In Focus by The Hindu

The 2022 Environment Performance Index (EPI), which evaluates countries on their track record in mitigating climate change, improving environmental health, and protecting ecosystem vitality, has ranked India last – at 180th out of 180 countries. The government of India has rejected the Index, claiming that it is based on “biased metrics”. The report, produced by researchers from Yale and Columbia...

This year’s Wimbledon has been overshadowed by controversy, and is going to be a little different from other editions of the event in recent years. It has banned players from Russia and Belarus, and in retaliation, the ATP has withdrawn ranking points from the event. This means Wimbledon this year will be as good as an exhibition event, with both the men’s and women’s draw weakened by the absence...

Less than two months after being re-elected as the President of France, Emmanuel Macaron finds himself missing a parliamentary majority, one that will require him to seek political allies to govern. Both the Left and the far Right find themselves strengthened as President Macaron’s supporters managed only 245 seats in Parliament, well short of the 289 required for a majority.   Ironically, Mr. Mac...

New recruitment rules for the Army, Navy and Air Force have met with fierce protests by potential recruits to the services and resistance from respected commentators from the military’s retired ranks. Trains have been burnt and public property destroyed across several Northern states and in Telangana. So, what exactly is agitating these young people who wanted to make a career out of the armed for...

The IPL auction for media rights began on June 12 and went on for three days. The auction was for TV broadcasting and digital streaming rights for the next five year cycle – from 2023 to 2027. The BCCI has made a mind-boggling ₹ 48,390 crore from this auction. BCCI President Jay Shah has claimed that this makes IPL the second most lucrative media property in the world, after the US’s National Foot...

The Indian rupee has been battling downward pressure from multiple forces –Foreign Portfolio Investors pulling out, the rising cost of international crude oil prices and a strong dollar. The currency has been frequently hitting historical lows and has breached the 78-marks What does this mean beyond export and import bills? Guest: Ananth Narayan, Associate Professor, Finance at SPJIMR Host: K. Bha...

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, under fire for partying during Covid-19 restrictions in his country, managed to defeat the no-confidence vote against his leadership on June 6. The margin – 211 votes in his favour to 148 against. While Mr. Johnson has survived a leadership challenge, nearly 40 per cent of Conservative Party MPs have no confidence in him. What does this mean for Mr. Johnson’s...

Rafael Nadal, who in January became the first man ever to win 21 Grand Slam titles, has added one more to his kitty by winning the French Open, his 14th title at Roland Garros. However, not too long ago, things were looking rather grim for him, as he missed both Wimbledon and the U.S. Open last year due to injury, and many were wondering if he was going to retire. Until this January, among the Big...

Last week, the government announced that India had met the target of 10% ethanol blending with motor fuel ahead of time. The target for 20% blending had earlier been brought forward to 2025 from 2030. But is this the path that India should choose? Are there better alternatives to ethanol? What is the downside to the use of ethanol? Guest: Dr. Charles Worringham, an Australia-based former academic...

From this year onwards, admissions to undergraduate courses in 45 central universities will happen through a Common University Entrance Test, or CUET, as it’s come to be known. The test is scheduled to take place in July. About 1.3 crore students are expected to take the test for around 5.4 lakh seats that are at stake. The test will be administered by the National Testing Agency (NTA) in 13 langu...

Kashmiri Pandits, many of whom were given government jobs and brought to the Valley a decade ago, have started to flee following targeted killings of their colleagues by terrorists. Not just Kashmiri Pandits, but other Hindus have also been killed. As have Muslims. In August 2019, when Article 370 was reduced to a shell, and the state of Jammu & Kashmir whittled down to a Union Territory, the Cent...

The technology services industry has had a tremendous run these past couple of years. Customer’s acceptance of technology and services from remote likely spurred the trend. In tandem, as demand from customers rose, the war for talent too intensified. The industry has gone through these cycles multiple times over the years. Guest: Francisco D’Souza, co-founder and managing partner at Recognize, a g...

Last week, Broadcom announced its decision to acquire VMWare for a humongous $61 billion. VMWare is known in technology circles for its specialisation in virtualising hardware assets. It offers app modernisation, and services across cloud, networking and security technologies. Broadcom designs, develops and manufactures a range of semiconductor and infrastructure software products. What did Broadc...

A high-profile Indian Administrative Service couple – Sanjiv Khirwar and Rinku Dugga – were shunted out of Delhi to Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh a few days ago. Their transfers came soon after ‘The Indian Express’ newspaper published a photo showing the couple walking their dog in New Delhi’s Thyagaraj stadium at a time when athletes should have been using the sports facility’s tracks. The transfe...

The Union Government last week cut excise duties on fuel sales in a bid to temper galloping inflation. Is such a move enough to tame retail inflation? Are there other factors that are spurring retail consumer prices? If so, are there levers that the government can move to arrest a further deterioration? Guest: Aditi Nayar, Chief Economist, ICRA Ratings Host: K. Bharat Kumar Edited by Ranjani Srini...

After almost a decade, the Labour Party is back in power in Australia. In the federal elections on May 21, the ruling Liberal-National coalition led by Scott Morrison conceded defeat and the Labour Party’s Anthony Albanese is now the new Prime Minister. So what does the return of Labour mean for Austalian domestic politics, and what changes, if any, can we expect in Australian foreign policy? Gues...

Umran Malik, the 22-year-old tearaway fast bowler from Jammu and Kashmir has been making waves in the IPL. Now he has received a much anticipated call-up to the Indian national team. He has been picked for the five-match T20 series against South Africa next month. One of the reasons there is so much excitement around Umran Malik is that for the first time India has a quickie whose speed is within...

Trade relations between the US and China haven’t been at their best in the past few years. Add to it supply chain disruptions brought on by the pandemic, exacerbated now by the war in Ukraine... disruptions that have made global majors look beyond China for manufacturing bases or partners, in an approach strategy now named the ‘China PLUS One Strategy’. Guest: Srivats Ram, MD, Wheels India Host: K...

The March 21, 2022 crash of China Eastern Airlines Flight 5735 was one of China’s worst aviation disasters, killing all 132 people on board. Investigations are on-going to determine how a Boeing 737-800 suddenly plunged into a near-vertical descent into the mountains of southern China from cruising altitude in normal weather conditions. On May 17, 2022, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing U.S...

One of the primary justifications given by Russian for its invasion of Ukraine was the relentless eastward expansion of NATO. But now two more countries in Russia’s neighbourhood – Sweden and Finland – have announced their decision to join NATO. Finland shares a 1,340km long border with Russia. This means that even as Russia is trying to build a buffer between Russia and a pro-NATO Ukraine in the...

It looks as if the saga of the National Register of Citizens, or NRC as it is called, will not be ending anytime soon for the people of Assam. Despite a final NRC created under the direct supervision of the Supreme Court of India, BJP governments at the Centre and State continue to stonewall its implementation. At stake is the citizenship status of a little over 19 lakh persons whose names did not...

India’s triumph at the Thomas Cup seems to have caught the nation – and many even in the badminton community – by surprise. For the longest time India has struggled to make it past the quarter-finals, but this time we achieved back-to-back victories over former champions Malaysia and Denmark to make it to the final, and in the final, against all odds, we blanked 14-time champions Indonesia 3-0. Th...

Everything that can go wrong with a country is in full play in Sri Lanka. Anger and violence at food and fuel shortages, power cuts, collapsing purchase power, and above all a demand for the ruling Rajapakse clan to quit the island nation’s politics is growing. President Gotabaya Rajapakse has sacrificed his brother, Mahinda, to cling onto power as the Go, Gota Go, cries in the streets of Sri Lank...

The still unofficial victory of Bongbong Marcos, son of the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, in the Philippine presidential election, is both comprehensive and complete. A family that had to flee the country is now back in power. For those familiar with the country’s politics, it doesn’t come as a surprise. Powered by Facebook and other forms of social media, the narrative around the Marcos family...

John Lee, a former security chief of Hong Kong, has been appointed as the city’s new Chief Executive. He will replace the current leader Carrie Lam on July 1. Known to be a pro-Beijing administrator, he oversaw the crackdown on pro-democracy protests in 2019. His appointment comes at a significant time in Hong Kong’s history --- this year marks 25 years since Hong Kong’s was handed over by the Bri...