Punjab Outlook

By Reuters UK trans rights: Britain’s highest court ruled that only biological and not trans women meet the definition of a woman under Britain’s Equality Act. The decision confirms that single-sex services for women such as refuges, hospital wards and sports can exclude trans women. Transgender campaigners said the decision could lead to discrimination, especially over employment issues. Click here for the full report.
Gender report: The annual Gender Balance Index by the London-based OMFIF think tank showed that the rise in the number of women holding top jobs at leading financial institutions has slowed over the last year and further progress is under threat as the United States and other countries roll back diversity drives.
India ESG rules: India’s market regulator is reviewing its ESG disclosure rules after concerns were raised by industry leaders over reporting requirements on environment, labour and other issues that it believes are onerous, a source familiar with the regulator told Reuters. The person declined to be identified as discussions are private. Click here for the exclusive report.
UK Google case: Alphabet’s Google is facing a class action lawsuit in Britain for potential damages of up to 5 billion pounds ($6.6 billion) over alleged anti-competitive practices. The claim, filed at the Competition Appeal Tribunal on behalf of thousands of businesses, argues that Google’s actions enabled it to charge higher prices for the advertisements that appear in search inquiries than it otherwise could in a competitive market.
WHO agreement: Members of the World Health Organization reached a landmark legally binding agreement on future pandemics, widely seen as a victory for the global health agency at a time when multilateral organizations faced sharp cuts in U.S. foreign funding. The accord requires participating manufacturers to allocate a target of 20% of their real-time production of vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics to the WHO during a pandemic. A minimum 10% are donations and the rest is reserved at affordable prices.