In Focus by The Hindu

For most Indians, the bulk of their medical expenses come out of pocket. In such a scenario, rapidly rising healthcare costs are no less dangerous than any deadly disease. One major reason for cost escalation is the entry of private equity into India’s healthcare sector. A new book, titled ‘The Silent Syndicate: How Big Finance is Destroying India’s Healthcare’ documents how global financial capital is gobbling up Indian hospitals, pharma companies, insurance players, and diagnostic labs. And all of this is happening in a regulatory void, with the state seemingly abandoning its responsibility toward the well-being of its own citizens. How did we let this happen? What is the remedy? Is there a way to keep privatised healthcare both affordable and accountable to patients? We speak with public policy expert and the book’s author, Ameer Shahul. Host: G Sampath Producer: Shiksha Jural Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Earlier this month, the Supreme Court asked the Central government to issue a clear public protocol to curb malpractice in stem cell therapy for autism spectrum disorder. This follows a judgement given in January this year following a petition that raised concerns about the commercial promotion and administration of stem cell “therapy” for autism. The court examined the scientific and regulatory position and held that, given the evidence available at present, stem cell therapy for ASD could not be offered by medical practitioners as a clinical service outside an approved and monitored clinical trial or research setting. The Health Ministry’s current approved list covers 18 adult and 14 paediatric indications. Autism is not on this list. What are the implications of the Supreme Court order, and why was it necessary? Is stem cell therapy something that is being researched for autism abroad and in India and should this continue? Why is the prevalence of autism believed to be increasing and what should we know about it? Guest: Dr. Ennapadam S. Krishnamoorthy, neuropsychiatrist and founder, Buddhi Clinic, Chennai Host: Zubeda Hamid Producer: Jude Francis Weston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Europe is seeing a wave of protests against economic inequalities and poor living standards. The immediate causes vary across countries, from the housing crisis in Spain and issues with the education system in France to public anger over perceived corruption in Serbia and Albania. But one thing is common: youth at the vanguard. Europe always had space for democratic dissent and has seen major protests to influence state systems and public policy. But with more and more youth taking the streets across the continent and beyond, are these protests merely reactionary, or is there a generational, existential anxiety at play? Are youth worried they will be worse off than their parents? Here, we discuss. Guests: Gilles Verniers and Rohit Azad Host: Vighnesh P. Venkitesh Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In May, Pope Leo XIV published his first encyclical, titled Magnifica Humanitas (Magnificent Humanity), on safeguarding human dignity in the age of AI. He later shared on social media that he believes human-created art cannot be replaced by machine-generated art. Earlier, AI firm Anthropic, per a New York Times report published in September, had invited religious thinkers, priests, monks, rabbis, and scholars from across the world, trying to sway their views on Claude, the company’s AI chatbot. As religious leaders clarify the role of technology to their laity, tech billionaires are reaching out to religious experts to try to better understand morality, ethical decision-making, and philosophy. At the heart of this debate is the question of whether AI chatbots are conscious or not, even as Claude-maker Anthropic plays a key role in lobbying spiritual leaders. Should we treat these conversations as a performance for customers? Are tech leaders perhaps building up hype before key IPOs? Or, to put it bluntly: are tech leaders using religion to distract users from more pressing regulatory worries? Host: Sahana Venugopal Guest: John Xavier Camera: Shivaraj Producer: Shiksha Jural Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Supreme Court, in a judgement on October 15th, declared that a Hindu who converts to a “non-Hindu” social order cannot claim the benefits of reservation. It reasoned that backwardness can’t be transferred automatically from the Hindu social order to a non-Hindu one after conversion. The judgement came in a case where a Hindu OBC man who had converted to Islam wanted to avail reservation benefits as a Muslim OBC. Following the judgement, DMK president and former Chief Minister M.K. Stalin urged the Tamil Nadu government to file a Special Leave Petition (SLP) in the Supreme Court to protect the reservation rights of members of Backward Classes (BC) who had converted to Islam. “Social backwardness does not arise in a day or a generation. It is the result of a social system built over thousands of years. Conversion to another religion does not erase it,” he said in a statement. So, how sociologically grounded is this judgement? What about the impact of a lifetime of ‘backwardness’-related disadvantages that shape a Hindu OBC’s life until the point of conversion? Can that be disregarded? Critically, religion was never a criterion in determining OBC status – so, can reservation benefit be denied due to a change in the person’s religion? Guest: Abhinay Lakshman from The Hindu’s Delhi Bureau Host: G Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu Producer & Editor: Jude Weston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices