Editor's Guild suspends memberships of M.J Akbar, Tarun Tejpal
New Delhi, Dec 12: The Editors Guild of India on Wednesday suspended the memberships of former Union minister M J Akbar and ex-Tehelka editor-in-chief Tarun Tejpal over allegations of sexual misconduct.
The move comes weeks after the Guild put out an updated list of its members, which included the names of Akbar, Tejpal and senior journalist Gautam Adhikari, evoking calls from within the media body for their removal.
The Guild had sought the views of its Executive Committee (EC) on what action should be taken against Akbar, a dormant member at present and one of its past presidents, Tejpal and Adhikari over sexual misconduct allegations levelled against them, a statement said.
Akbar has been accused of sexual misconduct by several women over his tenure as a senior editor as part of the #MeToo movement, while Tejpal has been charged with rape and is currently out on bail.
A majority of the EC members suggested that Akbar and Tejpal's memberships be suspended, it said.
The Guild's office bearers discussed the EC's comments and concurred with the majority view that Akbar should be suspended from the Guild till such time that the court case he has filed is concluded.
Akbar had filed a criminal defamation case against journalist Priya Ramani over allegations she made against him.
He had resigned in October as the Minister of State for External Affairs in the wake of sexual harassment allegations levelled against him.
The Guild office-bearers decided that Tejpal too should be suspended from it.
On Adhikari's membership, the Guild decided to seek his response before taking a decision.
The Guild in October had asked Akbar to withdraw the criminal defamation case he filed against Ramani.
It had also offered legal support to women journalists who have levelled the allegations against Akbar in case he did not withdraw the case against Ramani or files such cases against other women.
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India should create strategic buffers to navigate 'most difficult' energy shock: CEA Nageswaran
New Delhi (PTI): Chief Economic Advisor V Anantha Nageswaran on Saturday said India needs to create strategic buffers in the face of the "most difficult" energy shock that the country is facing amid the West Asia crisis.
Nageswaran also said the rising prices of fertiliser and petroleum products globally due to the crisis will make it challenging to achieve the 4.3 per cent fiscal deficit target for the current fiscal, while below normal monsoon and pass-through of higher energy prices could lead to "potential inflation spike".
He also said India has employment challenge emanating from AI, and there is a need to ensure that IT sector becomes more competitive and not lose jobs to AI, and instead create jobs that use AI within the IT sector or in other services.
Speaking at the ICPP Growth Conference organised by the Ashoka University, Nageswaran said the current account deficit (CAD) in the current fiscal could rise to over 2 per cent of GDP, from less than 1 per cent in FY'26.
"The ... priority for us is to create strategic buffers. This energy shock is the most difficult one compared to any other previous energy shock in terms of energy lost as a percentage of total global energy supply, not just oil, including gas.
"And we also need to use this occasion to think about other areas where we are vulnerable in terms of import dependence, nickel, tin, and copper. We need to build strategic buffers if we have to make a shot at manufacturing and becoming indispensable," Nageswaran said.
Since the beginning of the war in West Asia on February 28, crude oil prices soared to a four-year high of USD 126 per barrel on Thursday, from about USD 73 level before the war.
Stating that geopolitics will compel policymakers to be nimble and flexible and shed old model of thinking, Nageswaran said India is better prepared than many other countries to deal with the crisis because of the fiscal leeway that the country has due to lowering of fiscal deficit ratio to 4.4 per cent of GDP in FY'26.
Nageswaran said the West Asia conflict is more of a price shock than supply shock for India as the government is managing the supply side deftly.
"This particular conflict, which is going to be on a low simmer or a high flame situation, whatever it is, it is going to be there with us in some form or the other because the military conflict may be over, but the strategic conflict is well and truly alive. It will be so for some time," Nageswaran said.
He said the conflict has four channels of shock: price and supply shock, trade impact, sticky logistics costs and remittance shock.
India imports 60 per cent of its LPG usage and of that, 90 per cent flows through the now closed Strait of Hormuz.
Nageswaran said the pass-through of high global energy prices would have to be a "balancing act". He said some pass-through is already happening in commercial LPG, and the levy of export duty on diesel and ATF.
The government has cut excise duty on petrol and diesel to shield customers from the impact of the rise in petroleum prices. "We are coming around to arriving at a certain modus vivendi with respect to burden-sharing between the fiscal policy side, inflation, households and the oil marketing companies. So it has to be a balancing act," Nageswaran said.
