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Hindustan Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Hindustan Times
AI needs to be open and inclusive like India Stack
Back in October 2024, I wrote on these pages of a group of 12-year-olds who had figured out an ingenious shortcut to finish their homework. Use 40% ChatGPT, 40% Google, and 20% of their own words. At first, it looked like cheating. But with the perspective of distance, I think it was something else entirely. Regulators in Europe are telling Meta (which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp) not to use user data to train AI unless people clearly agree to it. (Shutterstock/ Representative photo) These children had understood a basic truth: in today's world, what matters most is the result. Not the process. Not the effort. Ask the right question and let the machine find the answer. Don't worry too much about what happens in between. This way of thinking isn't limited to schoolwork anymore, it's showing up in the way digital systems are being built world over—India included. Over the last few years, India has quietly built one of the most impressive pieces of technology. Between Aadhaar, UPI, DigiLocker, CoWIN, Bhashini, and ONDC– collectively called IndiaStack– it is now used by millions of people. It helps people prove their identity, send money, download documents, get vaccinated, translate languages, and access other public services. But here's what makes India's system different from those in most other countries: it doesn't keep your data. In countries like the United States or across Europe, tech companies track what people do online. Every search, every click, every purchase is saved and studied. That information is then used to target ads, recommend content, and even train artificial intelligence systems. That is why The New York Times is now suing OpenAI (the builders of ChatGPT) — because its news articles were used to train a system without permission. This is why regulators in Europe are telling Meta (which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp) not to use user data to train AI unless people clearly agree to it. In India, the rules—and the values—are different. The digital systems here were built with public money and designed to serve everyone. But they were not designed to spy on people. They were created to work quickly, fairly, and without remembering too much. Take Aadhaar. All it is built to do is prove a person is who the person claims to be. It cannot track where you go. Or DigiLocker. It doesn't keep copies of your CBSE marksheets, PAN cards, or insurance papers. It simply fetches these documents from the source when you ask. That's all. It's a messenger, not a filing cabinet. UPI moves money between people. But it doesn't remember what you spent it on. Long story short, these systems were built to function like light switches. They work when needed, and switch off when the job is done. The builders insisted it doesn't hold on to your personal information for longer than necessary. That's why India's digital model is being noticed around the world. It's open, fair, and inclusive. But now, with the rise of artificial intelligence, a new kind of problem is emerging. AI tools need a lot of data to learn how to speak, listen, write, or make decisions. In India, companies are beginning to train AI using public systems. Language tools learn from Bhashini. Health startups are using patterns from CoWIN to build diagnostic tools. Fintech firms are using transaction frameworks to refine how they give loans. This isn't illegal. It was even expected. These public systems were built to encourage innovation. But here's the problem: the public helped create these systems, and now private companies are using them to build powerful new tools—and may be making money from them. Yet the public might not see any of that value coming back. This is where the story of the 12-year-olds we started with, becomes relevant again. Just like those students who used machines to do most of the work, there's now a larger system that is also skipping the middle part. People provide the inputs—documents, payments, identities. The machines learn from them. And then private players build services or products that benefit from all that learning. The people who made it possible? They are left out of the conversation. In other countries, the debate is about privacy. In India, the debate must now shift to fairness. It's not about stopping AI. It's not about banning companies from using public tools. It's about asking for transparency and accountability. If a company is using data or tools from public systems to train its AI, it should say so clearly. If it benefits from public data, it should give something back—like sharing improved datasets, or allowing its models to be audited. If it's building a commercial product on public infrastructure, it should explain how it used that infrastructure in the first place. This is not regulation for the sake of it. It's basic respect for the public that made the system possible in the first place. India's digital platforms were built to serve everyone. They were not designed to store people's information, and that's what makes them special. But that openness can be misused if those who build on top of it forget where their foundations came from. It's easy to be dazzled by AI. But intelligence—human or machine—shouldn't come without responsibility. So here's the question worth asking: If the public built the digital tools, used them, trusted them, and helped them grow—why aren't they part of the rewards that artificial intelligence is now creating?
India Gazette
12-06-2025
- Business
- India Gazette
India has witnessed unprecedented digital revolution in past 11 years: JP Nadda
New Delhi [India], June 12 (ANI): Union Minister and Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) President JP Nadda on Thursday highlighted India's 'unprecedented' digital revolution in the last 11 years, adding that the transformation has bridged the digital divide and ensured that technology reaches every citizen. In a post on X, Nadda said that governance is more transparent and efficient under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 'Over the past 11 years, India has witnessed an unprecedented digital revolution under the visionary leadership of Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi ji. This transformation has not only connected millions but also bridged the digital divide, ensuring that technology reaches every citizen,' Nadda said. 'Today, governance is more transparent and efficient than ever before. Major government schemes are integrated with real-time digital dashboards, promoting transparency and delivering direct benefits to citizens,' he added. He mentioned that central schemes such as UPI, DigiLocker, Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, U-WIN, CoWIN and e-Sanjeevani have empowered millions. 'Innovations like UPI, DigiLocker, Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, U-WIN, CoWIN and e-Sanjeevani are not just digital platforms; they have empowered millions. 'Let's celebrate this Digital India journey as it paves the way towards a Viksit Bharat @2047,' he said on X. Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed India's digital and technological progress, stating that the country is making remarkable progress in the innovation and application of technology. The Prime Minister highlighted that the digital progress is also strengthening the country's efforts towards becoming self-reliant in the technology sector. Taking to his X social media platform, PM Modi shared a post by MyGovIndia, which talks about how India could become the next technology powerhouse of the world and the steps taken by the Union Government in the past 11 years in the sector. 'Powered by the youth of India, we are making remarkable progress in the innovation and application of technology. 'It is also strengthening our efforts to become self-reliant and a global tech powerhouse,' PM Modi said. India has recorded a surge of 2500 times in the volume of UPI transactions, with data showing that UPI transactions, which were at 0.93 crore in April 2017 increased to 1867.70 crore by April 2025. India is also leading the digital payment revolution, wherein more than Rs 260 lakh crore transactions have been processed with Rs 18,600 crore transactions annually. UPI's acceptance in the world has also increased and it is live in seven countries, including the UAE, Singapore, Nepal, France, Mauritius, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. India also stands as the world's cheapest mobile data provider, with more than 94 crore broadband connections and more than 120 crore telephone subscribers. A total of 2.18 lakh gram panchayats have been connected through optical fibre networks under the Bharat Net scheme and 6.92 lakh km of fibre cable has been laid. The Union Government has also showcased interest in Artificial Intelligence with three AI Centres of Excellence to be set up in top educational institutions. India is also working on the development of AI models such as BharatGen, Sarvam-1, Chitralekha and Hanooman's Everest 1.0. On June 10, Prime Minister Modi shared an article on the government's commitment to advancing India's digital connectivity over the past 11 years. (ANI)
Time of India
12-06-2025
- Business
- Time of India
India has witnessed unprecedented digital revolution in past 11 years: JP Nadda
Union Minister and Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) President JP Nadda on Thursday highlighted India's "unprecedented" digital revolution in the last 11 years, adding that the transformation has bridged the digital divide and ensured that technology reaches every citizen. In a post on X, Nadda said that governance is more transparent and efficient under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. "Over the past 11 years, India has witnessed an unprecedented digital revolution under the visionary leadership of Hon'ble Prime Minister Shri @narendramodi ji. This transformation has not only connected millions but also bridged the digital divide, ensuring that technology reaches every citizen," Nadda said. Play Video Pause Skip Backward Skip Forward Unmute Current Time 0:00 / Duration 0:00 Loaded : 0% 0:00 Stream Type LIVE Seek to live, currently behind live LIVE Remaining Time - 0:00 1x Playback Rate Chapters Chapters Descriptions descriptions off , selected Captions captions settings , opens captions settings dialog captions off , selected Audio Track Picture-in-Picture Fullscreen This is a modal window. Beginning of dialog window. Escape will cancel and close the window. Text Color White Black Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Text Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Opaque Semi-Transparent Transparent Caption Area Background Color Black White Red Green Blue Yellow Magenta Cyan Opacity Transparent Semi-Transparent Opaque Font Size 50% 75% 100% 125% 150% 175% 200% 300% 400% Text Edge Style None Raised Depressed Uniform Drop shadow Font Family Proportional Sans-Serif Monospace Sans-Serif Proportional Serif Monospace Serif Casual Script Small Caps Reset restore all settings to the default values Done Close Modal Dialog End of dialog window. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like So sicherst du dir bessere Chancen bei der Wohnungssuche! ImmoScout24 Mehr erfahren Undo — JPNadda (@JPNadda) "Today, governance is more transparent and efficient than ever before. Major government schemes are integrated with real-time digital dashboards, promoting transparency and delivering direct benefits to citizens," he added. Live Events He mentioned that central schemes such as UPI, DigiLocker, Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, U-WIN, CoWIN and e-Sanjeevhave empowered millions. "Innovations like UPI, DigiLocker, Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission, U-WIN, CoWIN and e-Sanjeevani are not just digital platforms; they have empowered millions. "Let's celebrate this Digital India journey as it paves the way towards a Viksit Bharat @2047," he said on X. Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi hailed India's digital and technological progress, stating that the country is making remarkable progress in the innovation and application of technology. The Prime Minister highlighted that the digital progress is also strengthening the country's efforts towards becoming self-reliant in the technology sector. Taking to his X social media platform, PM Modi shared a post by MyGovIndia, which talks about how India could become the next technology powerhouse of the world and the steps taken by the Union Government in the past 11 years in the sector. "Powered by the youth of India, we are making remarkable progress in the innovation and application of technology. "It is also strengthening our efforts to become self-reliant and a global tech powerhouse," PM Modi said. India has recorded a surge of 2500 times in the volume of UPI transactions, with data showing that UPI transactions, which were at 0.93 crore in April 2017 increased to 1867.70 crore by April 2025. India is also leading the digital payment revolution , wherein more than Rs 260 lakh crore transactions have been processed with Rs 18,600 crore transactions annually. UPI's acceptance in the world has also increased and it is live in seven countries, including the UAE, Singapore, Nepal, France, Mauritius, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. India also stands as the world's cheapest mobile data provider, with more than 94 crore broadband connections and more than 120 crore telephone subscribers. A total of 2.18 lakh gram panchayats have been connected through optical fibre networks under the Bharat Net scheme and 6.92 lakh km of fibre cable has been laid. The Union Government has also showcased interest in Artificial Intelligence with three AI Centres of Excellence to be set up in top educational institutions. India is also working on the development of AI models such as BharatGen, Sarvam-1, Chitralekha and Hanooman's Everest 1.0. On June 10, Prime Minister Modi shared an article on the government's commitment to advancing India's digital connectivity over the past 11 years.
Scroll.in
12-06-2025
- Health
- Scroll.in
What is the scope of using AI for early detection of critical diseases in Indian public healthcare?
With the country's sprawling geography and a growing population, India's healthcare system is a story of many contrasts. Rural India, home to 65 per cent of the country's population, faces an 80 per cent shortfall in specialist doctors. As a result, patients often have to travel significant distances to access good healthcare at hospitals such as All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, which receives 15,000 patients daily in its outpatient department, many of whom come from far-flung areas. Travelling long distances to avail healthcare is stressful and expensive – and understandably something that most patients choose as a last resort. By then, the disease is often at an advanced stage, which reduces the chances of recovery. On the other hand, the country's biggest and most populous cities often have access to state-of-the-art healthcare facilities and enough specialist doctors. The Covid-19 pandemic, which led to widespread suffering and death across the country, shone a 1000-watt flashlight on these gaps. Especially during the second wave (April–May 2021), when a surge in Covid cases almost threatened to collapse our entire healthcare system, even in our biggest cities and best hospitals. At the same time, it forced innovations in our healthcare system, leading to the adoption of tele-health and digital health technologies such as the CoWIN platform for vaccination management and Aarogya Setu for contact tracing. The Ayushman Bharat Digital Mission (ABDM), which followed soon after, aimed to create a digital ecosystem for storing personal health records of citizens, registries for healthcare professionals and facilities so that patients could make informed choices. It also acts as a platform for scheduling appointments and teleconsultations. These are all steps in the right direction, but limited Internet connectivity and digital infrastructure, particularly in rural areas, have checked the scope of these initiatives. As has in many cases, low levels of literacy, especially digital literacy. More importantly, these policies do not help solve the primary issue of limited healthcare capacity and disease detection capabilities, which leads to inequities in healthcare access in India. And this is where AI can be impactful – especially for early detection of critical diseases and targeted public health interventions in our currently resource-poor healthcare system. Despite making significant leaps in healthcare, India continues to have one of the lowest life-expectancy rates in Asia – even though it is the region's third-largest economy. One of the contributing factors is infant mortality, where we again lag behind much of the region. Infant mortality, or the number of infants who die before reaching the age of one per 1000 live births every year, was 25.5 in 2022. This is lower than some of our neighbours such as Pakistan (57) and Myanmar (35), but higher than Sri Lanka (6), Bangladesh (24), Nepal (24) and Bhutan (23). Looking beyond our immediate neighbours, within the BRICS bloc, only South Africa (26) fared worse. The simple reason why so many babies die in India is because of poor availability of primary healthcare in rural and far-flung areas. Government programmes aimed at improving maternal and infant care are in place, but logistical and resource constraints often make it difficult to ensure proper last-mile delivery. This is a challenge that technology, particularly AI, could help address. Let's take the example of India's frontline healthcare workers, our 2 million-strong, largely female, ASHA and Anganwadi workers, who reach corners of the country where doctors don't. A common challenge they face when making home visits to new mothers is understanding if the newborn is developing properly. This is especially crucial in the first thirty days of birth for the baby's survival. But there is only so far that assessment by the naked eye can go, especially by frontline workers who don't have much medical training. Shishu Maapan, a child anthropometry tool developed by the non-profit organisation Wadhwani AI, hopes to solve this problem. The healthcare worker has to take a short video of a newborn on any smartphone and the AI model can predict weight, length and head circumference to assess if the infant is developing properly or not. This nifty application can ensure targeted interventions in resource-poor settings in rural India. The perils of unequal health access extend well beyond infancy. Take tuberculosis (TB), for example, a bacterial infection that primarily affects the lungs but can also impact the spine, brain or kidneys, and kills an estimated 3,20,000 people in India every year. Although preventable and curable, this infectious disease is one of the leading causes of death in the world. India shoulders a big share of this burden, accounting for 26 per cent of all TB cases globally. Reducing the incidence of this disease will clearly go a long way in boosting the country's average life expectancy. Incidents of TB lurk all around us, even though we may not realise it, with the country's rural areas as well as urban slums being major hotspots. Poverty is a key driver, with TB instances reducing in communities where income has gone up, and housing, sanitation and nourishment have consequently improved. Understandably, then there is quite a bit of social stigma around the disease, with many avoiding treatment for fear of social isolation, gossip, verbal abuse, failed marriage prospects and neglect from family. There is also a widespread misconception that TB is a hereditary disease, which further adds to the stigma and the social isolation of not just the individual but also their family. It was back in 2018 that India announced the ambitious plan to eliminate TB by 2025, five years ahead of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals target of 2030. These targets are unlikely to be met – while in part this is because the Covid pandemic shifted focus and resources away from TB,20 the key reason is delayed diagnosis of patients. 'We now have the resources to deal with the disease, but we just cannot find the infected people on time,' explains Jigar Doshi, who is director of machine learning at ARTPARK, a Bengaluru-based non-profit, and has worked on building AI solutions for tackling TB. While we may be behind on our targets, it doesn't mean the war on TB has to be lost. One of the key ways in which AI can aid in this fight is early detection. 'Many of the patients visiting primary healthcare centres across the country with coughs lasting more than three weeks have TB, but they often go undiagnosed,' explains Dr RK Prasad, a family physician we spoke with. As director of the Academy of Family Physicians of India, a doctor's body, he has plenty of experience in caring for patients in rural India: 'Even if the doctor suspects that a patient has TB, it can be challenging to get them to take a test and get a confirmation. The most common way to detect TB is to do a sputum test, but that involves the patient finding a cup to collect the phlegm sample in and looking for a testing centre, which could be up to 50 km away. The sample is then sent to a central lab, possibly 100 km away,' he adds. All of this can not only delay the diagnosis, but deter patients from seeking treatment in the first place, as they may in the process lose out on several hours' work and consequently, wages. This, Dr Prasad explains, is one of the primary challenges in timely detection of TB patients, even if they are willing to get treatment. But what if we could detect TB by just listening to the patient's cough? This is where AI can help. Organisations, ranging from non-profits like Wadhwani AI to tech giants like Google, are trialling solutions that will allow an ASHA worker to open an app on their mobile and record a person coughing. An AI model trained on sizable datasets of cough sounds can then detect whether the person has TB or not. This initial screening allows the ASHA worker to more accurately identify, track and assist people who might have otherwise been missed. Many of these applications are already being trialled by workers in some states around the country. Now, given the social stigma surrounding TB and the economic condition of many of the patients, even if identified early on, many do not follow through the course of their treatment for various reasons. If a patient does not follow through with the prescribed medicines correctly, there is a risk of developing drug resistance. This is an increasing concern in India and poses a fresh obstacle for our plan to eliminate TB. Patients who do not follow up and fail to overcome the disease are also at risk of spreading the disease further to those coming in contact with them. Identifying such patients is a key part of the fight against TB. To do this, some states are trialling AI applications that analyse patients' medical records from the government's TB database, Ni-kshay, along with their demographic information, to try and predict who is at high risk of abandoning treatment. Given the resource constraints in our healthcare system, such a shortlist could be used by district TB officers to plan follow-up checks on these patients. AI, therefore, can play a crucial role in improving lifespans in our country by aiding early detection and accurate tracking of health issues in both infants and adults, especially those in rural or lower-economic settings. And the scope of use cases will continue to evolve as we identify more areas of intervention. For example, in radiology, where AI models trained on images and data can study a chest scan to say whether the patient has TB or not.
The Hindu
07-06-2025
- Health
- The Hindu
What is the COVID-19 situation in India?
The story so far: After a rise in COVID-19 numbers in Southeast Asia, India has started to show an uptick in the number of cases over the last couple of weeks. The numbers slowly grew to hit 5,755 cases (as of Saturday 5:30 pm) as per the Ministry of Health's COVID-19 dashboard. What is the medical advice? The same dashboard states that 5,484 people have been discharged. Even as the numbers rise, doctors and experts have repeatedly stated that seasonal spikes and dips in COVID-19 cases are to be expected, since it had moved from a pandemic to an endemic infection. The COVID-19 virus is co-circulating with other seasonal viruses, they point out, and currently the dominant strain is an Omicron sub-variant from which the subcontinent has adequate immunity. The cases have not been severe; from the point of transmissibility too, the R0 (reproductive number) is not that worrying to indicate a high contagion factor. What is the situation in the country today? As of now, the variants of COVID-19 doing the rounds in India are descendants of the Omicron variant, first reported in November 2021. The emerging sub-variants, NB.1.8.1 and LF.7, driving the current COVID-19 surge are descendants of JN.1, a sub-lineage of the Omicron BA.2.86 variant. In Kerala for instance, a senior health department official said that 'almost all of the samples sent for whole genome sequencing from the State have shown that the circulating virus variant is LF.1, one of the descendants of Omicron, the immune evasiveness of which is quite well-known.' Cases have mostly been mild, according to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). The reported symptoms are those of the common cold or seasonal flu, including fever, cough, sore throat, runny nose, headache, fatigue, body aches, and loss of appetite. P. Senthur Nambi, senior consultant, Infectious Diseases, Apollo Hospitals, Chennai, said most of the COVID-19 patients he had seen so far have done well. 'Most of them had only an upper respiratory infection. These patients were managed based on their symptoms and most of them did not require any COVID specific antiviral medications. Prior exposure to the infection, the effects of the vaccines taken or a combination of both factors with vaccine-induced antibodies could be playing a protective role,' he explained. 'The key difference with these new strains,' said Sujan Bardhan, consultant (Tuberculosis and chest diseases), Narayana Hospital, R.N. Tagore Hospital, Kolkata, 'is their speed, not their severity. Hospitals are well-prepared and the healthcare system remains under no immediate strain. Nonetheless, the importance of basic preventive measures cannot be overstated.' What is the vaccine position? India launched the world's largest COVID-19 immunisation drive in January 2021. To date, over 220 crore doses of COVID-19 vaccines have been administered in the country as per the CoWIN dashboard. These were primarily of the two vaccines available then, AstraZeneca's Covishield and Bharat Biotech's Covaxin. Rajiv Bahl, Director General of ICMR, has said there is absolutely no need to initiate mass booster doses for COVID-19 vaccines at present, and neither is there a direction from the Central government on this. As cases rise, Dr. Bahl noted that individual doctors could recommend booster doses to patients on a case-to-case basis. He further explained that the need for mass vaccination, while not felt at present, could arise, with perhaps a mutation in the virus or its spread. 'For that, India already has the capacity to scale up production and provide for the general public. We have done this before and there is no need to panic,' he said. Since vaccines which were stocked and used in 2021 and 2022 have now fallen into disuse and expired, there are no stocks at present, a government official said. The official, however, added that the government could direct manufacturers to produce more stocks as and when necessary. Most States, including Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and West Bengal, have no stocks or supplies of the vaccine at present either in the government or private sector. Are vaccines needed at present? Doctors across the board say that at present they see no need for a mass vaccination drive. 'By the time Omicron ran its course, almost all of our population had been exposed to the virus. Even when this antibody protection wanes, the long-term immune memory remains. This innate immunity plus the vaccine-derived immunity through good coverage of the initial two doses means that most people have strong hybrid immunity against COVID-19,' the Kerala health department official said. Previous vaccines may not be very effective against the Omicron variants but would, however, offer protection against serious forms of the disease. Though two indigenously developed nasal vaccines specifically targeting the Omicron variant from Bharat Biotech and Indian Immunologicals, as well as another vaccine for the Omicron variant, were made available in the Indian market, the uptake was low, doctors said. Kiran Madala, a Hyderabad-based doctor, part of an international group of genetic epidemiologists under the COVID Treatment Exchange Organisation, said the current World Health Organization guidelines recommend vaccines primarily for individuals above 70 years of age, those who are immunocompromised, and patients with multiple co-morbidities. Children, especially those aged two to six years, do not need vaccination unless they have underlying health issues or are immunosuppressed. Dr. Nambi in Chennai said some patients, those who have travel obligations, have requested the vaccines, but none are available at present. 'But I wish that there was an option of vaccination, not for the general population in large but for two subsets of patient groups in whom the infection could cause problems,' he said. One, those who have not received any COVID-19 vaccines or missed an infection, leaving them without immunity, while the second are those with co-morbidities and who are immuno-compromised. T. Jacob John, retired professor of clinical virology at Christian Medical College, Vellore, also said that the elderly and immunocompromised people needed to be vaccinated again, irrespective of whether they were fully vaccinated (two doses and a booster) or had been exposed to the virus earlier. State governments, however, have taken a more cautious stance: 'Whether vaccination is required or not depends on many factors,' said T. S. Selvavinayagam, T.N. Director of Public Health and Preventive Medicine. 'We need to study the epidemiology of the current cases before commenting on the requirement for vaccination now.' Kerala has said it was 'not advocating for or against COVID booster shots' because of the lack of epidemiological data that booster doses offered enhanced protection against emerging immune-evasive variants. What next? The Delhi High Court, earlier this week, directed the Centre to submit a thorough status report detailing its actions regarding the policy for sample collection, collection centres, and transportation of samples. The court also stressed urgency to finalise and implement Standard Operating Procedures. As the virus continues to adapt, so must we, Dr. Bardhan pointed out. Staying informed and following trusted health sources, personal protection and hygiene measures such as hand washing, avoiding crowded places when possible or masking up, refraining from going outdoors when ill and maintaining a healthy, well-balanced lifestyle could help navigate this phase and any more to come. Compiled by Zubeda Hamid, with inputs from C. Maya in Kerala, Serena Josephine M. in Chennai, Bindu Shajan Perappadan in Delhi, Afshan Yasmeen in Bengaluru, Shrabana Chatterjee in Kolkata and Siddharth Kumar Singh in Hyderabad.
