In Focus by The Hindu

As the title, Violent Fraternity: Indian Political Thought in the Global Age, suggests, Shruti Kapila’s latest book deals with fraternity, violence and sovereignty. Her core argument is that violence has not been as distant from India’s politics as we have been told. In this episode, Kapila talks about the role of violence in the making of the Indian republic. Zeroing in on the ‘power of ideas’ in instituting the political foundations of modern India, Kapila also looks at the role of Buddhism.

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A possible berthing call by a Chinese surveillance vessel, the Yuan Wang 5, at Sri Lanka’s Hambantota port, has led to Beijing protesting loudly about New Delhi’s suggestion to Colombo that the tracking ship be denied entry.

Colombo has said that it had asked Beijing to defer the call by the Yuan Wang 5 at a time when the country faces a dire economic crisis. After Indian concerns, the Chinese in a harsh statement asked New Delhi not to disrupt “normal exchanges” between Colombo and Beijing. The Chinese ambassador to Sri Lanka also had a meeting with President Ranil Wickremesinghe about the issue.

Can India ensure that the Yuan Wang 5 does not come calling to Hambantota? Haven’t Chinese submarines and a warship come to Sri Lankan ports earlier? Don’t American ships come to Trincomalee? 

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Earlier this month, the RBI’s Monetary Policy Committee raised the benchmark interest rate by another 50 basis points in its ongoing efforts to rein in inflation that has persistently stayed above the central bank’s upper tolerance band of 6% for six months running. The interest rate increase takes the policy repo rate to 5.4%, and, more significantly, to a level last seen in the pre-pandemic second quarter of fiscal 2019-20. 

Guest: Abheek Barua, Chief Economist at HDFC Bank 

Host: K. Bharat Kumar

Edited by Reenu Cyriac

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Nitish Kumar has done it again. He probably holds a record for the number of times he has ditched his allies, only to ally with them again, in India’s politics. There is, clearly, nothing ideological about his choice of partners – Nitish Kumar’s decisions seem governed by one goal alone – how to keep his seat of power warm.

As he becomes chief minister for the eighth time in 22 years, Nitish Kumar has clearly dominated the politics of Bihar – with or without the BJP – and with or without the Rashtriya Janata Dal.

Will the new alliance with the RJD and Congress hold? Does this new bonding hold anything for India’s politics beyond Bihar? Can Nitish Kumar become the face of the Opposition in Lok Sabha 2024? 

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The last day of the 2022 Commonwealth Games proved to be a good one for India, as a flurry of medals pushed India’s tally to 22 golds medals and a fourth place in the medals table, behind Australia, England and Canada. The difference between Canada and India was four gold medals. In 2018, when India finished third, it had seven golds from shooting alone, and it’s clear that if shooting hadn’t been dropped this time, India would again have finished third. But that was not to be, and despite that, the Indian contingent did produce enough moments of joy and brilliance for its millions of supporters back home.

In this podcast, we take a closer look at India’s performance at CWG 2022 in different disciplines and what it bodes for the future. 

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On July 27, the Supreme Court pronounced its verdict on a batch of around 200 petitions that had challenged various provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. The judgment, titled Vijay Madanlal Choudhury & Ors vs Union of India & Ors, has led to grave concerns about further erosion of constitutional protections for personal and civil liberties.

The Opposition has said that it will move a review petition on the verdict and that all the amendments made to the Act in 2010 through the money Bill route should be nullified. What are the problematic provisions of the PMLA? What has been the apex court’s reasoning in upholding those provisions? How will it impact constitutional safeguards for liberty going forward? 

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Taiwan has for long been a flashpoint in US-China relations. The visit to Taiwan by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi once again ratcheted up tensions between the two big powers.

Despite China making its displeasure clear in the strongest terms – or perhaps because of it – Pelosi went ahead with her visit. China condemned her visit as “extremely dangerous”. It has also launched aggressive military drills that encroach on Taiwan’s territorial waters. The Chinese Communist Party has made no secret of its intention to integrate Taiwan with the People’s Republic of China. The U.S., while formally claiming to respect the ‘One China’ policy, has indicated it may respond with force if China undertook any military action against Taiwan. But with China aspiring to achieve – if not surpass – military parity with the US, how long can the current equilibrium hold? Has Pelosi’s visit raised the stakes in Taiwan for both China and the U.S.? What are the likely long-term consequences of China’s unprecedented military drills that effectively encircled Taiwan?

Guest: Ananth Krishnan, The Hindu’s China correspondent.

Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu

Edited by Reenu Cyriac

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The targeted killing of al-Qaeda chief, Ayman al-Zawahiri, by an American missile in Kabul on July 31 has raised many questions about the possible impact of this assassination. It comes nearly 11 years after the U.S. took out al-Zawahiri’s boss, Osama bin Laden, in a ground operation in Abbottabad, Pakistan.

A point of interest in both killings is that bin Laden and al-Zawahiri were hiding in plain sight in cities – one Pakistani and the other Afghan.

Will this lead to a weakened al-Qaeda, unable to engage in terrorist actions abroad? Will the killing give a boost to al-Qaeda offshoots like the Islamic State? Was the Taliban giving shelter to al-Zawahiri in Kabul or did they tip the Americans off about his presence? Will the Taliban now get further isolated?

Guest: R. Kumar, who retired as Special Secretary from India’s external intelligence agency, the Research & Analysis Wing (R&AW), and spent long years working on counter-terrorism and Pakistan-related issues.

Host: Amit Baruah, Senior Associate Editor, The Hindu.

Edited by Ranjani Srinivasan

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The 5G spectrum auctions ended on Monday, Aug 1 and have helped the government garner Rs. 1.5 lakh crore compared with the reserve price of Rs. 4.3 lakh crore. While the government says the bid value has exceeded expectation, could it have earned more if the reserve prices had been more benign? Because reserve prices were high for some bands and hence ignored by telecom operators, would the quality of service to subscribers be impacted? 

Let’s hear what Dr. V. Sridhar has to say about the use and sale of spectrum as a national resource. 

Dr Sridhar is Professor, Centre for IT and Public Policy at the International Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore. He is also the author of 'Data Centric Living: Algorithms, Digitization and Regulations’ that was published recently. 

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Too much seems to be happening in Pakistan on the political, judicial and army fronts. After the comprehensive victory of Imran Khan’s party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or PTI, in the recent byelections to the Punjab Assembly, an intervention by the country’s Supreme Court allowed PTI’s alliance partner, Pervaiz Elahi, to take oath as Chief Minister of Punjab on July 27.

A damning report in London’s Financial Times newspaper accused former Prime Minister Imran Khan of accepting funds for his party from a UK-based charity, something prohibited under Pakistani law.

Very public differences have surfaced over the past few days among top judges of Pakistan’s Supreme Court over the appointment of judges to the apex court. Army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa took the unusual step of speaking to an American State Department official seeking IMF funds for Pakistan, setting off a fresh round of criticism against the very civilian role of the Army in Pakistan.

Will Shehbaz Sharif be able to hang on as Prime Minister till the next elections in 2023? Or will elections have to be advanced? Is it advantage Imran Khan? Who will be the new Army chief when Bajwa finally retires in November this year? 

Guest: Rana Banerji, retired Special Secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat, and former IAS officer.

Host: Amit Baruah, Senior Associate Editor, The Hindu.

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