In Focus by The Hindu

Last week proved to be a whirlwind for Americans and Europeans and for those observing events around the world. The week began with Trump’s tariff threat against eight European countries that opposed his claims of U.S. control over Greenland. It then escalated with the EU mulling over a trade bazooka and Trump doubling down on claims over Greenland. He even shared a post on Truthsocial showing Greenland as a part of the U.S. And then at Davos, Trump emphasised the importance of Greenland again to the U.S. But the week ended with Trump discarding his tariff threats, though Greenland is still in the cards.

Guest: Mr. D Raghunandan, who is with the Delhi Science Forum and the All India People's Science Network.

Host: Nitika Francis

Edited by Jude Weston

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Just 10 days after the New Year, news hit the headlines of a software engineer found dead in her home in Bengaluru. The police initially suspected her death was due to a fire that broke out in her apartment, but later arrested an 18-year-old man. Police said that the man, who was the victim’s neighbour, assaulted her and then set fire to house. The reason? The woman rejected his sexual advances. This is not a unique case: hundreds of assaults, murders and acid attacks are routinely reported across the country all because women have said no to men.What drives men in India to injure or kill when they are rejected? What role does our society upbringing play in this? Do movies that glorify stalking contribute to the problem

Host: Zubeda Hamid

Guest: Prasanna Gettu, co-founder of the Chennai-based International Foundation for Crime Prevention and Victim Care (PCVC)

Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian

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Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has tabled the Economic Survey 2025–26, offering the first official snapshot of where India’s economy stands—and where it’s headed next. The Survey pegs India’s potential growth at around 7%, flags a slight moderation in GDP growth next year, and lays out the government’s thinking on everything from inflation and exports to jobs, infrastructure, manufacturing, and welfare.But beyond the headline numbers, what really matters is how to read this document. Is India’s growth story holding up in a slowing global economy? What reforms are need to to make the government's 'Viksit Bharat 2047' vision a reality?

Guest: Trishna Sarkar, Assistant Professor, Department of Economics, Dr BR Ambedkar College, University of Delhi

Host: Nivedita V

Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian

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With less than 48 hours to go before India’s Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, tables the Union Budget in Parliament for the 2026–27 fiscal. Kunal Shankar, The Hindu’s Deputy Business Editor, speaks to colleagues Soundariya Preetha, who has tracked India’s MSMEs for over two decades — based out of Coimbatore,  and Lalatendu Mishra, who has followed the markets and the Reserve Bank of India for just as long, and is based out of Mumbai. They discuss how the customary Economic Survey, settled by Chief Economic Adviser V. Anantha Nageswaran, has been received by India's small businesses and the markets. They also talk about what these sectors are looking for in the Union Budget amid tariff headwinds visibly straining India's largest export sector - the MSMEs; and the volatility wrecked onto the markets as foreign investors exit Indian markets in droves and a precipitous depreciation of the rupee against the U.S. dollar.

Host: Kunal Shankar

Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian

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India's Ministry of Finance is set to scrap curbs on Chinese firms bidding for government contracts, which were introduced in 2020, following a deadly clash between the country's troops in the Galwan Valley.

Now that India is showing a change of heart, the Ministry's actions beg the question: Will removing curbs on Chinese FDA help India? Here, we discuss. Tune in!

Guests: Mr. Shyam Saran, former Foreign Secretary to the Government of India and currently President of the India International Centre, and Mr. Santosh Pai, partner at Dentons Link Legal and an honorary fellow at the Institute of Chinese Studies

Host: Nitika Francis

Edited by Jude Weston

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Bangladesh is out of the ICC T20 World Cup starting next month. It will be replaced by Scotland. Cricketing observers have slammed the sport’s governing establishment for mismanaging the issue.

Guest: Amol Karhadkar from The Hindu’s Sports Bureau

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There are plenty of questions swirling around US President Donald Trump’s Board of Peace. Trump has extended invitations to dozens of countries to join this outfit, including India. But many, including his European allies, are yet to confirm their participation. Interestingly, Norway, Denmark and Sweden have refused, while Pakistan and the UAE have already said ‘yes’. 

Is this Board of Peace only about Gaza reconstruction? Or is this about setting up a parallel body to settle global conflict on American terms? Is Trump trying to create a new UN, as Brazilian President Lula has alleged? Most importantly, should India join this Board, or stay away?

Guest: Stanly Johny, International Affairs Editor, The Hindu

Host: G. Sampath

Edited and produced by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian

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A recent Supreme Court ruling has put the process of how India taxes foreign investors in focus. The top court ruled in favour of the Income Tax Department by setting aside the Delhi High Court’s judgment quashing the tax demand of Tiger Global. 

Tiger Global ⁠and Indian tax authorities have been locked in a legal tussle over its 2018 stake sale in Flipkart to Walmart worth ₹14,440 crore $1.6 billion. The deal was part of the ‌U.S. retail company’s $16 billion acquisition of Flipkart that year.

Indian tax authorities ‍argued Tiger Global wrongly used the India-Mauritius tax avoidance treaty to not pay any tax on its profits, the investment firm argued it can do so as the treaty exempted such a transaction. The tax authorities say the Tiger Global Mauritius units served merely as a conduit for Tiger Global U.S., a description the investment ⁠firm says is incorrect.

The Supreme Court has been hearing the case since January 2025 and the ruling has raised wider questions about tax treaties, anti-avoidance rules, and how India balances tax fairness with investor confidence.

Guest: Vinod Joseph, Partner, Investment Funds practice at Economic Laws Practice 

Host: Nivedita V

Edited by Jude Weston

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Our guest today is a legend in the world of entrepreneurship. He began his adult life as an immigrant student in the US, way back in the 1960s. He started his own company in the US tech space at a time when Indian-Americans were not particularly known for entrepreneurship. 

In 1987, he became the first Indian-American founder to take a venture-backed company public on the Nasdaq. He was also the first Indian-American to serve as a top executive in a multi-billion-dollar Silicon Valley giant, blazing a trail that would be followed by the likes of Sundar Pichai and Satya Nadella.

Subsequently, he set up The IndUS Enterpreneurs (TiE) a non-profit to mentor entrepreneurs in the US and India. He has been a hugely successful venture capitalist and angel investor. And now, at the sprightly young age of 80, he is out with a memoir  that talks about his entrepreneurial journey: ‘The Ground Breaker: Risks, Rewards, and Lessons from a legendary Entrepreneur’.

Guest: Kanwal Rekhi, Indo-American businessman and venture capitalist

Edited by Shiksha Jural

Produced by Shiksha Jural and Jude Weston

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People of the Global South have long argued that the so-called rules-based international order is a fiction. That it was only ever applied selectively, with the big powers doing the selection. But now, for the first time, there is official acknowledgement of this fiction from a prominent Western leader.

In an extraordinary speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney publicly stated that even the ‘pretence’ of a rules-based order is over, and that this is not a moment of transition but ‘rupture’. 

Taking potshots at President Donald Trump’s weaponisation of tariffs, he said that the new definition of a country’s sovereignty is its ability to withstand pressure from the big powers. 

His speech has resonated with many across the world, and has become a talking point in strategic circles. But are his remarks just great content, or will they prove consequential? Should India be taking a leaf out of Carney’s book, especially when dealing with the big powers? 

Guest: Suhasini Haider, The Hindu’s Diplomatic Affairs Editor.

Host: G Sampath

Recorded by Aniket Singh Chauhan

Edited and produced by Jude Weston

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