Parley by The Hindu

 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

In October 2021, Aryan Khan, son of actor Shah Rukh Khan, was arrested in Mumbai by the Narcotics Control Bureau in a drug racket case. Now, after many twists and turns in the case, on May 28, he and five others were given a clean chit by a special investigation team from Delhi. Besides highlighting the torment suffered by him and his family, Aryan Khan’s case also threw the focus on the countless victims of malicious prosecution, many of whom are resourceless.Here we discuss whether those who have been implicated in false cases should be compensated.Guests: Meeran Chadha Borwankar, a retired Indian Police Service officer of the Maharashtra cadre; Madan B. Lokur, a retired Supreme Court judgeHost: Sonam SaigalRead the parley article here

The Governor’s powers of pardon or remission under Article 161 of the Constitution have been in the spotlight with the Supreme Court judgment ordering the release of A.G. Perarivalan, one of the seven convicts in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. In 2018, the then Tamil Nadu cabinet had recommended to the Governor that all the seven convicts be released. The Raj Bhavan sat on the recommendation before forwarding it the President for advice. This month, the Supreme Court ruled that a Governor is bound by the State government’s advice in matters relating to commutation/remission of sentences under Article 161. The Court invoked its extraordinary power under Article 142 in ordering the release of Perarivalan, who had already spent over 30 years in prison. This has raised questions about the limits, if any, to a State government’s recommendation to the Governor to pardon or remit.Here we discuss questions arising from the case, including those relating to the Office of the Governor, judicial delays and the Perarivalan judgment’s value as a precedent.Guests: Kaleeswaram Raj, a Supreme Court advocate, author and legal columnist; P. Wilson, a senior advocate and a DMK MP in the Rajya SabhaHost: Krishnadas RajagopalRead the parley article here

After weeks of protests, Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa stepped down this month, but that is not the only big political non-electoral change in the neighbourhood in 2021-22. Just a month ago, it was Pakistan; a year ago, it was Nepal. Power changed hands through more coercive means in Myanmar and Afghanistan. Their polities have yet to settle down. How should India react to these changes? Is there a common strain running across the region in these developments?Here we discuss these questions.Guests: Srinath Raghavan, a historian and teaches at Ashoka University, Sonepat; Shyam Saran, a former Foreign Secretary. His new book ‘How China Sees India’ will be published later this monthHost: Suhasini HaidarRead the parley article here

A fortnight ago, Wimbledon decided to deny entries to players from Russia and Belarus for the 2022 edition of the tournament. Coming as it did against the backdrop of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Wimbledon said it was to thwart any attempt from the Russian regime to “derive any benefits from the involvement of Russian or Belarusian players with The Championships”. Many other sports, such as football, track and field, and Formula One, have also imposed sanctions of varying degrees.This has resurrected the debate on the influence of politics on sport. Here we discuss the various facets of the same.Guests: Zeeshan Ali, a former tennis player and Olympian, is currently India’s Davis Cup coach and also the head of the National Tennis Centre in New Delhi; Sharda Ugra, a sports journalist with more than three decades’ experience across newsrooms at The Hindu, Mid-Day, India Today and ESPNcricinfoHost: N. SudarshanRead the parley article here

In an address delivered at the Delhi School of Economics last week, N.K. Singh, the chairperson of the 15th Finance Commission, warned about how the race to provide freebies to voters could be a “quick path to fiscal disaster.” He also noted that freebies could be harmful for the long-term economic growth of the country and emphasised the need to distinguish between productive and unproductive forms of welfare spending.Here we discuss whether there is a case for doing away with freebie culture.Guests: Himanshu, Associate Professor at the Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi; Renu Kohli, an independent economist who has worked at the International Monetary Fund and the Reserve Bank of IndiaHost: Prashanth PerumalRead the parley article here

The number of fresh cases of COVID-19 in the country has been going up steadily in Delhi and Maharashtra, considered bellwether States in the country, as far as the pandemic goes. Is this an indication of a further COVID-19 wave in India, and what are the precautions that people and health systems have to take in order to avoid devastation on a scale as was seen during the second wave.Here we discuss the possible scenarios.Guests: Prabhdeep Kaur, deputy director, National Institute of Epidemiology of ICMR; J. Radhakrishnan, Health Secretary, Tamil Nadu governmentHost: Ramya KannanRead the parley article here

India’s inflation, which is measured by the Consumer Price Index (CPI), has stayed above the Reserve Bank of India (RBI)’s upper tolerance limit of 6% for three months running. The central bank’s monetary policy committee decided to hold benchmark interest rates earlier this month, choosing to remain accommodative “while focussing on withdrawal of accommodation to ensure that inflation remains within the target going forward, while supporting growth”. Western economies such as the U.S. have begun raising interest rates.Here we discuss whether the RBI is doing enough to arrest inflation? andGuests: Ananth Narayan, Associate Professor and Head of Public Policy, SPJIMR; Lekha S. Chakraborty, Professor at NIPFP and Member, Governing Board of Management, International Institute of Public Finance, MunichHost: K. Bharat KumarRead the parley article here