The increase in the total number of suicides committed in India during 2020 in comparison to the previous years has hit the headlines recently. While some media commentators have stated that the economic distress (caused by job loss, income loss, failure of business, and growing hunger, among other things) in 2020 could have led to more suicides being committed, others have said that home isolation and deteriorating mental health (associated...

-RuralIndiaOnline.org It's been hard days for powerloom weavers in the city's Bazardiha cluster – with lockdowns and monsoon flooding. But it’s the UP government’s review of their electricity subsidy that has them the most worried In the narrow lanes of Bazardiha, amid the clacking sounds of powerlooms, Wasim Akram is busy at work. He has been weaving since the age of 14 in the same two-storey brick-cement house – generations old, as...

-Newsclick.in Harassment by loan recovery agents hired by these apps has led to at least 21 suicides across India between 2020 and 2021. Meghna Patel took her first loan early in 2020 from an app called FlyCash, whose ads she had been seeing on Facebook. It was a small amount. Just Rs 500. She had to repay Rs 550, two weeks later. The app even had a borrowing limit of Rs 1,000. Recently,...

-The Hindu Business Line Iceland tops Mercer study on retirement income systems Old Age security is a big worry for Indians as income at retirement is far from adequate for most people. Now, a global study done by Mercer Consulting validates this fear as it reveals that the Indian pension system ranks a lowly 40 in a comparative index of 43 systems. The primary objective of this annual survey by the global management...

-Scroll.in Anganwadi staff need funds for infrastructure and supplies. Instead, the government gave them a new app that is riddled with problems. On the afternoon of August 23, the Chhota Sion urban health centre in the heart of Mumbai’s sprawling Dharavi slum was suddenly awash with pink. Nearly 80 women, all dressed in saris and salwar suits in various shades of the colour, trooped into its lobby. Breaking up into groups, they spent...