In Focus by The Hindu

Our discussion in this episode is on issues arising from the Sudarshan TV news case that is currently under consideration by the Supreme Court. Sudarshan TV is a private channel which aired a series of episodes of a programme called ‘UPSC Jihad’ and claimed that it had uncovered a plot in which Muslims were “infiltrating” the civil services.

Last week, a very angry Supreme Court clearly stated that the show was an attempt to vilify Muslims. It granted an injunction on the telecast of the programme, stopping it for the time being, and also said it was going decide how to — and if at all it must — rule on broader questions including the point at which free speech in the media crosses the rubicon to insult a community or breach its dignity, and could thus be considered hate speech. We’ll pick up on that second thread in this episode and take the discussion forward, looking at the questions of law as regarding hate speech in India that the Supreme Court now has an opportunity to bring some clarity on in this case.

Guest: Suhrith Parthasarathy, Advocate, Madras High Court

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India should engage with the Taliban and fully support the peace process, says former Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai. In an interview to The Hindu, Mr. Karzai, who remains involved in the process, speaks of his hopes from the Intra-Afghan negotiations that began in Doha this month, and the future of Afghanistan as the United States plans to pull out troops, in this interview with The Hindu's Diplomatic Affairs Editor, Suhasini Haidar.

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On September 20, the government introduced the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Amendment Bill, 2020 in the Lok Sabha, and it was passed in the Lower House on September 21. The Bill amends the Foreign Contribution (Regulation) Act, 2010, a.k.a. FCRA. The FCRA regulates the acceptance and utilisation of foreign funds by individuals, associations and companies. Civil Society organisations and NGOs are unhappy with the changes proposed in this new Bill. Some of the terms they have used to describe it include “draconian” and “cumbersome”.

What exactly are the changes proposed, and why are civil society organisations concerned? To answer these questions, we have with us Venkatesh Nayak, a development sector veteran who has worked on issues of social justice and public audit mechanisms, and is currently with the Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), New Delhi. His views and observations are personal.

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In a massive scientific discovery, a team of international scientists has detected traces of phosphine gas in the atmosphere of Venus. On Earth, phosphine is produced by bacteria thriving in oxygen-starved environments. Crucially, it is considered as a marker for life. The researchers said that their research provided evidence “for anomalous & unexplained chemistry" on Venus. The possibilities for what this means for science, for the long search for life outside earth, are endless.

Guest: Prajval Shastri, astrophysicist, Indian Institute of Astrophysics.

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Our episode today looks at the joint statement issued by the Foriegn Ministers of India and China after a two-and-a-half-hour-long meeting on September 10 in Moscow that went into the night, and which now contains a five-point course of action to de-escalate the four-month-long stand-off at the Line of Actual Control. In previous episodes, we have discussed the stand-off in detail at various junctures and why, for months, despite meetings at various levels, the de-escalation process was really making very little headway. What’s more, there only seemed to be more flare-ups.

Will this new five-point course of action make any difference at all? Where do things stand now and are they headed?

Guest: Ananth Krishnan, former Beijing Correspondent; Suhasini Haidar, Diplomatic Affairs Editor

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In today’s episode we focus on strategic affairs and, in particular, on the quad alliance between India, the United States, Japan and Australia. The occasion for doing so is statements made by India’s Chief of Defence Staff General Bipin Rawat on Monday, September 3, where he said that the ‘Quad’ alliance among India, U.S., Japan, and Australia could be a mechanism to ensure ‘Freedom of Navigation’ in the Indian Ocean and surrounding regions. He said this would ensure that there is “no fear of any other nation singularly trying to dominate the oceans”.

These are, of course, not-so-subtle references to China. And General Rawat’s statement introduces the idea of introducing a militaristic aspect to the ‘Quad’. And that’s where things get interesting, because although the Quad forum goes back as far as 2006, the alliance has refrained from exhibiting a military purpose, largely because China has always viewed the alliance with suspicion. Indian thus far has also always been wary of joining any kind of military alliance that would be choosing sides between any of the world’s superpowers. On the other hand, though, could the unprecedented situation playing out in the LAC with China force a rethink?

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

Host: Jayant Sriram

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With less than two months to go before the U.S. presidential election not only Americans but people across the world are asking what policy paradigm the winner would bring to the White House.

Whether in terms of economic policy, including trade and investment, or immigration, geopolitics, and climate change, there could be major differences between the possible presidencies of Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

We explain these differences and why they matter to India, and the relevant policy and political attributes of the Republican and Democratic agendas.

Guest: Dhruva Jaishankar, U.S. Director of the Observer Research Foundation

Host: Narayan Lakshman, Associate Editor, The Hindu

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In this episode, we follow up on a report that we carried in the paper last week and that merits a deeper discussion on an important legislation that is being discussed in Parliament right now. It’s on the DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Act, 2019. And our story on it was about a draft report on it by the parliamentary standing committee on science and technology, which said the provisions in the Bill, as they pertain to what kind of information can be collected through DNA sampling, could be misused. And, in particular, it flagged the possibility that it could be used for caste-based profiling.

Guest: Suhrith Parthasarathy, Advocate, Madras High Court.

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With both the Democratic National Convention and Republican National Convention now over, how is the race for the U.S. presidency shaping up and what are the issues that will dominate the campaign ahead of the crucial November elections? We review the major discussion points for each party in this podcast and get a perspective from a former U.S. Ambassador to India on how each side could approach diplomatic equations in the South Asia region.

Guest: Richard Verma, former U.S. Ambassador to India (2014-2017) and currently the Vice-Chair of strategy advisory firm, The Asia Group.

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What is the legacy of former Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who just a couple of days ago on August 28 announced that he would be resigning from office because of health problems?

The news came as something of a shock — over the last eight years, Mr. Abe brought stability and continuity to a country that had grown used to political churn. In the five years in between Mr. Abe’s first stint as Prime Minister — a short-lived one-year term in office that ended in 2007 and his coming to power in 2012, Japan had seen five different Prime Ministers. It’s that sense of stability now that may represent Mr. Abe’s greatest contribution to Japan’s politics — both domestic and in the field of its international relations.

Guest: Ananth Krishnan, former Beijing Correspondent, The Hindu.

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