Best of BS Opinion: Mainstreaming of ESG, growing cyber-risks & more

Here's a selection of Business Standard opinion pieces for the day

India had one of the world’s most draconian lockdowns yet it is clear that it did nothing to stem the velocity and intensity with which the infection has spread. With the economy shrinking at an unprecedented rate as a result, it is clear that the government needs to tackle the Covid-19 crisis before things can get back on track. The principal problem, Naushad Forbes points out, is the lack of communication over basic safety measures that are required to ensure that economic activity swings back to normal with minimal risk. He offers a five suggestions to improve our handling of the crisis here.
 

Other opinion critiques Parliament’s uniquely productive session, the future of “Environment, Social & Governance’ metrics in corporate governance and data privacy. Kanika Datta sums up the views.
 

This monsoon session of Parliament has been extraordinarily productive in numerical terms but it is doubtful whether the numbers tell the true story. The top edit explains why this “efficiency” is a sad reflection of democracy. Read it here
 

The resignation of Rio Tinto’s CEO for the mining conglomerate’s destruction of ancient Aboriginal caves turned the spotlight on Environment, Social & Governance’(ESG) in the business world. Taking cue from a changing global investor landscape, regulators in India too are pushing the ESG envelope, says Shailesh Dobhal. Read it here
 

Recent revelations about cyber-spying and surveillance have highlighted the multiple lacunae in India’s regulatory regime for protecting data privacy, says the second edit, making a case for strong privacy legislation. Read it here

 

QUOTE OF THE DAY
 

‘Just find out what the bloody facts are’

Harold Evans (1928-2020) in an interview to The Guardian, 2010