In Focus by The Hindu

On February 6, an earthquake measuring a massive 7.8 on the Richter scale hit Southern Turkey and parts of Syria, followed by a second quake of the same magnitude a few hours later. The death toll from the earthquake has risen to 17,000 but there’s a fear that many more bodies are under the rubble, the death toll could rise sharply.The scale of the devastation has been immense- the worst such in the region in nearly a century. In Turkey, the cities of Antakya and Gazantiep are amongst the worst hit, and in Syria Alleppo and Idlib, and the destruction of buildings and roads have also cut off communication with many parts. A global rescue effort is underway for Quake hit Turkiye and Syria- where the deathtoll is in the thousands already- What are the factors that are making this rescue difficult? How is India helping? Will India’s assistance be a diplomatic gamechanger? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s been a little more than two years since Myanmar’s generals staged a coup and ousted Aung San Suu Kyi and her National League for Democracy from power. A bloody civil war is raging in the country, with independent estimates suggesting that the military junta had killed nearly 3,000 civilians and jailed another 18,000 since the 1st of February 2021.More than a third of Myanmar is not under the control of the military, a top junta functionary admitted recently. Martial law regulations have been extended to another 37 townships where military tribunals can try and sentence “offenders” on charges ranging from treason to spreading “false news”.International action against the junta has not stopped the country’s generals from launching air strikes against resistance forces. Russia, China and India continue to engage the junta, lending it a degree of respectability. ASEAN has little to show in trying to get its member state back to the democratic path.Later this year, the junta led by Senior General Min Aung Hlaing is threatening to hold elections. Will it carry any credibility?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) promises 100 days of wage-based employment every year to rural households across the country. As per independent reports, demand for work under this scheme has been increasing. But in the 2023-24 Union Budget, the government has slashed allocation for this scheme to ₹61,032.65 crore, which is 30% less than the revised estimate of ₹ 89,154.65 crore for 2022-23. This is the lowest ever allocation as a percentage of the GDP, at less than 0.2%.This is the second straight cut, as in the 2022-23 budget also the allocation was reduced by 25%. So, what are the government’s justifications for these budget cuts? How do they relate to ground realities? Is there a danger of demand suppression through insufficient budgeting, as claimed by MGNREGA advocates?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last Saturday the United States shot down what it described as a Chinese “spy balloon” off the coast of South Carolina, raising tensions between the two countries. U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, who was scheduled to leave for China on Sunday, postponed his visit. He described the incident as an “unacceptable” violation of America’s sovereignty and said that the balloon had “undermined” the purpose of his trip.China, on its part, insists that the balloon was just a civilian “airship” that had strayed into American air space “completely accidentally”. Although it expressed ‘regret’, it described the U.S.’s military response as an “obvious overreaction and a serious violation of international practice.” It also warned of “necessary” responses. So, what kind of response can we expect from China? Will we see the effects of this incident once again in the South China Sea? And was it really a spy balloon?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Pakistan’s last military dictator, Pervez Musharraf, has died in Dubai at the age of 79. I was in Islamabad as a correspondent for The Hindu when General Musharraf took power through a bloodless coup in October 1999. He was the presiding officer for the Kargil incursion but later turned peacemaker, signing a milestone agreement with then Indian Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in January 2004.Gen. Musharraf, like the man he ousted from office, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, had to eventually leave Pakistan for medical treatment in March 2016. He resigned as President in 2008 following a protracted civil society movement led by lawyers.As the Pakistani Government announced that Musharraf’s body would be flown to Islamabad from Dubai, what is the former General’s legacy? How is he perceived today in Pakistan?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

2023 is set to be a landmark year for India's population trajectory, as the country is predicted to overtake China to become the world's most populous nation. And India will remain in that position for several more years. The advantages, experts have pointed out, is the demographic dividend - we will have a massive number of young people in the working age group, and a relatively lower number of those needing care such as the elderly and young children, at least for a couple of decades. But how well is India placed to harness this young population for us to grow economically? Do we have the polices for education, skilling and health in place? And what happens when some Southern states have populations that age faster than some northern States? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hindenburg Research, an American ‘activist’ short-seller, known for going after companies that they believed are excessively overvalued, has unleashed a storm in the markets and regulatory circles with a report on the Adani Group of companies. In its report, Hindenburg has accused the Adanis of pulling off “the most egregious corporate fraud” in history. The allegations include stock manipulation and round-tripping of funds using shell companies. While the Adanis hit back with a 413-page rejoinder, the markets have so far sided with Hindenburg, as Adani stocks tumbled and more than $100 billion of market cap was wiped out.The Adanis then scraped through in their follow-on public offer (FPO) that closed on January 31. But the very next day, they withdrew the FPO, citing moral reasons. In the meantime, Credit Suisse has announced that it will no longer accept Adani bonds as collateral, while Dow Jones has dropped Adani Group companies from its Sustainability indices. So, what do the allegations mean for the lay investor? Will SEBI act? Where does this leave Indian banks who already have high exposure to Adani stock?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The United States, Germany and the UK have pledged to send modern main battle tanks (MBTs) to help Ukraine in the ongoing war with Russia. While the US has agreed to send 31 of its M1 Abrams tank, Germany will supply 88 Leopard 2 tanks, while the UK has pledged 14 of its Challenger 2 tanks. These are far short of the number demanded by Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky—but it wasn’t an easy decision to make, especially for Germany. Battle tanks are known to work best with air support, and now Zelensky has also started demanding combat aircraft, namely F-16s.When will the tanks reach Ukraine? What impact will their entry into the war zone have on Russia’s battle tactics? Can the infusion of such heavy firepower turn the war decisively in Ukraine’s favour?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode we are joined by Tanvi Srivastava, short story and fiction writer, who explains the experience of translating Asha San’s diary from Hindi to English. The original book, a diary, recorded the teenager’s thoughts on the impact of World War II on ordinary people, her unbound admiration for Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and her unwavering love for her motherland in the language she knew best — Japanese. The memories of Asha-san’s (as she was respectfully called in Japanese) struggles and sacrifice would have been lost in the pages of her diary if she had not herself translated it into Hindi in 1973. Half-a-century later, her grand daughter-in-law, Tanvi Srivastava, has translated the Hindi diary into English as The War Diary of Asha-san: From Tokyo to Netaji’s Indian National Army. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The banking sector in India witnessed a return to relatively good health over the past few years. With more stringent norms set by regulator RBI NPAs have declined and bank balance sheets have shed much of their baggage of bad loans. Is this trend here to stay? Also as the country emerged from the pandemic and economic growth picked up, banks also saw healthy credit growth. Deposit growth, though, has not kept pace. Are these causes for concern?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices