In Focus by The Hindu

Exploring the ongoing farmers' protest at the Punjab-Haryana border, the demand for legal guarantee on MSP purchases, and government's proposal for a five-year contract. Insights on past vs present protests, challenges faced by farmers, and the need for diversifying crops. Speculations on future escalation, global demands for farmers' pricing support, and the case for legal entitlement to minimum support price.

Controlling a computer with just your thoughts seems to be something straight out of a science fiction movie, but that’s exactly what scientific experiments are now doing. This week Elon Musk, founder of the startup Neuralink which implanted a brain chip, called Telepathy, into a human being last month, said that the patient’s progress has been good, and the patient is now able to move a mouse on a screen by just thinking. Exciting? Yes. A little scary too? Perhaps. The tech, at least for now, is aimed at treating paralysis and complex neurological conditions.Putting electrodes into the brain is not new – scientists have been experimenting with this for years now, but refining and potentially commercialising this tech takes a lot of doing.The brain is a complex organ that works by sending electrical impulses from one neuron to another every time we think, and we have 86 billion neurons. The brain-computer interface technology attempts to capture some of this activity through a chip that acts as a bridge between the brain and a digital device.So what does brain-computer interface technology involve, and how does it work? How many of our brain signals can be read? What is its potential in medical applications to treat health conditions? And importantly, what are the ethical issues involved here? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Lok Sabha elections of 2024 are round the corner. The season of defections is also upon us. Party hopping has commenced in earnest.An India Today poll suggested earlier in February that the NDA would win 335 seats in 2024 down from 353 in 2019. The Congress tally was put at 71.A YouGov-Mint-CPR survey, also published in February, said that 51 per cent believed that construction of the Ram Mandir, on the site where the Babri Masjid once stood, was a rectification of historical wrongs while 49 per cent felt that it was an electorally motivated move to win Hindu votes.So, with just about two months to go for Lok Sabha 2024, how does the political chess board look in India?Guest: Gilles Verniers, Senior Fellow at the Centre for Policy Research, and Visiting Fellow at Amherst College in the United States.Host: Amit Baruah, Senior Associate Editor, The Hindu.Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The recent Supreme Court verdict on the electoral bond scheme is explored with Jagdeep S Chhokar, an expert in Indian democracy. They discuss the removal of the cap on corporate donations, concerns of corporate influence, and implications for Indian democracy. The podcast also covers the unconstitutional nature of the scheme, challenges of establishing a nexus between funds and electoral results, and the importance of transparency in political party financing.

The Uttarakhand assembly passed the State’s Uniform Civil Code last week. Titled ‘The Uniform Civil Code of Uttarakhand, 2024’, the Bill was one of the BJP’s poll promises during the 2022 Assembly election campaign.Although its applicability is supposed to be uniform, the law exempts tribal populations, and also the Hindu Undivided Family (HUF) from its purview.What’s the legal history and background of this legislation? How does this law affect minority communities? And what’s controversy around its provisions concerning live-in relationships? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Discussion on the claims made in a white paper on the Indian economy, analyzing factors such as inflation, fiscal deficit, and borrowing. Assessment of reforms, investment climate, and policy-induced shocks. Debate on findings of the white paper including health expenditure, GDP growth rates, and unemployment rates.

The people of Pakistan have spoken. They have reposed their faith in democracy and cast their vote against the establishment’s efforts to decimate the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf of jailed former Prime Minister Imran Khan.Independents backed by his party, PTI as it’s known, have won 93 seats in a House of 264, with the Muslim League Nawaz notching up 75. The Pakistan People’s Party has won 54 seats.It looks likely that a coalition government will take power in the country. Talks have begun between the Nawaz League and the PPP to form a coalition government even as the mandate appears to be for the PTI.So, what lies ahead for Pakistan? What does the mandate of February 8 mean? Will Imran Khan be out of jail like Nawaz Sharif for a fresh lease of life in politics? Or is it too early? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For anyone who drives a vehicle in this country, the nightmare scenario is the same: an accident involving another person. India has one of the worst road accident rates in the world – in 2022, the country reported over 4,60,000 road accidents, with over half taking place on national and State highways. Clearly, road safety is an area of huge concern. Recently, new provisions related to hit-and-run accident cases were brought in under the new penal code, the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita or BNS. These provisions however evoked massive protests from truck drivers across the country at the beginning of this year – truckers said the penalties were unfair, imposed very heavy fines and jail sentences and did not take into account the many issues on Indian roads – the bad conditions of the road, lighting and visibility factors, mob violence in some cases where accidents take place and the behaviour of other motorists and pedestrians on the road itself. The protests only ended after the Union Home Secretary said these provisions would only be implemented after consultations with transport bodies.So what are the new provisions for hit and run accident cases in the law? What constitutes rash and negligient driving and what are the penalties for it? Do the laws need to take into account contributing factors to accidents, and does there need to be a graded system for penalties?Guest: Prof GS Bajpai Vice Chancellor, National Law University Delhi.Host: Zubeda HamidEdited by Sharmada Venkatasubramnian. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

India and Iran have deep cultural and historical connections. But relations between the two nations have atrophied in recent times.US sanctions on Iran have been a big factor, leading to India largely curtailing its engagements with the country. But recent developments – visa-free travel for Indians, and Iran’s entry into BRICS -- seem to provide reason for cautious optimism.What are the key concerns and objectives for Iran and for India when it comes to bilateral engagement? To what extent does American, Israeli and Arab concerns influence India’s approach to Iran, notwithstanding its proclaimed doctrine of ‘strategic autonomy’? And what outcomes should India be aiming for through its engagements with Iran? Tune in to find out. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The RBI has imposed major restrictions on the operations of Paytm Payments Bank Ltd (PPBL). It has directed Paytm Payments Bank to stop accepting deposits or top-ups in customer accounts, wallets, FASTags, and other instruments after February 29.An RBI circular stated that this action follows an audit report and a compliance validation report by external auditors, which revealed “persistent non-compliances and continued material supervisory concerns in the bank, warranting further supervisory action”.The Paytm founders have written to the RBI governor and the finance minister asking them to reconsider the regulatory action against them.What exactly are the allegations against Paytm? What does the RBI action mean – for Paytm, for the fintech sector, and for ordinary users? What are the issues with the regulatory framework for the digital payments ecosystem?Guest: Srikanth Lakshmanan of Cashless Consumer, a consumer collective that works on fintech.Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu.Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices