In Focus by The Hindu

We are now past the halfway point of the Tokyo Olympics, which is a good time to pause and take stock. India started off well, with an early silver for Mirabai Chanu in weightlifting. But there were several disappointments thereafter, especially in shooting, and in boxing as well.

In the run-up to the Games, many in India believed that this would be India’s best Olympics ever in terms of medal haul. Our most successful Games so far, purely in terms of the number of medals won, was the 2012 London Olympics, when we came back with six medals, two silver and four bronze. So, at the halfway mark of the Tokyo Games, how do we stand in terms of beating, or at least matching, that record?

In this podcast, we get some answers as well as the reasons for the underwhelming results the past week.

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

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

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Basavaraj Bommai became Karnataka’s 30th Chief Minister of Karnataka on July 28. He went from being Home Minister in the Cabinet of B.S. Yediyurappa to displacing him as the Chief Minister in a matter of 48 hours.

Several reasons have been trotted out as to why BJP felt the need to replace Yediyurappa – his age, the fact that dissidence against him was on the rise within the party, and that corruption allegations had made him vulnerable. But while all these may have played a role they do not, in themselves, provide a convincing explanation as to why Yediyurappa’s departure was in the party’s best interests.

So, what explains the departure of the BJP’s tallest leader in the State in the middle of his term as Chief Minister? What are the implications of the choice of Basavaraj Bommai as Yediyurappa’s successor? And will Yediyurappa fade away into retirement or continue to play a role in active politics?

Guest: K.V. Aditya Bharadwaj

Host G. Sampath

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On Wednesday, July 28, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited India and held key meetings with External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar, NSA Ajit Doval, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, as well as representatives of civil society organisations. In this episode, we look at the main takeaways of the visit and ask where India U.S. relations are headed as they deal with shared concerns on Afghanistan and China among other issues. We also ask how the Biden administration's strong emphasis on promoting democratic values abroad figured during the visit, and how New Delhi views its approach to democracy and the contrast from the previous Trump era.

Guest: Suhasini Haidar, Diplomatic Affairs Editor, The Hindu

Host: Ananth Krishnan, China correspondent, The Hindu

Read more: 

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/antony-blinken-holds-talks-with-nsa-ajit-doval-meets-civil-society-representatives/article35577671.ece

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/indian-democracy-is-powered-by-its-freethinking-citizens-blinken/article35583397.ece

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There has been considerable debate over the Trafficking in Persons (Prevention, Care and Rehabilitation) Bill, 2021, which is likely to be introduced in the ongoing monsoon session of the Parliament.

The objective of the Bill is “to prevent and counter trafficking in persons, especially women and children, to provide for care, protection, and rehabilitation to the victims, while respecting their rights, and creating a supportive legal, economic and social environment for them, the Union Ministry of Women and Child Development has said. The National Investigation Agency, a counter-terrorism agency, has been made the nodal investigative agency for trafficking crimes. The Bill also states that the consent of the victim could be immaterial, leading to concerns that it would criminalise. Other concerns raised include draconian penal provisions, including death for some offences, and a heavy-handed approach that does not adequately address the root cause of trafficking -- poverty.

Guest: Kaushik Gupta, an advocate practicing in Kolkata who heads a team of lawyers from West Bengal and Maharashtra, at the anti-trafficking collective Tafteesh.

Host: Zubeda Hamid

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In this episode, we are examining the rise of what's being called China's wolf warrior Diplomacy, referring to an increasingly assertive brand of fiery diplomacy from many of Beijing's diplomats and foreign envoys. What exactly is wolf warrior diplomacy? Is this new diplomacy a change in merely style, or also a change in substance? What does history tell us about how domestic political trends in China shape Beijing's external behaviour? What do these changes mean for countries like India and their relations with China?

Guest: Peter Martin, journalist and author of China's Civilian Army: The Making of Wolf Warrior Diplomacy.

Host: Ananth Krishnan, China Correspondent, The Hindu

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With the Tokyo Olympics finally kicking off this week, one year late, there is both excitement as well as uncertainty around the event. Tokyo is still under a COVID emergency, and there are many who worry that the Olympics shouldn’t become a public health catastrophe. In Japan itself, public opinion is sharply divided. In fact, one of the biggest Olympic sponsors, Toyota, has said that they won’t be running TV ads in Japan – which is one indicator of the public mood about the Games.

But despite the misgivings around the pandemic, the show is set to go on, and in India, there is already plenty of buzz about medal prospects. We try and get a sense of what’s in store in the coming weeks in Japan, both within the sporting arena and beyond.

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

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

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During the recent Cabinet reshuffle, the government announced the creation of a Ministry of Cooperation. The Ministry’s mandate, the government says, “is to provide a separate administrative, legal and policy framework for strengthening the co-operative movement in the country”.

Opposition parties have called it an attempt by the Centre to take over a a domain that comes under the State governments. Critics have also read political significance into the fact that this ministry is being headed by Home Minister Amit Shah.

So, why do we need a Ministry of Cooperation, and how will it impact the vast universe of India’s co-operatives?

Guest: Professor C. Shambu Prasad, Institute of Rural Management, Anand

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

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An international group of news publications are reporting that a spyware known as Pegasus has been used to spy on politicians, journalists, and activists in at least 10 countries. Reports from the group, which includes The Wire in India, The Guardian in the U.K., and Washington Post in the U.S. among others, suggest that in India, at least 40 journalists, sitting Cabinet Ministers, and holders of Constitutional positions were possibly subjected to surveillance.

The Pegasus spyware is graded as a cyberweapon and NSO states that its clients include only authorised government entities from various countries. This leads to some problematic inferences, particularly in India where the target list includes Opposition leaders, social activists from leftist organisation, journalists who have written against the government and constitutional officers who have reportedly not toed the government line.

In this podcast, we discuss the constitutionality of electronic surveillance in India and whether the laws that govern them are robust enough.

Guest: Apar Gupta, lawyer and Executive Director of the Internet Freedom Foundation.

Host: P.J. George

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With less than a year to go for the Assembly elections, the infighting in the Punjab unit of the Congress party has been making the headlines. The two main protagonists are Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh and Navjot Singh Sidhu.

Punjab, incidentally, is one of the handful of states where the Congress has done well and the BJP is on a weak wicket. Capt. Amarinder is often touted as a rare Congress success story that comes when regional leaders operate with autonomy. But Sidhu has not only openly challenged Capt Amarinder’s leadership, he also has the ear of the party’s high command in Delhi, which seems ready to go the extra mile to accommodate him.

With Assembly elections due early next year, what are the options for the Congress, which needs to resolve this conflict in order for its campaign to take off? Why does the Congress high command find it important to keep Sidhu happy?

Guest: Varghese George, Associate Editor, The Hindu.

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

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Over the past few weeks, the debate on population control in India has been re-ignited. Uttar Pradesh, the most populous State in India, has introduced a draft bill that says that those with more than two children will be debarred from government-sponsored welfare schemes and from contesting in elections to local bodies, while incentives for those who adhere to the two-child norm include subsidies to buy land and build houses. Assam's Chief Minister recently advised the minority community to adopt "decent population control measures" and calls have come from Karanataka too, for the adoption of a two-child policy. Even while data shows us that India's fertility rate is declining, our population is set to grow, and to overtake China by 2027 or earlier. But do we need a two-child policy? Do such government regulations on family size work? How have other countries, especially those in Asia, explored population stabilisation measures? Guest: Poonam Muttreja, executive director, Population Foundation of India Host: Zubeda Hamid

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