Singer Ananya Birla slams US restaurant for being ‘racist'
New York: Ananya Birla, the daughter of Aditya Birla Group's billionaire chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla, has slammed a US restaurant for being racist , saying the Italian-American dining place in California literally threw her and her family out of their premises.
The singer and artist took to Twitter to share her ordeal on Saturday, saying this is not okay .
This restaurant @ScopaRestaurant literally threw my family and I, out of their premises. So racist. So sad. You really need to treat your customers right. Very racist. This is not okay, she said in a tweet.
The Scopa Italian Roots restaurant is an Italian-American dining place by chef Antonia Lofaso in California.
We waited for 3 hours to eat at your restaurant. @chefantonia Your waiter Joshua Silverman was extremely rude to my mother, bordering racist. This isn't okay, Ananya said in another tweet, in which she tagged Lofaso.
She is the daughter of Aditya Birla Group Chairman Kumar Mangalam Birla and educationist and mental health activist Neerja Birla. In a tweet, Neerja also lashed out at the restaurant for ill-treating them.
Very shocking absolutely ridiculous behaviour by @ScopaRestaurant. You have no right to treat any of your customers like this, she said.
I have never experienced anything of this sort. Racism exists and is real. Unbelievable. @ScopaRestaurant, their son Aryaman Birla also tweeted.
This restaurant @ScopaRestaurant literally threw my family and I, out of their premises. So racist. So sad. You really need to treat your customers right. Very racist. This is not okay.
— Ananya Birla (@ananya_birla) October 24, 2020
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SC stays UGC regulation pertaining to definition of caste discrimination
New Delhi (PTI): The Supreme Court on Thursday stayed a recent University Grants Commission (UGC) regulation after various pleas were filed contending that the Commission adopted a non-inclusionary definition of caste-based discrimination and excluded certain categories from institutional protection.
A bench of Chief Justice Surya Kant and Justice Joymalya Bagchi issued notices to the Centre and the UGC on the pleas challenging the regulation.
The new regulations mandating all higher education institutions to form "equity committees" to look into discrimination complaints and promote equity were notified on January 13.
The University Grants Commission (Promotion of Equity in Higher Education Institutions) Regulations, 2026, mandated that these committees must include members of the Other Backward Classes (OBC), the Scheduled Castes (SC), the Scheduled Tribes (ST), persons with disabilities, and women.
The new regulations replaces the UGC (Promotion of Equity in Higher Educational Institutions) Regulations, 2012, which was largely advisory in nature.
The pleas assailed the regulation on the grounds that caste-based discrimination is defined strictly as discrimination against members of the SCs, STs and OBCs.
It said that by limiting the scope of "caste-based discrimination" only to SC, ST and OBC categories, the UGC has effectively denied institutional protection and grievance redressal to individuals belonging to the "general" or non-reserved categories who may also face harassment or bias based on their caste identity.
Protests were held at various places against the regulations, with student groups and organisations demanding its immediate rollback.
