All Indians Matter

India logs 2.6 billion e-commerce deliveries a year and the last-mile emissions per delivery, 285 gCO2, are way higher than the global average of 204 gCO2. Five cities – Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore and Chennai – emit more CO2 from last-mile deliveries than the last-mile emissions of entire countries such as France and Canada. Gowri Omanakuttan and Atul Gopal, who’re part of the #EVmyDelivery...

US President Joe Biden was hailed for pardoning thousands of Americans convicted of possessing marijuana, re-energising the demand to legalise its use. In India, too, there has been a longstanding demand to legalise marijuana for recreational use. Already, crores of Indians use cannabis products, of which marijuana is one, according to a government study. A sensible policy approach and sound regul...

This is one of a handful of episodes during the recording of which I wept. Bhanwar Meghwanshi, a Dalit, was fanatically devoted to the RSS, ready to go to war for its cause and even die for it. He joined the RSS as a child, eased into it by his school teacher and indoctrinated through games and music. Bhanwarji was jailed for trying to participate in the kar seva at the Babri Masjid site and he wo...

India has had above normal rainfall this year, so why are some states witnessing drought conditions and others a drop in farm output? It’s because the monsoon had a skewed distribution, resulting in rain deficits in the northern Gangetic plain and a roughly 1% decrease in overall acreage of the kharif crop. This could result in a further rise in food prices and some shortages. Please listen to the...

Shashi Tharoor’s campaign to be Congress president has earned him affection, support and opposition in equal measure. What sets him apart? Is he too elitist, as some people believe, or is he the answer the Congress needs after years of stagnation? He’s labelled himself the candidate of change, so what’s the change on his agenda? Most importantly, can he win? Economist, political commentator, Congr...

India wants to become a global semiconductor manufacturing centre, attracting investment, creating jobs and making itself less vulnerable to the kind of shortages witnessed after the COVID-19 pandemic. The chips are at the heart of various devices and machines, from cars to laptops and defence equipment to smartphones. The Centre is offering subsidies and incentives, and there is a lot of interest...

Skilling was never a priority for Indian businesses, but COVID-19 changed that. With job losses rampant over the past two years, the focus will be on skilling for new-age professions shaped by digitisation, reconfigured supply chains and evolving product portfolios. What does this mean for MSMEs? Sunil Dahiya, who leads the Wadhwani Opportunity Program in Asia, driving large-scale job creation thr...

Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra is an effort to energise the Congress and to keep it relevant at a time of unending electoral losses. It’s an ambitious political move staged in the backdrop of a sharply divided society, rampant hate and stunning economic decline. It’s good political theatre, it’s good politics and will mean millions of citizen engagements and infuse a sense of mission among the p...

India needs to reimagine how it builds streets and roads, Madhav Pai, Programme Executive Director at the World Resources Institute India Ross Center, tells All Indians Matter. Why? Because India accounts for 11% of the world’s road accident deaths despite having only 1% of the world’s vehicles. That’s 4.5 lakh road crashes every year, which kill 1.5 lakh people – 53 crashes per hour, killing 1 pe...

At least 10 Dalit women are raped every single day in India and their vulnerability to it has risen 44% over the past decade. This frequency of violence is founded on a bedrock of economic oppression – most Dalits, especially the women, have little economic agency. If Dalit victims of sexual assault are dependent on their survival on their assailants, justice can be very, very distant. Please list...

When RJ Sayema was targeted for celebrating India’s win over Pakistan in a cricket match, it was yet another example of the abuse and humiliation women, especially Muslim women and those in the media, face daily on social media. It’s so common now that it’s become normalised. But it can’t be normal for the targets of such attacks. It must be a scary, vulnerable, distressing spot to be in. Sayema s...

Cyrus Mistry’s death in a road crash has sparked a debate on how to make India’s roads safer. India tops the world in road fatalities with 1.55 lakh dying in accidents in 2021, up from 1.33 lakh in 2020. We need a whole new approach that encompasses varied focus areas, from better road design to signages and stricter law enforcement to safety awareness. Please listen to the latest episode of All I...

More than 23,000 millionaires have left India since 2014 and, since 2015, nearly 9 lakh Indians – many of them highly qualified – have given up their citizenship. India is witnessing the sharpest rise in people migrating overseas, at nearly one crore between 2000 and 2020, according to the ‘International Migration 2020 Highlights’ report issued by the Population Division of the United Nations Depa...

Much delayed, but 5G is finally rolling out. Done right, it will aid in unlocking the next phase of India’s economic growth. It has the potential to transform the entire business and social services landscape, from education and healthcare to manufacturing and agriculture. But, it’s not without challenges. Learn more in the latest episode of All Indians Matter. Learn more about your ad choices. Vi...

The rise of the right wing has been accompanied by a demand for the abolition of reservations. Reservations were introduced to correct a centuries-old imbalance in Indian society that made the upper castes extremely powerful and rich while keeping other castes crushingly poor and low in status. VP Singh, as prime minister, implemented the recommendations of the Mandal Commission by providing reser...

Indian medical students who fled Ukraine after the Russian invasion have not yet been accommodated in Indian colleges despite a government committee’s recommendation that they be given admission to corresponding courses in India. The only option left for the students is to return to Ukraine, which is potentially life threatening and there is no guarantee their courses will be completed either. The...

The Centre doesn’t seem to be invested in MNREGA, a lifeline for those suffering the worst from rural distress. Allocation for the scheme was slashed by more than 25% in the last Budget and, worse, Delhi owes more than Rs 4,720 crore as MNREGA dues to 13 states and union territories. Meanwhile, the workers often have to go hungry or take on debt. Anuradha Talwar, veteran trade unionist and rural l...

Did you know that, every year, 100 billion cigarette butts get dumped in the landfills of India, accounting for 26,454 tons of waste? Cigarette filters are made of cellulose acetate, a plastic that takes almost 10 years to completely decompose. In fact, such filters are probably the world’s most littered form of plastic with close to 4.5 trillion butts polluting the environment every year. This li...

What exactly is nationhood? How has it evolved in India and what does it mean in these tough, divisive times, to different groups? Priyadarshini Singh – Research Fellow at the State Capacity Initiative at the Center for Policy Research – recently published the study ‘India and its Nationhood: Grassroots Nationhood as Conceptual Frames’. She speaks to All Indians Matter. Learn more about your ad ch...

The steady decline of democracy, institutions and freedoms in India over the past eight years has been a matter of great concern to Indians and governments across the world. Interestingly, many of the trends witnessed here are mirrored in the US too – the rise of an aggressive right wing, aggressive religious nationalism, calls to subvert the democratic process and, perhaps most worrying of all, a...

The government wants more mergers of public sector banks mergers, arguing that it will lead to cost savings and consolidation in the banking sector. But opponents of the move point to problems in the merged banks, ranging from clunky process integration to the shutting of branches and the unsatisfactory reduction of bad loans. What would more such mergers mean for the banking sector and depositors...

The government claims forest cover has risen by 2,261 sq km, but the figure is hotly contested by experts. They point out that, shockingly, it’s the result of the legal definition of a forest being changed! Now, tea estates, coconut plantations and even tree-lined avenues in cities are being classified as forests. Veteran environmentalist Stalin D, of the NGO Vanashakti, speaks to All Indians Matt...

Our sporting superheroes have brought the country medals and glory despite the sports system in India. Our performance, especially in major events like the Olympics and Commonwealth Games, has improved over time. Now, it’s time to build on it. We are a nation of 1.3 billion with more than 300 million youth – roughly the entire population of the US – of Olympic participation age. Yet, even smaller...

Recently, Facebook’s parent company, Meta, released its first annual human rights report that covers the use of its platform for hate speech – especially in India – and the action taken to curb it. However, many observers termed the report a whitewash, claiming that Meta was not doing enough to curb hate speech and was using the report to absolve itself of negligence. A recent study by the Europe-...

The lawsuit filed by Twitter against the government goes well beyond company versus state. It is, in fact, a case about freedom of speech and its future in India. It is part of a broadening global battle against governments that want to limit the power of Google, Facebook and other companies in order to stifle dissent. Please listen to the latest episode of All Indians Matter. Learn more about you...