India leads the world ... in internet suspensions
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“When Rishi Sunak’s government hailed the new Asia Pacific trade deal as ‘the most important since Brexit’, it was putting an optimistic spin on a pretty marginal agreement. What’s fascinating is to compare it with forecasted benefits from a trade deal with India. This, says the Treasury, would result in a 0.22 per cent uplift over the same period. Almost three times as much.”
That’s according to Member Dinesh Dhamija, in his new article for Bridge India here.
Welcome to our newest Member, Leena Mehta, who runs specialist IT recruitment company with offices in London and New York, sourcing top candidates to businesses across the world. Her company recieved a Preferred Partner status from TCS just a few months ago.
Congratulations to Member Yatin Kotak, who is Director of Corporate Strategy at Rutland Hall & Spa. The hotel is being featured on the next episode of BBC One's Interior Design Masters.
Our next newsletter will feature an in-depth look at our special series on the untold histories of Kashmir.
Upcoming events
Our confirmed new speakers for Ideas for India include KT Rama Rao (Minister for Municipal Administration & Urban Development, Industries, Commerce & IT, Government of Telangana), Priyanka Chaturvedi (Member of Parliament, Maharashtra), Dr Mohammad Amin (Former Joint Director/ Chief of Protocol, Election Commission Of India) and Elena Fernandes (supermodel and influencer).
If you’d like to book your tickets for the event, please note Non-Member prices increase from tomorrow.
We’re also hosting a classical music and art dinner soiree, hosted by pop artist Ketna Patel at her studio gallery in Stanmore, from 6:30pm, Sat 27 May.
Policy Watch: India leads the world in internet suspensions
Last month, internet and SMS services were shut across the entire state of Punjab for sevearl days as the police searched for radical preacher Amritpal Singh.
Punjab has 31m people.
In January 2020, the Supreme Court in Anuradha Bhasin v. Union of India said that access to information via the internet is a fundamental right under Article 19(1) of the Constitution. The order observed that internet shutdowns are a “drastic measure”, which may be imposed only if it is lawful, necessary, and proportionate and only after publishing internet suspension orders.
Note the specific reference to proportionality.
Last year in one of our Policy Watch newsletters, we talked about how the Indian Telecommunication Bill, 2022 was bad policy. This included pro-actively preventing an offence (like Tom Cruise in Minority Report … or you may remember comedian Munawar Iqbal Faruqui, who was arrested for a joke he didn’t tell).
The Bill more or less ignored the landmark ruling of Anuradha Bhasin.
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