What This Means

Ajay Srivastava is a former Indian Trade Service officer with expertise in trade policy making and WTO/FTA negotiations. He is also the founder of the Global Trade Research Initiative (GTRI). In this episode of What This Means, we discuss: — Where is the US-China tariff war headed, and who will suffer more? — Why is Trump pursuing this strategy? Will the US lose geopolitical trust and long-term tr...

Swarajya's Jaideep Mazumdar explains: - Why Bengali Hindus vote for Mamata Banerjee and her party - Why 'intellectuals' of Bengal have been silent about the Murshidabad violence - The drawbacks of BJP in West Bengal - Whether a strong RSS presence in Bengal can help the BJP in the assembly elections

Deepak M Nadiger has been CEO of multiple pharma companies and is an active angel investor in startups in the manufacturing & aligned economy space. In this episode we discuss the various challenges businesses, startups and investors face and what they expect from the government. — The funding & high capital cost — The scaling challenge & bad infra — ‘Interpretation Raj’— compliance bu...

Dr Prasanna Tantri is an Associate Professor of Finance and Executive Director at the Centre for Analytical Finance at the Indian School of Business. Time Stamps 00:00 — RBI's repo rate cut & accommodative stance: why it was necessary & what it means 02:40 — '6.5% GDP growth rate is below our potential.' 05:11 — Can borrowers expect a reduction in EMIs & loans? How will it...

The total number of pending cases in courts exceeds 5 crore, with the government being the largest litigant, accounting for 50% of these cases. Of the total pending cases, 85% are concentrated in district courts alone. Nikhil Mehra, a Supreme Court lawyer, and Abhishek Dwivedi, a lawyer practicing before the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court, break down the various problems facing the cour...

Sriram Balasubramanian is a US-based economist and the author of Kautilyanomics and Dharmanomics. In this episode we discuss the following with him: 00:00 - Why Dharmanomics & what was missing in the public discourse & academia 07:39 - Why was Swachh Bharat successful? 10:14 - Temple Economy - then vs now and what can we learn from our past? 18.24 - The ecosystem around the temple area (sh...

Karan Bhasin is an economist based in New York. His latest paper with Dr Surjit S Bhalla 'Four Facts On Inclusive Growth In India' examines the persistent beliefs about poverty in India. In this episode we discuss the following with him: 00:00 - The Poverty Measurement Debate in India & The Poverty Decline 09:36 - How Government Schemes Impact Poverty Data 12:10 - India's Poverty R...

In this episode with Prof Prasanna Tantri: - What to make of the RBI's monetary policy and rate cut - Will the rate cut help people looking to buy houses? - Why is real estate so pricey? - The RBI needs fixes for collecting data on inflation expectations. - Prof.'s take on the budget - Doubling the credit guarantee for MSMEs is not a good step.

Tax expert, Founder and CEO of Tax Compaas, Ajay Rotti, shares his top 3 expectations from Union Budget 2025. - Key Expectations - Ease of doing business - Personal Tax & GST - Focus on implementation & overcoming the administrative challenges

Rohit Pathania explains what is working & not working in the favour of political parties — AAP, BJP, Congress — ahead of the 2025 Delhi elections. -The general voting trend in the state -Who is winning the narrative war on the ground? -What's working & not working for BJP -Impact of Delhi elections in Punjab -Can Congress win back their lost voter base in Delhi, & more!

Are we looking for next two or three quarter GDP growth or are we looking at Vixit Bharat 2047, is the real question, says Prof. Prasanna Tantri. In this episode we discuss: 1. Key expectations from Budget 2024 2. What needs to be done to achieve 9-10% GDP growth 3. The GST system 4. Key issues hindering India's growth story 5. The freebie politics

Ananth Krishna Subhalakshmy explains: - Does the One Nation One Election Bill attack the basic structure of the Constitution? - How will the synchronisation of the state elections with the LS elections take place? - Will the NDA government get the support from other parties such as AIADMK, BJD, YSRCP for the ONOE Bill? and more!

Amit Yadav explains in detail, what really happened in Kundarki, Katehri, Meerapur and other seats that went for bypolls in UP. In this episode: - Has the BJP got its winning formula for the 2027 state elections? - What went wrong for the SP in the bypolls? - What's the future of BSP, and can ASP outperform BSP in the 2027 state elections?

Prof. Prasanna Tantri says the real worry is not the dip in GDP growth in Q2 FY25, but rather that it has been around 6-7% for quite some time now. The focus needs to be on changing this and accelerating growth for the long term. How can this be done? Find out in this episode of "What This Means" with Diksha Yadav. Prasanna Tantri is an Associate Professor of Finance and Executive Direct...

'Once a temple, always a temple -- is not a doctrine that only our dharmshashtras speak of, but this doctrine was recognised by the foreign British rule as well and there are examples of it, says Vikas Saraswat. In this episode: - What is the solution to stone pelting incidents and violence - What triggered the violence in Sambhal - 'Survey was hurried. Why go for every temple?': Why these argumen...

The only hope for the BJP in Jharkhand was to consolidate non-tribal votes, but they failed in doing so. Political analyst Suyash Jha explains what led to this failure and key takeaways from the state election results in this episode of WTM with Diksha Yadav. To listen to latest podcast episodes & quizzes download the Swarajya App: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://play.google.com/stor...

Sivakumar S, in this episode, explains various concerns related to satellite spectrum allocation on What This Means with Diksha . Security concerns regarding foreign players entering the Indian market The debate over spectrum allocation versus auctioning The impact of satellite broadband on terrestrial broadband service providers How TRAI can ensure fair pricing in the satellite broadband services...

"While the Waqf narrative is national, it is multifaceted. And its tone, tenor, and form change from region to region." In this episode, we discuss with Venu Gopal Narayanan and Ananth Krishna Subhalakshmy: How the Waqf narrative is playing out on the ground in Kerala, Karnataka, and Maharashtra Why there is a strong case for the Waqf Amendment Bill Why it is gaining support from people across rel...

Jaideep Mazumdar explains what Donald Trump's victory in the US presidential election means for Bangladesh in this episode of What This Means with DIksha Yadav. - Why the Muhammad Yunus-led interim government was laying grounds to ban ISKCON in Bangladesh - Impact of Trump's victory on the Bangladeshi Hindus and other religious minorities  - Press for early elections in Bangladesh: The best thing...

"I would say that the BJP, SP, and even the BSP have taken the caste equation into consideration in their candidate selection. However, as it seems right now, the BJP has an edge in six seats, while the SP has an edge in three seats of the nine seats up for bypolls," says Amit Yadav in this episode of What This Means with Diksha Yadav. In this episode: 1. How prepared was Congress... to not fight...

"The major challenge the BJP is currently facing in Jharkhand is consolidating votes from the lower economic classes. Due to schemes like the Mukhya Mantri Maiya Samman Yojana (which has influenced female voters) and the emergence of a new player in the coal mining belt, Jairam Mahato, the contest has become increasingly close and intense. So the worry for the BJP is not that it is not gaining on...

The 'R&AW (read RAA) ki sajish' narrative never gets old and is back yet again, says Rohit Pathania. In this episode, we discuss: The dominance of Khalistani elements in Canada and Canadian politics The rising discontent among people in Canada against their PM Justin Trudeau and the various challenges facing Canada The Chinese interference in Canadian elections  US backing Canada in the Nijjar...

'Those writing Uddhav Thackeray's speech are doing a disservice not to him but to the legacy of Balasaheb Thackeray. Balasaheb's legacy is being undermined by the speeches that Uddhav has been delivering that are filled with anti-Hindu rhetoric, whether it was the 'gobar' jibe and now the 'cow's mooing' comment. 'At this point, by making such comments, whose support is Thackeray trying to gain? It...

In conversation with Rohit Pathania and Krishna Dange - Can Haryana assembly election results shape Maharashtra elections? In this episode of 𝙒𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙈𝙚𝙖𝙣𝙨, we discuss: Haryana election results – key takeaways How Haryana results can shape Maharashtra elections The present situation of: a. Maratha voters b. SC/ST and Minority voters c. Farmers and businesses Is freebie politics the magic wand to...

From autorickshaw drivers to youngsters, at least six major groups that previously supported and voted for the Aam Aadmi Party in the last Delhi Vidhan Sabha elections are no longer backing the party. They feel deeply disappointed and angered by the AAP government's failure to deliver on its electoral promises, says Kapil Mishra, BJP Delhi's vice president, in this episode of What This Mea...