In Focus by The Hindu

Since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the U.S. and its allies have rolled out sweeping sanctions — freezing Moscow’s central-bank assets, cutting major banks off SWIFT, and capping Russian oil prices through export bans and trade restrictions. These moves have reshaped global energy flows, with India emerging as one of Russia’s top oil buyers — importing record volumes of discounted crude despite mounting Western pressure. Under the Biden administration, Washington led these coordinated efforts to choke off funding for Russia’s war. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, has used the threat of sanctions to discourage trade with Moscow, a move that’s largely targeted India’s continued oil imports. Now, fresh U.S. tariffs and the threat of secondary sanctions are complicating New Delhi’s effort to secure affordable fuel. For India, discounted Russian oil has become both an opportunity and a diplomatic test. What do these sanctions mean for India’s decades-old partnership with Moscow? Guest: Vasabjit Banerjee, Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Tennessee. Host: Nivedita V Edited and produced by Jude Weston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last month, a tragic incident took place in Jharkhand. Five children with thalassemia, an inherited blood disorder contracted HIV, following a blood transfusion. Initial investigations revealed that the blood they were given, was contaminated. While the Jharkhand government swung into action, suspending officials and announcing compensations – the fact remains that the blood that the children were given from a blood bank was unsafe. Blood is a critical compound – it is used across thousands of hospitals every day and there are regulations in place with regard to testing protocols to ensure that infected blood is not given to any patient. So where did the lapses occur? What kind of testing mechanisms do we have in place and are they sufficient? What is the ‘window period’ when it comes to infections and how can this be shortened? And how do we ensure safe blood for every patient in need? Guest: Dr Rizwan Javed, transfusion medicine expert, Kolkata Host: Zubeda Hamid Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The civil war in Sudan has taken more than 150,000 lives. It has displaced at least 13 million people. The UN has confirmed famine in parts of the country. There is widespread malnutrition, especially among children. And peace is nowhere in sight. The two warring sides -- the Sudanese Armed Forces (SAF), led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF), a paramilitary group under General Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo, have been fighting since April 2023. Last month, the RSF captured El Fasher city in Darfur, which used to be a SAF stronghold. It sparked a fresh wave of atrocities, deaths, rapes and displacement. A US-backed ceasefire proposal on the table, but Sudan remains a humanitarian black hole for now. What is behind this endless violence? Does the ceasefire proposal hold promise? What can be done to mitigate the humanitarian tragedy?  Guest: Stanly Johny, The Hindu’s Internatinal Affairs Editor Host: G. Sampath Edited and produced by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Earlier this week, a video purportedly showing a group of people offering namaz at the Kempegowda International Airport in Bengaluru ignited a political controversy in Karnataka, with the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party taking exception to the incident and demanding accountability from the State government. Around the same time, in Uttar Pradesh, the police began removing unauthorised sound systems from mosques and temples in some areas. In India, it is common to see Navratri celebrations at the airport, namaz on railway platforms, commemoration of Sikh Gurus’ Jayanti on the roads of Delhi, hear azaan on a loudspeaker five times a day, and jagrans all night long. India is undeniably demonstrative about religion in public space. Should public celebrations or expression of devotion be avoided? Here we discuss the question. Guests: Tanika Sarkar, Professor of History at JNU and Sanjay Hegde, Senior Advocate designated by the Supreme Court of India. Host: Ziya Us Salam Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There was a time when women like Jacinda Ardern in New Zealand and Angela Merkel in Germany seemed to rewrite the rules of leadership. They led with calm, empathy and reason.But the picture has changed. Across countries, a new generation of women leaders is rising. There's Giorgia Meloni in Italy, Marine Le Pen in France, Alice Weidel in Germany and now Sanae Takaichi in Japan. They’re shattering glass ceilings while standing on nationalist, conservative platforms.So what does this really mean for women? Is their rise a step forward or just another version of the old power? Guest: Suhasini Haider, National Editor, The HinduHost: Anupama Chandrasekaran Edited and produced by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Election Commission of India has announced the second phase of the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls across 12 States, including poll-bound Tamil Nadu, West Bengal, and Kerala. The first phase of the SIR in Bihar has already been subjected to intense legal scrutiny in the Supreme Court, with the poll body defending the exercise even as petitioners alleged mass disenfranchisement and raised concerns over transparency. What has the Supreme Court’s intervention in the Bihar SIR achieved so far? With polling already underway in the State, is the challenge to its constitutional validity now a fait accompli? And what can be expected from the petitions filed by Opposition parties, including the DMK, CPI(M), and the Congress, challenging the exercise in other States? Guest: Prashant Bhushan, advocate practising before the Supreme Court. Host: Aaratrika Bhaumik Recorded by Aniket Singh Chauhan and Lipi Vats Edited and produced by Jude Francis Weston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In today’s world, relations between the United States and China is perhaps the most consequential of all bilateral ties. They are both economic superpowers. Their geopolitical footprints cover almost the whole planet. Naturally, the trade war between the two has affected economies around the world – troubling markets, disrupting supply chains, bringing more uncertainty than businesses are comfortable with. But an understanding reached between them also carries upsides and downsides for different nations.  In this context, how do we understand the agreement that came out of the Trump-Xi meeting in South Korea? What are the concerns on the American and Chinese side going forward? And how do we understand Trump, and then Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, referring to the meeting as a coming together of ‘G-2’ – a term that suggests the idea of an exclusive club with common interests?  Guests: Max Baucus, a former US Senator who served as Ambassador to China, and James Chau, President of the China-United States Exchange Foundation (CUSEF), based in Hong Kong. Host: G Sampath Edited by Jude Francis Weston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In India’s coastal state of Goa, the world’s best chess players are chasing titles at the FIDE World Cup, a biennial tournament run by FIDE, the International Chess Federation. On the East Coast of the United States, Kenneth Regan chases fairness. Each night he downloads every game, feeding the moves into his program to see if the play looks human or too perfect. Cheating today isn’t just glances or notes. It can mean phones, signals, or online help from chess engines. Regan’s math hunts for patterns that feel off, walking the thin line between genius and help. From the 2006 “Toiletgate” scandal—when a world champion was accused of using computer aid during long bathroom breaks—to the 2022 storm between Magnus Carlsen and Hans Niemann, when Carlsen withdrew mid-tournament, suspicion has shadowed the board. Regan’s work keeps the focus on the moves, not the murmurs.Guest: Kenneth Regan, Professor of Computer Science, University at Buffalo; Anti-Cheating Expert for FIDE, the World Chess Federation Host: Anupama Chandrasekaran Edited by Jude Weston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Ask for ORS at your local pharmacy and odds are you will be handed a tetrapack of ORSL or some other liquids that may have the letters ORS on their packaging but are not actually the formulations recommended by the World Health Organization. ORS or oral rehydration salts are a vital formulation that is used in the treatment of dehydration. And it was this mislabelling and the potential of these products to cause harm, that led Hyderabad paediatrician Dr Sivaranjani Santosh to take this case up. Dr Sivaranjani first wrote to the Central Drugs Standards Control Organisation, then to the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India and finally approached the courts to get these products to stop using ORS on their labels. Finally last month, the Delhi High Court upheld the FSSAI's ban on the use of the term ‘ORS’  in food and beverage labels, which Dr Sivaranjani termed a 'major victory for public health and consumer safety.' Guest: Dr. Sivaranjani Santosh, Hyderabad-based paediatrician Host: Zubeda Hamid Edited by Sharmada venkatasubramanian Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

New York City has just chosen a socialist as its leader. At 34, Zohran Mamdani is the city’s first Muslim to hold the office. The son of filmmaker Mira Nair and scholar Mahmood Mamdani, Ugandan-South Asian parents who built lives across continents. He ran on ideas like rent freezes, free buses, and universal childcare. Once, that would’ve sounded like fantasy in the home of Wall Street, the location of the world’s most powerful stock market. But maybe it isn’t. Maybe it’s part of something larger. Young people from Nepal to Madagascar saying they’ve had enough of politics that listens only to the rich, while prices climb and jobs vanish. Is this what happens when capitalism fails to keep its promises across the globe? Guest: Suketu Mehta, author of Maximum City: Bombay Lost and Found and This Land Is Our Land: An Immigrant’s Manifesto Host: Anupama Chandrasekaran Produced and edited by Jude Francis Weston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Last week, Open AI reported that over a million people discuss suicide or self harm tendencies with ChatGPT every week. Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based tools are now being developed specifically to support mental health, especially for students in institutions such as IIT Kharagpur and coaching institutions for engineering and medical entrance exams. Is using AI-based tools for mental health useful or harmful? Here we discuss the issue. Guests: Neeraj Kumar, Founder and CEO of Peak Mind; Jamila Koshy, Bengaluru-based psychiatrist Host: Priscilla Jebaraj Edited by Jude Weston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

India’s economy has been humming. Easing of income tax rules, followed by GST rate cuts for daily-use items have helped the it along. One important indicator of economic health is the microfinance sector. That has had its highs and lows over the past decade. Today we have with us Alok Misra, CEO of MFin, the representative organisation of the sector to give us an idea about how self-regulation has helped and why defaults rates, while improved from earlier levels, could still be lower than where they are. Guest: Alok Misra, CEO, MFin Host: Bharath Kumar K Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bihar is one state made up of many distinct worlds. In Seemanchal, floods and identity anxieties take over everyday life. In Magadh, jobs and economic justice are among the demands. The people of Mithilanchal lean on migration remittances. Meanwhile, a major electoral roll revision in 2025 removed a large number of names—women among them—raising questions about voter inclusion ahead of November’s Assembly elections. Now that the rallies have begun, are leaders listening closely enough to what each corner of Bihar wants?Guest: Srinivasan Ramani, Deputy National Editor, The Hindu Host: Anupama Chandrasekaran Edited and produced by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A month ago India’s women’s team looked uncertain. There were early wins over Sri Lanka and Pakistan but then came bruising losses to England, Australia and South Africa. That sparked some stern words in the dressing room. What followed was a transformation that saw India stun Australia while South Africa routed England. In the final 21-year-old Shafali Verma, recalled just two weeks ago, smashed 87 and took two wickets while Deepti Sharma’s fifty and record five wickets anchored India’s win. South Africa, led by 26-year-old Laura Wolvaardt with Nadine de Klerk and Marizanne Kapp, kept up the fight. Has this final redrawn women's cricket map dominated by Australia and England? And will India’s win finally bring the resources and respect women’s cricket has long been denied? Guest: Lavanya Lakshminarayanan, sports journalist, The Hindu and Sportstar Host: Anupama Chandrasekaran Edited and produced by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Despite her widespread appeal, Taylor Swift still draws some polarising opinions, especially since the release of her brand new album on October 3rd, The Life of a Showgirl. This outing was a departure from her previous era, as she would call it, The Tortured Poets Department, which saw her lament about her inner life for 31 songs. Showgirl was branded as Swift’s foray into “life behind the curtains”, coming off a huge career-high, the Eras Tour, the highest-grossing tour of all time, and a three-and-a-half-hour-long celebration of Swift’s catalogue. In this weekender episode, we explore the mixed reactions to Life of a Showgirl and Swift’s appeal in non-Western countries, such as India. Guest: Ms. Rituparna Pathgiri, an Assistant Professor of Sociology at the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Guwahati. She is an expert in digital sociology, pedagogy, culture, gender, and media. Host: Nitika Francis Edited by Jude Francis Weston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Anyone who lives in a city in India knows there are pigeons everywhere – on the balconies of buildings, roosting on rooftops, nesting in air-conditioners, and gathering in open spaces. Recently, pigeons have found their way into the news too – the Maharashtra government’s order to shutdown 51 kabutarkhanas in Mumbai has stirred up a controversy. While the government has cited health hazards arising from pigeon droppings and feathers, some communities have maintained that pigeon feeding is a daily act of compassion. Residents have clashed with the police, the Bombay High Court has gotten involved, and a committee of experts is to study the issue.So what exactly are the health hazards associated with pigeons? Whose health is being affected and how? And what is the way forward?  Guest: Dr Lancelot Pinto, a pulmonologist and epidemiologist based at P.D. Hinduja Hospital and Medical Research Centre, Mumbai Host: Zubeda Hamid Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a landmark verdict, the Supreme Court of India quashed multiple FIRs filed under Uttar Pradesh’s anti-conversion law on October 17, 2025. The court found that the FIRs were marred by “legal flaws, procedural errors, and lacked credible evidence”, and ruled that continuing such prosecutions would amount to a “travesty of justice”. The ruling is expected to have far-reaching implications for the State, and is being seen as a critical pushback against the misuse of these laws as instruments of intimidation and persecution. The decision also comes at a time when the Supreme Court in a separate case is considering the constitutional validity of the anti-conversion laws passed by multiple States. So, what are the implications of the SC quashing the FIRs in UP? What is the ground reality in the States that have enacted these laws? And are they safeguarding citizens from forced conversion or enabling the policing of personal belief and identity? Guest: Rebecca John, Senior Advocate Host: Reuben Joe Joseph Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Recently, the Ministry of Education announced that an Artificial Intelligence (AI) curriculum would be introduced from Class 3 onwards for the next academic year (2026-27). In July, the government had launched the Skilling for AI Readiness (SOAR) initiative, under which thousands of CBSE schools will offer AI as a skill subject starting from Class 6. Should AI be introduced as part of school curricula? Here we discuss the issue. Guests: Aparajita Bharti, co-founder of public policy firm The Quantum Hub and Young Leaders for Active Citizenship; Viplav Bakshi, founder of EdTech platforms AmplifyU and Edulist AI Host: Sruthi Darbhamulla Edited by Jude Weston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Earlier this month, the vast forest-grassland mosaic of the Western Ghats, Assam’s Manas National Park, and West Bengal’s Sundarbans, a mangrove where tigers swim from island to island, were all listed as being of “significant concern”. This was the assessment of the natural World Heritage sites in Asia and was released by The International Union for Conservation of Nature or IUCN. IUCN is the world’s oldest and largest global environmental organisation, that tracks the health of ecosystems and species worldwide. And today, climate change has overtaken hunting as the greatest threat to wildlife, says IUCN’s World Heritage Outlook 4 report which was released this month. India’s forests are turning into concrete jungles. Tourism has reached its tipping point. Highways splice through natural habitats. And illegal wildlife trade thrives.  The most recent scandal was the ED chargesheet against Elvish Yadav, a YouTuber, for wildlife crime. The agency said he had “illegally used protected species of snakes, exotic animals, such as iguanas, in the production of commercial music videos and vlogs for the purpose of increasing followers and generating money”. Guest: Vivek Menon, founder of the Wildlife Trust of India, who has become the first Asian to head the IUCN’s Species Survival Commission Host: Divya Gandhi, The Hindu Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In today’s episode we turn our attention to Manipur; a state in India’s Northeast that has been experiencing conflict on ethnic lines. In 2023, the violence between the valley-dwelling Meitei community and hill-based Kuki-Zo tribes erupted in full force: homes burned, villages razed, thousands displaced, and lives forever changed. As per data from the National Crime Record Bureau, crimes in many categories, such as arson and murder surged. Arson cases alone soared from just 27 in 2022 to 6,203 in 2023, while rioting cases rose from 84 to 5,421.However, the number of registered crimes against women showed a 30% drop. The number of rape cases fell from 42 in 2022 to 27 in 2023. Why did crimes against women decline during a period of widespread violence, and what might this reveal about reporting, safety, and justice in conflict-torn Manipur? Tune in! Guest: Siam Thangsing, an independent researcher who has published work on Gender and Health during the conflict; and Greeshma Kuthar, a reporter and lawyer who has been in Manipur’s conflict zones. Host: Nitika Francis Edited by Jude Weston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices