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  • Maaya Rajeshwaran reaches WTA-level quarter-final. The 17-year-old Indian defeated Poland's Weronika Falkowska 6-4, 6-3, becoming the first Indian woman since Sania Mirza in 2012 to reach a quarter-final at a WTA Tour-level singles event
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  • India beat Pakistan 3-2 in SAFF Championship. India defeated Pakistan in a closely contested match, having led 3-0 before conceding two late goals. The victory was reported as a significant result for India's second-string side
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  • The Supreme Court issued notice to the Centre and the Election Commission on a petition challenging Section 16 of the Chief Election Commissioner and Other Election Commissioners Act, 2023, which grants the CEC and Election Commissioners protection from legal proceedings for acts performed in their official duties. The petition argues that such blanket immunity could leave citizens without an effective remedy for alleged wrongdoing by the Commission
  • The Supreme Court told voters whose names were deleted from Delhi's draft electoral rolls not to be apprehensive about seeking re-enrolment through Form 6, after the Election Commission assured it that such applicants would not be prosecuted merely because their names had appeared in earlier rolls
  • Congress leader Rahul Gandhi opened the party's campaign for the 2027 Punjab Assembly elections with an Insaaf rally in Sangrur, Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann's home district, accusing the AAP government of failing to control drugs, gangster violence and corruption. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge outlined six commitments, including a drug-free Punjab, protection of farmers, employment for young people and action against corruption
  • Rahul Gandhi accused the AAP government of running Punjab through a remote control from Delhi and questioned Bhagwant Mann's ability to tackle drug abuse, making personal allegations about the Chief Minister's conduct during their time together in Parliament
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Indian HNIs Must Donate More

By Linus Garg
First publised on 2022-02-21 08:19:38

About the Author

Sunil Garodia Linus tackles things head-on. He takes sides in his analysis and it fits excellently with our editorial policy. No 'maybe's' and 'allegedly' for him, only things in black and white.

In India, despite huge disparity in income and wealth, the power of giving (other than the legally mandated corporate social responsibility which in any case is not donated from personal wealth) is an alien thing and is limited to a select few. Hence, it was heartwarming to read that Mindtree co-founders Subroto Bagchi and N S Parthasarathy had made a donation of Rs 425 crore to the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) to set up medical facilities with a focus on cutting-edge clinical research and innovation. Research in India is lagging behind world standards mainly due to the fact that is poorly funded. The talent is there but the infrastructure is not. It is donations such as the one made by Bagchi and Parthasarthy that kindles the hope that other wealthy persons will follow their lead and the raise the bar for research in India.

It is not as if Indians do not donate, but given the number of billionaires in the country, the total amount is very low. India has more than 140 billionaires (in dollar terms). The top 1% holds 33% of the nation's wealth and the top 10% hold 64.6%. No one is asking them to share the wealth with others or give it away without a cause. But it is their moral duty to use the wealth to fund research, innovation and other social causes. The nation looks up to them to be socially responsive citizens. Many of these high net worth individuals (HNIs) have formed trusts and foundations and are already funding a variety of causes. But the outflow is miniscule compared to global standards, in terms of expenditure versus assets.

The EdelGive Hurun India Philanthropy List 2021 shows that 11 persons gave away more than Rs 100cr in FY21, 20 persons more than Rs 50cr and 40 persons more than Rs 20cr. The top spot was once again occupied by Azim Premiji of Wipro who donated Rs 9713cr in FY21. He was followed by Shiv Nadar of HCL with Rs 1263cr. While India’s richest man Mukesh Ambani donated just Rs 577cr the person who gained the most during the pandemic years, Gautam Adani, donated just Rs 130cr. There were 17 new entrants in the list. India needs more donations from its rich who are already donating and needs more rich persons to start donating. The gap between what is needed for all causes and the public funding available for it must be bridged by HNIs in India. 

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