MyVoice: Views of our readers 14th June 2021

Cheers to new queen of Roland Garros

World No.33, Barbora Krejcikova scripted history by becoming the first Czech woman in 40 years to conquer Roland Garros. In a match of fluctuating fortunes, Barbora outlasted Russian Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in three sets to claim her maiden Grand Slam title.

The Czech fittingly dedicated her victory to her mentor, the former Wimbledon champion Jana Novotna who succumbed to cancer at 49 in 2017. The women's draw was riddled with upsets and injuries to key players, taking away the sheen from the tournament.

N J Ravi Chander, Bengaluru

Tax cut on Covid drugs too little, too late

That the GST council reducing tax rates of scores of Covid related material from twelve percent to five percent is too little and too late. The taxes on all drugs and material used in Covid treatment, including vaccines could have been reduced to zero, in view of their life saving nature in pandemic.

It could have been a noble gesture of the council, had there been a discussion on relentless hike of fuel prices with an attempt to bring them under GST basket. The people do need more relaxations from taxes in their most trying times in history.

Dr D.V.G.Sankararao, Vizianagaram

Clay court king crashed out

Novak Djokovic handed 13-time champion Rafael Nadal only his third defeat in 16 years and 108 matches at the French Open to reach his sixth Roland Garros final after an epic showdown which even beat the country's Covid-19 curfew.

In their 58th career clash, Djokovic triumphed 3-6, 6-3, 7- 6 (7/4), 6-2 and stayed on course to capture a 19th major and become the first man in over 50 years to win all four Slams twice. Djokovic, the 2016 champion in Paris who had also beaten Nadal at the 2015 tournament, will face Stefanos Tsitsipas in what will be his 29th championship match at the Slams.

Nadal, 35, remains tied on 20 majors with Roger Federer. Rolland Garros is known that predominantly baseline players tend to do well on clay courts. The ball bounces slowly and there are more rallies to win a point. It requires a lot of stamina to play on clay courts. Clay Court King crashed out and it is a different ball game altogether.

Krishnan S. Ramani, Ghaziabad, Up

Allay vaccine fears

The Centre and States have to be more proactive in allaying the fears of the common man over Covid vaccine by a well coordinated campaign, educating masses about the urgent need to get vaccinated.

Care has to be taken to ensure that as the campaign progresses sufficient stocks of vaccine should also reach the health centers. With relaxation in lockdown, a great rush everyday is seen at grocery stores which do not have adequate ventilation. Suitable advisory should be issued for customer safety.

Shopkeepers should be mandated to get inoculated all their staff and ordered to display a sign, 'We are vaccinated'.

Brij B Goyal, Ludhiana

Companies swear by 10 principles

The top listed public companies across the globe have voluntarily enrolled in the United Nations Global Compact Program that encourages them to adhere to its ten principles including human rights, labor, environmental and anti-corruption; and report their status through the annual Communication of Progress (COP) statement.

The public-listed entities are thus mandated to prepare the Annual Reports with details related to its commitment to sustainability, corporate governance, and business environment in order to uphold the business principles and values.

Further, the listed companies should be encouraged to make a commitment to the United Nations Global Compact Program through robust voluntary nomination drives. As a best practice, the voluntary enrolment drive to UN Global Compact Program will have a positive impact on the stakeholders including retail investors and the companies can further ensure complete fairness and transparency.

The business entities should now surge ahead to protect the interest of investors by sharing its Communication of Progress (COP) as mandated by UN Global Compact Program through its annual reports. Further, the forum can be utilized to share best practices adopted while adhering to the corporate governance and sustainability framework.

Varun Dambal, Bengalore