Lagrange point, in astronomy, a point in space at which a small body, under the gravitational influence of two large ones, will remain approximately at rest relative to them. In any two-body system, there are five Lagrange points numbered L1 to L5.
On January 6 evening, a stream of commands transmitted by scientists and engineers of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) were translated by a computer onboard the Aditya-L1 spacecraft into manoeuvres that guided it into orbit around an imaginary point in space. Thus, Aditya-L1 reached its destination, around the L1 Lagrange point, from where it will have an unfettered view of the sun for its expected lifetime of five years. Aditya-L1 is an observatory-class solar mission that will study the sun with seven instruments.
Structured negotiation is an alternative path to the courtroom. If an organization is accused of violating disability rights law, they can choose to enter into structured negotiations with the plaintiff. Both parties then set terms to allow the organization to become compliant with disability rights law.
Red tape and increasing court delays in India dissuade parties from traditional dispute resolution methods. Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, allows reporting non-compliance to the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities (CCPD).
So far, structured negotiation has been successful in addressing the issues relating to inaccessible automated teller machines, point of sale devices, pedestrian signals and Service provider websites. It has convinced Walmart, CVS and Caremark to create accessible prescription bottles for blind or low vision customers. It has also been able to drive institutional reform by facilitating strategies for creating more accessible voting machines and websites.
For instance, the CCPD recently directed PayTM, a digital payments application to make its mobile applications accessible for Persons with Disabilities. In complying with the order, the PayTM application ultimately became more inaccessible. This incident demonstrates that any attempt to make digital services accessible for persons with disabilities in real time requires constant vigilance and user inputs which can validate the efficacy of solutions.
Conclusion: Time has come for India to embrace structured negotiation extensively. Businesses that fail to prioritize needs of disabled users risk losing out on both legal compliance and substantial purchasing power of persons with disabilities. Openness to structured negotiation is a powerful step toward inclusivity and accessibility.
The aviation accident, on Tuesday, January 2, 2024, where a Japan Airlines (JAL) Airbus A350 aircraft collided with a Japanese Coast Guard Bombardier Dash 8 aircraft at Tokyo’s Haneda airport while landing, in which all 379 passengers on the JAL plane escaped but there were five fatalities on the smaller aircraft.
The world witnessed the highest quality of discipline and crew training, which saved 379 people in the fiery accident. It was an amazing display of orderly evacuation from the burning wreckage that the JAL cabin crew executed. All passengers followed the safety instructions and left the aircraft without carrying their hand bags or crowding around after coming down the aircraft evacuation slides.
Air India has had a long history of covering up serious incidents and accidents with the blessings of the DGCA. The hard landing accident at Dubai should serve as a wake-up call for the airline.
