Kasmin Fernandes

A study carried out by the Ministry of Finance found that it takes, on an average, almost 20 years for a property related dispute to be resolved. By that timeline, it would take 324 years just to clear the present backlog at the current rate of disposal! The huge backlog of pending cases is a...

One person can make a difference. Working together we make lasting changes, believes Anuja Bansal. As Secretary General of SOS Children’s Villages of India, her role is to lead the organisation in the strategic direction they have envisaged for themselves by 2020 and 2030, with the support and partnership of all stakeholders. With over five...

Besides displacing thousands of people, the proposed Navi Mumbai airport is expected to destroy local mangrove and wetland ecosystems. 3,500 families displaced Approximately 3,500 families residing in 10 villages are being displaced a new airport in Navi Mumbai. They have sustained a long-term struggle for fair rehabilitation, according to GAAM (Global Anti-Aerotropolis Movement). A perfunctory one-hour public...

The idea of environmental racism is controversial. Even in the age of climate change, many people still view the environment mostly as a set of forces of nature. To many people, racism often connotes purposeful decisions by a master hand, and many see existing segregation as a self-sorting or poverty problem. Among the injustices faced...

The CSR Journal got on-the-spot reactions from industry leaders across various sectors immediately after the live budget presentation on February 1, 2019, at the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) headquarters. Said Piruz Khambatta, Chairman CII (Western Region) and Chairman & Managing Director, Rasna, “The Budget announcements have largely taken care of the agriculture sector, middle...

Did you know that poor women account for 1.1 billion of the world’s unbanked adults, or most of the financially excluded? Financial inclusion needs to bridge gender gaps for it to become truly inclusive, and India has a long way to go in this respect. In order for digital finance to reach rural women sustainably, there...

23-year-old Marthal is an accountant at a BPO in Chennai. While for many in her community of Vyasarpadi, the job of an accountant might be coveted, Marthal has bigger dreams. The slums of Vyasarpadi in Chennai have been infamous for crime and its decrepit status. For the longest time, children were an extension of the...

The Aspirational District Programme (ADP) aims to address governance issues by using a combination of approaches: lifting levels of aspirations through a vision and district plan, adequate institutional arrangements, convergence in all stakeholders’ efforts and above all, ranking based public competition among the districts by setting up a real-time monitoring mechanism. Setting off a virtuous...

Suma Ravi belongs to that rare breed of business graduates who chose to work in the non-profit sector rather than the corporate field, way before it became a lucrative career choice. A Business Management graduate from XLRI, Suma has worked for several years in the market research industry as a qualitative researcher – in...

The Aspirational Districts Programme (ADP) was launched on January 5, 2018 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Under phase-1 of ADP, 115 districts were identified based on the level of human development, physical infrastructure, threat of left-wing extremism (LWE) and the views of state governments. Over 15% of India’s population lives in these districts. Despite economic...

To anybody who has ever denied the beauty of a full-bodied woman, artist Jasjyot Singh Hans’ work will have you eat all your words and your preconceived notions about beauty standards. It was immediately after finishing his course in Animation Film Design at the National Institute of Design in Ahmedabad, that animator and illustrator Jasjyot...

In an industry first, Viacom18 has partnered with the world’s largest philanthropic organization Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and with BBC Media Action to create a Hindi TV series with a message about sanitation. Navrangi Re! is the story of a lively mohalla in Northern India full of quirky and endearing characters. Laced with high...