Society

Articles on society, largely focussed on India, published on The India Forum.

Will the Government Finally Acknowledge the Scale of India’s Covid-19 Tragedy?

Newly released 2021 government mortality data shows 3 million excess death registrations in India during Covid-19, suggesting over 4 million total excess deaths. The pandemic’s real impact then was…
▶06-Jul-2025
Aashish Gupta, Murad Banaji

What India’s AI Moment Must Learn from Its Own Past

Generative AI is more than just another tool—it represents a new way of interacting with knowledge. Like past technologies, it brings both disruption and opportunity. India’s AI moment is now. Its…
▶06-Jul-2025
Prateek Shrivastava

The Mamdani Campaign for an Affordable New York

For the majority of New Yorkers, coping with rising costs of living generates stress, resentment, and incomprehension. Mamdani's campaign that speaks openly about these pressures and urges bold…
▶01-Jul-2025
Adam Tooze

The WHO Pandemic Agreement and India's Path Forward

The Pandemic Agreement serves as an essential blueprint in global health security. Its success depends on the sustained commitment, collaboration, and investment of all nations. India’s leadership…
▶23-Jun-2025
Kashish Aneja, Lawrence Gostin, Sam Halabi

When Machines Imagine: The Promise and the Risk

The ongoing revolutions in AI are exciting. The rush to use it in public-facing applications, however, poses risk as AI does not yet come with guarantees for correctness or tolerance for errors. AI…
▶19-Jun-2025
Subhashis Banerjee

Pahalgam, Sindoor and After

Pakistan’s army has an interest in provoking India for it can then rally the masses to its side. But over time domestic antagonism to the “khakis” will only grow, which could then change the dynamics…
▶18-Jun-2025
Kesava Menon

Rights in the Aadhaar Machine

A recent judgement of the Supreme Court engages with the consequences of failures in digital public infrastructures that deny rightful entitlements.
▶17-Jun-2025
John Simte
Book
Book Review

What Katalin Karikó Teaches Us about Perseverance and Success

The 2023 Nobel winner’s story reminds us of the power of persistence, and teamwork in science. As science comes under siege in the US, the memoir underscores the need for a more inclusive scientific…
▶17-Jun-2025
C.P. Rajendran

Jammu and Kashmir Pays the Price for a War with No End

For over 70 years, people in border villages of India and Pakistan have lived with uncertainty. Political decisions or tensions on the border can instantly disrupt lives. Yet, they persevere daily,…
▶09-Jun-2025
Anuradha Bhasin

Fragile Peace, War, and the People on the Border

The most recent round of India-Pakistan hostilities reaffirmed a stark truth—for border residents, war is a zero-sum game. They gain nothing, but lose their safety, property, livelihoods, and even…
▶30-May-2025
Nazir Ahmad Mir