Topic: Bharat

India is preparing for a massive vaccination drive using the AstraZeneca jab and a local version from Bharat Biotech. Despite having four times the U.S. population and significant squalor, India reports half the number of COVID-19 deaths. The country recently conducted nationwide "dry runs" to test health infrastructure, cold storage, and online databases for mass inoculation.

During the G20 summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi utilized signage referring to the host nation as "Bharat" rather than India. This shift reflects a growing movement within the country to move away from colonial-era naming conventions. The change has sparked international discussion regarding the official renaming of the state in diplomatic contexts.

India begins a nationwide vaccine drive using the Oxford-AstraZeneca shot and the indigenous "Covaxin" by Bharat Biotech. The latter has raised alarm bells for being approved before clinical trials were concluded. The hosts question why India's death numbers are so low compared to the U.S. despite its much larger population.