Parley by The Hindu

While hearing a petition demanding the de-recognition of political parties that promise “irrational freebies” to voters, the Supreme Court recently drew attention to the substantial fiscal cost of freebies. The court noted that a legislation banning freebies is not advisable, but at the same time called for a balance between welfare measures and loss to the public exchequer. The Supreme Court’s observation comes in the backdrop of the clash between the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Aam Aadmi Party on the issue of wasteful spending on freebies. It also takes in the larger public debate on how to differentiate welfare spending from freebies. Here we discuss various aspects of the subject.Guest: Reetika Khera, Professor of Economics at the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi; N.R. Bhanumurthy, Vice-Chancellor of Dr. B. R. Ambedkar School of EconomicsHost: Prashanth Perumal

The demand for medicine to be taught in languages besides English has been made repeatedly over the years, and was reiterated most recently by Union Home Minister Amit Shah when he said instruction in medicine, engineering and law should be made available in Indian languages. Over the years, academicians have considered the advantages, demerits and challenges of such a move. Here we explore the various aspects of the issue.Guests: M. Janakiram, Assistant Professor, Department of Community Medicine, Government Vellore Medical College; Sudha Seshayyan, vice-chancellor of the Tamil Nadu Dr. MGR Medical University

The rupee’s steep slide to the 79-to-a-dollar range is bound to impact importers, widen the current account deficit (CAD) and spur the value of India’s external debt. But how much of a problem is this going to be for the Indian economy, given that the rest of the world is facing economic challenges as well? Here we discuss whether the declining rupee presents a crisis or an opportunity.

On July 20, acting President Ranil Wickremesinghe was elected the President of Sri Lanka. The Indian government, which held an all-party meeting on the crisis in the island nation, said that “fiscal prudence and responsible governance” are the lessons to be learnt from the crisis in Sri Lanka and that there should not be a “culture of freebies”. India promised to be supportive of Sri Lanka, which is struggling to deal with the devastation caused by the economic crisis. In such a scenario, what must the world, and India in particular, do to help Sri Lanka?Guests: Nirupama Rao, D. Subba RaoHost: Suhasini Haider

At a time when the Central government says it is liberalising India’s economy, its economic policymaking on the external front has been marked by rising protectionism. With policies such as Atmanirbhar Bharat, there seems to be a conscious effort to protect the domestic economy from foreign competition. This raises questions on whether the government’s external protectionism is compatible with its promise of liberalising India’s economy. Here we discuss the model of industrial policy that should be the way forward. Guests: Ajay Shah, Research Professor of Business at Jindal Global University; Biswajit Dhar, Professor at the Center for Economic Studies and Planning, Jawaharlal Nehru UniversityHost: Prashanth Perumal

In April 2020, just after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, Roger Federer floated the idea of merging the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) and the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), the governing bodies of men’s and women’s tennis, respectively. Billie Jean King founded the WTA in 1973 after failing to persuade the men to create a joint venture. Nearly five decades on, the idea to project tennis’s progressive face, of men and women competing together and as equals, and thereby creating a big enough product that is financially self-sufficient, is taking shape again. It doesn’t necessarily mean a merger of the two competitions, but of the calendar, governance structures, decision-making, sponsorships, etc. A year ago, investment group CVC Capital Partners, a private equity company which has bought stakes in Spanish football’s LaLiga and has a presence in the IPL with the Gujarat Titans, had floated a potential $600m agreement at turning the tours into a single commercial entity. As if on cue, on Tuesday, The Times (London) reported that CVC had struck a deal with the WTA for a 20% stake (about $150 million). There are expectations of a similar agreement with the ATP. Here we discuss various facets of the potential merger.Guests: Ankita Bhambri, a former tennis player and most recently the coach of the Indian Fed Cup (now Billie Jean King Cup) team; Sunder Iyer, secretary of the Maharashtra Lawn Tennis Association, which has hosted both ATP and WTA tournamentsHost: N. Sudarshan

On June 9, 2022, the Central Consumer Protection Authority (CCPA) notified guidelines for ‘Prevention of Misleading Advertisements and Endorsements for Misleading Advertisements, 2022’. The guidelines, brought in with immediate effect, are applicable to all forms of advertisements. While the Consumer Protection Act of 2019 does have a provision on misleading advertisements, the CCPA can impose a penalty of up to ₹10 lakh on manufacturers, advertisers and endorsers for misleading advertisements and a penalty of up to ₹50 lakh for subsequent contraventions. It can also prohibit the endorser of a misleading advertisement from making any endorsement for up to one year; for subsequent contravention, prohibition can extend up to three years. Here we discuss the need for the new guidelines and how they overlap with the ‘Code for Self-Regulation in Advertising’, which was adopted by the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI).Guests: Akashneel Dasgupta, chief creative officer at Network Advertising; Anushree Rauta, an advocate and partner heading the Media and Entertainment at the ANM GlobalHost: Sonam Saigal

 On June 14, the government announced the Agnipath scheme which fundamentally transforms the process of recruitment of soldiers, sailors and airmen into the three services. Agniveers, the recruits, will be employed for four years, after which up to 25% of them will be selected for enrolment in the regular cadre, while the rest will be given a certain amount of money and be shown avenues to get back to civilian life. The scheme has generated a lot of debate, and protests against it have been violent in several parts of the country. Here we discuss the nuances of the issue.Guests: Lieutenant General (Retd) D. S. Hooda, a former Northern Army Commander; Air Vice Marshal Manmohan Bahadur (Retd.), former additional director-general of Centre for Air Power StudiesHost: Dinakar Peri You can now find The Hindu’s podcasts on Spotify, Apple Podcasts and Stitcher. Search for Parley by The Hindu.Write to us with comments and feedback at socmed4@thehindu.co.in

Is COVID-19 now approaching an endemic stage? While the common interpretation of endemicity is ‘this is a disease we no longer have to be worried about’, what does it actually mean in epidemiological terms and what are the concerns for public health for the future? Will the infection spread at more predictable rates and will it perhaps become more manageable?Here we discuss the science behind these questions.Guests: K. Kolaindaisamy, a former director of public health in Tamil Nadu; Tarun Bhatnagar, an epidemiologist and senior scientist at the Indian Council of Medical Research-National Institute of Epidemiology in ChennaiHost: Ramya Kannan

Over the last month, the government has banned the export of wheat and imposed quantitative restrictions on outbound sugar shipments. The wheat export ban came within days of a push to enhance India’s wheat supplies to the rest of the world after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The move came in the midst of persistently high inflation, spurred by rising food and fuel prices, and concerns about a lower yield this year due to excessive heat waves. The government has argued that farmers have not lost out due to the ban as most had already sold their produce this season.Here we discuss the efficacy of these curbs.Guests: S. Mahendra Dev, director and vice-chancellor, Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research; Himanshu, associate professor at the JNU’s Centre for Economic Studies and Planning, School of Social SciencesHost: Vikas DhootRead the parley article here