All Things Policy

In this episode of All Things Policy, Amit Kumar discusses with Anushka Saxena the implications of Huawei's release of its latest smartphone, Mate 60 Pro, for the US-China tech contestation. He delves into topics such as the sustainability of China's quest for self-reliance in chip manufacturing and the prospects for large-scale commercialisation of the SMIC-Huawei 7nm collaboration. Reading: The...

In the episode of All Things Policy, Saurabh Todi and Aditya Ramanathan discuss recent domestic and international developments related to India's nuclear power sector. They discuss the need for reforms to enable further growth of this sector.

In this episode Sowmya Prabhakar, Malathi Renati & Nidhi Chawla delve into two tangents of aging - elderly welfare & elderly care. They grapple with some solutions & explore how other countries are tackling them, and conclude with the role of society, government & markets.

The Office of the Principal Scientific Advisor has released the draft deep tech startup policy and is seeking stakeholder comments. Satya S Sahu, Sai Rahul Poruri and Bharath Reddy talk about the need for such a policy required and are some preliminary thoughts on the draft policy.

One of the pivotal tenets of India's agenda as G20 President this year is highlighting concerns and issues of the "Global South". India hosted the "Voice of Global South Summit" in January earlier this year. Anushka Saxena hosts Manoj Kelwalramani and Bharat Sharma to talk about what conceptual meaning the Global South carries, how India and China have pitched themselves as leaders of the Global S...

In this episode, Anushka Saxena quizzes Dr. Shambhavi Naik of Takshashila on her experience working with the Think20 working group of the 2023 G20 under India's presidency. Dr. Naik, who has been a Co-Chair of the Task Force on SDGs at the T20, shares her insights on the T20's mandate, the vetting process of Policy Briefs submitted as recommendations to the G20, and her encounters with "competitio...

In this episode, Anushka Saxena is joined by Dr. Nithiyanandam and Amit Kumar to discuss the use of remote sensing technologies in detecting traits of Chinese military radars along the Indian border, with a focus on Tibet and Aksai Chin. Reading: #3 Shifting Shadows: Military Radar Dynamics in Tibet

Six new members were added to the grouping in the recently concluded BRICS Summit in South Africa. The new BRICS will take shape in January 2024. In this episode, Sachin Kalbag and Anushka Saxena of Takshashila discuss what exactly this new grouping means. Given the latter's military and economic heft, how will India counter the China question in BRICS?

In this episode, Anushka Saxena and Amit Kumar discuss a proposal for the G20 to develop a transparent and collaborative data-sharing mechanism to reduce vulnerabilities induced by supply chain disruptions. The ideas discussed here are part of a Policy Brief submitted to the G20's working group, Think20, and can be perused here: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/618a55c4cb03246776b68559/t/645...

The Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023 is set to replace the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 as the country’s primary criminal procedural law. In this episode of Police Chowki, Javeed Ahmad (ex IPS & ex DGP of Uttar Pradesh) and Shrikrishna Upadhyaya break down the various significant changes proposed in the Sanhita and discuss its ramifications on the right to fair and speedy trial, indivi...

The India-Australia bilateral relationship has achieved great heights. Both countries have worked extensively across various areas, but two particular areas of interest have been defence and critical technology. In this episode of All Things Policy, Bharat Sharma and Josiah Neil speak about India and Australia's growing defence engagement in the Indian Ocean and the Pacific regions, and what leads...

While growth in disposable incomes has led to better access to clothing, the problems that fast fashion has brought on the environment are non-trivial. Shambhavi Naik and Suman Joshi discuss the dilemmas around fashion and sustainability in this episode Readings: Synthesis Report on United Nations System-wide Initiatives related to Fashion  7 Reasons I Wear The Same Thing Every Day

AI Governance is a topic of great interest today. Within the context of AI governance, often data is discussed from a perspective of data privacy, data security and so on. Sridhar, Bharath and Satya are looking at the fact that the few companies that have access to large amounts of data and discussing how this may impact AI development. They raise a lot of questions around the law, data ownership...

The Ministerial declaration of the G20 Digital Economy Working Group endorsed India-led digital public infrastructure (DPI). In this episode, hear from Keyzom Ngodup, Head of Digital Programming, UNDP Chief Digital Office, and Ritul Gaur, IIC Fellow, Ministry of Electronics and IT, on their experience from close quarters on how the groundbreaking consensus on DPI was achieved. Shrikrishna Upadhyay...

The Government of India plans to replace the Indian Penal Code, 1860, Criminal Procedure Code, 1973, and the Evidence Act, 1872 with the new  Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita, 2023, and the Bharatiya Sakshya Sanhita, 2023 respectively. In this episode, Javeed Ahmad (former IPS officer & DGP, Uttar Pradesh) and Shrikrishna Upadhyaya unpack the Nyaya Sanhita and diss...

Kingshuk Saha and Dr Rajeev Ranjan Chaturvedy, an Associate Professor at Nalanda University, discuss the reemergence of the Bay of Bengal as a geopolitical hotspot.

Malathi Renati goes over 8 principles of project management, that are essential to ensure successful implementations of policies, projects, and programs of any magnitude. Many policies fail at the implementation stage because of the complexities involved, but by employing industry best practices that have been derived from different sectors, projects can be equipped to overcome these challenges.

Fiscal profligacy in the form of short-term populism and unfunded defined benefit–based old pension schemes present an immediate threat to India’s public finances. It has the potential to hamper India’s growth in the long run. How can it be ensured that policymakers do not prioritise short-term political gains at the cost of long-term economic growth? Dr Jayaprakash Narayan discusses with Sarthak...

As India's Chandrayaan-3 makes its final approach to the lunar surface, Saurabh Todi and Aditya Ramanathan take a step back to consider why governments and companies have become interested in going to the Moon after a gap of five decades. Does the Moon really offer us mineral riches? And can great powers learn to cooperate on another celestial body when they struggle to get along on Earth?

In this episode of All Things Policy, Manoj Kewalramani discusses with Anushka Saxena, Amit Kumar and Kingshuk Saha details of the upcoming BRICS Summit, and the significance of BRICS to India. They also debate whether the BRICS common currency programme, and its endeavor to expand to new members, have merit.

In this episode of All Things Policy, Anushka Saxena quizzes Harshit Sharma on details of the recently announced prisoner exchange deal between Iran and the US, and other aspects of the backchannel talks going on between the two countries in Oman. The podcast also covers insights on the impediments facing the two countries in reviving the stalled nuclear talks and making a new deal possible.

The Directorate General of Foreign Trade issued a notification on August 3, 2023, which placed significant curbs on laptop and computer imports in the form of licensing requirements. In this episode of All Things Policy, Anupam Manur and Shrikrishna Upadhyaya discuss India’s tryst with failed trade policies, the unlikelihood of import restrictions creating a competitive domestic manufacturing sect...

In this episode of All Things Policy, Saurabh Todi, Shambhavi Naik and Aditya Ramanathan discuss the need to strengthen the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC), especially in light of the biosecurity risks posed by rapid technological advancements in fields of biotechnology and genetic engineering. Readings: The New Bioweapons Peril | Indian Public Policy Review BWC Scientific Experts Group to Com...

As India celebrates its 77th Independence Day, folks at the Takshashila Institution debate the meaning of Strategic Autonomy for India, and whether India's quest for strategic autonomy can yield significant results. The episode also features a debate on the value of multilateral institutions to strategic autonomy, and whether India has exercised it in the past – especially during the Cold War era.

In this episode of Police Chowki, Javeed Ahmad (ex-IPS & ex-DGP of State of Uttar Pradesh) and Shrikrishna Upadhyaya, do a deep dive into the criminal investigation and prosecution process in the context of a murder. They discuss theories of criminal justice and punishment, the importance of the FIR, how sentencing works and forms of clemency in our criminal justice system.