In Focus by The Hindu

By The HinduNews News Commentary

In Focus by The Hindu episodes

November 05 In Focus-Parley | Are lower MRPs on cancer drugs translating into affordable care?
While the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) recent trade margin rationalisation has reduced the prices of several anti-cancer medicines, experts say India needs comprehensive cancer care, stronger price regulation, greater transparency and expanded public healthcare provision to protect patients from catastrophic expenditure.
Are lower MRPs on cancer drugs translating into affordable care? Here, we discuss.
Guests: Dr. Indu Bhushan, bureaucrat, economist and the first CEO of Ayushman Bharat; Mr. K.M. Gopakumar, legal advisor, senior researcher and public health expert.
Host: Bindu Shajan Perappadan
Producer: Jude Weston

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
48 min
November 03 Agarkar to Ojha: how much power do Indian selectors have?
With Ajit Agarkar departing his role as the chief selector of the Indian men's cricket team, Pragyan Ojha now leads a reconstituted five-member selection committee. With the 2027 ODI World Cup on the horizon, how much power do Indian cricket selectors really have?

In this episode of In Focus, we discuss about Agarkar’s legacy, what to expect from Ojha at the helm, and how selectors build and blood a squad.

We also discuss how much say the captain and the coach have, how the scouting network covers India’s enormous domestic talent pool, and whether selectors should explain their decisions in public.
Host: Reuben Joe Joseph
Guest: Amol Karhadkar, Deputy Editor, Sports
Producer: Jude Weston

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
37 min
November 02 From the Archives | Can India make cancer care more affordable?
(This episode was aired on October 5.)
From November 9, 2026, the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) is implementing a 30% cap on trade margins for 137 anti-cancer drugs. We go back to the episode that spoke of the soaring cancer drug prices and how can a pooled procurement and value based pricing improve affordability of cancer care in India.
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, 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
1 hr 3 min
October 31 How Private Equity Is Driving Up Your Hospital Bills
For most Indians, the bulk of their medical expenses come out of pocket. In such a scenario, rapidly rising healthcare costs are no less dangerous than any deadly disease. One major reason for cost escalation is the entry of private equity into India’s healthcare sector.
A new book, titled ‘The Silent Syndicate: How Big Finance is Destroying India’s Healthcare’ documents how global financial capital is gobbling up Indian hospitals, pharma companies, insurance players, and diagnostic labs. And all of this is happening in a regulatory void, with the state seemingly abandoning its responsibility toward the well-being of its own citizens.
How did we let this happen? What is the remedy? Is there a way to keep privatised healthcare both affordable and accountable to patients?
We speak with public policy expert and the book’s author, Ameer Shahul.
Host: G Sampath
Producer: Shiksha Jural

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
58 min
October 30 Stem cell therapy for autism: Why has the Supreme Court stepped in?
Earlier this month, the Supreme Court asked the Central government to issue a clear public protocol to curb malpractice in stem cell therapy for autism spectrum disorder. This follows a judgement given in January this year following a petition that raised concerns about the commercial promotion and administration of stem cell “therapy” for autism. The court examined the scientific and regulatory position and held that, given the evidence available at present, stem cell therapy for ASD could not be offered by medical practitioners as a clinical service outside an approved and monitored clinical trial or research setting. The Health Ministry’s current approved list covers 18 adult and 14 paediatric indications. Autism is not on this list.
What are the implications of the Supreme Court order, and why was it necessary? Is stem cell therapy something that is being researched for autism abroad and in India and should this continue? Why is the prevalence of autism believed to be increasing and what should we know about it?
Guest: Dr. Ennapadam S. Krishnamoorthy, neuropsychiatrist and founder, Buddhi Clinic, Chennai
Host: Zubeda Hamid
Producer: Jude Francis Weston

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
28 min
October 29 In Focus-Parley | Are youth worried they will be worse off than their parents?
Europe is seeing a wave of protests against economic inequalities and poor living standards. The immediate causes vary across countries, from the housing crisis in Spain and issues with the education system in France to public anger over perceived corruption in Serbia and Albania. But one thing is common: youth at the vanguard. Europe always had space for democratic dissent and has seen major protests to influence state systems and public policy.
But with more and more youth taking the streets across the continent and beyond, are these protests merely reactionary, or is there a generational, existential anxiety at play? Are youth worried they will be worse off than their parents? Here, we discuss.
Guests: Gilles Verniers and Rohit Azad
Host: Vighnesh P. Venkitesh

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
49 min
October 29 AI and religion: Are AI chatbots conscious?
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
32 min
October 28 When a Hindu BC converts to Islam: Why SC said no automatic quota benefits
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
56 min
October 27 Sahil Wakode’s death: How rife is caste discrimination in IITs?
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
47 min
October 24 What makes Real Madrid vs Barcelona football's greatest rivalry?
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
37 min