In Focus by The Hindu

In an emergency Cabinet meeting held on December 19, Prime Minister K.P. Sharma Oli recommended the dissolution of Parliament of Nepal and called for a general election. The decision was ratified by President Bidhya Devi Bhandari in an official announcement hours later. The dramatic move came after weeks of tension with challenger Pushpa Kamal Dahal ‘Prachanda’, who has been demanding that Mr. Oli change his style of governance.In this episode we’ll discuss the political challenges facing Mr. Oli that led to his taking this step. We’ll also discuss what this latest round of political turmoil means for India’s ongoing efforts to resume diplomatic dialogue with Nepal.Guest: Kallol Bhattacharjee, Senior Assistant Editor, The Hindu Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is a rare episode in which we’re discussing sports but we’re taking a slightly different tack today - we’re going to look at the science behind why a cricket ball swings and use the opportunity to highlight some really interesting research that‘s been happening in this area.Our immediate motivation, of course, is the day night test match currently underway between India and Australia that’s being played with a pink ball. The pink ball is, of course, relatively novel in cricket and there’s still a lot of curiosity and attempts to understand how it behaves differently to the red and white ball. So, while we address the pink ball in the course of the conversation today, we don’t restrict ourselves to it. We talk overall about the general mechanics of swing and the various factors that affect it.Our guest today, Professor Sanjay Mittal teaches at the Department of Aerospace Engineering at IIT Kanpur and for the past several years he has been leading a team of researchers conducting experiments to understand the physics governing the swing of a cricket ball. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We turn to international affairs in this episode and we look at the recent Morocco-Israel deal and its implications for the region. Here’s the story so far: Morocco has become the fourth Arab country to normalise ties with Israel in five months. On December 10, U.S. President Donald Trump announced the deal, claiming that the series of normalisation agreements between Arab countries (the UAE, Bahrain, Sudan and now Morocco) and the Jewish state was bringing peace to West Asia. In return for Morocco’s decision to establish formal ties with Israel, the U.S. has recognised Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara, a disputed territory in northwestern Africa, which has been under Moroccan control for decades. Morocco has long been campaigning internationally, using economic pressure and diplomacy, for recognition of its claims to Western Sahara. It appears that it got what it wanted from this deal but could the move now end up reigniting a dormant conflict?Guest: Stanly Johny, International Affairs Editor, The Hindu Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

After Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said that his country will always be there to defend the right of peaceful protest, the first world leader to voice his views on the farmers' protests, India slammed his remarks as “ill-formed” and "unwarranted". Peeved over Canada's remarks, reports said External Affairs Minister S. Jaishankar would skip a Canada-led virtual meeting on COVID-19. On the same day as India protested, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh took a dig at the state of internal affairs across the border in Pakistan and on countries that "can neither make their own road nor walk on it." Do these statements suggest interventionism in international affairs is on the rise? Is domestic politics taking increasing precedence in how countries conduct foreign policy, and is the principle of non-intervention in international affairs a relic of the past that needs revisiting?Guests: Srinath Raghavan, Professor at Ashoka University; Senior Fellow at Carnegie India; Author of "The Most Dangerous Place: A History of the United States in South Asia"Suhasini Haidar, National Editor and Diplomatic Affairs Editor, The Hindu Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last week, Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired an all-party meet at which he said that experts believe the COVID-19 vaccine will be ready in a few weeks. Eight vaccines are at different stages of preparedness in the country, he said. On Wednesday, the Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech’s requests for emergency-use authorisation of their vaccine candidates in India were put on hold, pending more evidence.The vaccine will have to reach the thousands healthcare workers, frontline workers and elderly persons with co-morbidities who have been prioritised to get it. How prepared is India for a vaccine roll-out? What is emergency-use authorisation, and what does it mean for a vaccine as new as the ones for COVID-19? Are people ready to take a vaccine or are there worries that may have to be combated? And what are the challenges our State healthcare system will face in rolling out what may be a vast programme that lasts for many months?Host: Zubeda HamidGuest: Dr. Rajib Dasgupta, chairperson, Centre of Social Medicine and Community Health, Jawaharlal Nehru University.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

On Tuesday, the world’s tallest mountain added a few more centimetres to its already lofty peak after Nepal and China jointly announced the new height of Mount Everest as being 8,848.86 metres, revised from the earlier 8,848m that has been recognised since 1954. And with that, Mt. Everest has officially gained 86 centimetres, or roughly three feet. The new height was announced at a high-profile virtual ceremony, with the Presidents of China and Nepal exchanging letters, foreign ministers in attendance, all aimed at showcasing a deepening strategic relationship between the two countries, for whom the height of the mountain has been a matter of long-running debate. Host: Jayant Sriram Guest: Ananth Krishnan, former China correspondent, 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

In this first of two episodes on COVID-19 vaccines, we give you a quick explainer on what to expect from vaccine trials and how to interpret news around it. Concerns have risen around Bharat Biotech’s vaccine candidate after Haryana Health Minister Anil Vij, who participated as a volunteer in the phase 3 trials for Covaxin, tested positive for COVID-19 two weeks after receiving the shot.As more vaccine candidates emerge, we are likely to hear of more such incidents. But it is important to remember, as we learn in this episode, that infections arising among some participants is actually part of the clinical trial design for most vaccines.Guest: Jacob Koshy, Deputy Science Editor, The Hindu.Coronavirus | About 130 Covaxin trial volunteers may test positive, says Bharat BiotechFind 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

This podcast was recorded on December 3, amid the continuing standoff between farmers’ groups and the Central government in Delhi and its fourth round of talks with not just Punjabi and Haryanvi farmers, but representatives from other parts of the country too. The farmers fear the recent agricultural reforms passed by the government will lead to the deregulation of crop-pricing, deny them fair remuneration for their produce and leave them at the mercy of corporations. The government, on the other hand, argues that the new laws will give farmers more autonomy in selling their produce, lead to better pricing, and free them from unfair monopolies.In this episode, we delve further into aspects of minimum support price and the APMC mandi system, which the new laws seek to bypass. These are currently the most proximate to the talks between the farmers groups and government. And we also discuss a possible way forward for both sides as the negotiations continue.Guest: R. Ramakumar, Professor, Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Two senior Indian officials travelled to Nepal and Sri Lanka last week as part of India’s ongoing efforts to repair relations in the neighbourhood. In Nepal, Foreign Secretary Harsh Shringla said India and Nepal “need” each other, making a pitch to halt the downward slide in relations that set in following particularly the Kalapani border dispute. In Sri Lanka, National Security Advisor Ajit Doval discussed key bilateral issues including Indian investments and regional security with President Gotabaya Rajapaksa. How successful have India’s efforts been to repair the recently deteriorating relations in the neighbourhood, and how is India responding to China’s growing political, and especially economic, influence in South Asia?Guests: Suhasini Haidar, National Editor and Diplomatic Affairs Editor, The Hindu; Meera Srinivasan, Sri Lanka Correspondent, 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

The assassination last Friday of top Iranian nuclear scientist Mohsen Fakhrizadeh has triggered the possibility of a new crisis in West Asia.This latest development comes at a crucial time for Iran. There are hopes that Joe Biden, the incoming American President, would return to talks with Iran, ending months of “maximum pressure”, a policy adopted by the outgoing President Donald Trump, which took both countries to the brink of war after the killing of General Qasem Soleimani in January this year by the United States.There are other powers in the middle east, notably Israel and Saudi Arabia, who have long seen Iran as a threat and would not welcome the U.S returning to talks or easing economic sanctions on Iran. So, there are many possible motivations for this latest assassination and many factors at play.Guest: Stanly Johny, International 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