Rejection of M.J. Akbar’s defamation charge and Priya Ramani’s acquittal renews India’s commitment to women’s safety at workplaces. By giving primacy to dignity over the right to reputation, the ruling will encourage women to speak up and caution powerful men. Judge Ravindra Kumar Pandey deserves praise for this landmark order.
Kiran Bedi’s removal right step, Raj Bhawans must not act like offices of party at the Centre
Puducherry L-G Kiran Bedi’s removal is a right step, though for wrong reasons. She deserved it for interfering in the functioning of an elected government, not because the NDA found her an electoral liability. Raj Bhawans must stop acting like the extended offices of the ruling party at the Centre.
India should emulate Australia’s proposed law of making tech giants pay media houses for content
Australia’s proposed law to force Google, Facebook etc., to pay media companies for content is proving successful even before legislation. This should be emulated around the world, including in India. Tech giants cannot get away by paying pittance. It hurts those producing credible content most if their economics is broken.
Yes, vaccines are here. But new coronavirus variants show we can’t relax now
Detection of South African and Brazilian coronavirus variants and cases rising in Maharashtra and Kerala show Covid remains a serious threat. Increase in travel and public activity comes with risks, and doesn’t imply letting our guard down. Spotlight on masks and social distancing should continue even as vaccinations are hastened.
This case should never have been filed. If Mr Akbar decides to appeal, with 95 lawyers, all the women he has wronged grievously over the decades should tender sworn affidavits to the police. Insist on their being investigated professionally and brought to trial. There could not have been a more gentle soul than Ms Priya Ramani.
As a companion column by Shri Shanker Animesh explains, Dr Kiran Bedi may have become a political / electoral liability. Her welcome removal does not restore lustre to Raj Bhavans / Niwases. Their fax machines will work / fall silent, their Durbar Halls dolled up for furtive dawn swearing ins, entirely as the situation demands. Recall how efficiently the governance / politics of Tamil Nadu was choreographed from the Malabar Hill Raj Bhavan during Ms Jayalalithaa’s hospitalisation. No early return to constitutional propriety is discernible over the horizon. The Whataboutery crowd can cite Romesh Bhandari in Lucknow by way of moral equivalence.
Dr Randeep Guleria is postulating private vaccinations by year end, when he believes demand and supply of vaccines will be in balance. That is too far out. The Mayor of Mumbai was cautioning citizens to take precautions, lest a second lockdown become necessary.