In Focus by The Hindu

The rise of China is a global reality that has upset many international calculations. To understand the growing Chinese footprint, it’s important to understand the internal dynamics of the Chinese Communist Party. 

The Hindu’s China Correspondent Ananth Krishnan has been reporting on the passage of what has been called “Resolution on the Major Achievements of the Party over the Past Century” by the sixth plenum, or closed-door meeting, of the Party’s Central Committee. 

The resolution elevates the country’s current president and general secretary Xi Jinping to the status of Mao Zedong and reformer Deng Xiaoping. The writing on the wall also suggests that Mr. Xi will have a third term as President and party leader unlike his immediate predecessors Hu Jintao and Jiang Zemin. 

We talk about what these changes mean for the functioning of the party and the country in this episode. 

Guest: Ananth Krishnan, China Correspondent, The Hindu 

Host: Amit Baruah, Senior Associate Editor, The Hindu 

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After the Taliban took over Afghanistan by force earlier this year, India, like many other countries, was forced to deal with the new realities in the country. The change was emphasized by India hosting as many as seven regional national security officials from around Afghanistan on November 10. Pakistan and China were conspicuous by their absence. 

India’s influence in Afghanistan has clearly waned after the Taliban took over. Is the regional route the best route to keep itself relevant in Afghan affairs for India? Are there any other options besides engaging the Taliban? How does this sit with the deteriorating human rights and humanitarian situation in Afghanistan? 

We discuss these issues in this episode.

Guest: T C A Raghavan, former Indian High Commissioner to Pakistan and Joint Secretary who dealt with Afghanistan. 

Host: Amit Baruah, Senior Associate Editor, The Hindu 

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Ethiopia is in the middle of a civil war. In November 2020, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2019, ordered what seemed like a limited military operation in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region. It was expected to be a quick, low-key war. But the rebel Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF), an ethno-nationalist paramilitary group-cum-political party, managed to turn the tables on federal forces. It has now taken two key cities on the highway to the national capital, and is threatening to capture the national capital, Addis Ababa.

Prime Minister Ahmed has called upon all civilians to sign up for military training and join the fight against the Tigrayan rebels. In the meantime, hundreds of civilians have died, thousands injured, and there is a food and communications blockade against the Tigray region, including its capital Mekelle, which is home to half a million people. There have also been reports of massacres and rapes by security forces. What exactly triggered this conflict? How did a Nobel Peace prize-winning Prime Minister end up leading his country into war? With neither side keen on talks just yet, what is the likely roadmap to a lasting peace? We look for answers in this episode.

Guest: Stanly Johny, The Hindu’s International Affairs Editor

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

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Even as India is recovering from its battering by COVID-19, there has been a significant rise in cases of another viral disease: dengue. States across the country are seeing a spurt in cases of the disease, transmitted by the bite of an infected Aedes aegypti mosquito, and several are witnessing multiple deaths, even as hospitals fill up rapidly. As per government statistics, there have been 60,112 cases of dengue recorded in the country as of September this year, an increase from the 44,585 recorded for all of last year. 

Director-general of the Indian Council of Medical Research, Dr Balram Bharagava, said last month that a majority of the deaths in parts of Uttar Pradesh were due to the D2 strain of dengue, which can cause haemorrhaging that can be fatal. On Monday, November 1, Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya chaired a review meeting to take stock of the dengue situation across the country, and said expert teams were being sent to States that had seen an increase in cases.

Why has India had such bad dengue season this year? Is it linked to the delayed withdrawal of the southwest monsoon and the floods that many parts of the country experienced? Are the dengue statistics accurate or is there under-reporting and how do you tell if your symptoms are of dengue or COVID-19?

We discuss these and more in this episode.

Guest: Dr Subramanian Swaminathan, Director, Infectious Diseases, Gleneagles Global Hospital, Chennai

Host: Zubeda Hamid

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Facebook has had its share of problems over the years, from privacy issues to data leaks to fake news. Now, internal documents made public by former Facebook employee Francis Haugen show that these problems may have been more systematic. They suggest that Facebook may have been aware of the problems that it was causing while doing little about it. Reporting on these internal documents, the New York Times said that in India, Facebook was facing an amplified version of its problems with misinformation and hate speech but allocated very little resources to deal with it.

So what are the wider issues that these papers raise? What is the answer to the problems that Facebook causes, considering the outsize influence it has? We discuss these and more in this episode.

Guest: Mishi Choudhary, founder and Legal director of the Software Freedom Law Centre

Host: P.J. George

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With Punjab just a few months away from assembly polls, former Congressman Captain Amarinder Singh has announced that is launching launching a new party. When the Captain was unceremoniously replaced as Punjab CM by Charanjit Singh Channi in September, people expected that he would make the Congress pay. This week, he made his intentions clear with two statements: that a large number of Punjab Congressmen are set to join his party, and that he will work out a seat-sharing arrangement with the BJP.

What kind of challenge would Amarinder’s party pose to the Congress, and to the other contenders – the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Akali Dal? And has the Captain’s exit resolved the internal strife within Punjab Congress?

We explore these questions in this episode.

Guest: Amandeep Sandhu, author of Panjab: Journeys Through Fault Lines (2019)

Host: G Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu

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The 26th Conference of parties of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), or CoP 26 as it is popularly called was held a few days ago in Glasgow, Scotland. At the summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced that India will aim to attain net zero emissions by 2070. He also announced that India will draw 50% of its consumed energy from renewable sources by 2030, and cut its carbon emissions by a billion tonnes by the same year. This announcement of a net zero date by India is considered a surprise move by many. What exactly is net zero and why is it important? What has been India's stance on it so far, and what does the new announcement by PM Modi mean? We discuss these in this episode.

Guest: Jacob Koshy, The Hindu's Deputy Science Editor

Host: P.J. George

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After presenting a picture of being on the same page for a considerable length of time, the appointment of a new chief of the Inter-Services Intelligence, or ISI, Directorate, created a very public void between Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan and Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa. It appears that the appointment of a new chief was as important as the shunting out of the old one, Lt. Gen. Faiz Hameed, after his very public statements to the press in Kabul days after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan.

Though Imran Khan finally approved the appointment of Lt. Gen. Anjum on October 27, many Pakistani analysts believe that there could be more to come in the ongoing saga of civil-military relations in Pakistan. We discuss this issue in this episode.

Guest: Rana Banerji, former IAS officer and retired Special Secretary, Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India

Host: Amit Baruah, Senior Associate Editor, The Hindu

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The Reserve Bank of India’s new norms and guidelines for recurring payments came into effect this month. One of them, for instance, lays down that banks should send a pre-debit notification to credit card holders 24 hours before an actual debit is done. There are other requirements as well with regard to the nature and duration of an e-mandate for recurring payments. What all this means is that, from October 1st, standing instructions with one’s payments provider may not work without some additional steps.

This has already affected certain subscription services, including media and OTT subscriptions, and unless all merchants and banks are fully equipped to meet the new requirements, the disruptions would continue. So, what exactly are these new requirements for recurring transactions? What prompted the RBI to come up with them? How will they change the subscription economy going forward? And are there any privacy implications of these new norms?

We explore these questions and more in this episode.

Guest: Srikanth Lakshmanan of CashlessConsumer, a consumer collective that works on digital payments

Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor The Hindu

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German luxury carmaker Mercedes-Benz has started a new model of retail in India – what it calls ‘Retail of the Future (ROTF), under which it is now selling its cars directly to customers. Traditionally, a car-maker would sell cars to a dealer, and the dealer would then sell the car to the customer. Customers had the option of visiting different dealerships, comparing prices, and pitting one dealer against the dealer in a bid to get the best discount.

But now, in this new model, they would have to purchase the cars directly from Mercedes-Benz. What is the business logic behind this new model of retail? How does it change things for the customer? How does it change the business for dealers? And most critically, is this something that will remain restricted to the luxury segment or, are we likely to see even mass market car-makers make the shift to selling the cars directly to customers?

We explore all these questions in this episode.

Guest: Puneet Gupta, Director of Automotive Sales Forecasting at IHS Markit

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

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