The Suno India Show

With over 115 lives lost and 40,000 people displaced, the violence in Manipur still does not show signs of abating. Against the backdrop of escalating violence and communal clashes, Khwairambam Ema Keithal Joint Coordinating Committee for Peace, a Metei women-led group, strongly condemned the central government's inaction in Manipur. In this episode, Sneha Richhariya speaks to a representative of...

Earlier this week, news broke that the CoWin App, an app indigenously developed during the pandemic to track immunisation & issue vaccine certificates was breached. A telegram account was showing the personal details of many people including senior members of the parliament. The alleged leak is said to impact more than 100 core individuals who have secured vaccinations after signing up through...

This episode is the first episode of our new podcast "Dispatches from Manipur". Join us as independent journalist Greeshma Kuthar reports on the ongoing ethnic violence that has gripped the northeastern state of Manipur since May 2023.  In This episode, Greeshma brings a first-hand account of a teacher and headmistress of the only school in her village in Manipur. She recounts how she rescued hers...

Manipur has witnessed month-long communal clashes following the dominant Meiti community's demand for Scheduled Tribe status. The clashes between Meities and tribal groups, mainly Kuki and Zo tribes, show no signs of abating since May, after the Tribal Solidarity protest.  In this episode of the Suno India show, our reporter Sneha Richhariya speaks to a 49-year-old Kuki tribal woman who had fled f...

In this thought-provoking episode, join reporter Mir Aiyaz from Kashmir as he delves into the hidden world of bride trafficking. Through heart-wrenching interviews and expert analysis, we expose the dark reality faced by vulnerable women who are bought and sold, forced into marriages against their will. Explore the intricate web of this illegal practice as we unravel the stories of Rubina and othe...

On March 27, 2023 the Supreme Court released a death row convict, Narayan Chetanram Chaudhary on ground that he was a juvenile at the time of his arrest. Narayan convicted for gruesome murders in Pune where eight people were killed in 1994. Despite being on the death row, Narayan decided to educate himself. This journey led him to a path where he realised he was a juvenile at the time of offence,...

In the past week, Manipur has been plagued by reports of violence. Clashes erupted on May 3, with images of angry mobs setting properties ablaze. The army was called in on May 4 to assist law enforcement, as a curfew was imposed in eight districts. The immediate violence erupted after a 'Tribal Solidarity March' protesting a court order directing the consideration of Meiteis for Scheduled Tribe st...

Since January, top Indian wrestlers have been protesting over the lack of action against the head of the country’s wrestling federation, Brijbhushan Sharan Singh, accused of sexual harassment. This accusation is not the first in Indian sports.    In this episode, our host, Sneha Richhariya speaks to senior sports journalist Sharda Ugra about the conditions in which young athletes train in India, t...

In 2019, the Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment and The National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre released a report called- National Survey on Extent and Pattern of Substance Use. At the national level, an estimated 2.9 crore of people in India are dependent on alcohol. About 25 lakh Indians are dependent on cannabis such as charas, ganja, and 28 lakh Indians are dependent on opioid substa...

On April 15, alleged mafia-turned-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother, Ashraf were killed while in police custody and in the presence of media persons. The police allege that three assailants shot them at close range. The entire incident took place on live television. Despite questions being raised on this custodial killing, there also appears to be public approval. Such “encounter” killings of...

Every day without fail for almost 50 days now, workers from all over the country gather at Jantar Mantar, singing songs of unity. Since Feb 2023, MNERGA workers from different states are coming to Delhi and protesting about a series of new policies that they believe will cut off the benefits of MNREGA in a significant way.    In this episode, Sneha Richhariya goes to Jantar Mantar to speak to the...

The Rajasthan Right to Health Bill was passed on March 21, 2023. The Bill charts out patient rights and provides a mechanism to ensure proper implementation of the rights. However, private doctors have been protesting this Bill.  Suno India’s Menaka Rao tries to understand the discontentment. She spoke to Chhaya Pachauli, a health rights activist in Rajasthan representing Jan Swasthya Abhiyan in R...

In this episode, Sanaullah Khan speaks to women running small businesses in Hyderabad on how the increasing digitisation of payments is affecting them. He also speaks to Shrikant Lakshmanan who is an expert in the field of digital payments and co-founded a consumer initiative called Cashless Consumer, which studies digital payments.  Sanaullah Khan was an intern with Suno India. References Disconn...

Tourism contributes to more than 15 percent of jobs in India, as per 2022 figures by the Ministry of Tourism. The recent Union Budget was a mixed bag for this industry. The good news came from announcements to give a boost to domestic tourism. But for those who cater to international travel, the budget was disappointing. There is an increase in tax collected at source (TCS) from 5 percent to 20 pe...

This is part 2 of a miniseries examining how the Central govt is limiting public access to information with laws and amendments. In the Data Protection Bill, the Central government has proposed an amendment for the RTI Act. With this amendment the government seeks to protect the privacy of lawmakers by changing 8.1 (j) section of the RTI Act.  In this episode of The Suno India Show, host Suryatapa...

TW: This episode contains mentions of suicide.  In February 2023, 18-year-old Darshan Solanki ended his life barely three months into his Chemical Engineering course at IIT Bombay. In this episode of The Suno India Show, host Suryatapa Mukherjee spoke to Shreeja Rao , a first-year law student, about her experiences in educational institutions and the solutions needed so that students like her can...

This is the second episode in the two-part series on the crackdown on child marriages in Assam. Since February 2, the Assam government has arrested more than 3000 people for violating the Prohibition of Child Marriage Act, 2006. Some were also arrested under the stringent Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, 2012 or POCSO that can attract punishment up to life imprisonment.  Suno India...

On February 3, Assam’s chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma launched what he called “war against child marriage.” The state police has now arrested more than 3000 people who allegedly facilitated child marriages and said that about 5000 more people are still at large. Pranjal Baruah reported for this episode from Assam. This is the first podcast in the two part series on this subject. In this episod...

‘India: The Modi Question’ is a two-part documentary series by the BBC about the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his relationship with the Muslim minority in India. The government has used the emergency provisions of IT Rules 2021 to take down the documentary from websites as well as social media posts with links or snippets of the documentary. Screenings of the documentary in universities around...

The Union budget is presented every year in February. But how do we know that the budget allocations are equitable? While most budget speeches talk about “empowerment” of women and other marginalised genders, does this translate into policy?  To answer these questions, Suno India’s Menaka Rao, spoke to Dr Vibhuti Patel. She is part of the Feminist Policy Collective , an independent network of femi...

On January 17, China announced its population is at 141.2 crore. According to the World Population Review, India's population increased to 142.3 crore people as of January 18. Though we have always seen overpopulation as a problem in our country, this could be an advantage rather than a disadvantage. 50% of our population is under 30 and it could lead India to become the fastest growing economy in...

In this episode, Sneha Richhariya and Suhail Bhat visit Haldwani to make sense of the eviction order in Haldwani’s Banbhoolpura area, issued by the High Court on 20th December. We take a deep dive into the politics of eviction and demolition in India and explain how it has become a tool for the state to subdue minorities. We put all this in perspective by explaining the politics and legality behin...

The Mangarh Massacre of November 1913 resulted in the death of around 1,500 people belonging to the Bhil tribe. They had gathered there to protest against the exploitation of tribal people by the British as well as rulers of princely states in the region. British and Indian forces attacked the protestors. This event is usually referred to as ‘Adivasi Jallianwala Bagh’ as it is not as well-known. H...

Anti-feminist groups have become increasingly visible on Indian Twitter over the years with campaigns like #MenToo, #MarriageStrike and of course, the recent reaction to Shraddha Walkar’s murder. A study was conducted at the University of Michigan by Associate Professor Joyojeet Pal along with Sheyril Agarwal and Urvashi Patel to take a deeper look at these groups. In this episode of The Suno Indi...

In November, there was a ransomware attack on the prestigious All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Delhi. Patients suffered as the cyber systems were completely shut down for a few days and were running only manually. As AIIMS cyber systems are slowly limping back to normal, Suno India’s Menaka Rao speaks to Dr. Muktesh Chander, an IPS officer who was the founder and director of the...