In Focus by The Hindu

Cases of novel coronavirus are now being reported from almost every State in India and the number of reported cases has crossed 300. We’re going to use this episode to give you a quick update on what we know so far. We are building up to a big day tomorrow, when the ʻjanta curfewʼ announced by Prime minister Narendra Modi will come into force. And we’re also building up to a huge week ahead where we are likely to be in the middle of a huge debate about the estimates for how far this could go in India, the number of cases and deaths that we could ultimately end up with and what are the strategies that we need to be adopting now, especially with regard to testing.

Guests: Suhasini Haidar, National Editor, The Hindu, & Jacob Koshy, Deputy Science Editor, The Hindu.

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In our second episode covering the spread of COVID-19 in India, we look at the alarming rise in the number of reported cases, the communications between various countries around the world as the virus spreads unchecked, and the strange story of Bollywood singer Kanika Kapoor.

Guests: Suhasini Haidar, National Editor, The Hindu, & Jacob Koshy, Deputy Science Editor, The Hindu, & Jyoti Shelar, who is based in Mumbai and writes on healthcare for The Hindu.

Check out the previous episode here:

https://www.thehindu.com/podcast/pm-modis-speech-and-where-we-stand-now-on-covid-19-in-india-the-hindu-in-focus-podcast/article31111365.ece

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We start a new series today, sometimes as a stand-alone, and sometimes as a bonus episode added to our discussions on other topics, about the spread of COVID-19 in India, chronicling and discussing major developments. Today we discuss Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s address to the nation. While he struck a serious and sombre tone, did we learn anything new at a policy level about India’s strategy to deals with the spread of the virus?

Guests: Suhasini Haidar, National Editor, The Hindu & Jacob Koshy, Deputy Science Editor, The Hindu

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Justice Ranjan Gogoi, who retired four months ago as Chief Justice of India, was nominated to the Rajya Sabha on March 16. The nomination, coming so soon after his retirement is bound to raise questions of a quid pro quo and there will be a scanner now on judgments that he delivered and administrative actions that he took that favoured the government. In this episode, we discuss two notable instances of jurists being appointed to Parliament — both controversial instances — and what various people have said over the years about judges accepting post retirement postings.

Guest: K Venkataramanan, Associate Editor, The Hindu

Write to us with comments or feedback at [email protected]

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Last week, the Supreme Court of India set aside a two-year ban that the RBI had imposed on cryptocurrency trading in India through a circular issued in 2018. The apex court found that circular to be too prohibitive. So, for now the ban on cryptocurrency has been lifted though it’s not the end of the story.

The RBI will appeal the decision and the Central government also just has to legislate around the court order and impose a ban again. In this episode we look at the reservations the government and the RBI have toward cryptocurrencies, the various regulatory issues associated with cryptocurrency and how such a system of transactions might work in India.

Interview by G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu

Guest: Srikanth, Digital payments expert (@logic on Twitter)

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As the spread of the coronavirus dominates headlines around the world our weekly international affairs round up from an Indian perspective tackles the issue form three angles. We discuss the progress made by China and South Korea, cited by the WHO, in containing the outbreak and the measures they took, look at the crash of global markets and how financial institutions reacted, and get a brief regional update from Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

Guests: James Chau, World Health Organisation Goodwill Ambassador and host of the China Current

Raghuvir Srinivasan, Business Editor, The Hindu 

Meera Srinivasan, Sri Lanka Correspondent, The Hindu

Write to us with comments and feedback at [email protected]

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Crude oil prices have fallen to record lows as Saudi Arabia launched a coronavirus-sparked price war with Russia. Saudi Arabia slashed prices after Russia refused to go along with OPEC’s proposal to rescue the oil market, which has been on a decline due to coronavirus-related fears and restraints on economic activity. That may have been the initial spark but Saudi Arabia’s stand-off with Russia is motivated by a larger geopolitical play and Russia in turn has one eye on shorting oil production in the U.S.

In this episode, we discuss the various dimensions to the story with two of our top experts.

Guests: Atul Aneja, Strategic Affairs Editor, The Hindu; Stanly Johny, International Affairs Editor, The Hindu

Write to us with comments or feedback at [email protected]

Also read: Analysis: Coronavirus pits Russia, Saudi Arabia and the U.S. — world’s top energy producers — in a destructive price war

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Senior Madhya Pradesh Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia dramatically quit the party this morning after a meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah. He will now join the BJP and be given a Rajya Sabha ticket. Scindia’s disaffection with the Congress party goes back a year and more, with growing differences over not getting his due after the Congress gained power in Madhya Pradesh in 2018. In this episode we trace the roots of that discontent and where his exit now leaves a party gripped by an internal power struggle.

Guest: Varghese George, Associate Editor, The Hindu

Write to us with feedback and suggestions at [email protected]

Also read:

https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/analysis-jyotiraditya-scindia-revolt-a-likely-turning-point-in-tussle-within-congress/article31030345.ece?homepage=true

https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/turning-younger-and-dynamic/article31017160.ece

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The Nifty and Sensex lost all gains made over 2019, as the bourses witnessed an absolute bloodbath today. The Sensex dropped by over 2,000 and the Nifty, by over 500 points, as both suffered their biggest one-day fall in history. All told, some ₹5 trillion of investor wealth was lost. Aside from the massive global sell off amid fears that the coronavirus could cause an economic slowdown, the other factors to consider is the astounding drop in crude oil prices as Saudi Arabia has started a price war with Russia and continuing investor concern over the state of India's banking industry, exemplified by the Yes Bank crisis. How do all these factors combine to explain the stock market crisis today?

Write to us with comments or feedback at [email protected].

Guest: K Bharat Kumar, Deputy Business Editor, The Hindu

Also read: https://www.thehindu.com/business/markets/market-mayhem-sensex-nifty-log-steepest-ever-one-day-fall-on-recession-fears/article31024213.ece

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On March 6, Dr. Manmohan Singh, India’s former Prime Minister, wrote an Op-Ed piece for The Hindu in which he noted that India had become majoritarian state in economic despair. “No amount of tweaking of tax rates, showering of corporate incentives or goading will propel Indian or foreign businesses to invest, when the risk of eruption of sudden violence in one’s neighbourhood looms large,” he wrote in one of the article’s most striking passages. We build on that argument in this episode of In Focus and explore the link between social harmony and development from a political economy perspective.

Guest: Irfan Nooruddin: Director of the South Asia Centre of the Atlantic Council and professor, Georgetown University

Write to us with comments or feedback at [email protected].

Also read: India has slid to being a majoritarian state in economic despair, writes Manmohan Singh

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