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<ul class="summary-list"><li>The death of a 26-year-old EY employee has triggered a conversation about India's work culture.</li><li>The employee's family says that she was overworked — and that it reflects a wider problem.</li></ul>Fourteen-hour work days, meetings during vacations, and no overtime.To some, this may sound like a job from hell. But for many employees in India, it's just another working day.India has one of the toughest work cultures in the world. In 2022, according to the most recently available data from the <a target="_blank" href="https://ilostat.ilo.org/topics/working-time/#">International Labour Organization</a>, the average employee in India worked 46.7 hours a week, compared to about 38 in the US.Not only are employees in India working long hours, but many are also doing it under intense pressure."The pressure is very, very high," Jennifer Hephzibah, a senior HR professional in India, told Business Insider. "If you don't deliver it at a particular time, you either lose your bonus, or you lose your job. It doesn't matter what you're going through otherwise."A Boston Consulting Group <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.bcg.com/publications/2024/india-hr-revolution-building-workplaces-for-the-future&amp;sa=D&amp;source=docs&amp;ust=1727195342438866&amp;usg=AOvVaw366N6_QMHZIy6fbfnMv__Y">survey</a> of 11,000 workers in eight countries in October 2023 found that 58% of Indian respondents reported feeling burned out — the highest share of any of the countries, including the US (50%), the UK (47%), and Japan (37%).<h2 id="56dd16d5-8f41-4ab5-aad1-efb517f1a780">'Glorifying overwork'</h2>This always-on culture has come under the spotlight recently following the death of an EY employee, Anna Sebastian Perayil, in July.Peryail's father, Sebastian Perayil, told<a target="_blank" href="https://www.thenewsminute.com/news/what-action-will-ey-take-anna-sebastians-father-speaks-to-tnm"> The News Minute</a> that he believed his daughter died of a combination of health issues, including work stress and acid reflux which triggered a lack of sleep. The official cause of Perayil's death, however, remains unclear."Anna was unable to sleep on most days and couldn't eat on time," he told the publication. "After a whole night of work, she would have to wake up at 7:30 the next morning and repeat the same cycle."According to<a target="_blank" href="https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/maharashtra/mother-pens-letter-following-death-of-26-year-old-daughter-due-to-work-stress-urges-ey-chairman-to-reflect-on-toxic-work-culture/article68656957.ece"> The Hindu</a>, Perayil's mother emailed Rajiv Memani, the chairman at EY India, in the wake of Perayil's death, saying her daughter had collapsed four months into the job after struggling with "the workload, new environment, and long hours."She also accused EY of "glorifying overwork."EY told BI it was "taking the family's correspondence with utmost seriousness and humility" and called Perayil's death an "irreparable loss."<h2 id="0e580f7b-a1b5-40de-bcd5-4c5e1cd9f1da">A 70-hour workweek</h2>Concerns about India's workplace culture are not new.Last year, the software billionaire and Infosys founder Narayana Murthy sparked controversy after saying that young people in India should be willing to work 70 hours a week to help the country progress."India's work productivity is one of the lowest in the world," he told<a target="_blank" href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ES8ZNSTswrs"> The Record</a>, going on to say that unless India improved several factors including its work productivity, "we will not be able to compete with those countries that have made tremendous progress.""So, therefore," he continued, "my request is that our youngsters must say: "'This is my country. I'd like to work 70 hours a week.'"The comments appear to reflect wider expectations in India, even among employers with head offices elsewhere.Kavach Khanna, a former EY analyst in India, told BI that he believed he was expected to do more work than his US colleagues."We used to talk to colleagues in the US in the same roles, and their experience was completely different from ours," Khanna said. "They would get to go for client meetings, leave the office on time, no stretched workdays, and they weren't overburdened like we were."EY did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<h2 id="c34411b0-4cf7-4ac6-b8b5-d828d78369df">Cost centers and cheap labor</h2>Huge multinational companies, such as EY, Google, Microsoft, Salesforce, and Accenture, have set up cost centers in India.These centers, also called Global Capability Centers (GCCs), manage everything from cyber security to product development. They can also manage human resources and accounting.They are cheaper to run in India due to lower labor costs, and they help companies tap into a wide and hungry pool of tech-savvy, English-speaking talent.An <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://assets.ey.com/content/dam/ey-sites/ey-com/en_in/topics/consulting/gcc/2023/06/ey-future-of-gccs-in-india-a-vision-2030.pdf">EY report in 2023 </a>projected that India is set to host at least 2,400 such centers by 2030, with a market value of more than $100 billion.An associate at the Indian office of a multinational banking and advisory firm told BI that even at his Western company, he believed Indian employees were expected to work longer and harder.He said 16- to 18-hour workdays — including some weekends — were normal in his job."A lot of multinational corporations use India as a cost center because of the cheap labor," said the associate, who wanted to remain anonymous for fear of retaliation. "Offices in other countries have boundaries and then dump their extra work on us."Jeanie Chang, an executive coach who specializes in workplace mental health, said she had noticed such a trend, too. "It definitely exists that multinational companies tend to think, 'We love that the Indians work hard, so let's keep doing that.'"Chang also noted that some Asian communities place a cultural importance on work ethic that can lend itself to exploitation."There's a word in Japanese and Korean," Chang said, "that literally means 'overworking yourself to death.' That should say something."<h2 id="799c5726-4028-4993-85d3-1175f4f96f4d">Fear of replacement</h2>So what is stopping employees from demanding change?Part of it might come down to competition. In 2022, <a target="_blank" class="" href="http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/files/file/India%20Employment%20Report%202024.pdf">according to the India Employment Report 2024</a>, India's youth made up nearly 83% of the country's total unemployed population. With <a target="_blank" href="https://www.thehindu.com/business/budget/68432023-Economic-Survey-2023-24-Complete-document">India's workforce</a> thought to number well over 500 million, each job counts.Hephzibah, the senior HR professional, said that the sheer number of available workers has contributed to a feeling that employees are expendable, and has held them back from saying no to unreasonable demands for fear of losing their jobs.Perayil's mother's email, for instance, said her daughter "did not know how to say no.""She was trying to prove herself in a new environment, and in doing so, she pushed herself beyond her limits," the email said,Hephzibah said this was especially true for younger workers, who may not have enough experience to become critical within the company yet."In the bigger companies," she said, "if you don't deliver, that's it: You're replaced."<h2 id="76d9e66d-7e50-4929-bb3f-86da08d669dd">Cultural differences</h2>Chang told BI that she's had Indian employees point out their lack of resources compared to international peers in the same company."They tell me, 'Jeanie, we don't have effective mental-health resources, but we hear the US does,'" she said.In a<a target="_blank" href="https://www.gallup.com/workplace/349484/state-of-the-global-workplace.aspx"> Gallup State of the Global Workplace report</a> published in 2024, only 14% of the roughly 2,262 Indian employees surveyed said they were thriving at their workplace, compared with 34% of the 128,278 employees surveyed globally.Hephzibah, who has worked in both Indian-owned and multinational companies, told BI that multiple colleagues had left or requested transfers outside India in recent years — mainly because of the work culture.She also found cultural differences when conducting training sessions for employees in India and the US.When implementing the Indian training schedule for one company's American employees, Hephzibah faced pushback on issues like late session timings."They said, 'We're not going to work after 6 and they could clearly call it out without feeling bad," Hephzibah said. "The problem in India is that people get scared to speak up because their jobs might be impacted."<h2 id="c1e23a63-b3a5-4dfe-9fda-a228d77f5f16">The way forward</h2>In Hephzibah's opinion, overtime and vacation policies need to be strictly enforceable in India."Outside, we're very careful to communicate that we care because they have legal backing to sue," she said. "Over here, that entire system is missing."She agreed with Chang that effecting systemic change would also be up to the leaders and middle management, and not just down to a country's laws."What is the leadership believing in? Is leadership overworking?" Chang said. "Because if they are, they're going to overwork their employees."

The death of a young EY employee is raising questions over India's 'always-on' work culture

<ul><li><keyword id="6721326" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="international-union-of-geological-science">International Union of Geological Science</keyword> (<keyword id="6721327" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="IUGS">IUGS</keyword>) has decided to divide the Holocene epoch into sub-divisions. And they’ve named the youngest phase in <keyword id="29052" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="history">history</keyword> the ‘Meghalayan Age’.</li><li>The stalagmites in the Mawmluh Cave provide evidence of the climatic shift that led to a <keyword id="46472" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="drought">drought</keyword> in every major civilisation around the world 4,200 years ago. </li><li>Some academicians are of the opinion that the decision is premature and question whether climate shifts should be a parameter of significance.</li></ul>The history of Earth is divided into eons, eras, periods, epochs and ages. And, the youngest age in history has been named the <a href="https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-44868527">‘Meghalayan Age’</a> after the northeastern state of <keyword id="6355772" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="meghalaya">Meghalaya</keyword> by the International Union of Geological Science (IUGS). Even the <a href="http://www.stratigraphy.org/ICSchart/ChronostratChart2018-07.pdf">default timeline</a> of the earth, the <keyword id="6721325" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="international-chronostratigraphic-chart">International Chronostratigraphic Chart</keyword>, has been updated to include its latest entrant. And it’s just not Meghalaya on its own. The entire Holocene epoch has been sub-divided into three categories. The oldest age is the Greelandian that starts 11,700 years ago, followed by the Northgrippian that clocks in 8326 years ago. After which, the Meghalayan Age comes up to represent everything from 4,200 years ago to 1950. How does it work? The Earth’s been around for 4.6 billion years now and that’s a long to time to keep a record of. To make things easier, the entire existence of the planet has been divided into slices of time. Those slices of time, in turn, are decided by a significant event that had an impact on the Earth’s <keyword id="138327" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="20" keywordseo="geography">geography</keyword>, for instance, when the supercontinent of Pangea started to break into the continents that we know now. But, why Meghalaya? The Holocene epoch, the youngest epoch in the earth’s history covers the events of the past 11,700 years. Basically, everything since the last ice-age. The Meghalyan Age falls under this Holocene epoch, representing the past from 4200 years ago to 1950. <div type="image" title="meghalaya2" msid="65053806" hostid="261"></div>

 This was the time when droughts had a huge impact on the all the major civilisations around the world. History shows that no-one from the Egyptian civilisation in the west to the Yangtze River Valley civilisation in the east was exempt. Most texts attribute this change to shifts in atmospheric and oceanic currents. This phase is specifically called the Meghalyan because of the stalagmites found on the floors of the Mawmluh Cave in the state. They show the deviation that occurred in the type of isotopes of oxygen atoms and was a result of these droughts. This shift is interpreted as an indication of weakening monsoon conditions at that time, providing an indication of a climatic shift. But well, not everyone is happy with this classification. The idea of creating different ages within the Holocene hasn’t been one that’s been unanimously accepted. Some academicians are of the opinion that the decision is premature and question whether climate shifts should be a parameter of significance. However, while they work that issue out, Meghalaya, and <keyword id="3658" type="COUNTRY" weightage="20" keywordseo="India">India</keyword>, can celebrate making history.

An Indian state just made history, literally

Almost 1 in 5 Indian adults aged 60+ show signs of mild neurocognitive disorder, according to a study. Given an estimated 138 million adults over 60 years of age in <keyword id="19895063" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="india" source="keywords">India</keyword>, these estimates suggest approximately 24 million and 9.9 million older adults in India are living with mild and major neurocognitive disorder, respectively, revealed the study published in the journal <keyword id="20516892" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="plos-one" source="keywords">PLOS One</keyword>. The findings showed that the prevalence of major neurocognitive disorder was greater with older ages - from about 4 per cent among those aged 60-64 years to 15.2 per cent among those aged over 80 years. "India, with its rapidly aging population, faces an alarming burden of dementia," said the team including from St. John's Medical College in Bengaluru and Johns Hopkins University in the US. For the study, the team recruited almost 4,100 participants residing in 18 geographically and linguistically diverse states such as Jammu &amp; Kashmir, Punjab, Delhi, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Karnataka, <keyword id="19896558" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="tamil-nadu" source="keywords">Tamil Nadu</keyword>, among others. The majority of the group was aged 60-79 years. They found that the prevalence is higher with older age, less educational attainment, and among illiterate and rural-living older adults. These findings highlight the growing importance of dementia in India. "The prevalence of dementia in India is higher than previously recognised. These findings, coupled with a growing number of older adults in the coming decades in India, have important implications for society, public health, and families," the researchers said in the paper. The team analysed the participants using the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) -- a widely recognised clinical diagnostic authority. Tbe results showed that the population prevalence of DSM-5 mild and major neurocognitive disorder was 17.6 per cent and 7.2 per cent, respectively. Further, 12 per cent reported severe loss in at least one ADL (activities of daily living) and 8.5 per cent reported impairment in any IADL (instrumental activities of daily living). Major neurocognitive disorder was more prevalent among illiterate (9.3 per cent) than literate (5 per cent) and rural (10.3 per cent) than urban (4.9 per cent) SEE ALSO:<a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/affordability-propels-indian-smartwatch-shipments-to-rise-by-50-in-2023/articleshow/107517214.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/affordability-propels-indian-smartwatch-shipments-to-rise-by-50-in-2023/articleshow/107517214.cms" target="_blank">Affordability propels Indian smartwatch shipments to rise by 50% in 2023</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/webstories/top-ten-selling-cars-in-india-in-january-2024/slidelist/107547644.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/auto/webstories/top-ten-selling-cars-in-india-in-january-2024/slidelist/107547644.cms" target="_blank">Baleno regains the top selling car spot as Maruti Suzuki dominates the Jan top-10 list</a><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/webstories/tcs-crosses-15-lakh-crore-market-cap-a-look-at-indias-biggest-companies/slidelist/107478912.cms" target="_blank"></a> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/stock-market/webstories/tcs-crosses-15-lakh-crore-market-cap-a-look-at-indias-biggest-companies/slidelist/107478912.cms" target="_blank">TCS crosses ₹15 lakh crore market cap – A look at India’s biggest companies</a>

1 in 5 Indian adults over 60 show signs of mild neurocognitive disorder: Study

<ul><li>Intense violence has tainted Kerala' politics in recent years.</li><li>Simmering tensions between the UDF, LDF, and the BJP may affect voter turnout.</li><li>If people decide to avoid voting to stay safe, it may skew the results.</li></ul>The southern state of Kerala, famous for its scenic backwaters and high literacy rate, has seen one of the most violent election campaigns in the country. If people decide to sit at home to avoid getting caught in any sort of violence, it may skew the results in favour of one party or the other. <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/elections/lok-sabha-elections-2019/kerala/news/violent-end-to-vibrant-poll-campaign/articleshow/68987461.cms">More than 30 people</a>, including a policeman, were injured at Thiruvalla where the activists of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Left Democratic Front (LDF) clashed on the last day of the campaign (April 21). That was only one of the many violent clashes that have caught headlines in the state that boasts of 94% literacy, according to the 2011 census. Sitaram Yechury, the general secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), better known by its acronym CPI(M), said that the party had 13 workers in the last one year. However, police <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/kerala-news/kerala-rss-workers-murder-data-reveals-record-of-political-killings-1733728">records verified by NDTV</a> showed that 14 people from the RSS, BJP, and the left parties have been murdered for political reasons since February 2018. The count of similar deaths between 2000 and 2017 escalates to over 170, according to the same report. The increasingly restive political air in Kerala only shows how tight the fight is going to be. 26 million voters are enlisted for voting on April 23, the <keyword id="2211307" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Third-phase-of-polling">third phase of polling</keyword> in the ongoing elections for the Lok Sabha, the lower house of the Indian Parliament. The voter turnout in the state was a record 73.6% in 2014, <a href="https://www.ndtv.com/elections-news/election-2014-kerala-records-73-6-per-cent-voter-turnout-highest-since-1991-556911" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">the highest since 1991</a>. The United Democratic Front led by the Indian National Congress bagged 12 seats while the remaining eight went to the LDF led by the communist party-led coalition. However, the BJP is expected to be a strong contender this time around, more than it has been ever before. The threat from the BJP is seen as the strongest in some regions that have strong Hindu majority, where people are peeved by a 2018 Supreme Court verdict that allowed <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/supreme-court-allows-women-to-enter-sabarimala-temple/articleshow/65989807.cms">women into the Sabarimala Temple</a>. Tradition did not allow women of menstruating age into the temple until the court verdict. The <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/elections/lok-sabha-elections-2019/kerala/news/will-do-everything-to-protect-sabarimala-shah/articleshow/68971697.cms">BJP and its ideological parent, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh</a> (RSS), milked the issue and kept the anger alive to turn it against the incumbent Parliamentarians. Hindus make up for only 54% of the state’s population, according to the 2011 Census, compared to 80% nationally. 26% of Kerala’s population are Muslims and 18% are Christians. However, the RSS has had a strong support base in Kerala for years but the <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/thiruvananthapuram/rss-strengthening-base-in-kerala-number-of-shakhas-rising/articleshow/57147070.cms">hindu natioanlist organisation</a> is now stronger in the state than ever before. The odds of BJP getting more votes than before are higher but <a href="https://www.timesnownews.com/elections/article/opinion-poll-for-lok-sabha-election-2019-live-times-now-vmr-survey-for-bjp-congress-narendra-modi-rahul-gandhi/384850">most opinion polls</a> have still pegged it as a two-way fight between the UDF and the LDF in the state. A big factor working in favour of the LDF is the <a href="https://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/politics-and-nation/kerala-will-set-an-example-in-rebuilding-rehabilitation-pinarayi-vijayan/articleshow/65481744.cms">elevated reputation of state Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan</a>. He won accolades for effectively managing a devastating flood in the state in 2018. The state also has a long history of leftists dominating state politics. Kerala’s first chief minister in 1957, EMS Namboodiripad, was one of the world’s first communist leaders to head an elected government. On the other hand, UDF led by Congress is trying to squeeze the BJP out by supporting the protests against the entry of women into the Sabarimala Temple. “Well, you cannot afford to write off the votes of the majority in times of political interest,” <a href="https://qz.com/india/1601119/election-2019-congresss-tharoor-battles-modis-bjp-in-kerala/">Congress leader Shashi Tharoor</a> fighting to defend the state capital Thriuvananthapuram told Quartz. The margin for error has shrunk significantly for Tharoor who swept the seat with 100,000 more votes than the second candidate in 2009. By 2014, it had shrunk to 14,000 and this time it is expected to be even tighter. Given that tensions are running high, voter turnout may become a deciding factor. SEE ALSO: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/lok-sabha-election-2019-3rd-phase-polling-live-updates/liveblog/68999100.cms" data-type="tilCustomLink" target="_blank">LIVE BLOG: Voting in 117 constituencies underway</a>

Voter turnout may be tested in India’s most literate state that has seen one of the most violent election campaigns

<ul class="summary-list"><li>$12 billion HR startup Deel is facing calls for a California Secretary of Labor investigation.</li><li>Multiple California state senators criticized Deel for misclassifying workers, citing reporting from Insider.</li></ul>A California senator is calling for the state's Secretary of Labor to investigate Deel, a buzzy San Francisco-based HR startup valued $12 billion, over "brazen employment misclassification."In a letter addressed to Secretary Stewart Knox and the Labor and Workforce Development Agency sent in late June, Stephen Padilla cited a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/inside-hr-startup-deel-culture-employment-regulatory-2023-2">recent Insider investigation into the Deel</a> and asked the state agency to look into how the company treats its 2,000-strong workforce.Founded in 2018, Deel helps companies expand and hire around the world. It has a variety of products, from HR and payroll tools to an "Employee Of Record" service in which it hires workers on a client's behalf in countries they don't yet have a legal presence. Bouyed by the pandemic and accompanying shift to remote work, the company grew rapidly, and it has received nearly $700 million in venture capital investment from top tier firms including Andreessen Horowitz and Emerson Collective. In March, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/inside-hr-startup-deel-culture-employment-regulatory-2023-2">Insider reported that at least half of the company's global workforce are independent contractors, and that there is no meaningful difference in the duties and expectations placed on contractors and employees</a>. Contractors work the same full-time hours as employees, are paid fixed monthly or biweekly sums, are assigned work, have managers, are on years-long or open-ended contracts, and need to request time off in advance, for which they are paid. Even Deel's CEO, Alex Bouaziz, is an independent contractor.Citing Insider's reporting, Padilla wrote: "This greed-driven approach to labor management is a blatant reminder of the systemic inequities that persist in our economy, and it is deeply concerning to see companies like Deel prioritize their corporate bottom line at the expense of workers' basic rights and protections."In a statement, a Deel spokesperson told Insider the allegations were "completely made up" and "most likely based on competitor hearsay." 17 current or former Deel workers had told Insider in March that they had concerns the company may be misclassifying contract workers' employment status. These sources worked at Deel at varying points in its history in California, elsewhere in the US, Canada, and around the world.According to Deel, less than 1% of its workers in the US are currently independent contractors. (Historically, Deel brought on many US workers as independent contractors, insiders previously reported, and over time allowed workers to be full-time employees in a small number of countries.)Padilla added that he believes Deel is advising clients on how to miscassify workers and avoid taxes, pointing to recent remarks from Bouaziz about how the company guiding clients on "the different ways of employing someone or assigning them as an independent contractor...and therefore don't put as much tax liability into your company."In an accompanying statement, state senator Dave Cortese, Chair of the Senate Labor, Public Employment and Retirement Committee, said: "Any company found breaking the law will be brought to justice, and they would certainly have no business advising other companies on labor law."State senator María Elena Durazo added: "If Deel advises clients to do the same as they do, which is employ workers as independent contractors, it only perpetuates a cycle of denying workers basic protections like healthcare, unemployment insurance, workers comp, retirement and overtime.""Compliance is literally what we do, in over 120 countries. We have to understand it for our customers, and we certainly practice it ourselves," the Deel spokesperson said. "Today we have over 50 compliance experts in house and an external network of country advisors. To advise clients on how to misclassify their workers would be at complete odds with our business model. We've also created a consortium with external academics called the Deel Lab for Global Employment to study and help prevent misclassification practices."Insider previously reported that at least some Deel workers had contracts with the firm's California corporate entity, and some contracts additionally specified that disputes should be resolved according to California law. When workers have a contract with a California entity, that may subject them to California labor rules, even if they didn't work within the state, Thomas Lenz, an adjunct lecturer at the University of Southern California Gould School of Law, previously said, talking generally about the state's employment law. "Where that relationship is considered to exist is an important one, and if it's being controlled out of California, it might be something that a California court says is governed by California law," he added.At various times, Deel has hired workers as contractors in the US, Canada, the UK, Australia, France, Germany, Spain, Greece, Brazil, Turkey, India, Pakistan, Hong Kong, Singapore, the Philippines, Nigeria, and elsewhere, sources at the company said. A Deel spokesperson previously declined to comment on which state or country it believes has jurisdictional authority over its employment contracts.Do you work at Deel, or use its services as a customer? Contact Insider reporter Rob Price via encrypted messaging app Signal at +1 650-636-6268 or email at rprice@insider.com. Confidentiality offered. Use a non-work device to reach out.

A California state senator is calling for a labor investigation into $12B HR startup Deel over 'brazen employment misclassification' after Insider's reporting

<ul class="summary-list"><li>India's first openly gay prince revealed his parents attempted to subject him to conversion therapy.</li><li>He told Sky News the extreme measures they planned included brain surgery and electroshock therapy. </li></ul>India's first openly gay prince said his parents tried to make him undergo conversion therapy in a interview with <a href="https://news.sky.com/story/indias-first-openly-gay-prince-says-parents-wanted-him-to-have-conversion-brain-surgery-12929584" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Sky News.</a>Speaking from Jaipur, India, on Friday, Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil told the news channel that his mother and father would've gone to go to extreme lengths to try to make him straight. "My parents were planning to open up up my brain, perform a surgery on my brain," he said. "They were planning to make me undergo electro shock therapy."As his parents planned for him to receive the treatments in the US where conversion therapy has been widely discredited, he was ultimately able to avoid being subjected to such practices."Fortunately for me and fortunately for them the American Psychiatric Association had said that homosexuality is not a mental disorder, so they were not successful," he added.Nevertheless, Gohil said he suffered severe "embarrassment" and "humiliation" while enduring the "pain and suffering" of his parents' futile attempts to change his sexual orientation. <div type="image" title="Prince Manvendra Singh Gohil on November 27, 2010 in Paris, France." height="1997" width="3000" msid="102251508" hostid="261" sizebytes="305354"></div>"It was an absolute case of discrimination, violation of human rights, whether I'm a prince or not a prince, parents have no right to put their children into such kind of a torture," Gohil said.Gohil is the founder of the <a href="https://www.lakshya-trust.org/who-we-are/about-manvendra-singh-gohil" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Lakysha Trust,</a> an LGBTQ+ charity based in the Indian state of Gujarat. According to his bio on the website, his sexuality was revealed to his family in 2002 after he was hospitalized with a nervous breakdown.When he became comfortable enough to speak publicly about his sexuality in 2006, it said his family accused him of bringing dishonor to their clan and led to people in his home state of Rajpipla burning his effigy.But Gohil continued to speak out about his experience, the bio continued. In 2007, it said he was interviewed by Oprah Winfrey and told her he said had no regrets about coming out publicly. <h2>Conversion therapy remains a widespread issue in India, Gohil says</h2><a href="https://www.apa.org/topics/lgbtq/sexual-orientation-change" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The American Psychiatric Association</a> refers to conversion therapy as "sexual orientation change efforts" or "gender identity change efforts" to differentiate it from evidence-based therapy practices. According to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/litigation/conversion-therapy-ban-challenge-will-not-be-reheard-by-appeals-court-2023-01-23/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Reuters</a>, more than 20 states in the US have laws that can subject health care providers to fines, license suspensions, and license revocations for trying to change the sexual orientation or gender identity of people under the age of 18.In India, however, Gohil said conversion therapy was still a widespread issue: "It happens to so many individuals in India, I can give you so many numerous examples where parents are literally torturing their children."There have been a few signs of progress in recent years such as Tamil Nadu becoming the first Indian state to issue reforms against the practice in 2021, <a href="https://www.independent.co.uk/asia/india/madras-hc-conversion-therapy-pride-month-b1861601.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the Independent</a> reported.<h2>Shinjiro Atae</h2>Gohil isn't the first Asian public figure to shine a light on issues facing the LGBTQ+ community over the past week.As <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/07/26/world/asia/japan-gay-j-pop-shinjiro-atae.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The New York Times reported</a>, Japanese pop star Shinjiro Atae came out publicly at a performance in Tokyo on Wednesday following a two-year hiatus.Speaking to the crowd of over 2,000, Atae, 34, said he had struggled for years to accept himself but finally had the courage to publicly say he is "a gay man."<div type="image" title="Shinjiro Atae attends the premiere of Amazon's &quot;The Tomorrow War&quot; at Banc of California Stadium on June 30, 2021 in Los Angeles, California." height="2505" width="3333" msid="102251509" hostid="261" sizebytes="242418"></div>"I don't want people to struggle like me," he added. Japan is the only G7 country where same-sex unions are not legal. In June, the country passed its first law on sexual orientation and gender identity seeking "promote understanding" and avoid "unfair discrimination," according to Human Rights Watch. However, it noted that the law falls short on the comprehensive nondiscrimination legislation equivalent to other developed economies that Japanese rights groups such as the <a href="https://lgbtetc.jp/english/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Japan Alliance for LGBT Legislation</a> have called for.

India's first openly gay prince says his parents tried to subject him to the 'torture' of conversion therapy to make him straight

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Some investors see India as the new China, but the South Asian economy still has to narrow a few gaps.</li><li>India is lagging behind China in national literacy, infrastructure investment, and a supply-chain ecosystem.</li></ul>India is shaping up to be the biggest growth story of the moment, as evidenced by <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/apple-says-it-is-excited-be-manufacturing-iphone-14-india-2022-09-26/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tech giant Apple</a> and <a href="https://www.reuters.com/technology/micron-confirms-up-825-mln-investment-india-chip-facility-2023-06-22/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">chipmaker Micron</a>'s recent efforts to enter the market.The country's potential appears brighter after its population surpassed China's, <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/india-economy-beat-us-gdp-by-2075-goldman-sachs-2023-7#:~:text=India's%20economy%20is%20on%20track%20to%20surpass%20the%20US%20by,China%20and%20the%20US%2C%20respectively" target="_blank" rel="noopener">prompting many observers to tout the South Asian country</a> as the next economy to watch. There's so much optimism about India that <a href="https://www.goldmansachs.com/intelligence/pages/how-india-could-rise-to-the-worlds-second-biggest-economy.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener nofollow">Goldman Sachs</a> forecasts <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/india-economy-beat-us-gdp-by-2075-goldman-sachs-2023-7">India's economy will surpass the US</a> by 2075.But <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/india-business-market-entry-barriers-tariffs-supply-chain-china-2023-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">India isn't an easy landscape</a> for foreign investors to navigate. This is "<a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/india-is-the-new-china-2016-6" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">not the first time people have said India is on the rise</a> and then watched it make a series of major political errors or have political problems at home that stalled that growth," Pramit Chaudhuri, the head of the South Asia practice at Eurasia Group, told the firm's <a href="https://www.gzeromedia.com/is-india-the-new-china-not-quite" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">GZERO Media outlet.</a>"It might happen, but it would require India to get a lot of things right," Chaudhuri added.Here are four ways India is still playing catch-up to its Asian rival, China.<h2>1. India lacks the supply chain ecosystem of China</h2>Despite Prime Minister Narendra Modi's push to attract foreign direct investments since he took office in 2014, India's manufacturing system still lags behind China."India lacks the manufacturing ecosystem that has been a key driver of China's phenomenal economic growth," analysts at Swiss bank UBS wrote in a <a href="https://www.ubs.com/us/en/wealth-management/insights/market-news/article.1591577.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">May 17 note titled "Is India the new China?"</a>Experts told Insider in December that while India is seen as an up-and-coming contender to China thanks to its burgeoning young population, it still doesn't quite have the set-up to be a manufacturing powerhouse.According to these experts, India doesn't have the interconnectivity of a large ecosystem like in China, where products are built from parts sourced directly in the country.Indian manufacturers often need to import parts from outside the country — thereby adding to the cost of the finished product, they said. <h2>2. India's infrastructure investments lag China's</h2>One reason India hasn't built up the extensive web of manufacturing facilities that China has managed to construct is that it hasn't been spending as much on infrastructure.For example, in pre-COVID 2019, China invested about 6.5% of its GDP in infrastructure development, while India invested just 4.5% — something the government is working on boosting, per UBS' May 17 note.However, the Indian government has committed to ramping up infrastructure spending, Modi's administration <a href="https://www.reuters.com/world/india/india-202324-budget-raises-capex-spend-10-trillion-rupees-2023-02-01/">announced in February</a>. It raised capital investments by 33% in this fiscal year to 10 trillion Indian rupees, or $121 billion.<h2>3. India's social indices still lag behind China's</h2>Even though India's population surpassed China's, its social indices — such as literacy rates — still lag behind those of the East Asian nation, according to Eurasia Group's Chaudhuri.About 78% of Indians are literate — but the percentage drops to 62% for women, according to data released by the <a href="https://knowindia.india.gov.in/profile/literacy.php" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Indian government</a> in November 2019. On the other hand, as of 2020, about <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.ADT.LITR.ZS?locations=CN" target="_blank" rel="noopener">97% of Chinese nationals were literate</a>, per World Bank data. A lower literacy rate means that India doesn't quite have the big pool of skilled labor that China has — and this labor pool has been a major part of China's growth story. Furthermore, about 1.6 million Indians were enrolled in vocational education in 2021, <a href="https://pib.gov.in/Pressreleaseshare.aspx?PRID=1783494" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according to the country's government.</a> In China, about 5.6 million people enrolled in higher vocational colleges in the same year, state-owned outlet <a href="https://www.chinadaily.com.cn/a/202205/25/WS628d8782a310fd2b29e5ecf2.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">China Daily reported,</a> citing the education ministry.<h2>4. Business processes can take longer in India due to decentralized decision-making</h2> As the world's largest democracy, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-india-supply-chain-covid-sanctions-manufacturers-relocating-tariffs-options-2022-12" rel="">decision-making can get complicated</a> in India. "As a federal system, power and decision-making are decentralized in India, with differences at the state level in political leadership, quality of governance, regulations, taxation, and labor relations," the US International Trade Administration <a href="https://www.trade.gov/country-commercial-guides/india-market-challenges">wrote in September</a>, in a post outlining market challenges in India.While China also has issues like compliance and licensing, it can still move more quickly than India, simply because the South Asian nation is "much more democratic and there are just too many stakeholders to satisfy," Ashutosh Sharma, a research director at market researcher Forrester, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/china-india-supply-chain-covid-sanctions-manufacturers-relocating-tariffs-options-2022-12" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told Insider in December.</a>It took 18 days to start a business in India in 2019 — double the time it took in China, according to <a href="https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/IC.REG.DURS" target="_blank" rel="noopener">World Bank data.</a> The report this measure came from has since been discontinued.But India is still a bright spot in the current global economy, with tremendous growth potential, analysts say."All in, we think India's secular growth outlook is more promising than China's. Still, the economic development gap between the two countries will take a long time to meaningfully narrow, in our view," UBS analysts wrote.

India's been touted as the new China — but here are 4 key areas where the South Asian giant is still playing catch up

Jetpack suit, displayed at the Aero India Show 2023, manufactured by a Bengaluru-based startup has caught the attention for its uniqueness and is in the reckoning for the contract by the armed forces. According to sources, Indian armed forces are all set to test the suit manufactured by this <keyword id="6354321" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="bengaluru" source="Orion">Bengaluru</keyword> startup which will enable soldiers to fly like birds and carry out missions in March. The Indian armed forces have placed <keyword id="13878805" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="a-request-for-proposal" source="Orion">a Request for Proposal</keyword> (RFP) for procurement of 48 jet suits on trial basis. If they pass the test, the <keyword id="15350" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="army" source="Orion">Army</keyword> would initiate large scale procurement, the sources said. Manufactured by Absolute Composite Private Limited, based in Bengaluru, the jetpack suit has used five engines, including the turbo engine at the back. The suit weighs three kilograms and can fly 80 kilogram weighing soldiers. It has the capability to fly 10 kilometers in 10 minutes. The research is continuing on gaining more fuel efficiency in terms of mileage. It is expected to be handy in Army operations in impassable and inaccessible landscapes and can be handy in times of natural calamities, landslides, fire emergencies, and building collapse. It could be used as a drone, helicopter to cross rivers, or broken bridges. As per the company, the jet suit has 70 per cent indigenised components and efforts are on for total indigenised content. It is powered by a gas turbine and can lift a soldier up to a height of 10 to 15 meters with a top speed of 50 kilometre per hour. <keyword id="836947" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="raghav-reddy" source="Orion">Raghav Reddy</keyword>, Managing Director of <keyword id="16537322" type="General" weightage="50" keywordseo="absolute-composites" source="Orion">Absolute Composites</keyword>, stated that it is the most compact flying machine that has ever been built. It has taken two years of time to manufacture the product. The wearable jetpack consists of a backpack with diesel tank, electronics. The tank capacity is 30 liters and it is configurable. "We had not pitched into the armed forces. There was a Request For <keyword id="6374727" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="proposal" source="Orion">Proposal</keyword> (RFP) from the Army. We have responded and demonstrations are due coming next week and we are planning to go and demonstrate to them. If we qualify, take their requirements and we may have an opportunity to supply. We are excited about it," he said. SEE ALSO: <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/business/news/indian-film-industry-lost-24-million-moviegoers-to-the-pandemic-ormax/articleshow/97918537.cms">Indian film industry lost 24 million moviegoers to the pandemic: Ormax</a> <a target="_blank" class="c-link c-message_attachment__title_link" href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/elon-musk-says-he-hired-a-dog-to-replace-him-as-twitter-ceo/articleshow/97943251.cms">Elon Musk says he hired a dog to replace him as Twitter CEO</a>

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The death of a young EY employee is raising questions over India's 'always-on' work culture

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An Indian state just made history, literally

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1 in 5 Indian adults over 60 show signs of mild neurocognitive disorder: Study

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Voter turnout may be tested in India’s most literate state that has seen one of the most violent election campaigns

Sriram Iyer

A California state senator is calling for a labor investigation into $12B HR startup Deel over 'brazen employment misclassification' after Insider's reporting

Rob Price

India's first openly gay prince says his parents tried to subject him to the 'torture' of conversion therapy to make him straight

Maria Noyen

India's been touted as the new China — but here are 4 key areas where the South Asian giant is still playing catch up

Huileng Tan

At Aero India 2023, Indian Army to test jetpack suit created by a Bengaluru startup

IANS

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