In Focus by The Hindu

Housing is a basic requirement for dignity of life. But affordable decent housing remains a distant dream for most Indians, especially in urban India. Close to 17% of all households in urban India live in slums, with this percentage shooting up to 41% in a city like Mumbai and 29% in Chennai. Over the years, the government has taken many initiatives to address this problem, with schemes such as Indira Awas Yojana, and the ongoing Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY), an interest subsidy scheme for lower and middle-income groups. But these subsidy schemes hardly seem to make a dent on the housing crisis. The gap between people’s incomes and price points of housing stock, especially for the aspirational classes, remains wide. Why is housing in India so expensive? Why do the prices never seem to come within reach for most? A recent research paper, titled ‘House prices in India: How high and how long?’ co-authored by three analysts from the Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP), Shishir Gupta, Nandini Agnihotri and Annie George, offers some insights on these questions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Most of us are familiar with the plastic waste crisis and public awareness campaigns on the need to recycle plastic. Now a new report by the Centre for Climate Integrity, an international non-profit, says that plastic producers have been lying to the public for more than 30 years – it says that they knew all along that plastic recycling was not a viable solution, either technically or economically, and yet kept they promoting it to protect their interests. How serious is the plastic waste problem? Why is plastic recycling not viable? And if recycling is not the answer, how do we address the mounting crisis of plastic waste? Tune in to find out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The headline in a recent article was arresting – India fears losing out to China in smartphone exports race. Another broke the news that Mexico had overtaken China for the first time in 20 years as the largest exporter to the US. One more said – loud and clear at t that – that India should realise that Vietnam, and not China, was the major competitor. There are a few dots we can connect to see a common thread in all these that should interest us – The world wants to move away from China but that cannot be done in entirety overnight because of the scale that the country has built. But there are some parts of the global supply chain that are indeed moving. Is India poised to benefit from this? What lessons does the China model hold for India? And what is it that countries such as Vietnam are doing right to bolster foreign investments that are in turn spurring those countries’ exports? Guest: Biswajit Dhar, Distinguished Professor, Centre for Social Development. Host: K. Bharat Kumar Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Farmers are back at the barricades, this time they have been stopped by the Haryana police at the Punjab-Haryana border. Twenty-two-year-old Shubhkaran Singh has died in the protests. Farmer leaders have suspended their protest till February 29 when they will announce their next course of action. The agitating farmers are firm that there should be a legal guarantee for MSP purchases but the Centre has, instead, come up with a five-year contract to purchase pulses, maize and cotton from farmers. So, where does the agitation go from here? To discuss these issues, Amit Baruah is joined by agricultural expert and analyst, Devinder Sharma. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Controlling a computer with just your thoughts seems to be something straight out of a science fiction movie, but that’s exactly what scientific experiments are now doing. This week Elon Musk, founder of the startup Neuralink which implanted a brain chip, called Telepathy, into a human being last month, said that the patient’s progress has been good, and the patient is now able to move a mouse on a screen by just thinking. Exciting? Yes. A little scary too? Perhaps. The tech, at least for now, is aimed at treating paralysis and complex neurological conditions. Putting electrodes into the brain is not new – scientists have been experimenting with this for years now, but refining and potentially commercialising this tech takes a lot of doing. The brain is a complex organ that works by sending electrical impulses from one neuron to another every time we think, and we have 86 billion neurons. The brain-computer interface technology attempts to capture some of this activity through a chip that acts as a bridge between the brain and a digital device. So what does brain-computer interface technology involve, and how does it work? How many of our brain signals can be read? What is its potential in medical applications to treat health conditions? And importantly, what are the ethical issues involved here? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Lok Sabha elections of 2024 are round the corner. The season of defections is also upon us. Party hopping has commenced in earnest. An India Today poll suggested earlier in February that the NDA would win 335 seats in 2024 down from 353 in 2019. The Congress tally was put at 71. A YouGov-Mint-CPR survey, also published in February, said that 51 per cent believed that construction of the Ram Mandir, on the site where the Babri Masjid once stood, was a rectification of historical wrongs while 49 per cent felt that it was an electorally motivated move to win Hindu votes. So, with just about two months to go for Lok Sabha 2024, how does the political chess board look in India? Guest: Gilles Verniers, Senior Fellow at the Centre for Policy Research, and Visiting Fellow at Amherst College in the United States. Host: Amit Baruah, Senior Associate Editor, The Hindu. Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court on Thursday unanimously struck down the Centre’s electoral bond scheme. Electoral bonds enabled anonymous political donations, which the apex court has termed as “unconstitutional”. It stated categorically that the scheme violates the right to information under Article 19(1)(a) of the Constitution. What was the reasoning behind for this verdict, and what are its implications for Indian democracy going forward? Guest: Jagdeep S Chhokar from the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR), a nonprofit that works in the field of electoral and political reforms. Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu. Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Uttarakhand assembly passed the State’s Uniform Civil Code last week. Titled ‘The Uniform Civil Code of Uttarakhand, 2024’, the Bill was one of the BJP’s poll promises during the 2022 Assembly election campaign. Although its applicability is supposed to be uniform, the law exempts tribal populations, and also the Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) from its purview. What’s the legal history and background of this legislation? How does this law affect minority communities? And what’s controversy around its provisions concerning live-in relationships? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Union Finance Ministry has come out with a ‘White Paper’ on the changes in the Indian economy in the past 20 years. In the 58-page document, which it presented in Parliament, the government compares the 10 years of UPA-rule from 2004 to 2014 with 10 years of NDA rule from 2014 to 2024. It claims that the NDA government in 2014 inherited a “deeply damaged economy” marked by “governance, economic and fiscal crises”. It further claims that the in the past 10 years, the NDA government has “turned around” the economy and “rebuilt” it from the foundations for long-term growth. Incidentally, this is the second such major paper from the government making significant claims in the economic domain. Earlier, the Niti Aayog had released a paper claiming that multidimensional poverty declined in India during the NDA years. We did a podcast on that paper as well, and you can check it out here (hyper link here). What are the various claims made in the White Paper, and how do they stand up to scrutiny? Guest: economist Professor Arun Kumar. Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu. Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian. Listen to the episode on the Niti Aayog report here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The people of Pakistan have spoken. They have reposed their faith in democracy and cast their vote against the establishment’s efforts to decimate the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan. Independents backed by his party, PTI as it’s known, have won 93 seats in a House of 264, with the Muslim League Nawaz notching up 75. The Pakistan People’s Party has won 54 seats. It looks likely that a coalition government will take power in the country. Talks have begun between the Nawaz League and the PPP to form a coalition government even as the mandate appears to be for the PTI. So, what lies ahead for Pakistan? What does the mandate of February 8 mean? Will Imran Khan be out of jail like Nawaz Sharif for a fresh lease of life in politics? Or is it too early? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For anyone who drives a vehicle in this country, the nightmare scenario is the same: an accident involving another person. India has one of the worst road accident rates in the world – in 2022, the country reported over 4,60,000 road accidents, with over half taking place on national and State highways. Clearly, road safety is an area of huge concern. Recently, new provisions related to hit-and-run accident cases were brought in under the new penal code, the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita or BNS. These provisions however evoked massive protests from truck drivers across the country at the beginning of this year – truckers said the penalties were unfair, imposed very heavy fines and jail sentences and did not take into account the many issues on Indian roads – the bad conditions of the road, lighting and visibility factors, mob violence in some cases where accidents take place and the behaviour of other motorists and pedestrians on the road itself. The protests only ended after the Union Home Secretary said these provisions would only be implemented after consultations with transport bodies. So what are the new provisions for hit and run accident cases in the law? What constitutes rash and negligient driving and what are the penalties for it? Do the laws need to take into account contributing factors to accidents, and does there need to be a graded system for penalties? Guest: Prof GS Bajpai Vice Chancellor, National Law University Delhi. Host: Zubeda Hamid Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramnian. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

India and Iran have deep cultural and historical connections. But relations between the two nations have atrophied in recent times. US sanctions on Iran have been a big factor, leading to India largely curtailing its engagements with the country. But recent developments – visa-free travel for Indians, and Iran’s entry into BRICS -- seem to provide reason for cautious optimism. What are the key concerns and objectives for Iran and for India when it comes to bilateral engagement? To what extent does American, Israeli and Arab concerns influence India’s approach to Iran, notwithstanding its proclaimed doctrine of ‘strategic autonomy’? And what outcomes should India be aiming for through its engagements with Iran? Tune in to find out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The RBI has imposed major restrictions on the operations of Paytm Payments Bank Ltd (PPBL). It has directed Paytm Payments Bank to stop accepting deposits or top-ups in customer accounts, wallets, FASTags, and other instruments after February 29. An RBI circular stated that this action follows an audit report and a compliance validation report by external auditors, which revealed “persistent non-compliances and continued material supervisory concerns in the bank, warranting further supervisory action”. The Paytm founders have written to the RBI governor and the finance minister asking them to reconsider the regulatory action against them. What exactly are the allegations against Paytm? What does the RBI action mean – for Paytm, for the fintech sector, and for ordinary users? What are the issues with the regulatory framework for the digital payments ecosystem? Guest: Srikanth Lakshmanan of Cashless Consumer, a consumer collective that works on fintech. Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu. Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you or your child has a bad cough, the first thing you’ll probably do is reach for a cough syrup. It’s easy, it's available over the counter and there’s no fuss about taking it. But does it work? Is it at all effective to help your cough go away? Last year, a panel of the US Food and Drug Administration came to the agreement that phenylephrine, a common ingredient used in a number of cough and cold medicines is completely ineffective. Health bodies across the world emphasise that over-the-counter cough and cold medication should not be given to very young children – but this continues to be a common practice in India, despite the fact that research has pointed out that it may not even work for them. Two months ago, the Indian government too issued an order with regard to this – it said that a cold medicine combination that contained two ingredients, chlorpheniramine maleate and phenylephrine, should not be used for children under the age of four and these drugs should be labelled accordingly. So should over-the-counter cough/cold medications be stopped for young children? Are they safe for older children to take? If they are ineffective, why are they being prescribed and sold? What can adults use instead? Tune in to find out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pakistan goes to the polls on the 8th of February to elect members of what will be its 16th lower House or National Assembly. The polls come just as former Prime Minister Imran Khan has been convicted in two successive cases and stands debarred from contesting elections. His party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf, or PTI as it is known, is fighting with its back to the wall. Pakistan Muslim League leader Nawaz Sharif fancies his chances of becoming Prime Minister for an unprecedented fourth term. Many analysts believe that he has the blessings of the Army establishment on this occasion. The Pakistan People’s Party of Bilawal Bhutto and Asif Zardari is also in the electoral fray, with Bilawal Bhutto training his guns on Nawaz Sharif. A far-right Islamist Party, the Tehreek-e-Labbaik Pakistan, could cut votes of mainstream parties. It is a party to be watched. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the past few weeks, there has been a surge of complaints from passengers about Digiyatra. Their main complaint is about security personnel and airport staff collecting their biometrics for the app, using coercion and deception. According to travellers, CISF personnel at the entry gates were asking them to scan their boarding pass and capturing their photos, and then enrolling them in the Digi Yatra app without even informing them. The element of coercion is especially startling as the Ministry of Civil Aviation, when it unveiled the Digi Yaytra policy in 2018, had made it clear that it would be entirely voluntary. Digital rights experts have highlighted several other concerns about the Digi Yatra app, related to privacy, surveillance, exclusion, lack of transparency and accountability, and violation of the passenger’s dignity and autonomy. The Ministry, on its part, has said that the only objective of the Digi Yatra’s biometrics-enabled, digital processing of passengers is to usher in “paper-less and seamless movement through various checkpoints” at airports. Is the Digi Yatra app safe? Is it reliable? How do airports in other countries process passengers? And is Digi Yatra really worth it or should it be withdrawn? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is a crossover episode On February 1, the BJP-led government will place its Interim Budget in Parliament, seeking a vote on account. Has the NDA government’s economic performance in its second term fared better than its first? Here we discuss the question. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Australian Open likes to call itself ‘the Happy Slam’ and this year’s edition sure turned out to be a happy one for India. Rohan Bopanna became a Men’s Doubles Grand Slam champion for the first time and claimed the World No. 1 ranking at the age of 43. In Men’s Singles, Sumit Nagal made it to the main draw after coming through three qualifying rounds and scored an upset victory over 31st seed Alexander Bublik in the first round – the first time in nearly 40 years that an Indian has beaten a seeded player at a major. The first slam of the year also produced a new Grand Slam champion in Jannik Sinner, while Aryna Sabalenbka mounted a successful defense of the title she won last year. With the Australian Open setting the tone for the rest of the season, some intriguing questions arise. Will 2024 be the year that Gen X finally takes over from the Big Three? How can Sumit Nagal build on his Australian Open exploits to move further up the rankings? And who are the exciting new names to watch out for in the months to come? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This year’s Annual Status of Education Report or ASER, ‘Beyond Basics’, surveyed over 34,000 young people aged between 14 and 18, in 28 districts across the country, to get an inkling into: what are the young people of India currently doing? What are their basic maths and reading abilities like? And how do they navigate the digital world through smartphone use? The results were perhaps not very surprising given that ASER, which is brought out by the NGO Pratham, has been flagging concerns about reading and numeracy levels among primary school children. It showed that about 25% of these teens could not read a second standard text fluently in their regional language and over 50% struggled with a fourth standard-level division problem. It also showed however, that over 85% of these teenagers were enrolled in an educational institution, and that digital awareness skills are high – nearly 90% had access to a smartphone and knew how to use it. What do these results indicate about the education system in India? How is the country doing with regards to the Nipun Bharat Mission which aims towards foundational literacy and numeracy? Will the gaps in education hurt the employment prospects of young people and how can they be fixed? Can their ease with digital devices be harnessed towards bettering their education? Tune in to find out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

India’s public distribution system – its ration shops – through which subsidised food grains are distributed to the poor is the largest such welfare programme in the world. It is a lifeline that saves millions from hunger. But for the past few years, the Union government has been running pilot projects where fortified rice --- rice enhanced with iron and vitamins – is being distributed instead of natural grains. The reason given by the government for this switch is that it will reduce anaemia in the population. But a great number of the poor – especially the adivasi communities – do not like it, calling it ‘plastic rice’. Public health experts have also advised caution on giving this rice to people with sickle cell anaemia and thalassemia – and there is a high incidence both among the beneficiaries of the PDS in India. Despite problems at the pilot stage, and reports about lack of adequate quality control and testing infrastructure, the government has a target of scaling up fortified rice universally from March 2024. Is there scientific evidence that fortified rice is the best solution for anaemia? Does a poor person who cannot consume fortified rice for medical reasons have an alternative? And what exactly is driving the mega-push towards fortified rice in a country where local grain varieties with higher iron content are available? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What began on October 7 as a conflict between Israel and Hamas seems to be spreading across the entire region. Even after 100 days of a conflict that has already claimed the lives of more than 25,000 people, Israel’s military assault on Gaza continues. But this war has sprouted many secondary plot-lines: Hezbollah, the Lebanon-based Shia group backed by Iran, has been exchanging fire with the Israeli military. Shia groups that serve as Iran’s proxies have been attacking US and Israeli assets in Syria and Iraq. Israel itself has been carrying out assassinations of senior Iranian generals and intelligence officers. And Iran has done strikes on what it claims were Mossad assets in Syria and Iraqi Kurdistan. It also carried out missile and drone attacks on Pakistani territory, sparking a retaliatory strike on its own territory from Pakistan. Amid all this, the Houthis of Yemen have kept up attacks on commercial shipping in the Red Sea, and in response, the US has been bombing Houthi positions in Yemen. So, how does one make sense of all that’s going on? Is the West Asia security architecture unravelling? And how are these confrontations likely to develop in the weeks to come? Tune in to find out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A new paper released by the NITI Aayog has claimed that multidimensional poverty (MDI) has declined from 29.17% in 2013-14 to 11.28% in 2022-23, and that 24.82 crore people “escaped” from multidimensional poverty during this 9-year period. Titled ‘Multidimensional Poverty in India since 2005-06: A Discussion Paper’, the NITI Aayog report claims that India is well on track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG 1.2) of “halving multidimensional poverty” by 2030. The report also claims that various government initiatives such as Poshan Abhiyan, Anaemia Mukt Bharat and Ujjwala Yojana have played a major role in mitigating different forms of deprivation. On the face of it, India managing to reduce its poverty head count is a great achievement. But at the same time, development economists have been complaining about the increasing paucity in relevant data. Are Niti Aayog’s claims based on hard data or are they projections? Does a reduction in multidimensional poverty headcount actually mean a reduction in poverty? And how do these claims square with India’s worsening rank in the Global Hunger Index, for instance? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Having a loved one in intensive care at a hospital is an experience many of us have gone through, especially after the Covid-19 pandemic. It’s a stressful time, what with the strain of a relative being ill, the decisions you may have to take, and the costs you have to tackle. What should ICU care look like in India? The Union Health Ministry recently released a list of guidelines that list out criteria for ICU admissions and discharges, the role of intensivists or critical care specialists in the ICU and the patient as well as the family’s right to refuse admission. What do these guidelines say? How do doctors usually deal with consent in ICU settings? What happens if there is a difference of opinion between patients and doctors when it comes to ICU care? Tune in to find out! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Relations between India and Maldives seem to have hit a rough patch. First came some controversial remarks from Maldivian politicians on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Lakshadweep visit, prompting a ‘boycott Maldives’ campaign on Indian social media. Then came a joint press communiqué with China, which committed to “elevating strategic cooperation” between Maldives and China. This was followed by remarks from Maldives President Mohamed Muizzu, on his return from China, that although Maldives was a small country, it “won’t be bullied”, that the “Indian Ocean does not belong to any one country”, and that Maldives “is not in anyone’s backyard”. But for India, the most troubling development is Maldives setting a March 15 deadline – effectively an ultimatum -- to withdraw all its troops from the island nation. What exactly does all this mean for India? Is it purely an effect of Maldives’ domestic politics, with general elections due in March? Or should New Delhi be concerned about a more enduring shift in Maldivian foreign policy? Tune in to know more! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Telecommunications Act, 2023 was passed by Parliament in the Winter Session of Parliament last year. The Act consolidates much of the telecom laws that existed beforehand, and repeals colonial-era laws that have been updated over the course of over 137 years. While the Act is short in length at just over 45 pages, much of its implementation will be done through notifications and orders that will be passed directly by the government, with no prior approval necessary from Parliament. What does this Act do differently from the colonial-era laws? Is it a revamp of telecom laws or just a consolidation of the status quo? What are the concerns around surveillance and regulation of messaging apps? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For at least a year and a half now, most of us have relegated Covid-19 to the back of our minds. Cases of the virus had drastically reduced, it was not mentioned in headlines any more, and life seemed to have got somewhat back to normal as we learnt to live with Covid. It’s difficult however to ignore the news of yet another coronavirus mutation – this latest sub-variant, JN.1, a descendent of the Omicron variant, has been classified by the World Health Organisation as a ‘variant of interest’ because it has led to a rapid rise in cases across countries. But the WHO has said that the risk to public health is low, and this has been echoed by the Union Health Ministry in India which has said that JN.1 is not a cause of immediate concern. India has seen a surge in cases over the past few days – as of December 27, a total of 109 cases of JN.1 have been detected in the country. Active Covid-19 cases now stand at over 4,000 and several deaths have been reported over the past few days. With winter having set in across north India, pollution levels on the rise and respiratory infections doing the rounds, do we need to be worried about JN.1? Is this sub-variant more infectious than previous variants? Does it have higher vaccine escape properties? Would a booster shot of the vaccine help? And do we need to mask up again? Tune in to find out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This month, there’s been a lot of excitement in the medical world over the approval given to treatments for diseases that based on genome editing. What’s this all about? In 2020, the Nobel Prize for Chemistry was given to two women scientists, Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna for their discovery of what is essentially a genetic scissors, a tool that allows scientists to cut specific sites of a human being’s DNA, or to edit it, by making minor changes. This tool, known as the CRISPR/Cas9 system, opened up opportunities to treat certain genetic or inherited disorders. Two of these are blood disorders, beta thalassemia and sickle cell disease, up until now could only be cured through bone marrow transplants. Now, they can potentially be cured by editing the patient’s own genes. In the Union Budget this year, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had announced a sickle cell anaemia mission - to eliminate the condition by 2047. India is the second-worst affected country in terms of predicted births with sickle cell anaemia. As exciting as these new developments sound, they will likely be extremely expensive and therefore, probably unaffordable to many. Also, the clinical trials, have at present, only evaluated a small number of patients for relatively short durations and there is a need to constantly monitor the safety and efficacy of these therapies. So what exactly does genome editing involve? Can its potential be expanded to treat far more diseases, and what lies ahead in this field? What are the concerns surrouding this - could there be unintended consequences to genetic modifications? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This has been a question that has triggered a lot of research, a lot of debate and a lot of questions. A recent meta-analysis of 34 studies looked at excessive screen use and its links to your cognitive functioning. The results of the analysis, conducted by researchers in Australia, says that there is a clear link between disordered screen behaviour – or persisting with screen use even when it’s harmful for you, and your cognitive performance, specifically your attention and executive functioning. They found that sustained attention, the ability to maintain your focus for an extended period was affected – and this is something many of us may have felt as devices have increasingly taken over our lives, whether it’s for work, learning or recreation. In India, smartphone use and internet subscribers grew during the Covid-19 pandemic period, particularly as schools went online with digital learning. So what does all of this device time do to our brains, our functioning, our interactions with others and our productivity? How does addictive device use affect your mental health, and how much of a problem is it in India? And crucially, how much screen time is good for you? Tune in to find out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As Israel continues its indiscriminate bombardment of Gaza, causing thousands of civilian deaths, it has continued to enjoy unconditional military and political backing from the United States. Last week, as the US vetoed yet another resolution at the UN calling for a ceasefire, it found itself almost completely isolated on the world stage. A few days ago, President Joe Biden said that Israel risks losing international support if it continued to bomb Gaza indiscriminately. Does this suggest the US is thinking of recalibrating its support? What has been the nature of the US’s historical backing of Israel? Is the Biden administration’s Middle-East policy venturing into uncharted territory? With the US launching a ten-nation force to counter attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels in the Red Sea, is it at risk of getting dragged into a wider regional war? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In August this year, the Union government introduced three Bills to overhaul the country’s criminal justice system. The were – the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023 to replace the Indian Penal Code, 1860; Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), 2023 to replace the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973; and the Bharatiya Sakshya Bill, 2023 to replace the Indian Evidence Act, 1872. Last week, the government withdrew these three bills and reintroduced newer versions of them. It has said claimed the recommendations of a Parliamentary Standing Committee have been incorporated in the newer versions. There has been little public debate or consultations on such a large scale legislative move to alter the base of the criminal justice system. What are the major changes envisaged in these bills? Do they enhance or curtail civil liberties? Is there merit in the fears that they seek to weaponise the police by expanding their powers? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A five-judge Constitution Bench of the Supreme Court has upheld the abrogation of Article 370 and the subsequent reorganisation of the state of Jammu and Kashmir into two Union Territories. While the judgement has been hailed as a historic one, it has also raised concerns regarding the federal system, which is understood to be part of the basic structure of the Constitution. So, what exactly was the judicial reasoning behind the Supreme Court judgement, and what are its larger implications, especially for other Indian states, and the federal structure? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This year’s edition of the United Nations climate summit, COP-28, concluded in Dubai earlier this week. It began with a lot of expectations – especially on the key issue of phasing out fossil fuels. In the end, a deal seems to have been worked out – to transition away from fossil fuels. What exactly does the ‘Dubai Consensus’ entail? What are the other major takeaways from the summit? What progress, if any, has been made on climate justice? And given the slow and limited progress in CoP meetings, are there alternative modes of collective decision-making on climate action? Guest: Kanchi Kohli, Researcher (Environment, Law and Governance) and co-author of the book ‘Development of Environmental Laws in India’. Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu. Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Argentina’s president-elect Javier Milei, a self-described ‘anarcho-capitalist’, has threatened to disband his country’s currency, the peso, and adopt the US dollar in its place. Argentina has been grappling with hyperinflation for a long time – it was above in November 2023. Milei has argued that dollarisation of the Argentine economy will bring inflation down, and usher in a stable climate favourable for investment. How exactly does dollarisation work? What are the risks it entails? And what has been the experience of countries such as Ecuador which have already tried it? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Reports of a spike in respiratory illnesses in China have recently caused some amount of panic. Perhaps this is not surprising considering that next month will mark four years since the Covid-19 pandemic broke out and changed the world as we knew it. The current surge of illnesses however, have been reported primarily among children. On November 22, the World Health Organisation requested information from China about these infections. Subsequently, Chinese authorities have said that the outbreak is due to a number of pathogens – all of them known, none of them new. On November 26, the Indian government asked State Governments to ensure that the influenza-like illnesses (ILI) and severe acute respiratory illnesses (SARI) be closely monitored, particularly in children and adolescents. Several State governments have since then, stepped up their surveillance measures, especially as winter sets in, in many parts of India while parts of the south are experiencing heavy rains. We have since heard about RSV, adenoviruses and mycloplasma that have been the causes behind many of these infections. So what are these pathogens that have caused the Chinese outbreak? Why are they affecting children? Does India have cause for concern? And what measures can we take to safeguard ourselves? We discuss these and more in this episode. Tune in! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The BJP has won the elections in three of the four states whose results were declared on Sunday. It has won in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh, while the Congress bagged Telengana. In Mizoram, the Zoram People’s Movement is headed for a majority. The BJP has stamped its dominance in the Hindi heartland. The results, however, seem to have taken many by surprise – especially the margins of victory. What went wrong for the Congress, especially in Chhattisgarh, where it was expected to win? What were the deciding factors in MP and Rajasthan? What lessons can Congress draw from its win in Telangana? And what do the Congress’s losses mean for the INDIA alliance, in the context of the 2024 general elections? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A politician known as the ‘Dutch Donald Trump’ has won the general elections in the Netherlands. Geert Wilders, the leader of the far-right Party for Freedom, or PVV as it is known, is a frontrunner to be the next Dutch Prime Minister after his party won 37 seats, ahead of the outgoing PM Mark Rutte’s VVD, which got only 24. Wilders is both anti-Islam and anti-immigration. He is also anti-EU and is opposed to sending weapons to Ukraine. His victory in a country known for its tolerance and multiculturalism has come as a surprise. How did he end up winning? What are the chances of him heading the next government? What are the implications of his victory for the immigrant minorities, and the Muslims in particular, who comprise 5% of the Dutch population? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 28th UN climate conference, or COP28, is starting today in Dubai, and will go on till December 12th. Delegates from almost 200 countries, as well as climate scientists, business leaders, and other stakeholders will take part in the meeting. It is clear the world is not on course to meet the target set in the Paris Agreement – which is to keep the global rise in temperatures within the 1.5-degree Celsius limit. There are indications that if we continue with our current climate policies, the earth would be warmer by 3 degree Celsius by 2100 – which would make severe climate events a regular occurrence. What is top of the agenda at COP28? Will there be progress in funding the ‘loss and damage fund’ established at COP27? Is there a developing consensus on what climate accountability might look like? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After winning ten matches on the trot, India could not win one more and bring home the World Cup. It started the final as favourites, but things did not go according to the expectations that fans had built up over one month of pure magic. So, what went wrong for India? Was the match lost with the toss itself? Was Australia too good on the day? Or did India make mistakes? If it did, what were they, and what are the positives we can take away from this tournament? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Most of us would remember the sudden shortage of semiconductor chips during the pandemic – how it affected automobile manufacturing, delaying deliveries, and in many cases, even caused manufacturers to deliver cars without some features. But semiconductors form an integral component of not just cars but almost any high tech device we use today – from smartphones and laptops to televisions, satellites and, of course, all kinds of advanced military hardware. As nations jockey for geopolitical dominance, in addition to traditional factors such as military capabilities and economic power, technological prowess has become another, and perhaps most critical factor. Control over the manufacture and availability of the most advanced semiconductors is a key element of geopolitical security and strategic autonomy. And yet, geopolitics and semiconductor supply chains have mostly figured in separate debates. A new book, titled ‘When the Chips are Down’, by Pranay Lotasthane and Abhiram Manchi brings the two parallel discourses together, and also presents a framework for understanding where India fits into the picture. We speak with the authors Pranay Kotasthane and Abhiram Manchi. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) released a set of guidelines last month for the Central and State governments to tackle the problem of Child Sexual Abuse Material or CSAM on the internet. Over the past few years, there has been a colossal increase in the availability of CSAM online. In its 2023 report, WeProtect Global Alliance, which consists of governments, companies and charities working together for digital safety, said there was an 87% increase in such cases since 2019. What is the situation like in India? The NHRC says, that according to the Cyber Tipline 2022 statistics, of the 32 million reports received about child sexual abuse material, 5.6 million reports were uploaded by perpetrators based in India. Recently, the United Kingdom passed a stringent online safety bill that introduces a number of obligations on how large tech firms must design, operate and moderate their platforms. Other countries too are contemplating or have already put in place such measures. What are the vulnerabilities children in our country face, when they go online with their devices? How does child sexual abuse material online lead to offline consequences? Where does India stand when it comes to regulating and making the digital space safe for children? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As we keep hearing everyday, artificial Intelligence is on the verge of fundamentally changing the way human beings live and work. There are also many fears about the dangers posed by AI – which range from mass disinformation and privacy risks, to extinction of the human race itself. Amid this debate over how to regulate AI so that we are able to benefit from it while keeping it safe, governments around the world have been coming up with proposals for AI governance. The latest is the Biden administration’s Executive Order on the Safe, Secure and Trustworthy Development and Use of Artificial Intelligence. What are the concerns shaping these preliminary moves toward AI regulation? Are there any fundamental principles that an AI regulatory regime needs to address? What are the potential conflicts – say, between the interests of AI researchers and ordinary citizens --- when framing such laws? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Just about a month ago, Rescurity, an American cyber security firm, said that personal information of 815 million Indians was being sold on the dark web. This included details such as Aadhar numbers and passport details. The persons selling this information claimed that it was from the Indian Council of Medical Research or ICMR, the country’s premier scientific research body. This is not the first time ICMR has been subject a cyber attack – 6,000 such attempts were reported just last year. The All India Institute of Medical Sciences – AIIMS in Delhi has also been hit by cyber attacks – in one ransomware case, the hackers took over the servers, encrypted the data, and made it impossible for the hospital to access its own systems. Health data consists of sensitive, personal information and once stolen, can increase the risk of digital identity theft, online banking thefts, tax frauds and other financial crimes. India was ranked fourth across the world in all malware detection in the first of 2023, as per a survey from Resucurity. Even as this is going on, the Central government launched an ambitious Ayushman Bharat Digital Initiative in 2021. During the Covid-19 pandemic, our Aadhar and other details were used for both testing and vaccination services. So how safe is our health data with the government or private health organisations? How well does the Data Protection Act, that came into force this year protect this sensitive information? Is our right to privacy over our personal information being adequately safeguarded in India? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Can breathing in polluted air, day after day, increase your risk of diabetes? A study conducted in India and published in the BMJ Open Diabetes Research and Care journal last month, says, yes. Researchers studied over 12,000 adults in Chennai and in Delhi over a period of seven years from 2010 to 2017. Their blood sugar levels were measured periodically. A satellite-based hybrid exposure model was used to check for pollution levels – this assessed the daily average ambient PM 2.5 concentrations in Delhi and Chennai for each day of the study period. PM 2.5 refers to particles that are really tiny – 2.5 microns or less in diameter. These can enter the bloodstream and cause a number of respiratory and heart diseases. Considering that India was ranked the 8th most polluted country in the world as per the 2022 World Air Quality Report, and with Delhi currently choking on a toxic smog and the air quality remaining poor, this is of special concern in our country. Added to this, latest estimates indicate that 10.13 crore people in our country of 140 crore could potentially be diabetic. So how does pollution increase your risk of type 2 diabetes? Are those growing up in India now at a significantly higher risk of getting diabetes younger? Do we need to add polluted air to the list of risk factors such as unhealthy diets and sedentary lifestyles? And what steps can the government and the public take to help decrease this risk and work towards clean air for all? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A court in Qatar has handed death sentences to eight Indian citizens, all of them former personnel of the Indian navy. The ex-navymen were convicted on espionage charges. India has termed the sentencing ‘deeply shocking’ and has said it is exploring all legal options. The Indians were all employees of a defunct company, Doha-based Dahra Global, and had been arrested in August 2022. How did these Indian nationals end up in this situation? What are the chances that their lives can be saved? And what can New Delhi do to bring them safely back to India? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This year’s Nobel Prize in Economics was awarded to Prof Claudia Goldin for having advanced our understanding of women’s labour market outcomes. Prof Goldin’s work has looked at women’s participation in the labour force, changes across decades and the gender gap in earnings that continues to exist even today. In fact, the 2023 Global Gender Gap report pegged the gap score at 68.4%, and said it would take 131 years to equalise earnings between men and women at the current rate of progress. But how does India fare in all of this? A State of Working India 2023 report, brought out by the Azim Premji University reveals that some of Prof Goldin’s findings about women in the workforce may apply in India as well. The double burden of household work and a job continues to affect women, gender norms play a significant role and the Covid-19 pandemic had a massive impact. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Maldives has elected a new President, Mohamed Muizzu from the Progressive Party of Maldives. In the elections that concluded in September, he defeated the incumbent, Ibrahim Mohamed Solih of the Maldivian Democratic Party. The elections were also viewed by many as a referendum on the country’s foreign policy. While Solih was perceived as pro-India, Muizzu is seen as pro-China. One of the main election promises made by Muizzu was to end any Indian military presence on Maldivian territory. Muizzu is set to formally take office on November 17. What prompted Muizzu to build his poll campaign around opposition to Indian military presence in Maldives? Will Maldives foreign policy now take a pro-China tilt? And for India, what are the strategic implications of Solih’s exit from power? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Five states go to the polls this month – Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana, and Mizoram. Political analysts have taken to describing them as the ‘semi-finals’ before the finals, the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. Part of the reason for this characterisation is that in three of the states – Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh – the elections will see a direct face-off between the BJP and the Congress. How do the contesting parties stack up in different states, and what is the significance, if any, of these elections at the national level? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said earlier this month that India will leave no stone unturned in its bid to host the 2036 Olympics. While India has hosted major multi-nation, multi-discipline sports events --- the Commonwealth Games of 2010 and the Asian Games of 1982 come to mind – the Olympics is of an altogether different order of magnitude. Several questions pop up as India aspires to host the Olympics. How does the bidding process work? What are the costs likely to be? Can India afford it? And what is the scale of infrastructure that India would have to create in order to be able to pull it off? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Earlier this month, a married woman, who was 26 weeks pregnant, approached the Supreme Court, asking to be allowed to terminate her pregnancy. This was the woman’s third pregnancy, and she told the Court that she did not want to have the baby. She also said she was suffering from post-partum depression and other health issues. She did not know of her pregnancy until quite late, as she was breastfeeding, which can temporarily prevent pregnancies. The Court first agreed to allow her to terminate. But subsequently, following a hospital report that said the foetus was viable and had a heartbeat, and a medical board report that said the pregnancy was not causing an immediate danger to the woman or foetus’s life, the Court rejected her plea to abort the foetus. The case has sparked a pro-life vs pro-choice debate. Only last year, in a landmark ruling in a case known as X vs NCT the Supreme Court had said it is the woman alone who has the right over her body and was the ultimate decision-maker. But this apart, the case has also thrown into spotlight the laws surrounding abortion in India . So what do the laws, including the Medical Termination of Pregnancy Act say? Why do women need to approach the Courts for a termination? Why is it that women across the country still find it hard to access safe and legal abortion services? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In Part 1 of this series, we looked at the origins of this conflict, which began with the steady influx of Jewish settlers in Palestinian territories and culminated in the founding of the state of Israel in 1948. In the second part, we explored the key developments of the conflict from 1948 to the present – the wars that took place in 1948, 1956, 1962, 1982, the First Intifada, the Second Intifada, the Oslo process, the rise of Hamas, and so on. In this final episode of the three part series, we will explore the key factors driving the current explosion of conflict in the region and its potential fallout over the medium term. Listen to all three parts of this podcast series here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices