In Focus by The Hindu

This podcast was recorded a few days ago as a quick explainer on various States planning to enact laws against ‘love jihad’. While the term is a talking point of right-wing Hindu groups, it is not one that has a legal basis and so these laws proposed by these are being framed as legislations on freedom of religion and all of them want to ban conversion for the sole purpose of marriage. In the preceding weeks, the State governments of U.P. Haryana and Karnataka, all led by the BJP, announced intentions to enact such laws and just today, the BJP government in Madhya Pradesh said the BJP government was planning a law that would invite five years’ imprisonment for ‘love jihad’.

There is a Special Marriage Act in India, enacted in the year 1954 to facilitate the marriage of couples professing different faiths and preferring a civil wedding. However, a lot of practical problems arise in registering such marriages and so many couples settle for marriage under the personal law of one of them, with the other opting for religious conversion. And this is where the political angles come into play. What are some of the problems with the 1954 Act? What are some legal provisions, already enacted in some States, against conversion for the sake of marriage, that these BJP-ruled States may now seek to borrow from?

Guest: K. Venkataramanan, Associate Editor, The Hindu.

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When President-elect Joe Biden takes office as the 46th President of the United States in January, he will face, in addition to a raging pandemic, an enormous economic challenge.

America’s economic health at home will hinge on whether or not the Biden administration will be able to get one crucial relationship right, the fraying ties with China having descended into outright confrontation. What legacy does Donald Trump leave behind on the China front? Has his trade war achieved its goals? And how will Biden shape America’s China policy? What explains China’s tepid reaction to the Biden victory? (Beijing was, at the time of recording this podcast on November 11, among the few countries to not congratulate the Biden-Harris campaign or acknowledge their victory. China finally issued a terse and measured statement on November 13.)

Guests: Bob Davis and Wei Lingling, authors of Superpower Showdown: How the Battle Between Trump and Xi Threatens a New Cold War

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On November 11, the government issued an order bringing online news portals and Over The Top (OTT) content–providers such as Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and Hotstar under the regulatory purview of the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry. This is a move with far-reaching consequences and could kickstart an era of more frequent and stricter censorship on what online services air.

The Information and Broadcasting Ministry has found a vast swathe of unregulated content, namely online news and Over the top (OTT) platforms which had escaped any architecture of regulation. While the print media were regulated by the Press Council of India, and television content — both news and entertainment — was being regulated by the Cable Networks Regulation Act (2005), content published online, the government felt, fell into a black hole that did not permit oversight.

So, what kind of oversight will this be? How will it work? And what is the potential for misuse or overreach?

Guest: Anuradha Raman, Associate Editor, The Hindu.

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With the results of the Bihar election expected on Tuesday, November 10, major TV networks had released exit polls on Saturday evening predicting that the ruling Janata Dal United–Bharatiya Janata Party alliance is on its way out. One forecast even predicted that the Rashtriya Janata Dal–led opposition alliance could get a two-thirds majority. Others seemed to indicate that it would cross the halfway mark comfortably.

We must add the caveat here that exit polls can be wrong. And it pays to reflect on the divergence we usually end up seeing between pre-poll and post-poll predictions, which will give us a window into the campaigns run by each side and where things stand as we head towards the results. 

Guest: Rahul Verma, a political scientist and a fellow at the centre for policy research in New Delhi.

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There is a chance — in fact, a large chance — that the hugely consequential United States Presidential Election 2020 may not be straightforward. A huge proportion of voters in the U.S. have opted for early voting and mail-in voting, and in different States in the U.S there are different rules for the counting of these votes. Over the last six months, President Trump has sought to claim on Twitter that mail-in voting would lead to voter fraud and the Republicans are likely to throw in legal challenges in several States. Taking us through the scenarios and analysing the situation for each campaign as we head into our election coverage is Narayan Lakshman, Associate Editor of The Hindu and former U.S. correspondent.

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The Antitrust case filed by the U.S. Justice Department against Google on October 20, as well as the U.S. Congress Antitrust report which preceded it, lay out a case against the big four tech companies — Google, Amazon, Facebook and Apple. Both events are seen as major steps toward reining in the growing power of these companies and these are legal battles that are likely to get drawn out over many years.

There’s a lot to unpack here, not least the timing of the U.S. Justice Department case against Google, coming as it did just days before the U.S election. Besides the possible political angle to the case, it may well have the legs to continue even if there is a change of administration in the U.S. Even beyond the U.S. context, moves have been made on regulation of big tech being in the E.U., for instance. So, what should we in India be looking out for as this all unfolds?

Guest: Mishi Choudhary, Legal Director of the Software Freedom Law Centre in New York.

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The big headline from the recently-concluded round of the 2+2 dialogue is that India and the United States have signed the basic exchange and cooperation agreement. BECA involves the sharing of navigation maps for both the air and the sea, including confidential military data, between the two countries. Crucially, it will give India access to high-quality data from U.S. precision military satellites. What does this mean for India’s defence sector?

It would also useful to zoom out a bit and look at these talks and the agreement in a larger geopolitical context. The continuing standoff with China is an obvious factor that underpins the entire dialogue and the U.S. has made no secret of the fact that they are looking to build a counter to China’s growing influence in the region. There are ongoing discussions and developments in the quad alliance between Australia, India, Japan and the U.S., and amidst all that it’s worth wondering whether the signing of the BECA treaty now embeds India, which has so far avoided being seen as part of any coalition in this regard, more firmly in the U.S. camp.

Guests: Suhasini Haidar, Diplomatic Affairs Editor, The Hindu; Dinakar Peri, Defence Correspondent, The Hindu.

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As India continues to walk the challenging path of tackling COVID-19, this month there has been some excitement with regard to possible vaccines.

At present, there are four vaccines in India in various stages of clinical trials — Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin, a vaccine by Zydus Cadila, AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford’s Covishield. And now, permission has been granted for clinical trials for Russia’s Sputnik V as well.

Globally, there are over 150 vaccine candidates in various stages of development — with two major vaccine trials that have been in the news, paused over safety concerns and then re-started.

Recently, India’s Health Minister announced that 250 million people would be vaccinated by July 2021. So what is the status of the vaccines today and how soon can we expect to be vaccinated?

Guest: Dr. Gagandep Kang, Professor, Christian Medical College, Vellore.

Host: Zubeda Hamid

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In this episode, we discuss the politics around the film 800, the biopic on the legendary Sri Lankan cricketer Muttiah Muralitharan and his record of being the first bowler to take 800 Test wickets. This is a film that has been mired in controversy for some time and the latest flash point this week is when the noted actor Vijay Sethupathy pulled out of starring as Murali in the biopic, acting, it seems, upon the advice of Murali himself, who said that he didn’t want the actor’s career to be tarred by the controversy.

What is the controversy? While Muralitharan is a Sri Lankan Tamil who has roots in India, several groups have branded him a “betrayer of Tamils” and alleged that the cricketer supported the killing of Tamil civilians during the armed conflict between the LTTE and the Sri Lankan government. There are many more nuances and complications in this story.

Guest: Meera Srinivasan, Sri Lanka Correspondent, The Hindu.

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Last week, Thailand’s government, led by the Army-chief–turned–Prime Minister Prayuth Chan-Ocha, declared a state of emergency, banning public gatherings and censoring the media, to tackle the growing students’ protests. The protesters though, dismissed the emergency decree as yet another attempt by the government to take away their rights and vowed to continue the agitation. Recently, the government seems to have relented and lifted the emergency, saying that it wants to hear the concerns and demands that the students have. This may be a small victory for the students but there’s still a long way to go.

Guest: Stanly Johny, International Affairs Editor, The Hindu.

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