In Focus by The Hindu

There's been a lot of talk of and concerns raised, about food fortification recently -- which is the adding of one or more nutrients to a staple food, aiming to compensate for deficiencies in large populations. In in his Independence Day speech this year, Prime Minister Modi said that all rice distributed in the government systems, including in the public distribution system and for midday meals, would be fortified by 2024. Considering the burden of anaemia in India, iron is to be one of the nutrients added to rice. The government has already launched a pilot programme in 15 districts, using fortified rice for distribution. But does all our rice need to be fortified? Is iron deficiency the only cause of anaemia? How big is our anaemia burden? And is there evidence to show that iron fortification will work, or are there other steps that policy-makers could try?Guest: Dr Anura Kurpad, professor of physiology and nutrition at St John’s Medical College, BengaluruHost: Zubeda HamidWrite to us at socmed4@thehindu.co.in Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Sri Lankan government declared an economic emergency last week. The immediate trigger seems to have been rising food prices, with reports of shortages of essential items such as milk powder, sugar and kerosene.President Gotabaya Rajapaksa has called in the army to manage the crisis by rationing the supply of essential goods, and take action against hoarders. He has also appointed a former army general as Commissioner of Essential Services, who will have the power to seize food stocks held by traders and retailers, and regulate their prices.So, how did Sri Lanka end up with a food crisis? And what exactly is ailing the Sri Lankan economy? Is it just the COVID-effect or is it something deeper?Guest: Meera Srinivasan, Sri Lanka correspondent, The HinduHost: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The HinduWrite to us at socmed4@thehindu.co.in Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last month, the Union government announced that it would invest ₹11,000 crores under a centrally sponsored scheme, The National Mission on Edible Oils—Oil Palm (NMEO-OP), to promote oil palm cultivation. The stated objective of this scheme is to reduce India’s dependence on edible oil imports by boosting domestic production of oil palm.Many, however, have expressed concerns over this push for oil palm cultivation, especially in bio-diversity hotspots such as the Andamans and the North-east. Critics have claimed that the monoculture of commercial oil palm plantations would destroy bio-diversity as well as the livelihood autonomy of farmers. How valid are these fears and what are the likely outcomes of the government’s ambitious plans to boost oil palm production?Guest: Sudhir Kumar Suthar, Assistant Professor at the Centre for Political Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New DelhiHost: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The HinduWrite to us at socmed4@thehindu.co.in Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After a gap of more than a year, the Nipah virus is back in Kerala. After a 12-year-old boy died of the infection in Kozhikode district, 11 more people have shown Nipah symptoms. A team from the National Centre for Disease Control has been rushed to the State to help manage the outbreak.Kerala is already caught in a tough battle against COVID-19, with the state still accounting for almost half of all new infections in the country. In this scenario, the outbreak of one more deadly viral infection has everyone worried. Also, this is the third outbreak of Nipah in Kerala, with the state having encountered the virus in 2018 and 2019. So, how serious is the current outbreak? How prepared is Kerala to handle it? Will the outbreak remain localised, or is it likely to spread further?Guest: Jacob Koshy, Deputy Science Editor at The Hindu.Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The COVID-19 pandemic caused not only a health emergency in the country, but also led to mass economic distress with the loss of jobs and livelihoods. India already one of the lowest rates of women in the workforce, and the pandemic worsened this situation -- it forced women into jobs that paid lower rates than pre-pandemic and it added significantly to their domestic work burden -- with schools remaining closed, women were forced to stay at home to care for children. In the April-June 2020 quarter, during the lockdown, the percentage of women in the labour force was only 15.5%. But this problem has persisted for years -- despite increasing educational levels among women and decreasing fertility levels, India continues to have not as many women in the workforce as even our neighbouring countries. What are some of the reasons behind this? How is a country's economy impacted when 50% of its population is left out of economic activity? How can policies be changed in order to encourage more women into the workforce?Guest: Sona Mitra, principal economist, Initiative for What Works to Advance Women and Girls in the Economy, lead, Krea UniversityHost: Zubeda HamidWrite to us at socmed4@thehindu.co.in Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Just a few weeks ago, we were celebrating India’s best ever medals tally at the Tokyo Olympics. And now India has produced its best performance ever at this year’s Paralympics. We have already bagged 10 medals, with two gold, five silver and three bronze. This has generated a lot of curiosity, both about these successful para-athletes and about the Paralympics itself.For para-athletes, the rules and requirements of competition, as well as the challenges, are different from what they are for the able-bodied. They come under the spotlight whenever the Paralympics are held but are mostly forgotten in the intervening years. Will the Indian contingent’s superlative achievements at the Tokyo Paralympics change this pattern?Guest: Rakesh Rao, Deputy Editor (Sports), The HinduHost: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The HinduWrite to us at socmed4@thehindu.co.in Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The United States has literally fled Afghanistan. Other Western nations, most of them part of the G-7 had wanted an extension beyond August 31 so that repatriation flights could continue, but U.S. President Joe Biden put his foot down.What will be the international status of Afghanistan now? Who will represent the country in the U.N.? What are the options of the international body while dealing with the Taliban? How will the U.S. deal with the Taliban? Will Russia and China have a better grip on the Taliban than the western powers?Guest: Syed Akbaruddin, formerly India’s Permanent Representative at the United Nations in New York and currently Dean of the Kautilya School of Public Policy in Hyderabad.Host: Amit Baruah, Senior Associate Editor, The HinduWrite to us at socmed4@thehindu.co.in Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The price of petrol is more than ₹100 per litre in several parts of the country – the highest it’s ever been. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman has blamed the UPA-era oil bonds for the high fuel prices. She has claimed that the ₹1.4 lakh crores worth of oil bonds issued by the UPA government have to be serviced, and that’s why the government has had to tax fuel at high rates. Opposition parties have, of course, disputed her claims. So, what exactly is the truth about oil bonds, and how credible is the government’s claim that oil bonds are to blame for the high fuel prices? Guest: Vivek Kaul, business columnist and author of five books, including the bestselling Easy Money trilogy Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu Write to us at socmed4@thehindu.co.in Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Afghanistan continues to hog the headlines. Nearly two weeks after the Taliban drove into Kabul, and former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled the country, the world is still debating whether the Taliban have turned a new leaf. As analysts, experts and journalists try to figure out the Taliban’s intentions, wait and watch appears to be the default mode. Will the Taliban actually allow women and girls to work and study? Will music be allowed? Will there be elections? Or will there just be a soft veneer hiding the very same iron fist that we saw during the Taliban regime from 1996 to 2001? Guest: Michael Semple, Professor at The Senator George J. Mitchell Institute for Global Peace, Security and Justice, Queen's University in Belfast. He has worked as deputy to the European Union Special Representative in Afghanistan. He also served as an honorary adviser to the Afghan High Peace Council. Host: Amit Baruah, Senior Associate Editor, The Hindu Write to us at socmed4@thehindu.co.in Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Earlier this month, the Union Education Ministry told a parliamentary panel that the plan to serve breakfast to students in government schools had to be shelved as the Finance Ministry had refused to sanction the Rs. 4,000 crore the programme needs. The refusal comes at a time when the country is facing a malnutrition crisis -- data from the latest National Family Health Survey shows an increase in stunting, in 13 of the 22 States and Union Territories that were covered. As this was 2019 data, experts believe that food insecurity during the pandemic could have worsened, especially with the immense disruption in services such as the mid-day meals, as well as due to economic distress.Where does India stand on addressing malnutrition? Have government schemes such as the flagship programme to address malnutrition, POSHAN Abhiyaan, worked? What have been the efforts made during the pandemic, and what more needs to be done to address a problem that not only affects children, but has long-lasting consequences upon the health and wellbeing of the nation?Guest: Dr. Dipa Sinha, assistant professor, School of Liberal Studies, Dr. B. R. Ambedkar University, DelhiHost: Zubeda HamidWrite to us at socmed4@thehindu.co.in Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices