In Focus by The Hindu

Last week, the government announced that India had met the target of 10% ethanol blending with motor fuel ahead of time. The target for 20% blending had earlier been brought forward to 2025 from 2030.

But is this the path that India should choose? Are there better alternatives to ethanol? What is the downside to the use of ethanol?

Guest: Dr. Charles Worringham, an Australia-based former academic and now independent researcher and a guest contributor for Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, the IEEFA, with a special interest in India’s energy transition

Host: K. Bharat Kumar

Edited by Ranjani Srinivasan

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From this year onwards, admissions to undergraduate courses in 45 central universities will happen through a Common University Entrance Test, or CUET, as it’s come to be known. The test is scheduled to take place in July. About 1.3 crore students are expected to take the test for around 5.4 lakh seats that are at stake.

The test will be administered by the National Testing Agency (NTA) in 13 languages, and consist of objective-type, multiple-choice questions (MCQ). Why has the UGC come up with CUET? Will it make the schools redundant, by giving a bigger role to coaching centres? Will it further undermine a student’s capacity for original thinking in favour of rote-learning? Will it make higher education even more out of reach for the underprivileged?

Guest: Dr Maya John, Professor, Jesus and Mary College, Delhi University

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

Edited by Reenu Cyriac

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Kashmiri Pandits, many of whom were given government jobs and brought to the Valley a decade ago, have started to flee following targeted killings of their colleagues by terrorists. Not just Kashmiri Pandits, but other Hindus have also been killed. As have Muslims.

In August 2019, when Article 370 was reduced to a shell, and the state of Jammu & Kashmir whittled down to a Union Territory, the Central government promised to turn it into the most developed state in the country within five years.

Long a part of the BJP’s ideological agenda, Home Minister Amit Shah said on the floor of Parliament at the time that Article 370 was the biggest hurdle in the path of normalcy in Kashmir.

Where do things stand now as minorities flee and terrorist killings continue?

Guest: Air Vice-Marshal Kapil Kak (retd.) is part of a group of concerned citizens regarding Jammu and Kashmir

Host: Amit Baruah, Senior Associate Editor, The Hindu

Edited by Ranjani Srinivasan

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The technology services industry has had a tremendous run these past couple of years. Customer’s acceptance of technology and services from remote likely spurred the trend. In tandem, as demand from customers rose, the war for talent too intensified.

The industry has gone through these cycles multiple times over the years.

Guest: Francisco D’Souza, co-founder and managing partner at Recognize, a growth fund. Frank was formerly vice-chairman of IT services firm Cognizant

Host: K. Bharat Kumar

Edited by Reenu Cyriac

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Last week, Broadcom announced its decision to acquire VMWare for a humongous $61 billion. VMWare is known in technology circles for its specialisation in virtualising hardware assets. It offers app modernisation, and services across cloud, networking and security technologies. Broadcom designs, develops and manufactures a range of semiconductor and infrastructure software products.

What did Broadcom see in this target firm? Is there complementarity? How can VMWare help Broadcom scale its offerings and/or raise revenue potential?

Guest: Naveen Mishra, Senior Director Analyst at Gartner

Host: K. Bharat Kumar

Edited by Ranjani Srinivasan

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A high-profile Indian Administrative Service couple – Sanjiv Khirwar and Rinku Dugga – were shunted out of Delhi to Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh a few days ago. Their transfers came soon after ‘The Indian Express’ newspaper published a photo showing the couple walking their dog in New Delhi’s Thyagaraj stadium at a time when athletes should have been using the sports facility’s tracks.

The transfer orders likely flowed from an official desire to punish the couple for doing wrong. They also stirred up a hornets’ nest by pointing to both Ladakh and Arunachal as dumping grounds for erring officials. It is not for the first time that a government has resorted to a punishment posting. In this episode, we decode this issue and the emotions that go with it.

Guest: Pradip Phanjoubam, Imphal-based senior journalist and editor of the Imphal Review of Arts and Politics

Host: Amit Baruah, Senior Associate Editor, The Hindu

Edited by Ranjani Srinivasan

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The Union Government last week cut excise duties on fuel sales in a bid to temper galloping inflation. Is such a move enough to tame retail inflation? Are there other factors that are spurring retail consumer prices? If so, are there levers that the government can move to arrest a further deterioration?

Guest: Aditi Nayar, Chief Economist, ICRA Ratings

Host: K. Bharat Kumar

Edited by Ranjani Srinivasan

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After almost a decade, the Labour Party is back in power in Australia. In the federal elections on May 21, the ruling Liberal-National coalition led by Scott Morrison conceded defeat and the Labour Party’s Anthony Albanese is now the new Prime Minister.

So what does the return of Labour mean for Austalian domestic politics, and what changes, if any, can we expect in Australian foreign policy?

Guest: Professor Amitabh Mattoo from the School of International Studies at JNU

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

Edited by Reenu Cyriac

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Umran Malik, the 22-year-old tearaway fast bowler from Jammu and Kashmir has been making waves in the IPL. Now he has received a much anticipated call-up to the Indian national team. He has been picked for the five-match T20 series against South Africa next month.

One of the reasons there is so much excitement around Umran Malik is that for the first time India has a quickie whose speed is within touching distance of the 160 kmph-mark. Malik’s emergence also comes at an interesting time for India – despite a long tradition of spin bowling, India is now facing a scenario where there seems to be a surfeit of fast bowling talent but the cupboard is close to empty in the spin department. How do we understand this trend? And given that India has a history of young fast bowling talent that tends of fade away fast, how good really is Umran Malik?

Guest: Vijay Lokapally, editorial consultant with Sportstar

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

Edited by Ranjani Srinivasan

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Trade relations between the US and China haven’t been at their best in the past few years. Add to it supply chain disruptions brought on by the pandemic, exacerbated now by the war in Ukraine... disruptions that have made global majors look beyond China for manufacturing bases or partners, in an approach strategy now named the ‘China PLUS One Strategy’.

Guest: Srivats Ram, MD, Wheels India

Host: K. Bharat Kumar

Edited by Reenu Cyriac

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