In Focus by The Hindu

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat said recently that Akhand Bharat would be a reality in the next 20 or 25 years. In his remarks, the RSS chief said nobody could stop India’s march forward. “Those trying to impede the country’s march forward will either move away or be removed from the scene,” he was quoted as saying.Mr. Bhagwat is an important man as the RSS-affiliated BJP has been in power for the last eight years. So what does the RSS chief mean?Guest: Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay is a senior journalist and author, whose latest book is The Demolition and the Verdict: Ayodhya and the Project to Reconfigure India (2021). He has also authored The RSS: Icons of the Indian Right (2019) and Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times (2013).Host: Amit Baruah, Senior Associate Editor, The HinduEdited by Reenu Cyriac Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Early in March, a public interest litigation petition came up in the Supreme Court -- two retired CRPF personnel said that between 2007 and 2019, 148 Central Armed Police Forces personnel, deployed in Naxal-affected Bastar district, died by suicide. This is not the only statistic about defence personnel dying by suicide -- from 2014 to 2021, nearly 800 Army, Navy and Air Force personnel died by suicide. In August last year, the Rajya Sabha was informed that 680 paramilitary personnel had died by suicide over the previous six years -- this was higher than the 323 personnel who died due to encounters. This apart, between 2014 and 2021, there were 20 cases of fratricides -- where defence personnel have turned on their colleagues, killing them and in many cases, then killing themselves too.The government has said that difficulty in dealing with family problems from a distance, conflict trauma, the strain of deployment in conflict and border zones, all contribute to mental health stress among personnel. It has also pointed to a number of measures initiated -- such as psychological counselors in combat zones, better food and clothing, a ‘buddy system’ and a liberalized leave system, along with suicide prevention policies. Some retired officers however, point to other, internal issues: poor leadership and not being able to avail of leave when they need it, are some concerns raised. There is also a significant difference in the services available to those in the military forces and those who serve in the paramilitary forces.How does stress play out in arguably one of the most difficult professions there is? How much of a role does stigma play in the seeking of mental health care? And what can be done to help tackle this issue?Guest: Dr. Soumitra Pathare, consultant psychiatrist and director of the Centre for Mental Health Law & Policy at Indian Law Society in PuneHost: Zubeda HamidEdited by Reenu Cyriac Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

At a time when most parts of the world are easing COVID restrictions and even mask mandates, Shanghai is in the middle of a brutal lockdown. There have been reports of a sharp spike in the number of cases, although reported deaths are and restricted to the very old. Shanghai’s 25 million residents seem to be increasingly fed up with the government’s ‘Zero COVID’ policy, which has caused supply chain bottle necks resulting in shortages of food and other essentials, and denial of medical care for patients with non-COVID illnesses. There have also been reports of little children getting separated from parents forcibly sent away to quarantine shelters.Until this March, there was a general sense that China had managed the pandemic way better than the West, especially when viewed in terms of the total case load and mortality numbers. So how did thing things get out of hand all of a sudden? Is it a case of the ‘Zero COVID’ strategy backfiring? Is it the Omicron variant? Given that President Xi Jinping has taken personal ownership of the ‘Zero COVID’ strategy, is China likely to make a course correction in view of the economic fallout and public disenchantment with the stringent lockdown measures?Guest: Ananth Krishnan, China Correspondent, The HinduHost: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The HinduEdited by Ranjani Srinivasan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Earlier this month, telecom regulator TRAI announced its recommendations to lower the reserve price for spectrum auctions. Now, overall reserve prices for the spectrum auctions would be up to 40% lower than recommended earlier.Of this, spectrum for 5G telecom services will be 35% cheaper. The question is, are these prices low enough for an industry that has been plagued by financial woes for a while now?Guest: Dr. V. Sridhar, Professor at the Centre for IT and Public Policy at the International Institute of Information Technology, Bangalore.Host: K. Bharat KumarEdited by Reenu Cyriac Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A new Prime Minister in India or Pakistan usually means new opportunities for dialogue and engagement. Congratulatory messages are exchanged, and in the days when India and Pakistan engaged in dialogue, restating your commitment to a dialogue process usually followed.India-Pakistan relations have always been topsy-turvy but the August 2019 decision by the Modi Government to denude Jammu and Kashmir’s special status drew a furious response from Pakistan. Even bilateral trade was suspended. Hardly any visitors come and go. Barring the back channel, the relationship is at a standstill.Given that the new Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif heads a coalition government and Pakistan faces elections next year, we are unlikely to see a government in full flow. The Pakistan economy is a major concern and former Prime Minister Imran Khan is in full agitation mode.What could happen in India-Pakistan relations now? We discuss in this episode.Guest: Sharat Sabharwal is a former Indian High Commissioner and Deputy High Commissioner to PakistanHost: Amit Baruah, Senior Associate Editor, The Hindu, who has worked as the newspaper’s Pakistan correspondentEdited by Ranjani Srinivasan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The University Grants Commission (UGC) announced on April 12 that students can now pursue two full-time academic courses in physical mode, simultaneously. It has also issued a set of guidelines for the same.What prompted the UGC to come up with this option – was there a demand for it from students or educational institutions? Will this option increase the competitive pressure on all students – to spend their under-graduation years slogging away on two degrees rather than one? And will the two modes of education – formal (in classroom) and informal (online/distance learning) – deliver the same quality and level of credentials?Guest: Dr. Maya John, who teacher of history at Jesus and Mary College, Delhi UniversityHost: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The HinduEdited by Ranjani Srinivasan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The first round of the French Presidential elections got over last Sunday, and two candidates, President Emmanuel Macron, and leader of the far-right National Rally, Marine Le Pen emerged on top with the highest tally of votes. While Macron won the first round with 27.8% of the votes, Le Pen secured 23.2%, while the leftist politician Jean Luc Melenchon finished a close third with 22% of the votes. Interestingly, all the three candidates have bettered their first round performance from 2017, where Macron had received 24% of the votes, Le Pen had 21.3% and Melenchon had 19.6%.The Presidential run-off, which is scheduled for April 24, will decide whether Macron gets a second term as President or Le Pen manages to unseat him.So, as things stand today, what do the chances look like for either candidate? All those who did not vote for either Macron or Le Pen in the first round – who will they support in the second round? And what are the possible implications for Europe in case of either outcome – if Macron gets reelected, or if Le Pen manages to win?Guest: Vaiju Naravane, Professor of Journalism and Media Studies at Ashoka University, and currently a visiting faculty at Sciences Po in FranceHost: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The HinduEdited by Ranjani Srinivasan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If there is one story that defines India’s foreign policy after the 1998 nuclear tests, it is that of New Delhi’s engagement with Washington across Prime Ministers – Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Manmohan Singh and now Narendra Modi. The tango is yet to end and the dance masters remain committed to the relationship.Despite India’s membership of mutually antagonistic clubs like the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation and the Quad, New Delhi found it need not make public choices till the February invasion of Ukraine by Russia. The situation today is dramatically altered – choices will have consequences.While External Affairs Minister Subrahmanyam Jaishankar pointed to India’s oil purchases from Russia as being minimal compared to Europe, U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken made a pointed reference to human rights abuses at their recent press conference in Washington.So, where is the Indo-U.S. relationship headed? We discuss in this episode.Guest: Dr. Atul Bhardwaj, independent foreign policy researcher and author of ‘India-America Relations (1942-62): Rooted in the Liberal International Order’Host: Amit Baruah, Senior Associate Editor, The HinduEdited by Ranjani Srinivasan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In its latest assessment report, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has laid out several scenarios on the steps that ought to be taken to keep temperatures below 2°C. It warned that even temporarily exceeding the warming level of 1.5°C over the next two decades would mean additional severe impact, some irreversible.Arunabha Ghosh, founder and CEO of the Council on Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW) discusses the latest report by the IPCC, its implications for India and what the Expert Groups strive to achieve.Guest: Arunabha Ghosh, founder and CEO of the Council on Energy, Environment and WaterHost: Jacob KoshyEdited by Reenu Cyriac Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The lead headline in ‘The Indian Express’ newspaper after Pakistan’s National Assembly voted out a Prime Minister for the first time ever said it all. “Imran Khan goes, kicking & screaming”, it read.Refusing to read the writing on the wall, Mr. Khan tried desperately to hang on to power even on the 9th of April, delaying a vote in the National Assembly after the country’s Supreme Court, in a unanimous verdict, had ordered that the no-confidence motion against him be taken up again.Finally, in the early hours of the 10th of April, and after a dramatic resignation by Speaker Asad Qaiser, the National Assembly voted out Mr. Khan as Prime Minister. The Pakistan Muslim League (Noon) leader Shehbaz Sharif is expected to be elected the new Prime Minister. We discuss these developments in this episode.Guest: Fahd Husain, columnist for the Pakistani newspaper, Dawn, and anchor for the Dawn News television channel.Host: Amit Baruah, Senior Associate Editor, The Hindu, who worked as the newspaper’s correspondent in Pakistan from 1997 to 2000.Edited by Ranjani Srinivasan Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices