It has been more than a year since the Supreme court released Narayan Chetanram Chaudhary in March 2023. Narayan was convicted along with his co-accused for gruesome murders in Pune and sentenced to death. But after 28 years of jail, the Supreme court released him as per the Juvenile Justice Act after it was proved that he was just 12 years old at the time of offence. 

How is he coping with life outside jail? In this podcast, Menaka Rao visited him in his village in Bikaner to understand how Narayan is managing life in society.

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Punjabis are infamous for their obsession with migrating abroad, especially to Canada. There’s a saying among diaspora Punjabis that goes, “Jitthe assi, utthe Punjab,” meaning “We create Punjab wherever we go.” But, in the recent past, a new narrative of ‘Vatan vaapsi’ or ‘Reverse Migration’ has taken hold in Punjabi media. According to podcasts and some news articles, Punjabis are sick of living abroad and are excited to return to their homeland. 

In this episode, Kudrat Wadhwa investigates how much truth there is to the claim that Punjabis are returning to India and why people are coming back, if they are. 

References: 

Is a waning Canadian dream fuelling reverse migration in Punjab?

91% Parents ‘satisfied’ Over Their Wards Moving Abroad, Says Study | Chandigarh News - Times of India

Back to Motherland | Reverse Migration | Part 6 | EP 68 | Punjabi Podcast

Punjabi Students Becoming Homeless In Canada | ਕੈਨੇਡਾ ਵਿਚ ਬੇਘਰੇ ਹੋ ਰਹੇ ਪੰਜਾਬੀ ਸਟੂਡੈਂਟਸ

Homless 6 punjabi munde te ik kudi dekho kime reh rhe ne

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In this episode, Suno India's Padma Priya talks to Dr. Abhishek Mangeshikar, a gynecologist specializing in endometriosis. He explains what endometriosis is and why it is difficult to diagnose.
Dr. Mangeshikar also addresses common myths surrounding endometriosis, such as the belief that pregnancy or menopause can cure the disease. He emphasizes the importance of patient advocacy and provides advice on how to push back against dismissive attitudes from medical professionals. Additionally, he discusses risk factors for endometriosis and the presence of silent symptoms, such as kidney damage.

In this conversation, Dr. Abhishek Mangeshikar discusses various aspects of endometriosis, including diagnosis, management, surgical considerations, psychological impact, and patient education. He emphasizes the importance of thorough imaging and the limitations of routine gynecological ultrasounds in diagnosing endometriosis. Dr. Mangeshikar explains that while hormonal treatments can provide relief from pain, they do not stop the growth of endometriosis. He also highlights the significance of choosing an experienced endometriosis surgeon and provides key questions to ask when considering surgery.
The conversation touches on the recurrence of endometriosis, the psychological impact of the disease, and the resources provided by Endometriosis India. Dr. Mangeshikar shares his approach to patient education through social media and emphasizes the need for action in improving the understanding and treatment of endometriosis.

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The West Bengal government is working on opening a coal mine in the district of Birbhum. The mine in the Deucha Pachami area will be the largest in Asia and the second largest in the world. It will displace around 21,000 people, majority of whom belong to scheduled castes and tribes. 

India is one of the governments around the world that have signed the UN Framework Convention of Climate Change. This year, the Union Ministry of Coal set up a Just Transition division for which the World Bank is supposed to provide an aid of $1.15 million. We have committed to net zero carbon emissions by 2070. So why are we increasing coal production while promising to phase it down? 

To understand these contradictions, our reporter Suryatapa Mukherjee speaks to Pradip Swarnakar in this episode of The Suno India Show. He is a professor and the founder of the Just Transition research centre at IIT Kanpur. 

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The World Health Organisation has declared monkeypox a public health emergency of international concern. Nearly 70 countries have reported cases of Monkeypox so far.

In July, India had its first known case of monkeypox in Kerala when a 35-year old man who returned from the Middle East was detected with the disease. Since then four cases have been detected, including one in Delhi from a person with no travel history abroad.

Suno India’s Menaka Rao speaks to Dr Giridhar Babu on this issue. He is a professor and head of Life Course epidemiology at the Indian Institute of Public Health, which is a constituent of the Public Health Foundation of India.

References

First case of monkeypox in India reported from Kerala - The Economic Times
Delhi reports first Monkeypox case, India's fourth | India News - Times of India
Clinical management and infection prevention and control for monkeypox: interim rapid response guidance, 10 June 2022
India's fourth monkeypox case in Delhi; patient went to Himachal, no history of foreign travel

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From Hyderabad police snatching phones on streets to check for ‘ganja’ to Delhi police seizing journalist Mohammed Zubair’s devices for a tweet, such seizures have become a routine part of policing. After all, with modern technology, our personal devices have become repositories of our whole lives. So it gives the police easy access to all our information in one place, making investigations that much easier. 

But do you want the police to have access to everything about you? Not only is it a concern because of our right to privacy, but also there have been allegations of the police planting evidence on such devices. So where does the law stand on this and what are our rights? To find out, host Suryatapa Mukherjee speaks to tech and legal researcher and human rights activist Usha Ramanathan in this episode of The Suno India Show. 

This interview happened before the Supreme Court upheld the Enforcement Directorate’s powers relating to arrest, attach property, search and seize under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).

References 

Criminal Procedure Bill: Break a law and the police can store your personal information - Suno India
Criminal Procedure Bill: Data collection can lead to surveillance by different govt bodies - Suno India  
How the Tarun Tejpal verdict set back the rape law reforms - Suno India 
Zubair’s arrest: Can a journalist be forced to hand over his electronic devices to the police? | Scroll
Bhima Koregaon: Forensic report says key evidence against jailed activist was planted | The News Minute 
Riley v. California (06/25/2014)

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In celebration of 75 years of Independence, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced free booster doses at government vaccination centres for 75 days from July 15 to September 30, 2022. A few days after this announcement, the news website The Wire published a shocking story on how the Central Drug Standards Control Organisation - the CDSCO - the country’s drug regulatory agency- never approved of precautionary doses.

In this episode, we speak to Banjot Kaur, the reporter who broke this important story this July. Early this year, a Telangana court asked The Wire to take down several articles related to vaccine policy based on a defamation suit by Bharat Biotech, which manufactures Covaxin. One of these stories pulled down was Banjot’s story. She has been writing on science and public health for 12 years, and has worked at Down to Earth Magazine and Times of India.

References

PM Modi's address to the nation
Exclusive: Nobody Approved India’s ‘Precautionary’ Doses – The Wire Science
Press briefing on the actions taken, preparedness and updates on COVID-19, Dated: 24.12.2021
10 Questions the Indian Govt Must Answer About Vaccines for Minors and Boosters
DCGI clears Bharat Biotech, SII COVID-19 vaccines but efficacy question unanswered
https://www.sunoindia.in/the-suno-india-show/why-a-covaxin-controversy-in-bhopal-is-worrying-trial-participants-activists-and-experts/

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The Reuters Digital Report 2022 which surveyed 46 countries around the world to find out what is the state of news consumption today. It has several interesting findings. For example: Trust in news has decreased globally as people suspect political biases. Young people are especially likely to selectively avoid news because of it being depressing. Can’t really blame them can we?  But surprisingly, India is one of the countries where trust has increased compared to the previous year. India is also more mobile-focused than other countries with 72% of Indians surveyed accessing news through their mobile phones.

Reuters Institute Digital News Report 2022 
Don't jail journalists for what they say… India a democracy: Germany | Indian Express 
How India's Media Landscape Changed Over Five Years | The India Forum
67 journalists arrested, detained, questioned in India in 2020 for their work | The News Minute 

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The episode, part of a mini-series sets context about why it is important to communicate well during a pandemic like COVID-19 and features discussions between Suno India editor-in-chief DVL Padma Priya and Prof Anant Bhan, a researcher in Global health, bioethics and health policy who works for a not-for-profit health policy organisation Sangath and also Dr Usha Raman, professor at the Department of Communications at the University of Hyderabad. 

This mini-series has been made possible by a grant from the Thakur Family Foundation. 

India readies itself to address the threat of pandemic influenza
India’s Pandemic Preparedness and Response

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In May 2022, the Delhi High Court delivered a verdict on several petitions seeking to remove the marital rape exception in the rape law. Section 375 of the Indian Penal Code excludes sexual intercourse between a married couple. The verdict was split with Justice Rajiv Shakder ruling in favour of removing the exception, and Justice C Hari Shankar dismissing the petition.  

In this episode, we try to discuss our opinion on the judgement, especially the dissenting verdict which seeks to keep the marital law exception in the rape law. Suno India’s Padmapriya DVL and Menaka Rao discuss the judgement threadbare, thinking aloud about the implications of this judgement 

Delhi High Court marital rape judgement
Independent Thought vs. Union of India and Anr.
Criminalisation of marital rape | Appeal filed in Supreme Court against Delhi High Court’s split verdict – The Hindu
Conjugal rights before the Supreme Court | Explained News,The Indian Express
National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), 2019-21
Women and Consent Carole Pateman Political Theory, Vol. 8, No. 2. (May, 1980), pp. 149-168.

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In light of cases against Nupur Sharma for her comments about Prophet Mohammed on Times Now and against Alt News co-founder Mohammed Zubair for his comments about Hindu seers, we look at how to define the right to free speech in our current political climate. As hate speech is becoming increasingly common, so are threats to free speech and press freedom. In the 2022 World Press Freedom index, India ranks at 150 out of 180 countries, falling several places over the years. 

In this episode of TSIS, host Suryatapa Mukherjee speaks to V. Krishna Ananth. A former lawyer and a journalist, he now teaches history at the Sikkim University, Gangtok. Last year, he wrote a book called ‘Between Freedom and Unfreedom: The Press in Independent India’ which chronicles the history of the Indian press. We look at what the law says about free speech and how our understanding of it has changed through history. 

Kashmir is ground zero of press freedom clampdowns across India - Suno India
Pegasus: Understanding the super spy that controls your phone - Suno India 
Nav-nirman Andolan of Gujarat, 1973-74: A new awakening | India Today
Why the 1974 All-India Railway Strike Is Relevant Even Today | The Wire
Article 19 in The Constitution Of India 1949
Section 124A in The Indian Penal Code 
Report of the Press Commission Part 1 1954

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On May 19, the Supreme Court passed an order observing that sex workers have the right to live with dignity under Article 21 of the Constitution. They came up with several directives to ensure that sex workers who are in the profession by choice can live a life of dignity. 

In this episode of The Suno India Show, host Suryatapa Mukherjee spoke to Meena Saraswathi Seshu to find out what these directives mean and how they will impact the lives of sex workers on the ground. Seshu is the founder of Sangram, a Sangli-based organisation that works for the rights of sex workers. She also runs a collective of more than 5000 sex workers in Maharashtra and north Karnataka called VAMP or Veshya Anyay Mukti Parishad.

Additional reading:

Supreme Court May 19 Order on Sex Workers 
Budhadev Karmaskar vs State Of West Bengal on 14 February, 2011
RAIDED (E-Book)| Latest News, Events of SANGRAM.
Sex Workers In India – Life In A “Gutter”| Countercurrents

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In this episode of The Suno India Show, host Suryatapa Mukherjee speaks to Karishma and Leeza behind the Instagram handles @talkyounevergot and @leezamangaldas. Karishma has almost 50,000 followers and Leeza has over 8,30,000 followers. They are sex educators who use social media to reach people across the country. They are two among a growing number.

In this episode, they explore what sex education is, what it is like being sex ed influencers and how they impact people in a country with little access to such information. 

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The inauguration of the Ram Mandir marks a significant chapter in India’s  history. The temple's construction replaced the 16th-Century Babri masjid, which was demolished by Hindu mobs in 1992, leading to nationwide riots and the tragic loss of nearly 2,000 lives, after the Supreme court allowed it. 

In December 2023, reporter Shweta Desai travelled to Ayodhya before the temple’s inauguration on January 22, 2023. In this episode of the Suno India Show, Shweta talks to a community living just behind the newly constructed Ram Mandir and listens to the local communities, Hindus, Muslims, and the Bahujans who have lived around the disputed site for years as friends and experienced the communal fallout of one of the most polarising political campaigns of modern India. 

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Suno India’s Menaka Rao visits Jahangirpuri area where riots broke out and demolition drive took place last month. On May 16, a procession was taken out on the occasion of Hanuman Jayanti which resulted in stone pelting and violence in Delhi’s Jahangirpuri area. On May 20, Delhi’s civic authorities started a demolition drive in the area, without giving any notice to the property owners.
This episode will try to understand how the residents there understand these series of events. The episode also features a discussion with Dr Ghazala Jamil from Jawaharlal Nehru University’s Centre for the Study of Law and Governance. 

Incidents of communal flare-up during Hanuman Jayanti; mob targets police in Karnataka’s Huballi
45 properties of suspected rioters demolished in Madhya Pradesh – The Hindu
It all started with a bulldozer in Jahangirpuri | India News,The Indian Express
Supertech twin towers demolition: SC extends deadline to August 28 | Cities News,The Indian Express

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It has been almost two months since medical students flew home to India from the war in Ukraine. While they deal with the trauma of their war experiences, students say the struggle is far from over. According to the regulations of the National Medical Commission, they will be disqualified from working as a doctor in India unless they finish their education in the same college. Now their future hangs in limbo. Most of these students are from small-town, middle-class families and have taken loans to support their Ukraine education. 

In this episode of The Suno India Show, host Suryatapa Mukherjee speaks to students Mohammed Mahtab Raza from East Champaran, Bihar; Satya from Delhi and Prajjwal Singwal from Rudraprayag, Uttarakhand.

Guidelines for registration of Foreign Medical Graduates | NMC 
Ukraine crisis: NMC allows foreign medical graduates to complete internship in India – Hindustan Times 
SC asks NMC to help MBBS students hit by Ukraine crisis, coronavirus pandemic | The Indian Express 
West Bengal: Students from Ukraine to attend practicals in 17 medical colleges | TOI 
Karnataka: Medical students from Ukraine to continue studies in 60 state colleges | The Indian Express 
Poland and Hungary lend a helping hand to medical students in Ukraine | TOI 

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Does our social identity, be it caste, religion, or tribe, affect how long we live? Two papers show that Dalits, Adivasi and Muslims have a disadvantage when it comes to life expectancy as compared to the higher caste Hindus.

In this podcast Suno India’s Menaka Rao spoke to demographers Aashish Gupta, Sangita Vyas, both research fellows at the research institute for compassionate economics or r.i.c.e. While Aashish is a David E Bell Fellow at Harvard University. Sangita is soon-to-be assistant professor at Hunter College, in New York.  Menaka also spoke to Anjela Taneja, Oxfam India Lead Specialist in Health, Education and Inequality to understand how Dalits and tribals are at a disadvantage in India’s health system.

REFERENCES

Large and Persistent Life Expectancy Disparities between India’s Social Groups – Gupta – – Population and Development Review – Wiley Online Library
Social disadvantage, economic inequality, and life expectancy in nine Indian states | PNAS
https://twitter.com/aashishg_/status/1511528303483568131?s=20&t=hcL437GBhqEAvtDeYkmroQ
Securing Rights of Patients in India
http://clinicalestablishments.gov.in/WriteReadData/8431.pdf
Racism and Health | Health Equity | CDC
How Serena Williams Saved Her Own Life
Why do women live longer than men? – Our World in Data

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The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting is merging the Films Division (FD) the National Film Archives of India (NFAI), the Children’s Film Society of India (CFSI), and the Directorate of Film Festivals (DFF) under the National Film Development Corporation (NFDC). The first four are public-funded bodies while the latter is a for-profit company that has been incurring losses. The four bodies are responsible for various functions such as production of documentaries and short films, organisation of film festivals and preservation of film archives. Even as the merger is underway, it is unclear what the end result will look like.

In this episode of The Suno India Show, reporter Suryatapa Mukherjee speaks to Shilpi Gulati, a national award-winning documentary filmmaker and academic. Shilpi helped draft the letter from the film fraternity that highlighted the concerns with this merger and urged the government to reconsider. She talks about how this will affect the future of films in our country.

References:

Cinematograph Bill: Another layer of censorship for filmmakers | TSIS
Report of Bimal Julka Committee | Ministry of Information and Broadcasting
A Difficult Year For The Indian Film Fraternity – Shilpi Gulati | FemAsia Magazine 
A worrying trend: India’s new economy can not be a monopoly board | Business Standard
NFDC India – YouTube 

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Now every summer, we talk about heat waves. And yet, it’s different every year. This year heat waves arrived earlier than usual in March and lasted longer than usual, going on for six weeks. And there are more to follow. In parts of Central and Northwest India, temperatures have already crossed 40-45 celsius. The Indian Meteorological Department has predicted that this summer will be hotter than usual. So how can we protect our health personally? And what can governments at different levels do to minimise deaths of vulnerable people?
In this episode of The Suno India Show, host Suryatapa Mukherjee speaks to Dr Dileep Mavalankar, director of the Indian Institute of Public Health, Gandhinagar. 

References:

Heat Wave | NDMA, GoI 
National Guidelines for Preparation of Action Plan - Prevention and Management of Heat Wave
Over 7 lakh yearly deaths in India linked to abnormal temperatures: Lancet study - The Hindu 
India and Pakistan heatwave is 'testing the limits of human survivability' | CNN 
What is heat wave and does India have a strategy to deal with it? Business Standard 

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Press freedom is increasingly endangered across the world. At least 28 journalists were killed due to their work in 2021, with India and Mexico topping the list of countries with the most media worker deaths, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Journalists in many countries are feeling the pressure as they are arbitrarily imprisoned, silenced or killed in some instances, for the work they do.  But journalists are continuing to push boundaries and in some cases are transcending borders to report on important causes. Notwithstanding the global climate of curbs on freedom of expression, a handful of intrepid foreign correspondents from India are travelling across the world to tell stories on human rights, culture, politics and resistance. 

In a special episode on the various meanings of press freedom foreign correspondent Priyanka Borpujari talks to host Urvashi Sarkar about the various meanings of freedom as a journalist and why frontlines need not always imply war and conflict. She explores concepts of not just freedom from oppression but also freedom to practice the profession on her own terms. 

Priyanka is an award-winning journalist currently based in Ireland. She has previously reported from Japan, India, El Salvador, Indonesia, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Argentina. Between 2018 and 2019, she walked 1,200 kms across north and northeast India on the Out of Eden Walk with Pulitzer-winning journalist Paul Salopek, which traces the path of human migration. Her journalism has been published in a wide range of international and Indian news publications. She speaks 7 languages.

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In April, the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill was passed in both houses of the Parliament. This new law allows law enforcement agencies to collect a range of private information from people arrested under any offence. The information can be stored for 75 years. 

In this episode, Suno India’s Menaka Rao and Suryatapa Mukherjee try to understand the government’s objectives in introducing the law and understand the different dangers that are inherent in the law. Suryatapa talks to Nikita Sonawane, co-founder of Criminal Justice and Police Accountability Project, and Praavita Kashyap, a member of Article 21 Trust and Rethink Aadhaar campaign.
This is part two in a two-part miniseries. You can listen to the first part of this series here. 

As of April 18, 2022 the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill became a law. Henceforth it will be called Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act, 2022.

References

Home Minister Shri Amit Shah's reply on The Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill, 2022 in RS.
Mahua Moitra's Remarks on Criminal Procedure Bill 2022 । TMC MP Mahua Moitra को LS Speaker की फटकार
Mahesh Jethmalani's Remarks | The Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill, 2022 
Decoding DNA Bill: Will storing DNA solve crimes? – Suno India
In Refrence vs Ravi @ Toli Malviya on 9 September, 2021
India Enterpise Architecture (IndEA) | Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India.
Why state data hubs pose a risk to Aadhaar security | Latest News India – Hindustan Times.

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The World Health Organisation is in the midst of coming up with COVID-19 excess mortality estimates for all the 194 countries that are its members. The Indian government has been placing objections on the way this exercise is being done for a few months now. After a few reports came out on the subject, the Indian government responded in a press release saying that they have a quarrel with the methodology of the WHO. 

To understand this entire controversy, Suno India’s Menaka Rao spoke to Amruta Byatnal  who broke the story on this issue on March 30. She is a senior editor with Devex, a website on global development, and is based in New Delhi.

References

The true death toll of COVID-19: estimating global excess mortality
Exclusive: The pushback against WHO’s imminent COVID-19 excess deaths estimate | Devex
Global excess deaths associated with the COVID-19 pandemic
India Is Stalling the WHO’s Efforts to Make Global Covid Death Toll Public – The New York Times
In response to New York Times article titled “India Is Stalling the WHO’s Efforts to Make Global Covid Death Toll Public” dated 16th April, 2022

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On March 24, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare released the National Tuberculosis Prevalence Survey in India 2019 – 2021. The last such survey took place in 1955-58 after independence. The survey shows that 312 persons per 100000 people in the country have tuberculosis of all forms. The survey also has information on risk factors related to tuberculosis such as malnutrition, diabetes, alcoholism etc and the kind of expenditure a tuberculosis patient undertakes during his or her treatment. 

To understand more about this survey and its relevance, Suno India’s Menaka Rao spoke to Dr Sriram S from National Institute of Tuberculosis Research, Chennai who is also the principal investigator of this survey. 

To know more about tuberculosis in India, you can listen to our series- Gasping for Breath. 

References 

National TB Prevalence Survey in India 2019 – 2021 :: Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
Prevalence of Pulmonary Tuberculosis – A Baseline Survey In Central India – PMC
TUBERCULOSIS SITUATION IN INDIA: MEASURING IT THROUGH TIME*
a cluster randomised trial of nutritional support (food rations) to reduce TB incidence in household contacts of patients with microbiologically confirmed pulmo… | BMJ Open
How Kerala Is Fighting TB, And Winning
https://tbcindia.gov.in/WriteReadData/IndiaTBReport2022/TBAnnaulReport2022.pdf

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The Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill was introduced in the Lok Sabha on March 28. And by April 6, it was passed in both houses of the Parliament. This new law allows law enforcement agencies to collect a range of private information from people arrested under any offence. The information can be stored for 75 years. 

In this episode, host Suryatapa Mukherjee talks to Nikita Sonawane, co-founder of Criminal Justice and Police Accountability Project, and Praavita Kashyap, a member of Article 21 Trust and Rethink Aadhaar campaign. We explore who this new law will impact and we tease out its ambiguities. This is part one in a two-part miniseries. 

As of April 18, 2022 the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill became a law. Henceforth it will be called Criminal Procedure (Identification) Act, 2022.

Additional reading:

Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill, 2022
NCRB data: Higher share of Dalits, tribals, Muslims in prison than numbers outside | The Indian Express

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The Bharatiya Janata Party government has been pitching for One Nation One Election for years. The High Level Committee on One Nation, One Election submitted a report to President Droupadi Murmu on March 14, 2024. The 21-volume, 18,626-page report has suggestions from representatives of various political parties, economists, officials from the election commissions, businessmen, and other experts. 

The report unanimously supports one election for Centre, state and local bodies such as panchayats and municipalities. We are republishing an older episode hosted by Suno India’s Rakesh Kamal where he interviewed Chakshu Roy to understand the complexities and challenges of holding simultaneous elections. Chakshu Roy heads the outreach team and leads the legislator and citizen engagement initiatives at PRS legislative research. He has been involved in setting up the state laws project, training civil society and journalist groups about tracking Parliament.

For additional reading:

PRS Summary of the Report 

ANALYSIS OF SIMULTANEOUS ELECTIONS : THE “WHAT”, “WHY” AND “HOW”

Standing Committee Report on the feasibility of holding simultaneous elections.pdf (Dec 2015)

Law commission report (1999) on electoral reforms.pdf

https://onoe.gov.in/HLC-Report

The Suno India Show | Can ‘one nation, one election’ work for India

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India was ranked at 142 out of 180 countries on Reporters Without Borders’ World press freedom index, in both 2020 and 2021. Since 2020, journalists have been arrested while covering the Hathras gangrape, farmers’ protests, caste violence in Uttarakhand, communal violence in Tripura, and now recently for reporting alleged electoral malpractice in UP elections. But the peak of press clampdowns can be seen in Jammu and Kashmir.

In this episode of The Suno India Show, host Suryatapa Mukherjee speaks to Anuradha Bhasin. She is the Executive Editor of The Kashmir Times. The Centre had imposed an indefinite communication blockade in the region following the Abrogation of Article 370 in 2019. Bhasin’s petition to the Supreme Court was instrumental in partial restoration of communication services in 2020.

Additional reading:

Memory hole: Kashmir news archives vanish | Inquirer
67 journalists arrested, detained, questioned in India in 2020 for their work | The News Minute 
India's Press Crackdown: The Silencing of Journalists in Kashmir | The Nation 

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On January 31, 2022, around 22000 Anganwadi workers and helpers associated with Delhi State Anganwadi Workers and Helpers Union started their protest. They are seeking recognition as government employees, higher pay, better working conditions, and social security mechanisms like health insurance and pension. 

While the Anganwadi workers were getting an honorarium of Rs 9678, the helpers were getting Rs 4839. Despite the Delhi government recently raising the honorarium to Rs 11,220 for Anganwadi workers, and Rs 5,610 for helpers, the strike continues. They also complained of long working hours, and the additional work they did during the Covid-19 pandemic with no benefits or protection.

On March 9, the government imposed the Haryana Essential Services Maintenance Act deeming the strike “illegal.” So far, 991 Anganwadi workers have been served termination notices.

In this podcast, Sweta Dash, a Delhi-based independent journalist and reporter speaks to the protesting women and the Delhi State Workers and Helpers Union that is leading the protest. We will hear what these women feel in these tumultuous times of government backlash and how they plan to continue their fight. 

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In the news reports from many Western countries, reporters and politicians have repeatedly compared Ukrainian refugees to those from Syria, Iraq or Afghanistan. They have used descriptors such as ‘civilised’ and ‘educated’ to differentiate white Ukrainians from refugees of colour. On the ground, this translates to discrimination against people of colour fleeing from Ukraine. While the West is opening their borders and homes to white Ukrainians, Indian and African students are being attacked and beaten. 

In this episode of The Suno India Show, host Suryatapa Mukherjee speaks to Shrouk El-Attar, an Egyptian refugee in the UK. They discuss the world’s reaction to Ukraine and how it is different for non-white refugees. Shrouk El-Attar is an engineer, belly dancer and LGBT+ activist who was one of BBC 100 most influential women in the world in 2018, United Nations refugee agency Young Woman of the year 2018, and IET Top 6 young women engineers in the UK in 2019 and in 2020.

Additional reading:

Indian and African refugees tell of ’19th-century racism’ at Ukrainian border | openDemocracy 
People of colour fleeing Ukraine attacked by Polish nationalists | Guardian 
UK will pay households $456 a month to host Ukrainian refugees | Al Jazeera 
How do the UK’s schemes for Ukrainian refugees work? – BBC News
Calais migrant camp: Last shelter destroyed – BBC News
Child labour, underage marriage and babies sold as Afghan parents face ‘excruciating choices’ – ABC News 
Pride Without Borders – Bristol Refugee Rights
Glitter Cymru – Ethnic minority LGBTQ+ people

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On March 10, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won in four out of five states in the recently concluded assembly elections across Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Manipur, Uttarakhand and Punjab. The Samajwadi Party gained a crucial role as principal opposition party in Uttar Pradesh and Aam Aadmi Party won a thumping majority in Punjab. The Congress party lost sorely and was left faceless across all the States leaving room for endless discussions on the party’s relevance in the national politics. Despite anti-incumbency, the BJP won and how! So what were some of the factors that led to their win in these four states and what does AAP’s win in Punjab mean? How did the women vote in these states? Why did BSP fail to garner any support in Uttar Pradesh?

Suno India Editor-In-Chief, Padma Priya, asked these questions and more to Ajoy Ashirwad, Political Affairs Editor, The Wire who writes extensively on Indian politics. In this deeply insightful conversation he spoke about BJP’s absolute understanding of electoral politics while standing out for its ideological agenda and what the opposition parties need to do better to fight them. 

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The Right To Food Campaign, the Centre for Equity Studies and other organisations conducted a survey of food insecurity across 14 Indian states, called the Hunger Watch survey. This is the second such survey since the onset of the pandemic. It was carried out in the months of December 2021 and January 2022. 

In this episode of The Suno India Show, host Suryatapa Mukherjee speaks to Anjali Bhardwaj, founder of Satark Nagrik Sangathan and a leading member of the Right To Food Campaign. Anjali explains the stark findings of the survey and what the government can do right now. 

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The Centre's Department of Commerce has proposed to replace the Tea Act 1953 with Tea (Promotion and Development) Bill 2022. The Department of Commerce is seeking public comments on the draft Bill till March 9th – the date was extended from 21st January. While the government says that the Bill seeks to modernise the Tea laws and remove parts that have become redundant, trade unions say that the new Bill makes tea estate workers more vulnerable than before. 

On this episode of The Suno India Show, our reporter Suryatapa Mukherjee speaks to Virginius Xaxa, a visiting Professor at the Institute for Human Development, New Delhi. Xaxa grew up on a tea estate himself and has written extensively on labour rights and tribal rights in the country. They discuss the history of tea estates, workers’ rights and Tea Bill 2022.

Draft Tea Promotion and Development Bill 2022 Revised.pdf 
Tea Plantation Workers | Centre for Communication and Education. 

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In India, marital rape is not yet a crime and like anywhere else a sensitive topic to deal with for policymakers, rights activists, lawmakers alike. But the data is staggering. If we were to talk of violence against women in absolute numbers, according to the Indian government’s latest National Family Health Survey, about 30% of Indian women aged 18-49 reported having experienced spousal violence. Let that sink in!

In terms of sexual violence, the average Indian woman is 17 times more likely to face sexual violence from her husband than from anyone else, according to the survey of 724,115 women. Marital rape is back in the spotlight as the Delhi High court is listening to a series of petitions demanding that it be criminalised. But what does that actually mean for the feminist movement and women’s rights in the country?

For this episode of The Suno India Show, Padma Priya, editor-in-chief of Suno India spoke with Dr Ranjana Kumari, Director of Centre for Social Research India on this issue.

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In the second episode of the series on the hijab issue in Karnataka’s schools, we talk about how it adversely affects education. As per the recent surveys, there has been an uptick in the number of Muslim girls and women seeking education in schools and colleges across the country. But Muslim girls still have to face prejudice of being conservative, of not being interested in education, among others.

In this episode, Suno India’s Menaka Rao spoke to Dr Saba Hussain, assistant professor in Education and Social Justice, at the University of Birmingham in the UK. She conducted research on school going Muslim girls in Assam. A book on this research was published in 2019 called Contemporary Muslim Girlhoods in India: A Study of Social Justice, Identity and Agency in Assam.

References 

Social, Economic and Educational Status of the Muslim Community of India
https://twitter.com/PriyankaRudrapa/status/1493832129234423808?s=20&t=PG-nv0YSWUVK3ybpLdPt1A
Petitioners in hijab row seek postponement of practical exam – The Hindu
https://twitter.com/MuslimSpaces/status/1495390625130180609?s=20&t=PG-nv0YSWUVK3ybpLdPt1A
Steady uptick in Muslim girls going to schools, colleges.
Dr Saba Hussain – School of Education – University of Birmingham

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The hijab controversy has engulfed Karnataka, Many schoolgirls and teachers are not being allowed to enter classrooms with their hijabs on. The Karnataka High Court who is hearing the petitions filed by some Muslim students is asking the question- whether hijab is an essential garment for Muslims. We have a two-part series on this issue. This is the first episode.

In this episode, Suno India’s Menaka Rao spoke to  Heba Ahmed, a PhD student from Jawaharlal Nehru University who strongly defends her right to wear a hijab. She  also spoke to Dr Zeenat Shaukat Ali, a reputed scholar of Islamic Studies who retired from St Xavier's College, Mumbai. She is also the founder of the World Institute of Islamic Studies for Dialogue, Organisation of Mediation and Gender Justice or Wisdom Foundation. While Dr Zeenat regrets the way the issue has been politicised, as a scholar of Islamic studies, she is of the opinion that wearing hijab is not mandatory in the religion.

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Union Budget 2022-23 comes at a time of rising inflation while we continue to grapple with the pandemic. Total government expenditure has increased by only Rs 1.75 lakh crore, from Rs 37.70 lakh crore in 2021-22 (Revised Estimate) to Rs 39.45 lakh crore in 2022-23. The budget has focused on capital expenditure rather than safety nets for the needy. Rs 7.5 lakh crores has been allocated to capital expenditure, with a 35% increase from last year’s allocation of Rs. 5.5 lakh crores. On the other hand, Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act programme for example, is pegged at Rs 73,000 crore, lower than Rs 98,000 crore in 2021-22 (Revised Estimate) and Rs 1,11,000 crore in 2020-21.

In this episode of The Suno India Show, our reporter Suryatapa Mukherjee spoke to Avani Kapur, a fellow at the Centre for Policy Research where she leads the Accountability Initiative. She explains how the budget has accommodated social welfare in terms of health, education, jobs and food security.

Show notes:

Economic Survey 
Union Budget 
The Inequality Virus: How The Indian Government Helped Widen Our Wealth Gap – Suno India 

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On March 11, 2024 a few months before the Lok Sabha Elections the central government notified the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules. This has come approximately four years after the Parliament passed the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in 2019. As per the amendment, the government can grant citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Parsis, Jains, or Christians from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan on or before December 31,2014.. conspicuously leaving out Muslims. It was passed amid nation-wide protests as linking citizenship to religion goes against the secular nature of the constitution. 

The bigger fear is about a nationwide National Register of Citizens or NRC. Assam is the only place with NRC. 

At the time of passing the Act, the Home Minister, Amit Shah told Parliament that a nationwide NRC is on the cards. However, in a blogpost, press information bureau at the time clarified repeatedly that no announcement has been made to begin NRC exercise. 

Now with the rules being released, nationwide implementation of the Act will begin. In 2019, the United Nations Human Rights Office issued a statement condemning the “fundamentally discriminatory” Citizenship Amendment Act. At the time in 2019, Suno India’s Padmapriya had spoken to Pia Oberoi, senior advisor on migration, UN Human Rights Office to understand their concerns around the Citizenship Amendment Act. We are republishing it as it continues to be relevant today.

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Ever since the pandemic started, a lot of employees are realising that their bosses don’t care enough about their health and safety. People are forced to come to work even when cases are peaking, until they catch the virus themselves or the government forces offices to close. But such experiences reveal something deeper about how employee rights in private companies have been eroded. In fact, it was during the pandemic that the government introduced new labour codes. These four codes are set to replace 29 labour laws. 

In this episode of The Suno India Show, our reporter Suryatapa Mukherjee spoke to Sucheta De, the National Vice President of All India Central Council of Trade Unions, and Anjali and Abhishek who share their experiences from work. The latter two are anonymous and these names are aliases. Anjali’s voice has also been changed to protect her identity. 

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Only about 65% of the eligible Indian population above the age of 18 has completed both doses of the COVID-19 vaccination. With the third wave setting in, many governments announced different kinds of punitive measures for not having completed vaccines. In Kerala, the state will not provide free treatment for those not vaccinated fully. Some states such as Delhi and Maharashtra have made it compulsory for government employees to be vaccinated. In Haryana entry into banks, malls, and other public places is not allowed if you are not fully vaccinated. In the past, we have had local governments announce stopping of ration, or other social security measures. 

Do such measures work? The question becomes even more important as the government announced vaccination for teenagers between the age of 15-18 and an additional protective dose for health workers and senior citizens.

Suno India’s Menaka Rao spoke to Dr Sunita Sheel Bandewar and Dr Prabir Chatterjee. Sunita is one of the working editors of the Indian Journal of Medical Ethics and an independent researcher in the area of bioethics and global health. Dr Chatterjee is a senior public health professional and was director of State Health Resource Centre, a technical support institute for the state’s health ministry.

Show notes

Press briefing on the actions taken, preparedness and updates on COVID-19, Dated: 05.01.2022
No free Covid treatment to unvaccinated, says Kerala CM Pinarayi Vijayan | Thiruvananthapuram News – Times of India
Data | India falls short of December 31 vaccination target – The Hindu
AEFI Reports | Ministry of Health and Family Welfare | GOI

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On this episode of The Suno India Show, our reporter Suryatapa Mukherjee speaks to Dr Dileep Mavalankar, the Director of the Indian Institute of Public Health, Gandhinagar, and Member Secretary of Gujarat State Task Force for COVID. 

They discuss how omicron is different from earlier variants of the coronavirus, from symptoms, treatment to precaution. And how this varies depending on comorbidities and vaccination. Tune in to hear how you can take care of yourself in this wave. 

Show notes:

Early third wave data from Mumbai: Severity low, oxygen needs low, but puzzling hospitalisation rate
'Who will treat patients?': Staff shortages loom as Omicron infects doctors and hospital workers
As patients and staff infect each other, hospitals struggle to contain spread of Covid-19

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Jacklin and Amali, two sisters who battled mental illnesses, are at the heart of an initiative to provide housing to women like them — those who suffer from mental ailments, grief, and homelessness. Their lived experiences breathe love and empathy into this initiative, which recently found a mention in a World Health Organisation report!

The host of this episode, Hariprasad Radhakrishnan, travels to Tiruchi to understand the challenges in access to mental health care in rural areas and why the housing model is unique.

He also spoke with Dr Pallab Kumar Maulik, Deputy Director and Director of Research, the George Institute of Global Health, Javits J. Rajendran, Associate Director, Partnerships and Communication at The Banyan and Rashi, Director (Communication and Strategy) at The Alternative Story to understand the range of sociological factors that make women more vulnerable to mental health illnesses and how the ‘Home Again’ model developed. 

Show notes:
Gender and women’s mental health

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As Mumbai police and now Delhi police catch alleged masterminds of the apps that virtually auctioned Muslim women, what took so long? Is it simply public pressure that led to the breakthroughs this time around? Or is the delay due to the difficulty of catching anonymous perpetrators online? 

For an answer to these questions, our reporter Suryatapa Mukherjee spoke to Karan Saini, a security researcher and a public interest technologist for this episode of The Suno India Show. Karan takes us through his own research of Sulli Deals and Bulli Bai, and what the police can do in this case involving US-based internet platforms.

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On this episode of Suno India, reporter Prashant Rathod profiles a rap band from Amravati. The band, Raptoli, includes Vipin Tatad, Tausif Khan, Mangesh Ingole and Gaurav Ingole. All four have grown up in Amravati's slums living the hard life as daily wage labourers. 

The group sings about living in a slum, casteism, communalism, living in poverty, and even touches on national issues such as the farmers’ protest, lockdown woes of labourers and other issues. 

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Indian films with hero cops often glorify police violence. At times, encounter killings are celebrated by the public at large. According to NHRC data, there are five custodial deaths in India every day. The minister of state for home affairs, Nityanand Rai has said that there have been 151 custodial deaths in 2021. 

On this episode of the Suno India Show, reporter Suryatapa Mukherjee speaks to Ameya Bokil, a legal researcher and co-founder of Criminal Justice and Police Accountability Project. They discuss how custodial violence started in India, why it is so common and what some of the legal remedies are. Tune in.

Show notes:

Death Due To Custodial Torture: State Government To Pay 5 Lakhs To Family Of Minor Victim; Madras High Court Adjourns The Matter | Live Law
Problems of Violence, States of Terror: Torture in Colonial India – Anupama Rao
Police’s Continued Victimisation of ‘Denotified’ Tribal Communities Can No Longer Go Unchallenged | The Wire
Over-policing in India is not the answer to COVID-19 | OpenGlobalRights 

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In November this year, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare released the National Health Accounts estimates for 2017-18. These estimates reveal that the total government health expenditure has decreased from 3.8% in 2016-17 to 3.3% in 2017-18 and that the share of government health expenditure in the Gross Domestic Product or GDP of the country has increased to 1.35% in 2017-18 from 1.15% in 2013-14.

According to these estimates, the out of pocket expenditure or money spent by households on healthcare decreased from 58.7% in 2016-17 to 48.8% in 2017-18. 

To make sense of the national health accounts estimates 2017-18 and to get a health economist’s perspective, host Kunika Balhotra spoke with Dr Indranil Mukhopadhyay. 

Dr Mukhopadhyay is an Associate Professor at OP Jindal Global University, Sonipat. He has a PhD in public health and health economics from the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) in New Delhi. 

He has led several research studies supported by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India; WHO, International Labour Organisation (ILO) and has several international and national publications.

Show Notes
National Health Accounts Estimates

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Over 10% of undertrials in Indian jails were booked under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. The Supreme Court has said that the bail provision under UAPA is “comparatively less stringent” than that under the NDPS Act. Majority of people booked under this law are not traffickers. 

In this episode of The Suno India Show, we will see how the NDPS Act affects not just the few celebrity names that pop up on news headlines, but thousands of common people who languish in Indian jails. Our reporter Suryatapa Mukherjee speaks to Dr Atul Ambekar, a psychiatrist and a Professor at the National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre, AIIMS, New Delhi. They discuss how the criminalisation of drug use discourages those who need help from seeking it.

Show notes:

As Modi govt plans NDPS Act changes, 27,072 drug case undertrials in India rot in jails | The Print
From Addict to Convict: The Working of the NDPS Act (1985) in Punjab
Calcutta HC Grants Bail To NDPS Accused In Custody For 6.5 Yrs Noting Inordinate Delay In Trial, Violation Of Article 21 | Live Law
Portugal’s Drug Laws: Decriminalisation in action | The Feed SBS

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The Cabinet has approved a bill to repeal the three farm laws in the upcoming winter session. In this episode of The Suno India Show, we will get an expert view on why the laws are being repealed and what’s in store for the future of farmers. 

Our reporter Suryatapa Mukherjee speaks to Surinder S Jodhka, an author and a Sociology professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University. They explore how the repeal will help BJP in upcoming state elections, how Sikhs played a crucial role in the protests and what are the reforms needed in agriculture now.  

Show Notes:

Woman farm leader reacts to laws repealed, fight for MSP guarantee to continue | TSIS

Why are the farmers of Punjab protesting? Surinder S Jodhka

Farm laws repeal wasn't about UP, Punjab elections. The answer lies in what Savarkar wrote | The Print 

Daasi - Nooran Sisters (Full Video) Guru Ravidass Bhajan

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मुस्कान भोपाल की रहने वाली एक दलित ट्रांसजेंडर महिला हैं जो सामाजिक हाशिये पर रहने के बीच स्वीकार्यता और अपनेपन की खोज का सफर साझा करती है। खून के रिश्तो से परे जाकर मुस्कान अपने चुनिंदा परिवार की कहानी बताती हैं जिसके साथ वह दुःख, प्यार और ट्रांसजेंडर होने की चुनौतियों व पहचान की जटिलता के बारे में जानती हैं.  अपने जन्म वाले परिवार के द्वारा अस्वीकारे जाने से लेकर LGBTQ+ समुदाय और सहयोगियों जैसे सुरय्या दादी में सांत्वना और सहारा पाने तक- मुस्कान की कहानी स्वीकार्यता और समझ की ओर अपना खुद का रास्ता बनाने के लिए आवश्यक सहनशीलता और साहस को उजागर करती है। यह चुने हुए परिवारों की शक्ति और हर किसी को उसके सच्चे रूप में महसूस करने वाले और प्यार करने वाले स्थानों की रचना की महत्वकांक्षा का एक साक्षी है। मुस्कान एकतारा कलेक्टिव द्वारा निर्मित फिल्म “एक जगह अपनी” में काम कर चुकी हैं. 

सेजल पटेल इस स्टोरी के लिए मुस्कान से मिलने भोपाल गए। यह एपिसोड Queerbeat के साथ कोलैबोरेशन में निर्मित किया गया है।

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The school closures in India due to the COVID-19 Pandemic have been among the longest in the world. For close to 18 months, 265 million students have not been to school. 

The report, “A FUTURE AT STAKE -Organizing the Education Recovery for the Most Vulnerable”  states that India is facing an education emergency like none other since independence. The report was released by The National Coalition on the Education Emergency (NCEE), a network of  like-minded organisations that have come together to address the problems created by school closure for the past nearly two years.

And as the schools are gradually re-opening, a new concern has crept up in the minds of educators and parents alike, how will children cope up with the vast gap that has developed in their academics? 

This is the second episode in the two-part series on schools reopening all over the country. In this episode of The Suno India Show, host Kunika Balhotra speaks with Dr Sajitha Bashir, the author of the report, to understand what steps schools and governments should take to address this education emergency.

Dr Bashir is a former Adviser in the Office of the Global Director of the Education Practice in the World Bank, where she led the work on Digital Skills. She co-authored the regional publication The Converging Technology Revolution and Human Capital: Potential and Implications for South Asia. Prior to joining the World Bank, she was head of the national research and evaluation unit within the Government of India’s national District Primary Education Program. She is a core member of the National Coalition on the Education Emergency in India. 

Show Notes

A FUTURE AT STAKE -Organizing the Education Recovery for the Most Vulnerable

Annual Status of Education Report (Rural) 2021

Locked Out: Emergency Report on School Education

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For about 18 months, children in India have not gone to school. The school closures have been among the longest in the world. This month, many state and local governments opened physical schools for children. Yet, private schools have not fully reopened as parents are reluctant to send their children to school and want to continue online education.

We at Suno India want to address the various questions that parents, school staff and administrators have in mind when it comes to school reopening. How do we ensure that children, school staff and people at home are safe. What should be a cause of worry and what should not be

To answer these questions, Suno India’s Menaka Rao spoke to Dr Chandrakant Lahariya, a medical doctor who works in the field of public health policy and health systems. He has co-authored the book Till We Win: India's Fight Against The COVID-19 pandemic, with Dr Randeep Guleria, the director of AIIMS, New Delhi and Dr Gagandeep Kang, professor of Microbiology at the Christian Medical College, Vellore. He has recently been writing and tweeting extensively advocating for schools to reopen.

Show Notes:

Delhi’s private schools take cautious steps towards reopening

Online Education: कोरोना काल में कैसे पिछड़े स्कूल जाने वाले बच्चे

Delhi’s private schools take cautious steps towards reopening

https://www.theindiaforum.in/article/reopening-schools?utm_source=website&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=category&utm_content=Covid-19

Kids and COVID: why young immune systems are still on top

Science Brief: Transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in K-12 Schools and Early Care and Education Programs - Updated

Over 70% patients above 40 yrs in both waves: ICMR

SARS-CoV-2 antibody seroprevalence in India, August–September, 2020: findings from the second nationwide household serosurvey

6th Delhi sero survey shows 97% prevalence of antibodies

covid-19 update

https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/question-and-answers-hub/q-a-detail/q-a-children-and-masks-related-to-covid-19

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November 19, 2021, on Guru Nanak Jayanti, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that the three controversial farm laws will be repealed in the upcoming winter session of the Parliament.

In this episode of The Suno India Show, our reporter Suryatapa Mukherjee speaks to Jasbir Kaur Nat, a state committee member of Punjab Kissan Union. Jasbir was on a bus to Chandigarh to organise more women protestors when she heard the announcement. She says that it is a partial victory as farmers have also been demanding Minimum Support Price (MSP) guarantee. Tune in. 

Show notes:

Samyukt Kisan Morcha welcomes repealing of farm laws
Centre brings in new law to tackle Delhi air pollution, Rs 1 crore fine, 5 years jail for non-compliance

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