The Takshashila Podcast

In this podcast, Saurabh Todi and Manoj Kewalramani delve into the recent visit of the Chinese Foreign Minister to India for the SCO Summit and his bilateral meetings with foreign ministers of India, Pakistan, and Afghanistan. We also discuss the utility of Indian participation in SCO, BRICS, and RIC platforms. Join us as we explore these complex geopolitical issues and their potential outcomes.

Food is both central and fundamental to our existence. Yet, we have little or no relevant information about what we eat every day. Nutritional information is mandatory on packaged food products but do we really understand it? What kind of policy-making is required to demystify exactly this? Why is it important to know what you are consuming? Data journalist and health website editor Samarth Bansal joins Sachin Kalbag to break down this important aspect of our lives.

There’s no end in sight for sovereign debt crises in developing economies. What started with Sri Lanka and Lebanon has now spread to other countries, including Bolivia, Kenya, and Pakistan. What’s causing these crises? Are they likely to spread? And what can be done to tackle them? Anupam Manur joins Aditya Ramanathan to discuss some of the uncomfortable truths about sovereign debt crises and why they can be hard to solve. You can listen to our episode from last year on the Sri Lanka crisis here: All Things Policy Ep. 796 : What went wrong with the Sri Lankan economy?

How difficult is it to rent houses in India’s cities? How do the existing government policies impact the availability of rental housing? What can be done better? Suman Joshi and Sarthak Pradhan discuss this in this episode of All Things Policy. Here are some readings referred to in the podcast - Overview of Rental Housing market in India : scale, nature, failures and new initiatives India’s Housing Vacancy Paradox: How rent control and weak contract enforcement produce unoccupied units and a housing shortage at the same time Decline of rental housing in India: the case of Mumbai

In this episode of All Things Policy, Satya Sahu and Arjun Gargeyas discuss India's bold ambitions to become self-sufficient in the strategically important semiconductor space

In this episode of All Things Policy, Anushka Saxena discusses with Ambassador Vijay Gokhale the geopolitics of China-Taiwan relations, and what implications a crisis or conflict scenario between China and the US/ Taiwan will have for India.

India has deployed state-of-the-art Digital Public Infrastructure and has been using its G20 presidency to champion it. Ritul Gaur, Saurabh Todi, and Bharath Reddy try to unpack the implications of globalising India's DPI.

With unemployment rising in India, especially amongst the youth and women, Sridhar Krishna, Anupriya Mohta, and Sudisha Mishra discuss whether jobs will be an important issue in the upcoming 2024 elections. They examine what various parties are saying about jobs, how do voters typically vote, and debate if this will be a topic that people care enough about to impact voting patterns. Readings: Preparing for 2024 What do Indians vote for? New study indicates that development is not a priority Understanding the Indian Voter - Carnegie Endowment for International Peace Factbox: Key issues in India's massive general election | Reuters Himachal Pradesh Voters Have Said They're Concerned About Unemployment. Here's Why.

The much-awaited Indian Space Policy 2023 was unveiled recently after the Union Cabinet approved it in early April. The policy seeks to provide regulatory certainty to India’s fledgling private space sector. In this episode, Pranav R Satyanath and Shrikrishna Upadhyaya discuss the aims, objectives, and limitations of the policy, the major hits and misses of the policy, and other anticipated developments like FDI in the space sector. Readings: Takshashila Blogs - Assessing the New Space Policy 2023 Indian Space Policy - 2023

As the new academic year begins, the issue of unauthorized schools and the regulations around them will make news. What are the issues involved in regulation and what can be the way forward? Sarthak and Suman discuss this in this episode. Readings: Over 1300 Unauthorised Private Schools Identified in Karnataka REGULATION OF PRIVATE SCHOOLS IN INDIA Ease of operations for budget private schools in India

In this episode of All Things Policy, Anushka Saxena discusses with Amit Kumar and Harshit Sharma, the fine details of the recent Iran-Saudi-China Joint Agreement and what it means for the relevant actors in West Asia. @‌harshit2442

Over the last two decades, the India-US relationship has gradually become one of the world's most important partnerships. But there are sceptics. Where exactly do two of the world's largest democracies stand vis-a-vis each other? Sachin Kalbag poses some questions to Yusuf Unjhawala.

Regulation is an intrinsic part of what the government does. But what exactly is regulation? What does it mean? Is government the most competent to regulate? In this episode of ATP, Saurabh Todi and Anupam Manur discuss all these questions!

The Human Genome Project celebrated its 20th anniversary on Apr 14th. In this episode of All Things Policy, Shambhavi Naik and Saurabh Todi discuss the history of the Human Genome Project and its implication in the field of genome sequencing.

The horticulture department which maintains Bangalore’s iconic Cubbon Park, recently enforced restrictions on citizens who they believe ‘misuse the park in many ways, including playing games or engaging in romantic gestures’. Apart from the sheer harassment and moral policing, this entails, the new restrictions also go against the government’s AMRUT (Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation) scheme and the National Urban Greening Policy, 2014 which provides guidelines for the development of parks and green spaces in urban areas to encourage the creation of open spaces for public use.

Have you ever just wanted to skip all the traffic in the city, and try cycling to work? Sathya Sankaran, the Bicycle Mayor of Bangalore, and Leah Govias discuss the infrastructure in place that you can use to pursue cycling to work. Whether you work at a corporate and want to cycle to work or would like to travel by metro with your cycle, the Mayor speaks about the facilities in place and potential markers of growth and initiatives in place.

Many cab and auto-hailing apps have tried to challenge the might of Ola and Uber and have failed over the years. There's a new app called Namma Yatri that is doing something different and is acquiring more customers every day. Shailesh Chitnis and Bharath Reddy talk about the app and what's so different about it.

Public consultation on draft laws, regulations, and policy is critical to participatory democracy. Perspectives brought in by citizens can help better policymaking. To this effect, Civis is releasing a handbook titled Climate Voices - Citizen Participation in Environment and Climate Policy Making on this World Earth Day on April 22.

How do legal barriers impact women's employment in factories? Suman Joshi and Sarthak Pradhan discuss with Anu Maria Francis and April Suzanna Varkey the Kerala Government's recently drafted rules on the Occupational Safety, Health, and Working Conditions Code 2020. They discuss the limitations and the possible remedies.

In this episode, Shrikrishna Upadhyaya and Satya Sahu discuss the findings from the India Justice Report 2022, particularly the vacancies and infrastructure constraints within the judiciary and police and second order effects of the shortages.