The Takshashila Podcast

In a historic development, Australia will join the Malabar naval exercise in November along with India, the US and Japan. High Commissioner Barry O'Farell joins Nitin Pai and Pranay Kotasthane to talk about the exercise,

The United States, the Afghan government, and the Taliban are vying for advantage in the ongoing talks. In a conversation with Pranay Kotasthane and Aditya Ramanathan, Takshashila's distinguished fellow,

Reforms are long overdue in India's power sector. Does the recent draft Electricity Amendment Bill offer viable solutions? Anupam Manur and Sarthak Pradhan discuss the challenges India's power sector faces and analyze whether the draft bill provisions can

A recent declaration from a group of experts calls for a different strategy to deal with COVID-19: one of achieving herd immunity while protecting the vulnerable. The majority of experts oppose this, pointing out that the idea is impractical and

It has been a busy time for content moderation and social media. Facebook has updated its policy on holocaust denial and Delhi’s Peace and Harmony Committee

What’s fuelling political instability in Pakistan? Why are opposition parties rallying behind former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif - and against army chief, General Qamar Javed Bajwa?

The Arthashastra is famously believed to have been composed by Chanakya, the prime minister of Chandragupta Maurya. But a new wave of scholarship is challenging that idea. Was Chanakya real?

Around 97% of all global communications are facilitated by submarine telecom cables. These cables, and the online connectivity they enable, are crucial to India's economic recovery and progress.

Prolonged periods of isolation and loss of jobs due to COVID-19 have resulted in rising cases of suicide, depression, and anxiety. Open conversations about mental health are the best way to address the stigma surrounding it.

The US Subcommittee on Antitrust, Commercial, and Administrative Law came out with a 449-page report on monopoly power in digital markets. How might recommendations from this report impact the functioning of Amazon,

It's been an eventful couple of weeks in matters relating to space, with eight nations signing an agreement on moon exploration and new advances in the reusable craft.

From a transformation of cuisines to vanishing creole languages to loan words we use every day, the influence of Portugal on the fabric of life in the subcontinent is endlessly fascinating. Anirudh Kanisetti and Aditya Ramanathan

What state has the worst crime rates? That's not easy to tell because crime statistics in India aren't always accurate reflections of the actual crime situation. In this episode,

China recently launched the Global Data Security Initiative, laying out eight important principles. One of these principles talks about the need to use judicial processes to provide law enforcement access to data.

Why did India's auxiliary health workers, the ASHAs, go on strike? Sunila Dixit talks to Anirudh Kanisetti about the challenges ASHAs have faced - the increased burden from the COVID-19 pandemic, the lack of protective equipment,

Tensions between China and Taiwan are on the rise due to repeated Chinese military drills and activities in the Taiwan Strait. In this episode, Manoj and Suyash talk to Sunila about what it means for the future of China-Taiwan relations, and what should

The stalemate between the Union and the states with regards to GST compensation continues. Even if it is resolved, it is going to be a temporary fix. States will need to explore ways to leverage their untapped revenue generation

Facebook reportedly aims to integrate Messenger and Instagram Direct. While this may have been in the works all along, it's now stirring murmurs about US antitrust action. Aditya Ramanathan joins Rohan Seth and Prateek Waghre to break down recent events.

ICMR's 2017 ethical guidelines need a revision, with more focus on fundamental principles that govern the moral decisions and on ethical dilemmas that arise while conducting clinical trials/biomedical and health research.

Interventions against problematic discourse online can result in amplifying it due a combination of group dynamics and algorithmic reward. For example, retweeting something controversial to debunk it might end up making it more popular. How can different