On July 23, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issued a landmark advisory opinion reaffirming states’ legal obligations to mitigate climate change. The court emphasised that countries are required to reduce their greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions and support vulnerable nations. The ruling has sparked debates over sovereignty, enforcement, and global equity. Can the ICJ ruling force rich nations to pay for historical emissions? Guests: Ted Nordhaus, American environmental thinker and co-foun...
Jul 31, 2025•37 min
By analysing data from the Central Adoption Resource Authority (CARA), The Hindu data team recently found that for every child free for adoption in India, 13 parents wait in line. The Supreme Court has directed CARA to take measures to streamline and expedite the adoption process. Should India relax its adoption procedure? Here we discuss the question. Guests : Aloma Lobo, adoptive parent, a former chairperson of CARA, and an adoption counsellor; Smriti Gupta, adoptive parent. She runs an NGO ca...
Jul 24, 2025•33 min
The suggestion of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat last week that leaders should step aside at the age of 75 triggered a debate. Opposition leaders saw Mr. Bhagwat’s comment as a nudge from the RSS to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who is turning 75 in September, to step down. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has maintained a studied silence on the issue. Should political leaders retire at 75? Here we discuss the issue. Guests : Manisha Priyam, Sir Louis Matheson Distinguishe...
Jul 17, 2025•47 min
The gruesome death of security guard Ajith Kumar, 27, while in police custody in Tamil Nadu’s Sivaganga district last month, is yet another grim addition to the long and growing list of custodial deaths in India. In response, Chief Minister M.K. Stalin has ordered a CBI probe to ensure a transparent investigation, and the Madras High Court has directed the agency to complete its inquiry and submit a report by August 20. Are the existing institutional mechanisms effective in preventing custodial ...
Jul 10, 2025•46 min
Beginning with the Maharashtra Assembly elections last year, Opposition parties have made many allegations regarding manipulations in electoral rolls. The Leader of the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, and others have raised the matter both inside and outside Parliament. The Election Commission of India (ECI) has maintained that it is impossible to tamper with voter rolls. Two days ago, it issued instructions for holding Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar for the Assembly elec...
Jul 03, 2025•29 min
Beginning with the Maharashtra Assembly elections last year, Opposition parties have made many allegations regarding manipulations in electoral rolls. The Leader of the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi, and others have raised the matter both inside and outside Parliament. The Election Commission of India (ECI) has maintained that it is impossible to tamper with voter rolls. Two days ago, it issued instructions for holding Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Bihar for the Assembly elec...
Jun 26, 2025•32 min
On June 16, the Registrar General of India under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs issued a notification that India’s population will be counted in 2027. Following demands by the Opposition parties, among other reasons, the government has also announced the inclusion of caste enumeration in the Census for the first time in independent India. The last Census was held in 2011. The exercise was to take place in 2021, but was delayed because of the COVID-19 pandemic. It has now been further pushed ...
Jun 20, 2025•32 min
On June 7, on the eve of Eid ul Azha, the Chief Adviser to the interim government in Bangladesh, Dr. Muhammad Yunus, delivered a televised address to the nation, promising to hold elections in April 2026. He also announced that the country would witness the launch of the ‘July Proclamation’, which had been earlier planned by student activists to “bury” the Constitution of Bangladesh, as it is linked to the founder of Bangladesh and Awami League co-founder, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Prof. Yunus said...
Jun 12, 2025•36 min
Discussions are ongoing in India to amend both the country’s nuclear liability framework, regulated by the 2010 Civil Liability for Nuclear Damages Act (CLNDA) the 1962 Atomic Energy Act to allow private companies to build and operate nuclear energy generation facilities. This move is part of a broader strategy to expand India’s nuclear energy capacity from the current 8 GW to 100 GW by 2047, aligning with the country’s clean energy goals. India has 22 nuclear power generation plants operated by...
Jun 05, 2025•52 min
On May 20, 2025, the Supreme Court restored a minimum of three years of legal practice as a mandatory condition to apply for entry-level judicial service. The ruling reverses the Court’s 2002 decision that had removed the practice requirement, originally mandated by a 1993 judgment. Is the three-year practice requirement a welcome move? Here we discuss the question. Guests : Prashant Reddy T. , co-author of Tareekh Pe Justice: Reforms for India’s District Courts ; Bharat Chugh , Delhi-based advo...
May 29, 2025•54 min
Parallel to the escalation of the recent military tensions between India and Pakistan, misinformation and disinformation surged online, making it increasingly difficult for the public to distinguish between fact and fiction. Many media outlets published sensational stories, riddled with unverified claims, and disseminated fake pictures and videos. Jingoism often drove the public response. Is establishing the truth a problem during a conflict? Here we discuss the question. Guests : Nirupama Subra...
May 22, 2025•31 min
According to the Sample Registration System report for 2021 released by the Registrar General of India on May 7, the Total Fertility Rate (TFR), which is the average number of children that a woman is expected to have in her childbearing years, in India was 2.0 in 2021, the same as in 2020. While Delhi and West Bengal reported the lowest TFR of 1.4, Bihar reported the highest at 3.0. Is Bihar’s high replacement rate a consequence of poverty? We discuss the question here. Guests : Saswata Ghosh, ...
May 15, 2025•45 min
The recent death of a young entrepreneur, who reportedly took the extreme step after she lost followers on social media, is sufficient reason for us to pause and assess the role of social media in our lives. There is no doubt that social media is here to stay and has a huge role to play in our lives. By holding up a world that seems perfect, and fickle with its devotion, social media can take a toll on mental health, particularly that of youngsters. On the other hand, the Netflix series Adolesce...
May 08, 2025•49 min
The calculated brutality of the terror attack in Pahalgam in Jammu and Kashmir appears to have crossed a red line for India-Pakistan ties that were already at an all-time low. Following its diplomatic measures against Pakistan, what appropriate military response can India craft? Has the Pahalgam attack crossed a red line? Here we discuss the question. Guests : Sharat Sabharwal, Former High Commissioner to Pakistan and author of India’s Pakistan Conundrum: Managing a Complex Relationship ; Lieute...
May 01, 2025•39 min
United States President Donald Trump’s ‘reciprocal tariffs’ have been compared to the Smoot-Hawley tariffs of the 1930s, which many say hastened the slide into the Great Depression. The difference between the 1930s and now is that we have the World Trade Organization (WTO) to oversee and enforce global trade rules. However, some argue that over the years, the WTO has gradually lost its compass and is in need of massive reforms. Is the WTO still relevant? Here we discuss the question. Guests : Mo...
Apr 24, 2025•48 min
Recently, while speaking at the Startup Mahakumbh in New Delhi, Union Minister of Commerce and Industry Piyush Goyal said that startups were not innovating enough and were limiting themselves to grocery delivery. Are Indian startups not scaling up on innovation? Here we discuss the question. Guests : Thillai Rajan, Professor and Head, Research Centre on Startups, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras; P.K. Jayadevan, author, communications professional, and former journalist Host: Ashokamithran...
Apr 17, 2025•1 hr 10 min
Last month, unaccounted cash was reportedly recovered from the official residence of former Delhi High Court judge, Justice Yashwant Varma. In response, Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna initiated an in-house inquiry into the matter. Justice Varma has since been repatriated to his parent High Court in Allahabad and will not be assigned any judicial work until the Supreme Court-mandated inquiry is completed. Are existing mechanisms effective in combating judicial corruption? Here we discuss th...
Apr 10, 2025•46 min
U.S. President Donald Trump’s move to impose reciprocal tariffs on many countries, including India, has caused significant uncertainty in the global economy. Indian policymakers have tried to placate Mr. Trump by reducing tariffs on a number of U.S. goods, and they have also been in talks with U.S. trade negotiators about a possible bilateral trade agreement. Should India reduce tariffs given the U.S.’s moves? Here we discuss the question. Guests : Ajay Shah, economic columnist affiliated with t...
Apr 03, 2025•20 min
In February 2024, Union Home Minister Amit Shah announced that the Free Movement Regime (FMR) along the Myanmar border would be scrapped but there has neither been any notification by the Ministry of External Affairs in this regard nor any bilateral agreement with Myanmar so far. Former Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh’s insistence is said to have led to the decision following complaints that unregulated movement of people from across the border was fuelling the ethnic conflict in his State...
Mar 28, 2025•30 min
Ranjani Srinivasan, an Indian doctoral student at Columbia University, left the U.S. on March 11, 2025, following the revocation of her student visa by the U.S. State Department. Her departure followed a raid on her campus residence by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, who have accused her of being a “pro-Hamas sympathiser”. Earlier, on March 8, immigration authorities arrested Mahmoud Khalil, a Palestinian student activist and green card holder, for allegedly violating his terms of re...
Mar 20, 2025•34 min
The National Education Policy, 2020, encourages students up to at least Class 5 to learn a regional language in addition to the local language or mother tongue and English. While the Central government asserts that the choice of the additional regional language is left to the States, the NEP’s strong pitch for the three-language formula has led to fear, especially in Tamil Nadu, that there is an attempt being made to impose Hindi on non-Hindi speaking States. This week, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister...
Mar 13, 2025•1 hr 13 min
Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools are increasingly being used in classrooms around the world. Last month, British universities were warned to “stress-test” all assessments after new research revealed that “almost all” undergraduates are using generative AI (GenAI) in their studies. Last year, a study by TeamLease EdTech revealed that over 61% of educators in India are using AI tools. All this has given rise to fears that students will likely begin accepting information at face value rather than...
Mar 06, 2025•33 min
On February 19, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio met Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov in Riyadh in a dramatic reversal of the previous U.S. administration’s policy not to have peace talks with Russia since the beginning of the war with Ukraine in February 2022. This happened because of Donald Trump’s election campaign, which called for “ending the war in Ukraine”. Since taking office, President Trump has spoken on phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian President Volod...
Feb 27, 2025•35 min
The popular YouTube show ‘India’s Got Latent’ has sparked controversy after criminal proceedings were initiated against its creators and participants over allegedly obscene remarks in one of its episodes. On February 18, 2025, the Supreme Court granted interim protection from arrest to podcaster Ranveer Allahbadia, one of the participants named in the FIRs. This has reignited the debate on whether stringent criminal sanctions are justified for contentious speech. Is there a right to take offence...
Feb 20, 2025•38 min
The Supreme Court on January 30, 2025, permitted High Courts to appoint retired judges on an ad-hoc basis to address the mounting backlog of cases. However, these judges were authorised to hear only criminal appeals as part of a bench led by a sitting judge. Is the ad-hoc appointment of judges a viable remedy for reducing pendency? Here we discuss the question. Guests: Justice Rajeev Shakdher, former Chief Justice of the Himachal Pradesh High Court; Shadan Farasat, senior advocate based in Delhi...
Feb 13, 2025•46 min
In 2023, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman’s remarks in India on the cost of training foundational AI models — like the ones that power ChatGPT — sparked a debate on whether Indian firms should spend millions of dollars on the aim of that technology. The issue pits sovereignty and national pride against financial constraints. Is it necessary for sovereignty and business reasons for India to work towards a foundational model, as the IT Ministry’s IndiaAI Mission has announced it will? Here we discuss the iss...
Feb 06, 2025•25 min
The INDIA bloc managed to prevent the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from reaching the majority mark in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. However, it went on to lose the Haryana and Maharashtra Assembly elections. In the ongoing campaign to the Delhi Assembly elections, the INDIA bloc appears fragmented as certain constituents of the coalition, such as the Samajwadi Party and the Trinamool Congress, are supporting the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), leaving the Congress to fight on its own. Has the INDIA bloc ...
Jan 30, 2025•38 min
Last month, the government released a factsheet on the 2023-24 Household Consumption Expenditure Survey (HCES), which recorded a decline in poverty in urban and rural areas. Over the last few years, policymakers and academics have debated the issues of incomparable data sets, the unavailability of data, and the definition of an adequate consumption basket to determine a poverty line. Is poverty being underestimated in India? Here we discuss the question. Guests : P.C. Mohanan, former member of t...
Jan 23, 2025•33 min
India’s 1-3 loss in the Border-Gavaskar Trophy marked the end of its decade-long dominance in the series against Australia. This was not an exception; India’s performance in Test cricket has been dismal for a while now. Over the last four months, the team has lost six out of eight Tests, including a shocking 0-3 defeat against New Zealand at home. Has T20 cricket deskilled Indian batting? Here we discuss the question.
Jan 16, 2025•39 min
At an event in December, External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar said there are a lot of challenges in providing dual citizenship to Indians settled abroad. He pointed out that the Overseas Citizenship of India drive is a step towards meeting the demand and added that the debate on dual citizenship is “still alive”. Here we discuss the issue. Guests : Vivek Katju, Diplomat Ambassador; Amitabh Mattoo, Dean of the School of International Studies at the Jawaharlal Nehru University Host: Kallol Bhat...
Jan 09, 2025•35 min
