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Understanding India through data

Tim Harford asks what numbers can and can’t tell us about modern India.

How do you go about understanding a country with a population as diverse as it is vast?

Data journalist Rukmini S is the author of Whole Numbers and Half Truths: What Data Can and Cannot Tell Us About Modern India.

Tim Harford spoke to her about the power and pitfalls of using statistics to make sense of modern India, from basic questions like average income to the huge challenges of keeping track of Covid.

Presenter: Tim Harford
Producer: Nathan Gower
Sound Engineer: Rod Farquhar

(Slum dwellers in Cuffe Parade across from the elite's ultra-rich apartments, Mumbai. Credit: Viviane Moos/ Getty Images)

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9 minutes

Last on

Mon 25 Apr 2022 09:50GMT
BBC World Service

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  • Sat 23 Apr 2022 04:50GMT
    BBC World Service
  • Sat 23 Apr 2022 22:50GMT
    BBC World Service Americas and the Caribbean
  • Sat 23 Apr 2022 23:50GMT
    BBC World Service Online, UK DAB/Freeview, News Internet & Europe and the Middle East only
  • Sun 24 Apr 2022 00:50GMT
    BBC World Service South Asia & East Asia only
  • Sun 24 Apr 2022 13:50GMT
    BBC World Service Australasia & News Internet only
  • Sun 24 Apr 2022 22:50GMT
    BBC World Service East and Southern Africa & West and Central Africa only
  • Mon 25 Apr 2022 09:50GMT
    BBC World Service

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Podcast

  • More or Less

    Tim Harford explains the numbers and statistics used in everyday life