In Focus by The Hindu

New recruitment rules for the Army, Navy and Air Force have met with fierce protests by potential recruits to the services and resistance from respected commentators from the military’s retired ranks. Trains have been burnt and public property destroyed across several Northern states and in Telangana.So, what exactly is agitating these young people who wanted to make a career out of the armed forces. Is it the contractual nature of their four-year employment? Will they miss the pension and perks available to jawans currently serving in the services? Is Agnipath, as the scheme is called, basically a cost-cutting measure from the Government?Guest: Ajai Shukla, writer and commentator on defence and strategic issues. He retired as a Colonel in the Indian Army.Host: Amit Baruah, Senior Associate Editor, The HinduEdited by Reenu Cyriac Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The IPL auction for media rights began on June 12 and went on for three days. The auction was for TV broadcasting and digital streaming rights for the next five year cycle – from 2023 to 2027. The BCCI has made a mind-boggling ₹ 48,390 crore from this auction.BCCI President Jay Shah has claimed that this makes IPL the second most lucrative media property in the world, after the US’s National Football League, and ahead of the English Premier League. How is IPL able to generate such a huge valuation? And how will this massive injection of liquidity impact the sport going forward?Guest: Vijay Lokapally, Editorial consultant with Sportstar magazineHost: G. Sampath, G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The HinduEdited by Reenu Cyriac Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Indian rupee has been battling downward pressure from multiple forces –Foreign Portfolio Investors pulling out, the rising cost of international crude oil prices and a strong dollar. The currency has been frequently hitting historical lows and has breached the 78-marksWhat does this mean beyond export and import bills?Guest: Ananth Narayan, Associate Professor, Finance at SPJIMRHost: K. Bharat KumarEdited by Reenu Cyriac Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, under fire for partying during Covid-19 restrictions in his country, managed to defeat the no-confidence vote against his leadership on June 6. The margin – 211 votes in his favour to 148 against. While Mr. Johnson has survived a leadership challenge, nearly 40 per cent of Conservative Party MPs have no confidence in him.What does this mean for Mr. Johnson’s future? Is “partygate” the only issue that is bothering Tory MPs and the electorate? What happens next?Guest: Andrew Whitehad, former Editor of the BBC’s World Service, currently a freelance journalist and lecturer.Host: Amit Baruah, Senior Associate Editor, The HinduEdited by Reenu Cyriac Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rafael Nadal, who in January became the first man ever to win 21 Grand Slam titles, has added one more to his kitty by winning the French Open, his 14th title at Roland Garros. However, not too long ago, things were looking rather grim for him, as he missed both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open last year due to injury, and many were wondering if he was going to retire.Until this January, among the Big Three of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic, it was Djokovic who was expected to reach 21 titles first. But against all expectations, and against the odds, it is Nadal who has raced ahead to 22, and looks set to add even more.In this edition of In Focus, we discuss how Nadal manages to do what he does, despite his chronic injury troubles, and his prospects in the coming months, especially at Wimbledon.Guest: Preethi Ramamoorthy, who has written on tennis and covered the U.S. Open in 2017 and 2018 for The HinduHost: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The HinduEdited by Ranjani Srinivasan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last week, the government announced that India had met the target of 10% ethanol blending with motor fuel ahead of time. The target for 20% blending had earlier been brought forward to 2025 from 2030.But is this the path that India should choose? Are there better alternatives to ethanol? What is the downside to the use of ethanol?Guest: Dr. Charles Worringham, an Australia-based former academic and now independent researcher and a guest contributor for Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, the IEEFA, with a special interest in India’s energy transitionHost: K. Bharat KumarEdited by Ranjani Srinivasan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

From this year onwards, admissions to undergraduate courses in 45 central universities will happen through a Common University Entrance Test, or CUET, as it’s come to be known. The test is scheduled to take place in July. About 1.3 crore students are expected to take the test for around 5.4 lakh seats that are at stake.The test will be administered by the National Testing Agency (NTA) in 13 languages, and consist of objective-type, multiple-choice questions (MCQ). Why has the UGC come up with CUET? Will it make the schools redundant, by giving a bigger role to coaching centres? Will it further undermine a student’s capacity for original thinking in favour of rote-learning? Will it make higher education even more out of reach for the underprivileged?Guest: Dr Maya John, Professor, Jesus and Mary College, Delhi UniversityHost: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The HinduEdited by Reenu Cyriac Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kashmiri Pandits, many of whom were given government jobs and brought to the Valley a decade ago, have started to flee following targeted killings of their colleagues by terrorists. Not just Kashmiri Pandits, but other Hindus have also been killed. As have Muslims.In August 2019, when Article 370 was reduced to a shell, and the state of Jammu & Kashmir whittled down to a Union Territory, the Central government promised to turn it into the most developed state in the country within five years.Long a part of the BJP’s ideological agenda, Home Minister Amit Shah said on the floor of Parliament at the time that Article 370 was the biggest hurdle in the path of normalcy in Kashmir.Where do things stand now as minorities flee and terrorist killings continue?Guest: Air Vice-Marshal Kapil Kak (retd.) is part of a group of concerned citizens regarding Jammu and KashmirHost: Amit Baruah, Senior Associate Editor, The HinduEdited by Ranjani Srinivasan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The technology services industry has had a tremendous run these past couple of years. Customer’s acceptance of technology and services from remote likely spurred the trend. In tandem, as demand from customers rose, the war for talent too intensified.The industry has gone through these cycles multiple times over the years.Guest: Francisco D’Souza, co-founder and managing partner at Recognize, a growth fund. Frank was formerly vice-chairman of IT services firm CognizantHost: K. Bharat KumarEdited by Reenu Cyriac Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last week, Broadcom announced its decision to acquire VMWare for a humongous $61 billion. VMWare is known in technology circles for its specialisation in virtualising hardware assets. It offers app modernisation, and services across cloud, networking and security technologies. Broadcom designs, develops and manufactures a range of semiconductor and infrastructure software products.What did Broadcom see in this target firm? Is there complementarity? How can VMWare help Broadcom scale its offerings and/or raise revenue potential?Guest: Naveen Mishra, Senior Director Analyst at GartnerHost: K. Bharat KumarEdited by Ranjani Srinivasan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices