Left, Right & Centre

Instead of one state, Jammu and Kashmir, there are now two Union Territories. For the BJP, the bifurcation, the abolition of Article 370 and 35A, is a key step towards integrating the state with the rest of the country. For others, it is a move that demolishes the identity of the region. On the show, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Ladakh MP Jamyang Tsering Namgyal, former Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh, former Kashmir interlocutor and historian Radha Kumar, Lt General Satish Dua among others look at the path ahead. Will there be peace and progress or are we in for troubled times?

A malicious Israeli-made virus that targets WhatsApp has meant that many around the world and in India including journalists, lawyers and activists have had their smartphones targeted, with all information vulnerable and accessible to someone. The question is who is that someone. WhatsApp says the Israeli company supplies this spyware to governments to check terrorism and crime but the government of India says they have nothing to do with the breach. But if that is the case, then how is it that those whose WhatsApp devices were tapped were activists and lawyers linked with the Bhima Koregaon case and, as importantly, how secure is your smartphone and mine?

The Maharashtra conundrum continues even now. Both the BJP and the Shiv Sena seem to be digging in their heels. Amid this tension between the two old allies, is there realistically a chance of a split or will these two come along? and is this nothing more than a hard bargaining strategy?

An international scandal has broken out - Facebook, the parent company of messaging app WhatsApp has filed a legal complaint against a private spy agency NSO, accusing them of compromising WhatsApp accounts of 1400 of its users. These include prominent journalists, politicians, bureaucrats spread across four continents. So then, what's the point of end-to-end encryption. Essentially WhatsApp is safe, till such time someone just hacks into our phone. Is digital security a myth? How to protect yourself from this? We also noticed many apps on android offer services to spy on one another against a charge

There has been a lot of controversy around the visit of the European Parliament MPs who are in India and have met PM Modi, with the opposition saying why can't they visit J&K. On Left, Right and Centre, we ask, who organised the trip, who is Madi Sharma who got the MP's together via email and what is the purpose of the visit. We also ask whether this is a propaganda win or a PR disaster?

With the tragic death of a two-year-old by falling in a borewell, on Left, Right and Centre, we ask whether it was apathy and negligence that killed Sujith Wilson and why do we take it for granted that this can continue to happen in this country?

Twenty-seven European Union MPs head to Jammu and Kashmir while our opposition leaders are put on a return flight if they attempt a visit. The Congress is furious. The government says it wants to showcase "normalcy" in the state. The opposition says this is an outright insult to India's own Parliament and democracy.

A lot of people felt that the air over Delhi on Diwali night was far better than it has been in the last several years. That may be so but the sad reality is that the air over Delhi is still toxic, people in neighbouring areas don't seem to have cared and breathing in the toxic air continues to be dangerous. The air quality slipped into the "extreme" category so perhaps we need to get a reality check on just what was achieved and what was not. There is a lot more that needs to be done beyond the so called green crackers.

We look at Haryana where ML Khattar will be sworn-in on Diwali as the Chief Minister for his second term and JJP chief Dushyant Chautala will take oath as the deputy chief minister. Also on the show, in Maharashtra the Shiv Sena plays hardball, Sena MLAs demand chief minister's post for Aaditya Thackeray and the power sharing deal with the BJP to be given in writing.

We look at what some would say is a landmark ruling by the Bombay High Court, one where three orders to tap the phone of a Mumbai businessman were put aside and the investigators ordered to destroy those intercepts. Is this a major reinforcement of the Right to Privacy which is a constitutional guarantee?

Facebook is looking for ways to balance "individual privacy and national security", said Mukul Rohatgi, who is representing the social media giant in the tussle over decrypting private messages of users. Facebook owns WhatsApp and the government contends that the end-to-end encryption it assures, has made the two social media platforms the preferred communication mode of terrorists and anti-nationals. It also attributed the various incidents of mob killings to the spread of fake news on social media and wants to change IT rules to break end-to-end encryption. After concerns over the spread of disinformation, WhatsApp said it was trying to find ways to prevent its misuse, but there was no question of diluting the end-to-end encryption. The matter has gone to the Supreme Court, which today said it will put together all the isolated cases on this throughout the country and hear it at the end of January.

The Supreme Court decides to hear all cases on whether social media platforms like Facebook and apps like WhatsApp and Signal need to allow government agencies the right to monitor private communications. At hand is the need for the government to penetrate encrypted networks to target terrorists versus the fundamental right to privacy. We will be joined by Mukul Rohatgi, the lead counsel for Facebook in the Supreme Court.

India completed a 3-0 rout of South Africa in the Test series. The performance of this Virat Kohli led squad has been truly admirable over the last few years. Is this, in fact, the best test team that India has ever had?

If exit poll predictions turn out to be right, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis and his Haryana counterpart Manohar Lal Khattar will make a comeback regardless of their mixed report card over the past five years. Neither faced much of an opposition, which ran a listless campaign in both states. A defeat is not unexpected but will further deflate an already dispirited bunch of parties, especially the Congress. The Congress is yet to recover from its crash in the national elections; Rahul Gandhi's resignation spurred confusion, infighting and multiple exits.

The Punjab government has deployed thousands of observers to tell farmers that they cannot burn crop residue, which has a catastrophic impact on environment in many parts of North India. But the farmers demand incentives from the government to stop the annual practice. The big question remains unanswered - will the smoke from stubble burning choke Delhi this year as well?