In Focus by The Hindu

Earlier this month, telecom regulator TRAI announced its recommendations to lower the reserve price for spectrum auctions. Now, overall reserve prices for the spectrum auctions would be up to 40% lower than recommended earlier. Of this, spectrum for 5G telecom services will be 35% cheaper. The question is, are these prices low enough for an industry that has been plagued by financial woes for a while now? Guest: Dr. V. Sridhar, Professor at the Centre for IT and Public Policy at the International Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore. Host: K. Bharat Kumar Edited by Reenu Cyriac Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A new Prime Minister in India or Pakistan usually means new opportunities for dialogue and engagement. Congratulatory messages are exchanged, and in the days when India and Pakistan engaged in dialogue, restating your commitment to a dialogue process usually followed. India-Pakistan relations have always been topsy-turvy but the August 2019 decision by the Modi Government to denude Jammu and Kashmir’s special status drew a furious response from Pakistan. Even bilateral trade was suspended. Hardly any visitors come and go. Barring the back channel, the relationship is at a standstill. Given that the new Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif heads a coalition government and Pakistan faces elections next year, we are unlikely to see a government in full flow. The Pakistan economy is a major concern and former Prime Minister Imran Khan is in full agitation mode. What could happen in India-Pakistan relations now? We discuss in this episode. Guest: Sharat Sabharwal is a former Indian High Commissioner and Deputy High Commissioner to Pakistan Host: Amit Baruah, Senior Associate Editor, The Hindu, who has worked as the newspaper’s Pakistan correspondent Edited by Ranjani Srinivasan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The University Grants Commission (UGC) announced on April 12 that students can now pursue two full-time academic courses in physical mode, simultaneously. It has also issued a set of guidelines for the same. What prompted the UGC to come up with this option – was there a demand for it from students or educational institutions? Will this option increase the competitive pressure on all students – to spend their under-graduation years slogging away on two degrees rather than one? And will the two modes of education – formal (in classroom) and informal (online/distance learning) – deliver the same quality and level of credentials? Guest: Dr. Maya John, who teacher of history at Jesus and Mary College, Delhi University Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu Edited by Ranjani Srinivasan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The first round of the French Presidential elections got over last Sunday, and two candidates, President Emmanuel Macron, and leader of the far-right National Rally, Marine Le Pen emerged on top with the highest tally of votes. While Macron won the first round with 27.8% of the votes, Le Pen secured 23.2%, while the leftist politician Jean Luc Melenchon finished a close third with 22% of the votes. Interestingly, all the three candidates have bettered their first round performance from 2017, where Macron had received 24% of the votes, Le Pen had 21.3% and Melenchon had 19.6%. The Presidential run-off, which is scheduled for April 24, will decide whether Macron gets a second term as President or Le Pen manages to unseat him. So, as things stand today, what do the chances look like for either candidate? All those who did not vote for either Macron or Le Pen in the first round – who will they support in the second round? And what are the possible implications for Europe in case of either outcome – if Macron gets reelected, or if Le Pen manages to win? Guest: Vaiju Naravane, Professor of Journalism and Media Studies at Ashoka University, and currently a visiting faculty at Sciences Po in France Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu Edited by Ranjani Srinivasan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If there is one story that defines India’s foreign policy after the 1998 nuclear tests, it is that of New Delhi’s engagement with Washington across Prime Ministers – Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Manmohan Singh and now Narendra Modi. The tango is yet to end and the dance masters remain committed to the relationship. Despite India’s membership of mutually antagonistic clubs like the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and the Quad, New Delhi found it need not make public choices till the February invasion of Ukraine by Russia. The situation today is dramatically altered – choices will have consequences. While External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar pointed to India’s oil purchases from Russia as being minimal compared to Europe, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken made a pointed reference to human rights abuses at their recent press conference in Washington. So, where is the Indo-U.S. relationship headed? We discuss in this episode. Guest: Dr. Atul Bhardwaj, independent foreign policy researcher and author of ‘India-America Relations (1942-62): Rooted in the Liberal International Order’ Host: Amit Baruah, Senior Associate Editor, The Hindu Edited by Ranjani Srinivasan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In its latest assessment report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has laid out several scenarios on the steps that ought to be taken to keep temperatures below 2°C. It warned that even temporarily exceeding the warming level of 1.5°C over the next two decades would mean additional severe impact, some irreversible. Arunabha Ghosh, founder and CEO of the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) discusses the latest report by the IPCC, its implications for India and what the Expert Groups strive to achieve. Guest: Arunabha Ghosh, founder and CEO of the Council on Energy, Environment and Water Host: Jacob Koshy Edited by Reenu Cyriac Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The lead headline in ‘The Indian Express’ newspaper after Pakistan’s National Assembly voted out a Prime Minister for the first time ever said it all. “Imran Khan goes, kicking & screaming”, it read. Refusing to read the writing on the wall, Mr. Khan tried desperately to hang on to power even on the 9th of April, delaying a vote in the National Assembly after the country’s Supreme Court, in a unanimous verdict, had ordered that the no-confidence motion against him be taken up again. Finally, in the early hours of the 10th of April, and after a dramatic resignation by Speaker Asad Qaiser, the National Assembly voted out Mr. Khan as Prime Minister. The Pakistan Muslim League (Noon) leader Shehbaz Sharif is expected to be elected the new Prime Minister. We discuss these developments in this episode. Guest: Fahd Husain, columnist for the Pakistani newspaper, Dawn, and anchor for the Dawn News television channel. Host: Amit Baruah, Senior Associate Editor, The Hindu, who worked as the newspaper’s correspondent in Pakistan from 1997 to 2000. Edited by Ranjani Srinivasan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s visit to Delhi reaffirmed India’s decision not to join the sanctions regime against Russia, despite a string of emissaries from the US, EU and other countries calling on India to shift its position in the Ukraine crisis. Guest: D.B. Venkatesh Verma, former Indian Ambassador to Moscow Host: Suhasini Haidar, Diplomatic Editor, The Hindu Edited by Reenu Cyriac Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Mortgage lender HDFC Ltd is all set to merge with HDFC Bank. Under the terms of the deal, which is one of the biggest in the Indian financial sector, HDFC Bank will be 100% owned by public shareholders, while existing shareholders of HDFC Ltd will own 41% stake in HDFC Bank. The news immediately led to a sharp spike in the share prices of both the companies. So, what exactly is the financial rationale for this merger? How do either of these companies benefit from this deal? Given that this is a merger between two different kinds of companies – one is a retail bank and the other is a Non-Banking Financial Company – what are the implications for shareholders, employees and customers? Guest: Suresh Seshadri, Business Editor, The Hindu Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As anticipated by many, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan did not go by the book and ensured that his handpicked Deputy Speaker Qasim Suri did not put the pending vote of no-confidence against him to vote on April 3. Instead, the Prime Minister advised Pakistani President Arif Alvi to dissolve the country’s National Assembly and four provincial assemblies, which was done with lightning speed. The Chief Justice of Pakistan, Umar Ata Bandial, has taken suo motu cognizance of this development and will rule on the constitutionality of the Deputy Speaker’s actions. Opposition parties, meanwhile, have elected their own Speaker and are proceeding with their vote of no-confidence in the National Assembly. Mr. Imran Khan said that an “outside conspiracy” fueled by bags of money could not decide the fate of Pakistan while the Army clarified that it had nothing to do with the day’s developments. Guest: Murtaza Solangi, Executive Editor, Nayadaur Media, and former Director-General of Radio Pakistan. Host: Amit Baruah, Senior Associate Editor and former Pakistan correspondent, The Hindu. Edited by Reenu Cyriac Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Up until January this year, only two people were ever reported cured of HIV/AIDS. And now, researchers have said there may be a third case -- an African American woman, who was diagnosed with HIV in 2013, and started on anti-retroviral therapy. In 2017, she was diagnosed with leukaemia and received embryonic stem cells, in the form of cord blood, from a donor who had a rare mutation that naturally blocks HIV from infecting the body’s cells. She also received adult blood stem cells from a relative. Now, doctors say, the woman shows no signs of HIV in her blood and has no detectable antibodies either, making the 60-year-old woman possibly the third case of a person who has been cured of the virus -- the other two cases, both men, received bone marrow transplants as well, from donors with the rare mutation. Unlike the other two cases, however, the woman did not develop graft vs host disease -- a condition where the donor stem cells attack the recipient. Could this be because of the use of embryonic stem cells with adult stem cells? Her doctors believe this may possibly be a factor. Stem cell therapy, exciting as it is in the field of medicine, is not accessible or possible in the case of a vast majority of persons living with HIV/AIDS in the world. Anti-retroviral therapy or ART, however, has ensured that those with access to the medicines now have long lifespans, comparable to those without HIV/AIDS. A vaccine against the virus would be an ideal solution, offering a potential cure, but close to 40 years since researchers first began to study it, the world still does not have a vaccine for this virus, though there are recent reports of a potential vaccine based on the mRNA platform. In India, as of 2019, an estimated 23.48 lakh people live with HIV/AIDS -- the prevalence among adult males is estimated at 0.24% of the population and among adult females, the prevalence is 0.20%. Worldwide, over 37 million people live with HIV/AIDS. So what is the potential stem cell ‘cure’ all about? What is the rare mutation that naturally blocks HIV from entering cells? Why is a vaccine so hard to make, and does the mRNA platform, first used for a COVID-19 vaccine, offer hope? Guest: Dr Akhil C Banerjea, emeritus professor, National Institute of Immunology and former director, Institute of Advanced Virology, Kerala Host: Zubeda Hamid Edited by Reenu Cyriac Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On March 28, the government introduced a new Bill in the Lok Sabha – the Criminal Procedure (Identification) Bill, 2022. The Opposition vehemently opposed it, going so far as to seek a division of votes. But it failed to defeat the introduction of the Bill, as it could muster only 58 votes against, with 120 votes in favour of the Bill. On the face of it, the Bill proposes to empower police and prison authorities to take “measurements of convicts and other persons for the purposes of identification and investigation in criminal matters”. The term “measurements” includes finger-impressions, palm-print impressions, foot-print impressions, photographs, iris and retina scan, and even biological samples. Criticism from the Opposition has broadly followed two strands. One thread argues that the Bill violates certain constitutional principles and guarantees and that it goes beyond the House’s “legislative competence”. The other set of criticisms dwell on the fact that it gives too much power to the executive, with very little accountability, raising the temptation for abuse of this law’s provisions. So, does India really need a Bill of this kind, and how does the current draft of the Bill fare when assessed against constitutional norms? Guest: Apar Gupta, Executive Director at the Internet Freedom Foundation, a Delhi-based non-profit that conducts advocacy on digital rights and liberties Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu Edited by Ranjani Srinivasan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Earlier this week, on March 27 and 28th, the Negev desert in Israel saw a summit of foreign ministers from six countries. Along with Israel’s foreign minister Yair Lapid and U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, also in attendance were the foreign ministers of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), Egypt, Morocco and Bahrain. Hailed as a ‘historic summit’ by Israel, the meeting is widely seen as an attempt to present a unified front against Iran. But why this summit now, and what are its implications in the context of the ongoing Ukraine war, and the negotiations over a possible resurrection of the Iran deal, also known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). Guest: Stanly Johny, International Affairs Editor, The Hindu Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu Edited by Ranjani Srinivasan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine crosses the one-month mark, there have been calls for cessation of hostilities from across the world even as the devastating human and physical toll of the conflict become increasingly clear. While there is a glimmer of hope in the form of potential negotiations between Presidents Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin of Ukraine and Russia respectively, some of the complex geopolitical questions underpinning the crisis, including those relating to the role of NATO, remain unresolved. Guest: Suriya Jayanti, former U.S. diplomat and energy advisor who served as the U.S. Energy Chief at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv until 2020. She is now the co-founder of an alternative energy and decarbonization firm working in Ukraine and elsewhere. Host: Narayan Lakshman, Associate Editor, The Hindu Edited by Ranjani Srinivasan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For quite some time now, Indian badminton’s biggest success stories have mostly been women, with the headlines dominated by the likes of P.V. Sindhu and Saina Nehwal. Titles by the men haven’t always come at the highest level or consistently. But 20-year-old Lakshya Sen has surprised everyone with consistent performances at the highest level over the past nine months. His run to the final of the All England Open Badminton Championships in Birmingham last week marks the first time in 21 years an Indian male shuttler has made it to the finals of this prestigious event. So what makes Lakshya Sen, who has now broken into the top 10, different from the rest? And given that he is only 20, does he have the potential to stay at the top for a long time? Guest: Rakesh Rao, Deputy Editor (Sports), The Hindu Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu Edited by Ranjani Srinivasan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A little less than four years into his term, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan faces a make or break no-confidence motion against his government in the country’s parliament, or National Assembly on March 25. Nearly a dozen of his lawmakers, or MNAs as they are known, have announced a parting of ways with the Prime Minister. Mr. Khan’s Army backers appear to be taking a hands-off approach towards his continuing in office. Will he go or will he stay? That’s the central question in Pakistan’s national discourse currently. We discuss in this episode of In Focus podcast. Guest: Mehmal Sarfraz, a Lahore-based journalist, who has contributed articles for The Hindu in the past. Host: Amit Baruah, Senior Associate Editor, The Hindu, who worked as the newspaper’s correspondent in Pakistan from 1997 to 2000. Edited by Ranjani Srinivasan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There has been a lot of debate over the Karnataka High Court’s verdict upholding a ban on the wearing of hijab in educational institutions. In a nutshell, the High Court’s judgment appears to hold that the hijab is not an essential part of Islam and therefore the right to wear it cannot be protected under the Constitutional right to freedom of religion guaranteed by Article 25. It has been recognized that this case involves a number of key constitutional rights and principles, such as the right to freedom of expression, the right to freedom of conscience and freedom of religion, the right to privacy, the principles of equality and non-discrimination, and the principle of secularism, to name a few. The judgment delivered by the three-judge Bench does engage with these principles. But not everyone is convinced that it has applied the Constitutional provisions correctly. Has the court advanced the cause of women’s emancipation and secularism, as the verdict claims, or is it possible that it may have misconstrued certain Constitutional principles? Guest: Anup Surendranath, teacher of constitutional law at National Law University, Delhi Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu Edited by Ranjani Srinivasan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We are now into the fourth week of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and there is still not much clarity or consensus on whether and to what extent, Russia has been able to execute its military objectives in this time period. While there is no doubt that Ukraine has decisively won the propaganda war, with the world’s sympathy overwhelmingly in its favour, not many seem to be buying Russia’s line that Ukrainian atrocities in the Donbas region had necessitated what the Kremlin calls a “special military operation”. Nonetheless, it does appear as though Russia’s military operations are focused on securing the Donbas, and perhaps turning the two self-proclaimed republics of Luhansk and Donetsk into some kind of a buffer zone against a militarily defanged yet hostile Ukraine. So, how do we assess Russia’s military campaign? Are the Russians concerned about running out of time? And how do their military successes, or the lack of it, play into their negotiation tactics with the Ukrainians? Guest: Stanly Johny, International Affairs Editor, The Hindu Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu Edited by Reenu Cyriac Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Talmiz Ahmed speaks to us on the steps that India can take to insulate itself from price shocks and what are the chances that OPEC nations will ramp up supply and stabilise global crude prices. The Russia-Ukraine conflict has begun to have a major impact on the world energy markets. Ever since the conflict started, and especially after the announcement of economic sanctions on Russia, crude prices have been steadily climbing. They have risen most sharply in Europe, which is heavily dependent on Russian natural gas. U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to ban Russian oil is further set to roil energy markets. Since oil and natural gas are key inputs for almost every industry, there are fears of worldwide inflation. India, which relies on imports for the bulk of its energy needs, is especially vulnerable to changes in global crude prices. So, what does the war and the sanctions mean for fuel prices and inflation in India? What steps can India take to insulate itself from price shocks? And what are the chances that OPEC nations will ramp up supply and stabilise global crude prices? Guest : Talmiz Ahmed, a former diplomat who holds the Ram Sathe Chair in International Studies at Symbiosis International University, Pune. Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu Edited by Reenu Cyriac Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has scored a landslide victory in the Punjab Assembly elections. Punjab is a state that has traditionally been dominated by two parties – the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Congress. But this time the AAP has blown away both these old contenders to win 92 seats in the 117-member Assembly. What were the factors behind Punjab’s embrace of AAP? What are the main expectations that the AAP is expected to fulfill? And what does this election victory mean for the future of politics in the State? Guest: Amandeep Sandhu, author of ‘Panjab: Journeys Through Fault Lines’ (2019) Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu Edited by Reenu Cyriac Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The BJP’s victories in State Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Manipur and Uttarakhand are both comprehensive and complete. Its dominance over north India’s most populous and politically significant State has been re-emphasised. The Samajwadi Party fought the good fight but it was no match for the BJP. The Bahujan Samaj Party cut a sorry figure. In Punjab, the Aam Aadmi Party, a relatively fresh face in the State’s politics, won four-fifths of the seats – making it the second state after Delhi where AAP now has a government. Whether the party is able to advance beyond these two States is a question being posed by analysts and ordinary people alike. In Goa, Manipur and Uttarakhand, the BJP managed to buck anti-incumbency and return to power, cutting the Congress to size once again. We discuss the causes and effects of these results in this episode. Guest: Gilles Verniers teaches politics at Ashoka University and is Co-Director of the Trivedi Centre for Political Data. Host: Amit Baruah, Senior Associate Editor, The Hindu Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After two years of the pandemic, just when people were hoping for a semblance of normalcy, the world has been rocked by a massive war that could have catastrophic effects way beyond the conflict zone and probably change the post-Cold War world order. One question that just doesn’t go away is: could this war have been avoided? What exactly is Russian President Vladimir Putin’s game plan – why did he not stick to the path of diplomacy, instead of launching a full scale war? How will this war affect his position within Russia? And what is the thinking and mood in Russia at the moment? Does the sanctions regime portend Russia’s decisive pivot to the East, away from Europe, with which it has a long, shared history? We look for answers to these questions in this episode of In-Focus podcast. Guest: Danil Bochkov, strategic expert with the Russia International Affairs Council (RIAC), a Moscow-based think tank Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu Edited by Ranjani Srinivasan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over the last 10 days, desperate students from India have been asking to be evacuated from Ukraine, as the fighting there gets increasingly worse. On Tuesday, a 21-year-old MBBS student from Karnataka was killed in the eastern Ukranian city of Kharkiv, reportedly by Russian firing, when he was waiting outside a grocery store. As of Wednesday evening, at least 2,000 Indian students are believed to still be stranded in the country that is in the midst of an invasion by Russia. Students from India, have, for many years now, gone abroad to study. But apart from the destinations one usually thinks of – such as the United States, UK, Canada and Australia, an increasing number of students are also studying in Russia, China, Ukraine, the Philippines, Kazhakastan and other countries, many for medical degrees. An estimated 18,000 Indian students were studying in Ukraine when the conflict broke out, again, a majority of them at medical universities, many from tier-2 and tier-3 cities of India. Students, parents and educational consultants say the primary driving factor is the costs – while a medical education in Ukraine is estimated to cost around Rs. 20 lakh for the entire course, in India, costs at a private medical college can range from Rs. 50 lakh to upwards of Rs. 1 crore. And how many medical aspirants get into Indian medical colleges? As per government data there are 88,120 MBBS seats available in the country, but only half of these are in the government sector, where the college fees are relatively low. Just last year, over 15 lakh candidates registered for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test or NEET, which determines admission to medical colleges – which means that a majority of those who attempt the exam will not be able to secure a seat. And the distribution of medical colleges in India too, is skewed – most are in the southern States and Maharashtra, with very few colleges in many northern parts of the country. Even when students do come back after obtaining a medical degree in Ukraine, they cannot immediately practice – they have to write the Foreign Medical Graduates Examination, the pass percentage of which, as per reports, is only around 15%. Over the last five years however, there has been a three-fold increase in the number of candidates attempting this exam. So why is it that medical education continues to remain unaffordable to thousands of our students? Prime Minister Modi, a few days ago, asked why the private sector couldn’t get into this field, and why States couldn’t allot land for medical colleges as many our students were going to small countries abroad to study. Are more private medical colleges in the country the answer or do State governments need to do more to set up government colleges? Are our regulatory frameworks too stringent in the norms required to set up medical colleges? Is capping fees at private colleges, as the National Medical Commission has proposed, for at least some seats, the answer? And can India achieve its commitment of having 1 doctor per 1,000 people as recommended by the World Health Organisation later this decade? Guest : Dr Rajib Dasgupta, Professor at the Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Host: Zubeda Hamid Edited by Reenu Cyriac Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has not only shocked the world but shaken the foundations of the world order. Lakhs of refugees, both Ukrainian nationals and foreigners, are trying to cross the country’s borders to safety even as Russian troops shell and bomb major cities. Russia’s end game is not clear even as it faces the full wrath of the West. Sanctions and isolation are the order of the day. What will the sanctions achieve when the West could not even bring Myanmar and Afghanistan to heel? Did Russian President Vladimir Putin believe that the U.S. and the rest of the West will acquiesce to turning Ukraine into a client state? Guest: Syed Akbaruddin, former Indian Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York, and currently Dean, Kautilya School of Social Policy, Hyderabad Host: Amit Baruah, Senior Associate Editor, The Hindu Edited by Ranjani Srinivasan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Russia’s actions against Ukraine have attracted severe blowback from Western nations, especially in the form of economic sanctions. While Russia has lived with sanctions for years now, the new set of sanctions are decidedly harsher. Many Russian banks have been cut off from the SWIFT transactional system, Russia-registered flights have been banned from EU air space, and assets of the Russian central bank are being frozen, and these measures are expected to affect world trade that involves Russian goods or services. It is a truism that in the three decades following the end of the Cold War, the world has become closer, more networked and more inter-dependant – a process that’s come to be known as globalization. But now, are these sanctions about to turn the clock back? How will the West ensure that all countries – not just in Europe but also Asia, Africa and Latin America abide by the sanctions? How is this likely to impact countries that are dependant on imports from Russia or for whom Russia is a major trade partner? Guest : Arun Kumar, Malcolm S Adiseshiah Chair Professor at the Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu Edited by Reenu Cyriac Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Russia’s aggression against Ukraine has led to a flurry of diplomatic activity, with every country sort of compelled to take an official position on the conflict. While the Western world has been unanimous in condemning Russia for violating Ukraine’s sovereignty, some countries have stopped short of outright condemnation. Among these nations which have tried to do a balancing act are India and China. Given that relations between India and China have been frosty in recent times, it is interesting that they seem to be on the same page on what appears to be the most dangerous geo-political conflict today. A few days ago, when the UN Security Council voted on a draft resolution condemning Russia for its actions against Ukraine, India and China, along with the UAE, were the only countries that abstained. So, what are the considerations that are driving India and China to adopt the positions that they’ve taken? With Russia getting increasingly isolated, and the sanctions getting progressively harsher, will India and China change their positions in the coming days or weeks? Guests: Suhasini Haidar, National Editor and Diplomatic Affairs Editor at The Hindu, and Ananth Krishnan, The Hindu’s China Correspondent. Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu Edited by Ranjani Srinivasan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Just as the Omicron wave of the pandemic was ebbing in India and case numbers were dropping significantly, there were some concerns about an Omicron sub-variant BA.2. Earlier this week, the World Health Organisation said that it was closely monitoring BA.2, believed to be more transmissible than the BA.1 strain, but said there was no cause for alarm as this sub-variant does not seem to cause more severe disease. As of Tuesday, the country reported just over 15,000 new cases and the number of active cases has fallen below the 2 lakh mark - indicating the receding of the third wave of COVID-19 and the gradual return to normalcy. Booster or third doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, which have been on many minds since the third wave began, have so far been given only to healthcare and frontline workers and vulnerable adults over the age of 60 - the NITI Aayog recently said a decision on a third dose for all other adults would only be taken based on scientific need. So is there a scientific need for booster doses in India? What happens to those patients who experience long Covid - those who develop long-term symptoms after being infected? And crucially, what next can we expect of the pandemic and will COVID-19 become endemic in the country - with the virus sticking around but not affecting large numbers? Guest: Dr. Lancelot Pinto, Consultant Respirologist & Epidemiologist, P.D. Hinduja National Hospital and Medical Research Centre, Mumbai Host: Zubeda Hamid Edited by Reenu Cyriac Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI), in a recent order, has penalised the National Stock Exchange (NSE) and its former MD and CEO Chitra Ramkrishna for violating securities contract rules. Ramkrishna was the CEO from April 2013 to December 2016. The key violation seems to be her role in the appointment of Anand Subramanian as group operating officer and advisor to the MD. Along with Ramkrishna, her predecessor Ravi Narain has also been accused of violating the rules. Among the various findings of the SEBI investigation, the one that has garnered the maximum attention is that Ramakrishna, as the MD and CEO, had been guided in her decisions by a ‘yogi’ or spiritual guru sitting in the Himalayas. It was this same ‘yogi’ who made her appoint Subramanian on an exorbitant salary and allegedly made her keep increasing his compensation at regular intervals. While Ramakrishna and her associates are under further investigation, the whole saga has raised a lot of questions. Given that the yogi had been communicating via email, why is his identity still unknown? Did the NSE suffer material losses as a result of this breach of confidentiality rules? Apart from Subramanian, did any other entity enjoy material gain from the yogi’s apparent hold over Ramkrishna? Guest: Suresh Seshadri, Business Editor, The Hindu Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu Edited by Reenu Cyriac Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s an ancient disease that has been mentioned in history across the world, but one that is now largely forgotten. Leprosy however, continues to exist in India. As per data, in 2020-21, the country saw 65, 147 new cases of leprosy, down from 1,14,451 cases in 2019-20 -- but whether this data is a reflection of ground reality is not known, as the Covid-19 pandemic hampered detection of cases, patients were unable to access healthcare services due to the lockdowns and almost all public health efforts were directed towards combating the pandemic. The disease, caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium leprae, primarily affects the skin and the nerves under the skin. It causes lesions, and if left untreated, leads to deformities and disabilities. Despite free treatment available across the country in the government health sector, leprosy continues to be stigmatised and patients discriminated against, often in their own homes and communities. In 2005, India officially eliminated leprosy as a public health problem -- as less than 1 in 10,000 people contracted it in a year. But some States in the country continue to have higher rates -- parts of Bihar, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, West Bengal and a few others make up a sizeable chunk of all cases in the country. So what happened to leprosy services in India after 2005? And what happened during the pandemic? Why does India still account for a significant proportion of the world’s leprosy cases? Guest: Dr. Joydeepa Darlong Head, Knowledge Management, The Leprosy Mission Trust India Host: Zubeda Hamid Edited by Ranjani Srinivasan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Delhi High Court, after hearing a case filed by table tennis star Manika Batra, has suspended the Table Tennis Federation of India (TTFI). It has appointed a three-member Committee of Administrators (CoA) to run the sport for the time being. In the absence of a regular federation to administer the sport, players face an uncertain future. The High Court order has also put the spotlight on the mismanagement that seems to plague many of our sports federations. So, why did the TTFI get suspended? And what is the likely effect of the High Court order on other sports federations? Guest: Rakesh Rao, Deputy Editor (Sports), The Hindu Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu Edited by Ranjani Srinivasan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With the dust yet to settle on the whole debate around the Aadhaar project, the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeITY) has now proposed a new model of ‘Federated Digital Identities’. The idea is to link a citizen’s multiple unique IDs such as PAN, driving licence, passport and so on to one unique ID. This proposal is part of several digital governance initiatives that the government is considering under the India Digital Ecosystem Architecture or InDEA 2.0 framework. Why exactly do we need federated digital identities? What is the InDEA 2.0 framework all about? Does our digital governance architecture imbibe the constitutional principles that govern traditional governance? Are there any privacy or surveillance concerns that ordinary citizens need to worry about? We look for some answers to these questions in this episode. Guest: Srinivas Kodali, inter-disciplinary researcher with special interest in data standards, cities, cyber security, and the internet. Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu Edited by Ranjani Srinivasan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Cricket’s Indian Premier League, known popularly as IPL, is valued at a staggering 50,000 crore rupees. In 2008, when the IPL was launched, not many would have thought it would not only be a mega commercial success but become a magnet for international players. Another round of player auctions has just been concluded with a top sale tag of over 15 crores for an individual cricketer. So, what makes the IPL tick and tick loudly? Guest: Joy Bhattacharjya, CEO of Prime Volleyball League and former Team Director of Kolkata Knight Riders. He is also an analyst for cricbuzz.com. Host: Amit Baruah, Senior Associate Editor, The Hindu Edited by Ranjani Srinivasan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In February 2019, a petition was filed in the Supreme Court, challenging Section 9 of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955. This section, which deals with ‘restitution of conjugal rights’, essentially forces a wife who has left her husband, to return and cohabit with him. Although it is gender neutral (applying to either spouse), it is back in focus partly owing to the growing spotlight on criminalising marital rape. The petition challenging this law, titled Ojaswa Pathak vs Union of India, was last heard on July 8, 2021 and has been pending since then, with the Supreme Court website showing no further dates. Justice Rohinton Nariman, who led the Bench which heard the case, has also retired. Meanwhile, adding another twist to the discourse around sexual autonomy of the married woman in India, the Centre has conveyed to the Delhi High Court that India should not “blindly” follow the West in criminalizing marital rape. With the petition against Section 9 pending in the Supreme Court for so many months without a hearing, there is a growing clamour for an early resumption of hearings. What exactly do the provisions of Section 9 say? What has been their impact so far, and how did we end up with such a law in the first place? Guest: Arti Raghavan, practicing advocate at the Bombay High Court Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu Edited by Ranjani Srinivasan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The anti-corruption watchdog Transparency International (TI) has released the 2021 Corruption Perception Index, or CPI. This Index ranks 180 countries on their perceived levels of corruption in the public sector. Countries are evaluated on a scale from 0 to 100, where 100 is very clean and 0 is very corrupt. This latest CPI has revealed that globally, corruption remains at high levels, with the average score at 43 out of 100. Out of the 180 countries, 131 have made no progress against corruption, two-thirds scored below 50, indicating that corruption is a major problem, while 27 slipped to their lowest score ever. Although India’s rank improved from 86th to 85, its score of 40 is lower than the global average of 43, which seems to indicate that corruption in India is higher than in most other countries. The report also states that rising corruption is an enabler of human rights abuse and authoritarianism. For a better understanding of CPI, global trends in corruption, and what the report has to say about India, we speak to Venkatesh Nayak. Guest: Venkatesh Nayak, development sector veteran who has worked on transparency and public audit mechanisms, and is currently with the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI). Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu Edited by Ranjani Srinivasan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last week, the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights told the Supreme Court that close to 1.5 lakh children in the country are in need of care and protection after losing at least one of their parents to COVID-19 and other diseases during the pandemic period, while over 10,000 children have lost both parents. The pandemic and subsequent lockdowns not only pushed thousands of Indians into poverty, it also made services that generally safeguard children, unavailable in large parts of the country, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation. Thousands of migrant workers returned to their villages, schools have been shut for the better part of two years, and families, desperate to survive, have gotten into the clutches of money-lenders, which makes them easy prey for traffickers. In July last year, the Union Home Ministry issued guidelines for the urgent setting up of Anti Human Trafficking Units or AHTUs, and asked States to upgrade the infrastructure of existing ones. As per the National Crime Records Bureau, there are 696 functional AHTUs and 20 States/Union Territories have achieved their target of setting up AHTUs in all districts. In the meantime, children have been rescued from trains and buses, from workplaces across the country, from sexual exploitation and child marriage in the thousands by child rights organisations. Childline, a helpline for children in distress, received 1,92,000 distress calls between March and August 2020, most to do with cases of child labour. And yet NCRB's data from AHTUs recorded only 1,714 cases of human trafficking in 2020. What really happened to vulnerable children during the pandemic? How do the AHTUs work and are they effective? What happens to rescued children and how long does it take for the rehabilitation process to work? And what are the urgent gaps the government needs to fill to protect children in our country from being trafficked? Guest: Dhananjay Tingal, executive director, Bachpan Bachao Andolan, a movement for the protection of children that works with government agencies and policy-makers to strengthen the system Host: Zubeda Hamid Edited by Reenu Cyriac Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With elections coming up in five states, it was expected that the Union Budget for the financial year 2022-23 would focus on addressing the crisis of unemployment. One of the things that Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman needed to do in this regard was to increase government spending, and she appears to have done so, increasing the capital expenditure outlay by 35.4%, But will this be enough to draw in adequate amounts of private investment and ensure job creation on a massive scale? Also, how do we understand the logic behind the cuts in subsidies, with fertilizer, food and petroleum subsidies all witnessing a marked decline? While job creation remains a primary concern, the allocation for MGNREGA – which saw a surge in demand during the pandemic – has not been increased. How do we assess the Budget on the welfare front – in the domains of health, education and farmer welfare? In this podcast, we look to unpack the numbers of the Union Budget and get to the core of what it means for the common man. Guest: Arun Kumar, economist and Malcolm S. Adiseshiah Chair Professor at the Institute of Social Sciences, New Delhi Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu Edited by Ranjani Srinivasan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The National Commission for Women has said it had seen a 30% rise in complaints of crimes against women in 2021, compared to 2020. Nearly 31,000 complaints of crimes against women were received by the Commission for last year, the highest since 2014. Of these, over 6,000 were related to domestic violence and over 4,000 were to do with dowry harassment. In 2020 also, the Commission had received a record high number of complaints, one quarter of them related to domestic violence -- in just April and May of that year, during the nation-wide lockdown, 47.2% of the cases it received were of domestic violence, by comparison, barely 21% of cases received between January and March were to do with this. Domestic violence has sometimes been referred to as the 'shadow pandemic' -- as the world faced an unprecedented crisis and lockdowns became the norm in several countries, not only did women find themselves locked in with their abusers at home, they also lost access to support services outside. The economic distress faced by millions exacerbated the problem. In India, organisations working with women have reported a huge spike in cases -- men and women lost their jobs, many members of a family were forced to stay together often in small quarters -- not only did women have more household work than usual, they also had little access to the outside, and their support systems dwindled. At the same time, many girls and young women who would ordinarily have been in school and college, have been confined to their homes -- potentially increasing their vulnerability to violence and also to the threat of cyber crimes. Did we have any mechanisms in place to help support survivors of violence through the pandemic? What legal and social structures do we need to have? What happens when fewer women use public places, and will this have an effect on women's safety in the future? And how well has the Protection of Women from Domestic Violence Act, 2005 been implemented? Guest: Swarna Rajagopalan, founder of Prajnya, a non-profit that works in the area of gender equality Host: Zubeda Hamid Edited by Reenu Cyriac Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

China, the world’s factory, is worried by its dipping population growth – a figure that has fallen to its lowest level in six decades despite ending its 35-year “one child policy” in 2016 and replacing the “two child policy” with the “three child policy” last year. Just under 11 million babies were born in China in 2021 while a little over 10 million deaths were reported in the year gone by. As a result, China recorded a population growth of 0.34 per thousand – the lowest since 1960. What are the implications of this obvious population crisis? Why aren’t more children being born in China? The country’s ageing population is better educated, more skilled and healthier than before. Will the country be able to cope with lesser numbers? We discuss all these issues in this episode. Guest: Ananth Krishnan, Hong Kong-based China correspondent of The Hindu. Host: Amit Baruah, Senior Associate Editor, The Hindu Edited by Ranjani Srinivasan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If one can rank Assembly elections in order of importance, after Uttar Pradesh it has to be Punjab in the five States going to polls. Punjab Assembly 2017 was a three-cornered contest with the Congress getting a thumping majority. Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal who could not believe that AAP had lost the polls. The Akali Dal-BJP alliance came third in the 2017 race. In 2022, former Chief Minister Amarinder Singh has allied with the BJP, some victorious farmers who forced the BJP government to withdraw the three contentious agricultural laws have entered the fray, the Akalis are now in alliance with the BSP while the Congress and AAP remain serious contenders for power. Guest: Kanwar Sandhu, former Chandigarh-based Resident Editor of The Indian Express and Hindustan Times newspapers. Outgoing MLA in the Punjab Assembly, not seeking re-election. Suspended by AAP for alleged anti-party activities. Also, former Executive Editor of The Tribune newspaper. Host: Amit Baruah, Senior Associated Editor, The Hindu Edited by Ranjani Srinivasan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The poll bugle has been sounded for Uttar Pradesh’s seven-phase Assembly election between February 10 and March 7. Along with Uttar Pradesh, four other states, including Punjab, are also in election mode to elect new State Assemblies. Candidates have been announced for the first few phases in Uttar Pradesh by the BJP, the Samajwadi Party, the Bahujan Samaj Party and the Congress and a first round of defections has also taken place. Swami Prasad Maurya, a senior minister and OBC face of the BJP, has jumped ship to the SP. As have two other Cabinet Ministers from the Yogi Adityanath government. We discuss the stakes in this all-important election in this episode. Guest: Gilles Verniers, Assistant Professor of Political Science and Co-Director, Trivedi Centre for Political Data, Ashoka University. Host: Amit Baruah, Senior Associate Editor, The Hindu Edited by Ranjani Srinivasan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

According to the ‘Tek Fog’ expose by the news portal The Wire, the BJP has access to a secret app called ‘Tek Fog’ that can hijack social media, automate hate, and targets thousands of accounts with just a click. The report, when it came out, created a sensation. While A TMC MP has said Tek Fog “has serious ramifications and could jeopardise national security,” a parliamentary panel headed by a Congress leader has sought a response from the Home Ministry. So, what exactly is Tek Fog? How does automated trolling work, and is it really scalable? What does the Tek Fog expose mean in the context of investigative journalism that straddles the domains of technology, privacy, free speech and politics? We explore these questions in this episode. Guest: Samarth Bansal, an independent journalist who runs The Interval, a fortnightly newsletter Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu Edited by Reenu Cyriac Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On January 17, two Indians and a Pakistani were killed in a massive explosion in Abu Dhabi. The blast is believed to have been the result of a ‘drone attack’ by Yemen’s Houthi rebels. This attack on the capital of UAE has once again drawn the spotlight to a conflict that has been going on in the region for seven years – the war in Yemen. This war, which broke out in late 2014 during a period of political instability in the aftermath of the 2011 Arab Spring protests, has become really complicated, with multiple warring factions –the Saudi-backed coalition, the Houthis, the Southern Transitional Council, or the STC, which is another separatist group, besides other countries such as France and the UK which have been helping the Saudi-backed coalition. All of this has triggered what is believed to be the worst ongoing humanitarian crisis in the world. What are the factors driving this conflict? What is at stake for the different players? And is there any chance of peace returning to the region any time soon? Guest: Stanly Johny, The Hindu’s International Affairs Editor Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu Edited by Reenu Cyriac Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kazakhstan, the largest and richest of the Central Asian republics, is in turmoil. The country has been rocked by massive protests since the start of the New Year. The protests have also been marked by violence and looting. While the immediate trigger seems to be a hike in LPG prices, they protesters did not relent even after the government announced that it will roll back the price hike. As violence escalated, President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev gave orders to shoot at the protesters without warning. He has also claimed that foreign elements are behind the protests. He turned to Russia for help in quelling the protests, and things seemed to have settled down somewhat, after 2,500 Russian troops landed in the country. What exactly are the factors driving these protests? Is there really some foreign involvement? What are the geo-political implications of Russian troop presence in Kazakhstan? We discuss all this and more in this episode. Guest: Stanly Johny, The Hindu’s International Affairs Editor Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu Edited by Reenu Cyriac Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, or the FCRA, has been in the news once again. India’s NGO sector had an unpleasant start to the new year as it emerged that around 6,000 of them had lost their FCRA licence. NGOs and other institutions that do charitable work have to register under the FCRA to be able to receive foreign donations. Hence, cancellation or loss of an FCRA licence could mean that they may no longer be able to continue their day-to-day work, to pay salaries, and may even be forced to shut down. This has livelihood implications for people employed in the social sector. In this edition of In Focus, we get to the fundamentals of the whole FCRA phenomenon. Why do NGOs need an FCRA licence? Do other entities that receive donations, such as political parties, for example, face the same level of regulatory scrutiny? How transparent is the process of granting or cancellation of licences? Guest: Kabir Dixit, an advocate-on-record at the Supreme Court who has been handling FCRA matters Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu Edited by Ranjani Srinivasan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On January 3, India began vaccinating a section of its teenagers, with Covaxin. About 7.4 crore children, between the ages of 15 and 18, are eligible to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. As of Saturday, over 2 crore children had received the first dose of their vaccine. Only Covaxin was approved for use in this age group, even though, last October, India's first DNA vaccine, ZyCoV-D, had been granted emergency use authorisation for use in children above the age of 12. Some experts have argued that since COVID-19 in children is, in general, not severe, the entire adult population should have been vaccinated first -- over 90% of the eligible population has received the first dose, but second dose coverage remains less than 70%. However, others have pointed out that now that adult vaccination is well underway and progressing, the programme needed to be opened to children as well. India has also announced precautionary doses -- a third dose of the vaccine -- for healthcare and frontline workers as well as adults aged above 60 with co-morbidities. The move comes amidst a global surge in COVID-19 cases, with new variant of concern, Omicron, dominating. Unlike some other countries however, India will give beneficiaries the same dose they had for the first two -- either Covishield or Covaxin, without any mixing of the vaccines. So how did the children's vaccination programme come about, and how is it progressing? Do all adults need a booster dose or will only those at risk require it at present? How does the precautionary dose help protect vulnerable individuals? And will we see more variants in the future? Guest: Dr Srinath Reddy, President of the Public Health Foundation of India Host: Zubeda Hamid Edited by Reenu Cyriac Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The first big event of the Badminton calendar in this year is happening in New Delhi – with the 2022 India Open set to take place from January 11 to 16. There is a great deal of anticipation around the event as it could see a potential rematch of the two finalists of the World championships last month – Kidambi Srikanth and Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew. There is also a lot of excitement as India suddenly seems to have a great number of high quality male shuttlers and some excellent prospects, including the likes of Lakshya Sen. Given the abundance of talent, what are India’s prospects at the India Open and for the rest of the Badminton calendar in 2022? Can Kidambi Srikanth reverse the outcome of the World Championship final if he runs into Loh at the India Open? And how are the chances for PV Sindhu and Saina Nehwal? We discuss these questions and more in this episode. Guest: Rakesh Rao, Deputy Editor (Sports) at The Hindu. Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu Edited by Ranjani Srinivasan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The top-ranked tennis player in the world and arguably one of the all-time greats Novak Djokovic was held for four days in a detention centre in Australia, apparently because his unvaccinated status rendered his entry visa invalid. The showdown between the Australian federal agencies and Novak Djokovic was today settled in court, with a Federal Circuit Court judge ruling in Djokovic’s favour. It quashed the cancellation of Djokovic’s visa and ordered his immediate release from detention. While details of the events at the airport leading to Djokovic’s detention are still emerging, the whole episode has raised questions about vaccination, sport, and how rules are imposed, or not imposed. We don’t know, for instance, why Australia did not inform Djokovic earlier that his ‘medical exemption’ was not valid or that it was not enough to guarantee him entry into Australia. Why wait until he was already on Australian soil? And what about the effect of all this on his preparations for the Australian Open, assuming he gets to play it? We discuss all these questions in detail in this episode. Guest: Rakesh Rao, Deputy Editor (Sports) at The Hindu. Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu Edited by Reenu Cyriac Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Sudan, a country ravaged by repression and instability for a long time, is again in turmoil. Civilian Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok announced his resignation in a televised address on January 2. Since 2019, Hamdok had been leading a transitional government in which power was shared between the military and the civilian leadership. But the military overthrew the government in a coup in October, and Hamdok was kept under house arrest. Following international pressure, the military made a deal with Hamdok, and on November 21, he returned as Prime Minister. And now, he is gone again, leaving the military fully in command of the levers of power. Why exactly did the military pull the plug on the joint civilian-military governance arrangement in October? Why did Hamdok make a deal with the military in November, only to quit a few weeks later in January? And what are the chances of Sudan making a successful transition to democracy? We explore all these questions with Stanly Johny, The Hindu’s International Affairs Editor. Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu Guest: Stanly Johny, International Affairs Editor, The Hindu Edited by: Ranjani Srinivasan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Department of Posts under the Ministry of Communications has released a Draft Approach Paper for creating a Digital Address Code or DAC for each and every address in the entire country. The DAC is to do for addresses for Aadhaar has done for identity – create a unique ID, using geo-spatial coordinates. The idea of a digital address code is a very ambitious one. While it can potentially transform the available national infrastructure for business, it also has implications for conduct of the Census, National Population Register and conduct of elections. Strangely, the proposal for this massive undertaking is yet to be widely debated. Why does India need a Digital Address Code? Who are likely to be its likely beneficiaries? Will it further exacerbate privacy concerns? Will it increase the possibilities of surveillance? How have other countries approached the idea of a digital access code? We look for answers to all these questions and more in this episode. Guest: Srinivas Kodali, an inter-disciplinary researcher with a special interest in data standards, cities, cyber security, and the internet. Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu Edited by Reenu Cyriac Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices