ANI Podcast with Smita Prakash

Milinda Moragoda is a Sri Lankan politician who is currently serving as the 22nd High Commissioner to India since 2020. In his decade-long political career, Mr. Moragoda served as principal government negotiator in the peace talks of 2002-2004. He has also served as cabinet minister for economic reform, science and technology, tourism, justice and law reform in the Sri Lankan government. Mr Moragoda played an important role in getting financial assistance from New Delhi after Sri Lanka plunged into an economic crisis in 2022. Apart from being a diplomat and politician, Mr Moragoda is also a successful entrepreneur and also has experience of over two decades in the media industry. He currently serves as chairman of the MMBL-Pathfinder Group, a privately held investment group, and has hosted television and radio shows in both Sinhala and English. In this edition of Podcast with Smita Prakash and Naveen Kapoor, Moragoda talks about his close ties with top officials of the Indian government and how India went all out to provide timely assistance to the island nation during the economic crisis. He also talks about Indian concern over Hambantota port, which is run by the Chinese, and how it has affected India-Sri Lanka ties. He also talks about the inheritance of debt which pushed the tourism-dependent nation into crisis.

Gurcharan Singh Grewal is the general secretary of Shiromani Gurdwara Prabandhak Committee, which is the largest Sikh organisation tasked with managing over 280 Gurudwaras in the state of Punjab, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh. Grewal is a known face among the Sikh community and has been associated with Akalis and Sikh politics for around four decades. He considers Bhindranwale a martyr and says that Bhindranwale never demanded Khalistan. In an enlightening conversation with Smita Prakash, Grewal talks about the history of SGPC and its inception and his association with Bhindranwale since the 80s. Grewal also explains the reason behind Akali Dal's dominance in the SGPC elections and why other political parties haven't been able to make their way into the elections. He also talks about Amritpal and the drama over his arrest as a conspiracy by state government and central agencies and youth migration from Punjab. 

A wise man once said, “The greater the obstacle, the more glory in overcoming it' - this line exactly defines the stories of our special guests in this episode as they conquered their disabilities to achieve success. This episode of ANI Podcast with Smita Prakash features two sessions which include one shot in Mumbai in January 2023 and the other recorded in Amritsar in May 2023. The first part features Shubham Vanmali, an international open water swimmer who overcomes his mental disability to conquer the seas, while the second story is about Dr. Shefali Chauhan who didn’t allow her physical disability to become a roadblock in her way to success. In a candid conversation with Smita Prakash, Shubham narrates his journey from being a child suffering from Dyslexia to swimming past the English Channel while Dr. Shefali narrates her struggles and difficulties she had to face after a kitchen accident in her college days led to the amputation of her left hand. She narrates how she took the unfortunate incident as a blessing in disguise and went on to get her PhD and now is a professor at GNDU, Amritsar.

With the Reserve Bank Of India announcing the withdrawal of Rs 2000 notes from circulation as part of a currency management exercise and allowing people to exchange or deposit them in their accounts by September 30, 2023. People are in a fix over the procedure, the number of notes which can be exchanged by a person per day among others and what will be the fate of notes after the central bank's deadline. In this special edition of Podcast with Smita Prakash, the RBI's decision of Rs 2000 note withdrawal and its impact are discussed in detail with Monika Halan who is a financial expert and chairperson of the SEBI advisory committee for Investor Protection and Education Fund. Monika also talks about the controversy around TCS and LRS and the social media outrage which happened after a government decision came to fore.

Lt Col Pavithran Rajan is a former intelligence operative, academician and tech entrepreneur who is also an adjunct faculty at the Cyber Security Research Centre, Punjab Engineering College and is an advisor to Cyber Peace Foundation. He also serves on the board of two private companies currently and has authored a book Engaging China-Indian Interest in the information age. He was commissioned into the Sikh Light infantry but he transitioned into the Intelligence Corps after 10 years of service. He is credited with being one of the first officers to use cybercraft and internet to apprehend a Pakistani operative in India. Pavithran is considered a thought leader in Cyber Intelligence and Information Warfare in India and has also served as an advisor to Ministry of Home Affairs, GOI. In an illuminating conversation with Smita Prakash, he talks about counter-intelligence, foreign relations, information warfare and national security. Pavithran also spills the beans on the vulnerabilities India as a nation faces from its neighboring countries due to digitization and cyberspace. He also talks about 26/11 and how personal data on digital devices will change wars in the future.

With the war of narratives picking pace like anything after Modi coming to power in 2014, the left vs. right divide has only escalated, and now it is being claimed that history is being rewritten for political benefits. As the long push of the conservative right wing is finally being heard, this war of narratives has flown down from many places to India, where it now finds space. Is this an attempt to divide Indian society? In this episode of Podcast with Smita Prakash, we bring two experts to discuss the subject with their in-depth knowledge. Author and journalist Hindol Sengupta has penned 10 books on history, mythology, among others, and is the first Indian to win the Wilbur Award for his book ‘Being Hindu’. He is accompanied by Podcaster and social commentator Kushal Mehra. In this articulated podcast with Smita Prakash, the panel discusses whether or not the transition in history writing is bringing a divide in Indians, examines the western bias against India by foreign academia and India’s growth story.

A trove of talent, Divya Dutta is a noted actor and author of two books- The Stars in My Sky: Those Who Brightened My Film Journey and Main Aur Maa. She has been awarded with the National Film Award for Best Supporting Actress. With her debut in 1994, Divya Dutta has marked place with her unconventional roles in films like Shaheed-e-Mohabbat Boota Singh, Veer-Zaara, Bhaag Milkha Bhaag, etc. Not just Hindi films, she has also acted in many regional films and international films. In this heart-to-heart conversation with Smita Prakash, Divya Dutta talks about challenges faced in her early days of acting career. She recalls the hardships of living in the conflict zone during the 1980s, when the Punjab separatist movement was raging. She also mentions how Amitabh Bachchan and Irrfan Khan taught and helped her as a newcomer.

Afroz Shah is a lawyer by profession and an environmentalist by passion. He became a household name after organizing the world’s largest beach clean-up project at Versova Beach, Mumbai. For his efforts to make beaches garbage free and organising the world's largest beach clean-up, Shah was named by the UN as a Champion of the Earth in 2016 and was also awarded Eco warrior and Indian of the year in subsequent years. However, the feather in the cap came for him when Prime Minister Narendra Modi praised Shah for transforming Versova beach from filth and garbage to clean and beautiful during his radio programme 'Mann ki baat' on 28 May 2017. In an interesting conversation with Smita Prakash, Shah narrates the story of how his personal endeavor of cleaning beaches and restoring ecology became a mass movement. He also talks about the support he received from the likes of Amitabh Bachhchan and the Dawoodi Bohra community which helped him restore the ecosystem which led to the return of Ridley turtles to Mumbai beach. Afroz also talks about his ongoing partnerships to educate people on garbage reduction and sanitation in the slums of Mumbai and his future plans on cleaning the Mithi river and Dana Pani beach in Mumbai.

Hours after the dramatic arrest of former Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan, huge protests intensified in several cities in Pakistan with Imran’s supporters thronging the streets of Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Lahore, Karachi, Gujranwala, Faisalabad, Multan, Peshawar, and Mardan. PTI supporters also stormed the Pakistan Army headquarters in Rawalpindi and also burnt down the residence of the corps commander in Lahore. In this edition of Podcast with Smita Prakash, the recent developments and what they mean for India and how they impact geopolitics in the region and globally are discussed in detail with Tilak Devasher, author of four widely acclaimed books on Pakistan and a member of the National Security Advisory Board. The panel was also joined by senior fellow, ORF and an analyst on Pakistani affairs, Sushant Sareen, who also discussed the recent trip of Pakistani FM Bilawal Bhutto to India for attending SCO meeting in Goa and what it means for India-Pak bilateral relations in the near future.

Professor Salvatore Babones is an American sociologist, academician and higher education commentator who is currently an associate professor at the University of Sydney and an adjunct scholar at the Centre for Independent Studies. He has authored over a dozen books and academic articles and writes about Asia’s role in the global political economy with special focus on China and India. Babones criticized democracy indices for downgrading India’s ranking under the Modi government in 2022, which won him followers among Indian conservatives, while liberals grew suspicious of him. Babones is also a social media buff and has a huge fan following in India. In this edition of Podcast with Smita Prakash shot in February 2023, Babones talks about western biases against India and how a handful of intellectuals vilify India on the global stage in connivance with western media outlets. He also talks about Islamophobia in Indian politics, the RSS, and New India.