Data Point

In this episode, The Hindu Data Team delves into the severe food shortages in Gaza and the ICC’s intervention, analysing the intersection of international law and humanitarian aid. Vignesh Radhakrishnan discusses the war’s humanitarian impact, while Stanly Johny examines the global response to the ICC warrants.

 In this episode, The Hindu speaks to doctors to understand the link between HPV and cervical cancer, and why screening rates are so low in India, compared to other countries. They say one major reason why women don’t get screened often, or at all, is because while women are predominantly viewed as caregivers, they often do not prioritise their own needs. While on the one hand, they want more women to get screened, when it comes to vaccination against HPV, they want it to be gender-neutral. They also discuss the need for greater awareness and a structured state intervention programme to boost screening and vaccination.Guest: Dr Aravind Krishnamurthy: Head of Surgical Oncology at the Cancer Institute, ChennaiDr Sunita Tandulwadkar: President-Elect of the Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India (FOGSI) Credit to Sonikka Loganathan and Rebecca Rose Varghese

Earlier this month, a Qatar court issued the death sentence to eight former Indian Navy personnel. The former officers were arrested in August of 2022, allegedly for espionage.It’s a case that has brought the issue of Indian’s arrested abroad, back into the forefront. According to the latest data, taken from Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha answers, there are about 9,500 Indians in prisons across 89 countries. Most of these Indian prisoners are in West Asian jails, over 2,000 are in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. In this episode, The Hindu speaks to Prabhash Ranjan, who teaches at the Faculty of Legal Studies at South Asian University, about what to do, if an Indian national is arrested in another country.Guests: Prabhash Ranjan, Faculty of Legal Studies, South Asian University 

Narayana Murthy, Founder of Infosys, discusses the merits and drawbacks of extended work hours in India and compares it to post-war economies like Germany and Japan. They explore the relationships between working hours, productivity, and gender bias. The podcast also examines the challenges of R&D spending, work-life balance, and the need for productivity and empathetic leadership in India's workforce.

Former Justice of the Kerala High Court and a practising advocate at the Karnataka High Court discuss the Madras High Court judgment granting wives an equal share in property. They explore its implications, potential impact on future cases, challenges in measuring contributions, and the rights of husbands who are homemakers.

Doctors and MBBS students from diverse specialisations, age groups, and geographies believe that the medical profession has increasingly come to look more like a business, rather than a vocation. The impact of this, and where the medical profession stands now, is explored in this episode.

The podcast explores whether NEET preparation helps students become better doctors and discusses the disparity in the MBBS curriculum. It also examines the inequality in medical education and healthcare systems across different parts of India. The debate between state and central government jurisdiction over healthcare and medical education is explored, along with flaws in the examination system and the unfairness of the NEET curriculum for MBBS students.

Doctors and MBBS students discuss the challenges of filling the shortage of specialists in rural India. They explore the effectiveness of compelling students to work in rural areas and suggest integrating rural healthcare exposure into the curriculum. The chapter also discusses a program that encourages doctors to work in rural areas and explores the challenges of incentivizing rural healthcare in medical education.

Doctors and MBBS students discuss the skewed advantages of urban and richer students in medical entrance exams. The unaffordability of coaching classes and ability to drop a year put disadvantaged students at a disadvantage. The podcast explores the impact of NEET on rural healthcare and medical education. It also discusses the evolution of the medical school admission process and the inequities in the Indian medical education system.

On May 28, Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan won the run-off elections, extending his rule for another five years. Erdogan has been president since 2003. Over the past twenty years, he’s used religion to come to power, and maintain it, in a country where popular politics previously had a largely secular flavour. Erdogan, and his Development Party (AKP), used religious nationalism to create the new Islamic Turkey. In this episode, The Hindu speaks to Sathish Deshpande, to understand, how much of this is a result of Erdogan and his policies, and identify the similarities between Turkey’s trajectory and what we are seeing in India.