Gender bias can be noticed even on Wikipedia: Nisha Kaur Uberoi

Hyderabad: Staying ahead of the competition, a session on the Competition Law and its significance to industry was held on Wednesday at The Park on Rajbhavan Road.  It was organised by the FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO).

Nisha Kaur Uberoi, internationally recognized as one of India’s leading competition lawyers, was in conversation with Mehak Gupta, the Associate Partner at Stratage Law Partners at the session.

Speaking about gender bias, Nisha Kaur Uberoi gave an example on Wikipedia.  A small percentage of Wikipedia articles are about women. Just 19% of Wikipedia entries are women-focused and the balance 81% are male-focused.  This means women of influence are missing.  The visibility and reachability of women on Wikipedia is limited.  Even in that limited presence, female pages are generally linked to men.

Just 19% of articles on Wikipedia are about women and a massive 81% are men-focused

Nisha Kaur, Competition Lawyer

Speaking about competition law as a specialization, she said it was catching up.  There is a greater demand for specialists in this domain. As of now, the specialization has just 50 lawyers in top positions and about 200 practising.  But the demand is more.

We need more women. I found few women in National Law Colleges when I studied. Now nearly 50 per cent of students in such colleges are women.  The Indian judiciary needs more women. We see more women in legal firms but very few in courts. We need more women judges.  Speaking in general she said judges are among the hardest-working people.

Nisha spoke about the Competition Law, how it affects it, its importance etc.

Speaking about women's reservations, she said it will help women at the entry-level.  The current 33% women reservation in parliament must ultimately go to 50% that is when we reach equality.

She spoke about Gender Diversity, Equal Pay, the Data Privacy Bill, women’s right to go for abortion and legal positions etc and many other things.  A lack of marital status could not deprive a woman of her rights. All women have the right to safe, legal abortion as per the laid-out rules, she said.

She also advised women entrepreneurs on how to safeguard their businesses legally.

Welcoming the gathering Ritu Shah, Chairperson of FICCI Ladies Organisation (FLO), Hyderabad Chapter said the Competition law is that field of law that promotes to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive practices or conduct by companies. As businesses grow and markets evolve, the need for experts in this field is greater.

Competition Law, Ritu Shah added, is very important to the industry as it plays a very significant role in ensuring fair market competition, safeguarding consumer interests, and promoting economic efficiency.

Our speaker's landmark legal cases include Schneider Electric and Temasek's acquisition of Larsen & Toubro's electric business, Prosus and PayU pn PayU's proposed acquisition of BillDesk, Idea-Vodafone merger, Digital economy players, including Apple Inc., Walmart's e-commerce platform subsidiary Flipkart and Ola Cabs and Cement cartel case involving Aditya Birla conglomerate.  This is an emerging specialization and Nisha is a name to reckon with in her specialization, Ritu Shah said.

The Competition Commission of India deals with eliminating practices having adverse effects on competition, promoting and sustaining competition, protecting the interests of consumers and ensuring freedom of trade in the markets of India. It works on three areas –choice, fair price point and innovation, said Nisha Kaur.

This talk is organized at a very appropriate time.  During Diwali and Dussehra, we see massive hikes in airline ticket prices. We have also seen a massive spike in onion prices and other vegetables like tomatoes and essential commodities.  The Competition Commission looks into this aspect.  If the demand and supply is the issue it will leave the matter.  But, if all the players cartel and manipulate the spike it will deal with the issue accordingly, she said. India is Sunrise market manufacturing and services.  There should be a fair playing field.   The competition commission does a balancing act.  It creates a level playing field, she said.