Episode 78 - From COVID vaccination program to making India the world's pharmacy with Mansukh Mandaviya

07/09/23 • 91 min

Mansukh Mandaviya is a minister in PM Modi’s cabinet and is known for his proactiveness and being a problem solver. Mandaviya like many other BJP politicians is known for his RSS background and started his political journey as a karyakarta of Akhil Bhartiya Vidyarthi Parishad. Born in a small village named Hanol in Palitana taluk of Bhavnagar district in Gujarat Mandaviya's political career took a jump when the then chief minister of Gujarat, Narendra Modi decided to field him in Gujarat assembly polls of 2002 from Palitana which he won and became youngest member of the state assembly, a position he held till 2012 when he was elected to the upper house of parliament from Gujarat. Mandaviya's political rise saw another jump when he was made union health minister in 2021 when the country and the world was battling COVID pandemic but his management skills and attitude of getting things done led to successful implementation of world's largest vaccination program which has earned him laurels from the country as well as from the world. Mandaviya is also credited for sucessful roll out of Jan Aushadi Kendras which aims at providing generic medicines at affordable prices to poor. He has been honoured by UNICEF for his contribution towards women health care initiatives by distributing 10 crore sanitary pads through Jan Aushadi Kendras.

In this edition of ANI Podcast with Smita Prakash, Mandaviya talks about his mission on providing affordable quality healthcare to 1.4 billion people of this country. He also talks about the story of COVID vaccine research and how it was implemented amid criticism from different quarters. He also talks about challenges from Big Pharma and his passion for cycling and health routine. On the political front, he slams Rahul Gandhi for showing indifference over COVID protocols and opposition parties campaign for doing politics during COVID.

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Episode 77 - Decoding complex Maharashtra politics with Devendra Fadnavis

Splits, switchovers, broken alliances and political drama have become a part and parcel of Maharashtra politics since the day results of 2019 assembly elections were announced, the latest addition being NCP leader Ajit Pawar taking oath as deputy chief minister in Eknath Shinde led government on Sunday. Soon after Ajit Pawar along with eight other NCP MLAs were administered an oath at Raj Bhavan in Mumbai, many saw it as a revenge to NCP Supremo Sharad Pawar who had gone back on his alliance promise with BJP after sealing a deal for making an alliance government led by Devendra Fadnavis in 2019. In this edition of Podcast with Smita Prakash recorded on June 29, 2023 Fadnavis reveals the betrayal of one of their oldest allies, Shiv Sena, led by Uddhav Thackrey. He also talks about how Sharad Pawar allegedly manipulated both the camps by assuring them support for forming a stable government in the state and how he became the kingbreaker of Maha politics from kingmaker.

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Episode 79 - Mumbai’s Underworld, Interviewing Dawood to Delhi’s politics and much more with Sheela Bhatt

Sheela Bhatt is a veteran journalist with a career spanning over four decades and has covered a host of beats as a field reporter and has also donned the roles of an editor and publisher. Sheela is known for her work as a crime journalist and she has interviewed all mafia dons of Mumbai’s underworld, which include Karim Lala to Vardarajan Mudaliar and Chhota Shakeel to Dawood Ibrahim. She is one of the few journalists who has interviewed Dawood in-person at his Dubai home and is known to have had access to the mafia don for years. Recently, a picture posted by Sheela on her Twitter account went viral on social media in which she can be seen sitting with Dawood interviewing him. Apart from field journalism, Sheela has covered all general elections since 1979 and continues to write on politics, international affairs, among others. In this edition of ANI Podcast with Smita Prakash, Sheela talks about her entry into journalism, her personal life and marriage to Kanti Bhatt and the transition from being a revenue reporter to running a magazine of her own. She also talks about the Godhra riots and how religion is being used for defining politics.