In Focus by The Hindu

Last week, the Modi government proposed the biggest overall of the goods and services tax since its rollout in 2017. Aiming to collapse the current 4 slab structure into a simpler 2 slab regime with a special slab for what the government is called. As sin goods. The move, expected to reduce prices across essentials and consumer durables, comes amid US tariff headwinds and concerns about domestic demand.  

Guest: Sharad Raghavan, Business and Economy Editor, The Hindu 

Host: Kunal Shankar, Deputy Business Editor, The Hindu  

Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian 

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The Supreme Court, in an interim order on Thursday (August 14, 2025), directed the Election Commission of India (ECI) to publish a booth-wise list of nearly 65 lakh electors who were excluded from the draft electoral roll released on August 1 as part of the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in poll-bound Bihar.

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The United States Department of Health and Human Services recently announced that it would cancel nearly USD 500 million of funding for mRNA vaccine projects. The reason, Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said, was safety and efficacy concerns.mRNA or messenger RNA vaccines hit the news during the Covid-19 pandemic when the world was desperately trying to create vaccines in order to save lives. mRNA vaccines for Covid were developed rapidly, given to thousands of people and are believed to have saved numerous lives.Like all vaccines that we have today, rare cases of adverse effects are possible – but the benefits, say experts far outweigh the risks.How are mRNA vaccines different from the others we have? How effective and safe are they? Can they help with other diseases as well? And what does the cut in funding mean for vaccine development and research worldwide?

Guest: Dr Anurag Agrawal, Dean, BioSciences and Health Research, Trivedi School of Biosciences at Ashoka University

Host: Zubeda Hamid

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The food landscape has undergone a dramatic shift over the years, and the numbers tell a sobering story. A study in The Lancet found that childhood and adolescent obesity rates worldwide have risen nearly fourfold from 1990 to 2022, while adult obesity rates have more than doubled. At the same time, dramatic celebrity weight loss has been linked to Ozempic, an injectable drug containing semaglutide, originally developed to treat type 2 diabetes but now widely used off-label as a weight-loss aid.

In this episode of In Focus, we ask: Why is it becoming harder to lose weight? What role do our gut and brain play in shaping our relationship with food? And should drugs like Ozempic step in where lifestyle changes and willpower fall short?

Guest: Dr Jack Mosley, the author of Food Noise: How weight loss medications & smart nutrition can silence your cravings

Edited by Jude Francis Weston and Sharmada Venkatasubramanian

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We often assume a child’s height is all about genetics. But for millions of children in India, being shorter than average has nothing to do with family traits. It is the result of stunting — a chronic indicator of malnutrition, where a child has a low height for their age due to not getting the nutrition and care they need in the most critical early years of life.This episode explores what stunting really is, why it happens, and the critical windows when intervention can make the biggest difference.

Guest: Dr. Vandana Prasad, a community paediatrician and former member of the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights.

Host: Devyanshi Bihani

Edited and produced by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian

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Across India, EV dealers are warning that customers may have to wait longer and pay extra for their new rides. The culprit: rare earth magnets made from minerals like neodymium, which are crucial for compact, efficient EV motors. While India has its own reserves, mining and processing are largely controlled by China. Now, with Beijing cutting exports amid a trade dispute with the U.S., Indian automakers are struggling to find alternatives.

Guest: Ashim Sharma, Nomura Research Institute

Edited by Anupama Chandrasekaran and Sharmada Venkatasubramanian

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In July, Meghalaya Health and Family Welfare Minister Mazel Ampareen Lyngdoh announced that the State may follow Goa in making HIV/AIDS test mandatory for all before marriage. The problem is multi-disciplinary; it is not merely a question of health, but also involves considerations of human rights, stigma, and free will. 

Should HIV/AIDS testing be made mandatory? Here we discuss the question.

Guests: Jahnabi Goswami, president of the Assam Network of Positive People; N. Kumarasamy, Chief and Director of Infectious Diseases Medical Centre, Voluntary Health Services, Chennai

Host: Ramya Kannan

Edited by Jude Weston

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India’s Supreme Court presented its toughest ruling yet on the country’s stray dog problem, ordering all in the Delhi capital region be moved into shelters within eight weeks. The aim: to end India’s rabies crisis, one of the worst in the world, which kills an estimated 20,000 people a year.But can such a massive operation work? Is it humane? And what happens when the law collides with the emotional bonds people have with the dogs outside their doors?In this episode, we look at the feasibility of the plan, the science of rabies control and what India’s street dog policy needs to get right to protect both people and animals.

Guest: Dr. Abi Tamim Vanak, Wildlife ecologist

Host: Anupama Chandrasekaran

Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian

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Nutritional Intake in India report that came out recently threw up some interesting facts -- how many calories India is consuming on an average, are Indians meetings calorific requirements, how differently urban and rural Indians eat and what is the difference in calories consumed by rich and poor Indians. Another interesting aspect was about the protein consumption in India – what is the amount of proteins Indians consume and are we getting our proteins from the right sources? Also, how are food prices impacting our diets?

Guest: Dipa Sinha, an independent researcher and development economist

Host: Zubeda Hamid

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Indian Railways, one of the world’s largest transport networks, is in considerable financial trouble. Despite carrying millions of passengers, it recovers barely half the cost of each journey. Freight earnings are propping up passenger services and ticket prices remain politically sensitive. In fact the Railways is increasingly relying on borrowings and Budget support for their capital investments.

In this episode, we unpack the data behind the crisis, examine why even premium classes are losing money, and ask the big question: can fare hikes save the Railways without driving passengers away?

Guest: A. Madhukumar Reddy, a 1987-batch Indian Railway Traffic Service officer who retired as Principal Executive Director of the Railway Board.

Host: Vignesh Radhakrishnan

Edited by Jude Francis Weston

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