This episode explores the barriers faced by women who are pregnant before they turn single, either by widowhood or marital separation, or any other reason. This is the third episode of a series Matter of Choice, a series that explores how women face medical, legal and social barriers to abortions. In this episode, Menaka Rao speaks with a woman whose husband died when she was pregnant, leaving her to make the tough choice. We discuss the legal precedents in relation to women who sought an...

This is the second episode of a series Matter of Choice, a series that explores how women face medical, legal and social barriers to abortions. This episode is based in Delhi where despite facilities, women are given a run-around for abortions. In this episode, Menaka Rao speaks to three women who had a hard time seeking abortion in the country’s capital. These women were either treated with disrespect, or asked for very hefty fees in the private sector, often with very little assurance that...

Abortion is legal in India with certain conditions. But it is  hard to access in many parts of the country, especially in rural India. An estimated eight women die everyday from abortions in India. This series called - Matter of Choice- will explore how women face medical, legal and social  barriers to abortion. In this first episode, Menaka Rao goes to villages in Azamgarh where women have little or no options for legal abortions. Blind alley abortions are common, with unqualified doctors...

It has been more than a year since the Supreme court released Narayan Chetanram Chaudhary in March 2023. Narayan was convicted along with his co-accused for gruesome murders in Pune and sentenced to death. But after 28 years of jail, the Supreme court released him as per the Juvenile Justice Act after it was proved that he was just 12 years old at the time of offence.  How is he coping with life outside jail? In this podcast, Menaka Rao visited him in his village in Bikaner to understand how...

  Punjabis are infamous for their obsession with migrating abroad, especially to Canada. There’s a saying among diaspora Punjabis that goes, “Jitthe assi, utthe Punjab,” meaning “We create Punjab wherever we go.” But, in the recent past, a new narrative of ‘Vatan vaapsi’ or ‘Reverse Migration’ has taken hold in Punjabi media. According to podcasts and some news articles, Punjabis are sick of living abroad and are excited to return to their homeland.  In this episode, Kudrat Wadhwa...

Recently, a father and his son died in Visakhapatnam after their pet dog bit them. Reports say that they did not take the anti-rabies vaccine soon enough. Rabies is one of the oldest zoonotic diseases. People are often bitten by street dogs, who are present in great numbers in both cities, and villages of the country. With around 60 million free-ranging dogs, India arguably has the biggest population of street dogs in the world. Most of these dogs aren’t vaccinated against rabies. Most of...

Owing to the water shortage in Delhi, the state’s Water Minister Atishi began an indefinite fast on June 21 demanding water for the national capital. The Delhi state government said that it has not got its share of Yamuna water, and there is an urgent need for a sustainable solution. The debate over fair distribution of Yamuna water has persisted for years. This is not the first such inter-state water dispute. In this episode, Suno India’s Sneha Richhariya  speaks to Srinivas Chokkakula, who...

At least 33 people died in heatwave during the 2024 General Election's last phase in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Odisha. The people who died include polling officials. The average heat related mortality has increased by 85% in 2013-22 as compared with 1991-2001. Excess heat can cause:  Cardiac related illness Lung damage Kidney injury Adverse pregnancy outcome  Mental health impact But often these deaths are not recorded as heat-related deaths or are not accepted by the respective...

Since the 2024 General Election results have been declared, questions have been raised about the way mainstream media had represented the Indian voters’ sentiment. We want to highlight the work of a media collective, ChalChitra Abhiyaan that works in Western Uttar Pradesh, and recorded people’s discontent about the government.  Suno India’s Menaka Rao speaks to Nakul Singh Sawhney, a documentary filmmaker who made several films including the widely acclaimed Muzaffarnagar Baaqi Hai on the...

In April 2024, that is last month, Suno India published the story featuring Iliyas Marandi, a 23-year-old tribal man who lost his eyesight after taking miltefosine drug for Post-Kala-azar Dermal Leishmaniasis, a skin manifestation of the deadly Kala-azar. This May, he underwent a corneal implant surgery at Indira Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences. Suno India’s Menaka Rao spoke to Iliyas after the surgery, and his doctor, Dr Rakhi Kusumesh. This is Iliyas’s second corneal implant.  In...

In this podcast episode, Suno India's Cofounder Rakesh speaks with Kaushik Shridhar, Founde & CEO, Orka Advisory and author of the book The Art of Winging It: What's the Worst That Could Happen?. He shares his journey from a professional tennis player to a career in sustainability. He discusses the inspiration behind his book and the lessons he has learned along the way. Kaushik emphasizes the importance of slowing down, appreciating life, and taking a positive approach to challenges. He...

This is the last episode in the series on Kala Azar reported by Suno India’s Menaka Rao.  The Indian government has said that it has hit the elimination target for Kala-azar, a parasitic disease that is life-threatening. But miltefosine, the drug used to treat the skin manifestation of Kala-azar, called Post-Kala-azar Dermal Leishmaniasis (PKDL), is being linked to eye problems, including blindness.  The government has taken steps to try to reduce the side effects in 2021, but not much has...

On March 20, 2024, the Bombay High Court convicted former police officer Pradeep Sharma in a 18-year-old “fake” encounter killing of Ramnarayan Gupta, who was allegedly from Chhota Rajan gang. Gupta was sentenced to life imprisonment. This is not the norm, but more of an exception.  Encounters are normalised in India. Recently, the UP police encountered a murder accused in Badaun district. The father of two boys who were murdered appealed to the police not to encounter the co-accused because...

In this episode, Suno India's Padma Priya talks to Dr. Abhishek Mangeshikar, a gynecologist specializing in endometriosis. He explains what endometriosis is and why it is difficult to diagnose. Dr. Mangeshikar also addresses common myths surrounding endometriosis, such as the belief that pregnancy or menopause can cure the disease. He emphasizes the importance of patient advocacy and provides advice on how to push back against dismissive attitudes from medical professionals. Additionally, he...

The inauguration of the Ram Mandir marks a significant chapter in India’s  history. The temple's construction replaced the 16th-Century Babri masjid, which was demolished by Hindu mobs in 1992, leading to nationwide riots and the tragic loss of nearly 2,000 lives, after the Supreme court allowed it.  In December 2023, reporter Shweta Desai travelled to Ayodhya before the temple’s inauguration on January 22, 2023. In this episode of the Suno India Show, Shweta talks to a community living just...

The Bharatiya Janata Party government has been pitching for One Nation One Election for years. The High Level Committee on One Nation, One Election submitted a report to President Droupadi Murmu on March 14, 2024. The 21-volume, 18,626-page report has suggestions from representatives of various political parties, economists, officials from the election commissions, businessmen, and other experts.  The report unanimously supports one election for Centre, state and local bodies such as...

On March 11, 2024 a few months before the Lok Sabha Elections the central government notified the Citizenship (Amendment) Rules. This has come approximately four years after the Parliament passed the Citizenship (Amendment) Act in 2019. As per the amendment, the government can grant citizenship to Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Parsis, Jains, or Christians from Bangladesh, Pakistan and Afghanistan on or before December 31,2014.. conspicuously leaving out Muslims. It was passed amid nation-wide...

मुस्कान भोपाल की रहने वाली एक दलित ट्रांसजेंडर महिला हैं जो सामाजिक हाशिये पर रहने के बीच स्वीकार्यता और अपनेपन की खोज का सफर साझा करती है। खून के रिश्तो से परे जाकर मुस्कान अपने चुनिंदा परिवार की कहानी बताती हैं जिसके साथ वह दुःख, प्यार और ट्रांसजेंडर होने की चुनौतियों व पहचान की जटिलता के बारे में जानती हैं.  अपने जन्म वाले परिवार के द्वारा अस्वीकारे जाने से लेकर LGBTQ+ समुदाय और सहयोगियों जैसे सुरय्या दादी में सांत्वना और सहारा पाने तक- मुस्कान की कहानी स्वीकार्यता और समझ की ओर अपना खुद का...

In 2013, Indian law codified workplace protection for working women, both in the formal and informal sectors under the Sexual Harassment of Women at Workplace (Prevention, Prohibition and Redressal) (POSH) Act.  A report of Human Rights Watch says that India has failed 94 % of its women who work in the informal sector - this includes women who work as domestic help, sweepers, construction workers and so on. Suno India’s Sneha Richhariya spoke to domestic workers, Local committee members,...

On 28th February 2024, Wakeel Hassan, Uttarakhand Tunnel rescue hero once again made headlines when his house was razed by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA).  The demolition of Hassan’s house was the most recent in the spate of evictions across the country. There have been questions over why the government disproportionately targets working-class and minority community people such as Wakeel Hassan. Here is an extended cut of an interview with Dr. Ghazala Jamil from an episode of the Suno...

Even as the MPs were suspended, in December 2023, the Parliament passed laws completely upending the major criminal laws of our country. What does this mean in a democracy?  On 30th January 2024, Maansi Verma, a lawyer and public policy researcher, posted a thread on the platform ‘X’ (formerly Twitter) about the ‘wrongs’ committed by the government during its term. The list of ‘wrongs’ mentioned in this thread is glaring enough to make any concerned citizen worry.  Suno India’s Sneha...

In this episode of The Suno India Show shorts, we talk about the live-in relationships as defined under Uttarakhand’s Uniform Civil Code Bill that was passed on February 7, 2024. Suno India’s Menaka Rao and Sneha Richhariya discuss the law threadbare and why it should matter to everyone in India.  See sunoindia.in/privacy-policy for privacy information.

In this episode, we discuss the Supreme Court’s verdict on electoral bonds, a scheme that allowed anonymous donations to political parties. We explain why the court ruled it unconstitutional and what it means for Indian democracy.We are republishing a part of our episode from our show “Every Voice Matters'' which was originally published in 2019. The host and Suno-India editor Padma Priya then spoke to General Anil Verma of the Association of Democratic Reforms on this contentious topic.  The...

Even though Kala-azar is closer to elimination in the country, questions related to how the disease spreads still remain unanswered. Only recently, scientists in India and Bangladesh have understood the dynamics of how Post kala-azar dermal leishmaniasis or PKDL, the skin manifestation of the disease, spreads kala-azar. For the third podcast in the series on kala-azar, Suno India’s Menaka Rao speaks to Dr Rahul Chaubey, entomologist at Kala-azar Medical Research Centre, Muzaffarpur to...