Disruptive technology poses challenges to lawyers: President
Belagavi (Karnataka), Sep 15 : With the time span between innovation and its application shrinking, President Ram Nath Kovind on Saturday called upon lawyers to respond quickly as disruptive technology threw up challenges for the legal fraternity.
"As time span between innovation and application is shortening, it poses challenges for law in genetic engineering, bioethics and artificial intelligence. Lawyers have to respond quickly. I hope our legal minds will put their thoughts into it,a said Kovind here in Karnataka's northwest region, about 500 km from Bengaluru.
Inaugurating the platinum jubilee celebrations of the Karnataka Law Society (KLS) and Raja Lakhamgouda Law College, Kovind said in the age of technology and entrepreneurship, the fourth Industrial Revolution (4.0) was changing how people live and work and the aspirations of the younger generation.
"Our educational institutions have to become compatible with this quest for innovation and excellence. They have to become compatible with the 21st century," he asserted.
Terming the law humans wrote was the basis of civilisation for discipline and orderliness, the President said even lawyers and judges were seekers of truth.
"That is why so many lawyers were part of the national movement. Mahatma Gandhi and Babasaheb Ambedkar were both lawyers with a spirit of public service. The Constitution is a modern scripture of our national identity," Kovind recalled.
Hinting that India was in the midst of dramatic changes, the President said decisions being taken would influence not just in the near future, but the rest of the century.
"We have young and talented population and an economy, brimming with opportunities. In the previous quarter, the GDP grew at 8.2 per cent, which indicates the pace and our potential. We live in an age of technology and of entrepreneurship," he reiterated.
With the overhauling of the regulatory framework for higher education and upgrading it to meet the present needs, the President said graded autonomy was granted to 60 top universities across the country.
"In addition, 20 institutions of higher education have been promoted as institutes of eminence, which enable them to recruit faculty and revamp the curricula for achieving global standards," added Kovind.
Besides Karnataka Governor Vajubhai Vala and Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy, Supreme Court Chief Justice Dipak Misra and Attorney General K.K. Venugopal, an alumni of the college, participated in the function.
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Vijayan calls Congress 'B-team' of BJP amid Rajya Sabha poll results
Thiruvananthapuram (PTI): Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday accused the Congress of acting as the "B-team" of the BJP, citing developments in the Rajya Sabha elections in Odisha and Bihar.
"The results of today's Rajya Sabha elections once again confirm the reality that the Congress party functions as the B-team of the Sangh Parivar," the veteran CPI(M) leader said in a statement here.
"While the Congress seeks votes from the people by raising slogans against the BJP, it repeatedly adopts a political approach that opens the door for the BJP's victory at crucial moments," he added.
His remarks came as voting for four Rajya Sabha seats in Odisha was held on Monday, with reports that at least five MLAs from the opposition Biju Janata Dal and Congress cross-voted in favour of a BJP-supported Independent candidate.
Vijayan said such developments showed a pattern in several states.
"This is not an isolated incident. In several states, it is the Congress that has created conditions for the BJP to gain additional Rajya Sabha seats through MLA resignations, cross-voting and political manoeuvring," he said.
Referring to Bihar, he said the political situation there had further strengthened the argument.
In Bihar, the ruling NDA made a clean sweep of all five Rajya Sabha seats in the biennial elections held on Monday.
Among those elected were Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, BJP national president Nitin Nabin, Union Minister Ram Nath Thakur, BJP leader Shivesh Kumar and Rashtriya Lok Morcha chief Upendra Kushwaha.
According to officials, at least three Congress MLAs and one from the Rashtriya Janata Dal did not turn up for voting, which helped the NDA secure victory.
"Anti-BJP slogans in public, but support for the BJP in practice -- this is the real politics of the Congress," Vijayan said.
"The Congress claiming to be the leader of secular politics while shamelessly helping the BJP is nothing but a mockery of Indian democracy," he added.
