In Focus by The Hindu

As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine crosses the one-month mark, there have been calls for cessation of hostilities from across the world even as the devastating human and physical toll of the conflict become increasingly clear. While there is a glimmer of hope in the form of potential negotiations between Presidents Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin of Ukraine and Russia respectively, some of the complex geopolitical questions underpinning the crisis, including those relating to the role of NATO, remain unresolved.

Guest: Suriya Jayanti, former U.S. diplomat and energy advisor who served as the U.S. Energy Chief at the U.S. Embassy in Kyiv until 2020. She is now the co-founder of an alternative energy and decarbonization firm working in Ukraine and elsewhere.

Host: Narayan Lakshman, Associate Editor, The Hindu

Edited by Ranjani Srinivasan

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For quite some time now, Indian badminton’s biggest success stories have mostly been women, with the headlines dominated by the likes of P.V. Sindhu and Saina Nehwal. Titles by the men haven’t always come at the highest level or consistently.

But 20-year-old Lakshya Sen has surprised everyone with consistent performances at the highest level over the past nine months. His run to the final of the All England Open Badminton Championships in Birmingham last week marks the first time in 21 years an Indian male shuttler has made it to the finals of this prestigious event. So what makes Lakshya Sen, who has now broken into the top 10, different from the rest? And given that he is only 20, does he have the potential to stay at the top for a long time?

Guest: Rakesh Rao, Deputy Editor (Sports), The Hindu

Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu

Edited by Ranjani Srinivasan

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A little less than four years into his term, Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan faces a make or break no-confidence motion against his government in the country’s parliament, or National Assembly on March 25. Nearly a dozen of his lawmakers, or MNAs as they are known, have announced a parting of ways with the Prime Minister. Mr. Khan’s Army backers appear to be taking a hands-off approach towards his continuing in office. Will he go or will he stay? That’s the central question in Pakistan’s national discourse currently. We discuss in this episode of In Focus podcast.

Guest: Mehmal Sarfraz, a Lahore-based journalist, who has contributed articles for The Hindu in the past.

Host: Amit Baruah, Senior Associate Editor, The Hindu, who worked as the newspaper’s correspondent in Pakistan from 1997 to 2000.

Edited by Ranjani Srinivasan

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There has been a lot of debate over the Karnataka High Court’s verdict upholding a ban on the wearing of hijab in educational institutions. In a nutshell, the High Court’s judgment appears to hold that the hijab is not an essential part of Islam and therefore the right to wear it cannot be protected under the Constitutional right to freedom of religion guaranteed by Article 25. It has been recognized that this case involves a number of key constitutional rights and principles, such as the right to freedom of expression, the right to freedom of conscience and freedom of religion, the right to privacy, the principles of equality and non-discrimination, and the principle of secularism, to name a few. The judgment delivered by the three-judge Bench does engage with these principles. But not everyone is convinced that it has applied the Constitutional provisions correctly. Has the court advanced the cause of women’s emancipation and secularism, as the verdict claims, or is it possible that it may have misconstrued certain Constitutional principles? Guest: Anup Surendranath, teacher of constitutional law at National Law University, Delhi Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu Edited by Ranjani Srinivasan

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We are now into the fourth week of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and there is still not much clarity or consensus on whether and to what extent, Russia has been able to execute its military objectives in this time period. While there is no doubt that Ukraine has decisively won the propaganda war, with the world’s sympathy overwhelmingly in its favour, not many seem to be buying Russia’s line that Ukrainian atrocities in the Donbas region had necessitated what the Kremlin calls a “special military operation”. Nonetheless, it does appear as though Russia’s military operations are focused on securing the Donbas, and perhaps turning the two self-proclaimed republics of Luhansk and Donetsk into some kind of a buffer zone against a militarily defanged yet hostile Ukraine. So, how do we assess Russia’s military campaign? Are the Russians concerned about running out of time? And how do their military successes, or the lack of it, play into their negotiation tactics with the Ukrainians? Guest: Stanly Johny, International Affairs Editor, The Hindu Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu Edited by Reenu Cyriac

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Talmiz Ahmed speaks to us on the steps that India can take to insulate itself from price shocks and what are the chances that OPEC nations will ramp up supply and stabilise global crude prices.

The Russia-Ukraine conflict has begun to have a major impact on the world energy markets. Ever since the conflict started, and especially after the announcement of economic sanctions on Russia, crude prices have been steadily climbing. They have risen most sharply in Europe, which is heavily dependent on Russian natural gas.

U.S. President Joe Biden’s decision to ban Russian oil is further set to roil energy markets. Since oil and natural gas are key inputs for almost every industry, there are fears of worldwide inflation. India, which relies on imports for the bulk of its energy needs, is especially vulnerable to changes in global crude prices. So, what does the war and the sanctions mean for fuel prices and inflation in India? What steps can India take to insulate itself from price shocks? And what are the chances that OPEC nations will ramp up supply and stabilise global crude prices?

Guest : Talmiz Ahmed, a former diplomat who holds the Ram Sathe Chair in International Studies at Symbiosis International University, Pune.

Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu

Edited by Reenu Cyriac

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The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has scored a landslide victory in the Punjab Assembly elections. Punjab is a state that has traditionally been dominated by two parties – the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) and the Congress. But this time the AAP has blown away both these old contenders to win 92 seats in the 117-member Assembly. What were the factors behind Punjab’s embrace of AAP? What are the main expectations that the AAP is expected to fulfill? And what does this election victory mean for the future of politics in the State? Guest: Amandeep Sandhu, author of ‘Panjab: Journeys Through Fault Lines’ (2019) Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu Edited by Reenu Cyriac

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The BJP’s victories in State Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh, Goa, Manipur and Uttarakhand are both comprehensive and complete. Its dominance over north India’s most populous and politically significant State has been re-emphasised. The Samajwadi Party fought the good fight but it was no match for the BJP. The Bahujan Samaj Party cut a sorry figure.

In Punjab, the Aam Aadmi Party, a relatively fresh face in the State’s politics, won four-fifths of the seats – making it the second state after Delhi where AAP now has a government. Whether the party is able to advance beyond these two States is a question being posed by analysts and ordinary people alike.

In Goa, Manipur and Uttarakhand, the BJP managed to buck anti-incumbency and return to power, cutting the Congress to size once again.

We discuss the causes and effects of these results in this episode. 

Guest: Gilles Verniers teaches politics at Ashoka University and is Co-Director of the Trivedi Centre for Political Data.

Host: Amit Baruah, Senior Associate Editor, The Hindu

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After two years of the pandemic, just when people were hoping for a semblance of normalcy, the world has been rocked by a massive war that could have catastrophic effects way beyond the conflict zone and probably change the post-Cold War world order.

One question that just doesn’t go away is: could this war have been avoided? What exactly is Russian President Vladimir Putin’s game plan – why did he not stick to the path of diplomacy, instead of launching a full scale war? How will this war affect his position within Russia? And what is the thinking and mood in Russia at the moment? Does the sanctions regime portend Russia’s decisive pivot to the East, away from Europe, with which it has a long, shared history?

We look for answers to these questions in this episode of In-Focus podcast.

Guest: Danil Bochkov, strategic expert with the Russia International Affairs Council (RIAC), a Moscow-based think tank

Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu

Edited by Ranjani Srinivasan

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Over the last 10 days, desperate students from India have been asking to be evacuated from Ukraine, as the fighting there gets increasingly worse. On Tuesday, a 21-year-old MBBS student from Karnataka was killed in the eastern Ukranian city of Kharkiv, reportedly by Russian firing, when he was waiting outside a grocery store. As of Wednesday evening, at least 2,000 Indian students are believed to still be stranded in the country that is in the midst of an invasion by Russia. Students from India, have, for many years now, gone abroad to study. But apart from the destinations one usually thinks of – such as the United States, UK, Canada and Australia, an increasing number of students are also studying in Russia, China, Ukraine, the Philippines, Kazhakastan and other countries, many for medical degrees. An estimated 18,000 Indian students were studying in Ukraine when the conflict broke out, again, a majority of them at medical universities, many from tier-2 and tier-3 cities of India. Students, parents and educational consultants say the primary driving factor is the costs – while a medical education in Ukraine is estimated to cost around Rs. 20 lakh for the entire course, in India, costs at a private medical college can range from Rs. 50 lakh to upwards of Rs. 1 crore. And how many medical aspirants get into Indian medical colleges? As per government data there are 88,120 MBBS seats available in the country, but only half of these are in the government sector, where the college fees are relatively low. Just last year, over 15 lakh candidates registered for the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test or NEET, which determines admission to medical colleges – which means that a majority of those who attempt the exam will not be able to secure a seat. And the distribution of medical colleges in India too, is skewed – most are in the southern States and Maharashtra, with very few colleges in many northern parts of the country. Even when students do come back after obtaining a medical degree in Ukraine, they cannot immediately practice – they have to write the Foreign Medical Graduates Examination, the pass percentage of which, as per reports, is only around 15%. Over the last five years however, there has been a three-fold increase in the number of candidates attempting this exam. So why is it that medical education continues to remain unaffordable to thousands of our students? Prime Minister Modi, a few days ago, asked why the private sector couldn’t get into this field, and why States couldn’t allot land for medical colleges as many our students were going to small countries abroad to study. Are more private medical colleges in the country the answer or do State governments need to do more to set up government colleges? Are our regulatory frameworks too stringent in the norms required to set up medical colleges? Is capping fees at private colleges, as the National Medical Commission has proposed, for at least some seats, the answer? And can India achieve its commitment of having 1 doctor per 1,000 people as recommended by the World Health Organisation later this decade? Guest : Dr Rajib Dasgupta, Professor at the Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Host: Zubeda Hamid Edited by Reenu Cyriac

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