between those with institutional access and those without.
S. Balakrishnan,
Jamshedpur
Sir — Blocking shadow libraries may please commercial publishers, but it will frustrate many students and independent researchers. Access to journals is often limited even in established universities, let alone smaller colleges. For those without institutional affiliation, legal subscription costs remain prohibitive. To sustain India’s aspiration as a knowledge economy, policymakers must balance intellectual property rights with the public’s right to learn. Criminalising access without providing affordable alternatives leaves the most eager minds stranded outside the gates of scholarship.
Sukhendu Bhattacharjee,
Calcutta
Precious parts
Sir — The statistics on organ donation in India are sobering. At 0.65 donors per million, the country lags far behind global leaders such as Spain. Thousands die each year waiting for kidneys, livers, and hearts that never arrive. Awareness alone has not bridged the gap. Policy change, including consideration of presumed consent, may be necessary. At the same time, systems must guarantee transparent allocation and robust safeguards. A donation regime built on trust and equity can inspire confidence in families while addressing an avoidable public health tragedy.
Sreemoy Ghose,
Jamshedpur
Sir — Every 10 minutes, a new name is added to the transplant waiting list in India. Yet fewer than 2,600 transplants occur annually across kidneys, livers, and hearts combined. The gulf between need and supply is shocking. Hospitals have skilled surgeons but families often hesitate to give consent for donation. Greater investment in counselling, public campaigns, and transparent registries could reduce mistrust. Organ donation should not remain a taboo subject discussed only in moments of grief. It requires steady conversation and institutional support throughout society.
Manoj Parashar,
Ghaziabad
Test ride
Sir — Lift etiquette, or the lack of it, deserves a handbook of its own. At every office block, there is someone who presses the lit button again, convinced this will hurry up the laws of mechanics. Then there are the passengers who block the exit, clinging to their spot as if defending ancestral property. These everyday manoeuvres are not minor irritants; they reveal the deeper instinct to jump queues, guard turf and bend rules.
Abhinando Mukherjee,
Calcutta