WorklifeIndia

Before India legalised homosexual sex in 2018, the LGBTQ+ community in this country of more than a billion people lived under the shadow of a law dating back nearly 160 years to colonial rule.

As the ruling was handed down, there were celebrations all across the country, but three years on, have social mindsets and attitudes changed? Do professionals from the LGBTQ+ community find it easier to apply for jobs or ask for promotions, or is it still monumental to come out at work? And do corporate India’s inclusive policies tackle real representation, or are they mere tokenism?

In this edition of WorklifeIndia, we discuss how inclusive Indian workplaces are for the LGBTQ+ community.

Presenter: Devina Gupta

Contributors: Ritu Dalmia, chef, restaurateur, LGBTQ+ activist; Harish Iyer, head – Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, Axis Bank; Ishaan Sethi, business, marketing and product consultant; Ahmed Faraz, business process outsourcing professional

China’s recent move to limit the time children spend on online gaming has put the spotlight back on the long-running concern about how excessive gaming can impact the young.

India has a booming online gaming market with around 350 million gamers, 60% of whom are under 25 years, and the pandemic has led to a massive growth of the gaming industry.

Experts say addictive behaviour in gaming comes from other underlying concerns, such as loneliness, fear of rejection, or coping with social phobia. Should gaming companies take more ownership to improve awareness and restrict gaming hours for minors? Or should the onus be more on parents to impose gaming curfews? And what are the early signs to detect addictive behaviour?

In this edition of WorklifeIndia, we discuss how to prevent gaming addiction in children.

Presenter: Devina Gupta

Thousands of Afghans continue to flee their country since the Taliban seized control last month. Nearly half a million are expected to seek sanctuary in other countries by the end of the year, according to the United Nations.

Many of them will head to India. The country has a long-standing practice of welcoming asylum seekers, but selectively, and still doesn’t have a clearly defined state policy. Is an ad hoc system sufficient to take in more refugees on top of the estimated 245,000 that India currently hosts? And can it ensure uniform treatment of refugees from different communities such as the Rohingyas, the Tibetans or the Sri Lankan Tamils? What measures could help asylum seekers feel more socially included and have the basic rights to jobs and education?

In this edition of WorklifeIndia, we discuss whether it’s time for India to formulate a national refugee protection framework.

Presenter: Devina Gupta

Contributors: Dilip Sinha, former Indian ambassador; Anas Tanwir, advocate, founder – Indian Civil Liberties Union; Sadaf Habib, Afghan national, Asylum seeker; Ali Johar, refugee, founder - Rohingya Literacy Programme

India’s mega film industry - the world's largest in terms of the number of productions - has suffered losses worth billions of dollars due to the pandemic. Since last year, the country’s 9,500 theatres were shut because of the coronavirus outbreak. This led to massive job losses. Film production was hit too, and has only recently started picking up, as theatrical releases make a comeback.

But has big-screen movie watching taken a backseat with Covid norms in place? Do on-demand platforms offer more versatile content than multiplexes? And how are actors shooting for movies with so many safety restrictions in place?

In this edition of WorklifeIndia, we discuss how the coronavirus pandemic has changed Bollywood.

Presenter: Devina Gupta

Contributors: Rahul Mittra, filmmaker; Shubhra Gupta, film critic and columnist; Alok Tandon, CEO, INOX Leisure Limited; Siddharth Malhotra, actor; Kiara Advani, actor

The coronavirus pandemic has had a catastrophic impact on schoolchildren. More than 300 million students in India have been impacted due to school closures as the country battled the health crisis. Many have shifted completely to online classes for more than a year, but millions of others haven’t had access to digital platforms.

So, what’s been the fallout as schools begin to take small steps to resume offline classes? How can students recover the lost learning curve? And what about their social-emotional wellbeing? Is it time to rethink education?

In this edition of WorklifeIndia, we discuss the challenges and the solutions needed to bridge the learning gap.

Presenter: Devina Gupta

Contributors: Arindita Gogoi, experiential educator and teacher; Shantanu Rooj, Founder and CEO, TeamLease Edtech; Vikas Jhunjhunwala, CEO, Sunshine Schools

Ever since partition in 1947, India and Pakistan have been locked in conflict. Often, the two nations are in the news for increasing hostilities along the Line of Control, the de facto border that divides disputed Kashmir. The two countries have a shared history and similar cultures, but despite many attempts at resolving their disputes, lasting peace and good neighbourly relations have eluded them.

As both countries prepare to mark their 75th year of independence, we hear from those who dared to love and marry across the borders. What has life been like for them? What is it that they yearn for the most? Would love beyond borders conquer collective prejudices?

In this edition of WorklifeIndia, we bring you love stories from India and Pakistan that are filled with hope, even in the face of grave challenges.

Presenter: Devina Gupta

Contributors: Sarita Singh Sodha, ex-royal, Ghanerao; Zoya Fatima Rizvi and Mir Irfan Hussain Najafi, India-Pak couple; Shazman Mansoor and Mansoor Ali, India-Pak couple

Unusually severe rainfall, flooding, and heatwaves in different parts of India have raised questions about extreme weather becoming more common in the country. According to a recent study, India saw the world's largest displacement in 2020 caused by floods and cyclones. The economic loss was estimated to be over 20 billion dollars.

So, with unpredictable and erratic weather patterns, what's the way out to minimize the damage? Is it too late to reverse the impact? And what lessons can be learnt from similar climate incidents happening across the world?

In this edition of WorklifeIndia, we discuss what's causing these extreme conditions and whether better planning and preparation can mitigate the impact on human lives.

Presenter: Devina Gupta

Contributors: Bahar Dutt, environment journalist & conservation biologist; Dr Vikram Ghanekar, partner – SGM Hospital, Chiplun; Dr Roxy Mathew Koll, climate scientist, Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology

India has a population of almost 1.4 billion people and is expected to become the most populous country in the world, overtaking China, by 2027, according to the United Nations. And now, India's most populous state, has unveiled a controversial bill to curb population growth. With over 220 million people, Uttar Pradesh says it'll deny government jobs, subsidies and the right to contest local polls - to anyone who has more than two children. Critics say it's likely to encourage sex selective abortions and further impede minorities' rights in a state, which is often challenged for its divisive, right-wing Hindu nationalist image.

Toxic workplaces take many forms, but they share a common thread of bullying, negativity and harm. And they may result in wide-ranging consequences - right from physical health impacts to poor mental health and burnout, as well as organisational fallout.

Experts say most bullying originates from poor management, with destructive behaviours trickling down from the top level. Abusive bosses can engage in harassing behaviour anywhere – before the pandemic, it would be during in-person meetings, presentations or casual workplace interactions. Now, they even occur on Zoom team calls, in messages or over e-mails.

Bullying affects the quality of people's work, but what can be done about it? And how can you confront a bullying boss who's making your work-life a misery?

In this edition of WorklifeIndia, we discuss the ways one can deal with bullying at the workplace.

Presenter: Devina Gupta

Contributors: Astha Chandra, life coach; Rosita Rabindra, co-founder, Diversity Dialogues; Sagar Mandhani, product manager at a startup; Anindita Sharma, communications consultant; Ronak Kotecha, media professional

Across the world, drones are already being used to carry products, perform security surveillance or conduct warfare. It's becoming more common to hear the soft buzz of a drone flying overhead. India, which has so far trailed in adopting the technology, is now eager to ease norms and encourage the use of drones.

Does that mean getting your pizza delivered within 10 minutes with a drone flying in through your window? Would everyone welcome this trend? And how would it impact bigger scale applications in areas such as the military, healthcare and geospatial mapping?

In this edition of WorklifeIndia, we discuss how new policy rules could impact the drone industry's future.

Presenter: Devina Gupta

Contributors: Vipul Singh, co-founder, CEO, Aarav Unmanned Systems; Dr Ruchi Saxena, director, India Flying Labs; Smit Shah, director, Drone Federation of India