What's driving India's renewed engagement with the Afghan Taliban regime?

In a significant diplomatic development, a Taliban delegation led by Afghanistan’s Foreign Minister recently visited New Delhi for official talks, the first such high-level engagement since the group took power in Kabul in 2021. Following the talks, India announced plans to reopen its full-fledged embassy in Kabul and expand cooperation in health, infrastructure, and education. But the visit also drew criticism after female journalists were reportedly barred from attending the Taliban minister’s press briefing, a reminder of the regime’s continuing restrictions on women and the media, and a point of discomfort for India’s democratic image. This renewed engagement comes as Taliban–Pakistan relations deteriorate, creating new strategic openings that India appears ready to explore. Yet, New Delhi’s outreach raises difficult questions: what has prompted this shift now? Can India balance pragmatic diplomacy with the values it has historically stood for? And can it deepen ties with the Taliban without extending formal recognition? Guest: Kallol Bhattacharjee, Foreign affairs reporter, The Hindu. Host: Sharmada Venkatasubramanian Edited and produced by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Supreme Court is set to take up a plea challenging the constitutional validity of the Securities Transaction Tax (STT). This is a direct tax levied on all transactions that happen through a stock exchange. The STT was brought in under the Finance Act, 2004. It has since become a significant source of revenue for the government, netting an estimated ₹55,000 crore in FY 2025. But this petition argues that the STT is deeply flawed, and violates constitutional guarantees of equality, freedom of trade and proportionality. How valid are these arguments? Should the STT be scrapped, or retained with modifications? Guest: Deepak Joshi, advocate-on-record at the Supreme Court, and a Chartered Accountant. Host: G Sampath Recorded, produced, and edited by Jude Francis Weston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Another upgrade, another round of applause. OpenAI’s GPT-5 has arrived—sleeker, quicker and kind of the talk of the town. But peel back the glitz and questions pile up. In this episode, we will know who builds these systems, and at what cost? Who reaps the rewards? And what happens when a few voices decide how billions will live, work and learn? Guest: Payal Arora, Professor of Inclusive AI Cultures, Utrecht University; author of From Pessimism to Promise Host: Anupama Chandrasekaran Produced and edited by Jude Francis Weston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

She has been tear-gassed, threatened, and banned from office — yet María Corina Machado never stopped speaking for a silenced nation. Now, at 58, Venezuela’s most determined dissident has been named the country’s first Nobel Peace Prize winner — and only the 20th woman to ever receive it. An engineer turned opposition leader, she has spent years standing up to Nicolás Maduro’s regime in Venezuela, a government that jails critics and silences dissent. Now in hiding, Machado continues to speak out — urging even soldiers to trade loyalty to power for loyalty to the people. Her surprise and humility in accepting the award stood in sharp contrast to nominee Donald Trump, who chest thumped and demanded it. Amid bloody wars in Gaza, Ukraine and Sudan, peace seems unattainable. But perhaps that’s why this award matters — because someone, somewhere, must still believe. The question is, do we? Guest: Harsh Mander, human-rights activist and founder of Karwan-e-MohabbatHost: Anupama Chandrasekaran Edited and produced by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

President Donald Trump's new 20-point peace plan promises to end hostilities, free hostages, and rebuild Gaza under a new framework of international oversight. Backed by several Arab nations, it’s being routed as the most detailed roadmap yet to stop the war. But is this really a plan for peace, or just another political blueprint that sidesteps the core issues fuelling the conflict ? Who gets to decide what Gaza’s future looks like? And with Israel still reluctant to commit to a full withdrawal, can any of this hold on the ground? Guest: Stanly Johny, International Affairs Editor, The Hindu Host: Sharmada Venkatasubramanian Edited and Produced by Sharmada Venkatausbramanian Camera: Shivaraj S Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In the run-up to the Bihar Assembly elections, political parties are rolling out several welfare measures for women. On October 3, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar transferred ₹10,000 to the bank accounts of 25 lakh women under the Mukhyamantri Mahila Rojgar Yojana. Earlier, on September 26, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had also announced the transfer of ₹7,500 crore under the same scheme to 75 lakh women. This pattern has been seen in other Assembly elections as well. Moreover, the share of women voters has also been steadily increasing over the years. Are women deciding Assembly elections?  Host: Joan Sony Cherian  Guests: Ruhi Tiwari and  Rajeshwari Deshpande  Edited and produced by Sharmada Venkatasubramanian  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

For decades, Indian households relied on fixed deposits, insurance, and gold to grow their savings. A large faction still continues to do that. But in the last few years, more and more Indians have opened demat accounts, started SIPs, and entered the stock market. In this episode, we explore what’s driving this shift in how Indians invest, and whether the rise of domestic investors is making our markets more resilient at the time when foreign investors have been pulling money out from Indian stock markets. Guest: Ankit Mandholia, Head Equity and Derivatives, Wealth Management at Motilal Oswal Financial Services Host: Devyanshi Bihani Edited by Jude Francis Weston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Nearly 40 years ago, 14 patients died at Mumbai’s J.J. hospital, as the medication they took was contaminated with diethylene glycol, an industrial solvent that is toxic to human beings. Over the past few weeks, at least 16 children, a majority of them in Madhya Pradesh and a few in Rajasthan have died, and their deaths are suspected to be because of the same issue: a cough syrup, given to them for treatment, contained diethylene glycol. The issue of medicines being contaminated is not new – how it happens and how it can be stopped are both well known. And yet, India, which accredits itself as the pharmacy of the world, providing generic drugs to many parts of the globe, cannot seem to ensure that medicines for its own children are safe. What are the issues plaguing the drug regulatory system? Why do these deaths continue to take place with little accountability? And are cough syrups necessary at all for children? Guest: Anant Phadke who is with the All India Drug Action Network, a national network that advocates for rational and affordable drug policies in India Host: Zubeda Hamid Edited by Jude Francis Weston For more episodes of In Focus: Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Recently, the Supreme Court of India issued guidelines with regard to DNA samples in criminal cases. These guidelines, issued to preserve the integrity of such samples, highlighted the need for chain of custody documentation as well as for proper procedures to be put in place for the collection, packaging of transportation of such samples. DNA samples can play a tremendously important role in criminal investigations, but in several cases, the evidence has been rejected by the court due to quality control and procedural issues. How is DNA evidence collected and analysed in India? How do our forensic labs work and what are the gaps that need to be plugged to make such evidence reliable and error-free? Guest: Shreya Rastogi, Director of Death Penalty Litigation and Forensics, The Square Circle Clinic, NALSAR University of Law, Delhi. Host: Zubeda Hamid Edited by Jude Francis Weston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On a July morning in 1960, Jane Goodall stepped off a boat onto the shores of Lake Tanganyika in Tanzania. She was 26, untrained by universities, armed only with binoculars, a notebook and patience. What she saw in the forests of Gombe in East Africa altered science itself: chimpanzees who shaped tools, who mourned, who loved. She gave them names and with that simple act, insisted on their individuality. But Goodall did more than open a window into the lives of chimpanzees. She opened doors for women. In an era when female scientists were almost absent, she, alongside gorilla researcher Dian Fossey and orangutan expert Biruté Galdikas, staked a claim in a field dominated by men. Reluctant at first, passionate in time, she traded the intimacy of the forest for activism on world stages, becoming a gentle but firm voice for nature and for children who would inherit it. On Wednesday (October 1, 2025), Jane Goodall died at 91. She was still on tour, still speaking for the wild. Will we carry her hope and continue the path she opened for women in science? In this weekender episode, we talk about how Goodall’s life reshaped research, storytelling and the role of women in conservation. Guests: Catherine Crockford, primatologist at the French National Centre for Scientific Research, Lyon; Neha Sinha, wildlife biologist, conservationist, and author, based in Delhi Host: Anupama Chandrasekaran Produced and edited by Jude Francis Weston Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices