Parley by The Hindu

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has changed five Chief Ministers in four States this year. Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home State, Gujarat, is the latest to see a change of guard. Are these changes a sign of anti-incumbency or are they a sign of concentration of power in the hands of the Central leadership?Here we discuss the issue.Guests: Sudheendra Kulkarni, political commentator; Harish Khare, senior journalist and former Editor of The TribuneHost: Sandeep PhukanWrite to us with comments and feedback at socmed4@thehindu.co.in

In 2017, the Supreme Court, in Independent Thought v. Union of India, refused to delve into the question of marital rape of adult women while examining an exception to Section 375 (rape) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) which allows a man to force sex on his wife. Recent rulings by High Courts have been contradictory — one backed marital rape as a valid ground for divorce, while another granted anticipatory bail to a man while concluding that forcible sex is not an “illegal thing”.Why do differences persist despite the Justice J.S. Verma Committee recommendation to criminalise marital rape? Here we discuss why marital rape has not been criminalised in India yet.Guests: Manuraj Shunmugasundaram, advocate, Madras High Court, and spokesperson of the DMK; Shraddha Chaudhary, lecturer, Jindal Global Law School, Sonepat, and Ph.D candidate (law), University of CambridgeHost: Sudipta DattaRead the Parley article here.Write to us with comments and feedback at socmed4@thehindu.co.in

Last week, the Centre released the ‘National Monetisation Pipeline’, a document listing the various public assets that will be leased out to private companies over the next four years. The government believes that monetising underutilised public assets will bring in almost ₹6 lakh crore to the government and help build new infrastructure to boost the economy. The Opposition has accused the government of selling off valuable national assets to “crony capitalists”.Here we discuss this move.Guests: Montek Singh Ahluwalia, former Deputy Chairman of the erstwhile Planning Commission; Ajay Shah, Professor at the National Institute for Public Finance and PolicyHost: Prashanth Perumal J.Read the Parley article here.Write to us with comments and feedback at socmed4@thehindu.co.in

India’s parliamentary democracy is going through a phase of intense confrontation between the dominant ruling party and a weakened but belligerent Opposition. Is this situation a consequence of the first-past-the-post (FPTP) system, where a party with the the highest votes gets the seat even if it doesn't win a majority?Here we address this question.Guests: E. Sridharan, Academic Director and Chief Executive at the University of Pennsylvania Institute for the Advanced Study of India, and Editor-in-Chief of India Review; Suhas Palshikar taught political science at Savitribai Phule Pune University, Pune, and chief editor of Studies in Indian PoliticsHost: Srinivasan RamaniRead the Parley article here.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

The public education system is the primary option for millions of students in India. These institutions have become more important as the pandemic takes a toll on the economy, putting fee-charging schools beyond the reach of many and forcing thousands to move to government schools. The Patna High Court recently asked for data on how many IAS and IPS officers have enrolled their wards in government schools.Here we discuss the quality of public education.Guests: Uma Mahadevan, Principal Secretary, Panchayati Raj, Government of Karnataka; Anita Rampal, Professor and former Dean, Faculty of Education, Delhi University.Host: G. AnanthakrishnanRead the Parley article here.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

After 20 years of fighting, the U.S. is set to end its military operations in Afghanistan by August 31. Since May 1, when U.S. troops started withdrawing from Afghanistan, the Taliban have made rapid territorial gains in the country. They have taken control of dozens of northern districts and several of the country’s key border crossings, mounting pressure on the Ashraf Ghani government.Here we discuss the Afghan situation, India’s options, and the prospects for a peaceful settlement.Guests: Avinash Paliwal, Deputy Director of the SOAS South Asia Institute, London; Jayant Prasad, a former Indian civil servant, who had served as India’s envoy in Kabul.Host: Stanly JohnyRead the Parley article here.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

In June, the Union Consumer Affairs Ministry came out with a list of proposed amendments to the Consumer Protection Act of 2019. These include appointment of a Chief Compliance Officer and a Resident Grievance Officer, provisions of fall back liability, registration of e-commerce entities and seeking an end to flash sales. The Centre claims that these amendments try to rein in unfair trade practices adopted by e-commerce companies and intend to take care of the interests of consumers. But not everyone agrees.Here we discuss the proposed amendments in a conversation moderated by:Guests: Prithwiraj Mukherjee, an Assistant Professor at IIM, Bangalore; Anupam Manur, an Assistant Professor at the Takshashila Institution.Host: Prashanth Perumal JRead the Parley article here.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

Since the nationwide lockdown announced by the Prime Minister in March 2020, the Indian economy has faced its worst contraction in history. Yet, the country’s stock indices, the Sensex and the Nifty, have almost doubled in price from the low that they hit in April 2020. Many analysts and even the Reserve Bank of India now believe that stocks are in a bubble.Here we discuss the current state of Indian markets.Guests: Alok Jain, a SEBI-registered investment adviser and a momentum investor; Anand Srinivasan, a value investor and the author of Ordinary Stocks, Extraordinary ProfitsRead the Parley article here.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

The option provided in the Constitution should be used with honesty, not just to tinker with politics.The sudden exit of Tirath Singh Rawat as Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, a development the Bharatiya Janata Party sought to explain in terms of a constitutional roadblock to being elected as a legislator with in six months, has led to thickening speculation about the fate of West Bengal’s Mamata Banerjee, another unelected Chief Minister.Here we discuss the road ahead.Guests: M.R. Madhavan, is President and co-founder of PRS Legislative Research, a public policy research institution; S.Y. Quraishi, served as 17th Chief Election Commissioner of India from July 2010 to June 2012.Read the Parley article hereYou 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

The CBSE has prepared a tabulation scheme to determine the marks that students of Class 12 will be awarded in this pandemic year, upon completion of schooling. How reliable is such a scheme against the backdrop of the digital divide, and can it be improved?Here we discuss the road ahead for assessing students.Guests: Uday Gaonkar, a teacher in a rural school in Karnataka’s public system who has worked in science teaching and learning; Anita Rampal, Professor and former Dean, Faculty of Education, Delhi University.Host: G. AnanthakrishnanRead the Parley article here.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