• In Focus by The Hindu

  • By: The Hindu
  • Podcast
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In Focus by The Hindu

By: The Hindu
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  • Summary

  • A podcast from The Hindu that delves deep into current developments with subject experts, and brings in context, history, perspective and analysis.
    The Hindu
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Episodes
  • What impact will the unrelenting heat have on India’s future health? | In Focus podcast

    What impact will the unrelenting heat have on India’s future health? | In Focus podcast
    Apr 29 2024
    This March was the hottest on record globally, the 10th month in a row to hit this peak. This has led to a 1.58 degree Celsius spike in the global average temperature, compared to pre-industrial levels. This doesn’t feel surprising – most parts of India have been sweltering since last month, the India Meteorological Department or IMD hadd forecast heatwave conditions in parts of at least 10 States last week and it's only going to get worse in May. This year, the heat is even believed to have impacting voting in our crucial general election, and the Election Commission has now set up a taskforce to oversee heatwave conditions. We’re used to scorching summers in India – but experts say that heatwaves are now arriving earlier in the year, are more frequent and are also lasting longer – which means they have a huge impact on the health of humans and animals, on our agriculture and food, on our cities, our water resources and our energy supplies. How does the unrelenting heat affect our bodies and our long-term health into the future? Do our food crops become less nutritious as temperatures rise? Do India’s standards for heatwaves need updating? Where is our country placed, globally, when it comes to extreme climate events and can we expect more of these in the near future? Guest: Poornima Prabhakaran, Director, Centre for Health Analytics Research and Trends (CHART), Trivedi School of Biosciences, Ashoka University Host: Zubeda Hamid Edited by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian.
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    25 mins
  • Has the delay in the 2021 Census sparked a data crisis in public health science?

    Has the delay in the 2021 Census sparked a data crisis in public health science?
    Apr 26 2024
    The delay in conducting the 2021 census seems to have sparked a data crisis, with major implications for the social sector, especially public health policy. This crisis, according to public health analysts, has been worsened by the government’s reluctance to put certain types of data in the public domain, over concerns they might show it in an unflattering light. In the context of public health, the census is important because it forms the basis for national and state health surveys. So, how are the country’s policy-makers and social scientists managing with 2011 census data in 2024? What are the problems seen in the implementation of government welfare schemes such as PMJAY (Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana) due to unavailability of up-to-date data? What’s the status today with regard to transparency and professional autonomy in the collection, scrutiny and publication of data that’s central to the public health discourse? Guest: Professor T Sundararaman, a public health expert, who has served as Executive Director of National Health Systems Resource Centre and as Dean and Professor at the School of Health Systems Studies at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Mumbai. Host: G. Sampath, Social Affairs Editor, The Hindu. Edited by Jude Francis Weston
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    36 mins
  • What do Nestle's sugary baby cereals say about Indian food safety laws?

    What do Nestle's sugary baby cereals say about Indian food safety laws?
    Apr 24 2024
    Baby foods, drinks and protein powders have all been in the news of late – are these products harming rather than helping your health? The latest controversy has centred around Nestle, a well known brand in India – an investigation recently found that all Nestle baby cereals sold in India contained almost 3g of added sugar – but the same cereals sold in European markets had no added sugar. The harmful effects of sugar are now well known – it can contribute to obesity as well as multiple health complications later in life. The Centre has now asked the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India to look into this. Other news involved the government asking e-commerce sites to stop the classification of Bournvita and other such beverages under the ‘health drinks’ category. And just before that, we were given the shocking news that many protein powders not only do not have the amount of proteins they advertise, but may also have harmful components. So what are the laws regarding baby food and processed food in our country? How are companies allowed to advertise these foods and drinks and can they be labelled healthy? Who looks into the safety of these products that are found in our supermarkets? And what does India need to do to classify which foods are healthy, and which are unhealthy, considering the huge burden of obesity, diabetes and heart disease that the country is grappling with? Zubeda Hamid speaks to Dr Arun Gupta, public health expert, central coordinator of the Breastfeeding Promotion Network of India and convener of the Nutrition Advocacy in Public Interest.
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    31 mins
Politics & Government
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