The Takshashila Podcast

Kingshuk Saha and Dr. Nithiyanandam Yogeswaran analyse National Geospatial Policy 2022 in this episode. They discuss the key features of the policy paper and its immense economic and governance potential.

The first week of March is always key to the Chinese political calendar, with the beginning of the Two Sessions. The annual NPC and CPPCC meetings help frame the key policy priorities for the Party and state each year. So what’s been going on at the Two Sessions this year? Listen to this discussion between Anushka Saxena and Manoj Kewalramani.

Talking about sex is taboo in India. This means schools don't teach students about reproduction, contraception, and consent. In this episode of All Things Policy, Leah Govias and Harshit Kukreja discuss  Sexual Education, its need, the effects, and the way forward.

In this episode of All Things Policy, Amit Kumar quizzes Anushka Saxena on the reforms of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, the relevance and scope of the PLA's military drills and power projection at home and abroad, and lessons for India.

World Bank’s Identification for Development (ID4D) initiative estimates that around 850 million people in the world do not have official legal identification. That is not to say the rest of the 7 billion are covered under robust identification systems. Lack of identification leads to denial of services, benefits, and opportunities. In this episode, Shrikrishna Upadhyaya and Ritul Gaur (IIC Fellow, MEITY) speak to Jonathan Marskell (Senior Program Officer, ID4D) on ID4D initiatives around promoting Digital IDs. They discuss the potential of digital ID systems to become digital public goods and the principles of identification for sustainable development.

Have you ever tried to subscribe to something on an international platform only to find that your Indian credit or debit card gets declined? It’s been over a year since RBI’s mandate on recurring payments kicked in, but there are still issues in processing some payments. Shrikrishna Upadhyaya and Bharath Reddy discuss the recurring payments nightmare

The Censor Board in India enjoys a wide remit of powers to not only certify films but also demand cuts and modifications in movies and even refuse certification. It has come under criticism for hampering freedom of expression, demanding unreasonable cuts in movies and infantalising audience choices.

In today’s world, high technology is directly linked to national power. Hence, it will have an outsized role in geopolitics. In this episode, Shrikrishna Upadhayaya hosts a conversation with Pranay Kotasthane on the trends in the next decade as governments focus more on the competition in the high technology domain.

In this episode, Shrikrishna Upadhyaya speaks to Shantanu Srivastava, Energy Finance Analyst at the Institute for Energy Economics & Financial Analysis on sustainable financing and sovereign green bonds. They discuss India’s huge climate financing needs,  Government of India’s recent first & successful sovereign green bond issuance, and incentives for investors to finance climate action through green bonds.

In this episode, Shrikrishna Upadhyaya quizzes Manoj Kewalramani on his characterisation of the post-pandemic world order as a great power competition in an increasingly multipolar world. Manoj explains the reasons behind the fluidity in the word order today, the areas that will witness great power competition between the U.S. and China, and the opportunities middle powers can exploit amidst this volatility.

In this episode of All Things Policy, Anushka Saxena discusses with Amit Kumar the recent developments in the semiconductor supply chain as a result of the U.S.-China rivalry and its implications.

The World Health Organisation is working on a Global Pandemic Treaty which will seek to address the gaps in global pandemic identification, preparedness, and response. The proposed treaty is comprehensive in nature and seeks to promote equitable access to resources during a pandemic, among other things. In this episode, Shambhavi Naik and Saurabh Todi discuss the provisions of the proposed treaty and what to expect from it.

India needs more female representation in politics and the Women's Reservation Bill can be an effective tool to implement this. Anurpiya Mohta and Sudisha Mishra discuss the need for the Bill, what else will it take to ensure women's participation in politics, and whether or not other countries have had success with political reservations.

In this episode,Manoj Kewalramani, in conversation with Aditya Ramanathan, offers us a rare glimpse into how China’s diplomacy actually works and the challenges it presents for those on the other side of the negotiating table.

In this episode, Sarthak Pradhan & Shrikrishna Upadhaya speak to Jatin Christopher (Partner, JCSS, Bengaluru) & Surya Prakash B.S. (Programme Director, DAKSH, Bengaluru) on the work of the Coalition of GSTAT in advocating for institutional design, operating model, and legal framework for a truly modern GSTAT.

In this episode of All Things Policy, Suman Joshi and Shrikrishna Upadhyaya host Tanima Kishore, Project Coordinator - Sexual and Gender Based Violence, Migration and Asylum Project, who discusses her work in identifying, building and implementing community-based approaches to bridging the gap between survivors and formal institutional mechanisms.

COVID-19 was at a macro level a social dilemma of human cooperation and prosociality. In this episode of All Things Policy, Harshit Kukreja and Carl Jaison discuss COVID-19, human cooperation, misinformation, biological reasoning and much more.

Mumbai has won 41 Ranji Trophy titles in the tournament's 88-year history, making it the winningest cricket team in India. But it has not won a single title in the last seven years, and it did not even make it to the knockout stage this year. What ails Mumbai cricket and what policy interventions can help the team of Gavaskar, Vengsarkar, Shastri and Tendulkar return to its primacy? Sports Editor Clayton Murzello provides the answers.

In this episode, Manoj Kewalramani, Aditya Ramanathan, and Pranav Satyanath discuss the recent Chinese spy balloon crisis between U.S. and China.

Developed by a startup incubated out of IIT, BharOS is being pitched as an answer to Google's Android and Apple's iOS. Can BharOS overcome the network effects to challenge the might of the tech giants? Bharath Reddy and Pranav Satyanath talk about how this could play out.