Left, Right & Centre

At the core of the charges against the 10 people arrested over Maoist links in June and August is their role in a gathering called the Elgar Parishad in Pune in December last year. The gathering was held ahead of the Bhima Koregaon anniversary that commeorates the victory of a small Scheduled Caste regiment defeated the forces of Peshwas 200 years ago. The Bhima Koregaon celebration, however, erupted into violence between two communities. One person died and several were injured in the clashes. Police said that it was the incendiary speeches given at the Elgar Parishad event that led to clashes, and that this was preplanned by Maoists who helped organise the Elgar Parishad. The basis for this: two police complaints - one that names participants like Umar Khalid and Jignesh Mevani. And the other, which names six participants all from Maharashtra from left organisations. (Video courtesy: fb/bhimakoregaonshauryadinpremaabhiyan)

Hike in fuel prices has led to blame game between the centre and state governments. The state governments, especially those headed by the opposition parties, blame the centre. The centre blames global prices and state governments. We explain to you how both are responsible.

More instructions on what not to say - a government order has banned the use of the word 'Dalit' in government circulars as well as by the media, saying that the community should be referred to as 'Scheduled Castes' instead. While the government orders are based on two court verdicts, the ban has been pulled into controversy, with leaders saying banning the word does not improve the status of the community.

In 2 days, the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the US Secretary Defence James Mattis arrive in India for a critical round of talks which could redefine the Indo-US strategic equation. There is a sense that both sides will sign a key agreement that allows the armed forces to share military information on a real-time basis. But India has concerns that the US may be able to monitor the movement of Indian drones and reconnaissance aircraft. Vishnu Som has the details.

As India gets its biggest-ever medal haul at the Asian Games, medallists Muhammad Anas, Sudha Singh and others join us to discuss what worked for India. Athletes and shooters talk about the road ahead to Tokyo Olympics in 2020.

Ahead of 2019, NDA allies seem uneasy. Every other day RLSP leader and Union Minister Upendra Kushwaha speaks against the government, and the JDU has rejected the initial seat-sharing proposal. Will Nitish Kumar go it alone or will he swap partners yet again?

On the show, we discuss a resounding comeback for the Indian economy. GDP growth this quarter has been 8.2 per cent, up from 5.6 per cent in the first quarter last time. Manufacturing is up sharply - 13.5 per cent. Agricultural growth is up as well, but there is also bad news. The rupee has hit 71 to the dollar today and petrol prices are at an all-time high.

We tackle the consequences of the Reserve Bank Of India's report that says that a majority of the cash that was taken out of circulation during demonetization, precisely 99.3%, has come back. If it has all come back, says the opposition, where's the black money? Why was such a huge, expensive operation which brought many lives to a standstill, claimed even some lives, why was it undertaken? Rahul Gandhi and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley are sparring with each other on that. We look at the political fallout of that.

Dissenters - from Arundhati Roy to Aruna Roy - they all spoke out today against the arrests of human rights activists. Why is the state cracking down on civil society? Arundhati Roy calls it "the coup on the Constitution."

To those defending them, they are innocent intellectuals and human rights activists - voices of dissent - that define what a democracy should be all about. But to the police in Maharashtra, they are criminals, urban Maoists who have an agenda not just against the country and what we stand for, but may also have hatched a scheme to attack top political leaders. Today, there were three court hearings and at the moment the five activists who were arrested in nationwide raids by the police have been put under house arrest with the Supreme Court stating that "dissent is the safety valve of democracy. If you don't allow the safety valve, the pressure cooker will burst." On the show, we debate: is the arrest of the activists a Maoist terror plot or witch hunt to shut down dissent?