UPSC Podcasts: Recent Episodes

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Dhanush is the first long range artillery gun to be produced in India.  It has been developed by Ordinance Factory Board and manufactured by  Jabalpur based Gun Carriage Factory. 45 calibre/155 mm 'Dhanush' has  undergone several tests under all conditions and has now recieved bulk  production clearance with 114 such guns to be produced for Indian Army.  It has several significant advanced features and firing range of up to  38 KM.  Guests :  Maj Gen (DR.) P K Chakravorty (Retd.), Defence Expert 

Alok Bansal, Director, India Foundation Lt Gen (DR.) 

VK Saxena (Retd.), Distinguished Fellow, VIF  

Anchor - Vishal Dahiya   

Producer - Vishal Dahiya , Nishtha Malhotra

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By establishing a National Commission for Homoeopathy, the Bill aims to  develop and regulate the education, profession, and medical institutions  of Homoeopathy. The Bill also sets up an Advisory Council to advise and  make recommendations to the National Commission. The purpose of the  Bill is to repeal the Homoeopathy Central Council Act, 1973 and regulate  the practice of homoeopathy in India. 

Anchor: Chakshu Roy 

Guests:  Dr. Aditya Kaushik, Vice – Chairman, Board of Homoeopathic System of  Medicine   

Dr Anil Khurana, Deputy Director General (Homoeopathy), Central Council  for Research Homoeopathy     

Dr. Raj Kumar Manchanda, Director General, Central Council for Research  Homoeopathy  

Dr. Neeraj Pasricha , National Vice President, Homoeopathic Medical  Association of India

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India received its first batch of heavy-lift Chinook helicopters at  Gujarat’s Mundra Port from the US..  These four Boeing CH-47F (I) Chinooks are part of a 15-helicopter order  placed by India three years ago  They will be assembled and flown to their base in Chandigarh where they  will be formally inducted in the Indian Air Force later this year..  The CH-47F (I) Chinook is an advanced multi-mission helicopter that will  provide the Indian armed forces with unmatched strategic airlift  capability across the full spectrum of combat and humanitarian  missions...  In today's In Depth we will focus on the salient features of Chinooks..  their operational history.. and the inventory of India Air Force'  aircraft.. and which are India's best fighter planes .. 

Anchor - Smriti Rastogi

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Indian system of medicine includes practices of healthcare such as  Ayurveda, Unani, Siddha and Sowa-Rigpa. The Bill establishes a Central  Council of Indian Medicine with four autonomous boards to regulate the  educational standards of these four practices.By establishing a Central  Council of Indian Medicines, the Bill hopes to reform the medical  education system in India and bring in more transparency. The purpose of  this Bill is to improve access to quality driven services by  establishing a regulatory framework that sets standards for education  and practice of Indian System of Medicine.  

Anchor: Chakshu Roy

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At the Paris climate conference in December 2015, 195 countries adopted  the first-ever universal, legally binding global climate deal. The  agreement set out a global action plan to put the world on track to  avoid dangerous climate change by limiting global warming to well below  2°C and pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5°C.   By the end of the century, the Hindu Kush Himalayas will warm by around  1.8  degrees Celsius.   According to the Hindu Kush Himalaya Assessment report, even the most  ambitious goal set by the Paris Agreement to limit global warming would  lead to a 2.1 spike in temperature in the Hindu Kush Region, leading to  melting of one-third of the region’s glaciers, potentially destabilizing  Asia’s rivers.   Today's IN DEPTH analyses the changes affecting one of the greatest  mountain systems in the world, how increasing temperatures are impacting  our environment and the steps being undertaken at the global level to  prevent further damage to our planet...  

Anchor - Teena Jha

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In an escalating standoff over nuclear weapons, Russia and the United States have suspended compliance with the Cold War-era Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, prompting fears of a new arms race that analysts and politicians say could push the world "much closer" to a nuclear war. The long-running dispute between Washington and Moscow came to a head on Friday when US President Donald Trump accused Russia of violating the 1987 bilateral treaty with "impunity", and announced his government was suspending its obligations under the landmark pact. Pledging to "move forward" with its own military response options, Trump said the US will withdraw from the accord in six months unless Moscow destroyed land-based missiles allegedly deployed in violation of the treaty. In a tit-for-tat move on Saturday, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he was also suspending Moscow's participation in the agreement. Russia will start work on creating new missiles, including hypersonic weapons, he said, adding that Moscow will not deploy such weapons in the European part of the country or elsewhere unless the US does so. The Russia, US standoff is developing on another front as well, in South America’s Venezuela. On this edition of The Big Picture we analyse the escalating tensions between, Russia and the United states.

Anchor: Frank Rausan Pereira

Guests: Harsh V. Pant, Head Strategic Studies, Observer Research Foundation Sheel

Kant Sharma, Former Ambassador

Sreeram Chaulia, Dean, Jindal School of International Affairs

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With the launch of GSAT-31, ISRO has carried out its third successful  mission of 2019. The communication satellite was launched from French  Guiana in the early hours of Wednesday. GSAT-31 is India's 40th  communication satellite..which will replace the InSAT satellite which is  nearing the end of its life. GSAT-31 will be used for supporting VSAT  networks, Television uplinks, Digital Satellite News Gathering and  DTH-television services among other such applications. Today in IN DEPTH, we talk about the high power communication satellite  GSAT-31, how will it facilitate communication in India and what is its  mission life... We'll also talk about the various communication  satellites that India has... We also take a look at the big launches  planned by ISRO this year...

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Regulating and establishing a standard of training for allied and  healthcare professionals can reduce the cost of medical care and improve  access to quality healthcare services. The purpose of this Bill is to  improve access to quality driven services by establishing a regulatory  framework that sets standards for education and practice of Allied and  Healthcare Professionals.  

Guests: Kavita Narayan, Public Health Expert,    

Dr. Girish Tyagi, Registrar, Delhi Medical Council,        

Dr. Divya Gaur, Director, Bump and Baby Club Antenatal,       

Dr. Ashish Pandey,Consultant Physiotherapist, Body Balance  Clinic,   

Dr. Divya Choudhary, Chief Dietician, Rajiv Gandhi Cancer  Institute & Research Centre,      

Dr. Himanshu Kapoor, Consultant Physiotherapist, Physio We  Care Physiotherapy Clinic,  Anchor: Chakshu Roy

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The Narendra Modi government has issued a clarification regarding the  upcoming Budget. There were reports that the government is likely to  present full Union Budget on February 1st. However, the Union Finance  Ministry has issued a clarification. “This Budget will be called Interim  Budget 2019-20 and therefore, don’t have any confusion on this issue,”  the statement read. Earlier, media reports had claimed that instead of  ‘vote on account’, the Centre is planning for the full exercise. This  would also be the last budget of the Modi government. The Budget Session  of Parliament will begin on January 31 and end on February 13.  Political pundits feel this would be the last chance for the government  to impress the masses. Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu and Lok  Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan called separate all-party meetings. The  Chairman and Speaker called the meetings for the smooth functioning of  their respective houses during the session. The Budget Session will be  the last parliamentary session of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led  government, before the general elections due this year.  

Anchor- Frank Rausan Pereira

Guest-

Aditi Phadnis, Political Editor, Business Standard

Abhijit Banare, Programme Officer, PRS

Dr. Manisha Priyam, Political Analyst

Ganapathy Subramaniam, Chief of Bureau, Puthiya Thalaimurai

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India may have reduced extreme poverty far more effectively than most of  us are aware of. The last official data is eight years old. In 2011,  268 million people were surviving on less than $1.90 a day, the World  Bank measure for extreme poverty. The next round of data on household  consumption is likely to come out in June, and it may well show a  drastic drop in the number of poor. According to the World Data Lab —  which monitors global poverty using advanced statistical models — less  than 50 million Indians may be living on less than $1.90 a day now.  Economists said rapid economic growth and the use of technology for  social sector programs have helped make a significant dent in extreme  poverty in the country. The BJP on Monday cited global think tank  reports to say that India is moving fast towards a poverty-free  situation and gave credit to policies of the Narendra Modi-led  government for it. On this edition of the big picture we analyse what  more needs to be done to eradicate poverty   

Guests -

Abhinav Prakash, Assistant Professor, Delhi University,           

K. A. Badarinath, Editor-in-Chief, Financial Chronicle,           

Ajay Dua, Former Secretary, Ministry of Commerce &  Industry,  

Anchor - Frank Rausan Pereira

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In this Episode of India's World focuses on the warming of ties between  India and South Africa. India and South Africa on Friday sealed a three  year strategic programme to further boost cooperation in a number of key  areas after talks between Prime Minister Narendra Modi and South  African President Cyril Ramaphosa. In his media statement, PM Modi said  both sides discussed all aspects of the bilateral ties with an aim to  further expand cooperation in diverse areas. Ramaphosa said his country  was looking at a "result oriented" partnership with India through  implementation of the three-year strategic exchange programme. The  strategic programme will cover cooperation in a range of areas including  defence and security, trade and investment, the blue economy, tourism,  IT and agriculture. Ramaphosa, who arrived in Delhi on Friday morning,  was the chief guest at the Republic Day Parade on Saturday. It was the  fourth meeting between PM Modi and President Ramaphosa within a year.   

Guest: 

Shiv Shankar Mukherjee, Former Ambassador,        

Maj. Gen. Dhruv Katoch (Retd.), Director, India Foundation,          

Dr. Sreeram Chaulia, Dean, Jindal School of International  Affairs, 

Anchor: Frank Rausan Pereira

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U.S. special envoy to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad has shared details of  his recent talks with the Taliban with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani  and other government officials. A January 28 statement quoted Khalilzad  as saying he had held talks about a possible cease-fire, but nothing was  agreed upon. Khalilzad also confirmed that no agreement had been made  on the withdrawal of foreign troops, adding that any such decision would  be coordinated with the Afghan government.  The statement comes after  both the Taliban and Khalilzad said "progress" was made in the latest  set of talks in Qatar aimed at ending the 17-year conflict in  Afghanistan. The Western-backed government in Kabul has struggled to  fend off a resurgent Taliban and other militant groups, nearly two  decades after a U.S.-led coalition drove the Taliban from power in  Afghanistan in 2001. The Taliban has so far refused to hold direct  negotiations with the Afghan government officials, whom they dismiss as  "puppets."

Anchor- Frank Rausan Pereira 

Guest- Dilip Sinha, Former Ambassador 

Maj. Gen. Ashwani Siwach (Retd.), Foreign Affairs Expert 

Pramit Pal Chaudhuri, Foreign Editor, Hindustan Times

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In September 1960, Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Pakistani  President Mohammad Ayub Khan signed a water sharing agreement concerning  the use of waters in the Indus Rivers system. The treaty came to be  known as the Indus Water Treaty. Orchestrated by the World Bank, the  agreement took nine years of negotiations. Under the treaty, the control  of six rivers in the Indus Water System was divided between the two  countries.   But, between India and Pakistan, the treaty has been a major source of  conflict due to its interpretation and implementation. Since its  inception, there have been multiple disagreements and differences  between both countries over the treaty.  Today in IN DEPTH, we try and understand the Indus Water Treaty in  detail, the disputes regarding water sharing between India and Pakistan,  in particular the current conflict  Anchor - Teena Jha

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Guests: 

Gurjit Singh, Former Diplomat            

Manish Gupta, Joint Secretary, Ministry Of External Affairs

Piyush Singh, Advocate, Supreme Court 

Anchor: Kriti Mishra

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This year, India is celebrating its 9th National Voters Day on January  25. The voters' day celebration was initiated in 2011 by the then  President of India, Pratibha Devi Patil, on the 61st foundation day of  Election Commission of India. Established in 1950, the Election  Commission of India is an organisation that aims to increase the  participation of number of voters and to encourage newly eligible  voters. National Voters' Day 2019 was celebrated in over six lakh  locations covering about ten lakh polling stations all over the country.  President Ram Nath Kovind was the chief guest at the main function,  organised by the Election Commission of India in the Capital. The best  electoral practices and national awards were conferred to officers for  their exceptional performance in conducting elections. 'No voter to be  left behind' is the chosen theme for this year's celebration and it is  also the focus in the upcoming Lok Sabha Elections.  

Anchor- Frank Rausan Pereira

Guest-  Akshay Rout, Former DG, Election Commission of India 

Ashok Tandon, Senior Journalist 

Prof. Rajvir Sharma, Political Commentator 

Sanjay Kumar, Director, CSDS

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German Chancellor Angela Merkel on 23 January said countries like India  and China have begun affecting the world economy much more today and  that needs to be taken into account for having a relook at the global  trade and financial systems. In a veiled attack at policies being  adopted by countries like the US, she said, "There is a new approach in  the world that says shouldn't we look after our own, and ensure that our  own are looked after." Speaking at the World Economic Forum Annual  Meeting in Davos, she said there are a number of disturbances around the  world and the IMF has painted a rather gloomy picture of the global  economy. She said there is a wakeup call for the world and we need to  find out how to move forward. Merkel said compromise these days has a  bad reputation, but a global architecture is only possible if we are  able to compromise.

Guest - Jayant Dasgupta, Former Ambassador of India to WTO/ Economist,             

Dr. Arvind Virmani, Chairman, Foundation For Economic Growth & Welfare,             

Sheel Kant Sharma, Former Ambassador,  

Anchor - Frank Rausan Pereira

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India is among the most trusted nations globally when it comes to  government, business, NGOs and media but the country’s brands are among  the least-trusted, according to a report. The 2019 Edelman Trust  Barometer report was released on Monday ahead of the World Economic  Forum (WEF) meet. China topped the Trust Index among both the informed  public and the general population segments, with scores of 79 and 88  respectively. India was at the second place in the informed public  category and third place in the general population category. The Index  is the average per cent of trust in NGOs, business, government and  media. The findings are based on an online survey in 27 markets covering  over 33,000 respondents. The fieldwork was conducted between October 19  and November 16, 2018. In terms of trust in companies, those  headquartered in India, Mexico and Brazil are the least trusted, as per  the report. 

Guest - 

  • Alok Verma, Editor-in-Chief, NYOOOZ,
  • A.K. Bhattacharya, Editorial Director, Business Standard,
  • K. V. Prasad, Senior Associate Editor, The Tribune,
  • Anchor - Frank Rausan Pereira

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on 17 January described NRIs as India's  brand ambassadors and said they were the symbols of the country's  capabilities. The prime minister was inaugurating the 15th Pravasi  Bharatiya Diwas convention in his parliamentary constituency of  Varanasi. For the first time, the three-day-long convention is being  organised from January 21 to 23 instead of January 9 to allow  participants to visit the Kumbh mela in Prayagraj and attend the  Republic Day parade in the national capital. The theme of this year's  convention is 'role of Indian diaspora in building new India'. The Prime  Minister of Mauritius Pravind Jugnauth is the chief guest of the  convention, while Himanshu Gulati, Member of Parliament of Norway, is  the special guest.  

Guest - 

  • Ashok Sajjanhar, Former Ambassador,
  • Sreeram Chaulia, Dean, Jindal School of International  Affairs,
  • K. A. Badarinath, Editor-in-Chief, Financial Chronicle,
  • Anchor - Frank Rausan Pereira

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The World Economic Forum is set to hold its annual Davos Summit from January 22 to January 25 in Switzerland. The event will be attended by world leaders, economists, business persons, journalists and political leaders. It will also witness participation of around 3,000 individuals. A wide range of issues are likely to be discussed at the event. There will be a total of 130 participants from India, more than China’s 109. Prime Minister Narendra Modi addressed the opening session of the World Economic Forum last year, becoming the first Indian prime minister in two decades to join the world’s top business leaders in the resort town. However, this year Prime Minister Modi will give the event a miss. US President Donald Trump, who addressed the summit in 2018, will also not be attending this year amid a government shutdown back home. British Prime Minister Theresa May will also give the annual event a miss to focus on Brexit. France's Emmanuel Macron and Russia's Vladimir Putin have also decided to stay away from the summit. Meanwhile, China's economy has grown at its slowest pace in almost three decades last year.

Guest -

  • Ajay Dua, Former Secretary, Ministry of Commerce & Industry,
  • A.K. Bhattacharya, Editorial Director, Business Standard,
  • Abhinav Prakash, Assistant Professor, University of Delhi,
  • Anchor - Frank Rausan Pereira

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Aired on 19 January 2018

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The Supreme Court on 17 January  fixed a February-end deadline for the search committee on Lokpal to recommend a panel of names for appointment of the country's first anti-graft ombudsman. The search committee is headed by former apex court judge Ranjana Prakash Desai. A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi directed the Centre to provide the search committee requisite infrastructure and manpower to enable it to complete its work. The bench, also comprising justices L N Rao and S K Kaul, said it would hear the matter again on March 7. Attorney General K K Venugopal, appearing for the Centre, told the bench there were certain problems like lack of infrastructure and manpower due to which the search committee was not able to hold deliberations on the issue.  

Anchor- Frank Rausan Pereira  

Guest- Satya Prakash, 

Legal Editor, The Tribune 

Ashok Tandon, Senior Journalist 

Abhishek Atrey, Advocate, Supreme Court

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The Supreme Court on 16 December dismissed the pleas of five states seeking modification of its order issued last year on the selection and appointment of director generals of police. The apex court was hearing applications of various state governments, including Punjab, Kerala, West Bengal, Haryana and Bihar, seeking implementation of their local laws regarding the selection and appointment of DGPs. A bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi said the earlier directions of the court on selection and appointment of DGPs were issued in larger public interest and to protect the police officials from political interference. The top court, on July 3 last year, passed a slew of directions on police reforms in the country and chronicled the steps for appointment of regular DGPs. It said the states will have to send a list of senior police officers to the UPSC at least three months prior to the retirement of the incumbent. The commission will then prepare a panel and intimate the states, which in turn will immediately appoint one of the persons from that list.  

Anchor- Frank Rausan Pereira  

Guest- Dr. Vikram Singh, Former DGP, Uttar Pradesh 

Sushil Chandra Tripathi, Former Chief Secretary, Uttar Pradesh 

P. K. Malhotra, Former Secretary, Ministry of Law, GoI  

Satya Prakash, Legal Editor, The Tribune