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May 4, 2025
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शहादत को सलाम

By
Rahuldeo Sharma
-
Pulwama Attack
शहादत को सलाम
देश भर में गुस्सा है, उबाल है, बवाल है, कई सवाल है, लेकिन जवाब अभी तक किसी के पास नही है, बदला लिया जायेगा, पाकिस्तान को सबक सिखाया जायेगा, चुन चुन कर आतंकियों को मारा जायेगा, हर एक हिंदुस्तानी के कलेजे में लगी आग को बुझाया जायेगा, बदले की आग में समूचा हिंदुस्तान जल रहा है, इसमें कोई संदेह नहीं कि हमारे देश की सुरक्षा एजेंसियां बदला लेंगी, पाकिस्तान के भीतर घूसकर मारेंगी और इंसानियत के दुश्मनों को, देश के दुश्मनों को सबक जरूर सिखाएगी।
इतनी बड़ी घटना हो गयी, जम्मू-कश्मीर के पुलवामा में गुरुवार को सीआरपीएफ जवानों पर आत्मघाती हमला हुआ है, सीआरपीएफ काफिले पर उच्च तीव्रता वाले आईईडी विस्फोट से आत्मघाती हमला किया गया, इस हादसे में 42 जवान शहीद हुए हैं, इस हमले की जिम्मेदारी मौलाना मसूद अजहर के आतंकी संगठन जैश-ए-मोहम्‍मद ने ली है।
अब सवाल उठ रहा है कि क्या इसे टाला नहीं जा सकता था, आखिरकार शहादत क्यों, हर बार पाकिस्तान को मुहतोड़ जवाब देने की बात होती है लेकिन कायराना हरकत से पाकिस्तान बाज नहीं आता, पाकिस्तान को क्यों हम ऐसी सबक नहीं सीखा पाते है कि वो हमेशा हमेशा के लिए याद रखे, घटना में चूक हुई या नहीं, स्थानीय शह मिली या नहीं, आतंकियों ने आखिरकार इस आतंकवादी हमले को कैसे अंजाम दिया ये सब जांच का विषय लेकिन पाकिस्तान फिर ऐसी हरकत ना करे इसलिए अब देश को ऐसे कदम उठाने चाहिए ताकि पाकिस्तान फिर से एक गोली दागने से पहले सौ बार सोचे।
देश के गुस्से और दुःख को देखते हुए सभी राजनितिक पार्टियां एक साथ है, पीएम नरेंद्र मोदी ने भी दो टूक कह दिया कि जवाब मिलेगा, करारा जवाब, भारत की तरफ से पाकिस्तान को घेरने के लिए पहला कदम भी उठा लिया गया है भारत सरकार ने पाकिस्तान पर कूटनीतिक वार के साथ ही कारोबारी झटका देते हुए उससे ‘मोस्ट फेवर्ड नेशन’ का दर्जा वापस ले लिया है।
निश्चित तौर पर मोस्ट फेवर्ड नेशन का दर्जा वापस लिए जाने से पाकिस्तान को थोड़ा झटका लगेगा। साथ ही विकल्पों की बात करें तो कूटनीतिक स्तर पर भारत पाकिस्तान को शिकस्त देगा। परिस्थिति से निबटने के लिए मोदी सरकार एक तो साल 2016 की तरह पाक अधिकृत कश्मीर में एक और  सर्जिकल स्ट्राइक  कर सकता है।
साथ अमेरिकी राष्ट्रपति ट्रंप के साथ भारत इस मुद्दे को साझा कर सकता है, जिन्होंने अगस्त 2017 में पाकिस्तान की इस बात के लिए आलोचना की थी कि अफगानिस्तान में आतंकियों के मददगारों और आतंकी समूहों के लिए वह सुरक्षित पनाहगार रहा है, उसके बाद ही अमेरिका ने इस्लामाबाद को सैन्य मदद में कटौती की थी।
इसके अलावा पाकिस्तान को आतंकी देश घोषित कर उसे दुनिया से अलग-थलग करने के मिशन के तहत भारत ने विभिन्न देशों में स्थित अपने उच्चायोगों, दूतवासों और संयुक्त राष्ट्र के मिशन के जरिए कूटनीतिक संपर्क साधना शुरू कर सकती है। इस आतंकी हमले के बाद बैठकों का दौर शुरू हुआ है अब देखते है कि इन बैठकों का अंजाम क्या होगा।

Asia-Pacific AI for Social Good Summit held by Google & UN ESCAP

By
The CSR Journal
-

Google and the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP), in collaboration with the National Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) Policy Office of Thailand, hosted the Asia-Pacific AI for Social Good Summit in Bangkok, bringing together researchers, policy makers, NGOs, and the private sector from across the Asia-Pacific region to discuss the use of AI for Social Good.

Guest speakers included Armida Alisjahbana, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and ESCAP Executive Secretary; Kent Walker, Senior Vice President of Global Affairs, Google; Jay Yagnik, Vice President, Google AI, Ed Husic, Shadow Minister for the Digital Economy, Australia, alongside leaders in AI from around the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.

Google formalizes partnership and launches the Asia-Pacific AI for Social Impact research network

Google and ESCAP initiated a partnership to share best practices and identify solutions for promoting the use of AI for social good in Asia-Pacific. As part of the partnership, Google will be providing a grant to the Association of Pacific Rim Universities to create an Asia-Pacific AI for Social Good Research Network.

“This network will bring together leading academics from around the region to produce research on how to promote the use AI for social good and how best to manage risks and concerns. It will also be a forum for these academics to discuss their research with government, civil society and the private sector,” explained Kent Walker.

The partnership builds on the ESCAP’s ARTNET on STI Policy Network – a regional research and training network supporting policy research to leverage science, technology and innovation as powerful engines for sustainable development in Asia-Pacific.

“The partnership will focus on developing cutting edge research and policy advice on AI for sustainable development,” said Armida Alisjahbana, United Nations Under-Secretary-General and ESCAP Executive Secretary.

This article is part of a series on ‘AI for Social Good and CSR’.

CSR: Four ways to support Sustainability Conscious Restaurants

By
Hency Thacker
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restaurants

India houses the largest number of malnourished children in the world. Despite this, 40% of food produced in the country is wasted. Food waste is a huge problem in the country. Restaurant industry plays a significant role in it. There are several restaurants taking various measures to reduce waste. However, some of these efforts get overlooked.

Here are four things that we as consumers can do, to support restaurants that are looking forward to embracing sustainability.

  1. Support the restaurants that compost

With landfills reaching its point of saturation, government of India is encouraging onsite waste management systems. In Maharashtra, the government is encouraging the installation of composting infrastructure for restaurants as well as housing society. We as consumers can choose to visit restaurants that have composting infrastructure in place and support them thus, which would encourage others to follow the suit.

  1. Opt for restaurants serving seasonal food

Seasonal food is freshly available which reduces the carbon footprint in its production. It also means that the natural ecology is not disturbed in producing it by creating an unnatural environment. There is more chance of it being sustainably produced than that of non-seasonal food.

  1. Choose restaurants that serve smaller portions

Food is wasted when a person is served more food than their capacity to eat. It is also unfair on the customer as they have to pay price for food which is likely to be wasted. More food is wasted in eateries where there is unlimited food buffet, as customers go with a mindset of eating as much as possible to get heir money’s worth. For this, they serve more food on their plate than they can eat, which ends up increasing the food wastage.

Instead of this, we can choose to eat at restaurants that serve smaller portion sizes for lesser money, which will reduce the waste, as well as satisfy the hunger.

  1. Look for restaurants that are associated with food donation groups

There are restaurants that are associated with food donation groups, in order to reduce their waste. By choosing to visit such places, we can indirectly participate in feeding the hungry and poor of the country.

Thank you for reading the story until the very end. We appreciate the time you have given us. In addition, your thoughts and inputs will genuinely make a difference to us. Please do drop in a line and help us do better.

Regards,
The CSR Journal Team

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CSR: Corporates step up to Climate Change

By
Kasmin Fernandes
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Anand Mahindra, Chairman of the Mahindra Group committed the entire group to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi)
2018 drew to a close with a hotly-contested ‘Katowice Climate Package’ finalised at COP24 establishing a set of guidelines to make the Paris Agreement operational by 2020.
It was also a year that saw extreme weather events cause devastation throughout most of the world as in India with unprecedented flooding in Kerala and hurricanes battering the east coast. Amid the cantankerous negotiations and human suffering, there were the green shoots of corporate and community actions.
Even as extreme weather and scientific reports caused deep concern, the world also witnessed clear and loud calls for increased ambition and action. The way forward is clear to CDP – to change trajectory sufficiently, we need nothing short of a transformation of the global economy.
While some continue to ignore the writing on the wall, many are stepping up to seize the initiative and find opportunities in the transition to the low-carbon future which is well underway. Driven by corporates, communities, cities and other “non-state actors”, exciting new endeavours have been showcased around the world.
Anand Mahindra, chairman of the Mahindra Group, told the World Economic Forum (WEF): “Climate change is the next century’s biggest financial and business opportunity.” He committed the entire group to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), aligning their emission trajectory to meeting the Paris Agreement4.
This generated a global momentum to reach 500 companies committing to SBTs by the Global Climate Action Summit in September. Even though the “Mahindra Challenge”, as it came to be known globally, fell short of the target by five, it generated tremendous goodwill for corporates in general and Indian climate action in particular.
Indian companies are now at the forefront of this global fight where adopting SBTs is rapidly becoming the new norm for sustainable business practice. By December 2018, 25 companies committed to SBTs propelling India to the fifth position after US, Japan, UK, France in corporate climate action. Some industrial sectors have set global benchmarks.
Indian cement companies led by Dalmia Bharat have been rated as the best in the world. Many others have adopted ambitious renewable energy (RE) and energy efficiency targets. The Indian Government too has been proactive especially in promoting RE domestically and internationally with the launch of the International Solar Alliance.
How can policy-makers and corporates boost these positive developments?
Natural resources are being consumed faster than their regeneration, threatening robust ecosystems. Investors are now more discerning.
The newly launched Investor Agenda8, led by CDP and six other groups, is enabling over 400 investors with US$32 trillion in assets under management to report actions they are taking on low-carbon investment, corporate engagement, transparency and policy advocacy. By focusing on sector-based disclosure and forward looking metrics CDP is providing companies and investors with meaningful and comparable data to drive greater progress.
At a time when there is a call for all countries to do more to fight climate change, India has stood up and informed the world at COP24 UN climate negotiations in Katowice that it will better its NDC targets. Companies too need to step up and support the global fight against climate change.

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Tata Memorial Centre launches India’s first Mobile App for platelet donors

By
The CSR Journal
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platelet donation

Tata Memorial Centre along with ImPaCCT Foundation, Nargis Dutt Memorial Charitable Trust, Anjeze Charitable Trust & G.J. Kapoor Foundation has launched India’s first mobile app targeted towards platelet donation – “Save a Life” to maximize the scope and reach while also streamlining the process for Platelet Donation in India.  With the launch of the mobile app, TMC hopes to leverage the use of mobile devices to maintain better contact with its regular platelets donors, reach out to a wider audience and bridge the need for platelets in India.

The ‘Save A Life’ (SAL) Initiative of TMC is a social movement for creating awareness about platelet donation, building a platelet donor registry and ensuring that the humongous need of voluntary platelet donations in TMH is met without burdening the patient or their family for replacements.

Started in 2009, the initiative has been hugely successful; today voluntary donors contribute to more than 87% of all platelet requirement of TMC, despite almost doubling of its needs. More than 3349 voluntary platelet donations were recorded in 2018 at TMC compared to 228 in 2009. This is approximately 70 voluntary donations per week that the hospital receives. In the last 10 years, more than 5000 donors have enrolled with ‘Save a Life’; over 100 of these voluntary donors have donated platelets more than 10 times, 15 of them have donated more than 100 times and 4 good Samaritans have donated platelets more than 200 times.

“We have a strong database of about 5000 platelet donors registered with Save a Life and through the app, we aim to not only increase the donor database but also achieve a 100% donation through societal participation and expansion of the donor pool registry at TMC. The app will allow users to track their donations and invite friends to donate. We think that the Save-a-Life mobile app has great potential in helping us bridge the demand-supply gap for platelets in the country.“ said Dr Shripad Banavali, Director-Academics, Head, Medical & Pediatric Oncology, TMH.

“Cancer is curable, if detected early and treated optimally but the most crucial requirements during the treatment are regular transfusion support. Without adequate Platelet and Blood transfusions there cannot be a chance of cure from cancer. Many are aware of blood donations but few about platelets.  Platelet donors help save lives of cancer patients and hence Save a Life was christened. To bring in more donors all we have to do is to create awareness, especially amongst youth. When they know that one hour of their lives can Save a precious life, they keep coming back as the beacon of hope for our patients”, said Priya Dutt, Trustee, Nargis Dutt Memorial Charitable Trust.

“There is a wider gap in availability of platelets due to lack of awareness. Voluntary blood and platelet donations are perhaps the most perfect examples of altruism in action and the best means of providing safe blood components to bridge this gap in demand and supply. Tata Memorial Hospital is grateful to all the selfless Samaritans who give a part of themselves so that others may live”, said Dr Sunil Rajadhyaksha, Head, Department of Transfusion Medicine, TMH.

A survey was conducted to find out the reasons for treatment refusal and abandonment of treatment for pediatric cancer patients in 2009. At that time the rates of refusal and abandonment were almost 25%. The main reasons were lack of finance, lack of a place to stay, gender bias, lack of transfusion support etc. With the help of a holistic support model via ImPaCCT Foundation, the centre has been able to bring down the refusal and abandonment rates from 25 % to a 4 %.

The Government Should Have A CSR Ministry: Deepa Menon, Senior Vice President (CSR), PVR Ltd.

By
Kasmin Fernandes
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Deepa Menon, PVR Ltd.
The ministry of corporate affairs (MCA) established a centralised scrutiny and prosecution mechanism last year for enforcement of corporate social responsibility (CSR) provisions, according to P P Chaudhary, Union Minister of State for the Law and Justice and the Ministry of Corporate Affairs. Based on inquiry, preliminary notices have been issued to 272 companies.
On this issue, Deepa Menon feels the Indian government should have a CSR ministry “which can provide guidance, training, capacity building and have an organized platform to integrate social good with companies’ objectives”. When it comes to CSR, she believes in the Trusteeship philosophy propounded by Mahatma Gandhi.
Menon is currently employed with PVR Limited as the Senior Vice President, Corporate Social Responsibility. She is founding head of PVR’s CSR arm, PVR Nest (PVR Network for Enablement & Social Transformation) and the brain behind its flagship project ‘Childscapes’, the operational program for children at risk in Delhi-NCR. It aims to instigate basic life skills and provide non-formal education to children from disadvantaged communities by integrating sports into their learning curriculum.
“Sports have the ability to bring disciplinary skills amongst children,” Menon tells Kasmin Fernandes from The CSR Journal in an exclusive interview about how PVR Ltd. fulfills its responsibility of giving back to society by supporting vulnerable communities. Excerpts:

What do you think about the Indian govt. tightening scrutiny on non-compliance of CSR?

Being a listed company and a company which ensures compliance with MCA guidelines, PVR has always worked towards making a positive impact in the areas of education, healthcare, environment, and women empowerment.
Many companies, we have seen, following a strong CSR mandate in their companies and at times there are companies who have the CSR funds but lack the capabilities to make the optimum utilization of the same. Furthermore, lack of the right partnerships also delays the disbursement of funds for a defined outcome.
Lack of awareness on non-compliance part is another possibility in the funds remained unspent. In this case, the Government should have a CSR ministry, which can provide guidance, training, capacity building and have an organized platform to integrate social good with companies’ objectives.
There should be a collaborative way for the government to be a part of companies’ CSR policy and encourage public-private partnerships. Regular sensitisation by the government can bridge the intellect gap between the organizations and the right CSR provisions.

Which causes is PVR Cinemas most passionate about?

PVR believes in inter-twining its interest with that of societal development and constantly endeavours to render assistance for the growth and progress of the social order it caters to. Executing the corporate social responsibility through PVR Nest, it has adopted an integrated outreach strategy to drive urban sustainability through addressing the fall outs of unplanned urbanization and empowering the disadvantaged communities through educational initiatives, public health, sanitation, and environmental sustainability programs.
PVR Nest believes in educating, empowering and building a collaborative society to contribute to the Sustainable Developmental Goals.

What kind of CSR initiatives does PVR engage in?

PVR’s 12-year-long tradition of community engagement through PVR Nest entails not only financial and in-kind support for worthy causes but active involvement in a variety of volunteer activities and community partnerships.
Fostering mutually beneficial relationships with Central & State governments, embassies, national & international voluntary organizations, CSOs, societies, and other Trusts, PVR NEST works towards fulfilling the company’s celeste philosophy of Corporate Social Responsibility.
As a responsible organization, PVR via PVR Nest is currently carrying out initiatives namely, Childscape, CineArt, Eco Grants, SHE’s Ambassador, Pink Toilets, Project Eklavya, Maitri meals, Scholarship for Excellence and Academics program.

Tell us about the inception and agenda of PVR Nest.

Much before the CSR was legislated in the Companies Act, 2013, PVR Ltd was already fulfilling the corporate social responsibility commitments through a philanthropic approach. The organization has always considered a contribution to Nation Building as integral to the growth of its business.
As the company got listed in 2006-2007, we established PVR Nest as a not-for-profit nodal body aimed at providing a dedicated approach to community development. Through PVR Nest, we want to engage with the community and communicate with them. We execute all our initiatives with a focussed approach in order to improve the urban environment around us and uplift the condition of children with fewer advantages and opportunities. Watch the journey of PVR Nest below:

How is the impact measured?

PVR Nest is now 12 years old. We have always measured the impact with the number of beneficiaries being integrated into the programs and what they receive with the success of the projects. For example, Childscapes caters to the children at risk through non-formal education and the impact is measured by reporting the number of children who are in the formal education system through our intervention.
Our ‘Project Eklavya’ aims for 70,000 admissions through RTE act and we are confident that this impact will be achieved by the end of the program.

Similarly, we have curated the ‘Project COPE’ – a grant initiative dedicated to the persons with disabilities and with this program, we aim to reach out to 50,000 beneficiaries through excellence experts. PVR NEST will provide grants to the excellence experts (fellows) to work on high-impact projects that can bring a systematic change in the disability sector in India.
In addition to this, our ECO GRANTS program incubates 10 change projects from five cities who are working on bringing substantial change to environmental sustainability. Furthermore, employee participation is another contributing factor to the impact assessment.

We are further structuring the reporting and impact mechanism of the foundation by integrating the SROI tool – a technical platform that will handle the assessment studies and streamline the accounting standards.

What is your personal vision for CSR?

I personally believe in the Trusteeship philosophy propounded by Mahatma Gandhi. It is an “instrument of human dignity” and provides a simple meaning to social good.
Back in 2006, when we were formalising PVR Nest; we kept the foundation based on ‘Trusteeship’ and curated our flagship program ‘Childscapes’. We believe that it is the responsibility of the company to give back to society and extend support to the most vulnerable communities in urban settings.

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SRMB Steel trains 15,000 Mason Workers at Pan India Level under its Program ‘Unnati’

By
The CSR Journal
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mason

SRMB Steel trains over 15,000 workers under its Mason Training program ‘Unnati’. The skill building certificate workshop is conducted for masons on good construction practices, under the guidance of a technical institute.

Started in the year 2013, Unnati conducts the program where industry experts provide information about the newest trends and practices. With the aim of enhancing the employability of masons and upgrade their comprehension, SRMB has successfully conducted the programs at the Pan India Level. Conducted in several vernacular languages, the programs are keep in the mind the knowledge level of the audience.

Director Marketing at SRMB Srijan Pvt. Ltd. Group, Ashish Beriwala said, “The workshop is a platform for masons to hone their skills and thereby improve the quality of construction and productivity. This also brings respect and faith to the mason community from IHBs, builders and contractors. There was a knowledge test for these masons and accordingly they were awarded with the Certificate of merit.”

Apart from Mason Programs, SRMB Steel has also introduced Steel Testing Orientation Centre ‘Rods n Bars’ across the nation, to put focus on the quality of steel in the building and construction industry.

CSR: Gender Diversity can be Productive in Business

By
Hency Thacker
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gender diversity
Gender Diversity in the business world makes a company more productive, as measured by market value and revenue, according to research conducted by Harvard Business Review. In a study of 1069 leading firms across 35 countries and 24 industries, it was found that countries and industries that view gender diversity as important, capture benefits from it. However, those that don’t, do not benefit either.
For example, the percentage of women in telecommunication companies in Western Europe, historically a relatively gender-inclusive context, was significantly tied to a company’s market value. However, in the energy sector in the Middle East, which has historically not been gender-inclusive, firms’ gender diversity was unrelated to company performance.
The study also showed that the positive effects of diversity were seen in societies with normative acceptance of working women. But it was not seen in societies with only regulatory support. Certain countries have strong cultural support, but less legal structures in place. Others have established legal structures but cultures are strongly patriarchal in nature. Japan, for example, has some of the most generous parental and homecare leave policies globally but also suffers from male dominant work culture. This is why it doesn’t benefit much from diversity like the Western European countries.
The international comparisons have revealed the striking importance of a country’s diversity norms, such as gender role attitudes. The data has suggested that for diversity to work, workers have to buy into the value of diversity, not just hear some rules about it. Diversity creates positive benefits when people believe in its intrinsic value. They can’t just see gender inclusion as an obligation.
There are three main reasons why opinions about the value of diversity matter so much to the actual value it brings.

A diverse workforce signifies an attractive work environment.

In numerous studies, research has shown that employees in pro-diversity regions, like the U.S. and Western Europe, prefer diverse work environments. In a survey of 1,000 respondents, the job site Glassdoor found that 67% of job seekers overall look at workforce diversity when evaluating an offer. Another survey found that 61% of women look at the gender diversity of the employer’s leadership team when deciding where to work.

A perception that valuing diversity means valuing diverse exchange of ideas

Research by Hewlett, Marshall, and Sherbin has shown that leaders with diverse backgrounds and experience helped companies innovate more. Diverse leaders were more likely to create an environment where new, creative ideas were considered. And diverse teams were more likely to have some common experiences with their end user.

A diverse workforce signifies competent management for investors.

Gender diversity can also signal to investors that a firm is well-run. Sociological research on market valuation suggests that investors value when firms use commonly-accepted “best practices,” such as the inclusion of diverse groups in hiring.

CSR: 10 ways to apply AI to social good

By
Kasmin Fernandes
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Topher White
Engineer Topher White from The Rainforest Connection, a nonprofit in the US, uses AI tools such as Google’s TensorFlow in conservation efforts
Artificial intelligence, while not a silver bullet, could contribute to the multi-pronged efforts to tackle some of the world’s most challenging social problems. Social impact domains used by social-sector organizations and CSR committees could benefit largely, according to a report by McKinsey Global Institute. Here are 10 ways to apply AI to social good.

1. Health and hunger

Addressing health and hunger challenges, including early-stage diagnosis and optimized food distribution.
How it can be done: AI-enabled wearable devices, which can already detect potential early signs of diabetes through heart rate sensor data with 85% accuracy, could potentially help more than 400 million people worldwide afflicted by the disease if the devices could be made sufficiently affordable. Other examples include combining various types of alternative data sources such as geospatial data, social media data, telecommunications data, online search data, and vaccination data to help predict virus and disease transmission patterns.

2. Educational challenges

These include maximizing student achievement and improving teacher productivity.
How it can be done: Adaptive learning technology could be used to recommend content to students based on past success and engagement with the material. AI could also be used to detect student distress early, before a teacher has noticed.

3. Economic empowerment

Opening access to economic resources and opportunities, including jobs, skills development, and market information, with an emphasis on currently vulnerable populations.
How it can be done: AI can be used for early detection of plant damage through low-altitude sensors, including smartphones and drones, to improve yield in small farms if farmers have access to technology; one Microsoft project called FarmBeats is building edge-computing technology that could one day make data-driven farming accessible for even the poorest farmers. Watch how:

4. Environmental challenges

These include sustaining biodiversity and combating natural resource depletion, pollution, and climate change.
How it can be done: Robots with AI capabilities can be used to sort recyclable material from waste. The Rainforest Connection, a nonprofit in the US, uses AI tools such as Google’s TensorFlow in conservation efforts across the world. Its platform can detect illegal logging in vulnerable forest areas through analysis of audio sensor data. Watch the video below to under how.
Other applications include using satellite imagery to predict routes and behaviour of illegal fishing vessels.

5. Equality and inclusion

Addressing equality, inclusion, and self-determination challenges, such as reducing or eliminating bias based on race, sexual orientation, religion, citizenship, and disabilities.
How it can be done: Affectiva, which was spun out of the MIT Media Lab, and Autism Glass, a Stanford research project, involves use of AI to automate emotion recognition and provide social cues to help individuals along the autism spectrum interact in social environments. Another example is the creation of an alternative identification verification system for individuals without traditional forms of ID, such as driver’s licenses.
Watch the video to see how Autism Glass helps kids with autism read facial expressions:

6. Crisis response

Specific crisis-related challenges, such as responding to natural and man-made disasters in search and rescue missions and at times of disease outbreak.
How it can be done: AI on satellite data to map and predict wildfire progression to optimize firefighter response. Drones with AI capabilities can also be used to find missing persons in wilderness areas.

7. Information verification and validation

This domain differs from the others in that it focuses on filtering or counteracting content that could mislead and distort, including false and polarizing information disseminated through the relatively new channels of the internet and social media. Such content can have severely negative consequences, including the manipulation of election results and the mob killings in India that have been triggered by false news dissemination via messaging applications.
How it can be done: Actively presenting opposing views to ideologically isolated pockets in social media.

8. Infrastructure management

Infrastructure challenges that could provide public good in the categories of energy, water and waste management, transportation, real estate, and urban planning.
How it can be done: Traffic light networks can be optimized using real-time traffic camera data and Internet of Things sensors to maximize vehicle throughput. AI can also be used for predictive maintenance of public transportation systems such as trains and public infrastructure, including bridges, to identify potentially malfunctioning components.

9. Public and social sector management

Initiatives that are related to the efficiency and effective management of public- and social-sector entities, including strong institutions, transparency, and financial management.
How it can be done: AI can be used to identify tax fraud using alternative data such as browsing data, retail data, and payments history.

10. Security and justice

Challenges in society that include harm prevention—both from crime and other physical dangers—as well as tracking criminals and mitigating bias of police forces. This domain focuses on security, policing, and criminal justice issues as a unique category adjacent to public-sector management.
How it can be done: An example is using AI to create solutions that help firefighters determine safe paths through burning buildings using data from IoT devices.
This article is part of a series on applying AI to social good.

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Mindtree.org Launches Social Inclusion Platform to Democratize Technology for Micro-Entrepreneurs

By
The CSR Journal
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social inclusion
Mindtree.org, the social inclusion platform of Mindtree Ltd, announced the implementation of its five digital platforms designed to build inclusive societies and create more opportunities for independent entrepreneurs in India and elsewhere.
The platforms cater to India’s informal economic sector, representing millions of workers such as farmers, artisans and waste pickers striving to increase incomes and reach end consumers, and who represent the vast majority of India’s workforce.
The purpose of the Mindtree.org digital platforms is to make digital technology and professional services accessible to millions of local entrepreneurs working in the informal economy. These initiatives help to set up profitable micro-businesses, connected communities and networked marketplaces, improving their income and standard of living.
More than 1.6 million independent entrepreneurs, alongside several state government agencies, non-governmental organizations and other partners, are utilizing five fully-operational platforms:

I Got Garbage: Transforming Waste-pickers into Recycling Managers

A waste management solution that improves the livelihood of a waste picker and ensures fewer landfills for the community. This involves creating scalable waste eco-systems including municipal governments, waste pickers as entrepreneurs, social enterprises and citizen communities. As of October 2018, this program has encompassed 9,700 recycling managers working with 330,000 waste generators to divert 212 million kg of garbage from landfills.

I Got Knowledge: Enabling “Gap, Strength, and Interest Based Learning” in Rural India

An education solution that aims to identify and solve gaps in student learning and school processes. The app suite includes tools for skill assessments, physical school infrastructure inspections, school leadership and teacher training, school management collaboration, mobilization and training of rural tutors. This program has helped support 7,500 schools and 280,000 students.

I Got Crops: Helping Smallholder Farmers Climb up the Agri-Value Chain

A farmer empowerment solution that enables marginal farmers and artisanal communities to sell directly to the consumer and earn more income. The solution provides access to information, opportunities, and a formalized value chain for the farmers’ produce. This program has served 865 farmer micro businesses and 49,000 farmers.

I Got Skills: A Unified Platform for Grassroots Skilling and Employment

A skills management solution aimed at the semi-skilled labor marketplace that enhances individual skills and helps workers build new career paths and set up independent micro-businesses. This program has helped train 443,000 candidates from 37 industry sectors.

University of Commons: Engaging Communities in Problem Solving

A societal change management solution that brings together a network of labs. It provides a learning ecosystem for businesses to find creative ways of addressing persistent social issues in their communities. Some 1,200 community groups and 17,000 local communities use 3 social innovation labs to try to solve grassroots problems using the UoC platform.
The central idea of these connected platforms is to make the independent entrepreneur an integral part of the entire value chain and help them build a micro-business. The platforms connect them with various communities, including government agencies, social businesses, donors, impact investors and citizen groups. The entrepreneur’s products go through several value-adding stages before they come on to the marketplace for consumption by the end-user.
“These initiatives are about using the power of IT and technology to help create more structure and opportunities in the informal sector of the economy,” said Prashant Mehra, Vice President & Chief Architect – Social Inclusion, for Mindtree.org. “We have made our platforms open and welcome to anyone to either enhance the existing solution or build a new solution for a different domain that can help provide a dignified livelihood for millions in our society.”
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