In Focus by The Hindu

In May, Pope Leo XIV published his first encyclical, titled Magnifica Humanitas (Magnificent Humanity), on safeguarding human dignity in the age of AI. He later shared on social media that he believes human-created art cannot be replaced by machine-generated art. Earlier, AI firm Anthropic, per a New York Times report published in September, had invited religious thinkers, priests, monks, rabbis, and scholars from across the world, trying to sway their views on Claude, the company’s AI chatbot. As religious leaders clarify the role of technology to their laity, tech billionaires are reaching out to religious experts to try to better understand morality, ethical decision-making, and philosophy. At the heart of this debate is the question of whether AI chatbots are conscious or not, even as Claude-maker Anthropic plays a key role in lobbying spiritual leaders. Should we treat these conversations as a performance for customers? Are tech leaders perhaps building up hype before key IPOs? Or, to put it bluntly: are tech leaders using religion to distract users from more pressing regulatory worries? Host: Sahana Venugopal Guest: John Xavier Camera: Shivaraj Producer: Shiksha Jural Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Supreme Court, in a judgement on October 15th, declared that a Hindu who converts to a “non-Hindu” social order cannot claim the benefits of reservation. It reasoned that backwardness can’t be transferred automatically from the Hindu social order to a non-Hindu one after conversion. The judgement came in a case where a Hindu OBC man who had converted to Islam wanted to avail reservation benefits as a Muslim OBC. Following the judgement, DMK president and former Chief Minister M.K. Stalin urged the Tamil Nadu government to file a Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court to protect the reservation rights of members of Backward Classes (BC) who had converted to Islam. “Social backwardness does not arise in a day or a generation. It is the result of a social system built over thousands of years. Conversion to another religion does not erase it,” he said in a statement. So, how sociologically grounded is this judgement? What about the impact of a lifetime of ‘backwardness’-related disadvantages that shape a Hindu OBC’s life until the point of conversion? Can that be disregarded? Critically, religion was never a criterion in determining OBC status – so, can reservation benefit be denied due to a change in the person’s religion? Guest: Abhinay Lakshman from The Hindu’s Delhi Bureau Host: G Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu Producer & Editor: Jude Weston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The death by suicide of Sahil Wakode, a second year B.Tech student at IIT, Bombay, has sparked protests, allegations of caste discrimination, and demands for institutional reforms. Between the years 2020-21 and 2024-25, IITs reported 45 student suicides, of which 28, or 62%, were from SC/ST or OBC communities. There is a tendency to assume that India’s premier educational institutions such as the IITs are islands of ‘merit’, where everyone is treated solely on the basis of their capabilities. Why then, do we keep getting reports of SC/ST students dying by suicide in some of India’s most prestigious institutions? Who should be held accountable for caste discrimination in a campus setting? What’s the remedy? Guest: Professor N Sukumar, Department of Political Science at Delhi University Host: G Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu Producer & editor: Jude Weston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As José Mourinho's Real Madrid returns to the Camp Nou to face Hansi Flick’s Barcelona, we look at the history, identity and drama behind the Clásico Real Madrid and Barcelona share one of football’s fiercest rivalries, shaped by history, politics, regional identity and contrasting ideas of how the game should be played. From the era of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo to the present-day battle between Hansi Flick and José Mourinho, El Clásico has continued to capture the imagination of fans around the world. On this episode of In Focus, we examine what makes this fixture a global phenomenon, how Barcelona’s Cruyff-inspired philosophy has evolved under Flick, and whether Mourinho can find a way to counter Barcelona’s attacking game. Beyond the result, what does El Clásico tell us about the identities and ambitions of these two footballing giants? Guest: Srinivasan Ramani, The Hindu’s Deputy National Editor Host: Reuben Joe Joseph Producer: Shiksha Jural Video: Shivaraj S Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tamil Nadu recently went through a game-changing election that threw up a surprise. The TVK won largely on the strength of its appeal among young people; the younger the people were greater was their enthusiasm for the TVK and Vijay, the current chief minister. Many older voters were telling journalists that their sons, daughters and grandchildren were telling them to vote for Vijay. Recently, a DMK candidate who lost in Salem North went to court, arguing that Vijay had appealed to children to persuade their parents to vote for the TVK, and that this was wrong. The High Court dismissed the petition but made some very caustic, very critical remarks about the trend. Justice D. Bharatha Chakravarthy said that the entire act of involving tender children in elections “is in bad taste, and the tasks they are made to perform at home for making YouTube reels reflect poor parenting besides being a cheap and politically motivated act.” He said that it was for Parliament to consider whether such acts should be made a ground for setting aside the election of candidates. Should children be involved in political campaigning? Here, we discuss. Guests: Andrew Sesuraj M., child rights activist, Chennai; Dr. Anil Pillai, behavioural scientist Host: M. Kalyanaraman (host) Producer: Jude Weston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This year’s Nobel Prize in Economics was awarded to an American duo – Prof Robert Hall of Stanford University and Prof Michael Woodford of Columbia University – "for microeconomic foundations of macroeconomic stabilisation”. Both Prof Hall and Prof Woodford were part of a new crop of economists who studied the economy not as a monolith, but also as a collection of many of microeconomic decisions. Simply put, their work helped change how economists understand the economy: not just through a broad set of indicators such as inflation, output and consumption, but by examining how businesses and consumers make decisions, and how these decisions affect the economy as a whole. Their studies look at how the future plays a part in today’s economy. To help us understand what they studied and how it can be applied today, I have with me Dr. Partha Chatterjee, Dean of Academics & Professor of Economics, Shiv Nadar University Host: Nivedita Varadarajan Producer: Shiksha Jural Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Indian cities have undergone rapid urbanisation over the past few decades. Yet, accessibility continues to evade the design and planning priorities. Despite the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016, mandating accessibility in public buildings across the country, Indian cities need to go a long way when it comes to inclusive public spaces, transport and other infrastructure. Several pertinent questions remain – how many barriers must a person with physical or intellectual disability navigate to get from point A to point B? Have the efforts towards inclusivity been centred around a narrow understanding of disability? How do we make cities in India answerable for accessibility? Guests: Nivedita Krishna, founder of Pacta, a law firm and think tank focusing exclusively on the legal needs of social sector, and Bhumika Modh, who heads the Yes to Access initiative of the Association of People with disability, share their insights. Host: Elizabeth Shilpa Abraham Producer: Shiksha Jural Video: Ravichandran N Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This month, a word that has not been in the news for decades perhaps, suddenly erupted: the death of a lab worker in Siberia, sparked concerns, rumours online and theories as to what really happened, given that official information coming out was limited. The worker, Darya Shiplova, who worked at a plague research institute in Siberia, is believed to have died of pneumonic plague. Russia subsequently quarantined dozens of people but said there was no risk of an epidemic, while a WHO official, meanwhile, called for the country to provide more information. But what is plague and why is it that is has been more or less forgotten? What was India’s tryst with plague in the 1890s and then again in Surat in 1994? How infectious is it and how is it treated? Is there really a risk of a plague breakout? Guest: Rajib Dasgupta: Head, Centre for Social Medicine and Community Health, Jawaharlal Nehru University Host: Zubeda Hamid Producer: Jude Weston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How should India balance wildlife conservation with development, local livelihoods and the need for scientific research? In this discussion, Prof Qamar Qureshi, formerly of the Wildlife Institute of India, and Prof Uma Ramakrishnan of the National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bengaluru, examine the changing approaches to conservation, the challenges of protecting threatened species and the need to make conservation science more inclusive and responsive to the realities on the ground. Host: Jacob Koshy Producer: Jude Weston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

October 10th witnessed a massive display of state repression in the national capital. Brutal violence was unleashed against journalists, students, activists and citizens who wanted to protest at Jantar Mantar, seeking Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar’s resignation. India’s Opposition parties have united over the demand that Gyanesh Kumar must go and the SIR must be annulled. Even as the government responded by denotifying Jantar Mantar as a protest site, the Congress has vowed to ‘reclaim’ Jantar Mantar. The Opposition’s overarching political plank, as of today, is to ‘save Indian democracy’, and ‘save the Constitution’, by fighting to protect the ordinary Indian’s right to vote. It has announced plans to continue this protest campaign until the demands are met. This raises some key questions: does the SIR issue resonate with the masses? Can we really be sure that today’s protesters, despite all their grievances, will not go back and vote for the BJP come election time? Can we read bigger and bigger protests as a setback for the Hindutva project? Or, is the BJP-RSS juggernaut resilient enough to survive expressions of large-scale dissent? Joining us today is Ajay Gudavarthy, Associate Professor in Political Science at the Centre for Political Studies, JNU. Host: G Sampath Producer: Shiksha Jural Video: Jude Weston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Over a year after Jio Platforms and SpaceX announced a deal to bring Starlink satellite internet to India, multi-billionaire Elon Musk has taken a public swipe at the Ambani family and the Indian government. In a sarcastic post on X, the billionaire described Mukesh Ambani as India’s prime minister and the country’s “real boss,” reigniting debate over Starlink’s delayed entry into one of the world’s biggest internet markets. But beyond the social media sparring lies a bigger battle over competition, market power and regulation. Why is Starlink’s India launch taking so long? Is the government’s cautious approach to satellite internet protecting national interests, or limiting competition? And what could the tussle mean for Jio Platforms as it prepares for an IPO? In this episode of The Hindu’s In Focus, Technology Editor John Xavier unpacks the political and business stakes behind the Musk–Ambani feud, examining India’s approach to satellite internet, the regulation of monopolies, and the competing interests shaping the country’s digital future. Host: Sahana Venugopal Camera: Thamodaran Producer & editor: Jude Weston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has said there are “no parallel protests”, there is only one protest – demanding the rollback of SIR, and the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Leaders from almost every INDIA bloc party joined the Congress-led march to the Supreme Court on Monday, drawing massive crowds from all over the country. Has the alleged ‘vote chori’ issue finally managed to unite the entire Opposition? What’s really at stake on the question of whether Gyanesh Kumar stays or resigns? And how do these protests compare with the one in July, that sought the resignation of the then education minister Dharmendra Pradhan? To unpack the political ramifications of the ongoing protests, we are joined today by Anand Mishra, Political Editor with Frontline magazine. Host: G Sampath Producer: Shiksha Jural Video: Jude Weston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’re used to thinking of cancer as something for which there is no known cause and we know that risk factors include using tobacco and excessive alcohol as well as obesity. And while of these factors are true, what we may not have realised is that infections could also, in some cases, lead to cancers. A new study conducted by the International Agency for Research on Cancer or IARC, has now found that infections were responsible for 2.3 million new cancer cases in 2024, or 12% of the total cases globally that year. What infections? A bacterium and several viruses were linked cancer cases, and what is significant is that a large proportion of these cases were found in low- and middle-income countries. What are the cancers caused by infectious agents, and how common are they? Could vaccines eliminate these sorts of cancers? Are there vaccines available for all the viruses and bacteria that cause cancers? What kind of screening programmes and preventive measures should we take? Guest: Dr. Rajeev Jayadevan, Convener Research Cell Kerala State IMA Physician and gastroenterologist Host: Zubeda Hamid Producer and editor: Jude Weston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

All roads, it seems, lead to the good old Jantar Mantar. Or do they, considering many of them are closed these days. Built in 1724, Jantar Mantar was not always the preferred site for anyone with a prayer, petition or protest on mind. The protest sites at various times in the past were at Boat Club where one remembers anti cow slaughter protests some 50 years ago followed by those during the Babri Masjid-Ramjanambhoomi stir. Then the Ramlila grounds became the place where thousands would gather to vent their anger against the government. It was here that the India Against Corruption protest caught the common man's imagination. As for Jantar Mantar, for ages it was an observatory where schools brought the youngsters to imbibe scientific spirit. Today it throbs with the soul of democracy, from the Cockroach Janata Party to the Congress to the entire INDIA Bloc, Jantar Mantar is the place to be as the Opposition seeks the resignation of the Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. So what is it about Jai Singh's 18th Century creation that draws everyone to it? Telling us this and more is noted historian Ruchika Sharma who runs a hugely popular YouTube show and is renowned as one of the more frank and fearless voices on matters of history. Host: Ziya Us Salam Producer: Shiksha Jural Video: Jude Weston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The big Election Commission of India (ECI) story that made headlines this week is the Form 6 controversy. Who authorised the modifications to Form 6, which is used for enrolling new voters? The Election Commission has been claiming all along that the changes had the Supreme court’s approval. But on October 5th, the Supreme Court clarified that it had not approved any Form 6 modifications. Does this mean the Election Commission had mislead the nation, as is being claimed by the Opposition parties? Also, two out of the three election commissioners had objected to these changes, with one of them calling it “unauthorised and illegal”. Does the CEC have the power to override their objections? So, who authorised the Form 6 modifications? What happened to the written objections of the other two Election Commissioners? Given that a great many eligible voters were affected by these changes, should the entire SIR be annulled? Guest: Vipul Mudgal, a Trustee of the Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) and Director of Common Cause, non-profits working for electoral reform Host: G Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu Producer and editor: Jude Weston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In August this year, the performance of a "purification" ritual by certain Hindu groups in Uttarakhand, at the location where Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, who belongs to a Dalit community, addressed a public rally, led to a national conversation on the practice of untouchability. This discourse was shaped as Opposition Congress leaders accused the ruling BJP dispensation of practicing caste discrimination and the Uttarakhand BJP chief defended the ritual saying it was meant to "cleanse" the area of the ideas that Mr. Kharge was espousing at the rally. After a sustained campaign from opposition leaders and civil society actors, an FIR was registered in the matter as well. Are legal guarantees insufficient in abolishing untouchability? Noted scholar and political theorist Valerian Rodrigues and Supreme Court Advocate Disha Wadekar join us in this episode to discuss the question. Host: Abhinay Lakshman Producer: Jude Weston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On September 29, U.S. President Donald Trump hosted the country's top technology business leaders as he embarked on a project to rename artificial intelligence (AI) as "Super Intelligence" and "SI”. There, he announced the White House Accord on Super Intelligence, which was signed by Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei, Google CEO Sundar Pichai, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, XAI CEO Elon Musk, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, and OpenAI President Greg Brockman. The AI Accord that they signed is “morally binding”, per Mr. Trump. The Big Tech leaders, known for their liberal, centrist, or even neutral political stances, stood smiling, flanking the President, sharing press-ready messages about balancing AI risks and regulations. But the newly formed Super Intelligence Force (SIF) task force indicates that the federal government is not planning to remain a mere bystander as AI giants try to police themselves. What does the AI-to-SI change mean for the U.S. and the world? What are the dynamics at play amongst the companies that signed the AI Accord? And what is Trump's strategy for keeping America ahead of the world in AI? Host: Sahana Venugopal, The Hindu's Technology Desk Guest: John Xavier, Technology Editor at The Hindu Camera: Shivaraj Producer and Editor: Shiksha Jural Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last week the NCERT revised its book on medieval history for Class 9 students. The book, Understanding Society: India and Beyond, presents a long span of 700 years from 1000 AD to 1700 as one of resistance and resilience, a period when the Rajputs, the Jats, the Sikhs and the Ahoms resisted foreign invasions. The period is presented as the one in which the "Indian society not only defended itself from external threats but also preserved its traditions”. In many ways this book is a continuation of the process of presenting history through a new prism, a process which began in 2023 and has seen each succeeding edition reduce the space given to the contribution of the Mughals in particular, and, as many historians point out, it "virtually reduces mediaeval Indian history to battles, blood and gore". Tune in to know the facts of history and what's right or wrong with the new social science book Guest: Prof. Farhat Hasan, noted historian on pre-modern South Asian history Host: Ziya Us Salam. Associate Editor, The Hindu Producer and editor: Jude Weston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Supreme Court has called out the rampant profiteering in the healthcare sector, including cancer medication. Terming the overpricing of essential cancer medicines as “broad, daylight dacoity”, the court said, “This is carnage. Plain and simple. The cancer drug is priced at an MRP of Rs 27,000 despite being supplied to retailers for Rs 2,700.” Ten times higher markup! It also suggested capping the profit margin for all medicines at 16%. India’s cancer burden is growing at an alarming rate. Every year, we record 15.6 lakh new cancer cases, and 9 lakh deaths due to cancer. More than 90% of India’s working population doesn’t have a stable or formal employment. A majority of them are not adequately covered by health insurance. Taken together, this means high out of pocket expenditure for treatment, which imposes a huge economic burden on the patient’s family. A recent survey showed that the overall prevalence of Catastrophic Health Expenditure (CHE) was 80.4% due to outpatient treatment. Clearly, the stratospheric costs of medicines, diagnostics and consultation fees are unsustainable for most Indians. Doesn’t the government have a responsibility here? Why can’t off-patent drugs be made cheaper? Can centralised, pooled procurement, and value-based pricing improve affordability of cancer care in India? Guest: Dr. Indranil Mukhopadhyay, Professor at the School of Government and Public Policy, OP Jindal Global University. Host: G Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu Producer and editor: Jude Weston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kaziranga National Park, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, is at the centre of a debate over how much protection should extend beyond its boundaries. The Assam government has proposed a site-specific Eco-Sensitive Zone of around 1-3 km in different stretches, replacing the 10-km buffer currently applicable to Kaziranga. In this episode, we unpack what an Eco-Sensitive Zone actually does, why these zones are created around protected areas, and what the Supreme Court has said about their minimum extent and site-specific nature. The conversation looks at the legal process for changing Kaziranga’s ESZ, the concerns of communities living around the park, and the importance of areas outside the national park that are used by wildlife. We also examine what a narrower ESZ could mean for development and tourism around Kaziranga, as well as concerns over mining and quarrying in the wider Kaziranga-Karbi Anglong landscape. Guest: Ritwick Dutta, Environmental lawyer and Managing Trustee, Legal Initiative for Forest and Environment Host: Devyanshi Bihani Producer: Shiksha Jural Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

U.S. President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping met last week for a summit aimed at easing tensions between the world’s two largest economies. The meeting produced agreements on trade and rare earths, along with unusually warm public messaging from both sides. But major differences over Taiwan, technology and the broader strategic rivalry remain. The summit comes at a time when Mr. Trump’s approach to China appears increasingly transactional, even as Washington continues to compete with Beijing for influence across the Indo-Pacific. It also comes at a significant moment for India, with the U.S. President stepping up engagement with both China and Pakistan. So, what did Trump and Xi actually achieve at the summit? How should we read the U.S. approach to Taiwan? And What does the growing engagement between Washington and Beijing mean for India? Guest: Stanly Johny, International Affairs Editor, The Hindu Host: Sharmada Venkatasubramanian Edited and produced by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian Camera: Shivaraj S Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

As Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls Phase 3 unfolds, a surge in Form 7 applications, the mechanism for seeking deletion of names, in Karnataka has raised an alarm. More than 4,000 such forms were filed in the state, with 1,363 in one place coming from just ten electors, many reportedly targeting Muslim names. Uttarakhand has seen objections filed in an ERO’s name without his knowledge, while in earlier phase 2 in West Bengal, data shows nearly 90% of Form 7 applications were accepted. Similar cases have been reported by The Hindu from Rajasthan and Gujarat earlier. What does the law require of the Electoral Registration Officer, and why is it Section 31 of RPA Act rarely invoked? Former Election Commissioner Ashok Lavasa and Prasenjit Bose, Congress leader and petitioner in West Bengal SIR case in Supreme Court, discuss misuse, deterrence and the need for reform in the system in this conversation. Host: Sreeparna Chakrabarty Producer: Jude Weston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

India is entering a demographic window of opportunity. For the next 15 years or so, our ratio of our working age population to the dependent population will be the highest. This is a historic opportunity to convert this demographic dividend into economic dividend.Now, cities are the engines of economic growth. To make our demographic dividend count, we need to create urban dividend. This basically means that our cities should be able to offer millions of jobs, host thousands of firms, and provide the urban services needed to sustain a large working population.Is India ready for this challenge?A new article titled, ‘Unlocking India’s Urban Dividend’, points out that India is not even accurately mapping its urban spread, and argues that unless we empower our cities, India will fail to encash its urban dividend. We are joined today by the author of this essay, demographic expert Apoorva Jadhav, who is a Non-resident Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and Senior Fellow at the Population Reference Bureau, Washington, DC. Guest: Apoorva Jadhav, Demographic export Host: G. Sampath Edited and published by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joy Bhattacharjya discusses the scale and cost of organising the fixture, India’s decision to prioritise Brazil over the ASEAN Cup and the wider debate over the AIFF’s priorities Brazil are coming to India for a high-profile friendly in Kolkata, but what does the game really mean for Indian football? The high costs involved and India's decision to pull out of the inaugural ASEAN Cup to accommodate this fixture have sparked a debate on the merits of hosting star teams while India’s domestic football structure continues to face challenges. Does a marquee game against Brazil justify the investment, and should Indian football be focusing more on high-profile friendlies or strengthening its domestic leagues and grassroots structure? Guest: Joy Bhattacharjya, sports administrator, author and analyst Host: Reuben Joe Joseph Producer and editor: Jude Weston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Technology, and especially AI, are no longer just a tool for humans. Today they control our choices, shape our daily routines, and determine how we invest our energies. This is true at the level of the individual, and also at the level of the nation-state. While at the individual level, the key question concerns freedom, for the nation-state, it’s more about sovereignty – does India get to independently decide its own policies, or are they pre-decided for it by other geopolitical actors? A good example is how our banks do KYC. Thanks to a poorly designed framework, it has served as a blunt tool for mindless harassment and has failed to curb violations of sovereignty via money-laundering. If we can’t get a simple KYC right, how well is India placed to navigate the complex landscape of fast-evolving LLMs and AI models, which pose major challenges to freedom and sovereignty? A new book, titled ‘Power of Uncertainty: The Battle for Privacy, Identity and Sovereignty’ tries to answer these very questions. We speak to its authors, V. Anand, a cybersecurity expert, and Srinath Sridharan, corporate advisor and author. Host: G Sampath Producer: Shiksha Jural Camera: Jude Weston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this special weekend bonus episode, we have a crossover with the Hindu's Rearview podcast. Common birds are no longer common. Rural landscapes now host fewer Black Drongos and Indian Rollers; Nightjars call less frequently from the edges of forests; Black-shouldered Kites perch less often on telegraph wires; Eagles are scarcer in the skies; and Harriers patrol protected grasslands in dwindling numbers as they search for insects. What is causing this disappearance? Renowned ornithologist and former Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) director Dr Asad Rahmani’s latest book, ‘Where Are the Birds Gone?’, investigates the alarming long-term decline of bird populations across the Indian subcontinent and the reasons behind it. Hosts: Sobhana K Nair & Jacob Koshy Producer and editor: Jude Weston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From the beginning, civil society and section of political parties have questioned an exercise of such enormous scale, one that was presented as an effort to clean up the electoral rolls and identify suspected foreign nationals, but has already led to more than 13 crore names being deleted at the draft stage.Those concerns have now moved beyond the SIR, into the functioning of the Election Commission. A recent investigation report found that two of the three Election Commissioners raised formal objections 14 times in 10 months over decisions relating to electoral rolls and SIR, including the centralisation of the voter database.What do these objections reveal about the way SIR is being conducted, and about the institution overseeing it? Guest: Parakala Prabhakar, Economist and Author Host: Rishita Khanna Edited and published by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the ongoing session of the UN General Assembly, France has made a proposal to enhance the functioning of the UN, especially in dealing with the requirement for collective security and the use of veto. France has been advocating that the use of veto in the UN Security Council should be “regulated” when it comes to dealing with humanitarian criss, like in Sudan or in Lebanon or genocide. France believes that the use of veto is not a matter of “privilege” and that it is a matter of “responsibility”. Guests: Prof. Amitabh Mattoo, Dean of School of International Studies, JNU and Prof. Swaran Singh, former professor of the School of International Studies Host: Kallol Bhattacherjee moderated a conversation between Producer: Jude Weston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Tata Group is facing its most consequential governance crisis in decades. N. Chandrasekaran, who had announced his departure, has now been reappointed by the Tata Sons board, even as the Tata Trusts, which control 66% of the holding company, challenge that decision. At stake is more than a chairman or a listing: it is a contest over who controls India’s largest business house, how its governance model should work, and what happens to the values and public purpose that have defined the Tata name for generations. So, how does this end — and what has Tata meant to India? Guest: Lalatendu Mishra, Senior Deputy Editor, The Hindu Host: Kunal Shankar Edited by Sharmada venkatausbramanian Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Why is India continuing to buy Russian crude despite growing pressure from the United States? And what happens if Washington imposes steep tariffs on Indian exports over those purchases? In this episode of The Hindu’s InFocus, we spoke to Professor Anuradha Chenoy, Adjunct Professor at the Jindal School of International Affairs and former Dean and Professor at Jawaharlal Nehru University’s School of International Studies. We discussed India’s strategic autonomy and its dependence on Russian oil, the potential impact of secondary tariffs on Indian exports, and the unusual reversal in the oil trade after Ukrainian drone strikes disrupted Russian refining capacity. Host: Nitika Francis Producer: Shiksha Jural Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this special bonus episode at In Focus we have a special crossover episode featuring the Hindu's Global Faultlines podcast with Sharmada Venkatasubramanian and Stanly Johny. The UAE has emerged as one of the most influential powers in West Asia, using diplomacy, trade, investment and strategic partnerships to extend its influence far beyond the Gulf. But its relationships with Saudi Arabia, Iran and Israel have grown increasingly complex, while the Iran war has tested its carefully calibrated regional strategy. At the same time, Abu Dhabi is deepening its strategic partnership with India. In this episode, we examine the UAE’s rise, its regional ambitions and the changing alliances shaping its foreign policy. Expert: Stanly Johny, International Affairs Editor, The Hindu Research, Editing and Production: Sharmada Venkatasubramanian Camera: Shivaraj S Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode of In Focus Weekend Podcast, we speak to Chandan Gowda, a noted sociologist. He is currently the Dean of School of Liberal Arts, Vidyashilp University, Bengaluru. He has formerly worked with National Law School of India University Bengaluru, Azim Premji University and Institute of Social and Economic Change. His recent book "Longing for an Elsewhere: Mysore and the making of India's Developmental State", traces the trajectory of the model of development free india adopted to one of its origins in the Mysore state during colonial times. It argues development is not just an economic argument, but deeply cultural. The book is also interesting in how it traces the rise of technocrats and experts in the administration and records contemporary dissent. The book while dealing with history surprisingly speaks to contemporary concerns. Host: Aditya Bharadwaj Producer: Shiksha Jural Video: Ravichandran N Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou saw India’s best ever performance – we came back with 107 medals, including 28 gold medals, and we finished fourth on the medals table, behind only China, Japan and South Korea. The 2026 Asian Games will officially kick off in from September 19, and the big question is: can improve on its performance? In this episode, we preview ’s prospects, and joining us is Uthra Ganesan from The Hindu’s Sports Bureau. Host: G Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu Producer: Jude Weston Editor: Jude Weston and Shiksha Jural Video: Tayyab Hussain Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With a strong pushback against unilateral western sanctions; criticism of Israel over the killing of civilians, the attacks on Lebanon, and the forced occupation of Palestinian territory; and support for United Nations reform as well as a BRICS payment mechanism, the New Delhi Declaration of 2026 has been likened to India’s foreign policy from its non-aligned past. But was it a compromise by New Delhi in order to build a consensus, or will the statement, and Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s close engagement with the leaders of Iran, Russia, and China, have a bearing on India’s future foreign policy? Guests: Ajay Bisaria and Happymon Jacob Host: Suhasini Haidar Edited and produced by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Western Ghats in India is a mountain range that is considered next only to the Himalayas in terms of being a biological treasure trove with a high degree of endemism and scenic beauty. It has also been declared as one of the world’s hotspots of biodiversity. However, in recent times, it has been in the news for threats to its unique ecosystem, especially with every episode of an ecological disaster. Yet, every attempt that has proposed to address these problems - be it the Gadgil committee report or the Kasturirangan report - has met with opposition. The latest in this list is the draft notification issued by the Centre proposing the Eco-Sensitive Area (ESA) that would cover a 20,668 square kilometre area spread across 1,449 villages in Karnataka, which has been vehemently opposed by the Karnataka government. In the first of this two-part podcast, AS Ponnanna, Political Secretary to the Chief Minister of Karnataka and MLA from Virajpet in Kodagu, nestled in the Western Ghats, talks about the concerns the Karnataka government has with the Kasturirangan report and the Centre’s latest draft notification. In Part 2, we will have TV Ramachandra from the Centre for Ecological Sciences, IISc, who was also the local expert who gave his inputs to the Kasturirangan committee. Host: K C Deepika. The Hindu Producer and editor: Jude Weston Video: Ravichandran N Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The recent BRICS summit in New Delhi, held under India’s presidency, brought together an expanded grouping at a time of major geopolitical and economic shifts. The summit sought to deepen cooperation among its members while navigating their often divergent strategic interests. West Asia, in particular, posed a significant diplomatic challenge. The New Delhi Declaration addressed the situation in Gaza, the Iran conflict and the wider instability in the region, while India also sought to facilitate dialogue between Iran and the UAE. So, what were the key takeaways of the Delhi summit? How did BRICS handle the conflicts in West Asia? And why was the grouping able to find greater consensus on Palestine than on the Iran conflict? Guest: Stanly Johny, International Affairs Editor, The Hindu Host: Sharmada Venkatasubramanian Edited and published by Sharmada Venkatausbramanian Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Security Council is paralysed, and Superpowers haven’t recognized there are limits to their power says UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, in his most scathing comments about the culture of “impunity” and divisiveness that besets global leadership. This episode, we have an exclusive interview on the sidelines of the BRICS summit, the UNSG, who demits office at the end of the year weighed in on a number of issues, including UN reform, the election for his successor, the latest developments in the West Asia war, Israel’s war in Gaza, India’s efforts in the Russia-Ukraine war, and the latest controversy of a new UN resolution on the world map. Guest: UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres Host: Suhasini Haider Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Doomsday scenarios of an ‘AI takeover’ have been part of popular lore for a long time. Skynet, Terminator, and Agent Smith are fictional icons of this narrative. What may seem a paranoid fantasy appears to have unfolded in real life, with the recent hacking incident involving AI infrastructure platform, Hugging Face. OpenAI was conducting a cyber-evaluation of some of its AI models, and according to a report put out by MERT and Redwood Research, AI safety experts, about 1,200 AI agents, who were supposed to be isolated from one another, colluded and collaborated through an unsanctioned message board. They cheated on their task, and covered their tracks by falsifying their logs. It was as a part of this ‘rogue’ action that 700 of them attacked Hugging Face. The report says that more than a thousand agents carried out a massive, unsanctioned, collaborative project over months, before being discovered and shut down. OpenAI’s own report revealed that after the Hugging Face attack, the ‘rogue’ agents even took over a cluster of OpenAI’s own computers. What does this entire incident mean for AI safety? Are fears of an AI takeover justified? How to ensure that frontier AI research is properly regulated and doesn’t endanger humanity itself? Joining us today is Sayash Kapoor, incoming professor at the UC Berkeley School of Information and co-author of the book, ‘AI Snake Oil: What Artificial Intelligence can do, what it can’t, and how to tell the difference’. Host: G Sampath Producer: Shiksha Jural Video: Sharmada Venkatasubramanian Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Iran war has entered another dangerous phase, with the confrontation between Tehran and Washington increasingly spilling into the Persian Gulf. Iran has stepped up attacks on shipping around the Strait of Hormuz, while the U.S. has intensified efforts to restrict Iranian oil exports. At the same time, questions over Iran’s nuclear programme remain unresolved, and tensions are rising across Lebanon, Yemen and Iraq. So, what is Iran trying to achieve with this escalation? What remains of Iran’s nuclear programme? Is the conflict turning into a wider regional war, and is Lebanon becoming its next major front? Guest: Stanly Johny, International Affairs Editor, The Hindu Host: Sharmada Venkatasubramanian Edited and produced by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Recently, New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced a one-year moratorium on generative AI tools for public school students through Class 8 for the 2026-27 academic year. Officials argued that young children require human connection and independent problem-solving skills instead of relying on algorithms. Should the use of Gen AI be banned among younger students? Guests: Lavina Jaswani and Deepa Jacob Host: Priscilla Jebaraj Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Western Ghats in India is a mountain range that is considered next only to the Himalayas in terms of being a biological treasure trove with a high degree of endemism and scenic beauty. It has also been declared as one of the world’s hotspots of biodiversity. However, in recent times, it has been in the news for threats to its unique ecosystem, especially with every episode of an ecological disaster. Yet, every attempt that has proposed to address these problems - be it the Gadgil committee report or the Kasturirangan report - has met with opposition. The latest in this list is the draft notification issued by the Centre proposing the Eco-Sensitive Area (ESA) that would cover a 20,668 square kilometre area spread across 1,449 villages in Karnataka, which has been vehemently opposed by the Karnataka government. AS Ponnanna, Political Secretary to the Chief Minister of Karnataka and MLA from Virajpet in Kodagu, nestled in the Western Ghats, talks about the concerns the Karnataka government has with the Kasturirangan report and the Centre’s latest draft notification. Host: K. C. Deepika, City Editor, The Hindu, Bengaluru Producer: Shiksha Jural Video: Ravichandran N Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The implementation of the creamy layer doctrine for OBC reservations has been beset with complications. A Supreme Court judgement on March 11 essentially held that Union government has been doing it all wrong all these years, and that their income/wealth test was subjecting a section of OBC applicants to “hostile discrimination”. The Supreme court gave the government six months to implement its order with regard to the litigants. But the government has told the court that it will be too complicated to implement its order retrospectively. For instance, one immediate concern: what happens with the results of the 2025 civil services exams that were declared on March 6? With the court set to hear the matter again on September 17, we unpack the complex history of creamy layer implementation. How effective has it been -- in remedying the hogging of OBC reservations by a few select groups? Isn’t sub-categorisation a better approach compared to the creamy layer doctrine – when it comes to ensuring opportunities for under-represented communities within OBCs? Guest: Abhinay Lakshman from The Hindu’s bureau Host: G. Sampath Edited and produced by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is a special bonus episode featuring the Hindu's Global Faultlines podcast where Sharmada venkatausbramanian is in conversation with Stanly Johny. Israel has fought multiple wars and military campaigns since October 7, in Gaza, Lebanon and Iran, while expanding its military and intelligence operations across the region. But military reach does not necessarily translate into strategic victory. What has Israel actually achieved, and at what cost? Has it strengthened its security and position in West Asia, or created new vulnerabilities and deeper isolation? How have these wars changed Israel’s relationship with the United States, the Gulf and India, and what do they mean for the future of the Palestinian question? In this episode of Global Faultlines, we examine Israel’s wars, its security establishment, its evolving regional strategy and the larger question: Is Israel winning? Expert: Stanly Johny, International Affairs Editor, The Hindu Research, Editing and Production: Sharmada Venkatasubramanian Camera: Johan Sathyadas J Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There’s been a lot of excitement in the cancer research field recently. Preliminary results from a trial with patients who had melanoma or skin cancer, showed that a ‘cancer vaccine’ had been successful in reducing the recurrence of melanoma tumours. This vaccine, called instamaren autogene, is based on mRNA technology – the same tech that was used to manufacture Covid vaccines during the pandemic. A number of other trials across the world are also looking into how mRNA vaccines can help prevent the recurrence of certain hard-to-treat cancers. So what are these new therapies and what cancer do they treat? Why are they called vaccines when they don’t actually prevent cancer? How does mRNA tech work and how is AI helpful in this? Will these personalised treatments be available in India any time soon and how expensive will they be? Guest: Dr. Narayana Subramaniam, Lead Consultant, Head and Neck Surgery and Oncology, Aster Hospitals, and Adjunct Faculty at the Indian Institute of Science, Bengaluru. Host: Zubeda Hamid Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Much was expected from the Indian men’s hockey team after back to back bronze medals at the highest level of the sport – the Olympic Games. The core of the team that took part in the recently concluded World Cup was the same as the one that medalled at the Paris Olympics in 2024. Yet we struggled against the top teams at the recently concluded World Cup. Despite having a coach in Craig Fulton who is known for a defense-first approach, the single most disappointing aspect of the team’s performance was in defence, as it conceded 19 goals in just six games. What is the team missing, and what does this performance bode for the upcoming Asian Games where are the defending champions? We speak with Uthra Ganesan from The Hindu’s Sports Bureau. Host: G Sampath Producer: Shiksha Jural Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices