In Focus by The Hindu

Do you have frequent panic attacks? Are there behaviour patterns that you know you need to change but you can’t? Is your day to day life ruled by fear? Then it’s possible – though not a certainty – that you’re displaying symptoms of trauma.

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"Prisoners do not cease to be bearers of constitutional rights upon incarceration." — The Supreme Court, in a February 2026 order, was pointed in its language as it directed States and UTs to develop a time-bound protocol for filling vacancies in Open Correctional Institutions (OCIs). The Delhi government has since been tasked to start work on an implementation strategy to restructure the open prison model in the national capital.

The apex court's mandate came on a PIL addressing prison overcrowding, but in doing so, it opened a larger question about what punishment itself means in a constitutional democracy.

If India were to finally scale up and reform its open prison model, could it meaningfully dent the overcrowding crisis? Or is the more urgent question whether OCIs need to be seen as far more deliberate spaces where the metrics go beyond just occupancy?

Guest: Medha Deo, Director, Fair Trail Programme (Square Circle Clinic) 

Host: Vibha B. Madhava

Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian

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On May 17, the President promulgated an ordinance increasing the sanctioned strength of the Supreme Court from 34 to 38 judges. The ordinance is expected to be tabled during the Monsoon Session of Parliament. The move came just days after the Union Cabinet approved the Supreme Court (Number of Judges) Amendment Bill, 2026, stating that the addition of four judges would enable the apex court to function more efficiently and facilitate “speedy justice”. According to data from the National Judicial Data Grid, pendency before the apex court currently stands at a staggering 93,966 cases. Is increasing the Supreme Court’s sanctioned strength an effective way to reduce pendency?

Guest: Prashant Reddy T. and Swapnil Tripathi discuss the question in a conversation

Host: Aaratrika Bhaumik

Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian

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Meta has ended support for end-to-end encrypted messaging on Instagram, effective May 8, 2026. The policy reversal, citing low adoption, comes against a backdrop of mounting regulatory pressure worldwide to crack down on illegal content — terrorism, piracy, child abuse material — exchanged through encrypted channels.

The implications stretch well beyond one platform or a rarely-used feature. When private messages are plaintext, the questions of who can access them and under what circumstances become critical. This episode also unpacks what it means for ordinary users, beyond the privacy-versus-safety framing.

Guest: Mishi Choudhary, technology lawyer and founder of Software Freedom Law Centre (sflc.in)

Host: Vibha B. Madhava

Producer: Sharmada Venkatasubramanian

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The CBSE has been facing flak for its re-evaluation process for Class 12 Board exams this year. Parents and students have complained of a dysfunctional website, blurred answer sheets, and missing pages. At the heart of the controversy is the newly introduced On-Screen Marking (OSM), with thousands of complaints of unfair evaluation and faulty marking. The education minister has announced that the CBSE will engage IIT experts to address the technical challenges. But are technical glitches the only problem? We get to the bottom of the controversy in this episode, and joining us today are two special guests – a CBSE evaluator, and a parent. 

Guests:

Kavita Sharma (name changed), is a teacher in a government CBSE school who worked as an evaluator this year using On-Screen marking. On Kavita’s request, to protect her identity, we have not used her real name or her video in this episode. 

Mohit Tomar, parent of a Class 12 student, has spent much of last week trying to get his son’s exam papers re-evaluated.

Host: G. Sampath

Edited and produced by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian

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According to a global heat map that recently went viral, almost 95 of the world’s 100 hottest places were in India. This summer, Indian cities are recording higher temperatures than even the deserts of West Asia and Africa. How come? 

Climate change is certainly a factor. But it doesn’t exhaust the explanation for why India is so much hotter in April – even before the start of peak summer. 

Though there is global warming, there is evidence that a lot of the warming is specific to India, and to the way India does development – through reckless tree-felling and deforestation, unchecked ecocide, and stacking up tree-scarce cities with cement, concrete, asphalt and glass to produce ‘urban heat islands’. 

What exactly is the relationship between poor planning and heat stress in India? And what does it mean to incorporate heat resilience into urban planning? 

Guest: Environmental expert Karthik Ganesan, Fellow at the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), Delhi

Host: G. Sampath

Edited and produced by Shiksha Jural

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India has 30-35 million people with disabilities. It’s now ten years since the enactment of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act, 2016. Yet, accessibility remains a challenge – not only in the real world, but even in the digital one.

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The cancellation and retest of National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET-UG) 2026 has exposed deep cracks in India’s examination system. Allegations of paper leaks, corruption and repeated lapses by the National Testing Agency (NTA) has pushed lakhs of aspirants into uncertainty, stress and emotional exhaustion, raising urgent questions about transparency, accountability and the credibility of national competitive exams. The Hindu looks at whether this high-stake, single day, single shift, all- India exam for admission to all medical courses in India should be decentralized.

Guests: Dr. G.R. Ravindranath, founder and general secretary, Doctors’ Association for Social Equality & Balaji Sampath, founder, AhaGuru, prepares students for NEET, JEE and Board exam through online courses.

Host: Bindu Shajan Perappadan

Producer: Jude Francis Weston

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Abhijeet Dipke, a student of public relations in the US, woke up from uneasy dreams one morning and found himself transformed into a ‘gigantic cockroach’. He then founded the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), as a joke. But it quickly acquired a momentum of its own. In less than four days, it notched up more than 1.6 lakh members and 2 million followers on Instagram.

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As the 2026 IPL heads toward its playoffs, questions are growing around whether the tournament still holds the same cultural grip it once did. While the league remains hugely valuable and widely watched, concerns around viewer fatigue, repetitive contests, lack of international superstars and the changing audience habits have sparked debate about the IPL’s evolving appeal.

In this episode of In Focus, we examine how IPL consumption patterns have changed over the years — from television to streaming, from full-match viewing to highlights and short-form content. Are flatter pitches and content saturation affecting fan engagement? And what must the IPL do to stay fresh in an increasingly crowded entertainment landscape?

Guest: Jasdeep Pannu, broadcast expert and analyst

Host: Reuben Joe Joseph

Producer and editor: Jude Weston

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