In Focus by The Hindu

The last day of the 2022 Commonwealth Games proved to be a good one for India, as a flurry of medals pushed India’s tally to 22 golds medals and a fourth place in the medals table, behind Australia, England and Canada. The difference between Canada and India was four gold medals. In 2018, when India finished third, it had seven golds from shooting alone, and it’s clear that if shooting hadn’t been dropped this time, India would again have finished third. But that was not to be, and despite that, the Indian contingent did produce enough moments of joy and brilliance for its millions of supporters back home.In this podcast, we take a closer look at India’s performance at CWG 2022 in different disciplines and what it bodes for the future.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On July 27, the Supreme Court pronounced its verdict on a batch of around 200 petitions that had challenged various provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, 2002. The judgment, titled Vijay Madanlal Choudhury & Ors vs Union of India & Ors, has led to grave concerns about further erosion of constitutional protections for personal and civil liberties.The Opposition has said that it will move a review petition on the verdict and that all the amendments made to the Act in 2010 through the money Bill route should be nullified. What are the problematic provisions of the PMLA? What has been the apex court’s reasoning in upholding those provisions? How will it impact constitutional safeguards for liberty going forward?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Taiwan has for long been a flashpoint in US-China relations. The visit to Taiwan by US House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi once again ratcheted up tensions between the two big powers.Despite China making its displeasure clear in the strongest terms – or perhaps because of it – Pelosi went ahead with her visit. China condemned her visit as “extremely dangerous”. It has also launched aggressive military drills that encroach on Taiwan’s territorial waters. The Chinese Communist Party has made no secret of its intention to integrate Taiwan with the People’s Republic of China. The U.S., while formally claiming to respect the ‘One China’ policy, has indicated it may respond with force if China undertook any military action against Taiwan. But with China aspiring to achieve – if not surpass – military parity with the US, how long can the current equilibrium hold? Has Pelosi’s visit raised the stakes in Taiwan for both China and the U.S.? What are the likely long-term consequences of China’s unprecedented military drills that effectively encircled Taiwan?Guest: Ananth Krishnan, The Hindu’s China correspondent.Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The HinduEdited by Reenu Cyriac Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The targeted killing of al-Qaeda chief, Ayman al-Zawahiri, by an American missile in Kabul on July 31 has raised many questions about the possible impact of this assassination. It comes nearly 11 years after the U.S. took out al-Zawahiri’s boss, Osama bin Laden, in a ground operation in Abbottabad, Pakistan.A point of interest in both killings is that bin Laden and al-Zawahiri were hiding in plain sight in cities – one Pakistani and the other Afghan.Will this lead to a weakened al-Qaeda, unable to engage in terrorist actions abroad? Will the killing give a boost to al-Qaeda offshoots like the Islamic State? Was the Taliban giving shelter to al-Zawahiri in Kabul or did they tip the Americans off about his presence? Will the Taliban now get further isolated?Guest: R. Kumar, who retired as Special Secretary from India’s external intelligence agency, the Research & Analysis Wing (R&AW), and spent long years working on counter-terrorism and Pakistan-related issues.Host: Amit Baruah, Senior Associate Editor, The Hindu.Edited by Ranjani Srinivasan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 5G spectrum auctions ended on Monday, Aug 1 and have helped the government garner Rs. 1.5 lakh crore compared with the reserve price of Rs. 4.3 lakh crore. While the government says the bid value has exceeded expectation, could it have earned more if the reserve prices had been more benign? Because reserve prices were high for some bands and hence ignored by telecom operators, would the quality of service to subscribers be impacted? Let’s hear what Dr. V. Sridhar has to say about the use and sale of spectrum as a national resource. Dr Sridhar is Professor, Centre for IT and Public Policy at the International Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore. He is also the author of 'Data Centric Living: Algorithms, Digitization and Regulations’ that was published recently.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Too much seems to be happening in Pakistan on the political, judicial and army fronts. After the comprehensive victory of Imran Khan’s party, the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf, or PTI, in the recent byelections to the Punjab Assembly, an intervention by the country’s Supreme Court allowed PTI’s alliance partner, Pervaiz Elahi, to take oath as Chief Minister of Punjab on July 27.A damning report in London’s Financial Times newspaper accused former Prime Minister Imran Khan of accepting funds for his party from a UK-based charity, something prohibited under Pakistani law.Very public differences have surfaced over the past few days among top judges of Pakistan’s Supreme Court over the appointment of judges to the apex court. Army chief Qamar Javed Bajwa took the unusual step of speaking to an American State Department official seeking IMF funds for Pakistan, setting off a fresh round of criticism against the very civilian role of the Army in Pakistan.Will Shehbaz Sharif be able to hang on as Prime Minister till the next elections in 2023? Or will elections have to be advanced? Is it advantage Imran Khan? Who will be the new Army chief when Bajwa finally retires in November this year? Guest: Rana Banerji, retired Special Secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat, and former IAS officer.Host: Amit Baruah, Senior Associate Editor, The Hindu. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

India’s top sports bodies are in trouble. The Indian Olympic Association (IOA) is facing suspension by the International Olympic Committee if it doesn’t hold elections very soon. The All India Football Federation (AIFF) could get banned by FIFA if it doesn’t get its governance-related issues sorted. Hockey India, too, is in trouble – the International Hockey Federation has threatened to strip India of its hosting rights for the 2023 hockey World Cup.All this comes close on the heels of match-fixing allegations against the Table Tennis Federation of India. What is going on with India’s sports bodies? What happens to Indian athletes if these suspensions come to pass? Where does the buck stop when it comes to holding our sports administrators accountable?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, has spoken of the “advancing erasure” of women from public life under a new look Taliban regime. Twenty-three out of Afghanistan’s 40 million people are in need of food assistance, he said in a recent statement.The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, or UNAMA as it is known, pointed out in a July report that seven hundred people have been killed and a little over 1400 wounded in the country since the Taliban takeover in August last year.At least 160 instances of extra-judicial killings have been reported of former government and security officials and more than 120 media workers have faced arbitrary arrest or detention. Eighty per cent of all women journalists have been fired from their jobs. All secondary schools remain closed for girls.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The 22nd edition of the Commonwealth Games (CWG) is taking place in Birmingham from July 28 to August 8th. After the Tokyo Olympics, where India returned with its best ever medals tally, expectations from the Indian contingent are high. In the 2018 Commonwealth Games, India finished third in the medals tally, behind Australia and England, with 66 medals. Our best performance ever was in the 2010 Games held in Delhi, where we won over 100 medals.What are India’s prospects in Birmingham? Who are our most bankable contenders? And with shooting out of the CWG this year, can India finish in the top 5 in the medal standings?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

By undertaking only his second visit abroad since the February invasion of Ukraine, to Iran, Russian President Vladimir Putin has underlined the importance of Teheran in Moscow’s strategic calculus.Is there a budding alliance between the world’s two most sanctioned countries? Will they also be able to complete the Astara-Rasht-Qazvin railway line linking the two countries through Azerbaijan? Do Russia and Iran have Chinese backing as they deal with sanctions and the fallout of the Ukraine war?Guest: D.B. Venkatesh Varma, former Indian Ambassador to Russia.Host: Amit Baruah, Senior Associate Editor, The HinduEdited by Reenu Cyriac Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices