WorklifeIndia

India has unveiled an ambitious plan to transform itself into a $5 trillion economy over the next five years. For perspective, that would take the second most populous country in the world into third spot after the United States and China.

But it’s not going to be easy, and even the government accepts that. Experts say there are many bottlenecks.The country faces high unemployment, a continuing farm crisis, and rising trade tensions. Growth has been slowing and there are no immediate signs of a turnaround.

But the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, which has presented the first budget of its second term in office, says concerns have been addressed.

We talk to a top industrialist, an independent economist and an entrepreneur to look at the roadmap to achieve this ambitious target, and ask whether the budget can return India to high-trajectory growth.

Presenter: Devina Gupta

Contributors: Vikram Kirloskar, president, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII); Sairee Chahal, founder, SHEROES (a platform for women job seekers); Renu Kohli, independent economist.

Image: Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman holds a folder containing the Union Budget documents (Credit: Rajat Gupta/EPA)

Twenty-one of India’s major cities may run out of ground water as early as 2020 according to a government report. Some experts contest that assessment but daily water woes are a part of life for almost half of the country’s population.

The southern city of Chennai, where reservoirs are drying up due to a delayed monsoon and poor water management, is severely affected. Residents there have been queuing up to collect water from rationed government services, and schools, hospitals and restaurants are struggling to cope. Meanwhile, the Indian government has set up a new Jal Shakti (water power) Ministry, and is proposing a massive project to interlink India’s rivers as an answer to the water crisis.

We focus on water conservation and management solutions to India’s water crisis. We speak to a water activist based in Chennai who restores lakes and ponds, the head of a Delhi-based non-profit that works to recharge groundwater, and a water expert who specialises in rural irrigation economy and policy making.

Presenter: Devina Gupta

Contributors: Aditi Mukherjee, Principal Researcher, International Water Management Institute; Jyoti Sharma, President, FORCE Non-profit; Arun Krishnamurthy, Founder, Environmentalist Foundation of India

Photo: A woman carries a length of hose pipe to be used to fill water Credit: Burhaan Kinu/Hindustan Times via Getty Image

India is facing a health crisis that says a lot about the state of its healthcare systems. More than 100 children have died due to an outbreak of encephalitis in the eastern state of Bihar. The patients are usually in small towns and rural areas where medical facilities are strained.

Public hospitals are in a shabby state and struggling to cope with streams of patients. All of this impacts the poor the most, as they are unable to afford the state-of-the-art private medical facilities available in big cities.

Public expenditure on healthcare in India is quite low, but last year, the government announced an ambitious health insurance scheme. Can it make healthcare more accessible? And what role can technology and telemedicine play in improving the quality of healthcare?

Presenter: Devina Gupta

Contributors: Shobana Kamineni, executive vice-chairperson, Apollo Hospitals Group; Prof K Srinath Reddy, president, Public Health Foundation of India; Dr Yogesh Jain, co-founder, Jan Swasthya Sahyog (JSS) health non-profit

Image: Relatives visit child patients who suffer from acute encephalitis syndrome in a hospital ward in Muzaffarpur, in the eastern state of Bihar, India (Credit: Alasdair Pal/Reuters)

India's LGBTQ+ community is believed to be more than 100 million strong, and is openly celebrating pride month. Last year, India decriminalised gay sex, but deep-rooted social stigma remains.

As more people come out and the community becomes more vocal about its preferences, entrepreneurs and big businesses are eager to tap into its spending power. New ventures targeting queer consumers are springing up in tourism, hospitality, fashion, healthcare and dating.

But there are also concerns that an exclusive 'pink economy' might isolate the community.

In this episode of WorklifeIndia, we ask a prominent transgender rights activist, an award winning fashion designer and LGBTQ+ rights activist, and the founder of a dating and community app for the LGBTQ+ community whether 'pink money' can take off in India.

Presenter: Devina Gupta

Contributors: Laxmi Narayan Tripathi, transgender rights activist; Wendell Rodricks, fashion designer and LGBTQ+ rights activist; Ishaan Sethi, founder, Delta App.

Image: People taking part in Mumbai's Queer Azaadi Pride Parade (Credit: Azhar Khan/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

India’s coastline is over 7,500 kilometres (over 4,600 miles) long, and nearly a fifth of the country’s population – about 250 million people – live along the coast. From mineral resources to food, tourism and maritime trade, the Indian Ocean is a lifeline, and its assets are worth billions of dollars.

But now the government is looking at an ambitious coastal development project to build ports, dams and inland waterways. How will this impact coastal communities and marine life? Will it end up choking the oceans, or can India adopt the Blue Economy and sustainably develop its marine resources?

As we celebrate World Environment Day and World Oceans Day this week, we ask our guests whether the Blue Economy is viable.

Presenter: Devina Gupta

Contributors: Nayantara Jain, executive director, ReefWatch Marine Conservation; Ganesh Nakhawa, sustainable fishery operator and founder, BluCatch; Puja Mitra, founder and director, Terra Conscious

Image: A fisherman pulls in his net at a beach in Chennai on November 22, 2018 (Credit: Arun Sankar/AFP/Getty Images)

As the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019 begins, we look at the changes that cricket has undergone. From test matches that lasted more than a week, we’re now living in the times of T20 and T10 cricket. One of the key drivers behind this is money - cricket is now a much more lucrative sport than it used to be, with major brands stepping in as sponsors, broadcast rights selling for billions of dollars, and players standing to earn big bucks in commercial deals and endorsements.

We speak to a sportscaster and former captain of the Indian women’s cricket team, a top executive from one of the sponsors of the World Cup, and a former cricket player turned coach. The head coach of an Indian Premier League team joins us from Cape Town, South Africa and we ask them how cricket has evolved, and discuss what’s driving this multi-billion dollar game.

Presenter: Devina Gupta Contributors: Anjum Chopra, sportscaster and former cricket captain; Pradeep Parameswaran, president, India and South Asia, Uber; Puru Singh, ICC Level 2 Coach and founder of PUSH Cricket Academy; Paddy Upton, head coach, Rajasthan Royals (Indian Premier League)

Photo: Indian cricket fans get a special hair creation to cheer India National team for the Cricket World Cup (CWC) at a barbershop in Mumbai, May 2019 Credit: EPA/Divyakant Solanki

Indian voters have overwhelmingly voted Prime Minister Narendra Modi back in for a second term. His Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party has won with a large majority.

This significant verdict will have a direct bearing on India's economy and society for the next five years. What does it mean for India's future?

There are headwinds of an economic slowdown. The new government must also face challenges like agrarian distress, unemployment, trade tensions and high crude prices. There are also fears of the rise of a right-wing agenda and communal polarisation.

In this edition of WorklifeIndia, we speak to the chief of the Indian government institute for promoting economic development, a prominent sociologist, and the head of an independent think-tank that monitors the Indian economy. We ask them if Prime Minister Modi will deliver on his promise of inclusive growth.

Presenter: Devina Gupta

Contributors: Amitabh Kant, CEO, NITI Aayog; Mahesh Vyas, MD and CEO, Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy; Dr Nandini Sundar, sociologist, Delhi University

Image: A Bharatiya Janata Party supporter seen wearing a mask of Narendra Modi during the celebrations (Image: Avijit Ghosh/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Sad about Game of Thrones ending this week? The battle for the throne lives on - online. Too hot to play football or cricket outdoors? The video game version is a comfortable option, and lets you pick the players, uniform and strategy.

The world of e-sports is a promising one, and growing fast. It goes by its own rules, big money is at stake, and 320 million people globally are hooked on to it. It is growing in popularity in India too thanks to a large community of geeks, gamers and developers. A fantasy sports start-up just became India’s first gaming unicorn. But with this popularity come fears around addiction and violence. In fact, an Indian state temporarily banned gamers from accessing a popular battle royale game.

In this edition of WorklifeIndia, we speak to the owner of an e-sports company, a professional gamer who doubles as a cosplayer, and a cyber de-addiction expert. We ask them where the e-sports industry is headed, how you can earn money as a gamer, and how worried we should be about the mental health concerns around it.

Presenter: Devina Gupta

Contributors: Abhay Sharma, co-founder GamingMonk; Aorin Shariyari, professional gamer and cosplayer; Dr Yatan Pal Singh Balhara, cyber de-addiction specialist.

(Photo: India gaming Championship as Mountain Dew Game Fuel is launched on 9 June 2016. Credit: Saumya Khandelwal/Hindustan Times/Getty Images)

India is one of the world’s fastest growing economies, and yet, Indians don’t seem to be all that happy.

It is placed 140th out of 156 on a United Nations list that ranks countries on happiness.

So, why the grim faces? Are Indians able to laugh at themselves or do they take themselves too seriously?

We sit down in a swanky pub near Delhi with some of India’s top comedians and satirists and ask them what it’s like working as a comedian in India. Do they feel free to poke fun at sensitive issues around Indian society and politics, or are they concerned about how audiences might react?

Presenter: Devina Gupta

Contributors: Aditi Mittal, stand-up comic; Akash Banerjee, political satirist; Rajneesh Kapoor, stand-up comic; Sweta Mantrii, stand-up comic

Image: Senior citizens perform various laughing exercises during an event to mark World Laughter Day (Credit: Kalpak Pathak/Hindustan Times via Getty Images)

One of the biggest election issues in India is unemployment.

A controversy erupted recently over a leak of government jobs data that suggested unemployment in India is at a 45-year-high – a worrying situation, considering the millions of Indian youth entering the workforce each year. The government disputes these figures and maintains the situation isn’t as bad as it seems.

So, the question is: Are there enough jobs? And for those who are employed, are the jobs suitable to their qualifications?

Most of India’s workforce is still in the informal sector, with irregular wages and no social protection. How can the situation here be improved?

How have policies to promote job creation through entrepreneurship, upskilling and manufacturing fared?

And how does the future look – are automation and machine learning eventually coming for all of us?

Presenter: Devina Gupta

Contributors: Sabina Dewan, president and executive director, JustJobs Network; Dr Seema Sharma, consultant, ICRIER (Indian Council for Research on International Economic Relations); Varun Aggarwal, co-founder, Aspiring Minds

Image: Employees in the information technology sector hold placards against layoffs and alleged unfair labour practices by Indian IT companies during a protest organised by the Information Technology Employees Union in Bangalore on July 29, 2017 (Credit: Manjunath Kiran/AFP/Getty Images)