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LiveMint | Polar bears, climate change and responsible travel in the Arctic
SUMMARY In Svalbard, the northernmost human habitation and the fastest-warming place in the world, observing polar bears provides lessons in why it’s important to safeguard the Earth’s last wild places I almost abandoned my Arctic adventure before it even started. Friends and family heaved a sigh of relief. Many thought my decision to swerve off […]
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Press Release | Launching the Samvardhan Biodiversity & Conservation Fellowship
Empowering India’s Next Generation of Conservationists: Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies and Dasra Announce Applications for the Samvardhan Biodiversity & Conservation Fellowship Open to early-career conservation practitioners from across India, especially those from grassroots backgrounds A 12-month fellowship offering financial support, mentorship, and peer learning for the next generation of conservation leaders Register and apply at https://samvardhan.dasra.org/ May 25, […]
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IE | The Tadoba-Andhari model: Balancing rising tiger populations with human costs
It is tiger time in India. All over the country, across at least 25 of the 58 tiger reserves, millions of people across economic classes and geographies are on the move despite the summer heat. Piling into jeeps, fancy SUVs, or forest department buses, and armed with mobile phones, point and click cameras or dangerously […]
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HT | Claw and order: Rohini Nilekani writes on tracing snow leopards in Ladakh
It’s a search that must extend higher into the peaks, as lynxes, blue sheep and the Shaan or ghost of the mountains battle an unseasonably warm March. Heated vests, gloves and socks. Trapper hat, puffer jacket and thermals. I had packed for the harshest winter Ladakh might spring on me in March, which is typically […]
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ET | Time to Unlock Silver Abundance
Synopsis: India is still seen as a young country, but its demographic advantage is nearing an end, with the share of working-age population set to decline after 2030 and the elderly population expected to rise sharply. By 2047, India will have around 300 million senior citizens, and within decades could have the world’s largest ageing […]
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SSIR | Does Everything in the Social Sector Need to Scale?
by Tanya Kak For at least two decades, one question has structured much of how philanthropy and the social innovation ecosystem think about change: Can it scale? The question appears in grant applications, accelerator programs, and strategy documents. It makes sense: If a solution works for one community, surely the ethical imperative is to help many more? […]
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Press Release | Supported by Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies, a New Public Observation Tower Project Planned at Bannerughatta Biological Park, Bengaluru
Through a grant of INR 5 Crore, the project aims to enhance visitor experience and increase conservation awareness, and visitor engagement Bengaluru, March 24, 2026 — Rohini Nilekani Philanthropies (RNPF) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Bannerughatta Biological Park (BBP), a unit of the Zoo Authority of Karnataka, Government of Karnataka, to support […]
Keynote
Rohini Nilekani at 2026 Indiaspora Forum
TRANSCRIPT: Namaste everyone, how are you? Good. I know you had a good meal and like Shweta said, those of you who want to take a small nap, well, I’m going to challenge you because I know who’s on the panel after me and I think they’re going to win by keeping you awake and […]
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Alliance Mag | Saving citizenship
Samaaj, Sarkaar, Bazaar: Three Hindi words and a simple theory to stabilise our civic equilibrium Inevitably perhaps, the world is churning. As this special feature makes clear, fears around declining democracy, failing institutions, and accelerating climate risk abound, and at first glance there are no easy answers. That said, after three decades working in the […]
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IE | Rohini Nilekani writes: Indian philanthropy can step in to mitigate climate disasters’ effects
Whether in education, healthcare, skill building, agriculture or any other sector, there are severe climate adjacencies that will have to be addressed urgently. Philanthropy can provide both the high-risk capital and the patient capital needed to rethink the future. Can you recall when you last sent a cheque to organisations for disaster relief? If this […]