In 2132, India is struck by an unprecedented heatwave — an extreme version of the one from earlier in the century. Temperatures and humidity skyrocket beyond human tolerance, leading to millions of deaths in just a matter of days. Desperation mounts, and the Indian government makes a bold move. It turns to a controversial method: releasing particles into the stratosphere to reflect sunlight and cool the planet. The gamble pays off, cooling not just India but the entire globe. But the success of this climate intervention leaves a burning question: what happens next?

While this may sound like a plot from a sci-fi novel, it’s closer to reality than we’d like to admit. The conversation around India’s potential to lead global climate intervention efforts is gaining momentum — not just in science fiction but also in academic workshops and even security meetings. The question is: Can India really help the world tackle extreme climate change?

The Heat is On: India’s Climate Stakes

India finds itself at the epicenter of the climate change crisis, facing more frequent and severe natural disasters. From catastrophic flooding to blistering heatwaves, India’s vulnerability to climate change is high. The country’s vast coastline is at risk from rising sea levels, and its agriculture, which supports nearly half of the population, is threatened by erratic weather patterns.

But it’s not all doom and gloom. While India stands to lose the most, it also has tremendous potential to drive global climate solutions. As the world’s third-largest emitter of carbon dioxide, India is also in a position to make significant strides in reducing emissions. What’s more, India’s advancements in solar power, wind energy, and reforestation offer a blueprint for a greener future.

Solar Radiation Modification: Can India Cool the World?

One of the more controversial climate solutions that India could spearhead is Solar Radiation Modification (SRM). By reflecting a small percentage of sunlight back into space, SRM could theoretically reduce global warming by two degrees Celsius or more. India, with its space program and growing research talent pool, is uniquely positioned to contribute to this kind of high-tech climate intervention.

The science behind SRM is already evident in natural phenomena. For instance, the eruption of Mount Pinatubo in 1991 released enough sulfur particles into the atmosphere to cool the planet by 0.5 degrees Celsius for over a year. The concept behind SRM is similar — using artificial means to replicate that effect, albeit in a controlled and sustainable manner.

The Challenges Ahead

While SRM holds promise, it’s not without risks. A recent UN report highlights the unknowns, such as potential disruptions to the Indian monsoon, which could devastate the country’s agriculture. There’s also concern about the long-term impacts on the ozone layer and the ethical implications of deploying climate interventions that could affect the entire world.

Moreover, India faces significant hurdles in funding and technological infrastructure. Climate intervention research is complex and requires sophisticated tools like supercomputers, simulated stratospheric chambers, and specialized aircraft. Most of these resources are concentrated in technologically advanced nations, which limits India’s ability to lead in this area. But, with its growing expertise in climate science and space research, India could potentially overcome these barriers.

India’s Climate Superpowers: Solar Energy & Space Research

India’s role in the global climate conversation extends beyond climate intervention. The country is a renewable energy powerhouse. In fact, by 2024, India is set to reach a solar capacity of 100 GW, and its wind energy production is one of the largest in the world. India’s International Solar Alliance (ISA) has united over 120 countries to promote solar energy, positioning it as a leader in the global shift to clean energy.

Additionally, India’s space program is a game-changer in climate research. The Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) has been conducting advanced atmospheric studies, including campaigns involving sophisticated balloons launched into the stratosphere. These projects have significant potential to inform future climate intervention strategies, making India an essential player in the global fight against climate change.

A Collective Effort: India and Global Cooperation

One lesson from history is that tackling global environmental crises requires international cooperation. The Montreal Protocol, which successfully curbed the depletion of the ozone layer, serves as a prime example. India was a crucial participant in this effort, showing that when the world comes together, monumental change is possible.

Today, India has the opportunity to take a leading role in climate intervention research. But this isn’t something India can or should do alone. As with the Montreal Protocol, global climate solutions must be collaborative. India’s research capabilities, combined with its vulnerability to climate impacts, make it a natural leader in advocating for and participating in international climate research and action.

The Road Ahead

Could India help the world address extreme climate change? The answer lies in its unique position at the crossroads of vulnerability and capability. With its strong renewable energy sector, cutting-edge space program, and emerging talent in climate research, India has the potential to shape the future of climate intervention.

But this journey requires global cooperation, robust research, and ethical considerations. As we approach the tipping point of climate catastrophe, the world must look to countries like India to help drive smart, science-based solutions. The world is on fire, but with India’s help, perhaps we can still cool things down — together.

While many companies aim to be data-driven, they struggle with the challenges of data management, building robust data strategies, and implementing AI to create differentiation in the market. Companies with effective data strategies can make better decisions, overcome data management challenges, operate efficiently, and innovate seamlessly. Couchbase and Amazon Web Services, in association with YourStory Media, held a round-table discussion to explore ‘Future-proofing the Data Strategy’. 

The panellists included Ranjitha R, Director – Engineering, Myntra; Madhusudhanan S, Group CTO & Head of Partnerships, Dvara Holdings; Akhil Sharma, Director – Product Management, Razorpay; Sundeep Kumar, Head of Engineering & Data, VerSe Innovation; Paulami Das, Director of Data Science & Engineering, PayU; Varun Khurana, Director of Engineering, Gameskraft; Saurabh Odhyan, CTO – Consumers, FreshToHome; Manish Pal, VP-Engineering, Smartcoin; Surendranath C, Senior Director Of Engineering, Gupshup; and Minakshi Khuntia, Director – Product, Freshworks; Krishna Thirtha, Regional Business Head, Couchbase; Santosh Hegde, Senior Director Engineering, Couchbase.

The challenges of data management

The round table began by looking at the challenges and solutions in data management, engineering, and analytics. Pannellists emphasised the importance of real-time data, data protection, and the challenges of data compliance.

Surendranath C, of Gupshup, shared that the company’s view of data was twofold. Firstly, Gupshup examined data from a privacy perspective, stating “we worry much more about protecting data than leveraging it. So we have different kinds of solutions for our customers, including encryption strategies, protecting data in motion, and data at rest”. The second part of Gupshup’s data strategy is leveraging data authorised for use by the customer, analysing it, extracting valuable insights, and taking action.

Varun Khurana, of Gameskraft, shared that data compliances make data accuracy a big priority for the company. He highlighted the importance of having a Single Source of Truth for data, which has helped Gameskraft aggregate all systems.

Ranjtha R, of Myntra, spoke about Myntra sellers, vendors, and customers expecting quick updates and reports. Processing and providing accurate analytics meant that the company had to learn how to move fast to create democratised data platforms on par with data governance and compliances.

Manish Pal, of Smartcoin, shared that the biggest obstacle the company faced was providing real-time underwriting with the customer data they had. The second challenge was creating an efficient data access strategy, to understand the kind of access that needed to be given to different stakeholders. 

Data as an asset

Paulami Das, of PayU, shared that the company views data as “less of an asset and more of a product”. One of the first strategies that PayU leveraged was creating a Single Source of Truth for their data. From this SSoT, engineers and data scientists could identify use cases and then offer data as a product that could solve a particular issue.

Saurabh Odhyan, of A FreshToHome, shared his experience of leveraging data to organise the massive seafood industry in India. Sourcing fish from 500 harbours across India was a massive challenge, which the company solved with data. “The seafood industry in India is a $50 billion industry. We would not have been able to solve multiple problems without understanding the value of data. We learned how to optimise sourcing, minimise wastage, and ensure that we are able to deliver fish caught at the Gujarat coast to a city like Delhi in 24 hours. We needed extremely accurate demand direction, and we were able to get it with data,” he shared. 

The importance of A/B testing 

GenZ is setting trends in many fields today. Intelligent, connected, and up to date, it is known as a mobile-first generation and significantly influences consumer preferences. Businesses are now paying greater attention to GenZ mobile usage patterns and their preferences before designing apps. In this regard, panellists spoke about the influence of GenZ and the importance of A/B testing data to help them create an immersive customer experience. 

Sundeep Kumar, of VerSe Innovation, spoke about how the company uses A/B experiments when it comes to any kind of initiative, such as new models, product features, or a product launch.

Ranjitha R, of Myntra, stressed the importance of A/B testing in ecommerce. She wades through a massive amount of data to understand the trends (both macro and micro) in fashion. She recommends A/B testing to roll out website features to appeal to GenZ. “How do I create a cluster of people catering to certain attributes of affluence, age, or geography, and then see it really works? A/B testing becomes really important to how I obtain data and then categorise it,” she shared. 

Customer data verification in lending

The world is rapidly digitalising, and lending isn’t far behind. While digital lending brings speed and convenience to customers, it also comes with risk – particularly identity fraud. Identity verification is crucial for lenders, but it can sometimes be difficult given the increasing incidents of fraud. 

Fintech Panellists from PayU, CoinDCX, Smartcoin, and Credit Saison shared their experiences on handling fraud and implementing checks in the customer KYC process, customer consent in the underwriting process, and access to data from credit bureaus.

Madhusudhanan S, of Dvara Holdings, spoke about the challenges of accessing customer data in rural regions. “We go by assessment-based loans. There is no digitisation, so you have to depend on the field staff visiting and trying to assess family members. In these cases, how many family members are present? What are their occupations? It’s extremely difficult to verify. Everything depends on what the customer writes. This is the reality of loans under Rs 3 lakh,” he said. 

The panellists agreed that verifying customer data requires alternate sources. Poulomi Das, of PayU, pointed out, “There is a lot of pressure to get alternate data. The industry will not survive without it. So it’s a very delicate balance between how invasive you want to be, how deep you want to go into a customer’s data, versus what the government will allow you.”

The final point discussed was around data sharing. Panellists discussed various initiatives to create a common data-sharing framework, including the RBI Unified Lending Interface (ULI) platform, which facilitates the seamless flow of a customer’s financial and non-financial data from various data source providers to lenders. They also cited examples, such as RBI initiatives to share land records, private players who offer satellite-based data to agri lenders, and data clean rooms for secure data sharing.

At the end of the discussion, Couchbase shared how the distributed NoSQL multi modal database is designed for adaptive applications, combining the flexibility of a document-oriented data with an integrated cache (memory first architecture). This brings in unmatched versatility, performance, scalability, availability and financial value into the application landscape.

Beauty and personal care marketplace Nykaa has allotted 3.08 lakh equity shares under its employee stock option plan (ESOP) schemes, it said in an exchange filing on Monday. 

The Falguni Nayyar-led marketplace shares will rank pari-passu— a Latin term that means on equal footing—with the existing equity shares of the company in all respects. 

According to the company’s opening price of Rs 193 apiece on NSE, the allotted ESOP amounts to a total of Rs 5.94 crore.   

The company undertook a similar exercise before its fourth-quarter FY 2024 results, granting 4.05 lakh ESOPs. It went on to allot 4.73 lakh shares in June and 1.73 lakh shares in July. 

Nykaa, which competes with Reliance-backed Tira and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority-backed Purplle, expects to clock “mid-twenties” revenue growth during the second quarter of FY25. 

“However, consumption has witnessed subdued demand in the first half of this financial year but the industry expects to see gradual revival during the second half, driven by the festive and wedding season,” it said in an exchange last week. 

It said its beauty segment clocked mid-twenties growth in net revenue and net sales value growth, while GMV for the segment clocked a much higher growth.