In Focus by The Hindu

India and China head into yet another round of commander-level talks this week and in the weeks since the disengagement of troops along the LAC was announced and government sources were declared that Chinese troops had pulled back, it’s now clear that the situation on the ground is a lot more complicated. To what level has disengagement happened, what remains to be done and is there a timeline at all for the process?Guest: Dinakar Peri, Defence Correspondent, The Hindu; Vijaita Singh, correspondent for Home Ministry and National Security.Find the In Focus podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Stitcher. Search for In Focus by The Hindu.Write to us with comments and feedback at socmed4@thehindu.co.in Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Padmanabhaswamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, is one of the most storied temples in India, said to hold unimaginable riches within its walls, including gold ornaments and other historical artefacts that are yet to be unearthed. A decade-old dispute about its management and administration was brought to a close a week ago, when the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the Travancore royal family.In this two-part podcast, author and historian Manu S. Pillai talks us through the origins of the historical institution before cutting to the present and going into recent developments.Find the In Focus podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Stitcher. Search for In Focus by The Hindu.Write to us with comments and feedback at socmed4@thehindu.co.in Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Padmanabhaswamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram, Kerala, is one of the most storied temples in India, said to hold unimaginable riches within its walls, including gold ornaments and other historical artefacts that are yet to be unearthed. A decade-old dispute about its management and administration was brought to a close a week ago, when the Supreme Court ruled in favour of the Travancore royal family.In this two-part podcast, author and historian Manu S Pillai talks us through the origins of the historical institution before cutting to the present and going into recent developments.Guest: Manu S Pillai, author and historian.Find the In Focus podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Stitcher. Search for In Focus by The Hindu.Write to us with comments and feedback at socmed4@thehindu.co.in Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Andrew Pollard, Director of the Oxford Vaccine Group and Chief Investigator on its COVID-19 trials, have been at the forefront of research, most significantly regarding vaccine development. The remarkable progress made by Professor Pollard and his team, captured by data published this week in the Lancet, holds out hope that an effective and safe vaccine might be available earlier than originally assumed, during 2021.Guest: Andrew Pollard, Director of the Oxford Vaccine Group and Chief Investigator on its COVID-19 trialsHost: Narayan Lakshman, Associate Editor, The Hindu Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The recent news cycle may be dominated by Nepal Prime Minister K.P. Oli’s statements on Ayodhya, but the mobilisation of anti-Indian sentiment within Nepal has much to do with the complicated political situation that Oli finds himself in. In this episode, we take a longer perspective on the India-Nepal relationship to understand the impasses that exist between the two countries on a number of issues today.Guest: Srinivasan Ramani, Deputy National EditorFind the In Focus podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Stitcher. Search for In Focus by The Hindu. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Four years after India and Iran signed an agreement to construct a rail line from Chabahar port to Zahedan, along the border with Afghanistan, the Iranian government has decided to proceed with the construction on its own, citing delays from the Indian side in funding and starting the project.In this episode we'll talk about the Chabahar port project, go back in time a bit to analyse India’s relationship with Iran and place this recent development, like all strategic affairs, in the broader context of India’s recent troubles with China, U.S-China relations and the upcoming U.S. elections, among other factors.Guest: Suhasini Haidar, National and Diplomatic Affairs Editor, The Hindu.Find the In Focus podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Stitcher. Search for In Focus by The Hindu.Write to us with comments and feedback at socmed4@thehindu.co.in Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It became clear soon after the news of Sachin Pilot’s rebellion in Rajasthan broke that his path to an advantageous exit from the Congress was going to be less straightforward than Jyotiraditya Scindia’s just a few months ago. As Pilot has now been sacked from the posts he held in Rajasthan and looks set to formalise his exit from the party, we look at his track record, analyse the narrative that he was denied opportunities that were due to him and look at where he may go next. Can he negotiate a comfortable position like Scindia or is he ready for a long battle to redemption?Guest: Varghese K. George, Associate Editor, The Hindu.Find the In Focus podcast on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Stitcher. Search for In Focus by The Hindu. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this interview with The Hindu’s National and Diplomatic Affairs Editor Suhasini Haidar, former National Security Advisor and former ambassador to China, Shivshankar Menon, perhaps the country’s foremost authority on India-China ties, assesses the recent disengagement along the LAC. What we’re seeing now, he warns, “is more of the same strategy that China has followed in the South China sea, where she changes facts on the ground, presents you with a fait accompli, takes two steps forward and then negotiates one step back”.Write to us with comments and feedback at socmed4@thehindu.co.in Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

With COVID-19 cases continuing to rise in India, one of the major problems faced by the general public is how to consult their doctors, what with an increasing number of healthcare professionals also contracting the virus.Telemedicine is beginning to step in here, with consultations taking place over the phone and video calls. This seems a way to keep both doctors and patients safe in the current situation. On March 25, the Government of India notified the telemedicine practice guidelines, giving an impetus to the sector that up until now had perhaps remained under-utilised. But how much can telemedicine diagnose and treat. And do patients trust telemedicine?Guest: Dr. K Ganapathy, former president of the Telemedicine Society of India, and director, Apollo Telemedicine Foundation. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On June 5, India overtook Russia in the number of cumulative cases. Among nations with a high case load, infections continue to double in less than 20 days only in India. We discuss this trend and some other points in this episode.Guest: Srinivasan Ramani, Deputy National Editor, The Hindu.Write to us with comments and feedback at socmed4@thehindu.co.in Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices