From the Editors: Shilpa Shetty doesn’t deserve the hate for doing her job

Shilpa Shetty doesn’t deserve the hate for doing her job: Shilpa Shetty Kundra proved herself a professional despite her personal life engulfed in scandal following the arrest of her husband Raj Kundra for allegedly filming and distributing pornography. The actress broke her social media silence following Kundra’s arrest to support her new movie ‘Hungama 2’, while appealing to everyone that the film shouldn’t suffer in the process because of any one individual. Despite being at the centre of a media storm, it took courage for the actress to send out this appeal in support of the makers and what she doesn’t deserve in the process is hate and negativity coming her way through social media trolls. [Bindu Rai, Entertainment Editor]

Emirates’ Miami flight an indication of UAE’s resilience: Adding yet another feather in its illustrious cap, Emirates airline has launched its Dubai-Miami service amid much jubilation. As the flight touched down to Florida’s second-largest city on Thursday, it was among the eight new services added to the Dubai-based airline’s global network this month. This is rightly being seen and interpreted as a sure sign of turnaround in the global aviation industry, after buffering unusually strong headwinds over the last one year in view of the COVID-19 pandemic. And this is indeed in keeping with the kind of resilience that Dubai and the UAE have shown over the last one year in countering the fallout of a humanitarian crisis that mankind has not seen since the two World Wars. Right from strict implementation of the COVID protocol to aggressively undertaking a vaccination programme to now piloting a major bounce-back in the global aviation industry by expanding its network in one of the most challenging of times, UAE and Emirates have once again proved the truth behind the adage: ‘When the going gets tough, the tough gets goin.’ [COMMENT BY: Sanjib Kumar Das, Assistant Editor]

Honour falls to Osaka to light Olympic flame in sombre opening ceremony: It’s a year later than planned due to the global pandemic but today is Day 1 of the Games. In the opening ceremony yesterday, four-time Grand Slam winner Naomi Osaka followed in the footsteps of a long line of iconic athletes to light the flame. With the Olympics being all about hope, she was the perfect choice having undergone mental health issues recently. Yesterday’s opening ceremony was a poignant affair; it wasn’t a carnival atmosphere like Rio 2016, it was sombre in mood and tone and served as a reminder that the Games are taking place while the world continues to face its toughest challenge. It will be different, there won’t be any spectators and we may see many positive COVID-19 tests along the way. But the greatest show on earth is here, let’s try to enjoy it. [Imran Malik, Assistant Editor]

Australia demonstrators not helping COVID-19 fight: Around half of Australia’s 25 million people are in lockdown across several cities leading to anger against the restrictions. This was expressed in Sydney and Melbourne when protesters took to the streets and clashed with police. Only 11 per cent of the population is fully vaccinated. While Australia has done well in keeping the virus in check using tight restrictions, a recent spurt in cases coupled with low vaccination rates has meant that it will take more time for life to get back to normal. Maskless demonstrators flouting rules on non-essential travel and public gatherings will not help the situation. In fact, they could only get worse. This is not the time for bravado. Only a joint attempt to fight the coronavirus will help the world get back on its feet. [Alex Abraham, Senior Associate Editor]