In Focus by The Hindu

Recently, the Supreme Court heard a plea seeking compensation to the families of those who have died from COVID-19 or post-COVID complications. The petitioners, citing Section 12 of the Disaster Management Act, 2005, and a 2015 notification, said that the Centre should make ex gratia payment of ₹4 lakh to each of the victims’ families.

But the government has been reluctant to commit to any such compensation. It has said that given the magnitude of the COVID-19 death toll --- which is nearly 4 lakh as per official figures (and likely to go up) – this would mean paying ₹4 lakh to nearly 4 lakh families, which may not be feasible.

Is the government obliged under the law to pay compensation for COVID deaths? How credible are arguments that payouts of this magnitude are not financially feasible or advisable? How realistic is the idea of setting up a dedicated COVID Compensation Fund, which has been mooted by the Opposition?

For more clarity on these questions, we speak to Dr Abhay Shukla, who has been working on public and community health issues for over 35 years. A national co-convenor of the Jan Swasthya Abhiyan, Dr Shukla has also been a member of the National Human Rights Commission’s committee for formulating human rights responses to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hosted by G. Sampath 

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The 2021 French Open semi-final between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal is widely considered as one of the greatest contests the sport has seen. The match, pitting the world’s number one player against the greatest clay court player the game has seen, was a feast of high quality tennis.

While a great deal has been written about the historic nature of Djokovic’s victory, it is still unclear what exactly he did differently to pull it off. After all, starting with Roger Federer, every top player of the past decade has thrown everything and the kitchen sink at Nadal and failed to break his supremacy at the French Open, which he has won 13 times, losing just twice in more than 15 years.

We dissect Djokovic’s epic run at this year’s French Open, which actually began at the finals of the Italian Open in May, where he lost to Nadal in the final, and ended with another humdinger of a final against Stefanos Tsitsipas. We also delve into what Djokovic’s 19th Grand Slam means for the GOAT debate, which has so far been dominated by Federer and Nadal. Our guest for this episode is Sanjeev Kassal.

Sanjeev is a winner of five National Tennis Championship (Seniors) titles and six International Tennis Federation (ITF) Seniors titles. He has been a commentator and interviewer at the Commonwealth Games, the 2012 London Olympics, the 2013 French Open, and many of India’s Davis Cup matches.

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We are looking ahead to the final of the ICC World Test Championship, billed as the World Cup of Test cricket. Over the last two years, nine teams have played several series against other opponents, accumulating points. The disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic meant that not all series could go ahead, forcing the ICC to come up with a modified points system that would allow the tournament to run its course and stage the planned final.

The top two teams, India and New Zealand, will play each other in a one-off Test match at Southampton starting on Friday. This is the first such championship final of its kind in Test cricket.

We discuss the evolution of the WTC, the fairness of the points system, possible changes in the format and the prospects of the two sides.

Guest: Sharda Ugra, independent sports journalist

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In this episode we discuss the recent G7 summit, the messages and the larger themes that emerged and the key takeaways for India. We're joined by the Hindu’s national and diplomatic affairs editor Suhasini Haidar and China Correspondent Ananth Krishnan.

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As the world stumbles through a second year of the COVID-19 pandemic, it is clear that both its catastrophic toll on human life and the severe socioeconomic dislocation it has caused matter equally. Yet it is also becoming clear that there is a growing inequality associated with governments and private citizens’ responses to the pandemic – whether in terms of access to vaccines or public policy measures to support the most vulnerable sections.

In this context, the work of Professor Branko Milanovic of the Stone Center on Socio Economic Inequality at the City University of New York, and former lead economist in the World Bank’s Research Department for almost 20 years, matters ever more today, especially his study of the relationship between inequality and different forms of capitalism across the world. On this episode of the In Focus podcast, he shares his perspective on this subject, including on its relevance to India, with The Hindu's Associate Editor Narayan Lakshman.

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For a couple of days in a row now, India has reported less than 1 lakh COVID-19 cases in a day, with recoveries outnumbering daily cases. Our vaccine programme, however, continues to remain sluggish with only 3.4% of the population fully vaccinated, and 14.1% having received one dose. A lot has been said about the 'Delta' variant being responsible for the second wave that ravaged the country, and a lot of questions remain about the effectiveness of vaccines against virus mutations. Since December 2019, what have we learnt about our body's response to Sars-CoV-2?

Is it possible for the virus to keep mutating and developing "immune escape" properties? Does a "mix and match" strategy of using two different vaccines on a person work? And could we have done better to ensure vaccine equity, especially at a time when supplies seem to be running short?

To talk to us about these issues, we have with us today Dr. Satyajit Rath, adjunct professor at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Pune

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More than a year after COVID-19 first made the headlines, the most basic questions about the origins of SARS-COV-2 remain unanswered. We still don’t know how the first human being got infected. We don’t know if this virus naturally evolved the proteins needed to infect humans, or if those mutations were engineered in a lab.

At the same time, these questions – which need scientific answers – have become heavily politicised. Until early 2021, the hypothesis that the pandemic originated in a leak at the Wuhan Institute of Virology was dismissed as a crackpot theory. But now a series of in-depth media reports have given the lab leak hypothesis new respectability. How do we understand this sudden shift? What are the various interests and agendas trying to influence the origins narrative? And will we ever know for sure what exactly caused a pandemic that has dislocated modern life in so many profound ways?

To better understand these fascinating questions, we speak to Thomas Abraham, adjunct associate professor at the University of Hong Kong and author of Twenty-First Century Plague: The Story of SARS.

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Seven years after the allegations were first made, a sessions court in Goa has acquitted journalist Tarun Tejpal of rape charges. The 527-page judgment has come under close scrutiny and many legal experts, including feminists, have found the verdict problematic. Some of the purported flaws that have been pointed out include the focus on victim’s sexual history and a certain presumption about so-called “normative behaviour” of a rape victim.

The Goa government has appealed against Tejpal’s acquittal in the Bombay High Court. In its appeal, it has also argued that this is a fit case for retrial. So, how do we really understand the outcome of this high-profile case, whose trial and verdict took up seven years? Has the needle on gender justice moved at all, since the Nirbhaya case, and the celebrated amendments to our rape laws? We discuss these and other questions thrown up by the Tejpal verdict with Arti Raghavan, advocate at the Bombay High Court.

Hosted by: G Sampath

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 When proposed a year ago, the theory suggesting lab-leak origins for the coronavirus was broadly dismissed as conspiracy. Today, it is back in the reckoning. World Health Organisation (WHO) Director General Tedros said in March, after a WHO-China joint mission to Wuhan dismissed the theory as being "extremely unlikely", that it required further investigation. His unexpected comments renewed interest, as did a statement from U.S. President Joe Biden in the last week of May ordering a probe into whether the origins were zoonotic or from a lab accident. One reason behind the renewed attention is the information dug up, although still only circumstantial, by a group of online investigators, called DRASTIC. In this episode, we are joined by The Hindu's Ramya Kannan who has been following their work, explains what they have found so far, and what we know and don't know about the origins of the pandemic.

Show Notes

Ramya Kannan, Online group digs deeper into coronavirus leak theory

https://www.thehindu.com/news/international/online-group-digs-deeper-into-coronavirus-leak-theory/article34746341.ece

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In this episode we discuss the political situation in Israel where Benjamin Netanyahu, the country's longest serving Prime Minister, may finally be on his way-out. Eight political parties, from the right wing Yamina to the Arab-majority Ra’am have come together to form a new coalition, which, if proves majority in the Israeli Parliament, could oust Mr. Netanyahu, who has been in power since 2009. So why did this coalition form? Who are its members and what options does Mr Netanyahu have before him as things move forward?

We discuss these questions today with The Hindu’s International Affairs editor Stanly Johny.

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