The Takshashila Podcast

The year 2023 was globally the hottest on record. India was no different. Temperature spikes in 2024 are indeed worrying policymakers, but the common citizen is perhaps the worst affected. To understand what is happening in our cities, Dr Y Nithiyanandanam and Sachin Kalbag discuss the Urban Heat Island effect and its impact.

The United States has accused Russia of developing a space-based "nuclear device" capable of targeting other satellites. What could such a device be and why would states want such weapons? Ashwin Prasad and Aditya Ramanathan delve into the frightening rationales for waging nuclear warfare in our orbits.

South Korea's economic trajectory from a low-income, agriculture-based economy in the 1950s to a high-income, technology, and innovation leader is a testament to its remarkable transformation. What facilitated this transition? Were there any unintended consequences?  In this episode of All Things Policy, Anisree Suresh, Anupam Manur and Sarthak Pradhan discuss the insights that India can draw from South Korea's experience.

Listen to this episode of All Things Policy where Anushka Saxena and Sridhar Krishna question India's stance on digital trade and opposing the moratorium on tariffs on electronic transmission. They ask why a country which is a net exporter and the fourth largest exporter of digital services would seek to impose tariffs on digital trade.

India’s regional connectivity strategy has seemingly focused its efforts on maritime domains. A recent working paper by the Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP) makes the case for greater inland connectivity, particularly between India's Northeast region and the Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal sub-region, given the potential it holds for greater economic activity. Join Kripa Koshy and Riya Sinha, Associate Fellow at the Centre for Social and Economic Progress (CSEP) in this episode to unpack these considerations further.

In this episode of All Things Policy, Rohan Pai and Anisree Suresh discuss the various knee-jerk responses from educational institutions to prevent academic dishonesty in the ChatGPT era. Should bans be placed on the use of ChatGPT by students? Should schools and universities restructure assignment prompts to circumvent the capabilities of ChatGPT? Or, by contrast, should teachers use ChatGPT ethically as a tool for teaching? Listen to the episode to find out!

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited China in the last week of April in what many feel is a landmark step towards some kind of normalisation of relations between the two superpowers. But, was it really? Blinken's trip is the latest high-level contact between the two nations that have tempered the public acrimony that drove relations to historic lows in 2023. Sachin Kalbag discusses this tricky yet far-reaching issue with Manoj Kewalramani and Anushka Saxena.

Join Rohan Pai as he quizzes Satya Sahu on the way in which technology intersects with political parties' strategy within the broader context of elections in an information age. This is the first in a two part podcast series on Technology and Elections.

Cancer is fast emerging as a matter of public health concern in India. Challenges are aplenty with limited access to affordable and quality healthcare and shortage of skilled healthcare professionals. Additionally, for breast cancer, it’s also the cultural barriers, misinformation and stigma associated with this disease. Malathi Renati hosts the award winning oncologist Dr Soumya Holla, a senior breast cancer surgeon and entrepreneur who shares her insights about cancer treatment in India.

In this episode of All Things Policy, Bharat Sharma speaks to Dr. Saya Kiba from the Kobe City University of Foreign Studies, on how Japan views the Indo-Pacific, its regional objectives its interests, and the Quad's role in Japanese foreign policy. Dr. Kiba also comments on the trajectory of Japan's relations with India.

The ubiquitous semiconductor chips have acquired huge importance in today’s geopolitical environment. Join Arindam Goswami and Satya Sahu in this episode of All Things Policy as they uncover the intricate world of chip-based hardware backdoors, exploring their implications for cybersecurity, national security and public policy.

The Politburo of the Communist Party of China met in late April to discuss the country’s economic situation. It also announced that the long-awaited third plenary session will be held in July. Third plenums historically have charted the course for economic policy. In this episode, Anushka Saxena and Manoj Kewalramani breakdown the readout of the Politburo meeting, analysing the CPC’s economic priorities.

93 percent of India’s workforce is informally employed and migrant workers, who move seasonally from villages to cities, form an extremely vulnerable group in this category. What are some of the chief concerns of such workers and how could India's recent plans to introduce a living wage by 2025 impact them?  Join Kripa Koshy and Divya Varma, Co-founder and Director (Knowledge and Policy) at Work Fair and Free, an organization committed to advancing worker-centric knowledge and action, to learn more.

In this episode of All Things Policy, Takshashila Research Analyst Anushka Saxena is in conversation with independent research scholar Suyash Desai. The two discuss the recent reform announced in the Chinese military vis-a-vis disbanding of its Strategic Support Force (SSF), and the institution of a new Information Support Force (ISF). Suyash places this development in the larger context of reforms in the PLA, and its preparedness to fight "informatised" wars.

Born out of war more than 50 years ago, Bangladesh has hauled itself out of poverty to become one of the fastest-growing economies in the Asia Pacific region. But the nation still faces many challenges—climate change threatens to overwhelm its low-lying lands, corruption is endemic, and many critics complain that democracy and freedom of speech are under pressure. In this episode of All Things Policy, Rakshith Shetty quizzes Dr Sreeradha Datta on the current developments in Bangladesh. Do check out her latest book on the theme - https://www.amazon.in/-/hi/Sreeradha-Datta/dp/9356404216

An allegedly unscrupulous one person company has been handling data and infrastructure for DigiYatra, the biometric boarding system used at airports. Anupam Manur and Bharath Reddy discuss the implications.

Join Ashwin Prasad, Shreya Ramakrishnan, and Tanay Ravichandran, three policy enthusiasts sharing their latest discoveries in the world of public policy! A new course on ⁠Unpacking Urban Governance⁠ on OpenTakshashila is now accepting applications. Click ⁠here⁠ for more information.

Is it possible for AI to be racist? When Google's AI chatbot 'Gemini' launched a new text-to-image feature on February 1st, it received a barrage of accusations on social media for possessing an inherent reluctance towards generating images of light-skinned, Caucasian people. These accusations came after instances where the Founding Fathers were shown to be Native American and East Asian men, while the Pope was represented by an Indian woman. The Senior Vice President of Google responded soon after that the bias was an unintended consequence of programming the chatbot to represent a variety of ethnicities. Should text-to-image models accurately reflect the existing prejudices in society based on training data? Or should they, as in the case of Gemini, artificially promote inclusion and diversity as per the prevailing value judgment at the time? Join Rohan Pai and Ashwin Reddy in this episode of All Things Policy as they tackle these difficult, controversial questions. A new course on Unpacking U

In this episode of All Things Policy, Kripa Koshy and Saurabh Todi discuss the recent controversy around the high sugar content in Nestle baby food in certain countries. They discuss the need for informed regulation and better compliance in India. A new course on Unpacking Urban Governance on OpenTakshashila is now accepting applications. Click here for more information.

In this episode, Ashwin Prasad quizzes Saurabh Todi on the recent Trilateral Technology Dialogue in Seoul. With a focus on strengthening supply chain resilience and fostering trade partnerships, Saurabh provides insights into the significance of this event. Join them as they unravel the discussions, explore key outcomes, and analyze the implications for technology geopolitics.