Sinopsis
The Takshashila Institution is a networked, next-generation public policy institution. A think tank that works on India's national interest, and a public policy school that equips talented people to run the marathon to transform India.
Episodios
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Invisible Data Workers Powering Machine Learning Models
17/03/2026 Duración: 24minAI systems depend on vast amounts of labelled data, produced by “data workers” who tag images, categorise text, and review content so machine-learning models can function accurately and safely. While the data-annotation market is rapidly expanding, the labour behind it often remains invisible. Much of this work uses BPO firms in countries like India, where workers - frequently women - are recruited with promises of flexible work-from-home jobs. In reality, many face vague contracts and limited legal or mental-health protections. As AI scales globally, this raises urgent questions about the ethical sustainability of data annotation and who should be responsible for safeguarding the workers who power it. Join Kripa Koshy in conversation with Bharath Reddy and Suman Joshi as they unpack all this and more in this episode.All Things Policy is a daily podcast on public policy brought to you by the Takshashila Institution, Bengaluru.
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Behind the Scenes of Conflict Mediation
16/03/2026 Duración: 25minIn this episode of All Things Policy, Pakistan researcher Aishwaria Sonavane speaks with peace mediation expert Ameya Kilara. Drawing on her experience facilitating dialogues between India and Pakistan, as well as in Syria, Kilara discusses what the day-to-day work of mediation actually looks like beyond the negotiating table. The conversation explores how mediators operate in low-trust environments between stakeholders and the patterns they often notice in peace efforts that policymakers sometimes overlook. The episode also reflects on whether the idea of a “peace process” still holds in today’s geopolitical climate, and how social media and domestic political pressures are reshaping the possibilities for conflict resolution.All Things Policy is a daily podcast on public policy brought to you by the Takshashila Institution, Bengaluru.
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Can India Solve the LPG Crisis?
14/03/2026 Duración: 26minIn this episode of All Things Policy, Bhumika Sevkani and Anisree Suresh unpack India’s LPG supply challenges amid the ongoing crisis in West Asia. They examine how geopolitical disruptions affect India’s cooking fuel supply, assess the government’s interventions in managing LPG demand and supply, and discuss both the immediate responses and long-term solutions to strengthen India’s household energy security.All Things Policy is a daily podcast on public policy brought to you by the Takshashila Institution, Bengaluru.Find out more on our research and other work here:
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Financing The Future Of Indian Sport
13/03/2026 Duración: 35minIn this episode of All Things Policy, Malathi Renati gets an insider view from Anil Kumar, Founder of Great SportsTech, on Financing the Future of Sport in India. As India’s sports economy accelerates toward a projected $130B opportunity, they unpack what’s really driving growth — from the ₹4,480 Cr Union sports budget and Khelo India’s expanding footprint to CSR investments, PPP models, and the growing appetite of the society. Anil shares hard-earned insights on bridging public funding gaps, scaling private capital, and building resilient, future-ready facilities. If you're interested in the intersection of policy, markets, and sport, this conversation offers a ground-level view of where India is headed.All Things Policy is a daily podcast on public policy brought to you by the Takshashila Institution, Bengaluru.
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Unpacking the 16th Finance Commission Recommendations
12/03/2026 Duración: 38minFederalism is a defining feature of India’s republic. It shapes the relationship between the Union government and the states. One of the important aspects of this relationship is how revenues are shared. This is where the Finance Commission comes in. It helps shape how money flows from the union to the states and how it is distributed among the states. In this episode, Sarthak Pradhan and Suman Joshi reflect and discuss the recommendations of the 16th Finance Commission.All Things Policy is a daily podcast on public policy brought to you by the Takshashila Institution, Bengaluru.Find out more
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Anthropic's Pentagon Problem and the Inevitability of AI Diffusion
11/03/2026 Duración: 27minTwo recent developments have thrust Anthropic into the centre of AI geopolitics. The company has accused three Chinese research labs of running “industrial-scale” campaigns to reverse engineer its frontier models. At the same time, it has been labelled a supply-chain risk by the Trump administration over safety guardrails for the use of AI. Bharath Reddy and Shobhankita Reddy, researchers in technology geopolitics at the Takshashila Institution, unpack what all this reveals about AI diffusion and the way forward in Military AI.All Things Policy is a daily podcast on public policy brought to you by the Takshashila Institution, Bengaluru.
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Why the Last Internet Shutdown Has Already Happened
10/03/2026 Duración: 32minIn this episode of All Things Policy, Shobhankita Reddy and Ashwin Prasad on satellite internet, smuggled Starlink terminals in Sudan and Iran, Africa's explosive adoption, and the argument that developing nations — not developed ones — will become the biggest customers of connectivity from space.All Things Policy is a daily podcast on public policy brought to you by the Takshashila Institution, Bengaluru.Find out more on our research and other work here:
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The Newer Era of China's Socio-Economic Trajectory
09/03/2026 Duración: 41minAs China convenes its 'Two Sessions', the draft of Beijing's 15th Five-Year Plan is grabbing global attention. The plan features, among other domains, a heavy focus on building Science & Tech Self-Reliance and a modern industrial system. It also reiterates the party-states now-long time impetus for boosting domestic consumption and cracking down on involution and overcapacity.In this episode of All Things Policy, Amit Kumar discusses with Anushka Saxena the meat of the matter in terms of these socio-economic priorities of the Chinese party-state – what they are planning, how they plan to tackle both the challenges and the opportunities, and what the world can expect from Beijing in the next five years.Also check out Amit Kumar's latest paper with Manoj Kewalramani on previewing and decoding China's 15th FYP: https://eyeonchina.substack.com/p/china-at-the-cross-roads-of-the-14thAll Things Policy is a daily podcast on public policy brought to you by the Takshashila Institution, Bengaluru
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India’s Trade Strategy for the Emerging World
06/03/2026 Duración: 25minIn this episode of All Things Policy, Aishwaria Sonavane and Anisree Suresh explore India’s evolving trade strategy in a volatile global environment. We discuss whether India’s growing network of FTAs can help diversify export markets, how the EU agreement could reshape trade flows, and whether domestic reforms must complement deeper trade liberalisation.All Things Policy is a daily podcast on public policy brought to you by the Takshashila Institution, Bengaluru.Find out more on our research and other work here:
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The War That Changed West Asia Overnight
05/03/2026 Duración: 45minThe US and Israel struck Iran on the morning of February 28. Israel's Air Force said it flew over 200 fighter jets and fired 1,200+ munitions at Iran on Day 1 of the joint US-Israel campaign, killing Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei along with top military commanders, including IRGC chief Mohammad Pakpour, Armed Forces Chief Abdolrahim Mousavi, Defence Minister Aziz Nasirzadeh, and National Security Council Secretary Ali Shamkhani. Iran retaliated by firing hundreds of missiles across the Gulf, hitting civilian targets in the UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Oman and even Cyprus —internationalising the conflict and inflicting economic pain on Arab states.Join Indian Air Marshal TD Joseph and Colonel KPM Das for a no-holds-barred military analysis: the breathtaking complexity of achieving air superiority over Tehran, the intelligence backbone that enabled precise leadership targeting, Iran's punishing counterstrikes, US-Israel objectives versus Tehran's survival play, the reaction o
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Congress and the Making of India-U.S. Relations
03/03/2026 Duración: 32minIn this episode of the All Things Policy podcast, Vanshika Saraf and Abhishek Kadiyala examine the often-overlooked role of the U.S. Congress in shaping India–U.S. relations from independence to the present day. While the President is typically seen as the face of American foreign policy, the conversation highlights how Congress—empowered by Article I of the U.S. Constitution through its control over funding, trade, war powers, appointments, and oversight—has played a decisive role in influencing the trajectory of bilateral ties. Tracing shifts from the era of the “imperial presidency” and Cold War alignments to the rise of congressional caucuses, diaspora lobbying, and today’s hyper-partisan politics, the episode explores how internal dynamics within Congress have shaped perceptions of India. It also assesses how India has adapted its engagement strategy over time and evaluates Congress’s response to recent strains in the relationship, before looking ahead to what institutional flux in Washington and upcomin
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Technology Denial Regimes and the Limits of Containment
02/03/2026 Duración: 39minIn this episode of All Things Policy, Arindam Goswami speaks with Shreya Ramakrishnan about the findings and lessons from his discussion document on technology denial regimes and the evolving tools of technological statecraft.Drawing on historical case studies from nuclear non-proliferation, space technology controls, and supercomputing sanctions, they examine what determines whether a technology blockade succeeds or fails. The conversation explores the concept of strategic reversal, the role of talent mobility, financial choke points such as SWIFT, standards-setting battles, and the growing difficulty of containing fast-moving knowledge technologies like AI.As tech wars intensify, what are the real trade-offs for both the imposing and the targeted country? And what does this mean for India’s strategic positioning?Read Arindam’s discussion document here: https://takshashila.org.in/content/publications/20260218-Technology-Denial-Regimes.htmlAll Things Policy is a daily podcast on public policy brought to you b
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Analysing India's AI Ecosystem
27/02/2026 Duración: 28minIn this episode of All Things Policy, Adya Madhavan speaks with Bharat Reddy and Anwesha Sen about the AI Impact Summit and their insights on some of the ideas that were discussed. They analyse the strategic, economic, and physical realities of India's growing AI ecosystem.All Things Policy is a daily podcast on public policy brought to you by the Takshashila Institution, Bengaluru.Find out more on our research and other work here: https://takshashila.org.in
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Samaj, Sarkar, Bazaar: Why Domestic Founders Are Winning
26/02/2026 Duración: 39minFrom local market immersion (Samaj), to capital maturity (Bazaar), to digital public goods and regulatory shifts (Sarkar), Sowmya Prabhakar and Shobhankita Reddy unpack the ecosystem changes enabling domestic founders to outperform diaspora-led teams.All Things Policy is a daily podcast on public policy brought to you by the Takshashila Institution, Bengaluru.Find out more on our research and other work here: https://takshashila.org.in/research-areas
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Takeaways from Munich Security Conference
25/02/2026 Duración: 27minClosely following the heels of the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos in January 2026, the conversations in the Munich Security Conference (MSC) centred around the US President Trump and the ideological contestations he represents. What exactly unfolded at the MSC? What are the key highlights? What does it mean for Europeans and even India? To answer these questions, tech geopolitics researcher Lokendra is joined by Manoj Kewalramani, chair of the Indo-Pacific Studies Programme. Manoj has just returned to India after attending the MSC and shared many prescient observations in this episode of All Things Policy.All Things Policy is a daily podcast on public policy brought to you by the Takshashila Institution, Bengaluru.
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Key Provisions in the India-US Trade Deal
24/02/2026 Duración: 30minIn this episode of All Things Policy, Bhumika Sevkani speaks with Anisree Suresh, Research Analyst at the Takshashila Institution to break down the India–US interim trade agreement. They examine the key provisions and sectoral impacts, including the continued uncertainty around the deal. The episode also attempts to answer what India's trade strategy should look like going ahead. All Things Policy is a daily podcast on public policy brought to you by the Takshashila Institution, Bengaluru.Find out more on our research and other work here:
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The Momentum of Japan’s New Mandate
23/02/2026 Duración: 32minJapan is at a political turning point. In this episode, Leah Govias and Vanshika Saraf break down how Japan’s system of government and electoral rules shape power, before analysing Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s historic victory - what drove her decisive mandate, how new coalition dynamics may unfold, and what her leadership means for Japan’s economic choices, defence posture, and strategic relationships with the United States, China, and India in an increasingly contested Indo-Pacific.All Things Policy is a daily podcast on public policy brought to you by the Takshashila Institution, Bengaluru.
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Understanding India's Mineral Diplomacy
20/02/2026 Duración: 41minOver the past year, India has stepped up its critical mineral diplomacy with a notable urgency. There has been a flurry of activity with several international partnerships - both bilateral and plurilateral - inked. Shobhankita Reddy is joined by Anindita Sinh, Research Associate at CSEP's Foreign Policy and Security Studies, to make sense of it all. They discuss why these partnerships are key, the current scope and status of these agreements, and what India must negotiate for at international fora vis-à-vis critical minerals.Find Anindita's report on this, aptly titled Partnerships for Self-Reliance, in full here: https://csep.org/working-paper/partnerships-for-self-reliance-internationalising-indias-critical-minerals-sector/All Things Policy is a daily podcast on public policy brought to you by the Takshashila Institution, Bengaluru.
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What Could Model High Court Rules Look Like?
19/02/2026 Duración: 35minHigh Courts across India have evolved their own unique sets of rules and processes for litigation practices and judicial administration in the courts. Over the years, legal practitioners have found that some of these rules have become redundant due to emerging technologies or changes to rules have been ad-hoc and inconsistent, creating gaps in the court ecosystem. Kripa Koshy (Staff Programme Manager, Takshashila) is joined by Atishya Kumar (Senior Research Associate, DAKSH) to discuss possible reforms to High Court Rules as well as Practice Directions, drawing from best practices across India. DAKSH is continuing to solicit feedback on these draft documents, so follow this link to share your views here: www.dakshindia.org/model-high-court-rules/All Things Policy is a daily podcast on public policy brought to you by the Takshashila Institution, Bengaluru.
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India Should Double Down On Rare Earth Recycling
18/02/2026 Duración: 32minCritical minerals are materials and, unlike oil, can be recovered and reused from end-of-life products. Importantly, recycling offers a pathway to reduce dependence on China and its overbearing processing capability. In this episode, Shobhankita Reddy and Tannmay Kumarr Baid discuss what India must do to operationalise this part of the mineral value chain.Read the research paper on urban mining in full here: https://takshashila.org.in/content/publications/20260123-India-Should-Double-Down-On-Rare-Earth-Recycling.htmlAll Things Policy is a daily podcast on public policy brought to you by the Takshashila Institution, Bengaluru.