July 20, 2024

Good morning. Every Saturday, we publish the results of polls from feature stories that were published the past week. We also give a brief overview of the topics that were discussed.

🗳️ POLL RESULTS – Week 184

🗓️ THE WEEK THAT WAS

Should India go ahead with its cervical cancer vaccine programme?

Daily | 15 July 2024

The government is pushing for a comprehensive vaccination effort against the human papillomavirus (HPV), which causes the majority of cervical cancer cases. However, there are doubts about whether a government-sponsored vaccination programme should be the way to go. Read more on this here.

Have organised franchise leagues helped India’s sports ambitions grow?

Daily | 16 July 2024

People saw the IPL’s success and had the understandable idea – let’s replicate this model for other sports. We’ve now got franchise-based leagues for kabaddi, hockey, and badminton, to name a few. Their success compared to the IPL might not stack up. Not many leagues do, but they have more eyeballs. However, have these leagues contributed to India’s overall sporting landscape to compete at the top level, like in the Olympics? Have they done anything for India’s sporting ambitions? We discuss it here.

NATO @75 – Is its future secure?

Daily | 17 July 2024

NATO is now 75 years old, and the threats it faces have considerably changed. The array of challenges ranges from terrorism to nuclear proliferation to piracy and cyberattacks. Besides, the rise of right-wing parties and coalitions across Europe, and perhaps another in the US under Trump, will complicate matters further. As the NATO summit in Washington concluded, the question is, what is its future? We unpack this here.

Can cash transfers help alleviate women’s poverty?

Daily | 18 July 2024

Ahead of the upcoming Budget, the government is mulling a cash transfer scheme for poor urban women. In the past, several states have had their own such schemes. Does this policy actually work on the ground and produce results, or is it merely a vote-getting tool? Find the debate here.

Is 100% electrification of the Indian Railways a good idea?

Daily | 19 July 2024

The government has big plans for the Railways, not the least of which is giving them a zero carbon footprint. The goal is 100% electrification of the entire railway network and attain net-zero status by 2030. On paper, this sounds like a great idea. But is it really? More on this story here.