In Focus by The Hindu

It was expected that Iran would respond to the bombing of its consulate in Syria on April 1 in an Israeli strike. The retaliation came last Saturday when Iran launched a direct attack on Israel. Israel claims to have intercepted 99% of the 300-odd drones and missiles fired by Iran, but a few of the missiles did sneak through its defences and hit sensitive military targets on Israeli territory.Iran has said that it would take no further action unless Israel chooses to escalate. Israel has vowed to “exact the price from Iran” when the time is right. What are the strategic implications of Iran’s unprecedented direct strikes on Israel? How serious are the risks of a wider regional war, and where does this leave the ongoing negotiations for a ceasefire in Gaza? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s election time in India. The Modi government is touting India’s strength abroad as one of its achievements. Earlier in April, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said at an election rally that India today kills terrorists in their own homes.Asked about a report in the Guardian newspaper that India had killed 20 alleged terrorists in recent years in Pakistan, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said Delhi would pursue and kill terrorists in Pakistan if they staged attacks in India.In 2023, Canada accused Indian agents of being responsible for the murder of Sikh separatist leader Hardeep Singh Nijjar on its territory.So, what does all this mean for India’s foreign policy and standing in the world? Is this the right approach to adopt? What are the potential dangers of such actions sparking a wider conflict with Pakistan? Or create foreign policy fissures with other countries?Guest: Nirupama Subramanian, senior journalist and former correspondent of The Hindu in Pakistan.Host: Amit Baruah, Senior Associate Editor, The Hindu.Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is it okay for the Union government to impose limits on how much a State government can borrow? Or does a state government have an “enforceable right” to decide its own borrowing limits? This question, raised by the Kerala government, has been referred to a Constitution Bench by the Supreme Court.The key constitutional question that the Supreme Court wants a five-judge bench to decide is: whether ‘fiscal decentralistion’ is an integral aspect of Indian federalism, and if so, are Central regulations fixing borrowing limits on States a violation of the principle of federalism.In its suit filed before the Supreme Court, Kerala has accused the Union government of imposing arbitrary borrowing limits, due to which the Kerala government is on the verge of bankruptcy – unable to pay salaries, pensions and fulfil its various financial commitments.Have the Centre’s restrictions resulted in an unfair and/or differential treatment to Kerala? Aren’t the Centre’s restrictions in conflict with the RBI’s designated role as the nation’s “public debt manager”? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 17th edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is seeing a rather unusual controversy – Indian fans have been booing, and in some cases, abusing, a star player of the national team wherever he’s gone to play. At the receiving end is Hardik Pandya, the erstwhile captain of Gujarat Titans, who has moved to Mumbai Indians. He is now the skipper of Mumbai Indians, replacing Rohit Sharma, who led the team to the title five times in ten years.Franchises chop and change their teams and captains all the time – it is part and parcel of club sport. And yet, Pandya has faced really hostile crowds at every venue he’s played so far, to the extent that there were speculative media reports on some special security arrangements at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.What explains this hostility? Is this a phenomenon of what some commentators have described as “fan wars”?Guest: Amol Karhadkar from The Hindu’s Sports Bureau.Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu.Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

India announced recently, that it has completed the 10,000 genome project – a reference database of whole-genome sequences, from people in India. About 20 institutions were involved in the project. India has a population of 1.3 billion with over 4,600 population groups, many of them endogamous. This project is seen as an important step to find out about genetic variants that are unique to India, to customise drugs and gene-based therapies, give us answers about certain diseases, and to provide a deeper insight into the population’s diversity, and perhaps into genetic predispositions to disease that we may have. What are the implications of this genome sequencing? How far does India have to go to reap its potential benefits? What are the ethical concerns around the sharing of this data? Is India well-enough equipped to ensure health data privacy of individuals?  Guest: Shambhavi Naik, PhD Head of Research and Chairperson of Advanced Biology Programme, Takshashila Institution Host: Zubeda Hamid Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Exploring the impact of corporate influence in politics, biased enforcement agencies, and selective prosecutions on corruption in India. Discussion on Supreme Court judgment on electoral bonds and its impact. Addressing pervasive corruption in Indian society and distinguishing between small and systemic corruption.

Plastics pollution is a major global crisis, with deadly repercussions for human health, marine life, and climate change. In March 2022, the United Nations set the ball rolling for the conclusion of a Global Plastics Treaty by the end of 2024. Later this month, we have the penultimate session of the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee (INC), where 175 countries will negotiate a legally binding treaty to combat plastic pollution.What exactly are the issues under discussion in these negotiations? What has been India’s position on these issues? And given the magnitude of the plastic pollution crisis in India, is India on the right track?Guest: Satyarupa Shekhar, a public policy advocate whose interests include urban governance, data justice, and plastics pollution.Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu.Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The controversy over Katchatheevu is back in the media spotlight. With just a few weeks left for the Lok Sabha elections, Prime Minister Narendra Modi raised the issue by claiming that the Congress “gave away” Katchatheevu. He also claimed that the DMK, in contrast to its public posturing, was fully kept in the loop as the Congress “ceded” Katchatheevu to Sri Lanka. The PM’s claims were further amplified by External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.The controversy revolves around two bilateral agreements, one signed in 1974, and another in 1976, pertaining to maritime boundaries and fishing rights in the Katchatheevu region. The Opposition has responded to the Prime Minister by citing the Modi government’s own reply to an RTI query in 2015 where it had said that Katchatheevu belonged to Sri Lanka.How did Katchatheevu – a tiny, uninhabited patch of land – become a contentious issue? What is its significance for the fishing rights of Indian fishermen? And are the fishing-related issues, such as the detention of Indian fishermen, really linked to the territorial claims over Katchatheevu?Guest: K Venkataramanan, Senior Associate Editor at The Hindu.Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu.Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The India Employment Report 2024, released recently by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), paints a grim picture. The news is particularly bad on two critical counts: joblessness is particularly high among the youth, and its worse for the educated youth. According to the report, India’s youth account for 83% of the unemployed workforce, with the share of the educated youth among the total unemployed doubling - from 35.2% in 2000 to 65.7% in 2022.Among other things, the report also flags a reversal of the expected transition of the workforce from agriculture to non-farm sector, and says that India’s female labour force participation rate (LFPR) declined by 14.4 percentage points between 2000 and 2019.What does all this mean for India’s ‘demographic dividend’ that people keep talking about? Why are 82% of the workforce in the informal sector, with nearly 90% informally employed? And why is the share of manufacturing in employment stagnating at 12-14%?Guest: Professor Ravi Srivastava, Director, Centre for Employment Studies, at the Institute for Human Development, New Delhi.Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu.Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On March 10th, India signed a free trade agreement with a group of four European nations, committing to reduce tariffs. In return, India would receive $100 billion in investments over the next 15 years. The non-EU bloc, known as the European Free Trade Association, consists of Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein. This agreement has come on the back of protracted negotiations of 21 rounds spread over 16 years. While the balance of trade heavily favors the EFTA, with India importing about $22 billion in 2023 from the bloc, India exported only about $3 billion to the bloc. While India hopes to attract investments in railways, the financial sector and automobiles, it is expecting a growth in exports of pharma products, garments, chemicals and machinery to the EFTA. This pact comes just two years after India signed similar agreements with the United Arab Emirates and Australia, but such free trade deals have not largely helped India's export growth. In fact, it has generally been more beneficial to the other nations or blocks who have signed such deals with India. For instance, India's 2011 comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement with Japan enabled Japan to double its exports to more than $16 billion in 2023 from $8 billion in 2011. On the other hand, India's exports to Japan remained static at $5.46 billion in 2023, a tad up from $5.09 billion in 2011. This mirrors other trade pacts like the one signed with the 10-member Southeast Asian block, the ASEAN in 2010. In 2022-23, India exported goods worth about $44 billion to the region, while its imports were valued at $87 billion. The trade deficit in 2022-23 was $43 billion compared with $7.5 billion in 2010. Why is India then entering into more such agreements? How different is the EFTA from those signed with other nations and blocs? And are such deals a substitute to larger WTO led trade frameworks, where India tends to have a larger say because of the backing of other developing nations. Guest: Professor Dinesh Abrol, retired professor at the Institute for Studies in industrial development. Host: Kunal Shankar, Deputy Business Editor, The Hindu. Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices