This year’s Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences was awarded to Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James Robinson [AJR] for their work in understanding how good institutions play are essential role for a country’s prosperity. They explain how 'inclusive institutions' can help countries grow and create long-term benefits for everyone. They also explain how 'extractive institutions' provide short-term gains for the people in power. In a press release announcing the winners of this year's Nobel Prize fo...
Nov 02, 2024•32 min
Eight months after he announced the launch of a new political party, Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam (TVK), actor Vijay held his first political rally on October 27th. The event attracted nearly three lakh supporters, and Vijay made it clear he has his eyes set on the 2026 assembly elections. In a bid to clarify his party’s political values, he invoked the likes of Periyar, Ambedkar, Kamaraj, Anjalai Ammal, and Velu Nachiar. In a speech that lasted a little over 45 minutes, he implied that the BJP was ...
Oct 30, 2024•31 min
India and China have reached an agreement on patrolling arrangements along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). This is expected to lead to “disengagement” and eventually a proper resolution of the tensions that had emerged along the India-China border in 2020. External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar has said that this agreement is just the “first phase”. What exactly is covered by this patrolling pact? What are the outstanding issues that remain? And what is the significance of the recent meeting b...
Oct 29, 2024•27 min
Yayha Sinwar, the leader of Hamas in the Gaza Strip and head of the group’s political bureau was killed by Israeli forces on October 16. His death sparked contrasting reactions. While the West has largely endorsed the killing of a man Israel’s considers as the ‘mastermind’ of the October 7, 2023 attack, Palestinians, Arabs, and other actors in the Middle East have hailed him as a ‘martyr’ and a ‘hero’ who will inspire Palestinians to continue their fight for self-determination and statehood. Som...
Oct 28, 2024•29 min
For the fifth time in its history, the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine has been given for research into RNA. This year’s Nobel Prize winners, Victor Ambros and Gary Ruvkun were awarded the prize for discovery of microRNA and its role in post-transcriptional gene regulation. What is microRNA? Why was its discovery important? What are the implications of this for research into human health and diseases? What is the current RNA research ongoing in India? And is RNA now taking centrestage for...
Oct 25, 2024•26 min
Last week, the Supreme Court recalled its judgement of August 23, 2022, wherein it had struck down certain provisions of the Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act of 2016. Through the 2016 Act, the government had amended the original legislation, the Prohibition of Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988. The 2016 law had expanded the original law from nine sections to 72 sections. In 2016, a three-judge Bench led by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana had declared as unconstitutional Sections 3 ...
Oct 24, 2024•27 min
Last week, G.N. Saibaba, a former professor at Delhi University, died, after being released from jail in March this year after spending 10 years incarcerated. He was jailed on terror charges – but was eventually found innocent by the Bombay High Court. The Court while acquitting him had criticised both the investigation and the trial court’s decision in finding him guilty. Despite being 90% disabled and on a wheelchair due to polio, Prof Saibaba, as per his own account was constantly denied acce...
Oct 21, 2024•39 min
In this episode, we are in conversation with A. Soundararajan, the honorary president of the recently formed Samsung India Workers Union to better understand the reasons for the labour unrest at one of the South Korean manufacturing giant’s flagship facilities near Chennai. The 38-day-long workers strike at Samsung India’s factory, which produces a range of products from LED TVs to 5G technology components for the domestic and global market, is the second-longest labour protest in the past 15 ye...
Oct 18, 2024•29 min
The Union government recently introduced a Bill in the Lok Sabha to amend the 1995 Waqf Act. The provisions of the 1995 law govern the administration of waqfs—properties endowed for charitable or religious purpose under Islamic law. But opposition parties have accused the government of trying to undermine the religious rights of Muslims through this amendment, which is titled, ‘Unified Waqf Management, Empowerment, Efficiency, and Development Act, 2024. The government, on its part, has claimed t...
Oct 17, 2024•43 min
The INDIA bloc comprising the National Conference (NC), the Congress and the Communist Party of India (Marxist (CPM) has secured a clear majority in the Jammu and Kashmir assembly elections. While the NC prevailed in 42 seats and the Congress won six, the BJP dominated the Jammu region, winning 29 seats in the 90-member assembly. So, what do these results mean for Jammu and Kashmir going forward? How did the delimitation affect the results? Where does the result leave the Peoples Democratic Part...
Oct 10, 2024•26 min
All the exit polls had favoured a Congress victory in the Haryana assembly elections. But defying these predictions, the BJP has secured a clear mandate, winning 48 seats in the 90-member assembly. How did the BJP manage to beat a strong anti-incumbency factor, not to mention issued such as the farmers’ protests, and the Brij Bhushan sexual harassment issue? What went wrong for the Congress? And what was the nature of the social coalition that carried the day? Guest: Rahul Verma, political analy...
Oct 09, 2024•34 min
On October 3, we saw that the government of India announced classical language status to four languages and Marathi was one of them. We have been hearing how there have been joyous and applauding reactions coming in from Maharashtra but there have been certain debates as well on whether Marathi should be given classical language status or not. How was the journey, and how did this whole process begin? What were the various landmark steps that were taken? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit m...
Oct 08, 2024•25 min
The Delhi winter used to be something everyone looked forward to. But over the past decade, Delhiites have come to dread the winter months due to toxic air quality, which have been linked to a spate of health issues. The government has developed a Graded Response Action Plan (GRAP), and a Winter Action Plan to tackle air pollution. But these measures --- seasonal and crisis-oriented in nature -- have failed to improve the air quality beyond the ‘poor’ level in the October to January period. This...
Oct 07, 2024•41 min
The Union Health Ministry issued a set of draft guidelines on a subject that has mostly remained somewhat taboo in India: passive euthanasia. The guidelines have stated that doctors should take considered decisions on the withdrawal of life support in terminally ill patients, or consider not giving life support measures in such patients – under certain conditions. This is not the first time passive euthanasia has come up in recent times – despite India not having any formal legislation around it...
Oct 04, 2024•28 min
Last week Israel killed Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah in aerial strikes over a southern suburb of Beirut, raising fears of a sharp escalation and expansion of the conflict across the region. Even after the killing of the Hezbollah chief along with a host of senior commanders, Israel has kept up its bombardment of Lebanon and Beirut. Hezbollah spokespersons have defiantly stated that they are ready for a land invasion from Israel. Meanwhile, the US has committed to additional troop deployment...
Oct 02, 2024•41 min
What’s a quick measure of how healthy you are? Most people would say Body Mass Index or BMI. But increasingly, experts have come to the conclusion that BMI has several limitations. Why? For one thing it was made using data from 19th century Europeans and does not work well across different populations. For another, it does not tell you the composition of your weight, or crucially, where that weight is located. Indians are genetically predisposed to putting on more weight around the abdomen regio...
Sep 26, 2024•21 min
India has made chess history winning both the team golds at the Budapest Olympiad, which saw participation from a staggering 193 teams in the Open section and 181 women’s teams. In the Open section, the Indian men’s team of D Gukesh, R Praggnanandha, Arjun Erigaisi, Vidit Gujrathi and P Harikrishna were so dominant they finished a good four points clear of the second-placed USA. The Indian women’s route to the team gold was much tighter. They had to win their match on the final day, which they d...
Sep 25, 2024•34 min
Today we are at the Hindu discussing a topic which has been making news since yesterday. It's been over 24 hours since Akshay Shinde, who was accused in the Badlapur rape case, was shot dead in a police encounter. The police have claimed that he was trying to run away and that he snatched the service revolver and thereafter the police had to shoot him down. This incident has clearly snowballed into a political controversy, not just in Maharashtra but far and wide. The Badlapur case has been in n...
Sep 25, 2024•25 min
Anurag Kumara Dissanayake of the JVP has been elected as the 9th President of Sri Lanka. The results clearly signal a dramatic change from the politics of the past in Sri Lanka. In this episode of In Focus, we decode the Sri Lankan presidential election results. Nirupama Subramanian, and Meera Srinivasan provide in-depth analysis on what the outcome means for the country’s political landscape. Host: Amit Baruah Edited by Jude Francis Weston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/ad...
Sep 24, 2024•51 min
On June 5 this year, when NASA astronauts Barry Wilmore and Sunita Williams flew the Boeing Starliner crew capsule to the International Space Station, they expected to be back within about eight days. Now however, these seasoned astronauts will remain in space for eight months – until February 2025. What happened? Their capsule which on its first flight with a human crew was not deemed safe enough to bring them back after helium leaks and other malfunctions developed. Eventually, the Starliner c...
Sep 23, 2024•23 min
The International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (International IDEA) is a Stockholm-based intergovernmental organisation that advocates for democracy worldwide. It has come out with a report on the health of democracies. Titled, ‘The Global State of Democracy 2024: Strengthening the Legitimacy of Elections in a Time of Radical Uncertainty’, the report has found that while one in four countries have improved in democratic metrics, a greater proportion – four out of nine – have ...
Sep 20, 2024•36 min
Many African and Asian countries, including India, are leaning towards biofortification of crops. It is the process by which the nutrient density of food crops is increased by various means without sacrificing characteristic that is preferred by consumers or farmers. Thus, biofortified crops are more nutrient-dense than non-biofortified varieties. Experts believe that these crops can help end 'hidden hunger' or micronutrient malnutrition. Research is underway to add iron, Vitamin A, and Zinc to ...
Sep 19, 2024•25 min
Jammu and Kashmir is set to hold its first assembly elections since the abrogation of Article 370. The polls will take place in three phases, on September 18, 25th and October 1. The counting of votes will happen on October 8. Given that these are the first assembly elections in ten years, what is the mood on the ground? What are the poll promises being made by the contending parties, and how do they stack up against each other in different parts of the Union Territory? Guest: Peerzada Ashiq, Th...
Sep 16, 2024•43 min
Last July, a whistleblower in Kenya posted on social media that the country’s main international airport would be taken over by India’s Adani Group. The news sparked widespread outrage in Kenya. It has since emerged that the Kenya Airport Authority (KAA), which runs the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport in Nairobi, has signed a $2.5 billion build-and-operate deal with the Adani Group. Under the agreement, the Adanis would renovate the airport and add a new runway and terminal, and in exchange,...
Sep 13, 2024•22 min
In this episode, we dive into the Uttar Pradesh government's new social media policy, which encourages influencers to promote the state's initiatives and achievements with incentives. However, this move has sparked controversy, with opposition parties criticizing it as an attempt to sway public opinion ahead of the upcoming elections. How does UP’s policy compare to other states? What are the rules for government advertising, and how does this new policy affect influencers and current practices?...
Sep 11, 2024•23 min
The merger of Air India and Vistara would be complete by November 12. From this day, all of Vistara’s bookings would be automatically transferred to Air India, and the same goes for Vistara’s crew and air craft. This merger has been in the works for a while now. But mergers in the aviation sector don’t always go down smoothly, and the Air India-Vistara case faces many challenges. What would be the fallout of killing a successful brand like Vistara, which commands considerable flyer loyalty? Can ...
Sep 10, 2024•33 min
There were two recent court proceedings in the country that related to divorce and maintenance: in July, the Supreme Court once again upheld a divorced Muslim woman’s rights to claim maintenance under Section 125 of the Criminal Procedure Code or the secular law ruling that this applies to all women “irrespective of religion.” And then just a couple of weeks ago, questioned a woman who had asked for over Rs. 6 lakh per month as maintenance from her ex-husband. The court advised the woman to prov...
Sep 09, 2024•31 min
X (formerly known as Twitter) has gone offline in Brazil. The country’s Supreme Court issued an order to block X in Brazil after Elon Musk refused to appoint a legal representative for the company in the country. This defiance came on the heels of repeated flouting of the court’s orders to block certain far-right accounts that were allegedly spreading disinformation. X has more than 22 million users in Brazil, who suddenly find themselves cut off from their accounts. The judge who ordered the ba...
Sep 06, 2024•39 min
For nearly a month now, the country has been rocked by protests by medical professionals – services at many hospitals stalled, at many others, healthcare staff wore black badges while working and in Kolkata, the epicenter of the protests, doctors have now begun telemedicine services to help patients while they continue their protest. The agitations began after the horrific rape and murder of a trainee doctor at the R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital. The protesting healthcare workers are dema...
Sep 04, 2024•27 min
Israel and Hezbollah exchanged heightened military strikes over the August 25 weekend. While Israel carried out large scale ‘pre-emptive’ air strikes on southern Lebanon in response to what it claimed were preparations by Hezbollah to strike Israel, Hezbollah still went ahead and launched a barrage of rockets into northern Israel. The attacks left one dead in Israel and three dead in Lebanon, and raised fears of the conflict escalating into a wider regional war. But Hezbollah leader Sayyed Hassa...
Sep 03, 2024•28 min
