Episodes
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Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu recently expressed concern about Andhra Pradesh’s ageing population and urged the people of his State to have more children. Days later, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M.K. Stalin attended a mass wedding event in Chennai. He said that the Census and delimitation process may encourage couples to give up thoughts of having a small family.
Are pro-natalist policies the best way of addressing the ageing population problem? Here we discuss the issue.
Guests: Gita Sen, Honorary Senior Advisor and Distinguished Professor, Public Health Foundation of India; Udaya Shankar Mishra, Honorary Professor, International Institute for Migration Development, Thiruvananthapuram
Host: Jagriti Chandra
Edited by Jude Francis Weston -
India won a historic double gold at the 2024 Chess Olympiad in Budapest, Hungary, by clinching the top spot in both the open event and women’s team competitions. These victories will forever remain among India’s greatest achievements in sport. Chess enjoys huge popularity across the world. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) considers chess as a sport and recognises the International Chess Federation or World Chess Federation (FIDE) as an official federation. Yet, chess is not yet an Olympic sport.
Should chess be an Olympic sport? Here we discuss the issue.
Guests: Viswanathan Anand, five-time world champion and deputy president, FIDE; Pravin Thipsay, Grandmaster and coach
Host: P.K. Ajith Kumar
Edited by Jude Francis Weston -
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The Congress’ social justice platform, centred around the call for equal representation at the caste-level and a nationwide caste census, has been hailed after the Lok Sabha elections this year. But within four months of the general election results, the results of the Haryana Assembly polls have raised questions about how well this messaging has percolated to the lower rungs of the party organisation.
Has the Congress internalised its message of social justice? Here we discuss the question.
Guests: Sudha Pai, Retired Professor, Centre for Political Studies, JNU; Aditi Narayani Paswan, Assistant Professor Lakshmibai College, University of Delhi
Host: Abhinay Lakshman
Edited by Jude Francis Weston -
India’s multi-party democracy thrives on diversity but often sees political parties driven by individual charisma rather than internal democracy. Despite their role in upholding the nation’s democratic framework, many parties struggle to maintain democratic structures. Can the Election Commission (EC) ensure these organisations practice internal democracy?
Guests: O. P. Rawat, Former Chief Election Commissioner; M.R. Madhavan, PRS Legislative Research President
Host: Sreeparna Chakrabarty
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India’s impressive economic growth since the end of the COVID-19 pandemic has surprised many, including those who were critical of the Centre’s economic policies. The Indian growth story is today widely praised across the world. In 2023-24, the country grew at 8.2%, the fastest among major economies. However, most of the economic gains in the last few years have mostly come from big businesses.
Is India’s growth story benefiting only big capital? Here we discuss the question.
Guests: Himanshu, Professor of Economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University; Ritesh Kumar Singh, Business economist and founder of Indonomics Consulting
Host: Prashanth Perumal
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The Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese recently announced a plan to set a minimum age to use social media platforms.
Should children be barred from social media? Here we discuss the question.
Guests: Amanda Third, Professorial Research Fellow in Digital Social and Cultural Research in the Institute for Culture and Society and Co-Director of the Young and Resilient Research Centre at Western Sydney University; Aparajita Bharti, Founding Partner of TQH, a Delhi-based public policy research firm, and co-founder of Young Leaders for Active Citizenship
Host: Mandira Moddie
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Due to the phenomenon of jobless growth, i.e., the rise in output and labour productivity without the commensurate growth in employment generation, several countries have mooted the idea of a universal basic income (UBI). This idea has gained traction, especially since the International Labour Organization (ILO)’s most recent World Employment and Social Outlook links the decrease in jobs growth and the increase in inequality to a surge in automation and the use of artificial intelligence (AI). Among the several suggestions on the ways to address this is a UBI.
Is it time for India to introduce a UBI? Here we discuss the question.
Guests: Arun Kumar, Retired professor of economics, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi. He was Malcolm Adiseshiah Chair Professor at the Institute of Social Sciences; N.R. Bhanumurthy, Director, Madras School of Economics, Chennai. Views are personal
Host: Kunal Shankar
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Russia-born tech tycoon Pavel Durov, the founder of Telegram, was arrested in Paris on August 24. French authorities announced that Mr. Durov is under investigation for a litany of serious crimes, including enabling the distribution of child sexual abuse material on the app, facilitating drug trafficking, and refusing to cooperate with law enforcement.
Should digital platform owners be held liable for user-generated content? Here we discuss the question.
Guests: Pranesh Prakash, Co-founder and former policy director at the Centre for Internet and Society; Rohit Kumar, Founding partner of the Quantum Hub
Host: Aaratrika Bhaumik
Edited by Jude Francis Weston -
Following the brutal rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata, the issue of violence against healthcare workers has come to the forefront, with medical professionals across India demanding the enactment of a Central law to protect healthcare workers. In 2019, a Bill on this issue was drafted by the Central government, but it never saw the light of day.
Can a Central law ensure security for healthcare professionals at work? Here we discuss the question.
Guests: Ashok Vardhan Shetty, retired IAS officer from Tamil Nadu cadre and former vice-chancellor of the Indian Maritime University; Harsh Shrivastava, a former CEO of the Microfinance Institutions Network, deputy speechwriter to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and a consultant in the Planning Commission
Host: Priscilla Jebaraj
Edited by Jude Francis Weston -
Following the brutal rape and murder of a trainee doctor in Kolkata, the issue of violence against healthcare workers has come to the forefront, with medical professionals across India demanding the enactment of a Central law to protect healthcare workers. In 2019, a Bill on this issue was drafted by the Central government, but it never saw the light of day.
Can a Central law ensure security for healthcare professionals at work? Here we discuss the question.
Guests: R.V. Asokan, national president of the Indian Medical Association; Shanthi Ravindranath, doctor-activist, is Secretary, Doctors’ Association for Social Equality
Host: C. Maya
Edited by Jude Francis Weston -
The Paris Olympics just ended with India securing six medals — one silver and five bronze — to place 71st in the medals tally. The country’s performance led to many questions about the need for a sporting culture.
Was India’s performance in the Olympics an outcome of its lack of sporting culture outside cricket? What more can be done? Here we discuss the question in a conversation. -
Opposition leaders have termed the 2024-25 Budget as the “Kursi Bachao Budget.” Chief Ministers have boycotted and walked out the NITI Aayog meeting chaired by the Prime Minister.There are allegations that Centre is discriminating against non-NDA States. This has renewed the interest in the debate about how resources are distributed amongst States.
Here we discuss whether the Centre is being iniquitous in State transfers.
Guests: Pinaki Chakraborty is visiting distinguished professor, National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, New Delhi; R Ramakumar teaches at the School of Development Studies, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai.
Host: Jasmin Nihalani. -
On July 11, the BJP-led Maha Yuti government tabled the Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill, 2024, in the Assembly. While presenting the Bill, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis said that it is aimed at curbing the menace of Naxalism in urban areas. He said that Naxalism is not limited to rural areas and is increasing in urban areas through frontal organisations. The unlawful activities of such organisations need to be controlled through effective legal means, he added. The provisions of the proposed Bill, which allows the State to declare any organisation as ‘unlawful’ with offences categorised as cognisable and non-bailable, has raised concerns.
Is the Maharashtra Special Public Security Bill draconian? Here we discuss the question.
Guests: Yashovardhan Azad, retired Indian Police Service officer who has served in the Intelligence; Brinda Adige, human rights activist and founder of Global Concerns India
Host: Vijaita Singh
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The recent stampede at a religious congregation in Hathras, Uttar Pradesh, resulting in more than 120 deaths, has reignited the debate on whether India has adequate legislation to address exploitative religious and superstitious practices. Experts have advocated for a national law akin to existing legislation in Maharashtra and Karnataka to effectively address superstition, black magic, witch-hunting, and other inhuman practices.
Does India have enough laws to combat superstitious practices? Here we discuss the question.
Guests: Avinash Patil, president, Maharashtra Andhashraddha Nirmulan Samiti (MANS); Alok Prasanna Kumar, co-founder and lead of Vidhi Karnataka.
Host: Aaratrika Bhaumik
Edited by Jude Francis Weston -
In the run-up to the Union Budget, Nitish Kumar and Chandrababu Naidu, the Chief Ministers of Bihar and Andhra Pradesh, respectively, who are in a position to decide the political fate of the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government at the Centre, have demanded special financial packages for their respective States. These packages could potentially increase the fiscal burden on the Centre and also on other States.
Should States get special packages outside Finance Commission allocations? Here we discuss the question
Guests: Arun Kumar, former professor of economics at Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi; Pinaki Chakraborty, fellow at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy
Host: Prashanth Perumal
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The conflict between ethnic armed organisations (EAOs) and the military junta in Myanmar has created a serious humanitarian crisis, which the United Nations Security Council took up for discussion on July 3. Some experts on Myanmar have called for India to review its policy and establish channels with the EAOs to help the affected civilians.
Should India review its Myanmar policy in view of the humanitarian crisis? Here we discuss the question.
Guests: Rajiv Bhatia, a Distinguished Fellow, Gateway House and a former Ambassador; Nandita Haksar, a human rights lawyer
Host: Kallol Bhattacherjee -
The Constitution is seemingly at the centre of political rhetoric and symbolism in India right now. Opposition leaders have held up copies of the Constitution while walking into Parliament. They have waved these in the Prime Minister’s face. They have also held these copies while taking oath. Some argue that this is the Opposition’s tip to the mandate that it believes it has received from the country’s marginalised and oppressed communities to “Save the Constitution”.
So, did a constitutional conscience drive much of the Dalit and OBC (Other Backward Classes) vote this Lok Sabha elections? And to what extent? Here we discuss these questions.
Guests: Harish S. Wankhede, assistant professor at the Centre for Political Studies, JNU, New Delhi; Ravikant Kisana, Assistant Dean (Academic Affairs) and Associate Professor at Woxsen University, Hyderabad.
Host: Abhinay Lakshman
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India’s road transport sector contributes about 12% to the country’s CO2 emissions, according to the International Energy Agency, making it the third most greenhouse gas emitting sector after energy and agriculture. The Union government has been attempting to fast track decarbonising transport for almost a decade with the introduction of the Faster Adoption and Manufacture of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles, or FAME in 2015. The third iteration of this policy is likely to be announced in this year’s Union Budget. FAME attempts to generate demand for electric vehicles (EVs) and hybrids by subsidising retail sales, encouraging the manufacture of components and creating and nurturing an EV ecosystem nationwide. But the policy has changed from when it was introduced, with a steady removal of subsidies for hybrids. Some have welcomed this move, while others point to the lack of charging infrastructure, import dependence on advanced battery components and technology, and a grid still dominated by coal-based power, leading to an increase in EVs overall carbon footprint from mining rare earth elements to charging.
Here we discuss the the question.
Guests: Avinash Kumar Agarwal, Director, IIT Jodhpur and the lead author of a study comparing greenhouse gas emissions of battery, hybrid and ICE vehicles; Sharvari Patki, Program Head, Electric Mobility at the World Resources Institute, India
Host: Kunal Shankar
Recorded and edited by Jude Francis Weston -
Until the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) won 282 seats and Prime Minister Narendra Modi rode to power, India had had coalition governments for 21 years. Ten years later, the BJP has 240 seats in the Lok Sabha and India once again has a coalition government in power. Fitch had stated that coalition politics and a weakened mandate for the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) could make it challenging to pass legislation on the more ambitious parts of the reform agenda.
Do coalition governments slow down the economic reforms agenda? Here we discuss the question.
Guests: K.K. Kailash, Department of Political Science of the Hyderabad University; Sanjay Ruparelia, Associate Professor in the Department of Politics and Public administration at Toronto Metropolitan University and also the Author of Divided We Govern: Coalition Politics in Modern India
Host: Sobhana K. Nair
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On May 22, the Election Commission of India (ECI) asked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Congress to desist from raising divisive issues in the campaign. In recent years, and particularly during the campaign to the ongoing Lok Sabha elections, critics of the ECI have accused the body of being late or ineffective or partial in responding to alleged violations of the Model Code of Conduct (MCC).
Does the MCC need legal teeth for better implementation? Here we discuss the question.
Guests: T.S. Krishnamurthy, former Chief Election Commissioner; P.D.T. Achary, former Secretary General of the Lok Sabha
Host: Sreeparna Chakrabarty
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