Understanding HMPV: Why There Is No Need To Panic In Focus By The Hindu podcast

31:58

The All India Trinamool Congress (TMC) has released documents showing that some voters in West Bengal have the same EPIC numbers as some voters in states like Gujarat, Haryana and Punjab. The elector photo identity card (EPIC) is a unique number, and the fact that it is unique is critical to avoid voter impersonation or other kinds of fraud. The Election Commission has attributed the duplication of EPIC numbers to a manual, decentralised system of allotting EPIC system that predated the current electoral database platform called ERONET. But the TMC and other critics are not convinced by this explanation, and the EC’s own rules state that EPIC cards and numbers can only be issued to those on the electoral roll of a constituency, and can only be issued online, not manually. So, how then was EPIC number issued manually? How did a voter from Gujarat constituency, who was not from a Bengal constituency, have the same alphabets in his EPIC number as someone who was from Bengal constituency? How robust is our existing system for registering new voters and deleting voters from electoral rolls? Guest: MG Devasahayam, Coordinator, Citizens Commission on Elections. Host: G Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu Edited by Jude Francis Weston…

In Focus by The Hindu

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Three years of a proxy war: Lessons from the Russia-Ukraine conflict 33:40

πριν 3 μέρες33:40

33:40

In February 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine. In the three years since, the US and Europe rallied around Ukraine, supplying it with military and financial support to take on the Russians. Russia was also placed under severe economic sanctions. Russia, when it began its ‘special military operation’, may have hoped for a quick resolution by forcing Ukraine to the negotiating table. But the conflict dragged on, and as of today, Russia holds 20% of Ukrainian territory, and for the first time, the US has turned ‘neutral’ in the conflict. President Donald Trump has also made it clear to Ukraine that joining NATO is no longer on the table. At the same time, he has also said that the war could end in a matter of weeks. What does the present conjuncture mean for Ukraine – which has paid the highest cost, in terms of lives lost, economic losses, and loss of territory? Can the US and Russia sit together and negotiate the end of the conflict, without Ukraine and Europe having a say? What lessons does this conflict hold for smaller countries caught in a proxy conflict between super-powers? Guest: Stanly Johny, The Hindu’s International Affairs Editor. Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu. Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian.…

In Focus by The Hindu

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WHO exit, USAID suspension: What the United States' moves mean for global health 35:49

πριν 8 μέρες35:49

35:49

About one month ago, U.S. President Donald Trump announced his country’s withdrawal from the World Health Organization. This was not a completely unexpected decision – Mr. Trump had taken steps during his first term to do so too, but the Biden administration had chosen not to exit. The WHO has called for the US to reconsider its decision – the US is the largest contributor of funds to the WHO. In the weeks since Mr. Trump’s announcement, the WHO has said it plans to cut down on spending significantly – but the larger question remains of how this move is going to impact global health. Another hit to health has been Mr. Trump’s decision to temporarily suspend all USAID activity – USAID also works in the area of health in a number of countries – and this decision has thrown into turmoil programmes for HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, vaccinations, hygiene and sanitation and others. What is the near future of global health going to look like? Is it possible the US will reconsider its decision? Is the world overly reliant on the US and is it now time for other countries to step up? Guest: Dr. Chandrakant Lahariya a medical doctor and a specialist in global health, with nearly 17 years of professional work experience with the United Nations system including the World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF. Host: Zubeda Hamid Edited by Jude Francis Weston…

In Focus by The Hindu

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The Jannik Sinner case: Is tennis’s anti-doping regime ‘broken’? 35:05

πριν 13 μέρες35:05

35:05

The doping controversy over world no. 1 Jannik Sinner has divided the tennis world. In March 2024, Sinner tested positive for clostebol, a banned anabolic steroid. As per the rules of the International Tennis Integrity Agency and the World Anti-Doping Code (WADC), this would result in an automatic provisional suspension pending an appeal. Sinner, however, appealed the provisional suspension, and an independent hearing convened by the ITIA found that he bore “no fault or negligence” for the positive tests. Subsequently, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) appealed this ruling. WADA’s appeal was supposed to have come up for hearing at the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) on April 16-17, 2025. But now the WADA appeal will not be heard because Sinner and WADA have reached a case resolution agreement. Under this settlement, instead of the one to two-year ban that WADA had wanted, Sinner will serve out a three-month ban, from February 9 to May 4. This means he will not miss any Grand Slams, despite committing a doping offence that, in the case of other players, has caused them to serve out a ban of one to several years. Is tennis’s anti-doping process “broken” as the likes of Stan Wawrinka and Nick Kyrgios have said? Are there double standards in this process - with top players benefiting while the lower ranked players don’t get the same treatment or benefit of doubt? How transparent is a process where a player can negotiate a “settlement” for a doping offence? Guest: N Sudarshan from The Hindu’s Sports Bureau. Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu. Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian.…

In Focus by The Hindu

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Does AAP’s loss in Delhi signal the end of ‘alternative politics’ in India? 29:20

πριν 14 μέρες29:20

29:20

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) made a spectacular entry into Delhi politics in 2013. It rode the wave of an anti-corruption movement, and connected with Delhi’s middle classes by positioning itself as an anti-political force. It cashed in on a general disgust with self-serving career politicians. Once in power, it built a formidable support base on the back of welfare initiatives in school education, health, electricity, water supply, and free bus rides for women. Now, after nearly a decade in power, it has been voted out. The BJP is back in power at the assembly level in Delhi after a gap of 26 years. It won 48 seats while AAP’s seat share plummeted from 62 to 22 seats. Analysts have blamed anti-incumbency and the AAP’s governance failure for its loss. They have also blamed the corruption allegations against Kejriwal, his excessive spending on the Chief Minister’s official residence, the alleged liquor scam, and so on. But some basic questions remain: Did the AAP lose because the BJP out-promised it on the welfare front? On the corruption aspect: did it lose because it was perceived as more corrupt than its rivals, or because it is held to a higher stand of probity given its provenance in anti-corruption movement? Does the AAP really need an ideological core if it needs to survive, as some are arguing? And what does this outcome mean for the ‘alternative politics’ that the AAP had promised? Guest: Professor KK Kailash from the Department of Political Science, University of Hyderabad. Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu. Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian.…

In Focus by The Hindu

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President’s Rule in Manipur: Can it resolve the ethnic strife and restore normalcy? | In Focus podcast 29:03

πριν 18 μέρες29:03

29:03

Four days after N Biren Singh resigned as chief minister of Manipur, President’s rule has been imposed in the state. Singh’s resignation is seen as a belated one by many. Since May 2023 when violence flared up, more than 250 people have been killed and 60,000 have been displaced and unable to return to their homes. There has also been a huge proliferation of armed groups running amok. Given Singh’s abject failure in the past 21 months to quell the violence, what took him so long to resign? Will President’s rule bring back normalcy in the state? And what options can the government explore to restore trust among the divided communities and bring back normalcy? Guest: Pradip Phanjoubam, editor with the Imphal Review of Arts and Politics. Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu. Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian.…

In Focus by The Hindu

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The Good, Flaws and the Opportunities arising from the Budget 2025 30:54

πριν 20 μέρες30:54

30:54

Ahead of the Budget, there was an expectation that the government would provide some relief for the middle class, and Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman delivered. In her budget speech, she announced that there would be no income tax for incomes up to ₹12 lakh. Of course, this stole the show, but it wasn't the ONLY big news. The Union Budget 2025 had several schemes, tax reforms and initiatives to improve infrastructure, ease of doing business, and financial inclusion. Guest: Prof. Bhagwan Das, Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Economics of Loyola College, Chennai. Host: Nivedita V Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian.…

In Focus by The Hindu

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Why India needs to urgently reduce its salt intake 22:30

πριν 21 μέρες22:30

22:30

Two weeks ago, the World Health Organization released a set of guidelines recommending the use of the lower-sodium salt substitutes. These products reduce the amount of sodium chloride in the salt, replacing it with potassium chloride. Reducing salt intake – or sodium intake, has long been held by experts as one of the easiest and cheapest ways to reduce our burden of non-communicable diseases. The WHO’s recommendation is 5 grams of salt a day but Indians eat far more than this at around 8 grams per day. Think about this – an estimated 1.89 million deaths every year globally are associated with consuming too much sodium. And India bears a huge burden of these deaths. So what are lower sodium salt substitutes, and how can they help? Do we need to reduce the salt used while cooking food? What about food outside the home, and ultra processed food available in supermarkets? What are the costs of lower sodium salt substitutes and does India need a country-wide programme to help people make this modification to their diets? Guest: Dr Vivekanand Jha, executive director, George Institute for Global Health, India and past president, International Society of Nephrology Host: Zubeda Hamid Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian.…

In Focus by The Hindu

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What to expect from the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam? 30:46

πριν 22 μέρες30:46

30:46

Five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen and the chess world’s governing body FIDE were embroiled in a public spat until a few days ago. Carlsen, in collaboration with a German businessman, Jan Henric Buettner, has launched a new chess tour, titled the Freestyle Chess Grand Slam, and FIDE objected to their use of the term ‘Word Championship’, which it believes undermines FIDE’s exclusive right to that sort of branding. Things got ugly as they exchanged allegations and counter-allegations on social media. But the conflict, for the time being, has been put on pause, with the Freestyle organisers agreeing not to use the term ‘world championship’ for the first ten months. The Freestyle Tour, which will see a different format of games compared to classical chess, kicked off on February 7 in Weissenhaus, Germany. What is the Freestyle Grand Slam all about? What is at stake here for Carlsen, FIDE and the other major entities in the chess world? Is there a chance of this new format displacing classical chess in the future? Guest: P.K. Ajithkumar from The Hindu’s Sports Bureau. Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu Edited by Jude Francis Weston…

In Focus by The Hindu

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Decoding the economics of Trump’s tariffs 33:58

πριν 26 μέρες33:58

33:58

US President Donald Trump has often said that ‘tariff’ is his favourite word. Within weeks of taking office, he imposed 25% tariffs on all imports from America’s two biggest trading partners, Mexico and Canada, and 10% tariffs on goods from China. Subsequently, he paused the tariffs for 30 days, after Mexico and Canada promised to take certain measures to curb illegal migration and cross-border fentanyl smuggling. Given his repeated statements that he is looking at tariffs as a source of revenue it seems like he is viewing tariffs as a permanent feature rather than as a temporary negotiating tool, as some analysts have suggested. He has also used aggressive rhetoric about imposing 100% tariffs on BRIC+ countries if they tried to create an alternative to the dollar. How do we understand these moves from the Trump administration? Won’t they also adversely impact American consumers and businesses? Is the US moving away from a half-century old paradigm of open trade and integrated markets, to one of local production and protected markets? How should the Global South respond to these measures, given the disparity in economic power? Guest: economist C.P. Chandrasekhar, Senior Research Fellow at the Political Economy Research Institute, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, US. Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu. Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian.…

In Focus by The Hindu

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What’s behind the recent eruption of large-scale violence in Colombia? 35:46

πριν 27 μέρες35:46

35:46

More than 100 people have been killed and over 50,000 displaced in violence that has erupted in north-east Colombia, near its border with Venezuela. The scale and nature of the violence -- described by President Gustavo Petro as “war crimes” -- has prompted the government to declare “a state of internal commotion” and a “state of economic emergency”. Media reports indicate that the violence was due to rivalry between the guerrilla group National Liberation Army (or ELN), and remnants of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (oo FARC), and the fight apparently was over control of coca plantations and the drug trade. UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has called for “immediate cessation of acts of violence against the civilian population”. But the strife in Colombia is one of the longest civil wars in Latin America. What do the different parties in the conflict really want? Do they have political goals or are they fighting for control over the drugs trade? What are the options before President Petro, with regard to bringing lasting peace to his country? We speak with Santiago Rodriguez, a Bogota-based journalist with La Silla Vacia, a Colombian news website.…

In Focus by The Hindu

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Decoding Uttarakhand's Uniform Civil Code 42:45

πριν 28 μέρες42:45

42:45

Uttarakhand becomes the first Indian state to implement the Uniform Civil Code (UCC) since Independence. On January 27, 2025, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami officially rolled out the UCC, a move that promises uniformity in civil laws but comes with key exemptions—tribal communities and the Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) remain outside its purview. What does this mean for minority communities? How do the new provisions impact live-in relationships? And what are the broader implications of this historic decision? This video breaks it all down. Guest: Alok Prasanna Kumar, co-founder of the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy Host: Aaratrika Bhaumik Edited by Jude Francis Weston…

In Focus by The Hindu

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Demystifying Guillain-Barre Syndrome following the Pune outbreak 20:55

πριν 29 μέρες20:55

20:55

As of February 1, 140 cases and four deaths due to Guillain- Barré Syndrome have been reported in Pune, Maharashtra.The outbreak has shocked the public – most people have never heard of this rare, autoimmune neurological disorder before. Guillain- Barré Syndrome or GBS leads to the immune system attacking the peripheral nervous system, causing weakness in the muscles, and in some cases, paralysis. At present, doctors have said the outbreak could be linked to a bacterial infection that many of the patients contracted prior to showing symptoms. The Pune health authorities are testing water samples in all the areas where the outbreak has been reported. But how did a rare condition show up in so many people at the same time? What could be behind the large number of cases? How is it treated? What could be done to prevent future outbreaks? Guest: Dr S.V. Khadilkar, dean, professor and head of the department of Neurology, Bombay Hospital, past president, Indian Academy of Neurology Host: Zubeda Hamid Edited by Jude Francis Weston…

In Focus by The Hindu

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Can Trump realistically deport millions of undocumented immigrants? 41:34

πριν 5 weeks41:34

41:34

Since the inauguration of President Donald Trump, the administration’s crackdown on undocumented migrants has led to more than 3,500 arrests. In a related development, Colombia narrowly avoided a trade war with the US when it turned back American military planes bringing back Colombian migrants. India, in contrast, has repeatedly said that on the immigration issue, it will do the “right thing” by the US. How are undocumented immigrants affected by Trump’s recent moves changing the immigration regime? Will his attempt to end birthright citizenship withstand legal scrutiny? Are his plans for large-scale detention and deportation likely to take off? And if they do, what is the likely economic fall-out? Guest: Dr Neeraj Kaushal, Professor at the School of Social Work at Columbia University, New York. Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu Edited by Jude Francis Weston…

In Focus by The Hindu

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Can SMRs power India's renewable energy transition? 37:59

πριν 5 weeks37:59