businessline podcasts

Burning fossil fuels is a major contributor to climate change. However, these materials continue to be our major source of energy and they dominate the global energy system. A new study published in the Nature journal has assessed the quantity of fossil fuels that need to be left in the ground, both regionally and globally, to allow for a 50 per cent probability of limiting warming to 1.5 °C. But, is it actually feasible to do so? Listen in.

In this second part of our special podcast on India's big push for palm oil, TR Vivek speaks to Bhavna Prasad, director of sustainable business at World Wide Fund for Nature  (WWF) in India, on the ecological risks. Do government assurances that palm plantations won't come up on forest land wash? Is oil palm a water guzzler that will add to our water woes?

Listen.

The Taliban announced its interim government on Tuesday. The 33-member Cabinet is male-dominated and is all from the group itself, despite previous promises to form an inclusive administration for all Afghans. The group, which overthrew the civilian government amid the troop withdrawal of the US, has four big challenges ahead. Listen in.

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Indian imports 60% of the edible oil it consumes and runs up an import bill of Rs 80,000 crore. Of that palm oil alone accounts for 55%. In the quest for self-sufficiency, the government wants to promote palm oil cultivation big time in India. The target is to grow it on 3 million hectares over the next decade. So, what's the problem? While palm is the most prolific and efficient source of vegetable oil, it has a really bad reputation. Activists call it the coal of the food world: bad for health, bad for the planet. In southeast Asia palm monoculture has eaten into nearly 10 million hectares of forests. In middle class perception, it's an unhealthy oil. Why then the push for a policy that literally takes us from the frying pan to fire? TR Vivek speaks to Dr RK Mathur, director Indian Institute of Oil Palm Research on this polarising and fatty matter.

In this episode of the Portfolio podcast, we look at bumper-to-bumper insurance and other add-ons available for vehicle insurance.

The recent Madras High Court order making bumper-to-bumper insurance mandatory for new vehicles sold from September 2021, has generated interest. The order also mentions providing cover for the driver, the passengers and the owners.

Tune into the discussion between Satya Sontanam, Research Analyst and Sai Prabhakar, Principal Research Analyst, to know more about bumper-to-bumper insurance and accident covers available for vehicle owners.

In less than two months, large parts northern India will yet again turn into unbreathable gas chamber as farmers in Punjab and Haryana begin to burn their paddy crop residue. It is not only a health hazard, especially during the Covid pandemic but also an annual global embarrassment for India. Can this be conyained? TR Vivek is in conversation with AK Singh the director of Indian Agriculture Research Institute, that has developed a bio enzyme that can decompose the paddy stalks without the need to burn them, and Dhruv Sawhney, the COO of the agritech firm Nurture Farm that will help farmers to use the bio decomposer for free.

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The final phase of implementation of the peak margin rules comes into effect today, the first of September. What does this mean? and, how does it affect the markets? 

Today, we are joined by Deputy Editor KS Badri Narayan, who will help us understand the issue better.

Listen.

Recently, popular items like  Jamnagri Bandhini, Kolhapuri chappals, Kashmiri Papier Mache, Naga chilies, and Tamil Nadu machine parts have been chosen by the Centre for export promotion and increasing market accessibility under the One District One Product (ODOP) project. 

The scheme is a flagship project of the Modi government and the Prime Minister has spoken about how it can help small industries

BusinessLine's Amiti Sen tells us more about the Government's One District, One Product (ODOP) scheme.

Listen in.

Hiring activity in India is at a pre-pandemic baseline, for the first time in months, according to data from job platform Indeed. As per Indeed's report, job growth continues to accelerate, and more workers are finding jobs or are starting to pick up their job search.

Sectors tied to the reopening of the labour market are leading the way with IT, Sanitation and Retail fueling demand. Listen to this podcast to know more.

The world has not had a new tuberculosis (TB) drug in about half a century, and then there were three. One of them, Pretomanid, was developed by non-profit organisation TB Alliance. Its President and CEO Dr Mel Spigelman gives us a peek into plans to make it more available, besides explaining why it is necessary to walk the fine line between medicine affordability and supply sustainability.

As part of a three drug regimen - Bedaquiline, pretomanid and linezolid , or BPaL as it is known, is recommended to treat highly drug-resistant forms of TB.