Parley by The Hindu

Recently, President Droupadi Murmu suggested that an All-India Judicial Service (AIJS) will help diversify the judiciary. In the same way that the Union Public Service Commission conducts a central recruitment exam and assigns successful candidates to cadres, the recruitment of judges of the district judiciary is being proposed to be made central, following which they will be assigned to the State...

In a historic first, all 198 signatories to the 28th United Nations’ Conference of the Parties (COP28) adopted to “transition away” from “all fossil fuels” as opposed to only coal, as was agreed upon at COP26, in Glasgow. India had played a pivotal role in Glasgow in modifying the language from “phasing out” coal to “phasing it down”. Unsurprisingly, it supported the incumbent COP President Sultan...

The world has witnessed several disruptions in recent years. China’s phenomenal rise has unleashed a superpower competition between Washington and Beijing. Russia is challenging the post-World War security architecture in Europe through military means. In West Asia, Israel is engaged in a brutal war with Hamas. The world is also witnessing the rise of several middle powers such as India. Is the em...

Kerala, a State known for its vibrant public sphere, is now in the news for what film producers have termed as the phenomenon of “review bombing”. Makers of a couple of films have approached the Kerala High Court, seeking a gag on social media and YouTube reviews for at least seven days following a film‘s release; the claim being that these reviews can make or break films, and by extension the sus...

A Constitution Bench headed by the Chief Justice of India, D.Y. Chandrachud, recently reserved its judgment on petitions challenging the validity of the electoral bonds scheme. The proceedings focused on arguments pertaining to the voters’ right to information vis-a-vis the right to confidentiality of donors. Transparency in election funding has become the central issue here. Should elections be s...

Starting with the immediate aftermath of the October 7 attack by Hamas on Israeli targets, , the Israeli Defense Forces have carried out a relentless campaign bombing civilian locations across Gaza. The Israeli argument has been that it is focused on eradicating Hamas but the casualties are mostly women, children and infants which has drawn worldwide condemnation for Israel. Last Friday, the UN sa...

The Prime Minister recently said that India aspires to host the 2036 Olympics Games. This has been a dream for successive governments and sports officials. Hosting the Olympics would not only underscore India’s importance as a sporting nation, but also enable it to assert its geopolitical power and showcase development.  Here, we discuss whether India is ready to host the Olympics?  Guests: Manish...

A week ago, Tamil Nadu Finance Minister Thangam Thennarasu accused the Union government of showing a “step-motherly attitude” towards the State over devolution of funds. Around at the same time, at a media conclave, Thiruvananthapuram Lok Sabha MP Shashi Tharoor spoke about the potential danger of political disenfranchisement in the south when the delimitation freeze ends in 2026. These statements...

On October 2, the Bihar government released the data of its caste survey. The data showed that the Other Backward Classes (OBCs), Scheduled Castes (SCs) and Scheduled Tribes (STs) together account for about 84% of the population. This has reopened the debate on whether the 50% legal ceiling on caste-based reservation should be removed.  Here we discuss this question.  Guests: Kalaiyarasan A., Assi...

Nearly a year after the Union government decided to cut the number of prizes annually awarded by its science-affiliated Ministries, it has instituted the Rashtriya Vigyan Puraskar (RVP) — 56 prizes to felicitate scientists, technologists and innovators. However, like the Padma awards, these awards will no longer have a cash component.  Here we discuss whether removing money reduce the prestige of...

Generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) is like the proverbial genie out of the bottle. In less than a year, chatbots like ChatGPT, Bard, Claude, and Pi have shown what gen AI-powered applications can do. These tools have also revealed their vulnerabilities, which has pushed policymakers and scientists to think deeply about these new systems.  Should generative AI be regulated? We discuss the ques...

The INDIA bloc recently announced that it would boycott 14 television news anchors as it did not did not want to legitimise a “hate-filled narrative.” It said that no representatives from the parties of the alliance will appear on the shows helmed by these anchors. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) said that the move showed an “Emergency-era mindset,” while news broadcasters associations accused th...

Last week, Telugu Desam Party (TDP) national president N. Chandrababu Naidu was arrested by the Crime Investigation Department for his alleged complicity in the ₹371-crore A.P. Skill Development Corporation ‘scam’, which reportedly took place during his term as Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister between 2014 and 2019. The TDP termed the arrest a “political vendetta” against Mr. Naidu by the Jagan Mohan...

Despite India posting impressive economic growth numbers, employment has not seen a commensurate increase. With five States going to the polls at the end of the year, political parties have been announcing several promises, largely to address concerns of price rise of essentials.  Are these promises a distraction from providing solutions to what appears to be a systemic concern – jobless growth? H...

Torrential rains in several parts of north India, particularly Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, damaged highways and buildings, and took hundreds of lives. While a warming Arctic is said to be a cause for the unusually heavy rains, years of haphazard planning and construction have multiplied the tragedy. Are natural disasters man-made? Vimal Mishra and Lubaina Rangwalla discuss the question in a...

On August 10, the Union government introduced a Bill in the Rajya Sabha that proposed that the selection panel for appointing the Election Commission, comprising the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) and other Election Commissioners (ECs), will consist of the Prime Minister as the chairperson, the Leader of the Opposition as a member, and a Union Cabinet Minister nominated by the Prime Minister as...

On August 11, 2023, Union Home Minister Amit Shah introduced three Bills in the Lok Sabha; the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita Bill to replace the Indian Penal Code, 1860, the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita Bill to replace the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 and the Bharatiya Sakshya Bill to replace the Indian Evidence Act, 1872. The proposal raises questions on whether the existing laws were being m...

India has 1.2 billion mobile phone users and over 600 million smartphone users. That figure is expected to cross a billion by 2026, according to a Deloitte study, indicating that a future world will be dependent on these small devices. However, one place where smartphone usage has become controversial is the classroom. Last month, UNESCO recommended a universal ban on the usage of smartphones in s...

Recently, while hearing an appeal by a man who was sentenced to 10 years in prison for maintaining a consensual relationship with a minor girl, the Bombay High Court said that it is high time India considered reducing the age of consent for sex. The court pointed out that after the enactment of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, 2012, many adolescents are being prosecuted...

On July 18, the top leaders of 26 Opposition parties joined hands to form INDIA (Indian National Developmental, Inclusive Alliance), a coalition to take on the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance in the 2024 general elections. The coalition plans to set up an 11-member coordination committee, prepare an action plan, and eventually work out a seat-sharing arrangement.  But is se...

Delimitation is the process of redrawing boundaries of Lok Sabha and State Assembly constituencies based on a recent Census to ensure that each seat has an almost equal number of voters. The last delimitation exercise took place in 1976. While the current boundaries were drawn on the basis of the 2001 Census, the number of Lok Sabha and State Assembly seats remained frozen on the basis of the 1971...

Twenty-four years after its formation, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) split on July 2 over the question of succession. In 2022, the Shiv Sena went through a similar churn. This malady is not unique to Maharashtra; many regional parties in India, such as the Samajwadi Party (SP), have gone through this. Others, such as the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), seem poised to go undergo this churn.  Are regi...

Over the past few years, the Indian government has increasingly been trying to control law and order by shutting access to the Internet, whether in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), Manipur or Punjab. Between 2016 and 2022, 60% of Internet shutdowns across the world took place in India.  Should shutdowns be used to maintain public order? Here we discuss the question. Guests: Radhika Jhalani, Counsel with t...

The intellectual class of West Bengal, euphemistically termed the Bhadralok, has long held a pivotal role in shaping culture, politics and policy in the State. From producing timeless cinema to dominating political power to setting policies on welfare, reforms and state interventions, this segment of Bengali society performed an outsized role. But all indications are that its influence is fading q...

Last month, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee asked the Health Department to consider starting a three-year diploma course for medical practitioners, who would then serve in primary health centres (PHCs). This is not the first time that such a proposal has been considered in the country. India has nearly 1 lakh MBBS seats, but there continues to be a massive shortage of doctors in rural a...