Left, Right & Centre

After the government decision to scrap the Class 12 board exams, placing the health of students first, there are dozens of questions that students have on how they will be assessed. CBSE Secretary joins us on Left, Right and Centre to answer some of these questions.

The Supreme Court has come down heavily on the government's vaccine policy, saying it's an "arbitrary and irrational" policy. Several key questions were raised by the court on different prices for different groups, over the money the government spent on vaccines, how does this compare with the cost of vaccines elsewhere and if this vaccination policy genuinely protects the interests of millions across the country.

India's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth contracts 7.3 per cent in 2020-2021. Industry body FICCI comes out with a fairly direct report which says there is general pessimism about economic prospects, and the overall business confidence has nose-dived. On LRC, we discuss just how badly business sentiment has been hit.

Joining us on LRC is Jaykumar Menon, a human rights lawyer, who talks to Vishnu Som about a platform where scientists and researchers can freely access technological tools for researching diseases, share their discoveries and start new investigations into potential drugs. If the platform succeeds, it will allow drugs to succeed on their merit and need, rather than their ability to be profitable.

A massive Centre vs Bengal row has erupted after the central government in an unprecedented order asked the Chief Secretary of West Bengal to report to North Block by 10:00 AM on May 31. The move comes after a row over Mamata Banerjee skipping a cyclone assessment meeting on Friday. The Chief Minister did, however, meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Trinamool has accused the Centre of misusing its powers.

Ramdev, the face of one of India's biggest consumer goods and alternative medicine empires, his remarks about allopathy had triggered an outcry from doctors across the country and he was forced to 'withdraw' them this week. The Indian Medical Association (IMA), which represents 3.5 lakh doctors, has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi demanding that Ramdev be charged immediately for sedition for a misinformation campaign on coronavirus vaccination and challenging government protocols for its treatment. On Left, Right & Centre, we try to understand whether the Doctors vs Ramdev battle is harming the country's international image.

After WhatsApp, now Twitter today said it was concerned over the 'potential threat to freedom of expression' with the new digital rules. The government in response has told social media sites to 'stop beating around the bush and comply with the laws of the land' instead of 'dictating terms' to the world's largest democracy. Google's Sundar Pichai said 'will comply, but an open internet is foundational'.

Social media platforms were given three months to comply with the new rules that require them to appoint a compliance officer in India, set up a grievance response mechanism and take down content within 36 hours of a legal order. WhatsApp has gone to court against the rules, saying it will be compelled to trace the origin of messages and break privacy protection to users. Aprameya Radhakrishna, Co-Founder & CEO, Koo, tells NDTV that 'all companies have to comply with the law of the land'. There has to be constant dialogue between all three parties - government, user and the platform, he said.

On Left, Right and Centre tonight, we debate the new social media norms in the country and their implications for the right to privacy, the right to expression in the country. This on a day when WhatsApp went to court against the government. We bring you an explainer on what the new norms are and how they are linked to the right to freely express what you want.

There is utter confusion among Indian students looking to study abroad. Not only are there travel bans, but there is also the very real fear that Covaxin, one of the major Indian vaccines may not be acceptable to many major Universities who believe that fully vaccinated students on campus require a World Health Organisation cleared vaccine, or one cleared by the FDA. On the show we speak to students and experts.