MAM
Bharat Dialogues (WMHSA) 2024: elevating mental health discourse in India
Mumbai: The Bharat Dialogues Women’s Mental Health Summit & Awards (WMHSA) 2024, set to be hosted at the India International Centre, New Delhi, on International Women’s Day, 8 March 2024, marks a pioneering move towards addressing mental health concerns among women in India. This event is curated to create a transformative dialogue and action plan to enhance the mental health landscape across the nation.
At a time when mental health issues among women are gaining critical attention, WMHSA 2024 aims to break down the existing barriers in the mental health sector through a trans-disciplinary approach. It seeks to enrich the knowledge pool, catalyse impactful collaborations, and advance the collective goal to ameliorate mental health care in India, making it a vital assembly for professionals, survivors, and advocates in the mental health space.
Pooja Priyamvada and Vivek Satya Mitram, the co-founders of Bharat Dialogues, underscore the significance of such a summit in the current Indian context: Pooja Priyamvada, reflecting on the need for WMHSA, states, “In a country where the narrative around mental health is steadily evolving, initiatives like WMHSA 2024 are not just necessary; they are imperative. By bringing together the brightest minds and the most resilient spirits in the mental health arena, we aim not only to catalyse a shift in discourse but to cultivate a plethora that addresses the nuanced mental health needs of women in India.”
Vivek Satya Mitram adds, “The statistics around women’s mental health in India reveal a pressing challenge but also an opportunity for substantial impact. WMHSA 2024 is envisioned as a platform where the convergence of ideas, experiences, and strategies can create a holistic and sustainable impact on mental health policies and practices. It’s about creating a shared vision for a future where mental health is prioritised, and support systems are both robust and accessible.”
This summit intends to congregate a diverse group of participants, including senior mental health practitioners, innovative professionals, renowned educators, dedicated social workers, startup founders, and courageous survivors, to facilitate one of India’s most distinguished platforms for recognising excellence, stimulating dialogue, and strengthening networks within the mental health community.
The Urgency Behind WMHSA 2024:
Statistics underscore the critical need for such an event:
• Approximately 7.5 per cent of Indian women suffer from major mental health conditions, with almost 50 per cent experiencing at least one mental health episodet throughout their lifetime.
• Women are disproportionally affected by mental health disorders compared to men, with incidences of one in five women and one in eight men.
• Among young women aged 16 to 24, over a quarter experience common mental health issues weekly.
Target Audience and Beneficiaries:
• Stakeholders across the mental health spectrum,
• Mental health practitioners, including psychiatrists, psychologists, therapists and counsellors;
• Entities such as hospitals, clinics, academic institutions, foundations, and NGOs;
• Media representatives, journalists, online platforms;
• Education professionals and students specialising in psychology;
• Startups focusing on mental health, along with their founders and key personnel;
• Women’s organisations, NGOs, and entities creating women-centric products.
WMHSA 2024 Agenda:
With an inclusive audience that encompasses every stakeholder in mental health, from practitioners and organisations to media and educators, WMHSA 2024 is structured to ignite conversations, foster learning, and highlight innovative solutions through keynote sessions, industry presentations, interactive panels, and awards.
• Keynote Addresses: Insights from leading voices in mental health including NIMHANS director Dr Pratima Murthy, Fortis National Mental Health Program’s chairperson Dr Samir Parikh, Senior Consultant Psychiatrist from Moolchand Medicity, Dr Jitender Nagpal, mental health activist Aparna Piramal Raje and IHBAS’s former director Dr Nimesh Desai.
• Speeches/ Fireside Chats and Panel Discussions: Interactive and in-depth discussions on pivotal topics around challenges of women, mental health practitioners and the startups working in this space. Some of the key speakers & panellists include noted women rights activist Dr Ranjana Kumari, Bollywood film director Tanuja Chandra, renowned psychologist Dr Kamna Chhibber, Bharat Express News Network CMD & Editor-In-Chief Upendra Rai.
• Awards Ceremony: Recognition of exceptional contributions to mental health by honouring individuals and organisations.
Anticipated Outcomes:
Anticipated to act as a catalyst for change, WMHSA 2024 aims to drive policy reforms and societal attitude shifts towards mental health. It seeks to be a nexus for networking and collaboration that can transform the mental health ecosystem in India. Participants can expect unparalleled networking opportunities, enabling cross-sectoral collaborations that are vital for the progressive transformation of the mental health ecosystem in India.
Brands
Google says Gemini AI cuts irrelevant ads by 40 percent
AI driven search and ad tools boost relevance and results for brands.
MUMBAI: In the never ending hunt for the right ad at the right moment, artificial intelligence may finally be sharpening the aim. Google says the integration of its multimodal AI models, Gemini, has reduced irrelevant advertisements across its platforms by 40 percent, as improved query understanding allows ads to match user intent more closely.
Speaking at a roundtable on Thursday, Google vice president of Global Ads Dan Taylor said the company has been steadily deploying Gemini powered upgrades to interpret complex search queries more accurately. “We have been making Gemini based improvements to query understanding at a rate of almost one launch per month over the last two years. As the models improve and our ability to deploy them improves, ad quality continues to get better,” Taylor said.
The improvements come as Google leans deeper into AI driven advertising tools. According to the company, 2025 saw a threefold increase in Gemini generated creative assets produced by advertisers using its AI powered ad solutions.
The company also highlighted how these tools are influencing marketing performance for brands in India.
Insurance marketplace Policybazaar recorded a 28 percent rise in health insurance sales while reducing cost per sale by 23 percent after adopting AI Max, a tool that interprets natural language search queries to improve ad targeting.
Meanwhile, hospitality platform OYO reported 50 percent higher return on ad spend (ROAS) and a 25 percent reduction in cost per acquisition after combining its existing search campaigns with Google’s Performance Max (PMax) advertising campaigns.
Taylor noted that evolving consumer behaviour is also reshaping how brands approach digital advertising. According to Google’s data, 86 percent of shoppers in India using Google Search said they were open to trying new brands or products, suggesting that AI driven discovery tools could increasingly influence purchase decisions.
Beyond advertising, Google is also investing in what it calls agentic commerce, an emerging model where AI agents autonomously assist users in discovering, comparing and purchasing products online.
“Our goal with agentic commerce is twofold, first, to remove the grunt work of shopping so consumers can focus on the fun parts; and second, to work hand in hand with the industry to build the foundations needed to make agentic commerce seamless and secure across the web,” Taylor said.
The push into AI enhanced advertising and commerce comes as Google’s core ads business continues to grow. The company recently reported $82.28 billion in advertising revenue, marking a 13.5 percent year on year increase.
For advertisers navigating an increasingly crowded digital landscape, Google is betting that smarter algorithms and sharper intent signals will make ads feel less like interruptions and more like timely suggestions.
