In Focus by The Hindu

While nations across the world struggle to contain the fallout of the human toll and economic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, public health experts such as Dr. Ashish Jha have been at the forefront of research and public policy guidance to public and private institutions dealing with the crisis. He shared insights into epidemiological basis of the pandemic and what policy solutions hold out...

On the night of June 30, Hong Kong began implementing a new sweeping national security law that threatens to end many of the freedoms and rights that distinguished Hong Kong from the mainland under the “one country, two systems” model followed since the 1997 handover to China. What is the mood on the ground in Hong Kong since the passage of the new law, and what lies in store for Hong Kong in the...

Much of the coverage of the Galwan valley confrontation between Chinese and Indian troops, and the months-long border standoff preceding it, has been reported in Indian media as a belligerent action by China. It’s interesting to note, however, that top Chinese strategic affairs commentators see it as quite the opposite — a steady build-up of hostile action by India since the 2017 Doklam standoff....

While the development of a COVID-19 vaccine has been widely reported to take 12-18 months, the ICMR is looking to launch an innoculation for public health use by August 15. Deputy Science Editor Jacob Koshy discusses the feasibility and implications. Write to us with comments and feedback at socmed4@thehindu.co.in Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On June 30, the third round of Corps Commander–level talks between India and China was held, aimed at defusing the more-than-two-months-long tensions along the Line of Actual Control (LAC). While much of the attention has been focussed on Galwan Valley, where a clash on June 15 marked the worst violence since 1967, a tense stand-off remains under way at Pangong Tso (lake), where China has erected...

On June 22 the White House made a proclamation restricting the issuance of non-immigrant work visas across the board, which U.S. President Donald Trump said was to clamp down on American jobs going to foreign workers. The broadest impact may be felt on skilled workers abroad seeking the H-1B visa – in large part granted to Indian nationals each year. Given the additional significance of this procl...

The consensus on disengagement reached between the Indian and Chinese Corps Commanders on June 22 is yet to be implemented, and at present it’s very much a wait-and-watch game for both sides, according to a senior defence source. Meanwhile, satellite images and reports indicate a massive build-up and construction by the People’s Liberation Army (PLA) along the Line of Actual Control in Eastern Lad...

The June 15 clash in Galwan Valley, which claimed 20 Indian soldiers in the worst violence since 1967, has brought India-China relations into uncharted waters. Where do the two countries go from here? Has there been a collapse of the mechanisms carefully built to keep the peace on the border? What is the way forward for disengagement? How will India's China policy change after the Galwan tussle? G...

While we know that children are less at risk of contracting COVID-19 and will experience less severe symptoms if infected, there have been rare cases of multi-system inflammatory syndrome reported in some parts of the world. In the midst of the pandemic, the foremost question on parents’ minds is how to keep their children safe. And will it be safe for them to resume attending school once they reo...

Our fifth data episode on COVID-19 in India comes amidst some alarming numbers. On Monday, June 17, for instance, the country registered an additional 13,232 cases. And these are numbers that are rapidly going up as testing seems to be slowly increasing across the board. At the time of recording the podcast, we are at about 10,870 and the data has not yet come in from Delhi, where testing has been...

In a major escalation in the ongoing stand-off between India and China on the border, one Commanding Officer and two jawans of the Indian Army lost their lives during a violent faceoff with Chinese troops in the Galwan area of Eastern Ladakh on Monday night. These are the first combat deaths on the disputed boundary since 1975. After 45 years of relative peace, does this new clash mark a troubling...

In this episode, we’ll look at two news points related to the Indian Council of Medical Research. Last week, the ICMR released some numbers from a sero survey, or a general population test for antibodies, to look at how widespread the disease is in the country. We’ll take a look at those numbers and also go a bit beyond what was in the press conference. Another report that has been in the news rec...

Tensions along the Line of Actual Control between India and China have been high for close to a month. Stand-off incidents and heavy deployments have been reported at multiple points along the LAC. At the Pangong Lake in Ladakh, Chinese troops are now present in what India sees as its territory. On May 6, India and China held talks at the military level to address the situation, but there is as ye...

One of the biggest ways in which COVID-19 has changed the world, has changed life as we know it, is the cancellation of virtually all big sporting events and all sporting leagues around the world. But in recent weeks, as countries around the world, including India, are emerging out of some form of lockdown, it has meant that sport has started resuming, like everything else, with a new normal. Whic...

We’ll go back in this episode to look at the origins of the locust swarms now sweeping into India and other parts of South Asia and trace the outbreak back to 2018 in parts of Africa. We’ll also look at the science behind forecasting locust outbreaks, what are the factors that it takes into account and how that can help us come up with a strategy of preventive management. Guest: Cyril Piou, Scient...

We take a look at India’s recovery rate, which is close to crossing 50%, and analyse why that number is important and what it shows about how the disease is affecting the population even as each new day seems to bring a new 24-hour high in cases recorded. Hydroxychloroquine is also back in the news after a study, published in the reputed journal Lancet about its adverse side-effects, reportedly us...

Breaking the silence on the continuing border stand-offs with China, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh on May 30 said that the issue would be resolved through diplomatic dialogue. The government has, however, kept mum on what exactly the issues are. What do we know about the incidents along the Line of Actual Control? Where are the current tensions? What are the prospects of disengagement? Interview...

While COVID-19 has disrupted much of the regular functioning of governments around the world, there are still examples of parliaments around the world finding innovative ways of working to both mount a response to the pandemic and performing a coordination and oversight role for their respective governments. Since the second Budget Session was adjourned in the middle of the outbreak in India, howe...

Over the past few weeks, Tamil Nadu has actually provided an interesting case study — some events that have led to a spike in cases here, a wrong turn taken there (and the Koyambedu market cluster is definitely one). But the other interesting numbers that we have here are that the State is at the moment probably conducting the most number of COVID-19 tests in the country and that’s one of the reas...

The Indian Council for Medical Research said on May 26 that no major side-effects of Hydroxychloroquine have been found in studies in India and its use should be continued in preventive treatment for COVID-19. This all comes in the backdrop of the World Health Organization (WHO) suspending the testing of the drug in COVID-19 patients temporarily in its global study following safety concerns. Why i...

Amid heightened tensions on the India-China border, the top United States diplomat for South and Central Asia, Alice Wells, on May 20 hit out at China, saying that the tensions reminded the world of the “threat” posed by Beijing. The U.S. in the past has not always been forthcoming about expressing support on the boundary issue but it may now want to ensure it is in a position to facilitate strong...

The recent reforms announced by the government for agriculture — removing certain foodstuffs from the Essential Commodities Act and thereby deregulating them, opening up inter-state trade to farmers to sell their produce beyond the APMC mandis in their States and coming up with a legal framework for contract farming — have generated some debate about whether they represent a watershed moment for I...

This weekly update on COVID-19 in India features news on domestic travel opening up, flights bringing back Indians from abroad and the Health Ministry briefings which continue to focus on mathematical modelling to establish the effects of the lockdown and also discussing India’s recovery rates. Guests: Suhasini Haidar, National Editor, The Hindu; Jacob Koshy, Deputy Science Editor, The Hindu. Writ...

If the catastrophic human toll of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic was the first wave to strike the world this year, its severe economic consequences – including loss of livelihoods of the poor across countries, leading to massive internal displacement and starvation in many cases – have been the second wave. It is in this context that the seminal work of Professor Thomas Piketty on the phenomenon of...

India’s increased capability to patrol up to the Line of Actual Control (LAC) coupled with an increasingly assertive Chinese posture is fuelling new tensions along the border, according to former senior Indian officials. Indian and Chinese troops have been involved in as many as four incidents along the LAC in recent weeks. On Monday, Chinese state media said the People’s Liberation Army was “tigh...