In the backdrop of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, Prime Minister Narendra Modi wrapped up his first foreign visit of the year to Europe on 5 May with visits to Germany, Denmark, and France.

PM Modi’s first port of call was Berlin, where he met the new German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, whose government has decided to make economic sacrifices by reducing its energy dependence on Russia and even changing its decades-old stance on defence spending.

PM Modi then travelled to Copenhagen, where he held the second India-Nordic summit with Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Iceland, and Norway to explore new areas of cooperation. This summit was special because India is the only country other than the US that the Nordic Five engages on such a level.

And on his way back to New Delhi, PM Modi made a stopover in Paris, France, where President Emmanuel Macron was re-elected just 10 days ago. India and France have been strategic partners since 1998 and the talks here focused on the importance of a "free, open and rules-based" Indo-Pacific.

A common texture across the trip was the joint statements in each country, where differences over Ukraine were apparent. In Germany, Modi’s statement said no one will be the "victorious party in this war" and the only way out was through talks.

While India has been in an uncomfortable position since the Russia-Ukraine war began and has continued to not condemn Russia for any of its actions so far, there seems to be a level of comprehension by European countries on India’s stance.

And the flurry of European leaders and delegations to India in the past few weeks, especially the visit of EU President Ursula von der Leyen suggests a changing world order.

In today’s episode, we discuss the main takeaways from PM Modi’s EU trip with our guest Manoj Joshi, a distinguished Fellow at The Observer Research Foundation.

Host and Producer: Himmat Shaligram

Editor: Saundarya Talwar

Music: Big Bang Fuzz

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In a surprise move on Wednesday, 4 May, the Reserve Bank of India hiked the benchmark repo rate for the first time in four years by 40 basis points to 4.4 percent. Alongside this, the central bank also raised the cash reserve ratio or CRR by 50 basis points to 4.50 percent.

Unveiling the new policy on Wednesday, RBI Governor Shaktikanta Das said the bank is aiming to keep inflation – which is already close to 7 percent – at the desired level in the wake of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war and increase in food and commodity prices globally.

However, there are a few puzzling takeaways from the central bank statement. First, is the fact that the bank has retained the accommodative monetary policy, which essentially means that the bank is prepared to expend the money supply to boost economic growth. This, obviously, runs counter to the bank's latest move.

Second is the timing of it. Less than a month ago on 8 April, the bank's Monetary Policy Committee – which decides the repo rate – decided to keep the rate unchanged despite rising inflation and tightened geopolitical uncertainty. And since the same factors remain even now, why the sudden hike? What changed?

In today’s episode, we break down what prompted the RBI to hike the repo rate, the significance of the move, and how it will impact the end consumer.

In today’s episode, you will hear from Ananth Narayan, Professor of Finance at SP Jain Institute of Management and Research, and Quantum Advisors India's Arvind Chari. You will also hear from Prosenjit Dutta, former editor of Businessworld and Business Today.

Host and Producer: Himmat Shaligram

Editor: Shelly Walia 

Music: Big Bang Fuzz

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The wait is over! India’s biggest ever Initial Public Offering (IPO) of Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) kicked off for subscription for retail institutional investors today, that is on 4 May.

Since it's completely an offer for sale, all the proceedings will directly go to the government which is expecting to raise Rs 21,000 crores by selling a 3.5% stake of LIC, in a bid to replenish the public coffers that have been drained out by the pandemic.

But moving on to the pricing details, the price band for this IPO has been set at Rs 902-949 per share for sale of 22.13 crores equity shares. There is also a discount offer of Rs 60 per share for its policyholders and Rs 45 apiece for retail investors and LIC employees. The LIC IPO will close on 9 May and the company will be listed on the stock exchange on 17 May.

And the first two hours of the first day of bidding itself saw a pretty decent response with a subscription of around 28 percent by 12 noon. By the time of the recording of this podcast, it was at 58 percent.

Expectedly, in the months leading up to this massive IPO listing, there's been a lot of buzz around this listing, partly because LIC which is a state-run insurance company, has been a household name in the country for several decades given that it's the biggest and the oldest insurance company in India.

But after some newly listed stocks of companies Zomato, Nykaa and Paytm hit record lows after many weeks of record highs...there's also been a big question among policyholders and investors, and it is: to invest or not to invest?

While that is a tricky question to answer, what are the pros and cons of investing? We'll take that question to our guest Prosenjit Datta, former editor of Businessworld and Business Today in the podcast today. We'll also hear from senior journalist Madhavan Narayanan on his take on why the government is going ahead with this IPO listing under volatile market conditions.

Tune in!

Host and Producer: Shorbori Purkayastha

Editor: Shelly Walia

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A month after taking office in 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said India's "democracy will not sustain if we can't guarantee freedom of speech and expression".

However, 8 years on, the freedom of one of the fundamental pillars of democracy – the press – has taken a nosedive. In 2015, the World Press Freedom Index, which is compiled annually by Reporters Without Borders, ranked India at 136 out of 180 countries. This number in 2021 reached the all-time low of 142.

While India has not slipped further down the index, Reporters Without Borders continues to classify India as “bad” for journalism and termed it as one of the “world’s most dangerous countries for journalists trying to do their job properly.”

A February 2022 report by the Rights and Risk Analysis group points exactly to how dangerous it is. In its India Press Freedom Report 2021, the organisation states that at least six journalists were killed and 121 journalists including 13 media houses were targeted in India just in 2021.

Time and again we hear about the state of freedom of the press in India, how journalists have been selectively targeted and attacked in India for their reportage, and in some cases also for their religious identity.

On the occasion of World Press Freedom Day, we take a look at how press freedom in India has shrunk over the years. Joining me to unpack this, for today’s episode, are senior journalist Seema Chishti, Patricia Mukhim, the editor of the Shillong Times, and Alishan Jafri, an independent journalist who covers hate crime in India.

Host and Producer: Himmat Shaligram

Editor: Aditya Menon

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The IPL 2022 saw quite a few overhauls- two new teams being added, the mega auction where teams splurged close to Rs 550 crore for 204 players to construct some new squads. We also saw iconic names going missing and some new captains being announced. 

There seems to be a lot of change this season and a quick glance at the points table tells the same story.

Three of the most successful and storied teams in the history of IPL - Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings and the Kolkata Knight Riders- are languishing at the bottom of the points table. 

Here is a quick roundup of where these teams stand:

Mumbai — which is at the bottom of the table — has made history by losing their first eight matches. Chennai — who is one rung above Mumbai—has lost 6 of the eight matches it has played so far. And lastly, Kolkata which has also lost six of the nine matches it has played so far.

But the big question is what has happened to these three iconic teams? Is it just plain bad luck or does it go deeper?

In today’s episode, we take these questions to die-hard fans of these teams. Joining me today our my colleagues Mythreyee Iyer, Meghnad Bose, Debayan Dutta and Saptarshi Basak.

Host and Producer: Himmat Shaligram

Editor: Mendra Dorjey Sahni

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If you, like me, have caught yourself multiple times a day complaining about how this year is hotter than the last, you are not alone.

March 2022 has been India’s third warmest March since 1901 and there have been at least 26 heat waves since the start of March, which can last for anywhere between 4-10 days. 

On 11 April, Delhi broke a 72-year-old record with the temperature hitting 42.6 degrees Celsius. And the absence of summer rains, which usually keeps a check on the heat, has also made the heat worse.

While climate change is one of the main reasons why it is so hot, what has made it even more frustrating is the constant power cuts which are occurring across the country. As per the power ministry's own data, 14 out of 36 states and union territories are currently facing a power shortage. 

And there are multiple reasons behind this power crunch, with the most obvious one being record-high power demands in this scorching heat. 

As the country witnesses a revival of the economy due to declining COVID cases, businesses have started operating at full capacity, adding to the power requirement. 

But the big reason behind the power cuts is the shortage of coal in India. Barely six months ago in October 2021, we saw a similar crisis, with several states facing electricity outages due to prolonged monsoon.

But why is India witnessing a power crunch again in the summers? What is leading to this constant power outage? And what is causing this heat?

To understand this, we spoke to Sudiep Shrivastava, Chhattisgarh-based lawyer and activist; Sanjay Vashisht, Director, Climate Action Network South Asia; and Dr Narendra Taneja, a leading energy expert.

Host and Producer: Himmat Shaligram

Editor: Shelly Walia

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Things seem to be going from bad to worse for Virat Kohli as his poor performance continues to haunt him in the ongoing IPL 2022 as he got out on the first ball for the second straight match and scored less than 10 runs in the match subsequent to it.

The former Indian captain, who has scored over 23,500 international runs for India, was out on the first ball against Lucknow SuperGiants and on 23 April, when he edged the outgoing delivery he faced from South Africa-fast bowler Marco Jansen at the Brabourne Stadium.

It has also now been 100 games across all formats of cricket that Virat Kohli has not scored a century.

This dry spell has also prompted pundits like former India coach Ravi Shastri and well-wishers to suggest that Kohli is "overcooked" and needs a break away from the game and the spotlight.

So in today’s episode, we analyse the possible reasons for this kind of a lean patch for Kohli and also the possible solutions for a player of his level to come back from it.

For this, we spoke to cricket commentator and analyst Chandresh Narayanan and Amrit Mathur, the former COO of the Delhi Daredevils. We also spoke to Dr Divya Jain, a sports psychologist at Fortis Hospital, Delhi.

Host and Producer: Himmat Shaligram

Editor: Mendra Dorjey Sahni

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Only a few days ago, Elon Musk's bid to buy Twitter was thought to be long shot but his offer has ben accepted by the social media platform. The billionaire will now pay a cool $44 billion to take the company private.

In his statement on Tuesday, 26 April Musk said he wants to "make Twitter better than ever by enhancing the product with new features, making the algorithms open source to increase trust, defeating the spam bots, and authenticating all humans."

The announcement also confirmed many of the details that had already been reported — or tweeted — about the transaction. However, it has also left many unanswered questions, most pertinently— how will a privately held Twitter operate? And is Elon Musk’s idea of “free speech” right for a platform like Twitter ?

Joining us today to discuss all this is Apar Gupta, the Executive Director of the Internet Freedom Foundation.

Host and Producer: Himmat Shaligram

Editor: Shorbori Purkayastha

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Assured of another five years in office, French President Emmanuel Macron made history on Monday, 25 April, by beating his far-right rival Marine Le Pen.

This was the second straight fight between the two politicians and Le Pen’s third shot at presidency.

But there is something deeply unsettling about these results — how close Le Pen, a long-time standard-bearer for the French far-right, got in terms of vote share with Macron. 

Le Pen scored better than she ever has, winning about 41 percent of the votes. The last time she stood for elections, in 2017, she earned around 34 percent.

What is also striking about the result is the abstention rate of this elections, which at 28 percent is a slight increase from its level in 2017 but also the highest for a final round of vote since 1969. 

The nature of these results raises the question: if these voting trends continue, is France walking on a dangerous path towards electing a far-right president in the next election?

To break down the election results and their significance, we speak to senior journalist and columnist Nabanita Sircar.

Host and Producer: Himmat Shaligram

Editor: Saundarya Talwar

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In his first visit to India since being elected United Kingdom’s Prime Minister, Boris Johnson on 22 April said the relationship between the two countries is stronger than ever.

It has taken three attempts for Johnson to finally arrive in India, having cancelled his earlier trips as the chief guest of the 2021 Republic Day and then calling his trip off again four months later in April on account of the deadly COVID second wave.

However, even as her arrives in India, Johnson is being trailed by reverberations of “partygate” where the UK Parliament vote is deliberating on whether to refer him for a formal investigation into his is knowledge of parties at 10 Downing Street despite the countries strict COVID restrictions.

And his first day in India on 21 April was not a smooth landing, with an outpour of outrage online against his inauguration of a JCB factory in Gujarat, just a day after bulldozers made by the company razed alleged illegal construction in Delhi’s Jahangirpuri.

But despite the stumbles made by the Johnson, his visit to India since being elected to Prime Minister is important since it signals that the two countries have to a large extent let go of their legacy colonial issues, which have plagued negotiations and ties in the past.

In today’s episode, we take a look at the India-UK relations and the main takeaways from UK PM Boris Johnson’s India visit. Joining me today is Vivek Mishra, a fellow at the Observer Research Foundation.

Host and Producer: Himmat Shaligram

Editor: Shorbori Purkayastha

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