Parley by The Hindu

Following widespread criticism, the Kerala government decided early this week to put on hold an Ordinance that gives unbridled powers to the police to arrest anyone expressing or disseminating any matter that it deems defamatory.However, the move to introduce such a law in the first place shows that State governments believe that existing laws are not adequate to deal with social media abuse. We discuss to what extent is this true.Guests: Rishab Bailey, a lawyer working with the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy, an autonomous research institute established by the Ministry of Finance; Vrinda Bhandari, a litigating lawyer in Delhi. She is Of-Counsel for the Internet Freedom Foundation, and specialises in the field of digital rights, technology, and privacyHost: Jayant SriramYou 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

While the India-China stand-off continues in eastern Ladakh, the Line of Control (LoC) is yet again on the boil. We discuss whether India faces the prospect of a two-front war.Guests: Harsh V. Pant, Director, Studies at the Observer Research Foundation and Professor of International Relations, King’s College London; Lieutenant General D.S. Hooda (retd.), a former Northern Army Commander. Host: Dinakar PeriYou 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

As economies around the world struggle to recover from the double whammy of a pandemic and a lockdown, unemployment is soaring. In India, the land of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), the promise of jobs and the politics of unemployment have a long history.Can a citizen demand work as a right, and is it the state’s responsibility to provide employment? We discuss the possible policy approaches to the right to work.Guests: Amit Basole, Head, Centre for Sustainable Employment, Azim Premji University, Bengaluru; Reetika Khera, Associate Professor of Economics at IIT-Delhi.Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The HinduYou 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 India’s economy collapsed in the first quarter of 2020-21 following the nationwide lockdown imposed to curb the COVID-19 pandemic, some economic indicators from September and October, from power consumption to GST collections, suggest that things are improving.We discuss whether there is a sustainable recovery under way, or it's just an expression of pent-up demand combined with India’s festive-season spending.Guests: M. Govinda Rao, a former member of the Economic Advisory Council to the Prime Minister and the Fourteenth Finance Commission; Naushad Forbes, a former president of the Confederation of Indian Industry and co-chairman of Forbes MarshallHost: Vikas DhootYou 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

Russian President Vladimir Putin recently said that China and Germany are soon going to be superpowers as U.S. influence wanes globally. Today, as the U.S. is on the cusp of a new presidency, after a remarkable almost four years under President Donald Trump, it is worth examining whether its superpower status endures in the realms of politics, economics, military and diplomatic power, and culture.We discuss why the U.S. faces an ideational problem despite having an unparalleled position militarily and economically.Guests: Richard Lachmann, a Professor of Sociology at the University at Albany of the State University of New York; Robert J. Lieber, a Professor of Government and International Affairs at Georgetown University.Host: Narayan Lakshman, Associate Editor, The HinduYou 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 mid-September, the number of daily new COVID-19 cases recorded has been reducing from the peak of 90,000-odd cases. A few days ago, the COVID-19 India National Supermodel Committee, constituted by the Department of Science and Technology, based on mathematical modelling studies, concluded that India had passed the COVID-19 peak in September. It also found that there will be fewer than 50,000 active cases from December and if proper safety protocols continue to be followed, the pandemic can be “controlled by early next year” with “minimal” active symptomatic infections by end-February. We discuss whether India has gone past the peak.Guests: Giridhara R. Babu, a Professor of Epidemiology at the Public Health Foundation of India, Bengaluru, and a member of the Karnataka COVID-19 Technical Advisory Committee; Gautam Menon, a Professor of Physics and Biology at Ashoka University and co-author of COVID-19 modelling studies.Host: R. Prasad, Science Editor, The HinduYou 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

Last week, the Mumbai Police said that a TRP (Target Rating Points) racket involving three news channels had been busted by its Crime Detection Branch. Since then, the Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), which monitors the TRPs, has suspended ratings of news channels for three months.The alleged scam has once again highlighted the need for regulation. Television channels are driven by TRPs and it is viewership that drives their business. We discuss how TRPs are manipulated and what could be the solution.Guests: Sashi Kumar, the founder and editor in chief of Asiaville, a digital multimedia platform. He was also the founder of Asianet television channel; S.Y. Quraishi, a former Chief Election Commissioner and former Director General of Doordarshan.Host: Anuradha RamanYou 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

Online payments company Paytm recently announced that it was building a ‘Mini App Store’ which would ‘empower Indian developers’. This move came days after Paytm was removed from Google’s Play Store over apparent violation of its policies. Though it was reinstated later, Paytm and several other Indian Internet startups allege that Google is using its market dominance to arbitrarily enforce policies and target competitors. The Play Store is the key app store for Google’s Android operating system, which runs over 90% of smartphones in India. Google also announced that it will start enforcing a 30% commission on all payments made for digital services in apps from its Play Store. Though the implementation of this plan has since been postponed to next year, it has caused much heartburn in the Indian startup environment. There is discontent brewing against tech giants in their home country as well, with a similar tussle going on between Apple and some game developers in the U.S., and the government readying an anti-trust lawsuit against Google. Is the Indian startup ecosystem is ready to take on the giants on whom they are dependent for crucial infrastructure?GuestsJayadevan P.K. is a startup founder and writes on technology. He now works on brand building for startups.Thillai Rajan is a Professor in the Department of Management Studies, Indian Institute of Technology Madras.HostP.J. George, Deputy Internet Editor, The HinduSearch for Parley by The Hindu. Write to us with comments and feedback at socmed4@thehindu.co.in

The growing popularity of gaming platforms like Dream11 and Paytm First Games raise questions about whether they are proxies for online gambling as they can involve financial transactions though are currently classified as ‘games of skill’. We discuss the current legal position in India on games of skill versus games of chance, the size of the gambling industry, and issues of regulation.Guests: Vidushpat Singhania, Managing Partner of Krida Legal and specialises in sports and gaming laws; Jay Sayta who has has extensively tracked issues pertaining to the gaming industry and gaming laws over the last decade and now advises several gaming companies on policy, regulatory, tax and legal issues.Host: Jayant SriramYou 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

Three farm Bills — the Essential Commodities (Amendment) Bill, the Farmers’ Produce Trade and Commerce (Promotion and Facilitation) Bill (commonly referred to as the APMC Bypass Bill), and the Farmers (Empowerment and Protection) Agreement on Price Assurance and Farm Services Bill — were cleared by Parliament amid protests from the Opposition. We discuss the implications of the controversial Bills.Guests: Arindam Banerjee, Associate Professor at the School of Liberal Studies at Ambedkar University; Sudha Narayanan, Associate Professor at the Indira Gandhi Institute of Development Research.Host: Vikas DhootYou 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