Parley by The Hindu

On March 2, a 43-year-old Muslim man was charged with sedition after he allegedly chanted pro-Pakistan slogans in front of the mini Vidhan Soudha at Kundapur in Karnataka’s Udupi district. Last month, the police arrested a teacher and a parent in Bidar for an allegedly seditious play against the Citizenship Amendment Act. Over the last few months, many people protesting against the Citizenship Amendment Act have been charged with sedition all across the country.Senior Supreme Court advocate Sanjay Hegde and Delhi government’s addition standing counsel (criminal) Nandita Rao discuss why Section 124A (sedition) still exists in the statute books, its misuse, and whether it should be done away with.Also Read: Should the sedition law be scrapped?Search for Parley by The Hindu. Write to us with comments and feedback at socmed4@thehindu.co.in

The massive restructuring of the military command structure has dismantled the old civil-military relationship, with far greater powers in decision-making now being bestowed on the armed forces. In a conversation moderated by Atul Aneja, Madanjit Singh and Anit Mukherjee weigh in on this highly complex transformation which is likely to lead to a complete overhaul of the military command structure.(Madanjit Singh is Vice Admiral (retd.), former head of the Western Naval Command and member of the task force for the review of the management of defence, set up after the 1999 Kargil War. Anit Mukherjee is a former Navy officer and assistant professor at the Rajaratnam School of International Studies at the Nanyang Technological University in Singapore.)Search for Parley by The Hindu. Write to us with comments and feedback at socmed4@thehindu.co.in

After the Central government cited physical and physiological reasons for why women could not be given commanding positions in the Indian Army, the Supreme Court had last week observed that there was a need for a “change of mindset” and display of “administrative will”.In this episode of Parley, moderated by Dinakar Peri, Lieutenant Generals Syed Ata Hasnain (Chancellor, Kashmir University) and Deependra Singh Hooda (former Northern Army Commander) discussed the issue of granting permanent commission and commanding posts for women in the armed forces.Search for Parley by The Hindu. Write to us with comments and feedback at socmed4@thehindu.co.in

Presenting the Union Budget for 2020-21 in Parliament, Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman said it would boost common people’s income and enhance their purchasing power. Ananth Narayan (Professor of Finance, S.P. Jain Institute for Management Research) and veteran banker V. Srinivasan discuss whether the proposed changes in direct taxes and other measures are likely to spur consumption and investment in the economy.Hosted by Suresh Seshadri, Business Editor, The Hindu Search for Parley by The Hindu. Write to us with comments and feedback at socmed4@thehindu.co.in

The past few weeks have been the most polarising in recent memory with regard to freedom of expression norms. FIRs were registered against students for stating their political opinions even as political leaders actively indulged in hate speech.This brings into focus the tug-of-war between morality and state security, freedom and responsibility. Should statements by civil society and politicians be made chargeable offences or should our idea of free speech expand to accommodate the full range of our society’s political opinion? Freedom of expression is enshrined under Article 19 (1) of the Constitution with safeguards outlined in 19 (2). Do these safeguards need to be brought under review today?In a conversation moderated by Jayant Sriram, Abhinav Chandrachud (Author and Bombay High Court advocate) and Mihira Sood (Supreme Court lawyer) discuss the various facets of this question.Search for Parley by The Hindu. Write to us with comments and feedback at socmed4@thehindu.co.in

Over the past few weeks, several actors have spoken out against the Citizenship Amendment Act-National Population Register-National Register of Citizens (CAA-NPR-NRC) as well as the attack on students and faculty in Jawaharlal Nehru University. In a conversation moderated by Radhika Santhanam, Malayalam actor Parvathy Thiruvothu and communications consultant Dilip Cherian discuss why so many celebrities are suddenly speaking up and whether their voices make a difference. Search for Parley by The Hindu. Write to us with comments and feedback at socmed4@thehindu.co.in

Open Source has been part and parcel of software programming in India for a while now. Free sharing has been an ideal for a long time. But have Big Tech proprietary firms co-opted the open-source platforms along the way?Venkatesh Hariharan (Senior Fellow, IDFC Institute) and Sangeeta Gupta (VP, National Association of Software and Services Companies) discuss the history of the Open Source movement in India.Host: Jacob KoshySearch for Parley by The Hindu. Write to us with comments and feedback at socmed4@thehindu.co.in