With organisations striving to be more inclusive in their conduct and policies, we trace the underlying sociopolitics of doing so — understanding how LGBTQ rights are viewed in association with business goals, and examining the different layers of inclusion.
What does living in a city really mean? In this edition, we draw attention to the interactions between built environments and the bodies that occupy them – exploring the many resiliences in the urban.
As the world grapples with the limits of artificial intelligence (AI), there is an increasing focus on aspects of transparency and trust in the human-machine relationship. Generative AI is progressing with leaps and bounds – but how is its equation with people evolving, given that one party is human and the other is technological?
The Barbie movie and its associated colours, merchandise and promotions have taken the world by storm. Through this article, we think through the pink, plastic, perfect world of Barbie, and ask what the doll, the brand, and the movie mean to us as consumers.
As India basks in the celebrations of its recent space mission, we look at how science finds a place in national sentiments. How do we make meaning of it in a democracy, and what values do we place on it as citizens?
The festival season is upon us, with its eternal moorings in the triumph of good over evil, pathos and ethos, and ultimately light/darkness in binary opposition. In this edition, we explore how we make meaning with, of, and through light.
In 2023, a Twitter account called the Gender Pay Gap Bot became popular for automatically replying to any organisation that tweeted about International Womens Day, with data on their gender pay gap. It put pressure on companies, calling them out for posting fluff instead of working towards being an equal employer. In India, as of October last year, the female labour force participation stood at 37%. In the decade since market regulator SEBI made it compulsory for listed companies to have at least one woman director on their board, women’s representation on Indian corporate boards has tripled from 6 per cent in 2013 to 18 per cent in 2022. What is the reality for these women at work, then? If we remove the fluff, what story does the data tell us?
A few weeks ago, the world celebrated the 1000th word in Josh Wardle’s popular 5-letter 6-try game, Wordle. Platforms like Duolingo, Uber, Spotify and Headspace all celebrated the occasion with special offers and discounts. Since its inception, the uptake of the game skyrocketed, and it was acquired by the New York Times in 2022 for an undisclosed 7-figure sum. What about this game made it so popular, and why did it appeal to us in the way that it did?
This week, the 22nd of April marked ‘Earth Day’, an annual global event to demonstrate support for environmental protection. This came during a time when India was experiencing its second heat-wave of the month. The first spell scorched parts of Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, while the second is currently hitting Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha and Gangetic West Bengal. This, naturally, will have effects on agriculture and energy consumption, in addition to the upcoming general elections. India’s power ministry has asked the state-run National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC) to secure additional gas supplies in case of a surge in demand. The 2022 heatwave impacted wheat production severely, forcing an export ban, and climate experts are predicting a similar derailment this year.
