In Focus by The Hindu

At least eight people have died, hundreds were hospitalised and thousands more were affected after consuming contaminated water in Indore, Madhya Pradesh, in a tragedy that has rocked the nation and also severely dented the image of Indore as a clean city. The case has now gone to court, and while the government claims the situation is under control, local residents allege that the death toll is much higher, and the water is still not safe. Tragically, the residents say they had been raising the issue of the unsafe water much before the deaths occurred, but no action was taken. At present, the cause is believed to be contamination through sewage leaking into the water pipeline supplying a residential area.

But why does the issue of contaminated water arise again and again in India? What is wrong with our water supply and delivery systems? And why is it that we are still unable to provide clean drinking water to millions of Indians?

Guest: Pradip Kalbar
Associate Professor Environmental Science and Engineering Department (ESED), Indian Institute of Technology Bombay

Host: Zubeda Hamid

Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian

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The Parliament has passed the Sabka Bima Sabki Raksha (Amendment of Insurance Laws) Bill, 2025. It is being touted as a game changer, especially with the move to allow 100% FDI in insurance companies. 

The government also says that the act strengthens the Insurance Regulatory Authority of India (IRDAI), and the Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC). 

How would 100% FDI improve the claims experience for the ordinary citizen, the buyers of insurance? For long, they have been grappling with problems such as unfairly rejected claims, mis-selling of insurance, and hidden exclusions. Does the Bill hold out hope on these counts? 

Guest: Shilpa Arora, Co-Founder and Chief Operating Officer of Insurance Samadhan, a platform that helps policy-holders resolve insurance issues.

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On December 31, more than a lakh gig and platform workers held a strike. In a memorandum to Union Labour Mansukh Mandaviya, their unions demanded that the that the 10 to 20-minute service delivery system should be immediately withdrawn to prioritise worker safety.

The Union government sees the four Labour Codes, which was implemented recently, as an answer to the problems of gig workers, especially for bringing them into the ambit of social security. The strike also threw light on the need to create more job opportunities in sectors such as manufacturing and agriculture.

Guest: Kamal Karanth is cofounder of XPheno, a specialist staffing company; Prashant Kamal is National General Secretary, Yuva Hallabol

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India does not have a codified law that recognises or regulates personality rights, particularly concerning artificial intelligence (AI). In 2025 alone, several Indian celebrities have moved court to protect their personality rights including Salman Khan, Aishwarya Rai Bachchan, Jr. NTR among others. The cases are over the personalities' right to control the commercial as well as the reputational use of aspects of their identity.

This comes as India, one of the most socially engaged digital populations in the world, continued to be increasingly exposed to deceptive content. Shah Rukh Khan tops the recent McAfee list as the most exploited celebrity in deepfake scams, followed by Alia Bhatt and Elon Musk. Their names and likenesses, Indians report, were most frequently seen used in AI-driven deepfakes to promote fake endorsements, phishing links, or malicious downloads.

In this episode, we explore the aspect of evolving personality rights, and the need for a comprehensive, legal  framework in an era where AI can recreate anyone, anywhere, saying anything.

Guest: Madhavi Ravikumar, Assistant Professor, Department of Communication, University of Hyderabad.

Host: Vibha B Madhava

Edited by Jude Weston

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Thiruparankundram Murugan Temple is one of the six abodes of Tamil god Murugan. Set in Madurai, the ancient capital of Pandyas, it has found reference in Sangam literature and subsequent literary works.

The temple is now in news over the lighting of the Karthigai deepam at the hills. While one section claim that the Deepam is traditionally lit at the Uchhi Pillayar temple, the right wing forces want the Deepam to be lit at the Deepathon which is 50 metres away from the Sikandar Dargah. This is said to have huge ramifications politically and legally for Tamil Nadu.

Guest: S. Vanchi Nathan, a senior advocate from the Madurai bench of the Madras High Court

Host: Bhagavathi Sampath K J

Edited and produced by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian

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The recent disruption India’s aviation sector due to IndiGo's crew shortage has thrown up questions about the concentration of powers in the hands of a few in the market across sectors. India’s domestic aviation market is heavily concentrated. IndiGo and Air India together control close to 90 per cent of passenger traffic.

Passengers were left without a backup when IndiGo faced a massive staff shortage, after the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) implemented new rest and duty norms for the crew. 

This is not unique to aviation. Across India’s economy, several sectors have quietly settled into duopolies. In telecom, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio dominate the market. Vodafone Idea and state-run BSNL struggle to stay competitive.

In the digital economy, Amazon and Flipkart domiante the e-commerce sector, while, Uber and Ola lead ride-hailing. Zomato and Swiggy dominate food delivery sector. PhonePe and Google Pay command digital payments. Similar concentration exists in cement, steel, automobiles and other core industries.

2025 Nobel economic laurates Philippe Aghion and Peter Howitt studied how companies invest in R&D to get patents to gain an advantage in the market. Their theory helps understanding how societies needs to support R&D to support economic growth.

Power concentration is happens with innovation and the ability to raise investments. But concentration becomes a concern when it reduces consumer choice, weakens labour protections, or creates companies considered too big to fail. The IndiGo disruption has reignited that debate. As markets grow more concentrated, the key question remains — at what point should regulation step in to protect competition, workers and consumers?

Guest: Rahul Singh, Associate Professor of Law, National Law School of India University

Host: Nivedita V

Edited and produced by Jude Weston

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The Bengaluru Open is the most prestigious event on the tennis calendar in India. It is an ATP 125 Challenger. Although Challengers are tier 2 in the ATP rung, this is the only ATP 125 level event in India. The other three Challengers – in Chennai, Pune, and New Delhi – are below the ATP 125 level. 

This year, for a change, Bengaluru Open will see two Indian stars with a great chance of going all the way – Sumit Nagal, and Dakshinseshwar Suresh. It would be a major career boost for either of them if they manage to do so. What does the draw mean for the Indian stars, and what’s the bigger picture with regard to Indian tennis in 2026? 

Guest: N Sudarshan from The Hindu’s sports bureau

Host: G. Sampath

Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian

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The Aravallis are the green lungs of northern India. They are a defensive wall that protects the fertile Indo-Gangetic plains from desertification – from an eastward expansion of the Thar desert. 

But over the years, commercial exploitation has put this fragile ecosystem under immense strain. On November 20th, the Supreme Court ruled that only Aravalli hills above 100 metres tall would enjoy environmental protection. This created a major public outcry, with people pointing out that in Rajasthan’s Aravallis alone, barely 1,048 hills out of 12,081, would qualify. In other words, most of the Aravallis would be exempted from any environmental protection. 

On December 28, the Supreme Court stayed its own order. It has also mooted the constitution of a new panel of experts to study the issue more closely, especially the prospects for what it calls “sustainable mining”. 

Is sustainable mining of the Aravallis possible? And how can we ensure that they receive at least the bare minimum of environmental protection? 

Guest: Kanchi Kohli, well known expert in environment and forest policy

Host: G. Sampath

Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian

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Roti, kapda aur makaan (roti, clothes, and housing) has been a political promise for generations. Now, with housing becoming increasingly expensive, makaan has been taken out of the equation in urban India. In Patna, for instance, buying a 2 BHK (bedroom, hall, kitchen) costs over ₹1 crore. This is the case in other rapidly urbanising cities as well. In metropolises, it is twice the amount, making owning a house out of reach for most Indians. According to the World Bank, per capita income is ₹2,42,487.70 (2024). This does not reflect income inequality among individuals and across States, which is extremely wide in India. Has housing become prohibitively expensive in Indian cities?

Guests: Ashok B. Lall and Tikender Singh Panwar

Host: Serish Nanisetti. 

Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian

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Zohran Mamdani, an avowed socialist, will be sworn in as New York City’s new mayor on January 1. His rise has revived old debates about the future of the U.S. Democratic Party.

For most of the last century, the Democratic Party offered a clear promise. If you worked hard, if you were new to the country, if the economy knocked you down, this was your political home. But today, that bond feels weaker. Registrations for the Democratic Party are slipping. Younger voters are drifting away. Many longtime supporters say that the party sounds less like a movement and more like a kind of a corporate meeting room, technical, a little distant.

Their political rivals, the Republicans, champion smaller government and conservative values, and in recent years have been reshaped by Donald Trump’s brand MAGA politics.

Into this moment came New York City’s surprise, Zohran Mamdani, promising affordability and everyday dignity to a metropolis exhausted by rent and inequality. His ascent to public office comes at a time when the Democrats are nationally seeking momentum.

So what’s happening with the Democratic Party, and where is its future actually being written?

Guest: Hadas Thier, a journalist, activist, and author of A People's Guide to Capitalism. 

Hosts: Anupama Chandrasekaran and G Sampath 

Edited and produced by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian 

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