The Probe Podumentary

Fake Encounters: Extra-judicial Killings By Rogue Cops

Thu, 11 May 2023 08:37:38 +0000

The Indian police force of late has been in the thick of controversy for alleged extrajudicial killings or fake encounters. The motivation of the police behind the killings in many recent cases has come into question. The Supreme Court has categorically declared that extrajudicial killings violate the fundamental right to life enshrined in the Constitution. Such killings are nothing but the misuse of power by the police. We speak to families of people who lost their lives to controversial encounters.

Speakers:

Afroz

Wife of late Zeeshan Haider

Meeran Chadha Borwankar

Retired DG, Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPRD)

PV Krishnamachary

Advocate

(Appeared for the 4 accused in in the rape and murder of Disha)

Ravindranath Angre

Former Mumbai police officer

Zulfikar Nasir

Survivor, Hashimpura massacre (1987)

Support Our Independent Journalism: https://theprobe.in/become-a-member/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See sunoindia.in/privacy-policy for privacy information.

LGBTQIA Rights: Can Government Institutionalise Stereotypes?

Tue, 04 Apr 2023 10:23:45 +0000

India’s first trans photojournalist was stripped naked by a cop for refusing sexual favours. The Transgender community was mocked in the UP assembly. The Centre recently told the top court that it could not recognise same-sex marriages. The government has also barred gay and transgender persons from donating blood. In this Podumentary, you will hear the community’s struggles while facing mass discrimination.

Speakers

Payal and Yashvika
Lesbian couple
Social media influencers

Thangjam Santa Singh
Trans activist

Akhilesh Yadav
President
Samajwadi Party

Satish Mahana
Speaker
Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly

Tripthi Shetty
Trans activist
Businesswoman

Saurabh Kirpal
Senior advocate
Author

Bella Sharma
Trans activist
Model

Rifaya Izma
Trans woman

Zoya Thomas Lobo
India’s first trans photojournalist

Support Our Independent Journalism: https://theprobe.in/become-a-member/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See sunoindia.in/privacy-policy for privacy information.

Pending Bail Cases: Do We Need Reforms or Revolution?

Tue, 07 Feb 2023 09:16:09 +0000

The second seniormost judge of the Supreme Court of India had recently said that it would take at least 500 to 700 years to dispose of India’s pending bail applications. Why are bail cases pending in India? Hear this latest episode of our Podumentary!

Speakers:

Dushyant Dave
Senior Advocate, Supreme Court

Justice Madan Lokur
Former Judge, Supreme Court

Leah Verghese
Research Manager, Daksh

Sudhanshu S Pandey
Senior Advocate, Supreme Court

Vikas Singh
President, Supreme Court Bar Association

Support Our Independent Journalism: https://theprobe.in/become-a-member/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See sunoindia.in/privacy-policy for privacy information.

Why has the government put the census on hold?

Wed, 30 Nov 2022 09:24:02 +0000

Description

The last government of India census was conducted in 2011, and the next exercise was to have taken place in 2021. The government could not meet the 2021 timeline because of the Covid pandemic. But unfortunately, the census exercise continues to be delayed even when other pandemic-related restrictions have been lifted in the country. Why has the government put the census on hold and how has it impacted us? Hear this Podumentary out!

Speakers:

Avani Kapur

Senior Fellow

Centre for Policy Research

Mala Ramanathan

Professor, Achutha Menon Centre for Health Science Studies, Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medical Sciences and Technology

PC Mohanan

Former Acting Chairperson

National Statistical Commission

Sonalde Desai

Professor | Director

NCAER - National Data Innovation Centre, Delhi

Udaya Shankar Mishra

Professor

Centre For Development Studies

Support Our Independent Journalism: https://theprobe.in/become-a-member/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See sunoindia.in/privacy-policy for privacy information.

Mid-Day Meal Scheme: Corruption and Controversies

Tue, 29 Nov 2022 09:47:34 +0000

Description

The Mid-Day Meal scheme, which is the government’s scheme for free Mid-Day meals in schools, was initially designed to better the nutritional standing of school-going children, but since the inception of this programme, the Mid-Day Meal scheme has been in the thick of controversy over the substandard quality of food served to children and the scheme’s poor implementation. Hear what’s going wrong with the scheme!

Speakers:

Anuradha Talwar

State Convener

Right To Food Campaign (RTFC)

West Bengal

Asif Hussain Sohail

President, Telangana Parents Association for Child Rights and Safety

Chandan Maiti
Secretary, Advanced Society for Headmasters and Headmistresses, West Bengal

Dr Sylvia Karpagam

Researcher

Public Health Doctor

Dr Veena Shatrughna

Former Deputy Director

National Institute of Nutrition

Hyderabad

Support Our Independent Journalism: https://theprobe.in/become-a-member/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See sunoindia.in/privacy-policy for privacy information.

Delhi Nurses Strike For Basic Rights

Fri, 18 Nov 2022 15:38:15 +0000

Description

Delhi Nurses Federation (DNF), a conglomeration of thousands of nurses, have decided to intensify their protests. The federation has stated that they have repeatedly written to the Delhi government to redress their grievances, but their pleas have fallen on deaf ears. Why are the nurses protesting, and how is the government putting public health at risk by not heeding the legitimate demands of the nursing community? Hear this Podumentary out!

Speakers:

Amit Pandey

General Secretary

Lok Nayak Hospital Nurses Union

Anita Mathew

Senior Nursing Staff

GB Pant Hospital

Devendra Kumar Jain

General Secretary

GB Pant Hospital

Liladhar Ramchandani
Secretary General

Delhi Nurses Federation

Punam

Nursing Officer

Sanjay Gandhi Memorial Hospital

Support Our Independent Journalism: https://theprobe.in/become-a-member/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See sunoindia.in/privacy-policy for privacy information.

Unlock The Power Of The Northeast

Tue, 15 Nov 2022 15:18:31 +0000

The United Nations Development Programme and the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative released the Global Multidimensional Poverty Index report last month. According to the report, Meghalaya and Assam are some of the poorest states in India. The Niti Aayog’s Multidimensional Poverty Index report also puts Assam, Meghalaya, and some more Northeastern states on the poorest list. Why are some of the Northeast Indian states that are endowed with rich natural resources multidimensionally poor? Hear this Podumentary out!

Speakers:

Dr Dibyajyoti Saikia
Human rights and Social activist

Dundee C Khongsit
President, The Federation of Khasi Jaintia and Garo people (FKJGP)

Karma Paljor
Editor in Chief
East Mojo

Prof Sanjoy Hazarika
Director, Centre for North East Studies and Policy Research, Jamia Millia Islamia

Suhas Chakma
Director, Rights & Risks Analysis Group

Support Our Independent Journalism: https://theprobe.in/become-a-member/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See sunoindia.in/privacy-policy for privacy information.

Electoral Bonds: The curse of Indian democracy

Mon, 31 Oct 2022 10:47:32 +0000

When the government of India introduced the electoral bonds, it claimed they would bring transparency to political party funding. But the bonds have just done the opposite. It compromised electoral transparency and has made political party funding murky in the world’s largest democracy. Why are electoral bonds continuing to damage Indian democracy even after it was red-flagged by the Election Commission of India? Hear this Podumentary out!

Speakers:

Commodore Lokesh Batra (retd)

RTI activist

Jagdeep S Chhokar

Founder & Trustee

Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR)

Poonam Agarwal

Freelance Development Researcher, BBC

Editor Investigations, The Quint

SY Quraishi

Former Chief Election Commissioner of India

Ullekh NP

Executive Editor

Support Our Independent Journalism: https://theprobe.in/become-a-member/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See sunoindia.in/privacy-policy for privacy information.

Child Brides: Victims of Pandemic, Poverty & Patriarchy

Thu, 27 Oct 2022 15:36:23 +0000

According to the latest demographic sample survey by the Ministry of Home Affairs, Jharkhand and West Bengal are the two states in India where more than half of the women are married off before attaining 21 years of age. As per UNICEF, one in three of the world’s child brides live in India. Of the country’s 223 million child brides, 102 million were married before turning 15.

Most child brides in India are victims of either poverty, pandemic or patriarchy. In this Podumentary, we speak to experts who have been at the forefront of fighting this social evil.

Speakers:

Karminder Kaur
Child Marriage Prohibition Officer

Haryana government

Pallabi Ghosh

Anti-trafficking activist

Founder, Impact & Dialogue Foundation

Poonam Muttreja

Executive Director

Population Foundation of India

Vageshwari Deswal

Faculty of Law

University of Delhi

Yogesh Vaishnav
Co-founder
Vikalp Sansthan

Support Our Independent Journalism: https://theprobe.in/become-a-member/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See sunoindia.in/privacy-policy for privacy information.

How sound is the Indian economy?

Thu, 27 Oct 2022 13:54:36 +0000

Recently, it was reported that India overtook the United Kingdom to become the fifth largest economy in the world. The IMF projections placed India in the fifth position after the US, China, Japan and Germany. The premise of India overtaking the UK was based on the calculations of Bloomberg, which had used the IMF database for its study. Should India rejoice at this milestone, or should we exercise caution and not be complacent?

Speakers:

Montek Singh Ahluwalia
Economist
Former Deputy Chairman, Planning Commission of India

Dr Charan Singh
Economist
CEO, EGROW Foundation

Santosh Mehrotra
Human Development Economist

Mohan Guruswamy
Economist
Political strategist

Anitha Rangan
Economist, Equirus

Support Our Independent Journalism: https://theprobe.in/become-a-member/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See sunoindia.in/privacy-policy for privacy information.

Ragging Menace: Few Solutions In Sight

Thu, 27 Oct 2022 13:41:58 +0000

Prof Rajendra Kachroo lost his son to ragging. Akshit Srivastava, another ragging victim, was let down by his college after he lodged a complaint against his senior for ragging. In Haldwani in Uttarakhand, many students were forced to shave their heads and were paraded with their hands tied on their backs. A homoeopathic medical college developed a ragging manual, and in another case, a student’s body was chopped into pieces because he resisted ragging.

In the name of breaking the ice, the lives of numerous students and their families continue to be broken in India because of ragging. In this Podumentary, we speak to ragging victims and experts on why the instances of ragging in colleges are not receding despite steps initiated by the University Grants Commission (UGC).

Speakers:

Dr Akshit Srivastava

Ragging victim

Dr Kushal Banerjee

Co-founder, SAVE
(Society Against Violence in Education)

Meera Kaura Patel

Advocate, Supreme Court

Legal head, SAVE
(Society Against Violence in Education)

Prof Rajendra Kachroo

Ragging victim Aman Kachroo’s father

Founder, Aman Movement

Rakesh Kumar Mishra, IPS (retired)

Chairman, Anti Ragging Committee

Tejeswar Parida

Convener, Ragging Free Campus Abhiyan (RFCA)

Support Our Independent Journalism: https://theprobe.in/become-a-member/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See sunoindia.in/privacy-policy for privacy information.

MiG-21: Is the Indian Air Force ready for a transition?

Thu, 25 Aug 2022 18:31:41 +0000

Every few months, India wakes up to the news of a MiG-21 crash. Last month, again, a MiG-21 crashed in Rajasthan's Barmer, claiming the lives of two Indian Air Force pilots. In 2012, former Defence Minister AK Antony told the Parliament that out of the 872 MiG aircraft purchased from Russia, more than half had crashed, claiming the lives of more than 200 persons, including 171 pilots. So, why is the Indian Air Force still flying the MiG 21s? Hear this Podumentary out!

Speakers:

Air Marshal Anil Chopra (retd)

Director General

Centre for Air Power Studies

Air Commodore Prashant Dikshit (retd)

Air Vice Marshal Kapil Kak (retd)

Founding Additional Director, Centre for Air Power Studies

Former Air Marshal Pranab Kumar Barbora

Group Captain Ravinder Singh Chhatwal (retd)

Snehesh Alex Philip

Defence journalist
Deputy Editor, The Print

Support Our Independent Journalism: https://theprobe.in/become-a-member/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See sunoindia.in/privacy-policy for privacy information.

Independence Day: How free is India at 75?

Mon, 15 Aug 2022 14:21:17 +0000

The Probe Podumentary is a series of audio documentaries on topics and stories that matter to people and are part of our public interest journalism in India. Here is a new episode of our Podumentary titled: Independence Day: How free is India at 75?

India is celebrating its 75th Independence Day. A day that is being celebrated as “Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav”. So, what does 75 years of freedom mean to India? How independent and free is India at 75? Hear this Podumentary out!

Speakers:

1. Chandra Kumar Bose

Subhash Chandra Bose’s grand-nephew

Rights activist

2. Professor Jagmohan Singh

Shaheed Bhagat Singh’s nephew

Democratic rights activist

3. Lt Gen JS Bajwa

Author

Editor, Indian Defence Review

4. Dr Ranjana Kumari

Social activist

Director, Centre for Social Research

5. Sanjay Kapoor

Editor

Hardnews

6. Pradeep Chakravarthy

Author

Historian

7. Geeta Seshu

Journalist

Co-founder, Free Speech Collective

Support Our Independent Journalism: https://theprobe.in/become-a-member/

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

See sunoindia.in/privacy-policy for privacy information.