The Big Story

Although only a little more than 1 percent of the electorate, the Indian Americans voter has become a demography to reckon with in the US elections 2020. For one, they form the second largest immigrant population naturalised as US citizens in the country, and two they're also the highest-earning group, (according to Pew Research Centre), with a median income of $100,000 in 2015 — nearly double the national average that year. They're fighting elections, they're politically vocal, and they're also making significant donations towards both the Republican and Democratic parties. But as both parties are trying to tap into this demography in the battleground states, who will the Indian-Americans likely vote for? Tune in to The Big Story! References: How Will Indian Americans Vote? Results From the 2020 Indian American Attitudes Survey Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Interviews: Mekhala Saran Editor: Rinki Sanyal Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Look at China, how filthy it is. Look at Russia. Look at India. It’s filthy, the air is filthy,” US President Donald said in the final Presidential debate. Although US President Donald Trump's words drew sharp comments from Indian citizens and politicians alike, for once what Trump said is not far from the truth. The Health Effects Institute in The State of Global Air 2020 study found out that air pollution in India contributed to the deaths of more than 1,16,000 infants who did not survive their first month in 2019. Perhaps it's not at all surprising considering that India once again also topped in the annual list of cities with the worst air quality in the world. According to a World Air Quality Report report compiled in IQAir, 21 of the world's 30 cities with the worst air pollution are in India. Air pollution has finally made it to the political discourse, but are governments taking serious action? In the meantime, how is it affecting and deteriorating India's health? References: 21% of All Infant Deaths in India Due to Air Pollution, Says Study FAQ: Does Air Pollution Increase COVID-19 Threat? What Studies Say Is India’s national clean air plan on track? Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Maharashtra became the fifth state to withdraw its general consent to the CBI – or the Central Bureau of Investigation – to operate within its territory. Why would it do this? Well, the government order doesn't specify any reason. But it does come close on the heels of the CBI starting its own probe into the TRP manipulation scam following a reference from the Uttar Pradesh government. Two months back, the handing over of the Sushant Singh Rajput case to the CBI from Mumbai police had sparked a big row between Maharashtra government and the BJP. And the way things played out back then had led to speculation that the TRP scam case might be going the same way: taken away from the Mumbai police and given to the CBI, at the BJP's behest. But does the withdrawal of consent by the Maharashtra government actually prevent that from happening? What does this mean for the TRP scam investigation going forward? Will the Mumbai police have to end its investigation in the case? And how much can the denial restrict its operations? Tune in to The Big Story! References: Does Maharashtra’s Withdrawal of Consent for CBI Affect TRP Probe? Is CBI FIR the End of Mumbai Police’s Investigation of Fake TRPs? Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Guests: Vakasha Sachdev, Legal Editor, The Quint Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A new opinion poll survey held by Lokniti-CSDS shows that Nitish Kumar is still the preferred choice for CM over RJD candidate Tejashwi Yadav despite his massive anti-incumbency. This is similar to the findings of the CVoter opinion poll result that was released a few weeks ago, but if we are to look at the recent opinion polls, Tejashwi seems to be closing in on the gap. The Lokniti-CSDS opinion poll results show that Nitish Kumar, who was the Chief Ministerial choice for 31 percent voters surveyed, only has a four percent lead over Tejashwi Yadav, who 27 percent of the respondents preferred over the incumbent CM. And with that the plot thickens. But just a week before the Bihar elections begin, it's the unclear BJP-LJP equation that is making the whole affair rather interesting. Recently, while the BJP snapped at its NDA ally LJP, calling the party a "vote katua", Chirag Paswan found an unlikely ally in Tejashwi who said he wasn't averse to the idea of forming an alliance with the party. With the political equations shifting, what new possibilities are emerging? Tune in! References: Nitish’s Status Dips, Still Most-Preferred CM: Bihar Opinion Poll Bihar Elections: Has Tejashwi Yadav Turned the Battle Around? Bihar Opinion Poll: As Gap Closes, ‘Confused NDA Voters’ to Be Key Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Guests: Aditya Menon, Political Editor, The Quint Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amid ongoing farmer protests, Punjab became the first state to move a resolution challenging the three contentious farm laws enacted by the centre. To negate the central laws, the state assembly passed three Bills which among other things, provide for imprisonment of not less than three years and fines the sale/purchase of wheat or paddy under a farming agreement below MSP. Farm laws fall under the state ambit and that's why some states are of the opinion that the centre bypassed the federal structure and "illegally" enacted these farm laws. But the Centre in turn argues that their laws deal with trade and commerce of farmers’ produce which falls within the Concurrent list. While the Punjab government can’t repeal or amend the Farm Laws themselves, or pass their own laws to nullify its effect, now we have two sets of farm legislations at loggerheads with each other. Where does this fit in within the constitutional framework of the country? Tune in! References: Can Punjab Assembly Actually ‘Negate’ Centre’s Farm Laws? Punjab Govt’s bills provide minimum 3 years’ prison & fine for sale/purchase below MSP Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Guests: Prasanna S, Supreme Court Advocate & Founding trustee, Article 21 Trust Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Delhi-NCR's air pollution is spiking again from poor to hazardous levels, as Punjab and Haryana recorded a higher number of stubble burning incidents this season so far, compared to the same period last year. As of 19th October, different parts of the capital recorded pollution levels between 150-300, with the winds from the northwest bringing pollutants from farm fires and exacerbating the already poor air quality in the city. It's the same story year after year, but is there any plan to address it? Recently, even the SC had to step in and appoint a one-man panel consisting of Justice Lokur to monitor state initiatives to curb stubble burning, while the Delhi government and the Centre are looking at 'Pusa Decomposer' — a fungi capsule developed by the Indian Agriculture Research Institute (IARI) to prevent stubble burning. But how does it work and will it help? Tune in to The Big Story! References: MONITORING PADDY RESIDUE BURNING IN NORTH INDIA USING SATELLITE REMOTE SENSING DURING 2020 Punjab farm fires send smog signal to Delhi; hope in panchayat action Could fungus help stop stubble burning and reduce pollution in North India? How Can We Solve the Problem of Stubble Burning? Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Guests: Vivian Fernandes, Senior journalist who runs an agro-focussed website — Smart Indian Agriculture Vimlendu Jha, Environmentalist Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Just two days after PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti got released after more than a year of detention, all the mainstream parties of Kashmir joined hands to form an alliance to work towards restoring the special status of J&K. On 15 October, Mufti met NC leaders Farooq and Omar Abdullah at their residence along with CPI(M), People's Conference, JKPM, and ANC leaders and announced People's Alliance for ‘Gupkar Declaration’. At the meeting, the signatories demanded special status of the erstwhile state to be restored and also decided to extend their dialogue to people and all the stakeholders. Now that mainstream parties have decided to put aside their differences to get back what they say was “unconstitutionally snatched” from the people on 5 August 2019 when the Centre struck down Article 370, how is the next chapter of J&K's politics looking like? Tune in to The Big Story! Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Guests: Jehangir Ali, Kashmir-based Journalist Arun Gupta, BJP spokesperson Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

India’s economic growth is likely to contract by 10.3 percent in financial year 2020-21, falling below Bangladesh in terms of the per capita GDP — that's what the IMF has projected in its latest World Economic Outlook report. This is a big downward revision from its previous forecast in June when the IMF had predicted a 4.5% contraction in the current fiscal. Though India is expected to see the biggest contraction projected among major emerging markets amid the pandemic, the economy is likely to bounce back with an impressive 8.8 percent growth rate next year and even regain its position as the fastest growing emerging economy. The IMF also projected that India will surpass Bangladesh again in 2021. But how long will it take for the economy to recover to the pre-COVID times? What has India done so far and what more measures can the government take to speed up the process of the recovery? Tune in to The Big Story! Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Guests: Gita Gopinathan, IMF Chief Economist Uday Kotak, MD of Kotak Mahindra Bank Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A baby shower became love jihad, and a message on Ekatvam meaning "unity" turned into a target of hate. The Tanishq ad controversy has become much more than simply an advertisement facing backlash online, instead, it's become a running commentary on intolerance. On 12 October, Twitter was flooded with #BoycottTanishq tweets because its new jewellery promotion showed a traditional Hindu baby shower in an interfaith marriage between a Hindu girl and a Muslim boy. The ad content resulted in massive trolling on social media, with some asking calling it "anti-Hindu" and others alleging that it promotes "love jihad". Despite Tanishq taking down the ad, the criticism did not die down. After it was retracted, it was the supporters of the ad who criticised company's actions saying that Tanishq did not stand up for the secular message that it put out in the ad. What message does Tanishq’s action send? More than advertising guidelines, do brands now need to be mindful of trolls’ sentiments? Going forward what does this incident mean for those in the industry? Tune in to The Big Story! Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Guests: Harish Bijoor, Brand Specialist Santosh Desai, Columnist who writes on media, popular culture, and consumer markets Iraj Fraz Batla, Executive Creative Director, DDB Mudra Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This week, the bridge between metaphor and reality was crossed – YET AGAIN. Students have always been asked for their 100 percent, and Delhi University, one of India's most sought-after universities for undergraduate courses, has literally asked for 100 percent marks in a variety of subjects... even in the year of a pandemic when admissions have been delayed by over three months. In what has become a norm, with the 100% cutoffs being touched the very first time in 2011, the trend continued in 2020 after a gap of a few years. As the first-cut offs at DU were released, the Lady Shri Ram College set 100% cut off for three of its undergraduate courses – namely Political Science, Economics and Psychology. The question, though is, how is a 100 percent cut-off decided? And what are the factors at play that determine what an ideal and fair cut-off should be for a subject? Just like the price of a commodity is determined by the pull & push of supply, demand and a host market factors, what exactly are the invisible forces at play that go behind determining a cut-off. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the context of television in India, three letters – TRP – has gained a rather dubious reputation over the years. Television Rating Points or TRP was often synonymous with a compromise in the quality of television content. However, since Mumbai Police’s press conference which named Republic TV as having tampered with TRP measurement system, the news has touched a raw nerve among the news channels. As the nation wanted to know what exactly the whole controversy was, primetime debates across channels had a variety of answers - a “scam”, “scandal”, “dhokha”, “cheating”, “saazish”, “fraud”, “racket”, “chori” and “vishwaasghaat”. However, while Republic TV’s CFO S Sundaram skipped a summon by the police on Saturday citing a pending petition before the Supreme Court, news channels have framed this as an issue of one bad apple ruining the basket, media veterans explain why it is a much deeper issue pertaining to the entire news industry with political, social and economic implications. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The right to dissent is fair and well but public spaces cannot be occupied indefinitely for demonstrations and in such cases the administration ought to take action — that's was the Supreme Court's verdict on Shaheen Bagh style protests. But what does that mean for our right to protest? The Shaheen Bagh sit-in protest against the Citizenship Amendment Bill that was led by women began in December and carried on for over 100 days well upto the start of the lockdown mandated by the coronavirus pandemic. While it gained momentum in the capital, petitions were filed in the Supreme Court seeking to remove the protesters alleging that their protest was hindering movement of traffic and affecting the right to free movement. And it is during the hearing of one such petition that the SC observed that there needs to be a balance between the right to protest and right to movement. Although the SC verdict doesn't go against the protesters, it says that going forward such demonstrations of dissent have to be held in designated spaces. Legal experts are of the opinion that it not only violates international laws, but also stands scrutiny under Indian law. Does this verdict impede the right to assemble? Does it hold the right to movement over the right to protest? Tune in to The Big Story! References: SC’s Protest Verdict Goes Against Judgment It Relied on: Experts What Does SC’s Shaheen Bagh Verdict Mean for Our Right to Protest? Why Shaheen Bagh Verdict Threatens Rights & Favours Restrictions Protests Can’t Occupy Public Spaces, Roads Like Shaheen Bagh: SC Delhi Police Blocked Roads, Not us: Shaheen Bagh Protesters to SC Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Interviews: Vakasha Sachdev Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The vice-presidential debate ahead of the US elections was a landmark moment for more than one reason. Other than the fact that both the candidates were seated behind plexiglass barriers as a precaution against coronavirus, Senator Kamala Harris was also the first Black woman and the first person of Indian descent to take the big stage for a debate in the general elections. Minutes after the debate ended, Harris' “I'm speaking, Mr Vice President” rap at Mike Pence's constant interruption became a hit amongst her supporters on social media platforms. Although not as chaotic or as belligerent as the Presidential debate, Harris and Pence sparred on key issues such as the Trump admin's response to coronavirus, trade and Affordable Act Care. In the course of 90 minutes, Harris tried to attack the Trump-Pence government as the "greatest failure of any administration in the history" of US. While defending Trump's last four years, Pence also directed a few attacks at Harris himself. But how did Kamala Harris do in the debate? Was she able to make a solid case for Joe Biden? And at a time when President Trump contracted coronavirus, was US Vice President Pence able to face the pressure on justifying his actions on COVID? Tune in! References: Kamala Harris walked a tightrope, but still wiped the floor with Mike Pence Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Guests: Maya Mirchandani, Prof of Media Studies and Independent Journalist reporting on foreign policy Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With Bihar Assembly elections only weeks away, the political developments in the state are headed towards an unexpected spin. While Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar's JD(U) and the Bharatiya Janata Party have finally reached a seat-sharing agreement, with the JD(U) contesting 122 seats and the BJP 121, it is the LJP-BJP-JD(U)'s political dynamic that's been rather puzzling. A former NDA ally, the LJP or the Lok Janshakti Party, led by Chirag Paswan, will fight the elections solo. It has withdrawn its support from the NDA alliance, however, it will not field candidates on those seats being contested by the BJP in the BJP-JD(U) seat-sharing arrangement. Not only this, Paswan has gone to the extent of appealing to voters in Bihar to not cast a single vote for the JD(U) – adding that the state should have a BJP-led government. Interestingly, the BJP not only scrambled to reiterate their support for Nitish Kumar more than once, in a seemingly tacit response to the LJP, they also publicly declared, "Only those who accept Nitish Kumar's leadership in Bihar will stay in the NDA." What do we make of this complex relation between the trio? What kind of impact is the LJP's move likely to have on the NDA and Kumar's chances as he seeks re-election for the fourth term? Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Guests: Aditya Menon, Political Editor, The Quint Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, Senior Journalist Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Seventy two hours after being diagnosed with COVID-19, US President Donald Trump returned to the White House from his three-day stay at the Walter Reed military hospital in Washington. In a dramatic video, he got off a Marine one helicopter and walked up to the White House waving, and then he pulled off his mask and put it in his pocket to strike a thumbs-up pose for the photographers. Why do these little details matter? Even as Trump has been consistently criticised for his cavalier attitude towards the COVID crisis, taking off the mask was nothing short of a symbolic act of defiance keeping with how he's has been downplaying the pandemic in his campaigns so far. Since the very beginning of the outbreak he had been trivialising the use of a mask, going as far as avoiding it altogether for press briefings or rallies and even telling his supporters that they're free to wear it but it's his choice to not. After his discharge, Trump wrote on Twitter, “Feeling really good! Don’t be afraid of Covid. Don’t let it dominate your life.” Even so, questions remain on his health and his recovery. Although there are only scraps of information available from the White House medical team about his oxygen levels and his steroid drug treatment — is Trump's COVID-19 infection more serious than is being represented? At a time when US recorded more than 7.4 million cases of COVID-19 and 210, 000 deaths, what message is Trump sending to his supporters at this crucial time before election? And most importantly, how can this new development impact the US elections? Tune in to The Big Story! Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Guests: Dr Aviral Roy, Critical Care Specialist of COVID ward at Kolkata's Medica Super-specialty Hospital Andrew Claster,Deputy Chief Analytics Officer for Ex President Barack Obama's 2012 re-election campaign Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Protests over the Hathras gangrape case are transcending beyond India's streets to becoming a global outrage. From New York to Berlin — students, Dalit activists and members of the Indian diaspora are joining in with "Jai Bhim" and "Dalit Lives Matter" slogans for the 19-year-old Dalit victim who succumbed to her injuries on 29 September. But as the call for justice gets louder, the investigation gets muddier. Right from the beginning, as the UP police have been drawing public ire for mishandling the case, they had been claiming that no rape had taken place. However, contrary to the police's claims, the medicolegal certificate from AMU's Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College and Hospital (where the victim was first admitted), notes that there were ‘signs of use of force.’ But this wouldn't be the first discrepancy in this case. While the state police are pushing the no rape narrative, the UP government is pushing for a “narco test”, not just on the accused but the family of the victim as well to see if they are lying. What recourse is available for the victim's family now? References: Exclusive: Aligarh Hospital MLC Report on Hathras Victim Shatters UP Police's 'No Rape' Claim Hasty Cremation, Varying Accounts: Red Flags in Hathras Rape Case Hathras Rape: Why Does The Justice System Act Differently For Dalits? Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Were there lapses by the Uttar Pradesh administration in handling of the alleged gangrape case of a Dalit teen in Hathras district? Was it a mere coincidence that the victim's body was cremated in haste with full police force, allegedly without her family's consent? As protests mount against the state police and the state government's delinquent attitude over the alleged rape, and subsequent death, of a 19-year-old, the investigation so far has raised several red flags. Even as the hurried late-night cremation of the Dalit victim triggered a big controversy, the Additional director general (ADG) of UP police, Prashant Kumar, has said that forensic examination show the woman was not raped. In an official statement he said, "The samples did not have sperm and thus makes it clear that no rape or gang rape took place with the girl," and that it suggest that "some people twisted the matter to stir a caste-based tension". But that doesn't answer all the questions. Does no sperm rule out rape? The ADG's statement based on the forensic report also seems to be in direct contrast to the victim's declaration that was recorded before the magistrate on September 22, where she named all the four men and alleged rape. Should this not be treated as an important piece of evidence? Tune in to The Big Story! References: Hathras Rape: Why Does The Justice System Act Differently For Dalits? Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Guests: Dr NC Asthana, Retired IPS Officer, Ex-DGP Kerala, Ex- ADG of CRPF and BSF Asmita Nandy, Reporter, The Quint Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The incident where a 19-year-old Dalit woman from Uttar Pradesh's Hathras district succumbed to her injuries after being allegedly gang-raped and brutalised by 4 upper-caste men has sparked a reckoning around the everyday caste-based violence. While citizens are shaken up by the heinous nature of the crime, Dalit rights activists are pointing out that it's not just the crime but the systemic casteist bias that enables this kind of violence to go on unchecked that also needs to be talked about. At the same time, the case is drawing our attention to the biased media reportage, and the police force who reportedly did not want to register a case against the four accused initially (all of whom allegedly belong to the ‘dominant’ Thakur caste), only to cremate the girl's body later hurriedly. This incident is making us ask what happens when a person from the Dalit community seeks justice in India. Should the case be seen as an isolated incident of sexual violence or is it part of a broad pattern of caste-based misogyny and violence prevalent in our society? Are the police and the media complicit as much as a casteist society? Tune in to The Big Story! Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Guests: Christina Dhanaraj, Advisor of Smashboard Riya Singh,PhD Scholar from AUD, Member of Core Leadership Group Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

28 years after the Babri Masjid was demolished, all 32 accused of plotting a conspiracy and incitement that led to the destruction the 15 Century mosque were acquitted for lack of evidence. This includes some big names from the BJP and the Sangh Parivar such as LK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Kalyan Singh and Uma Bharti among others. Although the CBI special court examined as many as 351 prosecution witnesses — including journalists, locals and police/government officials — Special CBI judge SK Yadav observed there was no conclusive proof that the 1992 demolition was a pre-planned criminal conspiracy, and held that it was just a “spontaneous outpouring of emotions”. In fact, he notes that some of the accused tried to stop the "anti-social elements" that were engaged in the destruction of the mosque. Welcoming the verdict, while Advani said that it is a vindication of his personal belief and the BJP’s belief and their commitment toward the Ram Janmabhoomi movement, leaders of opposition from the Congress, AIMIM and CPI(M) are all calling this a “travesty of justice” and asking who is it then that brought down the Babri Masjid? The judgment is a whopping 2,300 pages and the finer details are yet to be reviewed fully, but how should we be looking at the judgment? Did the fact that it has been going on for close to 3 decades, affect the handling of the case? Tune in to The Big Story! References: How a Key Witness in the Babri Demolition Documented Its Rehearsal Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Guests: Vakasha Sachdev, Legal Editor of The Quint Sanjay Hegde, Senior Advocate at the Supreme Court Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, Senior Journalist Sudhanshu Mittal, BJP Politician Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With the Narcotics Control Bureau going on a spree to acquiring phones and extracting WhatsApp data over its probe into the alleged drug angle in the Sushant Singh Rajput Case, WhatsApp users are concerned about the security and privacy of their chats. In recent developments, as the investigation switched gear from a drug angle in the SSR case to cracking down on an alleged Bollywood "drug nexus", the NCB seized phones of actors Shraddha Kapoor, Sara Ali Khan, Deepika Padukone, and Padukone's manager Karishma Prakash, after hours questioning. And reports say that the investigative agency is also planning to extract data from their phones including WhatsApp chats to verify their statements just like they did for Rhea Chakraborty. But with all these developments revolving around WhatsApp and chats being leaked to the media as well, the questions is how safe are our WhatsApp chats? How is the NCB accessing chats if there are end-to-end encryptions in place? Are there reasons to worry about our privacy? Tune in to The Big Story! References: Explained: Do WhatsApp Leaks Mean Encrypted Chats Are Vulnerable? Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Guests: Udhbhav Tiwary, Public Policy Advisor, Mozilla Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bihar is angry with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, but the ruling NDA is all set to come back to power — that's what the first survey ahead of the upcoming Assembly elections in the state indicate. According to predictions from the CVoter opinion poll, which surveyed 2,100 respondents across the state, Nitish Kumar who has been in power for 15 years, is looking at a massive anti-incumbency. His unpopularity is at an all-time high with almost 57 percent of those surveyed wanting him out, 45 percent rating his performance as poor, and 30 percent saying that they're unhappy with him but don’t want to change the government. Despite this, the survey shows that the NDA could win somewhere in the range of 141 to 161 seats in the 243-member Assembly, with the RJD-Congress alliance lagging at 64-84 seats. With a month to go, let's analyse the key predictions and takeaways from the CVoter opinion poll, what they mean, and what's at stake for the NDA and the UPA coalitions in Bihar? Tune in to The Big Story! References: Bihar Polls: Will Modi ‘Help’ Nitish Win Despite ‘Differences’? NDA Set to Win Bihar Despite Anger Against Nitish: CVoter Survey Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Guests: Aditya Menon, Political Editor, The Quint Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Farmers across India are out in the streets protesting in the middle of this pandemic. With the new farm bills being passed, will there be a MSP for crops, or will farmers be left at the mercy of big corporates — that's their apprehension. A few days ago when the three contentious agricultural bills were passed in the Parliament in the backdrop of farmer agitations, PM Modi had touted these bills as a watershed moment for India's agricultural sector while also warning farmers against what he called "misinformation" from those who are raising "false alarms" about how farmers won't get the right prices for their produce. But then why have the farmer protests only intensified since the bills were passed? Why are farmer organisations holding Bharat Bandh, Rail Roko and Chakka jam protests in thousands and thousands? Why are they worried about losing their leverage in the agricultural market and what are their demands from the government? Tune in to The Big Story where we bring you voices from ground zero! References: The Three Agri Bills That Triggered Akali Dal & Farmer Protests Did the Farm Bills Passage in RS Bypass Parliamentary Rules? 25 Bills Passed in 10 Days Yet Why Was Monsoon Session So Controversial? Explained: Recent changes in MSPs Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Guests: Yogendra Yadav, Leader of Swaraj Abhiyan Party Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With more than 25 legislators testing positive for coronavirus including Union Minister Nitin Gadkari, after some deliberations the Monsoon Session of the Parliament came to a premature end on 23 September. Even though the Vice President Venkaiah Naidu has touted the passage of 25 laws in 10 days as a sign of 100% productivity, this session has faced criticisms over not just what bills were passed but also how they were passed. While in the Lok Sabha, the government deftly pushed some contentious bills without adequate discussions with the force of a majority as the opposition is accusing, in Rajya Sabha the government is said to have violated parliamentary conventions in a bid to pass laws. What made this session so controversial and why has the opposition accused the BJP-led government of attacking parliamentary democracy? Tune in to The Big Story for an overview of the Moonsoon Session 2020. References: The Three Agri Bills That Triggered Akali Dal & Farmer Protests Did the Farm Bills Passage in RS Bypass Parliamentary Rules? Monsoon Session: Is Govt Willing to ‘Destroy’ Temple of Democracy? Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Guests: Dr Shashi Tharoor, Congress Leader, Arati Jerath, Senior Journalist Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Castbox: http://bit.ly/2VqZ9ur Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Almost six months after filing an FIR to probe the "large-scale conspiracy" behind the northeast Delhi violence, the Delhi Police has filed a charge sheet against 15 anti-CAA protestors, that runs into 11 volumes, spread across 17,000 pages. Over the past few months, the conspiracy alleged by the police has formed the core of its investigation into the riots. And, according to the charge sheet, the conspiracy has been centered around three WhatsApp groups. First, JNU student Sharjeel Imam’s Muslim Students of JNU or MSJ group. Second, the Jamia Coordination Committee (JCC), which is alleged to be in the middle of this multi-layered ‘conspiracy’ And the third, the Delhi Protest Support group led by several well-known anti-CAA activists including United Against Hate and Pinjra Tod members So, what do we know about these WhatsApp groups? What are the allegations being made by the police? And are there still discernible gaps in the police's claims? Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Guests: Aishwarya Iyer, Senior Correspondent, The Quint Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Castbox: http://bit.ly/2VqZ9ur Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Where does freedom of speech end and hate speech begin? Does self-regulation of media need to be scrutinised and strengthened? The ongoing Sudarshan News case that is centred around its controversial "UPSC Jihad" show has been attracting a lot of media attention. This is no longer just about Suresh Chavhanke's show, with the Supreme Court hearings on the matter also seeking more clarity on how to define hate speech especially in mainstream media and how to regulate it without ending up with a dangerous censorship regime. Even as the court acknowledged that prima facie, the contents of the show vilifies the entire Muslim community and "spreads venomous hatred", in its recent hearing on 21st September, it has also expressed its concerns about how its injunction order on the show is not the ideal regulatory method, as it could lead to chilling of speech, and may go beyond the court's remit. At a time when what any reasonable person would call hate speech is spreading like wildfire on mainstream media without any accountability, this case has also revived important questions about the self-regulatory mechanisms for electronic broadcast channels. Are they as effective as the government repeatedly claims? If not, how do we strengthen its mechanisms? What steps need to be taken to ensure that freedom of speech doesn't turn into an unrestricted licence for hate speech on media? And how do we regulate hate speech without interfering with free speech? Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Guests: Vakasha Sachev, Legal Editor, The Quint Salman Khurshid, Senior Advocate, Congress Party Leader and Former Minister of External Affairs Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Castbox: http://bit.ly/2VqZ9ur Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Eight opposition MPs in the Rajya Sabha, including the Trinamool Congress’ Derek O’Brien, and AAP's Sanjay Singh and others were suspended for a week for “unruly behaviour” one day after the passage of two controversial agricultural reform bills. The Bills in question, that aim to liberalise the agricultural market, have been triggering massive farmer protests in the states of Punjab and Haryana ever since the Monsoon Session began. But, the discussion on the Bills has now turned towards one on parliamentary democracy and has raised questions on whether parliamentary rules were bypassed in the passing of the Bills. What had started as a peaceful debate took an unprecedented turn with broken microphones, papers flying in the air as the Bills got passed by a voice vote and not a division of votes, despite Opposition parties making a demand for it to the deputy chairperson. While the government moved a motion for the suspension of Opposition lawmakers for “bringing disrepute” to the House, the Opposition has been accusing the Centre of passing "anti-farmer" bills without the required numbers in rampant violation of parliamentary rules. Can a division vote be denied in Parliament? Have there been contraventions of parliamentary conventions in the Rajya Sabha, during the passing of these Bills? Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Guests: Chakshu Roy, PRS legislative Arati Jerath, Senior Journalist Javed Ansari, Senior Journalist Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Castbox: http://bit.ly/2VqZ9ur Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why are Punjab and Haryana farmers protesting against the central government in defiance of the pandemic restrictions ever since the Parliament’s Monsoon Session began on 14 September? And why did Harsimrat Kaur Badal, the Union Minister for Food Processing and a leader of the BJP's long-time ally Shiromani Akali Dal, resign recently? In the centre of both these acts are three new bills on agricultural reforms that were recently passed in the Lok Sabha. They will now be tabled in the Rajya Sabha – and will become laws if they are passed by the Upper House too. Now, the Bills are believed to be aimed at easing the marketing of agricultural produce. But as agricultural marketing comes under the ambit of the state, this move by the Centre is being seen as an affront to the federal structure. The Modi government believes that these bills are a big step towards liberalising the agricultural sector, by de-regulating the agricultural market, by allowing free trade, and increasing buyers. But while some farmers welcome the de-regulations, other farmers fear that if these bills get passed, it will not only invite big corporates to dominate the agricultural market but will also do away with the Minimum Support Price (MSP). What exactly do each of these agricultural reforms aim to do for the agricultural market? And what are farmers of Punjab and Haryana protesting against? References: Here’s Why Farmers Are Protesting the 3 New Agriculture Ordinances The Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill, 2020 Explainer | Why are the Agriculture Bills being opposed Three ordinances and a protest: Why farmers in Haryana and Punjab are angry Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Guests: Vivian Fernandes, Senior journalist who runs Smart Indian Agriculture, Devinder Sharma, Agricultural Expert Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Castbox: http://bit.ly/2VqZ9ur Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If the shutting down of schools affected the accessibility of education, it also affected physical and mental health of students from across various communities. Although there's not been any survey on the mental health crisis among children in the pandemic, from a report published in the journal New Scientist, we at least know that a stunning 115 million children in India are at risk of malnutrition, as the mid-day meal programme was disrupted by the pandemic. And it's not just a concern about mid-day meal beneficiaries only. In these pandemic months, the general food insecurities that propped up in the marginalised communities have raised concerns of malnutrition amongst school-going children generally. Given that students with poor or no access to internet or mobiles and laptops, or even enough personal space, might find the old fashioned in-person teaching methods useful, should India reopen schools? As students of classes 9 -12 are set to re-join schools on a voluntary basis from 21 September, is it going to be a risky choice especially for malnourished children since the coronavirus infections are increasing? What work needs to be done before India re-opens schools for all? Tune in to The Big Story! Also Listen to: Part 1: Should India Reopen Schools or Provide Equitable Education First? References: Online Teaching Amid COVID-19 Brings Out Digital Divide in Society Over 80% Parents In 5 States Say Digital Schooling Failed During Lockdown: Study Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Guests: Anjela Taneja, Campaign Lead Inequality Education and Health at Oxfam India Ashok Rao the General Secretary of the Swami Sivananda Memorial Institute Shahid Jameel, Virologist Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Castbox: http://bit.ly/2VqZ9ur Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Should schools reopen in India or should they not? If they don't reopen now, when will be the right time to get students back to school? As the Ministry of Home Affairs announced a partial re-opening of schools from 21 September saying that students between classes 9-12 will be permitted to go back to school on a voluntary basis its raising these questions on whether India is ready to reopen its schools or not. For some perspective how school students have been impacted in this pandemic, according to a report on Oxfam, since schools shut down during the beginning of the coronavirus outbreak in India, 80 percent of school children enrolled in government schools in five states in the northern belt of India did not receive any form of education. In a sector that has been trying to transition to the digital mode desperately, only 20 percent of teachers working in government schools were trained for delivering classes online. So, what does this data say about what is the way forward? As schools are set to reopen, how can we ensure that students across diverse groups, including the ones from marginalised communities, are not left behind? And how can India ensure a safe return to school for students? Tune in to The Big Story! References: Online Teaching Amid COVID-19 Brings Out Digital Divide in Society Over 80% Parents In 5 States Say Digital Schooling Failed During Lockdown: Study Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Guests: Anjela Taneja, Campaign Lead Inequality Education and Health at Oxfam India Sant Ram, Member of Government School Teachers' Association Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Castbox: http://bit.ly/2VqZ9ur Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In what is being described as UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath "dream project" the government has issued a notification to set up a Special Security Force in Uttar Pradesh that can search and arrest without a warrant or without requiring any orders from the magistrate "as long as they are sure of the crime". At a time when there have been allegations of misuse of existing laws, such as the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), the National Security Act (NSA), or sedition laws against dissenting citizens, critics are wary that this gives more unconstitutional powers to an already unaccountable security force. The eight battalions of the Uttar Pradesh Special Security Force or UPSSF that will be set up at a cost of close Rs 1,800 crores will be responsible for the security of courts, government administrative buildings, offices, metro, etc and even private companies can hire its services. What led to the constitution of such a security force in the middle of this pandemic? And what are the ramifications of the powers that it allows and can it be misused? Tune in to The Big Story! Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Guests: Ghanshyam Tiwari, National Spokesperson of Samajwadi Party Riya Ghosh, Lucknow-based Advocate Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Castbox: http://bit.ly/2VqZ9ur Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After interrogating former JNU student and United Against Hate member Umar Khalid for eleven hours on 13 September, the Delhi Police arrested him under UAPA charges post-midnight, for his alleged role in the North East Delhi riots of February 2020. This comes merely two weeks after Khalid had written a letter to the Delhi Police Commissioner SN Srivastava, alleging that his acquaintances were being threatened with the same UAPA charges into writing statements implicating him as a provocateur of violence. In several FIRs and charge sheets, Khalid has been projected as a key ‘conspirator’ and 'mastermind' of the riots, with the police claiming that the communal violence was a “premeditated conspiracy” allegedly hatched by Khalid and two others. Even as Delhi police have been severely criticised by civil society members, lawyers, activists, former IPS officers for conducting a biased probe and for leading a "witch hunt" against anti-CAA protesters, Khalid's arrest is one more name in the list of anti-CAA protesters who have been booked under the dreaded terror charges this year over allegations of playing a role in the Delhi riots. So what are the charges that have been levelled by the Delhi police against Khalid so far? What is the police's narrative about Khalid's role? Tune in to The Big Story! Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Guests: Aishwarya Iyer, Senior Correspondent, The Quint Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Castbox: http://bit.ly/2VqZ9ur Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As fresh India-China tensions flare up at the border, External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar and his Chinese counterpart Wang Yi agreed that the current situation in Ladakh is not in the interest of either side. Jaishankar and his counterpart met on the sidelines of the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation, in Moscow, at a luncheon meeting, hosted by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov with hopes of making a breakthrough in the frosty ties. This came on the heels of an unspoken no-firing status quo reportedly being violated at the LAC for the first time in 45 years. After the meeting, in a five-point joint media statement, the two ministers agreed that both countries should "quickly disengage, maintain proper distance and ease tensions" and abide by all the existing agreements and protocols on India-China boundary affairs. But does this joint statement indicate any major headway in the talks or are the Indo-China dialogues stuck at a stalemate? Although Russia which currently holds the presidency of RIC-SCO-BRICS has responded to the Indo-China tensions in very measured words so far, will it be able to play a role in diffusing tensions between the two? Tune in to The Big Story! Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Guests: Vishnu Prakash, Former High Commissioner to Canada, Ambassador to South Korea & Official Spokesperson of the Ministry of External Affairs Editor: Shelly Walia References: India-China Clash: Why Russia Won’t Mediate But Will Ease Tension Dragon on the Dialogue Table: What Jaishankar-Wang Yi Meet Implies Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Castbox: http://bit.ly/2VqZ9ur Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The COVID vaccine race has faced a hurdle, after a participant in the Oxford-AstraZeneca trials developed neurological symptoms, prompting the company to pause the trials voluntarily. Health care news publication Stat reported that the participant was a woman from the and she did receive the vaccine as opposed to a placebo and that her symptoms were similar to a rare but serious spinal inflammatory disorder called transverse myelitis. Now the AstraZeneca-Oxford research has been the frontrunner in the global race for a COVID-19 vaccine as we know, and this hurdle has triggered a global shutdown of the phase 2 and phase 3 trials. As questions are rife on social media over this development, are these snags normal or does this call for a re-assessment of this vaccine race? And secondly, what’s the road ahead on the trial timeline? Tune in to The Big Story! Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Guests: Professor Giridhar R. Babu, Head of Lifecourse Epidemiology at the Public Health Foundation of India Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Castbox: http://bit.ly/2VqZ9ur Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A day after she was arrested by the NCB on drug charges related to the Sushant Singh Rajput case, actor Rhea Chakraborty was shifted from the NBC office to Mumbai's Byculla Jail, where she will be kept on remand for 14 days. Far from the initial investigations on abetment to suicide or siphoning off funds from Rajput's accounts that had kickstarted the whole probe in the first place, the focus has lately shifted to a drug angle. After being hounded by no less than three investigative agencies, the newest allegations against Rhea are now not about possessing or consuming cannabis but on aiding and financing cannabis procurements for her late boyfriend. Along with vicious attacks over alleged drug consumptions, as Rhea simultaneously also faces a misogynistic smear campaign online and on news channels, her colleagues from Bollywood — actors and filmmakers are pledging support for her by putting up a message on "smashing the patriarchy” on social media. But as the case steers away from facts to sexist vilification of her character and questions on cannabis consumption, let's talks about these two things in more detail. What does the law say about marijuana regulations in India and what are the arguments supporting its legalisation? Secondly, do Rhea and others like her who are targets of sexist hate campaigns on public platforms have any legal recourse? Tune in to The Big Story! Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Guests: Vakasha Sachdev, The Quint's Legal Editor Nidhi Khanna, Delhi-based lawyer Neha Singhal, Legal Researcher at Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Castbox: http://bit.ly/2VqZ9ur Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Following a fiery spat with Shiv Sena members where Kangana Ranaut compared Mumbai to PoK and claimed threat to life, the Bollywood actor is all set to join the elite club of Y+ security protectees that includes bigshots like Chief Justice of India SA Bobde, and some union ministers. While the Kangana vs Sena slugfest has been going on for the past few days, the Ministry of Home Affairs' decision to provide Y+ security to the actor came soon after she announced her plans to return to Mumbai from her hometown Manali, on September 9. But while Ranaut's recent comments created a stir amongst Sena members, who asked her to stay away from the city if she claims to feel so unsafe, her spat with Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut seemed to have ignited a brawl between the party and its former ally BJP. Is the spat between the Sena and Ranaut really a case of BJP vs Sena? Are the former allies taking digs at each through this episode? Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Guest: Ketan Vaidya, Senior journalist and Author of 'Hope Express' Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Castbox: http://bit.ly/2VqZ9ur Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

India has not only overtaken Brazil to become the country with the second-highest number of coronavirus infections, but in the past few days, it's also been recording the highest number of daily cases reported by any country since the pandemic began. In fact, as India crossed Brazil's numbers over the weekend, it also surpassed a new high in detecting 90,000 new cases over 24 hours. With that, as of 7th September India's infection tally stands at 4,204,613 approximately, but it might not be too long before India takes up the top spot globally. Currently, the US which still ranks as the country with the maximum number of cases, has reported around 6,460,250 infections, yet it's only reporting between 40,000 - 50,000 new cases per day. But how do we decode India's exponential increase in coronavirus cases? How is it slowly becoming the global epicentre? Tune in to The Big Story! Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Guest: Shahid Jameel, Virologist Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Castbox: http://bit.ly/2VqZ9ur Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Supreme Court's verdict on the much-awaited AGR case that came on 1 September, has gotten experts worrying about Vodafone Idea's survival. With a massive due of Rs 58,000 crores in adjusted gross revenues that is owed to the government, will Vodafone Idea sink or swim? The verdict on AGR for the debt-laden telecom companies including Bharti Airtel and Tata Teleservices may have struck a bargain, by allowing a 10-year timeline for the telecos to make staggered payments of these AGR dues in concern. But if for Bharti Airtel, the ruling gives a decent shot at survival, for Vodafone it's looking like a choice between merely surviving or shutting shop. Why is the ruling not looking favourable for Vodafone Idea? Why has it come to a point to mere survival for the company? And if it fails to survive what could be the implications of that in the market? Tune in The Big Story! Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Castbox: http://bit.ly/2VqZ9ur Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Millions of Indian gamers are trying to win their last “chicken dinner”, as the hugely popular PUBG now shares the same fate as TikTok. This online multiplayer game that had many Indians hooked, is now banned along with 117 other China-based apps. This is the second time that the Ministry of Information and Technology has banned more China-based apps in the country. In the first round of banning that happened earlier on 29 June, TikTok was one of the wildly popular apps that went down with 59 other apps like Cam Scanner, UC Browser and ShareIT. The IT Ministry's press release says that the now banned apps “are engaged in activities which are prejudicial to the sovereignty and integrity of India, defence of India, security of state and public order”. If that sounds familiar, it's because these concerns bear a close resemblance with the reasonings of "security concerns" that came with the TikTok ban. And speaking of similarities, the timing of the ban has not gone unnoticed either. As was with TikTok and the 59 other apps, the PUBG ban also comes at a time when Indo-China tensions have been flaring up at Ladakh all over again. Should we see this ban as India's response to Chinese aggression? What is the impact of this move? Tune in to The Big Story! Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Guests: Maj Maik M Jolly, Army Veteran and ardent gamer Nikhil Pahwa, a digital rights activist and founder of MediaNama Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Castbox: http://bit.ly/2VqZ9ur Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Indo-China border tensions show no signs of ebbing, even months after the military standoff at the Galwan valley that began in June this year. The diplomatic dialogues and consensus between the countries to de-escalate Indian and Chinese troops' engagement at the LAC seem to be stuck in a stalemate, as the action moves from the northern bank of Pangong Tso – which is a lake between Tibet and India – to the southern bank, near the Reqin La Pass. The recent commander-level talks also appear to have been inconclusive as New Delhi and Beijing continue to be involved in a sharp exchange of accusation, about who violated what, after Indian forces claimed to have occupied certain areas near the south bank. This happened on the intervening night of 29 and 30 August, in what the Indian army described as a "pre-emptive action", when they saw PLA troops try to do the same. The Pangong sector has a particularly contentious area since the PLA trespassed across the LAC in May and reports say that currently Indian troops remain on alert at Chushul sector in Ladakh to thwart any instance of Chinese aggression. What are the diplomatic repercussions of this flare up? Without a breakthrough in de-escalation talks what lies ahead for the troops especially since the harsh Himalayan winter is approaching? References: New India-China Clash: What Use Of Special Frontier Force Reveals Why southern bank of Pangong Tso is the new flashpoint in India-China stand-off Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Guest: Manoj Joshi, Distinguished Fellow, Observer Research Foundation Editor: Jaskirat Singh Bawa Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Castbox: http://bit.ly/2VqZ9ur Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Act of god or not, even though India was expected to see a considerable economic slowdown, the contraction of the GDP by 24 percent in the first quarter of the current financial year is coming off as quite a shocker. All thanks to this, India once the world's fastest-growing major economy, now seems to be headed for its first full-year contraction since 1980. With economic activities almost brought to a standstill due to the nationwide lockdown to curb COVID-19, most sectors like manufacturing and construction, which create the most number of jobs in the country received a heavy dent. But experts warn that the figures may not be able to reflect the true extent of damage, especially since the informal sector was affected much more than the organised sector. With outputs at a severe low, unemployment on the rise and incomes falling, experts also believe that it might take several years to recover from a slump-down of this magnitude. Are we sliding into a recession? What is the root cause behind this crash and what is the road to recovery? Tune in to The Big Story! Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Castbox: http://bit.ly/2VqZ9ur Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Supreme Court ordered lawyer-activist Prashant Bhushan to pay a Re 1 fine as punishment for contempt of court by 15 September, failing to do which, he could be facing three months in jail along with a three-year ban from practicing. At a press conference after the verdict, Bhushan announced that he proposed to submit to the order as he would to any another lawful punishment, and respectfully pay the fine. He also said that he never intended to offend the judiciary, but wanted to express his grief on a "deviation from its record". While some hail it as a watershed moment for the freedom of speech, others believe that accepting the fine is an admission of guilt. How should we view the quantum of punishment? What message does this finally send? Is it a victory for Bhushan or it is a vindication of his guilt? Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Interviews: Vakasha Sachdev Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Castbox: http://bit.ly/2VqZ9ur Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It has been 75 days since actor Sushant Singh Rajput’s unfortunate demise on 14 June. In those 75 days, in a swift administration of media justice, his partner and actor Rhea Chakraborty has been accused of murdering the actor and also found guilty of it. In between the accusation and conviction by a special bench of the media’s court comprising all the usual suspects, television channels have found her guilty of controlling his life, putting him on drugs, spiking his tea, swindling his money, giving him certain medicines, not giving him certain medicines, distancing him from his family, using him to get film offers, having other affairs, performing black magic, appreciating marijuana from Bhubaneswar and calling him ‘babu’. This unrelenting coverage by television media, described as a ‘circus’ by many has a familiar pattern to it. Why don’t news channels not care about the overt misogyny? Why haven’t we learnt any lessons from previous media trials and why does Rhea Chakraborty tick all the boxes of a made for television villain? We have journalist, author and media commentator Naomi Datta with us today to explore these questions. Producer and Host: Sushovan Sircar Guest: Naomi Datta, author and media commentator Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Castbox: http://bit.ly/2VqZ9ur Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the backdrop of another incident of police shooting of an African-American citizen, a deadly protest against police brutality that left two dead in Wisconsin and an extremely dangerous hurricane Laura striking Louisiana, the Republican party has been holding its National Convention ahead of the 2020 US Elections. Unlike the Democrats who went ahead with a virtual event due to the pandemic, the RNC chose a more hybrid format with a mixture of taped and live events that involved a naturalisation ceremony at the White House where five immigrants, including an Indian software engineer, were naturalised as US citizens. If the Democratic National Convention went for a display of cultural diversity, while outlining the kind crises that America is facing such as the pandemic, the resulting economic crisis, systematic racism, the ongoing Republican National Convention was all about defending itself against allegations of racist policies, racist structures, mishandling of the pandemic and interestingly talking about "cancel culture". What are the biggest takeaways from the Republican National Convention? Tune in! Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Castbox: http://bit.ly/2VqZ9ur Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Life should move on, said the Supreme Court almost 10 days back as it dismissed petitions to postpone the JEE Main and NEET UG entrance exams. But there's no end to demands from students and parents to not conduct the exams on the scheduled dates in September. Joining them now are politicians from across parties – from Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi to Mamata Banerjee and Uddhav Thackerey who want to approach India's top court again –– to postpone the exams. On 26 August, in fact, Congress' interim president Sonia Gandhi hosted an online meeting with state Chief Ministers, including West Bengal CM Mamata Banerjee, Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren and Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel, to help the engineering and medical aspirants of the country who are caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. While some suggested that they approach the court, some said a delegation should be sent to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Even as the debate rages on, #PostponeJEEandNEETexams and #AntiStudentModiGovt are trending online. They are also planning a protest on 27 August, from their homes, with "black Flags, tie black bands on arms or foreheads, wear black masks, and turn their profile pictures black". On its part, the National Testing Agency has assured all precautionary measures to be exercised to protect students during the conduct of the exams. Meanwhile, there are those who're asking if not now, then when? How long do we postpone these exams for? Can the government afford to declare this academic year as a 'zero' year as the protesting students suggest? Tune in to The Big Story! Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Guest: PJ Narayanan, The Director of IIT Hyderabad Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Castbox: http://bit.ly/2VqZ9ur Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After a three-hour long hearing, the Supreme Court reserved its order on sentencing in the contempt case related to lawyer-activist Prashant Bhushan's two tweets criticising the judiciary. The same bench led by Justice Arun Mishra had convicted Bhushan earlier on 14 August but not specified the penalty for this charge. On 20 August, they had given him a few days to re-think his statements, even though Bhushan clearly maintained both at hearing and in a supplementary affidavit filed on August 24 that he doesn't seek mercy and stands by his bona fide opinions. And that's where the latest hearing took off from. On the 25 August sentence hearing, in a lot of back and forth, as the outgoing judge Arun Mishra reiterated demands for an unconditional apology, the Attorney General, KK Venugopal urged the apex court to show “statesmanship” and let Bhushan off with a warning. But irrespective of what penalty the court ultimately decides for Bhushan, what does this case mean for the freedom of speech in India? And what potential legacy can it leave behind for the judiciary? Tune in to The Big Story! Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Castbox: http://bit.ly/2VqZ9ur Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The lingering Congress leadership crisis has taken the centre stage once again as the Interim Chief Sonia Gandhi offered to resign from her post, urging her party members to look for a replacement. This political drama unfolded in the Congress Working Committee meeting, on 24th August, a day after over 23 senior leaders demand for a ‘revival’ in the party became public. The signatories who include a number of significant party members like Ghulam Nabi Azad and Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Kapil Sibal, Milind Deora, Jitin Prasada and loyalists like Mukul Wasnik, wrote to Sonia Gandhi asking for “a full-time, visible leadership” in the party as a matter of “national imperative”. Even as these developments triggered a resounding support for the Gandhis’ leadership, it was reportedly decided that Sonia Gandhi would remain Congress party’s interim president for now, until a new chief is elected within the next 6 months. But was this dissent within the party unprecedented or long overdue? If Rahul Gandhi continues to be reluctant about being president, can it possibly lead to a non-Gandhi taking over the reins? Tune in to The Big Story! Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Guests: Javed Ansari, Senior Journalist Aditya Menon, Political Editor, The Quint Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Castbox: http://bit.ly/2VqZ9ur Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The minimum age of marriage has always been a contentious topic of debate in India. Currently, as we know, the legal minimum age stands at 18 for women and 21 for men but since Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced on his Independence Day speech that the Centre had set up a committee to review and reconsider the minimum age of marriage for women, it's brought back the same old questions as before: should we or should we not reconsider raising the legal age of marriage for women? The Union Ministry for Women and Child Development's 10-member task force headed by former Samata Party president Jaya Jaitly is examining what kind of concerns there are with the current legal age — such as the correlation between early marriages and early motherhood, health risks for young mothers, issues of Maternal Mortality Ratio or MMR, improving maternal and child nutrition levels, etc. But is raising the minimum age a cure-all for those issues? Should India re-think the age of marriage, in a bid to lower our alarming maternal mortality rate (MMR)? Tune in to The Big Story! Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Guests: Poonam Muttreja, Executive Director of Population Foundation of India Dhirendra Pratap Singh, CEO of Milaan Foundation Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Castbox: http://bit.ly/2VqZ9ur Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After being held guilty of contempt, lawyer-activist Prashant Bhushan was told that if he rethinks the statements that he's made against the judiciary in his tweets, then the Supreme Court would consider whether to be lenient with penalties or not. The bench led by Justice Arun Mishra which had held Prashant Bhushan guilty earlier on 14 August, had reserved the penalty to be delivered on 20th August. While Bushan's plea seeking to defer the contempt sentencing was rejected by the court, the 3-judge bench gave him two-three days to reconsider his statements assuring that "no punishment will be acted upon" until a decision on his review petition. But this sentence hearing was an interesting one, with a lot of back and forth between the Supreme Court's observations on whether or not he had crossed the line with his freedom of speech and sharp statements from Bhushan’s lawyers on truth as a defence for contempt. What are the biggest highlights from the contempt hearing against Prashant Bhushan? Tune in to The Big Story! Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Interview: Vakasha Sachdev Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Castbox: http://bit.ly/2VqZ9ur Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After playing supporting characters, Joe Biden is finally the protagonist as he officially secured the Democratic nomination as their 2020 presidential candidate on 18 August, tallying votes by party delegates from 50 states and 7 national territories in what was the first virtual national party roll-call vote. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Democratic Party had to hold a virtual convention and abandon its initial plans to hold this week’s nominating convention in the city of Milwauke in Wisconsin. But most would agree that the hi-tech production, the top-notch performances by artists and musicians and the diverse sampling of speakers, a display of diverse local cultures, customs and languages delivered a powerful attack against Republicans. So far in the initial two days of DNC 2020 we've also heard testimonies and speeches from former First Lady Michelle Obama, Sen Bernie Sander, Jill Biden, former US President Bill Clinton, Rep Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, and many others who used the platform to criticise US President Donald Trump's policies and also highlight issues of national security, accountability, inequality and health care. What are the biggest takeaway from the the Democratic National Convention 2020? Tune in to The Big Story! Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Castbox: http://bit.ly/2VqZ9ur Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is Facebook simply a bystander in global politics or is it actively meddling in politics? Thanks to a report by the Wall Street Journal that was published on 14 August, there are some serious questions about Facebook’s “impartiality” when it comes to hate speeches by BJP members. The report alleges that Ankhi Das, Facebook’s top public policy executive in India, opposed to applying hate speech community standards to BJP leaders T Raja Singh, Anantkumar Hegde, and Kapil Mishra — all notorious for promoting violence and delivering hate speeches. This, allegedly out of fear of ruining the company’s relationship with the ruling party and hampering its business prospects in the country. The allegations of "selective enforcement" of rules have come from even current and former Facebook employees who in the report said that "Ms. Das’s intervention on behalf of T Raja Singh is part of a broader pattern of favoritism by Facebook toward Mr. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party and Hindu hard-liners." Do the internal assessments and content reviews done by the company hold any credibility? Does Facebook stand to threaten India’s democracy? References: Facebook’s Hate-Speech Rules Collide With Indian Politics How Facebook’s Political Unit Enables the Dark Art of Digital Propaganda Producer and Host: Shorbori Purkayastha Guests: Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, Journalist and co-author of "The Real Face of Facebook in India" Srinivas Kodaili, Independent researcher working on data and governance Editor: Shelly Walia Music: Big Bang Fuzz Listen to The Big Story podcast on: Apple: https://apple.co/2AYdLIl Saavn: http://bit.ly/2oix78C Google Podcasts: http://bit.ly/2ntMV7S Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2IyLAUQ Deezer: http://bit.ly/2Vrf5Ng Castbox: http://bit.ly/2VqZ9ur Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices