Krish Ashok and Pavan Srinath explore the science, knowledge, and the wonder of Indian home cooking, on Episode 157 of The Pragati Podcast.Krish Ashok (@krishashok on Twitter) reimagines the future of work and workspaces by day, but has done a range of incredible things in his free time. He has been one of India's funniest bloggers over the last two decades: Doing Jalsa & Showing Jilpa -- www.krishashok.me . He is a composer and performer of music -- www.soundcloud.com/krishashok . Over the last few years, he has been exploring and explaining food science and Indian home cooking from a fresh perspective.Ashok has written his first book, Masala Lab: The Science of Indian Cooking, published by Penguin India in December, 2020. It is available at https://amzn.to/3qXxi3PFor more links to books, articles, and podcast episodes related to the discussion, please visit tiny.cc/pragati157For all queries and feedback, email us at [email protected] or reach out to host Pavan Srinath at @zeusisdead on Twitter: twitter.com/zeusisdeadFollow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: instagram.com/pragatipod & Twitter: twitter.com/thinkpragati & Facebook: facebook.com/thinkpragatiThe Pragati Podcast is made possible thanks to the support of The Takshashila Institution and the Independent Public-Spirited Media Foundation (IPSMF).See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Kaushiki Sanyal explains how bills become laws in India, on Episode 156 of The Pragati Podcast. Kaushiki Sanyal and host Pavan Srinath discuss how legislative agendas are decided, and the varying paths that are taken in an issue giving rise to a draft bill or amendment, how that moves through the Indian legislative system, gets passed as an Act, and eventually becomes the law of the land. They also discuss the roles played by the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha in this process, the role of parliamentary Standing Committees and other committees, the Speaker, and more.Dr. Kaushiki Sanyal is the CEO and Co-Founder of Sunay Policy Advisory, a public policy research and training consultancy and is a Senior Fellow at Policy Research and Management Network (PRAMAN), a think tank based in Gurgaon.Kaushiki has over 15 years of experience in the field of public policy and has worked with NDTV, PRS Legislative Research, and the Bharti Institute of Public Policy at the Indian School of Business. She has co-authored three books, including Oxford India Short Introductions: Public Policy in India (2017), and Shaping Policy in India: Alliance, Advocacy, Activism (2018).For more links to books, articles, and podcast episodes related to the discussion, please visit tiny.cc/pragati156For all queries and feedback, email us at [email protected] or reach out to host Pavan Srinath at @zeusisdead on Twitter: twitter.com/zeusisdeadFollow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: instagram.com/pragatipod & Twitter: twitter.com/thinkpragati & Facebook: facebook.com/thinkpragatiThe Pragati Podcast is made possible thanks to the support of The Takshashila Institution and the Independent Public-Spirited Media Foundation (IPSMF).See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Professor Gautam Menon talks to host Pavan Srinath about the Nobel Prize, what they mean for scientists, and how they shape science.In episode 155 of The Pragati Podcast, Gautam and Pavan discuss the outsized role that the Nobel Prize plays in being an aspirational goal for young scientists, how they create role models, the work, and the people who win the awards, and the dynamics at play.Gautam I Menon (@MenonBioPhysics) is a Professor of Physics and Biology at Ashoka University. Prior to joining Ashoka, he was a Professor with the Theoretical Physics and Computational Biology groups at the Institute of Mathematical Sciences, Chennai, where he was the founding Dean of the Computational Biology group. He works on biophysical problems and the modeling of infectious diseases. He is an initiating member of the Indian Scientists' Response to COVID-19 (ISRC). Before working on biological problems, he worked in the broad fields of statistical physics and soft condensed matter physics.Visit tiny.cc/pragati155 for detailed episode notes and links to the Nobel winners and research who are discussed in the episode.For all queries and feedback, email us at [email protected] or reach out to host Pavan Srinath at @zeusisdead on Twitter: twitter.com/zeusisdeadFollow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: instagram.com/pragatipod & Twitter: twitter.com/thinkpragati & Facebook: facebook.com/thinkpragatiThe Pragati Podcast is made possible thanks to the support of The Takshashila Institution and the Independent Public-Spirited Media Foundation (IPSMF).See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Economist Viral Acharya talks to host Pavan Srinath about his tenure as the Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India.This is the second of two episodes on The Pragati Podcast with Viral Archarya. He recently published his book, The Quest for Financial Stability in India. The book can be purchased at SAGE’s BIG Book Festival Sale: https://stealadeal.sagepub.in/quest-for-restoring-financial-stability-in-india-viral-acharya-9789353884895.htmlOn Episode 154, Viral talks about his role as a deputy governor and his mandate while in office. He also discusses macroeconomic in India both within and outside the RBI, and the important public role that central bank leaders have in steering important conversations around the future of the national economy.Viral V. Acharya is the C.V. Starr Professor of Economics in the Department of Finance at New York University Stern School of Business (NYU-Stern) and an Academic Advisor to the Federal Reserve Banks of New York and Philadelphia. Viral was a Deputy Governor at the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) between January 2017 and July 2019, and was in charge of Monetary Policy, Financial Markets, Financial Stability, and Research.Since Episode 143, The Pragati Podcast has been releasing interactive episodes with in-audio links, polls, references, and more that go beyond the usual podcast experience. Listen to this episode on the IVM Podcasts Android App, the Adori iOS App, or from www.tiny.cc/pragati154 for a richer experience. You can access all links and references within the app or web players.For all queries and feedback, email us at [email protected] or reach out to host Pavan Srinath at @zeusisdead on Twitter: twitter.com/zeusisdeadFollow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: instagram.com/pragatipod & Twitter: twitter.com/thinkpragati & Facebook: facebook.com/thinkpragatiThe Pragati Podcast is made possible thanks to the support of The Takshashila Institution and the Independent Public-Spirited Media Foundation (IPSMF).See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Former RBI Deputy Governor Viral Acharya talks to host Pavan Srinath about understanding and fixing India's persistent Bank NPA problem.This is the first of two episodes on The Pragati Podcast where Viral Archarya talks about his new book, The Quest for Financial Stability in India. The book can be purchased here: http://tiny.cc/viralacharya-bookOn Episode 153, Viral unpacks the problem of NPAs or Non Performing Assets. He discusses how Indian banks continue to suffer from having bad loans on their balance sheets, and how it can halt India's economic progress. He also explores the idea of Fiscal Dominance, and how it has become a 'theory of everything' in India.Viral V. Acharya is the C.V. Starr Professor of Economics in the Department of Finance at New York University Stern School of Business (NYU-Stern) and an Academic Advisor to the Federal Reserve Banks of New York and Philadelphia. Viral was a Deputy Governor at the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) between January 2017 and July 2019, and was in charge of Monetary Policy, Financial Markets, Financial Stability, and Research.Since Episode 143, The Pragati Podcast has been releasing interactive episodes with in-audio links, polls, references, and more that go beyond the usual podcast experience. Listen to this episode on the IVM Podcasts Android App, the Adori iOS App, or from www.tiny.cc/pragati153 for a richer experience. You can access all links and references within the app or web players.For all queries and feedback, email us at [email protected] or reach out to host Pavan Srinath at @zeusisdead on Twitter: twitter.com/zeusisdeadFollow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: instagram.com/pragatipod & Twitter: twitter.com/thinkpragati & Facebook: facebook.com/thinkpragatiThe Pragati Podcast is made possible thanks to the support of The Takshashila Institution and the Independent Public-Spirited Media Foundation (IPSMF).See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Whether in 1980 or in 2020, the idea of a good, assured pension is an incentive like few others. Economist Renuka Sane talks to host Pavan Srinath on Episode 152 of The Pragati Podcast on pensions, their roles, types, and their evolution in modern India.Renuka Sane is an Associate Professor at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP). Her research interests are in household finance, especially on household choice in financial instruments such as credit, pensions, insurance, and equity markets, as well as consumer protection in finance.Renuka and Pavan discuss government pensions in India and how they have evolved, the National Pension System, the Employees' Provident Fund, One-Rank-One-Pension (OROP), and more.Since Episode 143, The Pragati Podcast has been releasing interactives episodes with in-audio links, polls, references, and more that go beyond the usual podcast experience. Listen to this episode on the IVM Podcasts Android App, the Adori iOS App, or from www.tiny.cc/pragati152 for the full experience. You can access all links and references within the app or web players.For all queries and feedback, email us at [email protected] or reach out to host Pavan Srinath at @zeusisdead on Twitter: twitter.com/zeusisdeadFollow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: instagram.com/pragatipod & Twitter: twitter.com/thinkpragati & Facebook: facebook.com/thinkpragatiThe Pragati Podcast is made possible thanks to the support of The Takshashila Institution and the Independent Public-Spirited Media Foundation (IPSMF).See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

AP Ashwin Kumar returns to The Pragati Podcast to discuss traditions, how to understand them better, and confronts the challenges of reform.The Pragati Podcast is a weekly talk show on public policy, economics, and international relations hosted by Pavan Srinath. AP Ashwin Kumar is a Senior Fellow at the Centre for Learning Futures at Ahmedabad University and has previously been a guest on both Pragati and the Thale-Harate Kannada Podcast.Since Episode 143, The Pragati Podcast has been releasing interactives episodes with in-audio links, polls, references, and more that go beyond the usual podcast experience. Listen to this episode on the IVM Podcasts Android App, the Adori iOS App, or from www.tiny.cc/pragati151 for full experience. You can access all links and references within the app or web players.For further listening:Pragati Podcast #99: Questioning Nationalism. https://ivmpodcasts.com/the-pragati-podcast-episode-list/2019/6/13/ep-99-questioning-nationalismThale-Harate Kannada Podcast #77: ಸಂಪ್ರದಾಯ ಮತ್ತು ಸುಧಾರಣೆ. Tradition and Reform. https://ivmpodcasts.com/harate-kannada-podcast-episode-list/2020/9/5/ep-77-tradition-and-reformFor all queries and feedback, email us at [email protected] or reach out to host Pavan Srinath at @zeusisdead on Twitter: twitter.com/zeusisdeadFollow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: instagram.com/pragatipod & Twitter: twitter.com/thinkpragati & Facebook: facebook.com/thinkpragatiThe Pragati Podcast is made possible thanks to the support of The Takshashila Institution and the Independent Public-Spirited Media Foundation (IPSMF).See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Foreign policy wonk and podcaster Hamsini Hariharan returns to Episode 150 of The Pragati Podcast to discuss China's internal issues and news in 2020.While Indian news outlets cover the ongoing Chinese aggressions in Ladakh and the India-China border conflict, Hamsini helps listeners take a peek at what is happening within China since the Coronavirus pandemic started, how the Chinese economy and politics are faring, and explores what else is occupying China's foreign policy today.Hamsini Hariharan started the Pragati Podcast along with Pavan Srinath in April 2017 and was a co-host for close to 70 episodes. Currently, Hamsini is the host of States of Anarchy – a weekly podcast on global affairs and foreign policy. She also writes a weekly column for CNBC News-18 on Chinese politics and policy. She is a visiting faculty at the Symbiosis Centre for Media and Communication. She is on @HamsiniH on twitter and @lady_baritone on Instagram.Since Episode 143, The Pragati Podcast has been releasing interactives episodes with in-audio links, polls, references, and more that go beyond the usual podcast experience. Listen to this episode on the IVM Podcasts Android App, the Adori iOS App, or from www.tiny.cc/pragati150 for full experience. You can access all links and references within the app or web players.For further listening:States of Anarchy Podcast: https://ivmpodcasts.com/states-of-anarchyPragati Podcast #112: The 2019 Hong Kong Protests: https://ivmpodcasts.com/the-pragati-podcast-episode-list/2019/9/11/ep-112-the-2019-hong-kong-protestsFor all queries and feedback, email us at [email protected] or reach out to host Pavan Srinath at @zeusisdead on Twitter: twitter.com/zeusisdeadFollow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: instagram.com/pragatipod & Twitter: twitter.com/thinkpragati & Facebook: facebook.com/thinkpragatiThe Pragati Podcast is made possible thanks to the support of The Takshashila Institution and the Independent Public-Spirited Media Foundation (IPSMF).See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

V Ravichandar returns to The Pragati Podcast to talk about the dire need to create more public spaces and social infrastructure in Indian cities. He talks to host Pavan Srinath on Episode 149 about the role that governments, citizens, and the city elite can play in making urban lives richer.Ravichandar is the Honorary Director of the Bangalore International Centre and Chairman, Feedback Consulting. He has been active in urban reforms and governance for the last two decades, most recently as a part of the 3-member Government Expert Committee tasked with reimaging governance and administration for Bengaluru. Apart from his role at the Bangalore International Centre, Ravi helped start the Bangalore Literature Festival, the Chennai International Centre, and other public-oriented initiatives.Disclaimer: Host Pavan Srinath works with Ravi and the Bangalore International Centre in running the BIC Talks Podcast.Since Episode 143, The Pragati Podcast has been releasing interactives episodes with in-audio links, polls, references, and more that go beyond the usual podcast experience. Listen to the episode on the IVM Podcasts Android App, the Adori iOS App, or from www.tiny.cc/pragati149 for the full experience. You can access all links and references within the app or web players.For further listening:Pragati Podcast #95: Working with Government: https://ivmpodcasts.com/the-pragati-podcast-episode-list/2019/5/9/ep-95-working-with-governmentSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Shipra Deo and Devendra Damle talk to host Pavan Srinath about the long struggle for women to secure property rights and land ownership in India. On Episode 148 of The Pragati Podcast, they discuss what progress has been made over the last century, and the vast pending scope of legal and societal challenges.Shipra Deo is the Director of Women's Land Rights, India, at Landesa, and Devendra Damle is a consultant researcher at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy (NIPFP).Don't miss Narayan Prasad's brief update on IN-SPACe and India's space reforms during the break, of developments since Episode 144 of The Pragati Podcast.Since Episode 143, The Pragati Podcast has been releasing interactives episodes with in-audio links, polls, references, and more that go beyond the usual podcast experience. Listen to the episode on the IVM Podcasts Android App, the Adori iOS App, or from tinyurl.com/pragati148 for the full experience. You can access all links and references within the app or web players.For further listening:Pragati Podcast #143 Land and Reforms in India, with Shekhar Shah and Pranab Ranjan Choudhary. https://www.thinkpragati.com/podcast/the-pragati-podcast/8787/land-and-reforms-in-2020/For all feedback, write in to [email protected] or reach out to host Pavan Srinath at @zeusisdead on Twitter: twitter.com/zeusisdeadFollow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: instagram.com/pragatipod & Twitter: twitter.com/thinkpragati & Facebook: facebook.com/thinkpragatiThe Pragati Podcast is made possible thanks to the support of The Takshashila Institution and the Independent Public-Spirited Media Foundation (IPSMF).See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr. Gullapalli N Rao, Founder of the LV Prasad Eye Institute in Hyderabad, talks about human vision, eye health, and the transformation of eye care in India on Episode 147 of The Pragati Podcast.Dr. Rao talks to host Pavan Srinath about how myopia is a growing challenge across the world and in India. They discuss how India's opthalmological practice leads the rest of healthcare in various aspects, how eye care in metropolitan India is now comparable to anywhere in the world, and explore how eye care can be made affordable for all Indians across the country.Dr. Gullapalli Nageswara Rao is Founder and Chairman of the L V Prasad Eye Institute, which he started in Hyderabad in 1987. Returning to India after a successful career in the United States as an academic ophthalmologist, Dr. Rao and other leaders across South India helped revolutionize the quality and access to eye care across cities and states. Dr. Rao continues to be an active researcher and a key advocate of affordable eye care and prevention of blindness in India, and across the world. He was honored with a Padma Shri in 2002, and was elected to the Ophthalmology Hall of Fame in 2017 by the American Society of Cataract and Refractive Surgery.Since Episode 142, The Pragati Podcast is now available in a new rich and interactive format that goes beyond the audio, and enables listeners to explore contextual links, take polls, and more. Visit tinyurl.com/pragati147 and listen to this episode on your web or mobile browser, on or the IVM Podcasts Android App or the Adori iOS App for the full experience.For all feedback, write in to [email protected] or reach out to host Pavan Srinath at @zeusisdead on Twitter: twitter.com/zeusisdead .Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: instagram.com/pragatipod & Twitter: twitter.com/thinkpragati & Facebook: facebook.com/thinkpragati . The Pragati Podcast is made possible thanks to the support of The Takshashila Institution and the Independent Public-Spirited Media Foundation (IPSMF).See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ameya Naik and host Pavan Srinath discuss long-overdue police reforms and provide a primer on how to reimagine policing in India in the 21st century, on The Pragati Podcast.Ameya and Pavan record Episode 146 of The Pragati Podcast, at a time when there are daily reports of police brutality on minorities and peaceful protestors in the Black Lives Matter movement. Meanwhile in India, the lathi remains the default instrument of policing during the COVID-19 pandemic and during India's stringent lockdowns. This comes on the heels of many reports of excessive use of force against protestors of the CAA and NRC in late 2019 and early 2020.Ameya Naik is trained in law, public policy, pyschology and diplomacy, and is a recurring guest on The Pragati Podcast as well as a friend of the show. Ameya is a non-resident Associate Fellow at the Takshashila Institution and wears many other hats besides thatSince Episode 142, The Pragati Podcast is now available in a new rich and interactive format that goes beyond the audio, and enables listeners to explore contextual links, take polls, and more.Visit tinyurl.com/pragati146 and listen to this episode on your web or mobile browser, on or the IVM Podcasts Android App or the Adori iOS App for the full experience.Suggested reading & listening:1. Articles and reports discussed in the episode: tinyurl.com/pragati1462. Previous episodes of Pragati featuring Ameya Naik: thinkpragati.com/tag/ameya-naik/3. Pragati Podcast #61: Why do we elect Criminals? ivmpodcasts.com/the-pragati-podcast-episode-list/tag/vaishnav4. Pragati #141: A 21st Century Justice Platform for India: ivmpodcasts.com/the-pragati-podcast-episode-list/2020/6/10/ep-141-a-21st-century-justice-platform-for-india5. Pragati #114: A Bottom-Up Look at India's Judiciary: ivmpodcasts.com/the-pragati-podcast-episode-list/2019/10/2/ep-114-a-bottom-up-look-at-indias-judiciary6. Pragati #131: The Supreme Court of in 2020: ivmpodcasts.com/the-pragati-podcast-episode-list/2020/3/11/ep-131-the-supreme-court-in-2020For all feedback, write in to [email protected] or reach out to host Pavan Srinath at @zeusisdead on Twitter: twitter.com/zeusisdeadFollow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: instagram.com/pragatipod & Twitter: twitter.com/thinkpragati & Facebook: facebook.com/thinkpragatiThe Pragati Podcast is made possible thanks to the support of The Takshashila Institution and the Independent Public-Spirited Media Foundation (IPSMF).See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Neuroscientist and Science Communicator Shruti Muralidhar is on Episode 145 of The Pragati Podcast to talk about the challenges of science publishing and science communication in 2020. Shruti also talks to host Pavan Srinath about how Scicomm can be transformed in India.Announcement: The Pragati Podcast will now be releasing new episodes every Thursday morning, India time. The Pragati Podcast is also now available in a new rich and interactive format that goes beyond the audio, and enables listeners to explore contextual links, take polls, and more. Listen to this episode on the IVM Podcasts Android App at https://ivm.today/android , Adori IOS app at tinyurl.com/adoriapp , or listen in on your browser at tinyurl.com/pragati145 for the full experience.Shruti Muralidhar (@polybiotique) is a neuroscientist and science communicator. By day, Shruti works on learning and memory as a postdoctoral researcher at the Picower Institute at MIT. She is a founding member of IndSciComm along with Abhishek Chari, and IndSciComm is a collective formed to improve scientific awareness in India and help Indian researchers interact with the public. Learn more at https://indscicomm.blog/Read Shruti's policy memo outlining urgent points of action to improve science communication in India: https://indscicomm.blog/2020/07/12/scicomm-policy-memo-for-stip-2020/Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipod &Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati &Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragatiThe Pragati Podcast is made possible thanks to the support of The Takshashila Institution and the Independent Public-Spirited Media Foundation (IPSMF).See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Space Law scholar Dr Ranjana Kaul and space entrepreneur Narayan Prasad discuss space reforms and the recent Indian IN-SPACe announcement with host Pavan Srinath on Episode 144 of The Pragati Podcast.On June 24, the Cabinet of the Govt of India met to approve the setting up of IN-SPACe, Indian National Space Promotion and Authorisation Centre. This has been heralded as historic space reforms in India. Ranjana and Narayan discuss what we know about IN-SPACe so far, the role of the private sector in space, what space reforms are necessary for India.Like Episode 143 of The Pragati Podcast with Kartik Parija (tinyurl.com/pragati143), this is a new, interactive episode that goes beyond the regular audio experience. A request for all listeners: please try listening to the episode on the IVM Podcast App, the Adori iOS app, or on your desktop or mobile browser to get a rich, interactive experience. Regular listening on your preferred podcast app remains the same, and you can switch any time.Download the IVM Podcasts Android App at: https://ivm.today/android , Adori IOS app at tinyurl.com/adoriapp , or listen in on your browswer at tinyurl.com/pragati144 .Dr. Ranjana Kaul is Partner in Dua Associates, a leading law firm in India. She specializes in the international law of outer space and related national policies and regulations applicable to space sector and downstream space technology business verticals. She is an affiliate of the International Institute of Space Law, Paris; Space & Satellite Professional International (India), and Women in Aviation International (India).Dr. Narayan Prasad (@cosmosguru) is a co-founder at https://satsearch.co, a global marketplace for space supported and incubated by the European Space Agency. He is the host of the NewSpace India Podcast, and also serves as a Partner to SpacePark Kerala, a Government of Kerala initiative to develop a dedicated space activities hub in India.Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipod &Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati &Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragatiSubscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on IVM Podcasts App, iTunes, Saavn, Spotify, Castbox, Google Podcasts, AudioBoom, YouTube, or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Podcasts are a modern, new medium for most of us in India, but is the underlying technology stuck in the 2000s? Can we reimagine podcasts as a potentially more interactive medium in 2020? Kartik Parija of Adori Labs joins host Pavan Srinath on Episode 143 of The Pragati Podcast to both tell us and show us how.This is a special, experimental episode that goes beyond the regular audio. A request for all listeners: please try listening to the episode on the IVM Podcast App, the Adori iOS app, or on your desktop or mobile browser to get a rich, interactive experience. Listening on your regular podcast app is still possible, and you can switch later too.Download the IVM Podcast App at: ivm.today/android ,Adori IOS app at tinyurl.com/adoriapp ,Listen in on your browswer at tinyurl.com/pragati142 .Disclaimer: Kartik Parija is the co-founder of Adori Labs, which powers IVM Podcasts and The Pragati Podcast. IVM is a customer of Adori Labs, and a part of Adori's Early Access program.Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipod &Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati &Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragatiSubscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on IVM Podcasts App, iTunes, Saavn, Spotify, Castbox, Google Podcasts, AudioBoom, YouTube, or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What land reforms does India need in 2020? How can we think about property rights, and a complicated legislative history and ground reality in India?Shekhar Shah and Pranab Ranjan Choudhury give host Pavan Srinath a masterclass on land and reform on Episode 142 of The Pragati Podcast. They discuss what constitutes property ownership in India, what land reforms have meant between the 1950s and 1980s in India, and what they can mean in 2020. The discussion spans rural land conflicts, weak land record systems, the challenges faced by Adivasis and tribal groups being denied their legitimate rights, land acquisition, the growth of private industries, and more.Dr Shekhar Shah is an Economist and the Director General of NCAER (@NCAER), the National Council for Applied Research in New Delhi. As a part of their Land Policy Initiative, they released the first edition of a Land Records Services Index in February 2020 and ranked Indian states and union territories. Learn more at http://www.ncaer.org/NLRSI/index1.htmlMr Pranab Ranjan Choudhury (@prchoudhury) works with the Centre for Land Governance in Odisha, and has worked for over 18 years on natural resources management and land governance across India. Read more about his work at http://centerforland.org/prchoudhury/Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipod &Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati &Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragatiSubscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on IVM Podcasts App, iTunes, Saavn, Spotify, Castbox, Google Podcasts, AudioBoom, YouTube, or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Podcasts are all about voices and conversations, but how did India's own voice-over industry evolve? This is a rebroadcast of Episode 83 of Pragati Podcast, where pioneering voice artists Shammi Narang and Dishant Narang share their personal journey from the early days of radio ads in India to the rapidly growing industry that is voice-acting today.Shammi and Dishant Narang run Pindrop Media in New Delhi, and Shammi Narang is the Hindi voice of all Metro rail services in India today. Starting his voice career with Voice of America Hindi in the 1970s, he is a celebrated Doordarshan anchor from the 1980s, and has been a leader in the voice-over industry in India since then.If you have any questions or comments, write to us at [email protected], or talk to our host Pavan Srinath at @zeusisdead on Twitter. We would love to hear from you.Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipod &Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati &Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragatiSubscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on IVM Podcasts App, iTunes, Saavn, Spotify, Castbox, Google Podcasts, AudioBoom, YouTube, or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Leah Verghese and Surya Prakash from Daksh India talk to host Pavan Srinath about how a 21st-century justice platform can transform access to justice for Indians.In 2020, it is impossible for migrant workers who have gone back to their home states to go to court over unpaid salaries and wages. It is impractical for a startup to file a civil case to recover pending payments from a large company. India is also an outlier country where in many states, there are more criminal cases than civil cases in district courts.On Episode 141 of The Pragati Podcast, Leah and Surya discuss how torturous it is for people to seek legal remedies in India in 2020, how digitisation and ICT efforts have fared thus far. They then present how a truly modern justice system can be envisaged, where a legal recourse is accessible, inexpensive, faster and better for all Indians.Leah Verghese is Research Manager, and Surya Prakash BS is Fellow & Programme Director, at Daksh India, a Bangalore-based nonprofit that works on judicial reform. Daksh recently published whitepaper series on developing a 'Next Generation Justice Platform', which imagines a new way of dispensing civil and criminal justice in India. More details at: https://dakshindia.org/next-generation-justice-platform/Also listen to:Pragati Podcast #114: A Bottom-Up Look at India's Judiciary: https://ivmpodcasts.com/the-pragati-podcast-episode-list/2019/10/2/ep-114-a-bottom-up-look-at-indias-judiciaryPragati Podcast #131: The Supreme Court in 2020: https://ivmpodcasts.com/the-pragati-podcast-episode-list/2020/3/11/ep-131-the-supreme-court-in-2020Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipod &Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati &Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragatiSubscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on IVM Podcasts App, iTunes, Saavn, Spotify, Castbox, Google Podcasts, AudioBoom, YouTube, or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Can India's courts protect the country's environment? The Pragati Podcast revisits the topic on World Environment Day 2020 with returning guest and Supreme Court Lawyer Ninad Laud.Ninad was previously on Episode 73 of The Pragati Podcast to discuss the legal history of environmental challenges in India from the 1990s to 2018. This episode includes sections of Episode 73, which explore how well Public Interest Litigations and the National Green Tribunal have done justice to environmental causes in India.Ninad Laud returns on Episode 140 to talk to host Pavan Srinath about how has the National Green Tribunal, India's premier adjudicating body on environmental issues, has changed in the last few years. They also discuss a recent Environmental Impact Assessment Notification released during the nation-wide lockdown, in March 2020.If you have any questions or comments, write in to [email protected], or talk to our host Pavan at @zeusisdead on Twitter. We would love to hear from you.Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipod &Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati &Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragatiSubscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on IVM Podcasts App, iTunes, Saavn, Spotify, Castbox, Google Podcasts, AudioBoom, YouTube, or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Dr. M.R. Rajagopal of Pallium India talks to host Pavan Srinath about Palliative care, what it means and how we can ease suffering and pain across India, on Episode 139 of The Pragati Podcast.Palliative care focuses on quality of life of patients, especially those facing life-threatening illnesses, with a focus on treating pain, alleviating suffering and managing other challenges. Palliative care is a distant priority in India, where even primary and preventive care take a back-seat to curative, hospital-centric, and disease-oriented treatment.India has changed its draconian laws that have prevented deserving patients from accessing pain medication like Morphine, but the changes remain in theory, and inexpensive opioid pain relief remains a distant dream for most Indians, often in the name of preventing abuse.Dr. M.R. Rajagopal is the founder-chairman of Pallium India and director of Trivandrum Institute of Palliative Sciences, which is a WHO Collaborating Centre for Training and Policy on Access to Pain Relief. Dr. Rajagopal has worked through the length of his career to establish palliative care and its importance in India, provide relief to innumerable Indians both directly and indirectly. He was honoured with a Padma Shri by the Republic of India in 2018 for his efforts. Visit https://palliumindia.org/ to learn more.If you have any questions or comments, write in to [email protected], we would love to hear from you.Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipodFollow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragatiFollow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragatiSubscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes, Saavn, Spotify, Castbox, Google Podcasts, AudioBoom, YouTube, or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

India's news houses are in crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic, the lockdown, the dwindling circulation of print newspapers, and the loss of advertising revenue have all created a perfect storm for an already ailing news industry in India.With press freedom rankings continuing to be abysmal and business-as-usual no longer working, what would it take to launch a truly mobile-first, online-only news enterprise that can be financially independent and do good journalism?Prem Panicker joins host Pavan Srinath on Episode 138 of The Pragati Podcast to share what it takes to do this in 2020. Starting in 1995-96, Prem had helped build Rediff.com into an online news website at a time when only a few hundreds of people in India had working computers connected to the internet.Prem is a journalist and an editor, who has worked at several print and online news houses, including Rediff, India Abroad, and as the Managing Editor for India at Yahoo! Prem also founded www.peepli.org, for deep reporting on environmental, water, climate change and refugees' issues.Prem is on twitter at @prempanicker and writes regularly at prempanicker.wordpress.com.Also listen to journalist Krishna Prasad on the state of Indian news media today over at BIC Talks: www.tinyurl.com/bictalks-kpIf you have any questions or comments, write to us at [email protected], we would love to hear from you.Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipodFollow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragatiFollow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragatiSubscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes, Saavn, Spotify, Castbox, Google Podcasts, AudioBoom, YouTube, or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nearly a hundred vaccine candidates are being developed across the world. Award-winning medical scientist, Dr Gagandeep Kang talks to host Pavan Srinath about the development of vaccines, ongoing efforts on COVID-19, and the challenges of developing immunity and resistance against the virus, on Episode 137 of The Pragati Podcast.This episode is a rebroadcast of Episode 8 of Bangalore International Centre's BIC Talks Podcast. Pavan is a consultant for BIC Talks, and also hosts this episode. Visit https://bangaloreinternationalcentre.org/watch-listen-read/audio/ to find all episodes of BIC Talks, and you can subscribe to BIC Talks on all podcast apps.Dr. Gagandeep Kang is the Executive Director of the Translational Health Science and Technology Institute. She is a key contributor to the understanding of diarrhoeal diseases, rotavirus epidemiology and vaccinology, and is the Vice Chair for the Coalition of EpidemicPreparedness and Innovations.If you have any questions or comments, write in to [email protected], we would love to hear from you.Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipodFollow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragatiFollow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragatiSubscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes, Saavn, Spotify, Castbox, Google Podcasts, AudioBoom, YouTube or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The SARS-COV-2 virus started infecting humans in Wuhan in late 2019. How has the virus mutated and evolved so far? With 1-2 mutations occurring per month, researchers are now seeing a clade or a sub-type of the virus: A2a, becoming more common in COVID-19 infections across the world.Partha Majumder, NIdhan Biswas and their colleagues at the National Institute of Biomedical Genomics have done seminal work on analyzing the mutations and evolution of the SARS-COV-2 virus so far.Partha Majumder, one of India's foremost researchers in statistical genomics and human genome variation, joins Pavan Srinath on Episode 136 of The Pragati Podcast to explain how to study viral evolution and understand the latest research on how SARS-COV-2 has mutated and evolved till date.The Pragati Podcast is a weekly talk show on public affairs, economics, and international relations, hosted by Pavan Srinath.Dr. Partha Pratim Majumder is the Founder and a Distinguished Professor at the National Institute for Biomedical Genomics (NIBMG) at Kalyani, West Bengal, and is currently the President of the Indian Academy of Sciences.His latest research on SARS-COV-2:1. Biswas, N and Majumder, PP. Analysis of RNA Sequences of 3636 SARS-CoV-2 Collected from 55 Countries Reveals Selective Sweep of One Virus Type. Indian Journal of Medical Research. (In Press, April 28, 2020)Bhattacharya, C. et al. Global Spread of SARS-CoV-2 Subtype with Spike Protein Mutation D614G is Shaped by Human Genomic Variations that Regulate Expression of TMPRSS2 and MX1 Genes. https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2020.05.04.075911v1 (Preprint, May 05, 2020)Partha's NIBMG profile: https://www.nibmg.ac.in/?q=content/ppm1-researchGoogle Scholar: https://scholar.google.co.in/citations?user=DUSA2ywAAAAJ&hl=enIf you have any questions or comments, write in to [email protected], we would love to hear from you.Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipodFollow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragatiFollow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragatiSubscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes, Saavn, Spotify, Castbox, Google Podcasts, AudioBoom, YouTube, or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Can India's health and healthcare systems ramp up on mission mode to respond effectively to the COVID-19 pandemic? What should we know about India's messy public and private healthcare systems before we think about a pandemic response?Yamini Aiyar discusses what India can do and how, on Episode 135 of The Pragati Podcast.The Pragati Podcast is a weekly talkshow on public policy, economics and international relations. hosted by Pavan Srinath.Yamini Aiyar is the President and Chief Executive of the Centre for Policy Research (CPR), Delhi. Her research interests are in the field of social policy and development. In 2008, Yamini founded the Accountability Initiative at CPR, which has done pioneering work on governance, state capacity and social policy in India, and pioneered a new approach to tracking public expenditures. She is on Twitter at @AiyarYamini.Further reading & listening:1. [Podcast] Yamini Aiyar and Jishnu Das on health systems challenges and COVID-19. https://cprindia.org/news/8561[Article] COVID-19: Centre and states must work together. https://www.hindustantimes.com/analysis/covid-19-centre-and-states-must-work-together/story-UFuvvR18MU54lzsIF3FkYJ.html[Article] COVID-19 will test, reshape the state. https://www.hindustantimes.com/columns/covid-19-will-test-reshape-the-state/story-IG0R8swKTZ1vO9FBEd1tIJ.html[Research] Jishnu Das and Jeffrey Hammer on the Quality of Public & Private healthcare in Delhi. https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=610346[Research] Hammer, Aiyar and Samji on Panchayati Raj institutions and health services. http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/108011468042305807/Bottoms-up-to-the-role-of-Panchayati-Raj-Institutions-in-health-and-health-services[Research] Das et al on healthcare provider training and huge quality gaps in urban and rural India. http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/108011468042305807/Bottoms-up-to-the-role-of-Panchayati-Raj-Institutions-in-health-and-health-servicesIf you have any questions or comments, write in to [email protected], we would love to hear from you.Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipodFollow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragatiFollow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragatiSubscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes, Saavn, Spotify, Castbox, Google Podcasts, AudioBoom, YouTube or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How can India make the most of the nation-wide lockdown to contain the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic? How can India rapidly ramp up testing and diagnostics? How can India's governments, private sector and civil society come together to halt the further spread of this highly contagious disease?Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw talks to V Ravichandar of the Bangalore International Centre and host Pavan Srinath about COVID-19 on Episode 134 of The Pragati Podcast.This episode is a rebroadcast of Episode 1 of the BIC Talks Podcast by the Bangalore International Centre.Bangalore International Centre is a an inclusive platform for informed conversations, arts and culture, and is a much-needed public space in the city of Bangalore. The BIC Talks Podcast is a bi-weekly show that will foster discussions, dialogue, ideas, cultural enterprise and more.Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw is the Founder and Chairperson of Biocon and is a pioneering Biotech and Healthcare specialist in India. V Ravichandar is the honorary director of the Bangalore International Centre.Learn more about the BIC Talks Podcast and listen to all episodes at https://bangaloreinternationalcentre.org/watch-listen-read/audio/Suggested Listening:Pragati Podcast #133: Modeling the Spread of Epidemics, with Srini Venkatramanan. https://ivmpodcasts.com/the-pragati-podcastThale-Harate Kannada Podcast #61: ಕೊರೋನ - ವೈದ್ಯ. A Private Practitioner & COVID-19, with Dr Srinand Srinivas. https://ivmpodcasts.com/harate-kannada-podcast-episode-list/2020/3/19/ep-61-a-private-practitioner-amp-covid-19BIC Talks Podcast #2: Ramping up India's COVID-19 Testing, with Vijay Chandru. https://bangaloreinternationalcentre.org/audio/ramping-up-indias-covid-19-testing/If you have any questions or comments, write in to [email protected], we would love to hear from you.Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipodFollow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragatiFollow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragatiSubscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes, Saavn, Spotify, Castbox, Google Podcasts, AudioBoom, YouTube or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How are infectious diseases and pandemics modeled? How can we model and estimate the spread of Influenza or Coronavirus Disease 2019? And most importantly, how can disease modeling help us design effective interventions that contain the spread of a pandemic like COVID-19?Srini Venkatraman of the Biocomplexity Institute at the University of Virginia joins us on Episode 133 of The Pragati Podcast.The Pragati Podcast is a weekly talkshow on public policy, economics and international relations hosted by Pavan Srinath.Srini Venkatramanan is a research scientist at the Biocomplexity Institute, University of Virginia. Hailing from Chennai, Srini did his PhD at the Department of Electrical Engineering, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore. At the Biocomplexity Institute, he uses mathematical and computational models of human societies to study the spread of infectious diseases and ways to control them. You can reach on Twitter at @sriniv_venkat, and find his research on Google Scholar.Suggested Links:1. Using data-driven agent-based models for forecasting emerging infectious diseases (2018). https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1755436517300221The Future of Influenza forecasts. (2019) https://www.pnas.org/content/116/8/2802Modelling Disease Outbreaks in realistic urban social networks. (2004) http://www.uvm.edu/pdodds/teaching/courses/2009-08UVM-300/docs/others/2004/eubank2004a.pdfBiocomplexity Institute's COVID-19 Dashboard. https://covid19.biocomplexity.virginia.edu/If you have any questions or comments, write in to [email protected], we would love to hear from you.Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipodFollow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragatiFollow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragatiSubscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes, Saavn, Spotify, Castbox, Google Podcasts, AudioBoom, YouTube or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Close to 200,000 people across 160 countries have been affected by COVID-19 or Coronavirus Disease 2019, and this has happened in just about three months. As of March 18, 2020, India has confirmed 148 cases of COVID-19 and three people have died so far.Vidya Krishnan joins Episode 132 of The Pragati Podcast to talk about the pandemic and how India has been responding to COVID-19 so far. This episode was recorded on March 17, 2020.The Pragati Podcast is a weekly talkshow on public policy, economics and international relations hosted by Pavan Srinath.Vidya Krishnan is a health journalist based in Goa. Her first book, on the rise of antibiotic resistance and the threat to global health security, is slated to be published in 2020. Vidya has been reporting on COVID-19 for The Caravan, and you can find all her published articles here.Do read:Mar 13: Public-health experts raise concerns about India’s restricted testing for COVID-19 (https://caravanmagazine.in/health/public-health-experts-raise-concerns-about-india-restricted-testing-covid-19)Mar 14: WHO categorises India as having local transmission of Coronavirus, but government downplays it(https://caravanmagazine.in/health/who-declares-local-transmission-of-coronavirus-in-india)Mar 16: Lack of testing kits, understaffed hospitals: COVID exposes India’s crumbling healthcare system (https://caravanmagazine.in/health/lack-testing-kits-understaffed-hospitals-covid-exposes-india-crumbling-healthcare-system)If you have any questions or comments, write in to [email protected], we would love to hear from you.Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipodFollow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragatiFollow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragatiSubscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes, Saavn, Spotify, Castbox, Google Podcasts, AudioBoom, YouTube or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Two years ago, four senior judges of the Supreme Court of India held an unprecedented press conference to tell the public that there was an ongoing crisis in the Supreme Court of India. Since then, one of the four judges even went on to become the Chief Justice of India. How does the Supreme Court of India, both the highest appellate court and the highest constitutional court in the country, fare today?Alok Prasanna Kumar returns to Episode 131 of The Pragati Podcast helps us understand what has broken down in one of India's most vital institutions.The Pragati Podcast is a weekly talkshow on public policy, economics and international relations hosted by Pavan Srinath (https://twitter.com/zeusisdead)Alok Prasanna Kumar (https://vidhilegalpolicy.in/alok-prasanna/) is a Senior Resident Fellow at the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, a former Supreme Court lawyer and co-host of Ganatantra Podcast.Also check out:Pragati Podcast #105: The Anti-Defection Law. (https://ivmpodcasts.com/the-pragati-podcast-episode-list/2019/7/25/ep-105-the-anti-defection-law)Pragati Podcast #27: The Supreme Court in Crisis. (https://ivmpodcasts.com/the-pragati-podcast-episode-list/2018/1/18/ep-27-the-supreme-court-in-crisis)If you have any questions or comments, write in to [email protected], we would love to hear from you.Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipodFollow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragatiFollow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragatiSubscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes (https://itunes.apple.com/in/podcast/the-pragati-podcast/id1228156028?mt=2), Saavn (https://www.jiosaavn.com/shows/the-pragati-podcast/1/FnNydIp,yaI_), Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/6JgBw5GZFOmUWGeaN4RZsl), Castbox (https://castbox.fm/channel/The-Pragati-Podcast-id533119?country=in), Google Podcasts (https://www.google.com/podcasts?feed=aHR0cDovL3RoZXByYWdhdGlwb2RjYXN0Lml2bS5saWJzeW5wcm8uY29tL3Jzcw), AudioBoom (https://audioboom.com/channel/the-pragati-podcast), YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tSKyotZqJHk&list=PLcBVsra3A46rdbOES7GtpX10VYeJjBQZ4) or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is a rebroadcast of Episode 37 of The Pragati Podcast, first released on March 29, 2018. Brand new episodes of The Pragati Podcast will return from next week.Is it illegal to do the Pragati podcast on radio? Why do large Indian cities have so few FM stations, and why do they all sound the same?In Episode 37 of the Pragati Podcast, Amit Doshi joins host Pavan Srinath to talk about talk-radio and podcasts. Amit is the Founder of the IVM Podcast Network, and a co-host of Shunya One, a podcast on tech and entrepreneurship.Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipodFollow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragatiFollow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragatiSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We hear about the all-powerful District Collector or Deputy Commissioner in every district in India, but what do they really do? How was the Government of India's first successful health insurance scheme launched? What is the relationship between civil servants and politicians? Anil Swarup talks about his stellar career as an IAS Officer on Episode 90 of The Pragati Podcast.The Pragati Podcast is a weekly show on public policy, economics and international relations hosted by Pavan Srinath.Mr. Anil Swarup is a former Secretary, Government of India, a retired IAS officer and the author of Not Just a Civil Servant, where he chronicles his 38 years working for Governments of India and Uttar Pradesh.In his career, Mr. Swarup has handled India's Coal auctions in the aftermath of the Coal Scam. He has served as Secretary, School Education, and while working in the Labour Ministry, helped conceive and launch the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana, a government-funded health insurance scheme for poor workers and their families.Not Just a Civil Servant is available in hardcover and on Amazon Kindle: https://www.amazon.in/JUST-CIVIL-SERVANT-Anil-Swarup/dp/8178064790New Podcast Alert! Hamsini Hariharan, long-time co-host of The Pragati Podcast has now started a new foreign policy podcast called States of Anarchy on the IVM Podcast Network. Available on all your favourite podcast apps. Listen to the podcast here: http://ivmpodcasts.com/states-of-anarchyFollow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipodFollow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragatiFollow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragatiSubscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes, Saavn, Spotify, Castbox, Google Podcasts, AudioBoom, YouTube or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere.You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the new and improved IVM Podcast App on Android: https://ivm.today/androidor iOS: https://ivm.today/iosYou can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What is intelligence? How do we learn what we learn? How are we aware of the world around us and ourselves? It is impossible to think about building an artificial intelligence or getting machines to learn without exploring these questions.Avinash Ambale joins host Pavan Srinath on Episode 130 of The Pragati Podcast to share fresh perspectives on intelligence and learning.The Pragati Podcast is a weekly talkshow on public policy, economics and international relations hosted by Pavan Srinath.Dr Avinash Ambale did his doctoral work in computational neuroscience, and has since built three successful companies across continents. He returned to research on artificial intelligence 4 years ago and started Pervazive, a research lab on the math and science of AI. He splits his time between New York and Bangalore.Also check out:Thale-Harate Kannada Podcast #56. ಯಂತ್ರಗಳ ಬುದ್ಧಿವಂತಿಕೆ ಮತ್ತು ಕಲಿಕೆ. Machine Learning and Intelligence. https://www.thinkpragati.com/podcast/thale-harate/8374/the-art-and-science-of-economic-policy/If you have any questions or comments, write in to [email protected] The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipodFollow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragatiFollow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragatiSubscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes, Saavn , Spotify , Castbox , Google Podcasts , YouTube or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere.You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcasts app on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios, or any other podcast app.You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The science of economics can often be misunderstood. Economics as a discipline is riddled with paradoxes. We often want economics to be able to predict the next crisis, while dismissing sound economic insights that may be a century old.Where is the science in economics? How much of the discipline is experimentation, and how much is careful observation of the world?Economist Ajay Shah is on Episode 129 of The Pragati Podcast to talk to Pavan Srinath about the dismal science of economics.The Pragati Podcast is a weekly talkshow on public policy, economics and international relations hosted by Pavan Srinath.Ajay Shah is a Professor at the National Institute of Public Finance and Policy in New Delhi. He is a popular columnist, a frequent blogger, and has recently authored In Service of The Republic: The Art and Science of Economic Policy along with Vijay Kelkar.Also check out:The Seen and the Unseen #154: The Art and Science of Economy Policy with Ajay Shah and Vijay Kelkar. https://www.thinkpragati.com/podcast/the-seen-and-the-unseen/8374/the-art-and-science-of-economic-policy/What is Wrong With Economics? https://blog.theleapjournal.org/2011/02/what-is-wrong-with-economics.htmlThe Problem With the Economics Profession. https://blog.theleapjournal.org/2012/12/the-problems-of-economics-profession.htmlIf you have any questions or comments, write in to [email protected] The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipodFollow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragatiFollow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragatiSubscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes, Saavn, Spotify, Castbox, Google Podcasts, YouTube or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

India's economic growth dips below 5% per annum again, less than a decade after the previous economic crisis. Is 5% growth for a country like India all but a recession?Anupam Manur returns to The Pragati Podcast in Episode 128 to talk to Pavan Srinath about how India's economy can be brought back on track.The Pragati Podcast is a weekly talk show on public policy, economics and international relations hosted by Pavan Srinath.Anupam Manur is an Assistant Professor of Economics at the Takshashila Institution, and a frequent guest on the show.Also listen to: Pragati Podcast #20: The GDP: From World War I to Today. https://www.thinkpragati.com/podcast/the-pragati-podcast/2728/gdp-world-war-i-today/If you have any questions or comments, write in to [email protected] The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipodFollow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragatiFollow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragatiSubscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes, Saavn , Spotify , Castbox , Google Podcasts , YouTube or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere.You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcasts app on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios, or any other podcast app.You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/ See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is India's banking crisis the first of its kind in the country? How did banks flourish and fail a hundred years ago, and what can we learn from them?Amol Agarwal gives us a magesterial tour of the rise of modern banking in India, all the way up to when India's top banks were nationalised in 1969 and 1980.The Pragati Podcast is a weekly talkshow on public policy, economics and international relations hosted by Pavan Srinath.Amol Agarwal is an Assistant Professor at the Amrut Mody School of Management at Ahmedabad University. He did his FPM at IIM Bangalore, and he writes extensively on banking, history, macroeconomics and finance, and much of it for public consumption as well.Amol blogs actively at Mostly Economics, and has written often for Mint.If you have any questions or comments, write in to [email protected] The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipodFollow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragatiFollow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragatiSubscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes, Saavn , Spotify , Castbox , Google Podcasts , YouTube or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere.You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcasts app on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios, or any other podcast app.You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On January 15, 2020, the United States of America and the People's Republic of China and Xi Jinping signed the "Phase One Trade Deal" after more than a year of protracted negotiations.On the Pragati Podcast in January 2019, Manoj Kewalramani and Anupam Manur had established that what we are seeing currently is a US-China trade battle, happening under the shadow of a much longer war for technological dominance.In Episode 126, Manoj Kewalramani returns to The Pragati Podcast to tell us the terms of the trade deal, how impactful they may be, and which conflicts remain unsolved. Manoj also gives a quick rundown of the highlights of what happened in China in 2019.The Pragati Podcast is a weekly talkshow on public policy, economics and international relations hosted by Pavan Srinath.Manoj Kewalramani is a Fellow for China Studies at the Takshashila Institution. In the past, Manoj spent several years working in China in journalism, manufacturing and more. He writes a weekly newsletter called Eye on China, which is a must-read for anyone interested in tracking China. Subscribe to it at bit.ly/EyeonChinaAnd don't miss previous episodes on China with Manoj:Ep. 77: The US-China Trade Battle: https://www.thinkpragati.com/podcast/6749/the-us-china-tariff-battle/Ep. 78: The US-China War for Technology: https://www.thinkpragati.com/podcast/the-pragati-podcast/6754/the-us-china-war-for-technology/Ep. 112: The 2019 Hong Kong Protests: https://www.thinkpragati.com/podcast/the-pragati-podcast/8238/2019-hong-kong-protests/Ep. 66: Myths About China: https://www.thinkpragati.com/podcast/the-pragati-podcast/5907/myths-about-china/Ep. 67: No, China Isn't Taking Over the World: https://www.thinkpragati.com/podcast/the-pragati-podcast/5989/no-china-isnt-taking-over-the-world/If you have any questions or comments, write in to [email protected] The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipodFollow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragatiFollow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragatiSubscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes, Saavn , Spotify , Castbox , Google Podcasts , YouTube or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere.You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcasts app on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios, or any other podcast app.You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The world today is broadly organised into sovereign nation states, and we all believe that the Indian Nation exists and is thriving. But what is nationalism, at its core? How did nationalism really evolve in Europe, and are ideas like Indian nationalism and Tamil nationalism quite the same? Dr AP Ashwin Kumar joins us on Episode 99 of The Pragati Podcast to unpack nationalism, language and identity.The Pragati Podcast is a weekly talkshow on public policy, economics and international relations hosted by Pavan Srinath. Starting this week, The Pragati Podcast will be airing every Wednesday instead of every Thursday.AP Ashwin Kumar is a Senior Fellow at the Centre for Learning Futures at Ahmedabad University. Ashwin has a PhD in Cultural Studies from Manipal University, and has 10 years’ experience in teaching and research in Cultural Studies.If you have any questions or comments, write in to [email protected] The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipodFollow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragatiFollow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragatiSubscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes, Saavn , Spotify , Castbox , Google Podcasts , YouTube or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere.You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcasts app on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios, or any other podcast app.You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A nation-wide NRC is an unknown beast of unknown dimensions. Real world examples of the NRC come from Assam, where close to 19 lakh residents of the state were left out of the NRC list brought out in August 2019. How do you prove your citizenship in India, where most people do not have basic personal documents? Journalist Rohini Mohan  joins Pavan Srinath to discuss Assam's unique history, how the NRC was rolled out in Assam, and what a nation-wide NRC might look like. The Pragati Podcast is a weekly talkshow on public policy, economics and international relations hosted by Pavan Srinath. Rohini Mohan is a journalist and author, who has been reporting extensively from Assam over the last few years, covering the NRC, foreigners' tribunals, and the struggles of stateless residents of India. Recommending reading and listening: Rohini Mohan: Inside India's Sham Trials For Citizenship. https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/3k33qy/worse-than-a-death-sentence-inside-indias-sham-trials-that-could-strip-millions-of-citizenship Rohini Mohan: Inside the Foreigners Tribunals in Assam. https://www.huffingtonpost.in/2018/08/05/what-s-going-on-is-really-unfair-inside-the-foreigners-tribunals-in-assam_a_23496313/ Pragati Podcast #119: Refugees in the 21st Century. https://www.thinkpragati.com/podcast/the-pragati-podcast/8293/refugees-in-the-21st-century/ If you have any questions or comments, write in to [email protected]. Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipod Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragati Subscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes, Saavn , Spotify , Castbox , Google Podcasts , YouTube or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcasts app on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios, or any other podcast app. You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Nuclear war feels unthinkable, but how much peace does nuclear deterrence guarantee? Do nuclear programmes truly deter or compel adversaries in the real world? And can we imagine a world where 20+ countries have nuclear weapons? Vipin Narang joins Pavan Srinath on Episode 124 of The Pragati Podcast to dive into the world of nuclear weapons and strategy. He shares the evolution of our understanding of nuclear strategy from early ideas of mutually assured destruction. The Pragati Podcast is a weekly talkshow on public policy, economics and international relations hosted by Pavan Srinath. Vipin Narang is an Associate Professor of Political Science at MIT and a member of MIT’s Security Studies Programme. He published his first book Nuclear Strategy in the Modern Era in 2014, and is currently working on his second book, Strategies of Nuclear Proliferation, in which he explores how states pursue nuclear weapons. He is on Twitter at @NarangVipin. Also check out: Pragati Podcast 29: Firing on the Line of Control, with Lt Gen Prakash Menon. https://ivmpodcasts.com/the-pragati-podcast-episode-list/2018/2/1/ep-29-firing-on-the-line-of-control 51: A Tale of Two Nukes: Iran. https://ivmpodcasts.com/the-pragati-podcast-episode-list/2018/7/19/ep-51-a-tale-of-two-nukes-iran-part-1 52: A Tale of Two Nukes: North Korea. https://ivmpodcasts.com/the-pragati-podcast-episode-list/2018/7/26/ep-52-a-tale-of-two-nukes-north-korea-part-2 If you have any questions or comments, write in to [email protected]. To learn more about the campaign, visit abmeribaari.in. Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipod Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragati Subscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes, Saavn , Spotify , Castbox , Google Podcasts , YouTube or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcasts app on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios, or any other podcast app. You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Republic of India is often a Republic of men. While men and women nationally enjoy the same rights, we are yet to solve many of the social failures from decades ago. Child marriage for women remains the norm in many parts of the country, many girls drop out early from education, and women's participation in the labour force is dropping drastically. Understanding the challenges faced by adolescent women in India can help us unpack why Indian society and governments are failing half the population in so many ways. Shireen Jejebhoy, Manisha Gupte and Richa Patel join Pavan Srinath on the Pragati Podcast to help with just that. The Pragati Podcast is a weekly talkshow on public policy, economics and international relations hosted by Pavan Srinath. This episode was made possible thanks to the Ab Meri Baari campaign run by the Dasra 10 to 19 Collaborative. The campaign aims to improve the lives of adolescent girls between the ages of 10 and 19, and empower them. As a part of the campaign, 300 girl champions were selected across Jharkhand and Rajasthan to conduct a social audit of all government services directed towards them. Dasra is a philanthropic organisation that facilitates social change by driving collaborative action between funders, development organisations and communities. Shireen Jejeebhoy is a demographer and social scientist whose work has focused on young people's health and development. Manisha Gupte has been part of the women's and health rights movements in India since the mid-1970s, and co-founded MASUM -- a rural women's organisation in Maharashtra that has been active since 1987. Richa Patel is a communications specialist and a team lead at Dasra, who's also instrumental in making this and the previous episode possible. Also check out: Pragati Podcast #122: The Adolescents of India: https://ivmpodcasts.com/the-pragati-podcast-episode-list/2019/12/11/ep-122-the-adolescents-of-india Report: The Situation of Adolescents in Jharkhand. https://www.dasra.org/resource/the-situation-of-adolescents-in-jharkhand If you have any questions or comments, write in to [email protected]. To learn more about the campaign, visit abmeribaari.in. Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipod Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragati Subscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes, Saavn , Spotify , Castbox , Google Podcasts , YouTube or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcasts app on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios, or any other podcast app. You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

India has made strides in improving the health, well-being and lives of infants and expecting mothers over the last several decades. But once children enter school and enter adolescence, they get lost as a public priority till they enter adulthood. Adolescence is a time of great physical, physiological and intellectual development and upheaval for all of us. Adolescents also need special protection of their rights, especially their sexual and reproductive health and rights. On Episode 122 of The Pragati Podcast, Dr. Lakshmi Lingam, Dr Rama Shyam and Gurpriya Singh talk to host Pavan Srinath about the challenges faced by adolescents across India, especially girls. This episode was made possible thanks to the Ab Meri Baari campaign run by the Dasra 10 to19 Collaborative. The campaign aims to improve the lives of adolescent girls between the ages of 10 and 19, and empower them. As a part of the campaign, 300 girl champions were selected across Jharkhand and Rajasthan to conduct a social audit of all government services directed towards them. Dasra is a philanthropic organisation that facilitates social change by driving collaborative action between funders, development organisations and communities. Dr Lakshmi Lingam is a Professor at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences and a gender-specialist. Dr Rama Shyam runs the Empowerment, Health & Sexuality of Adolescents (EHSAS) programme at SNEHA, Mumbai and is the co-founder of SAFER - the Society for Awareness, Harmony and Equal Rights. Gurpriya Singh is a development professional working at Dasra, where she has most recently been working on the Ab Meri Baari campaign implementing social and behavioral change strategies in Jharkhand and Rajasthan. If you have any questions or comments, write in to [email protected]. To learn more about the campaign, visit abmeribaari.in. Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipod Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragati Subscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes, Saavn , Spotify , Castbox , Google Podcasts , YouTube or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcasts app on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios, or any other podcast app. You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Indian State has incredible ambition, but often falls very short of meeting grand outcomes. The mismatch is linked to State Capacity, a nebulous concept at the best of times. Prakhar Misra is on Episode 121 of The Pragati Podcast to help us understand what state capacity is, how it could be measured, and how India can improve its state capacity rapidly. The Pragati Podcast is a weekly talk-show on public policy, economics and international relations hosted by Pavan Srinath. Prakhar Misra is an Associate at IDFC Institute. His research focuses on data empowerment and privacy, and the link between infrastructure investment and job creation. Previously, he was a Chevening Scholar reading for a Masters in Public Policy at the University of Oxford, and has also studied at the Meghand Desai Academy of Economics and The Takshashila Institution. If you have any questions or comments, write in to [email protected]. Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipod Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragati Subscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes, Saavn , Spotify , Castbox , Google Podcasts , YouTube or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcasts app on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios, or any other podcast app. You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What has been happening in Pakistan after Imran Khan became the Prime Minister? Why do some people want General Qamar Javed Bajwa's tenure as the army chief to come to an end? Dr Christine Fair gives us a tour of Pakistani politics, geopolitics and skulduggery like no one else can, on Episode 120 of The Pragati Podcast The Pragati Podcast is a weekly talk-show on public policy, economics and international relations hosted by Pavan Srinath. Dr C. Christine Fair is a Provost's Distinguished Associate Professor in the Peace and Security Studies Program, within Georgetown University's Edmund A. Walsh School of Foreign Service. She previously served as a senior political scientist with the RAND Corporation, a political officer with the United Nations Assistance Mission to Afghanistan in Kabul, and has researched and written extensively on political and military affairs in South Asia. Her most recent book is In Their Own Words: Understanding Lashkar-e-Tayyaba. You can also listen to her talk about the Lashkar-e-Tayyaba in Hindi/Urdu on the Puliyabaazi Podcast. If you have any questions or comments, write in to [email protected]. Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipod Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragati Subscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes, Saavn , Spotify , Castbox , Google Podcasts , YouTube or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcasts app on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios, or any other podcast app. You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

About 1% of the world's population today are refugees, internally displaced or stateless. They live difficult, dangerous lives, have few protections and often no voice. Meanwhile, globalisation has been lop-sided. Money and goods can move relatively easily across the world, but people rarely can. Ameya Naik returns to The Pragati Podcast to talk about refugees, distress migrants and the movement of people across the world. The Pragati Podcast is a weekly talk-show on public policy, economics and international relations hosted by Pavan Srinath. Ameya Naik is a Non-Resident Associate Fellow at the Takshashila Institution and a recurring guest on The Pragati Podcast. Listen to earlier episodes with Ameya below: 42 - Sovereignty: https://ivmpodcasts.com/the-pragati-podcast-episode-list/2018/5/3/ep-42-sovereignty-from-the-cholas-to-wakanda 51 - The Iran Nuclear Deal: https://ivmpodcasts.com/the-pragati-podcast-episode-list/2018/7/19/ep-51-a-tale-of-two-nukes-iran-part-1 52 - The North Korean Nuclear Deal: https://ivmpodcasts.com/the-pragati-podcast-episode-list/2018/7/26/ep-52-a-tale-of-two-nukes-north-korea-part-2 62 - The Syrian Civil War: https://ivmpodcasts.com/the-pragati-podcast-episode-list/2019/10/30/ep-62-rebroadcast-syria-and-the-ugliness-of-modern-warfare 103 - The United Nations: https://ivmpodcasts.com/the-pragati-podcast-episode-list/2019/7/11/ep-103-the-united-nations-explained For Further Reading:Home, by Warsan Shire: https://www.care.org/sites/default/files/lesson_1_-_home-poem-by-warsan-shire.pdf The Cliff at the Border, by Lant Pritchett: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/8777/042b950ca0356fec9236d2214886cbacd083.pdf Economics and Emigration: Trillion-Dollar Bills on the Sidewalk? by Michael Clemens: https://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1257/jep.25.3.83 If you have any questions or comments, write in to [email protected]. Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipod Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragati Subscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes, Saavn , Spotify , Castbox , Google Podcasts , YouTube or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcasts app on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios, or any other podcast app. You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The State of Jammu & Kashmir as we know it has changed permanently in 2019. With the end of J&K's special status and the restructuring of the state into two union territories under greater control of New Delhi, there have been many discussions on history, politics, law and order, human rights issues and more on Kashmir. On Episode 118 of The Pragati Podcast, Lt. General Ata Hasnain shares an important military perspective on the security challenges in Kashmir, and demystifies life on the Line of Control for Indian soldiers. The Pragati Podcast is a weekly talk-show on public policy, economics and international relations hosted by Pavan Srinath. Lieutenant General (Retd) Syed Ata Hasnain is a former Indian military leader, and was corps commander of the XV Chinar Corps of the Indian Army in Kashmir between December, 2010 and June, 2012. Gen Hasnain is an infantryman from the Garwhal Rifles and retired as the Military Secretary of the Indian Army. He is on Twitter at @atahasnain53. Do also listen to: Episode 134 of The Seen and The Unseen: Kashmir and Article 370, with Srinath Raghavan. http://www.seenunseen.in/episodes/2019/8/19/episode-134-kashmir-and-article-370 Episode 29 of The Pragati Podcast: Firing on the Line of Control, with Lt. General (Retd) Prakash Menon. https://ivmpodcasts.com/the-pragati-podcast-episode-list/2018/2/1/ep-29-firing-on-the-line-of-control If you have any questions or comments, write in to [email protected]. Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipod Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragati Subscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes, Saavn , Spotify , Castbox , Google Podcasts , YouTube or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcasts app on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios, or any other podcast app. You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The States Reorganisation Act came into effect 63 years ago to this day, on November 1, 1956. India's states as we know them started taking their shape then. Many states like Karnataka, Kerala, West Bengal and others celebrate this as a State Formation Day or a 'Rajyotsava' Day. How have Indian states fared since they were formed, and how should they think of themselves in the coming decades? Can state governments in India rise to meet the expectations of its residents? Can state residents demand more from their elected state leaders? Pranay Kotasthane returns to The Pragati Podcast to talk about the future of Indian states. The Pragati Podcast is a weekly talk-show on public policy, economics and international relations hosted by Pavan Srinath. Pranay Kotasthane is the Head of Policy Research at the Takshashila Institution and hosts the Puliyabaazi Hindi Podcast. Do also listen to: Episode 102 of The Pragati Podcast: Fiscal Federalism in India. https://ivmpodcasts.com/the-pragati-podcast-episode-list/2019/7/4/ep-102-fiscal-federalism-in-india And if you know Kannada, listen to the latest episode of the Thale-Harate Kannada Podcast. Episode 42: ಕರ್ನಾಟಕದ ಮುಂದಿನ ಹೆಜ್ಜೆ. Karnataka: The Path Ahead. https://ivmpodcasts.com/harate-kannada-podcast-episode-list/2019/10/31/ep-42-karnataka-the-path-ahead If you have any questions or comments, write in to [email protected]. Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipod Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragati Subscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes, Saavn , Spotify , Castbox , Google Podcasts , YouTube or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcasts app on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios, or any other podcast app. You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Syrian Civil War has been raging since 2011, and crimes against humanity are being committed even in 2019. How did a peaceful protest turn into a multi-sided war that has killed half a million people and displaced more than 10 million Syrians? This is a rebroadcast of Episode 62 of The Pragati Podcast with guest Ameya Naik and host Pavan Srinath, originally recorded in September 2018. Ameya Naik is a non-resident Associate Fellow at the Takshashila Institution, and wears many other hats besides that. Recommended reading / listening: PBS News Hour: https://www.pbs.org/newshour/amp/show/for-northern-syrians-who-endured-isis-u-s-withdrawal-means-a-new-struggle-to-survive If you have any questions or comments, write in to [email protected]. Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipod Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragati Subscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes, Saavn , Spotify , Castbox , Google Podcasts , YouTube or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcasts app on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios, or any other podcast app. You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How is a new drug discovered or invented? What does it take for medicine to go from a small idea in a research lab all the way to your local pharmacy? How can we develop new medicines for India and Indian ailments? Pavan Srinath is in the guest seat today as he talks to Anupam Manur, a frequent guest and friend of The Pragati Podcast. He retells the tale of how Penicillin was discovered, and tracks how drug discovery and development has evolved since then. Pavan Srinath is a public policy researcher and educator, and also hosts The Thale-Harate Kannada Podcast. He has an academic background in biotechnology and biosciences before working in public policy. Anupam Manur is an Assistant Professor and resident economist at The Takshashila Instituion. Also read: Medicines in India, For India: https://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/Medicines-in-India-for-India/article10678328.ece If you have any questions or comments, write in to [email protected]. Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipod Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragati Subscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes, Saavn , Spotify , Castbox , Google Podcasts , YouTube or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcasts app on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios, or any other podcast app. You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Edit "Rocket science" has moved well beyond rocketry in the 21st century. Even the Jet Propulsion Lab in California hasn't done any rocket science in the last several decades, focusing entirely on robotic space missions instead. One of the big challenges with space programmes today is designing and managing complex systems, where spacecraft can autonomously make decisions in uncertain environments. Anne Devereaux joins Pavan Srinath on Episode 115 of The Pragati Podcast to share how NASA and JPL plan and manage interplanetary missions. The Pragati Podcast is a weekly talkshow on public policy, economics and international relations hosted by Pavan Srinath . Ann Devereaux  is the manager for spacecraft system engineering at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory and was the lead flight system engineer for the upcoming Mars 2020 rover. Previously, she worked on the Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity Rover project, ultimately becoming lead system engineer for the flight system and fault protection, and deputy lead for the Entry, Descent and Landing team. Ann is an electrical engineer by training, and has spent close to three decades in various roles at JPL. This episode was recorded during Ann's visit to Bangalore that was made possible thanks to the United States Consulate in Chennai . Also listen to: Episode #91: Meet an Astronaut, with Astronaut & Former head of NASA Charlie Bolden: https://ivmpodcasts.com/the-pragati-podcast-episode-list/2019/4/4/ep-91-meet-an-astronaut Episode #93 Markets in Space, with Narayan Prasad: https://ivmpodcasts.com/the-pragati-podcast-episode-list/2019/4/18/ep-93-markets-in-space 7 Minutes of Terror video on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ki_Af_o9Q9s If you have any questions or comments, write in to [email protected]. Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipod Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragati Subscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes, Saavn , Spotify , Castbox , Google Podcasts , YouTube or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcasts app on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios, or any other podcast app. You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

India's judicial system operates at three levels: the Supreme Court at the national level, High Courts at the state level, and city or district level courts at the local level. A lot of the public interest in how India's courts are doing is largely directed at High Courts and the Supreme Court, but the most impactful judicial reforms have to start at the local level. Surya Prakash BS joins Pavan Srinath on Episode 114 of The Pragati Podcast to help us understand the functioning of the subordinate judiciary. The Pragati Podcast is a weekly talkshow on public policy, economics and international relations hosted by Pavan Srinath. Surya Prakash BS is Fellow & Programme Director at Daksh, a Bengaluru-based think tank focused on judicial reforms in India and to enable the speedy delivery of justice for all. Surya also hosts the Thale-Harate Kannada Podcast along with Pavan Srinath and Ganesh Chakravarthi. Recently, Daksh released a report on the litigation landscape of Bengaluru rural courts: http://dakshindia.org/litigation-landscape-bengaluru-rural/ If you have any questions or comments, write in to [email protected]. Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipod Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragati Subscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes, Saavn, Spotify, Castbox, Google Podcasts, AudioBoom, YouTube or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcasts app on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios, or any other podcast app. You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Industrial Revolution led to the creation of firms. The Information Revolution has led to the creation of platforms. Amazon and Flipkart, Ola and Uber, Google and Apple -- are all platforms that connect producers to consumers, and gain tremendous power in the process. Anupam Manur returns to The Pragati Podcast to help us understand the platform economy and the new challenges that face us. The Pragati Podcast is a weekly talkshow on public policy, economics and international relations hosted by Pavan Srinath. Anupam Manur is an economist at the Takshashila Institution who works on employment, market regulations and trade. Also check out: Pragati Podcast #87 - The Growth of Indian E-Commerce. https://ivmpodcasts.com/the-pragati-podcast-episode-list/2019/3/7/ep-87-the-growth-of-indian-e-commerce Anupam Manur: How to Regulate Internet Platforms Without Breaking Them. https://www.asiaglobalonline.hku.hk/regulate-internet-platforms-antitrust-competition/ If you have any questions or comments, write in to [email protected]. Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipod Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragati Subscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes, Saavn, Spotify, Castbox, Google Podcasts, AudioBoom, YouTube or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcasts app on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios, or any other podcast app. You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Genome sequencing and mapping is unearthing new knowledge about the origin of humans and human civilisation. More than that, genome analysis is also yielding new insights about human health, and will be vital for medicines of the 21st century. It is time to talk about the many Indian genomes, and the great genetic diversity of Indians, 28 years after the Human Genome Project was launched. Since this episode was first aired in September 2018, there has been fascinating new research expanding our understanding of how humans populated India and South Asia. Most recently, the first ancient genome from the Indus Valley Civlisation was analysed and reported in the journal Cell. Dr Kumarasamy Thangaraj joins Pavan Srinath and guest host Dr Shambhavi Naik on Episode 61 of the Pragati Podcast to talk about genes, history and health challenges in India. Dr Thangaraj is a renowned scientist working at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, CCMB, Hyderabad. He has published extensively on the origin of humans, on genetics and disease and how they affect the lives of Indians. If you have any questions or comments on the episode, write in to [email protected]. You can also ask the hosts anything on twitter at @zeusisdead. Read his latest research publications, including on ancient DNA from the Indus Valley Civilisation, on Google Scholar: https://scholar.google.co.in/citations?user=AYZNs9wAAAAJ&hl=en Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipod Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragati Subscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes, Saavn, Spotify, Castbox, Google Podcasts, AudioBoom, YouTube or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcasts app on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios, or any other podcast app. You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Hong Kong has seen protests since March 2019, triggered by newly proposed legislation that allows Hong Kong citizens to be extradited to China or Taiwan. This is the latest round in a long conflict between the People's Republic of China seeking to exert more control over Hong Kong, and citizens of Hong Kong fighting to ensure their personal rights and freedoms. Manoj Kewalramani returns to Episode 112 of The Pragati Podcast to help us understand the Hong Kong protests and put them in perspective. The Pragati Podcast is a weekly talkshow on public policy, economics and international relations hosted by Pavan Srinath. Manoj Kewalramani is a Fellow for China Studies at the Takshashila Institution. Before joining Takshashila, Manoj spent several years working in China in journalism, manufacturing and more. He writes a weekly news letter called Eye on China, and he's been on the Pragati Podcast before to bust commonly held myths about China, and has been on the podcast before to help us understand China. For the best podcast episode on the ongoing Kashmir conflict, listen to Srinath Raghavan on Amit Varma's Seen and the Unseen Podcast: https://www.thinkpragati.com/category/podcast/the-seen-and-the-unseen/ Also listen to: Pragati Podcast #66: Myths About China: https://www.thinkpragati.com/podcast/the-pragati-podcast/5907/myths-about-china/ Pragati Podcast #67: No, China Isn't Taking Over the World: https://www.thinkpragati.com/podcast/the-pragati-podcast/5989/no-china-isnt-taking-over-the-world/ Pragati Podcast #77: The US-China Trade Battle: https://www.thinkpragati.com/podcast/6749/the-us-china-tariff-battle/ Pragati Podcast #78: The US-China War for Technology: https://www.thinkpragati.com/podcast/the-pragati-podcast/6754/the-us-china-war-for-technology/   If you have any questions or comments, write in to [email protected]. Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipod Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragati Subscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes, Saavn, Spotify, Castbox, Google Podcasts, AudioBoom, YouTube or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcasts app on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios, or any other podcast app. You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Mental health is not a first world concern, but very much an Indian challenge. Social taboos have prevented Indians from confronting mental illnesses head on and now it's estimated that there are over a 100 million people in India who need medical interventions on mental health. Listen to Dr Sabina Rao and Pavitra Jayaraman as they unpack the issue on Episode 111 of The Pragati Podcast. The Pragati Podcast is a weekly talkshow on public policy, economics and international relations hosted by Pavan Srinath. Dr Sabina Rao is a Psychiatrist with extensive experience in assessment, diagnosis and treatment of a wide spectrum of psychiatric disorders. She currently practices at Columbia Asia and Annaswamy Mudaliar General Hospitals in Bangalore and was previously associated with NIMHANS. Pavitra Jayaraman heads editorial at White Swan Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation that creates and disseminates, well-researched and credible information on mental health. Pavitra is a former journalist who has worked with NDTV and Mint. Also read:** National Mental Health Survey of India, 2015-16**. If you have any questions or comments, write in to [email protected]. Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipod Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragati Subscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes, Saavn, Spotify, Castbox, Google Podcasts, AudioBoom, YouTube or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcasts app on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios, or any other podcast app. You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What is happening in India's stock markets right now? How do the stock markets interact with the real Indian economy? Deepak Shenoy is on Episode 110 of The Pragati Podcast to help us make sense of what is happening in India right now. The Pragati Podcast is a weekly talkshow on public policy, economics and international relations hosted by Pavan Srinath. Deepak Shenoy is the Founder and CEO of Capitalmind, a Bangalore-based investment research and wealth management startup. If you have any questions or comments, write in to [email protected]. Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipod Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragati Subscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes, Saavn, Spotify, Castbox, Google Podcasts, AudioBoom, YouTube or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcasts app on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios, or any other podcast app. You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Companies around the world have been learning how to manage the safety and security of their digital assets. Can the cybersecurity logic of a private corporation be expanded to that of a nation state? Sandesh Anand joins Pavan Srinath on Episode 109 of The Pragati Podcast to talk about how India can think about cybersecurity. The Pragati Podcast is a weekly talkshow on public policy, economics and international relations hosted by Pavan Srinath. Announcement: New episodes of The Pragati Podcast will be out every Wednesday, starting from this week. Sandesh Anand is an information security professional and a Managing Consultant at Synopsis Inc. He writes on topics at the intersection of cyber security and other aspects of digital life, including for Factor Daily. He was also previously on the Thale-Harate Kannada Podcast to talk about cybersecurity in Kannada. If you have any questions or comments, write in to [email protected]. Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipod Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragati Subscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes, Saavn, Spotify, Castbox, Google Podcasts, AudioBoom, YouTube or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcasts app on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios, or any other podcast app. You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

India has fraction of the doctors and medical professionals it needs, even as healthcare is increasingly becoming a politically important issue. In this context, the Government of India recently passed the National Medical Commission (NMC) Act 2019, which wants to usher in a new regulatory apparatus for medical education in the country. A welcome replacement for a corrupt and dysfunctional Medical Council of India, the NMC Act is not without its share of protests and criticisms. Sambit Dash joins Pavan Srinath on Episode 108 of the Pragati to talk about medical education and the NMC Act. The Pragati Podcast is a weekly talkshow on public policy, economics and international relations hosted by Pavan Srinath. Announcement: New episodes of The Pragati Podcast will be out every Wednesday, starting next week. Sambit Dash teaches biochemistry to medical students at the Manipal Academy of Higher Education, and is an alumnus of the Takshashila Institution. He writes extensively on various policy issues, especially various aspects of medical education. Suggested readings & podcasts: [Podcast] The Medical Council of India: http://www.seenunseen.in/episodes/2017/3/7/episode-8-the-medical-council-of-india [Livemint] Is NEXT the panacea for medical education woes? https://www.livemint.com/Education/MkZvFhKf39vIbKXmlDEfwK/Is-NEXT-the-panacea-for-medical-education-woes.html [The Wire] What's next for the NMC Bill? Confusion. https://thewire.in/health/nmc-bill-mbbs-exit-exam [EPW] Exit Exam in Medical Education: Whatever NEXT? https://www.epw.in/journal/2017/52/commentary/whatever-next.html [The Wire] It's a Bad Idea to Outright Reject Bridge Courses for Healthcare Professionals. https://thewire.in/health/its-a-bad-idea-to-outright-reject-bridge-courses-for-healthcare-professionals If you have any questions or comments, write in to [email protected]. Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipod Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragati Subscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes, Saavn, Spotify, Castbox, Google Podcasts, AudioBoom, YouTube or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcasts app on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios, or any other podcast app. You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

DNA samples can today be used for creating a unique fingerprint or ID, for diagnosing cancer and heritable diseases, for telling you your ancestry or even paternity. The cost of sequencing the full genome of any human cost over a $100 million dollars at the start of the 21st century, and today costs just a few hundred dollars. In this backdrop of DNA sequencing technology being used for criminal, civil, medical and other purposes -- The DNA Technology (Use and Application) Regulation Bill, 2019 has been reintroduced in the Lok Sabha. Drs Mandira Kala and Shambhavi Naik are on Episode 107 of The Pragati Podcast to tell us all about the DNA bill. The Pragati Podcast is a weekly talkshow on public policy, economics and international relations hosted by Pavan Srinath. Announcement: New episodes of The Pragati Podcast will be out every Wednesday, starting next week. Shambhavi Naik is a cancer researcher turned bioscience policy researcher and entrepreneur. She is a Fellow for technology and policy at the Takshashila Institution, and the Founder of CloudKrate. Mandira Kala is the Head of Research at PRS Legislative Research, and has a PhD in Public Policy from the University of Massachussets. Suggested readings: - Bill Summary & Legislative Brief from PRS: http://prsindia.org/billtrack/dna-technology-use-and-application-regulation-bill-2019 - The DNA Bill is designed to fail, Shambhavi Naik in FirstPost: https://www.firstpost.com/india/dna-bill-is-designed-to-fail-6038751.html If you have any questions or comments, write in to [email protected]. Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipod Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragati Subscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes, Saavn, Spotify, Castbox, Google Podcasts, AudioBoom, YouTube or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Can India's higher education system thrive when the teaching profession has lost most of its status in society? What is necessary for India to educate millions of its citizens who turn college-going age every year? Pushkar joins Pavan Srinath on Episode 106 of The Pragati Podcast to share his thoughts. The Pragati Podcast is a weekly talkshow on public policy, economics and international relations. Pushkar is the Director of the Goa International Centre and a political scientist with a PhD from McGill University who has taught in both India and Canada. He writes regularly on higher education for The Wire, and other publications.   If you have any questions or comments, write in to [email protected]. Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipod Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragati Subscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes, Saavn, Spotify, Castbox, Google Podcasts, AudioBoom, YouTube or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How has India's anti-defection law undermined democracy in the country? How do we tackle endless horse-trading of elected representatives in India? The Anti-Defection Law stifles intra-party democracy and dissent, and is also undermining the stability of elected governments. How do we fix a solution that has grown bigger than the problem? Alok Prasanna Kumar returns to Episode 105 of The Pragati Podcast helps us understand this constitutional crisis, and a big political challenge for Karnataka in particular, as well. The Pragati Podcast is a weekly talkshow on public policy, economics and international relations hosted by Pavan Srinath. Alok Prasanna Kumar is a Senior Resident Fellow at the Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy, a former Supreme Court lawyer and co-host of Ganatantra Podcast Anupam Manur is an economist at the Takshashila Institution who works on employment, market regulations and trade, as well as a frequent guest on the show. If you have any questions or comments, write in to [email protected]. Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipod Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragati Subscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes, Saavn, Spotify, Castbox, Google Podcasts, AudioBoom, YouTube or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government of India has announced that it will start issuing Overseas Sovereign Bonds, thereby allowing the government to borrow in dollars from foreign lenders. With falling savings rates in India and the little money available to the private sector to borrow locally, is this a solution that can help kickstart the economy? Or are dollar bonds like a drug, addictive and ruinous over time? Anupam Manur returns to Episode 104 of The Pragati Podcast to tell us how dollar bonds would affect the Indian economy. The Pragati Podcast is a weekly talkshow on public policy, economics and international relations hosted by Pavan Srinath. Anupam Manur is an economist at the Takshashila Institution who works on employment, market regulations and trade, as well as a frequent guest on the show. If you have any questions or comments, write in to [email protected].   Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipod Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragati Subscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes, Saavn, Spotify, Castbox, Google Podcasts, AudioBoom, YouTube or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

India was one of the founding members of the United Nations, but as a colony of the British Empire. Almost 75 years later, the UN has shaped international relations as we know it. The UN has played pivotal roles in completing decolonisation across the world, shaping the legal use of seas and oceans by all nations, and much more. Ameya Naik returns to The Pragati Podcast to talk about the United Nations and its role in global governance. The Pragati Podcast is a weekly talkshow on public policy, economics and international relations hosted by Pavan Srinath. Ameya Naik is a non-resident Associate Fellow at the Takshashila Institution. Ameya has been on The Pragati Podcast before, to talk about sovereignty in Episode 42, about nuclear agreements with Iran and North Korean in Episodes 51 and 52, and about the Syrian Civil War in Episode 62. If you want to learn more about India's early engagement with the United Nations, you can try Manu Bhagavan's book The Peacemakers: India and the Quest for One World. Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipod Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragati Subscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes, Saavn, Spotify, Castbox, Google Podcasts, AudioBoom, YouTube or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

India is a Union of States, and Indian Republic's federal nature has been hardcoded into the Constitution. While political federalism is important, control over the purse strings often makes or breaks federalism. Pranay Kotasthane returns to The Pragati Podcast to help us understand how fiscal federalism works in India. Pranay and Pavan talk about the Finance Commission, recent developments and debates, and how the Planning Commission played an overwhelming role in fiscal federalism till it was abolished. The Pragati Podcast is a weekly talkshow on public policy, economics and international relations hosted by Pavan Srinath. Pranay Kotasthane is the Head of Policy Research at the Takshashila Institution and hosts the Puliyabaazi Hindi Podcast. Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipod Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragatiSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Air pollution in our cities, vanishing groundwater, disappearing lakes and global climate change. What is common to all of them is that they suffer from the tragedy of the commons. Lingaraj Jayaprakash joins us on the Pragati Podcast to help us think about the commons better. The Pragati Podcast is a weekly talkshow on public policy, economics and international relations hosted by Pavan Srinath. Starting this week, The Pragati Podcast will be airing every Wednesday instead of every Thursday. Lingaraj Jayaprakash is a researcher at the Sustainable Futures Lab at McGill University who works on environment and development. He has just submitted his doctoral thesis on development and conservation in peri-urban Bengaluru. He is also popular on twitter as @vktkv. Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipod Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragati Subscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes, Saavn, Spotify, Castbox, Google Podcasts, AudioBoom, YouTube or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On the 100th episode of The Pragati Podcast, the tables have been turned. Host Pavan Srinath occupies the guest seat today, with Winona Laisram talking to him about his last decade of working in public policy, and recording one hundred episodes of The Pragati Podcast. Winona Laisram is a Visual Designer and Communicator, who has also shared the last four years of Pavan's journey as his partner. Winona works extensively on branding and design for non-profits, startups and others, and was the Art Director for *Namma Pride 2016. If you have any questions or comments, write in to [email protected]. Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipod Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragati Subscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes, Saavn, Spotify, Castbox, Google Podcasts, AudioBoom, YouTube or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The world today is broadly organised into sovereign nation states, and we all believe that the Indian Nation exists and is thriving. But what is nationalism, at its core? How did nationalism really evolve in Europe, and are ideas like Indian nationalism and Tamil nationalism quite the same? Dr AP Ashwin Kumar joins us on Episode 99 of The Pragati Podcast to unpack nationalism, language and identity. The Pragati Podcast is a weekly talkshow on public policy, economics and international relations hosted by Pavan Srinath. Starting this week, The Pragati Podcast will be airing every Wednesday instead of every Thursday. AP Ashwin Kumar is a Senior Fellow at the Centre for Learning Futures at Ahmedabad University. Ashwin has a PhD in Cultural Studies from Manipal University, and has 10 years’ experience in teaching and research in Cultural Studies.   If you have any questions or comments, write in to [email protected]. Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipod Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragati Subscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes, Saavn, Spotify, Castbox, Google Podcasts, AudioBoom, YouTube or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

51.9 per cent of the people of Great Britain voted to leave the European Union in 2016. A country divided, Brexit is still in the works three years later and it has cost them two Prime Ministers. Anupam Manur talks to Pavan Srinath on Episode 98 of The Pragati Podcast on everything we need to know about Brexit. The Pragati Podcast is a weekly talkshow on public policy, economics and international relations hosted by Pavan Srinath. Starting this week, The Pragati Podcast will be 0airing every Wednesday instead of every Thursday. Anupam Manur is an economist at the Takshashila Institution who works on employment, market regulations and trade. This episode of The Pragati Podcast is brought to you by Savaari. Savaari cabs are perfect for weekend trips out of town or a day in the city full of meetings. Savaari cabs are available in 98 Indian cities, and you can book your cab at the Savaari.com website, the Savaari App or by calling 090-4545-0000. Use the coupon code IVMTravel for Rs 250 off on your next rental, and get another 300 rupees as cashback on Amazon Pay If you have any questions or comments, write in to [email protected]. Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipod Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragati Subscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes, Saavn, Spotify, Castbox, Google Podcasts, AudioBoom, YouTube or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Narendra Modi-led NDA has won an unprecedented mandate for a second term in office. With a new cabinet being sworn in and 100 day plans being drawn up, what should be the top priorities of the new Government of India? Narayan Ramachandran returns to The Pragati Podcast to discuss what should be on top of the agenda for NDA 3.0. The Pragati Podcast is a weekly talkshow on public policy, economics and international relations hosted by Pavan Srinath. In Episode 97, Narayan and Pavan discuss employment creation, banking reform and agricultural reform as the most pressing concerns for incoming government. Narayan Ramachandran is co-founder and Fellow at the Takshashila Institution, formerly Chairman of RBL Bank, a social entrepreneur and an emerging market investor. He writes a regular column in Mint called A Visible Hand. Also check out: Previous episodes of The Pragati Podcast with Narayan, #38 on India's Banking Crisis, India's Economic Goals and on the Rupee in Flux. Narayan's latest op-ed in Mint: The New Government Must Focus on Structural Reforms. This episode of The Pragati Podcast is brought to you by Savaari. Savaari cabs are perfect for weekend trips out of town or a day in the city full of meetings. Savaari cabs are available in 98 Indian cities, and you can book your cab at the Savaari.com website, the Savaari App or by calling 090-4545-0000. Use the coupon code IVMTravel for Rs 250 off on your next rental, and get another 300 rupees as cashback on Amazon Pay Subscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes, Saavn, Spotify, Castbox, Google Podcasts, AudioBoom, YouTube or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's Election week in India, and as we wait to see who will form the next union government and who will become our prime minister, it's a great time to listen to the words of Dr Jayaprakash Narayan again. This is a rebroadcast of Episode 76 of the Pragati Podcast. ow should we think about India as a republic and as a democracy? What has India succeeded in doing, and where do we still have a long way to go? Dr Jayaprakash Narayan, known to all as Dr JP, shares his realism and his optimism with host Pavan Srinath in the first Pragati Podcast episode of 2019. Dr JP has been at the forefront of reform and change in India, as an outstanding IAS officer, as the founder of the Lok Satta Party, as an MLA in Andhra Pradesh, as a member of the Second Administrative Reforms Commission, as the founder of the Foundation for Democratic Reforms, and as a lot more. His contributions are visible in numerous legislations and a few constitutional amendments, along with decades of public debates and action. This episode of The Pragati Podcast is brought to you by Savaari. Savaari cabs are perfect for weekend trips out of town or a day in the city full of meetings. Savaari cabs are available in 98 Indian cities, and you can book your cab at the Savaari.com website, the Savaari App or by calling 090-4545-0000. Use the coupon code IVMTravel for Rs 250 off on your next rental, and get another 300 rupees as cashback on Amazon Pay Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipod Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragati Subscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes, Saavn, Spotify, Castbox, Google Podcasts, AudioBoom, YouTube or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Afghanistan was all set to go to elections this summer, but Afghanistan, its State and its people are all in peril. The Taliban are now on the negotiating table with global powers, often without the presence of the legitimate government of Afghanistan. Anand Arni and Pranay Kotasthane share how Afghanistan has been faring over the past two decades on Episode 96 of the Pragati Podcast. The Pragati Podcast is a weekly talkshow on public policy, economics and international relations, hosted by Pavan Srinath. Anand Arni is a Distinguished Fellow and Advisor at the Takshashila Institution, and retired as Special Secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India. He served for over 37 years in the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), India’s external intelligence agency. He was a part of the hostage rescue team during the Flight IC814 hijacking crisis. Pranay Kotasthane is Fellow and Head of the Geostrategy Programme at the Takshashila Institution. Also listen to: Afghanistan before 9/11, Episode 86 of The Pragati Podcast Behind the Scenes of a Hostage Rescue Mission, Episode 70 of The Pragati Podcast Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipod Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragati Subscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes, Saavn, Spotify, Castbox, Google Podcasts, AudioBoom, YouTube or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere. This episode of The Pragati Podcast is brought to you by Savaari. Savaari cabs are perfect for weekend trips out of town or a day in the city full of meetings. Savaari cabs are available in 98 Indian cities, and you can book your cab at the Savaari.comwebsite, the Savaari App or by calling 090-4545-0000. Use the coupon code IVMTravel for Rs 250 off on your next rental, and get another 300 rupees as cashback on Amazon Pay. You can also check them out on Facebook: :https://www.facebook.com/savaari/ & Instagram: Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/savaaricarrentals/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Bangalore has at least a 20 year legacy of private citizens working with city and state governments in a variety of ways. V Ravichandar symbolises that, as over the last 19 years he has worked with the government, driven change while being completely outside government, and has opposed government policies as well. V Ravichandar joins host Pavan Srinath on Episode 95 of The Pragati Podcast to share his experience of working with governments, and sheds light on the challenges and constraints faced by government agencies, bureaucrats and politicians. Ravichandar is Chairman, Feedback Consulting. He was a key member of the Bangalore Agenda Task Force (BATF) during 2000-04. He also help make a case for the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JN-NURM). Since 2006, he has been evangelizing the idea of City Connect (now in 5 cities) involving business, civil society and government. As a part of the Bangalore City Connect, Ravi helped conceive the Tender S.U.R.E initiative, which reimagined how roads were designed in Bangalore. Ravi was also part of the 3-member Government Expert Committee tasked with reimaging governance and administration for Bengaluru. Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipod Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragati Subscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes, Saavn, Spotify, Castbox, Google Podcasts, AudioBoom, YouTube or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcasts app on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios, or any other podcast app. You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is a rebroadcast of Episode 69 of The Pragati Podcast with Pavan Srinath. Milan Vaishnav joins host Pavan Srinath on Episode 69 of The Pragati Podcast to explain elections, money and crime in India. Milan is a Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and the author of When Crime Pays: Money and Muscle in Indian Politics. The book recently won the Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay NIF Book Prize for Best Non-Fiction Book of 2017 If you have any questions for Milan or the hosts, write in to [email protected] and have it answered in a future episode. If you are interested in public policy or international relations, check out courses by the Takshashila Institution at takshashila.org.in/education. Several courses are starting in January 2019. Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thinkpragati/ You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcasts app on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios, or any other podcast app. You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Internet access is an essential part of many of our lives. And in 2019, there are more than 500 million broadband internet connections in the country. While celebrating this success, we also need to ask how our rights and freedoms must be protected on the internet. Net neutrality, internet shutdowns, website blocks, online censorship, and free speech are critical issues as almost all of India comes online. Apar Gupta joins host Pavan Srinath The Pragati Podcast is a weekly show on public policy, economics, and international relations. Apar Gupta is a Supreme Court Lawyer and the Executive Director of the Internet Freedom Foundation and was one of the key people behind the Save the Internet campaign. Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipod Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragati Subscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes, Saavn, Spotify, Castbox, Google Podcasts, AudioBoom, YouTube or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the new and improved IVM Podcast App on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Space exploration was unthinkable for anyone except the US and USSR in the early 1960s. Today, students and startups can launch satellites. Narayan Prasad joins us on this episode of The Pragati Podcast to tell us about this amazing transformation of human activities in space. The Pragati Podcast is a weekly show on public policy, economics and international relations hosted by Pavan Srinath. Narayan Prasad joins us to share how the space economy has evolved over the last sixty years, and what's happening in India. Narayan Prasad is a co-founder at Satsearch, a global marketplace for space which is incubated by the European Space Agency. He is also an Associate Research Fellow at the European Space Policy Institute, and he helped start New Space India, where a growing group of space enthusiasts and professionals are coming together to form a community in India. Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipod Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragati Subscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes, Saavn, Spotify, Castbox, Google Podcasts, AudioBoom, YouTube or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the new and improved IVM Podcast App on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is it rational to vote? Is it rational for us to think about government as a benign entity? Amit Varma is back on Episode 92 of The Pragati Podcast to talk about public choice theory and how it can inform our thinking about governments and public decision-making. The Pragati Podcast is a weekly talkshow on public policy, economics and international relations hosted by Pavan Srinath. Amit Varma hosts The Seen and the Unseen podcast and was at the helm of Pragati for the last two years. Suggested readings: Amit Varma's BloombergQuint column that uses public choice theory: https://www.bloombergquint.com/author/473427/amit-varma Public Choice: A Primer, by Eamonn Butler. Full text: https://iea.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/IEA%20Public%20Choice%20web%20complete%2029.1.12.pdf LFollow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipod Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragati Subscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes, Saavn, Spotify, Castbox, Google Podcasts, AudioBoom, YouTube or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the new and improved IVM Podcast App on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Do astronauts grow up dreaming of going to space? What makes human spaceflight special? Listen to astronaut and former head of NASA Charlie Bolden on Episode 91 of the Pragati Podcast. The Pragati Podcast is a weekly show on public policy, economics and international relations hosted by Pavan Srinath. Major General Charles Frank Bolden Jr. grew up in South Carolina during the era of segregation, and went on to become a US Marine, a pilot and then a NASA astronaut. Clocking over 680 hours in orbit around the earth, Gen Bolden piloted two Space Shuttle Missions and commanded two more between 1986 and 1994. After retiring from his military career, he was called back by Barack Obama to serve as the NASA Administrator for 8 years. He is currently the US State Department Envoy for Space, and visited Bangalore in this capacity. He is on twitter at @cboldenjr. This short episode was made possible thanks to Provoke Lifestyle, South India's Premier Lifestyle & Social Magazine and its Editor-in-Chief Rōmal Lāisram, as well as the US Consulate in Chennai. Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipod Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragati Subscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes, Saavn, Spotify, Castbox, Google Podcasts, AudioBoom, YouTube or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the new and improved IVM Podcast App on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We hear about the all-powerful District Collector or Deputy Commissioner in every district in India, but what do they really do? How was the Government of India's first successful health insurance scheme launched? What is the relationship between civil servants and politicians? Anil Swarup talks about his stellar career as an IAS Officer on Episode 90 of The Pragati Podcast. The Pragati Podcast is a weekly show on public policy, economics and international relations hosted by Pavan Srinath. Mr. Anil Swarup is a former Secretary, Government of India, a retired IAS officer and the author of Not Just a Civil Servant, where he chronicles his 38 years working for Governments of India and Uttar Pradesh. In his career, Mr. Swarup has handled India's Coal auctions in the aftermath of the Coal Scam. He has served as Secretary, School Education, and while working in the Labour Ministry, helped conceive and launch the Rashtriya Swasthya Bima Yojana, a government-funded health insurance scheme for poor workers and their families. Not Just a Civil Servant is available in hardcover and on Amazon Kindle: https://www.amazon.in/JUST-CIVIL-SERVANT-Anil-Swarup/dp/8178064790 New Podcast Alert! Hamsini Hariharan, long-time co-host of The Pragati Podcast has now started a new foreign policy podcast called States of Anarchy on the IVM Podcast Network. Available on all your favourite podcast apps. Listen to the podcast here: http://ivmpodcasts.com/states-of-anarchy Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipod Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://facebook.com/thinkpragati Subscribe & listen to The Pragati Podcast on iTunes, Saavn, Spotify, Castbox, Google Podcasts, AudioBoom, YouTube or any other podcast app. We are there everywhere. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the new and improved IVM Podcast App on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Great science needs great journalism, and that's in short supply in India. Nandita Jayaraj and Vasudevan Mukunth talk about science journalism on Episode 89 of The Pragati Podcast. The Pragati Podcast is a weekly talkshow on public policy, economics and international relations, hosted by Pavan Srinath. Nandita Jayaraj is the co-founder of www.thelifeofscience.com, an independent collective and a media platform focusing on women scientists in India. This includes articles, interviews and a podcast. Vasudevan Mukunth is the Science Editor for The Wire, who built the science section of The Wire from the ground up. Some suggested links: www.thelifeofscience.com Blood Ties with Suku-Shan, by Nandita Jayaraj: https://www.thehindu.com/features/magazine/blood-ties-with-sukushan/article4771801.ece Vasudevan Mukunth's writings on The Wire: https://thewire.in/author/mukunth Kannada barutta? Check out The Thale-Harate Kannada Podcast co-hosted by Pavan Srinath, with fantastic conversations on Bangalore, Karnataka and the world every Wednesday. http://ivmpodcasts.com/harate-kannada-podcast Follow The Pragati Podcast on Instagram: https://instagram.com/pragatipod Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thinkpragati/ You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the new and improved IVM Podcast App on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

As we enter 2019, Indians have close to 1.2 billion phone connections, and close to half a billion smartphones with 3G and 4G connections. India got here by leap-frogging over wired telephones to cellphones, and over computers directly to smartphones. Rahul Matthan returns to the Pragati Podcast to talk about what made India's telecom revolution happen. The Pragati Podcast is a weekly show on public policy, economics and international relations hosted by Pavan Srinath. In this episode, Rahul and Pavan discuss how India liberalised its telecom policies step by step, allowing the sector to grow, allowing competition to thrive, and enabling millions and now close to a billion Indians to get access to cellphones and get connected with the rest of India and the world. They also discuss what policy imperatives drive telecom regulations, TRAI as a regulator, and what India's policy challenges are beyond 2019. Rahul Matthan is lawyer and Partner at Trilegal who has specialised in technology, media and telecom law in India. He has been a regular guest on the Pragati Podcast, previously appearing on Episodes 53, 54 and 64 among others, to talk about the the evolution of privacy in India and the world, and helped us unpack the Supreme Court's judgments on Aadhaar in 2018. Rahul is the author of Privacy 1.0 to 3.0: Unlocking our Data-Driven Future. Rahul has also contributed a chapter on telecom regulation in an upcoming book: Regulation in India: Design, Capacity, Performance edited by Devesh Kapur and Madhav Khosla. New Podcast Alert! Hamsini Hariharan, long time co-host of The Pragati Podcast has now started a new foreign policy podcast called States of Anarchy on the IVM Podcast Network. Available on all your favourite podcast apps. Listen to the first episode here: http://ivmpodcasts.com/states-of-anarchy You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the new and improved IVM Podcast App on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How did E-Commerce grow from next to nothing in India a decade ago to a $50 Billion industry today? Is Indian e-commerce business little more than a clone of e-commerce in the United States or elsewhere? Akshay Alladi talks about the business and the public policy challenges of e-commerce on Episode 87 of The Pragati Podcast. The Pragati Podcast is a weekly show on public policy, economics and international relations hosted by Pavan Srinath. Akshay Alladi chronicles the rise of e-commerce and online retail in India, shares India-specific innovations that took place, and what caused various inflection points in its growth. He talks about various aspects of the business, and also about how foreign direct investment, taxation policies and more affect online retail. The episode also includes a discussion on the most recent 'clarification' issued by the Government of India on FDI in e-commerce, and how it can profoundly reshape the sector for the worse. Akshay has worked at key roles at Flipkart and Ola, with a career in management consulting before that. Akshay is currently working in venture capital in Bangalore. Related readings: Anupam Manur: How to Regulate Internet Platforms Without Breaking Them. https://www.asiaglobalonline.hku.hk/regulate-internet-platforms-antitrust-competition/ The Pragati Podcast is now on Instagram! Follow at https://instagram.com/pragatipod. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, do write in to [email protected]. Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thinkpragati/ You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the new and improved IVM Podcast App on Android: https://ivm.today/android or iOS: https://ivm.today/ios You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

2019 is an important year for Afghanistan, with national elections scheduled for July. At the same time, the people and the State of Afghanistan continues to face grave threats to their national security, and the Taliban continue to remain relevant. Afghanistan regained a lost spotlight in 2001 with the 9/11 attacks and the US War on Terror, but what was Afghanistan like in the 1980s and 90s? Who were the Taliban and how did they rise to power? How did India remain engaged with Afghanistan's legitimate government and the Northern Alliance when most of the world looked away? Anand Arni and Pranay Kotasthane join host Pavan Srinath on Episode 86 of the Pragati Podcast to talk about Afghanistan before 9/11. Mr Arni is a Distinguished Fellow and Advisor at the Takshashila Institution, and retired as Special Secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat, Government of India. He served for over 37 years in the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), India’s external intelligence agency. He was a part of the hostage rescue team during the Flight IC814 hijacking crisis. Pranay is Fellow and Head of the Geostrategy Programme at the Takshashila Institution. The Pragati Podcast is now on Instagram! Follow at https://instagram.com/pragatipod. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, do write in to [email protected]. Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thinkpragati/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Does India have a strategic culture? Does India display strategic thought and action on global affairs? There is wide-spread skepticism about India having any grand strategy, but are people mistaking form for substance? Dhruva Jaishankar argues that India indeed has a vibrant strategic culture on Episode 85 of The Pragati Podcast. The Pragati Podcast is a weekly talkshow on public policy, economics and international affairs, hosted by Pavan Srinath. Dhruva Jaishankar is Fellow in Foreign Policy Studies at Brookings India in New Delhi and the Brookings Institution in Washington DC. He is also a Non-Resident Fellow with the Lowy Institute in Australia. His research examines India’s role in the international system and the effects of global developments on India’s politics, economics, and society, with a particular focus on India’s relations with the United States, the Indo-Pacific, and Europe. Dhruva and Pavan talk about why many believe that India lacks a strategic culture, explore India's national security apparatus, examine India's grand strategy since achieving independence, and what major strategic challenges the Republic needs to face in the coming years and decades. The Pragati Podcast is now on Instagram! Follow at https://instagram.com/pragatipod. If you have any questions, comments or suggestions, do write in to [email protected]. Some suggested readings: Dhruva Jaishankar's book chapter "Indian Strategy in a Non-Strategic Age": https://www.brookings.edu/research/indian-strategy-in-a-non-strategic-age/ Nitin Pai's 2012 Subbu Forum Memorial Lecture: "K Subrahmanyam and India’s Strategic Culture": http://pragati.nationalinterest.in/2012/02/k-subrahmanyam-and-india%E2%80%99s-strategic-culture/ Pranay Kotasthane's Review of Neil Padukone's book Beyond South Asia: http://pragati.nationalinterest.in/2015/03/indias-grand-strategy-for-the-21st-century/ Kannada barutta? Check out the Thale-Harate Kannada Podcast, co-hosted by Pavan Srinath. Explore episodes on India's and Karnataka's budgets, and find out how city planning works in Bengaluru. ಬನ್ನಿ ಹರಟೆ ಹೊಡಿಯೋಣ! http://ivmpodcasts.com/harate-kannada-podcast/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How can great academic research lead to building a great tech company? Listen to Vijay Chandru talk about his life, work and journey as one of India's first academic entrepreneurs on Episode 84 of The Pragati Podcast. The Pragati Podcast is a weekly talkshow on public policy, economics and international relations hosted by Pavan Srinath. Shambhavi Naik, Fellow at the Takshashila Institution, joins this episode as a co-host. Vijay Chandru is the Co-founder and Director of Strand Life Sciences, one of India's top biotech companies, which focuses on next-generation precision medicine and diagnostics. Before becoming an entrepreneur, he was an academic researcher and professor of Computational Mathematics at Purdue University and the Indian Institute of Science. He is also currently a Distinguished Technologist and Adjunct Faculty at IISc. Dr. Chandru has a wide range of expertise and experience ranging from artificial intelligence to computational biology to precision medicine. On this episode, he shares how good academics make for natural entrepreneurs, and how different paths can be taken by them. He also shares his own journey, where he and his colleagues took a leap from academia into the tech startup world at a time when few others were taking the plunge. The episode also includes discussions on how computational biology and gene sequencing technology has evolved, and how modern medicine is getting shaped by new research and new solutions. The Pragati Podcast is now on Instagram! Follow at https://instagram.com/pragatipod Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thinkpragati/ Kannada barutta? Check out the Thale-Harate Kannada Podcast, co-hosted by Pavan Srinath. This week there is a new Budget special podcast out, on the Karnataka state government budget. ಬನ್ನಿ ಹರಟೆ ಹೊಡಿಯೋಣ! http://ivmpodcasts.com/harate-kannada-podcast-episode-list/2019/2/13/ep-10-2019-karnatakas-budget-matters-moreSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Podcasts are all about voices and conversations, but how did India's own voice-over industry evolve? On Episode 83 of Pragati Podcast, Shammi Narang and Dishant Narang share their personal journey from the early days of radio ads in India to the rapidly growing industry that is voice-acting today. The Pragati Podcast is a weekly talkshow on public policy, economics and international relations hosted by Pavan Srinath. Shammi and Dishant Narang run Pindrop Media in New Delhi, and Shammi Narang is the Hindi voice of all Metro rail services in India today. Starting his voice career with Voice of America Hindi in the 1970s, he is a celebrated Doordarshan anchor from the 1980s, and has been a leader in the voice-over industry in India since then. Kannada barutta? Check out the Thale-Harate Kannada Podcast, co-hosted by Pavan Srinath. This week there is a new Budget special podcast out, on the Government of India's Interim Budget. ಬನ್ನಿ ಹರಟೆ ಹೊಡಿಯೋಣ! http://ivmpodcasts.com/harate-kannada-podcast-episode-list/2019/2/6/ep-09-2019-indias-budget-explained Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thinkpragati/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Sixty nine years ago, Indians established a radical new government that put the individual at the centre of all governance. Republic Day celebrates the Constitution of India, where we not only sought freedom from the British, but freedom from the evils that plagued our society. MR Madhavan talks to Pavan Srinath on The Pragati Podcast on the Indian Republic and the Indian Parliament. In Episode 81, a Republic Day special, MR Madhavan of PRS Legislative Research gives us a sweeping overview of the Republic of India and its Parliament. Madhavan and Pavan discuss how the parliamentary system has much stronger checks and balances on the Executive than a presidential system. A few ideas that are explored: How many countries have even managed to hang on to their constitution for almost 70 years? How can the Parliament be reformed such that voters can hold their MPs more accountable? Do political parties even have any real constitutional status and recognition? What legal innovations did we need to keep the Republic alive? How has the anti-defection law crippled the Indian legislature? Can coalition governments actually lead to more consultative law-making? How can the office of the Lok Sabha Speaker be made more independent? MR Madhavan is the President and Co-Founder of PRS Legislative Research, one of India's most unique and impactful thinktanks. PRS tracks the functioning of the Indian Parliament and works with MPs across political parties and MLAs from various states. PRS provides research support to legislators via analysis of legislative issues, by providing fellowships to research assistants and more. Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thinkpragati/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How do you report on India's complex neighbourhood as a journalist in Delhi? Devirupa Mitra of The Wire talks to host Pavan Srinath on Episode 80 of The Pragati Podcast about being on the foreign policy beat. Devirupa Mitra is Deputy Editor & Diplomatic Correspondent at The Wire, with over 15 years of journalistic experience. She specialises in reporting on domestic developments in India's neighbours, and about India's relations with them. She has been on the Ministry of External Affairs 'beat' for over seven years. This is the third conversation on the Pragati Podcast on the practice of journalism in India. In Episode 65, host Pavan Srinath spoke to Dhanya Rajendran of The News Minute, on building an online news portal, and about reporting during the time of natural disasters. In Episode 68, Pavan spoke to James Crabtree about being a Foreign correspondent in Mumbai for the Financial Times. Do also listen to The Seen and the Unseen with Amit Varma on the state of the media: One & Two. Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thinkpragati/ Kannada barutta? Check out the Thale-Harate Kannada Podcast, co-hosted by Pavan Srinath. This week on Episode 7, Vasant Shetty talks about Kannada speaking consumers can transform the language and how public services are delivered to them. ಬನ್ನಿ ಹರಟೆ ಹೊಡಿಯೋಣ! http://ivmpodcasts.com/harate-kannada-podcastSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How should we think of the relationship between governments and businesses? Can the private sector engage with governments in a way that doesn't involve corruption, cronyism and more? Is 'Lobbying' a bad word? Rahul Sharma speaks to host Pavan Srinath on Episode 79 of The Pragati Podcast on how corporate-government relations are evolving in India. Rahul Sharma(https://www.apcoworldwide.com/about-us/our-people/bios/rahul-sharma) is one of India's top public affairs professionals, and Managing Director at APCO Worldwide. He was previously the Deputy Secretary General at FICCI, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry. He is a Founding Member and former President of PAFI, the Public Affairs Forum of India. He also teaches strategic media engagement at the Takshashila Institution's Post-Graduate Programme in Public Policy. Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thinkpragati/ Kannada barutta? Check out the Thale-Harate Kannada Podcast, co-hosted by Pavan Srinath. This week on Episode 6, Ganesh Chakravarthi talks about Artificial Intelligence, and how it is transforming Bengaluru and the world. ಬನ್ನಿ ಹರಟೆ ಹೊಡಿಯೋಣ! http://ivmpodcasts.com/harate-kannada-podcastSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The US-China Trade War goes well beyond tariffs on steel. Tariffs might just be a current battle, but the real conflict between China and the United States could be on technology dominance. In Episode 78, Anupam Manur and Manoj Kewalramani talk to host Pavan Srinath  about how the first moves have been made now in a US-China War for Technology. To use a Chinese phrase, this might be China's new Long March towards technological dominance. Episode 77 & 78 are a two-episode special on The Pragati Podcast that demystifies the ongoing economic conflict between the USA and China.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

A Trade War between the United States and China has dominated headlines and discussions across the world in 2018. Is this really a war? Is it a battle? Do all such metaphors distort discussions on trade? In Episode 77, Anupam Manur and Manoj Kewalramani talk to host Pavan Srinath about how this is really a US-China battle of tariffs and not a trade war. Episode 77 & 78 are a two-episode special on The Pragati Podcast that demystifies ongoing economic conflict between the USA and China. Anupam Manur and Manoj Kewalramani are fellows at the Takshashila Institution. Anupam is an economist who works on employment, market regulations and trade. Manoj is a China analyst, with a weekly newsletter Eye on China, on Pragati. https://www.thinkpragati.com/category/world/china/ Don't miss Episode 78 of the Pragati Podcast, where Anupam and Manoj continue the conversation and talk about how a US-China War for Technology may be starting right now. Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thinkpragati/ Kannada barutta? Check out the Thale-Harate Kannada Podcast, co-hosted by Pavan Srinath. This week on Episode 5, guest Ramaprasad KV talks about how Kannada language, culture and speakers are prospering in the United States of America. ಬನ್ನಿ ಹರಟೆ ಹೊಡಿಯೋಣ! http://ivmpodcasts.com/harate-kannada-podcastSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How should we think about India as a republic and as a democracy? What has India succeeded in doing, and where do we still have a long way to go? Dr Jayaprakash Narayan, known to all as Dr JP, shares his realism and his optimism with host Pavan Srinath in the first Pragati Podcast episode of 2019. Dr JP has been at the forefront of reform and change in India, as an outstanding IAS officer, as the founder of the Lok Satta Party, as an MLA in Andhra Pradesh, as a member of the Second Administrative Reforms Commission, as the founder of the Foundation for Democratic Reforms, and as a lot more. His contributions are visible in numerous legislations and a few constitutional amendments, along with decades of public debates and action. If you have any questions or comments, write in to [email protected]. Kannada barutta? Check out the Thale-Harate Kannada Podcast, co-hosted by Pavan Srinath. This week on Episode 4, they talk about the Aadhaar set of Judgments with guest Alok Prasanna Kumar. ಬನ್ನಿ ಹರಟೆ ಹೊಡಿಯೋಣ! http://ivmpodcasts.com/harate-kannada-podcast Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thinkpragati/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How is India doing on increasing access to finance for all its citizens? When we talk about microfinance, are we actually talking about only loans? Malavika Raghavan has a wide-ranging conversation on financial inclusion with host Pavan Srinath and guest co-host Manasa Venkataraman on Episode 75 of the Pragati Podcast. Malavika is a lawyer by training and heads the Future of Finance initiative at Dvara Research. She is also a 2018 Chevening Financial Services Fellow, and has written and researched extensively on policy and regulation at the intersection of technology, finance, and inclusion. If you have any questions or comments, write in to [email protected]. Kannada barutta? Check out the Thale-Harate Kannada Podcast, co-hosted by Pavan Srinath. This week on Episode 3, they talk about hacking and cybersecurity with guest Sandesh Anand. ಬನ್ನಿ ಹರಟೆ ಹೊಡಿಯೋಣ!  Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thinkpragati/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Islamic State in Iraq and Syria, ISIS, is rapidly losing territory and seems to be collapsing. Can this collapsing Islamic State pose new challenges to India and its neighbourhood? Foreign policy scholar Kabir Taneja  talks to host Pavan Srinath  on ISIS and terrorism in the age of social media on Episode 74 of the Pragati Podcast. He makes a persuasive case for more attention and scholarship on ISIS. Kabir Taneja is an Associate Fellow at the Observer Research Foundation and works on India's relations with West Asia. He recently published a monograph on The ISIS Phenomenon: South Asia and Beyond. If you have any questions or comments, write in to [email protected]. This week, host Pavan Srinath has also launched the Thale-Harate Kannada Podcast with Surya Prakash BS and Ganesh Chakravarthi on the IVM Podcast Network. Kannada barutta? Then check out this new weekly podcast that bridges the worlds of Kannada and English, and Karnataka and the world. ಬನ್ನಿ ಹರಟೆ ಹೊಡಿಯೋಣ! The first two episodes available here: [http://ivmpodcasts.com/thaleharate-episode-list] You can follow the Thale-Harate Kannada Podcast at @Haratepod on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram. Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thinkpragati/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How well have Public Interest Litigations and the National Green Tribunal served the cause of upholding environmental concerns in India? Is it really Environment versus Development, as most debates frame it? Supreme Court Lawyer Ninad Laud joins host Pavan Srinath on Episode 73 of the Pragati Podcast to talk about PILs, the NGT and overall environmental governance in India. Ninad Laud is a lawyer practicing at the Supreme Court. His core areas of practice are mining, environment and economic offences, apart from general commercial litigation. He has had his share of public interest litigation, and was the lawyer for Shreya Singhal in the celebrated case where the Supreme Court struck down Sec. 66A of the Information Technology Act. If you have any questions or comments, write in to [email protected]. If you are interested in public policy or public affairs, do take a look at courses at the Takshashila Institution. https://takshashila.org.in/courses/ Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thinkpragati/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

India is one of the largest producers of frozen shrimp in the world, and may take the top spot from China in 2018 or 2019. Industrialist and shrimp exporter Aditya Dash talks to Pavan Srinath and Anupam Manur on aquaculture, the seafood industry and trade disputes on Episode 72 of The Pragati Podcast. Aditya Dash is an alumnus of the Takshashila Institution's Graduate Certificate in Public Policy (GCPP). Applications are open for the January 2019 intake. Learn more at https://takshashila.org.in/courses/ Episode 72 includes discussions on how shrimp is farmed, what it takes for shrimp to get from the farm to the restaurant table, and how well India is doing in aquaculture today. The episode explores the potential for sustainable job creation that India desperately needs, and explains how trade disputes can get in the way of a successful seafood industry in India. Environmental sustainability, health regulations and labour challenges of aquaculture are examined, and guest Aditya Dash shares his reform wishlist for governments. If you have any questions or comments, write in to [email protected]. Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thinkpragati/ You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcast App on Android: https://goo.gl/tGYdU1 or iOS: https://goo.gl/sZSTU5 You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.comSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It has been 10 years since the 2008 Terrorist Attacks on Mumbai. Ten terrorists from the Lashkar-e-Taiba killed over 174 people in South Mumbai, and committed the one of the worst acts of terror on Indian soil. Dheeraj PC, a doctoral student in Intelligence Studies at the University of Leicester, helps us go deep into the attacks and their aftermath. Dheeraj analyses the events of 26/11, the strategy of the terrorists and their commanders in Pakistan, and the Indian response to contain and counter the attack. Dheeraj goes beyond simplistic ideas of how India "failed" or how Pakistan "succeeded", and busts many commonly held myths. This is also the last episode of the Pragati Podcast to be hosted by Hamsini Hariharan. You can continue to follow her work via twitter, where she is reachable at @HamsiniH. Pavan Srinath will return with The Pragati Podcast next week, with more public policy, economics and international relations. If you have any questions or comments, write in to [email protected]. Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thinkpragati/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What was it like to rescue Indian hostages from Taliban-controlled Afghanistan almost 20 years ago? Retired R&AW officer Anand Arni takes us behind the scenes of the hijacking of Indian Airlines Flight IC814 in 1999. Anand Arni joins Pranay Kotasthane and host Pavan Srinath on Episode 70 of The Pragati Podcast. Mr Arni is a Distinguished Fellow and Advisor at the Takshashila Institution, and retired as the Special Secretary in the Cabinet Secretariat. He served for over 37 years in the Research and Analysis Wing (R&AW), India's external intelligence agency. He was a part of the hostage rescue team during the Flight IC814 hijacking crisis. In this episode, Anand Arni recounts his journey of being sent to Kandahar along with Ajit Doval, Vivek Katju, CD Sahay and Nehchal Sandhu. He shares absurd and hilarious things that happened, even as hostages were successfully rescued. Have any questions or comments? Write in to [email protected]. If you are interested in public policy or international relations, check out courses by the Takshashila Institution at takshashila.org.in/education. Several courses are starting in January 2019. Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thinkpragati/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's election season in India again, and everybody wants to know who will win! Listen to this rebroadcast of Episode 45 of the Pragati Podcast to learn about how opinion polls work, and why they often fail. This will help you parse all the news that will come your way between now and December on elections taking place in Mizoram, Madhya Pradesh, Chattisgarh, Rajasthan and Telangana. Karthik Shashidhar joins hosts Hamsini Hariharan and Pavan Srinath to discuss election polling, what works and what doesn't. Karthik Shashidhar is a management consultant, the author of the book, Between the Buyer and the Seller and the Mint column, Election Metrics. Karthik's book is available here. You can read Karthik's election analysis and more here. If you are interested in public policy or international relations, check out courses by the Takshashila Institution at takshashila.org.in/education. Several courses are starting in January 2019. Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thinkpragati/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why do we vote criminals and corrupt politicians into power? Can politicians really buy the votes of Indians? Does good governance translate into electoral victories? Milan Vaishnav joins host Pavan Srinath on Episode 69 of The Pragati Podcast to explain elections, money and crime in India. Milan is a Senior Fellow at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, and the author of When Crime Pays: Money and Muscle in Indian Politics. The book recently won the Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay NIF Book Prize for Best Non-Fiction Book of 2017 If you have any questions for Milan or the hosts, write in to [email protected] and have it answered in a future episode. If you are interested in public policy or international relations, check out courses by the Takshashila Institution at takshashila.org.in/education. Several courses are starting in January 2019. Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thinkpragati/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How do you report on India for a global audience? What do you choose to write about? And how should we understand cronyism in Indian policy-making? Author and journalist James Crabtree joins host Pavan Srinath on Episode 68 of The Pragati Podcast. James Crabtree was the Mumbai Bureau chief of the Financial Times from 2011 to 2016, and is currently an Associate Professor of Practice at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in Singapore. He is also the author of The Billionnaire Raj: A Journey through India's New Gilded Age. Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thinkpragati/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Does China really have a grand strategy to take over the world? Is Chinese media nothing more than a mouthpiece of the Chinese government? And has China side-stepped an overpopulation problem with good public policy? China expert Manoj Kewalramani joins host Pavan Srinath again in Episode 67 to dispel more myths about China. Manoj is an Adjunct Fellow for China Studies at the Takshashila Institution, and has spent over 11 years as a journalist in China and India. Manoj also pens a weekly newsletter Eye on China available at www.thinkpragati.com. Which of these myths are actually true? Myth #5: The Chinese media is a mouthpiece of the Chinese government. Myth #6: The Chinese copy very well but do not innovate. Myth #7: China successfully controlled its overpopulation problem and achieved more as a country because of it. Myth #8: China has a grand strategy to take over the world. In case you missed it, check out episode 66 of the Pragati Podcast where Manoj busts four other myths about China. Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thinkpragati/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Most Indians know more about USA and Europe than our northern neighbour China. This two-part series on The Pragati Podcast will bust myths about China and the Chinese government. China expert Manoj Kewalramani joins host Pavan Srinath in Episode 66 to dispel commonly held beliefs about the People's Republic of China. Manoj is an Adjunct Fellow for China Studies at the Takshashila Institution, and has spent over 11 years as a journalist in China and India. Manoj also pens a weekly newsletter Eye on China available at www.thinkpragati.com. Do you know of people who believe in any of these myths about China? Myth #1: China is a country of One people, One language and One party. Myth #2: China has a Communist government. Myth #3: The government owns everything in China. Myth #4: China has a strong, efficient & meritocratic government that moves in unison to reach goals they set out for themselves. Listen to Manoj bust 4 more myths about China in the next Episode of The Pragati Podcast, including: Does China have a grand strategy to take over the world? Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thinkpragati/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How do you do good journalism online? How do you keep opinion and reportage separate? How do you report live on active humanitarian disasters like the Kerala Floods of 2018? Dhanya Rajendran, Co-Founder and Editor-in-Chief of The News Minute, joins host Pavan Srinath in episode 65 of The Pragati Podcast to talk about how they built a great digital news platform. If you have any questions for the guests or the hosts, write in to [email protected]. Don't forget to visit thinkpragati.com for your daily dose of brain fodder. Do also check out this week's The Seen and the Unseen with Amit Varma, where Sidharth Bhatia of The Wire and Peter Griffin of The Hindu talk about the Crisis in the Media.  Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thinkpragati/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rahul Matthan and Manasa Venkataraman unpack the Supreme Court's judgments on Aadhaar. In Episode 64, The Pragati Podcast delves deep into the 1,448-page, 6.5-lakh-word set of judgments. The episode includes discussions on the constitutionality of how the Aadhaar Act was passed in 2016, how and whether Aadhaar can be used by for government subsidies, taxes, and more -- and whether it can be used by the private sector at all. Listen in to learn more about what to expect from the government and the courts in the coming years, and what questions have been left unanswered. If you have any questions for the guests or the hosts, write in to [email protected]. Don't forget to visit thinkpragati.com for your daily dose of brain fodder. Follow Pragati on Twitter: https://twitter.com/thinkpragati Follow Pragati on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thinkpragati/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

There are restaurants at every corner in a city like Bangalore, but they are never easy to run. Governments make the lives of restaurateurs more difficult in a million ways. Banning 'dance bars', regulating signboards or controlling liquor licenses make dining out more expensive for customers, create uncertainty for businesses and put jobs at risk. Chef extraordinaire Manu Chandra and Pragati's own Madhu Menon join host Pavan Srinath on episode 63 of The Pragati Podcast. Manu also heads the Bangalore Chapter of the National Restaurant Association of India The episode focuses on Bangalore and its unique challenges and opportunities, but the story is not too different in other states and cities. Visit www.thinkpragati.com for your daily dose of brain fodder, and write in to [email protected] with any questions and comments..See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Syrian Civil War has been raging since 2011. Now the war is entering a new and perhaps final phase. How did a peaceful protest turn into a multi-sided war that has killed half a million people and displaced more than 10 million Syrians? Lawyer and policy analyst Ameya Naik returns to the Pragati Podcast to talk to hosts Pavan Srinath and Hamsini Hariharan. The show discusses how Syria got here, the price that Syrians have paid, and how such a conflict can happen anywhere in the world. Visit thinkpragati.com for more to read on Syria, and write in to [email protected] for any comments or questions.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It is time to talk about the many Indian Genomes, and the great genetic diversity of Indians, 28 years after the Human Genome Project was launched. Dr Kumarasamy Thangaraj joins Pavan Srinath and guest host Dr Shambhavi Naik on Episode 61 of the Pragati Podcast to talk about all things India, genes, history and health challenges. Dr Thangaraj is a renowned scientist working at the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, CCMB, Hyderabad. He has published extensively on the origin of humans, on genetics and disease and how they affect the lives of Indians. If you have any questions or comments on the episode, write in to [email protected]. You can also ask the hosts anything on twitter at twitter.com/zeusisdead and twitter.com/HamsiniH.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How do actions by President Erdoğan in Turkey affect the Indian rupee? What is the emerging market crisis that business channels keep talking about? How does changing geopolitics in the Middle East affect everyone from Brazil to China to Pakistan? Narayan Ramachandran returns to the Pragati Podcast on episode 60 to explain the great game of dominoes that is macroeconomics. Narayan is co-founder and Fellow at the Takshashila Institution, a social entrepreneur and an emerging market investor. He writes a regular column in Mint called A Visible Hand. Have any questions for Narayan, or hosts Hamsini Hariharan and Pavan Srinath? Write in to [email protected]. You can buy a compilation of Narayan's best essays on Amazon: https://www.amazon.in/Visible-Hand-Intersection-Economics-Politics/dp/8193197607See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

It's been almost two years since Donald Trump was elected the President of the United States of America. What has happened to the Washington DC ecosystem since then? In Episode 59, Soren Dayton joins hosts Hamsini Hariharan and Pavan Srinath to discuss what the Republicans, Democrats, businesses and think tanks have been up to since Trump. Soren has spent over a decade working in Washington DC in various roles, including two years on Capitol Hill. His views expressed on the Pragati Podcast are entirely personal. Learn more about Soren at https://sorendayton.com and his current work with Protect Democracy at https://protectdemocracy.org You can tweet to the hosts @zeusisdead and @HamsiniH. You can also send your comments and questions to [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If Swaraj is your birthright, do you have it? What does Swaraj even mean? Do we have different concepts of self-rule? And how do we even spell the word -- sva or swa? Aakash Singh Rathore joins hosts Hamsini Hariharan and Pavan Srinath to discuss his conception of 'Thin Svaraj' on Episode 58 of The Pragati Podcast. Aakash is the Director of the International Research Network for Religion and Democracy, and was formerly a Visiting Professor at the Centre for Philosophy, Jawaharlal Nehru University. He has four upcoming books on Indian political theory, Indian jurisprudence, feminism and other topics that will be released later this year. If you have found answers to the above questions, you can tweet your answers to the hosts @zeusisdead and @HamsiniH. You can also send your comments and questions to [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What does nationalism mean? How far has India come since 1947? What about the Indian nation gives you hope and despair? On this Independence Day Special of The Pragati Podcast, Nitin Pai and Aakash Singh Rathore join hosts Hamsini Hariharan and Pavan Srinath to talk about the state of the Indian nation. Nitin Pai(https://twitter.com/acorn) is the Director of the Takshashila Institution. Aakash Singh Rathore(https://twitter.com/Aakash_Ironman) is the Director of the International Research Network for Religion and Democracy, and was formerly a Visiting Professor at the Centre for Philosophy, Jawaharlal Nehru University. If you have found satisfactory answers to the above questions, you can tweet your answers to the hosts @zeusisdead(https://twitter.com/zeusisdead) and @HamsiniH(https://twitter.com/HamsiniH). You can also send your comments and questions to [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Everyone from Henry Kissinger and Donald Trump to Solomon Lane in the new Mission Impossible(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wb49-oV0F78) movie cares about the the end of the old world order. What is a world order? How is it changing? Most importantly, what should India be doing about it? In Episode 56 of The Pragati Podcast, Pranay Kotasthane(https://twitter.com/pranaykotas) and Anirudh Kanisetti(https://twitter.com/AKanisetti) join hosts Pavan Srinath(https://twitter.com/zeusisdead) and Hamsini Hariharan(https://twitter.com/HamsiniH) to discuss India's Strategies for a New World Order. Have any questions or comments? Write in to [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Government of India is trying to create the first ever law to protect your personal data and information. The Justice Srikrishna Committee has come out with a draft Personal Data Protection Bill, 2018. So what's it the data protection bill all about? Will it safeguard our privacy or create a monstrous government apparatus? Manasa Venkataraman(https://twitter.com/nasac) and Ajay Patri(https://twitter.com/ajaybpatri), researchers at the Takshashila Institution(https://twitter.com/TakshashilaInst), offer a first look at the new draft bill, and share their initial analysis. Episode 55 follows from the last two episodes with Rahul Matthan(https://twitter.com/matthan), on the evolution of privacy, and policy developments in modern India. Have any questions or comments? Write in to [email protected]. Visit Pragati for more views from Manasa, Ajay and other experts on data protection and privacy(https://www.thinkpragati.com/think/brainstorm/3936/the-unique-challenge-of-a-data-protection-law/)See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Did Pakistan get a privacy law before India? What's a data protection law, and how is that different from a privacy law? Rahul Matthan(https://twitter.com/matthan), author of Privacy 3.0, is a guest in this two-episode special on privacy and data protection on the Pragati podcast. Your personal data has never been more valuable, and has never been at more risk. The Supreme Court upheld the Right to Privacy in 2017, and the Justice Srikrishna Committee has submitted its report and shared a draft law on data protection for India, in July 2018. In this episode, Rahul talks to hosts Hamsini(https://twitter.com/HamsiniH) and Pavan(https://twitter.com/zeusisdead) about his personal involvement in drafting a data protection law, and shares stories from the legal and legislative history of privacy in India. In the previous episode, Rahul talked about how privacy is evolving, from hunter-gatherer societies to the age of paparazzis to the age of artificial intelligence. You can check out Rahul's new book Privacy 3.0 on Amazon India. Privacy 3.0: Unlocking Our Data-Driven Future https://www.amazon.in/dp/9352779886/ If you have questions or comments about the episode, send them into [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Did walls create privacy, and is the internet going to destroy it? Is Privacy a western idea, being imported to India? Rahul Matthan (https://twitter.com/matthan), author of Privacy 3.0, is a guest in this two-episode special on privacy and data protection on the Pragati podcast. Your personal data has never been more valuable, and has never been at more risk. The Supreme Court upheld the Right to Privacy in 2017, and the Justice Srikrishna Committee has submitted its report and shared a draft law on data protection for India, in July 2018. In this episode, Rahul walks hosts Hamsini(https://twitter.com/HamsiniH) and Pavan(https://twitter.com/zeusisdead) through the long history of privacy, from the age of hunter-gatherers, to paparazzis, to artificial intelligence. In the next episode, also releasing on the same day, Rahul discusses independent India's tryst with privacy. You can check out Rahul's new book Privacy 3.0 on Amazon India. Privacy 3.0: Unlocking Our Data-Driven Future https://www.amazon.in/dp/9352779886/ If you have questions or comments about the episode, send them into [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

If Donald Trump wants to denuclearise the Korean peninsula, how come he met with 'Little Rocket Man' In June? Why does it seem like the world has forgotten the nuclear non-proliferation treaty? In the second of a two-part series, Ameya Naik (https://twitter.com/kianayema) joins Pavan Srinath(https://twitter.com/zeusisdead) and Hamsini Hariharan(https://twitter.com/HamsiniH) to discuss what is happening with negotiations between North Korea and America and the current debates on proliferation. If you have questions or comments about the episode, send them into [email protected] omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why did Trump sign a nuclear deal with North Korea, while bailing out of a deal with Iran? Is it just Trump being Trump? Or is there more to the story? In Episode 51 of the Pragati Podcast, lawyer and analyst Ameya Naik(http://twitter.com/kianayema ) joins hosts Hamsini Hariharan(https://twitter.com/HamsiniH) and Pavan Srinath(https://twitter.com/zeusisdead) to discuss the nuts and bolts of nuclear sanctions and deals. Ameya talks about Iran in this episode, and will talk about North Korea and the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in next week's episode. Send in your questions for Ameya and the hosts to [email protected] and get them answered on a future episode.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jio Institute. Eminence tags for only IITs Bombay and Delhi, not Chennai and Kanpur. Elections in Pakistan, after Nawaz Sharif failed to become the first ever Prime Minister to have served a full term in office. This is the 50th episode of the Pragati Podcast! Hosts Hamsini Hariharan and Pavan Srinath sit down to talk about the long, strange trip it has been, and also round up some recent news. Please take out five minutes to share your feedback on the Pragati Podcast, and help the hosts improve it. There are 3 Amazon gift vouchers worth Rs 1,000/- each ($15) for listeners who complete the survey. (https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScmofuO0KAzsK04a9e9GL2HcnkO1nbnSYoev4KNKrFHN_MG5w/viewform) As always, write in to [email protected] for anything else. Get onto www.thinkpragati.com(https://www.thinkpragati.com/) for brain fodder every weekday.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is a negative right a positive idea? Why is a Right to Education problematic, but a Right to Information perfectly alright? In Episode 49 of the Pragati Podcast, Yazad Jal joins hosts Hamsini Hariharan and Pavan Srinath to discuss negative and positive rights. Yazad Jal is a libertarian, and a Fellow for Economic Policy at the Takshashila Institution. Please excuse the subpar quality of sound in the introductory part of this episode, once Yazad's interview begins the quality is fine. If you have any questions for the guest or the hosts, write in to [email protected] and have your question featured in a future episode. Visit thinkpragati.com for your daily dose of intellectual stimulation. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcast App on Android: https://goo.gl/tGYdU1 or iOS: https://goo.gl/sZSTU5 You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What does it mean to edit someone's genes? Is Malaria in its last days? What is CRISPR, if not a startup that makes chips? Shambhavi Naik (https://twitter.com/shams1085) and Madhav Chandavarkar (https://twitter.com/MadChaP88) are guests on Episode 24 of the Pragati podcast to they explain the recent revolution in gene editing. Cures for blood cancers, hornless cattle & impotent mosquitoes - new technologies are promising a lot of things, while the fear of Eugenics and designer babies is never far away. Hosts Hamsini Hariharan and Pavan Srinath talk to them about how gene editing tech can be governed, and what it would take to do great work in India. Shambhavi, Madhav and their colleagues have also published a framework to govern gene editing in India (http://takshashila.org.in/takshashila-policy-research/discussion-document-framework-governing-gene-editing/). Do check it out. As always, send in your questions, comments and suggestions to [email protected], and get them featured in a future episode.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Does India really need to create 20 million jobs a year? How well are we doing now? In Episode 48 of The Pragati Podcast, economist Anupam Manur(https://twitter.com/anupammanur) joins hosts Pavan Srinath(https://twitter.com/zeusisdead) and Hamsini Hariharan(https://twitter.com/HamsiniH) to help size up the most pressing challenge in India: job creation at an unprecedented scale. If you have questions, comments or brickbats for Anupam or the hosts, write in to [email protected]. Don't forget to visit www.thinkpragati.com for more brain fodder. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcast App on Android: https://goo.gl/tGYdU1 or iOS: https://goo.gl/sZSTU5 You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The Rupee tumbles to 68 against the US dollar. Will the dollar breach the 70-rupee mark this year? Does a weak rupee mean a weak economy? In this episode of the Pragati Podcast, Economist Anupam Manur joins hosts Pavan Srinath and Hamsini Hariharan to talk about exchange rates and all things rupee. Have questions for Anupam or the hosts? Write in to [email protected]. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcast App on Android: https://goo.gl/tGYdU1 or iOS: https://goo.gl/sZSTU5 You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What is the story behind the Nipah virus that has claimed 16 lives in Kerala? Where did it come from? How can we prevent it? Dr Shambhavi Naik joins hosts Pavan Srinath and Hamsini Hariharan to discuss the nitty-gritties of this new disease. If you have questions for the hosts or Shambhavi, write into [email protected]. If you want to know more about how epidemics affect India's public health, join The Takshashila Institution's Cogitatum on Tackling Epidemics.in India at http://takshashila.org.in/cogitatum-series/ You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcast App on Android: https://goo.gl/tGYdU1 or iOS: https://goo.gl/sZSTU5 You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is Bangalore going to run out of water in a couple of years? How should Tamil Nadu and Karnatake share the Kaveri? Should we start paying for water? In episode 32 of the Pragati Podcast, Nitin Pai joins Pavan Srinath and Hamsini Hariharan to discuss water, Bangalore and Kaveri. Nitin Pai is the co-founder and director of The Takshashila Institution. Write in to [email protected] for any questions or comments. New episodes will resume from next Thursday. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcast App on Android: https://goo.gl/tGYdU1 or iOS: https://goo.gl/sZSTU5 You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What is the answer to the ultimate question of politics, elections and voting? Karthik Shashidhar joins hosts Hamsini Hariharan and Pavan Srinath to discuss election polling, what works and what doesn't. Karthik Shashidhar is a management consultant, the author of the book, Between the Buyer and the Seller and the Mint column, 'Election Metrics.' You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcast App on Android: https://goo.gl/tGYdU1 or iOS: https://goo.gl/sZSTU5 You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Walmart buys Flipkart. Trump backs out of the Iran Nuke deal. Trump bats for a North Korea Nuke Deal. Hosts Hamsini Hariharan and Pavan Srinath round up the news from India and around the world. You can read the Iran nuclear deal withdrawal article by Rohan Joshi (@filter_c) (https://twitter.com/filter_c) here : https://www.thinkpragati.com/world/4490/rocking-the-qasbah/ Send in your comments, questions and brickbats to [email protected]. Don't forget to check out Pragati Express (http://express.thinkpragati.com), a new group blog featuring the hosts. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcast App on Android: https://goo.gl/tGYdU1 or iOS: https://goo.gl/sZSTU5 You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What connects the American national anthem with battles fought in Mysore? Did Mysore have a secret weapon on its side against the British? What was military innovation like in South India on the eve of the Industrial revolution? Ram Ganesh Kamatham joins hosts Pavan Srinath and Hamsini Hariharan to talk about innovation, ingenuity and wars in Mysore. Ram is a playwright, an independent consultant and a Research Fellow at The Takshashila Institution. Have any questions for Ameya or the hosts? Write in to [email protected]. Don't forget to check out Pragati Express (http://express.thinkpragati.com), a new group featuring the hosts. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcast App on Android: https://goo.gl/tGYdU1 or iOS: https://goo.gl/sZSTU5 You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What does it mean when India is considered a Sovereign Republic? How do refugee crises like the Rohingya crisis affect sovereignty? And what can Wakanda and Black Panther teach us about it? International affairs and law expert Ameya Naik joins hosts Pavan Srinath and Hamsini Hariharan in episode 42 of the Pragati podcast. You can buy Robert H. Bates' book mentioned on the episode here: https://amzn.to/2w5qc5v Have any questions for Ameya or the hosts? Write in to [email protected]. Don't forget to check out Pragati Express (http://express.thinkpragati.com), a new group featuring the hosts. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcast App on Android: https://goo.gl/tGYdU1 or iOS: https://goo.gl/sZSTU5 You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Have we finally arrived on the global stage? How should the United States change the way it approaches India? What are the gaps in the Indo-US relationship? In Episode 41, Alyssa Ayres joins Pavan Srinath and Hamsini Hariharan to talk about how to move the relationship further. Alyssa Ayres has written a book called Our Time Has Come: How India is Making Its Place in the World(https://www.amazon.in/Our-Time-Has-Come-Making/dp/0190494522). She was the Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for South Asia between 2010 and 2013. She is currently a senior fellow for India, Pakistan and South Asia at the Council of Foreign Relations. Have any questions or follow up on the show? Write in at [email protected] and your questions will be answered in future episodes. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcast App on Android: https://goo.gl/tGYdU1 or iOS: https://goo.gl/sZSTU5 You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What does the Indian economy look like, in 2018? Does India have the institutions to manage a $6 Trillion economy in a few years? How have we done on continuing to reform governance in the country? In Episode 40 of the Pragati podcast, banker and policy expert Narayan Ramachandran talks to host Pavan Srinath and shares a magisterial overview of India's economy. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcast App on Android: https://goo.gl/tGYdU1 or iOS: https://goo.gl/sZSTU5 You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Are comedians doing the job of journalists? Can the wrong joke land you in jail in India? And can the right joke change the nation's politics? In Episode 39 of the Pragati podcast, the very funny Rohan Joshi and Joel Pereira of comedy group AIB join host Pavan Srinath to talk about life in political comedy. Have any questions or follow up on the show? Write in at [email protected] and your questions will be answered in future episodes. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcast App on Android: https://goo.gl/tGYdU1 or iOS: https://goo.gl/sZSTU5 You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why are Indian banks in so much trouble? Why have so many of their loans gone bad? How can the Government of India plug a $100B hole in the banking sector? In Episode 38 of the Pragati podcast, hosts Pavan Srinath and Hamsini Hariharan are joined by Narayan Ramachandran to unpack India's banking crisis. Narayan is the Chairman of RBL Bank, a former country head of Morgan Stanley, as well as a co-founder and fellow at the Takshashila Institution. He writes a regular column on Mint called A Visible Hand (https://www.livemint.com/Search/Link/Author/A%20Visible%20Hand%7C%20Narayan%20Ramachandran). Have any questions or follow up on the show? Write in at [email protected] and your questions will be answered in future episodes. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcast App on Android: https://goo.gl/tGYdU1 or iOS: https://goo.gl/sZSTU5 You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is it illegal to do the Pragati podcast on radio? Why do large Indian cities have so few FM stations, and why do they all sound the same? In Episode 37 of the Pragati Podcast, Amit Doshi (https://twitter.com/doshiamit) joins host Pavan Srinath to talk about talk radio and podcasts. Amit is the founder of the IVM Podcast Network, and a co-host of Shunya One, a podcast on tech and entrepreneurship. Have any questions or follow up on the show? Write in at [email protected] and your questions will be answered in future episodes. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcast App on Android: https://goo.gl/tGYdU1 or iOS: https://goo.gl/sZSTU5 You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ties between Australia and China are coming under strain because of worries about political funding, Chinese students, and ample amounts of rhetoric. In Episode 36 of The Pragati Podcast, Dr Richard Rigby joins Hamsini Hariharan and Pavan Srinath to talk about what's beneath the surface of the tension. Dr Richard Rigby is a former Australian diplomat, historian and currently the Executive Director of the Australian National University China Institute. Send your questions, comments and brickbats by writing to [email protected] or reach out the hosts on twitter where their handles are @HamsiniH (https://twitter.com/HamsiniH) and @Zeusisdead(https://twitter.com/zeusisdead). Regards, You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcast App on Android: https://goo.gl/tGYdU1 or iOS: https://goo.gl/sZSTU5 You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why were farmers marching on Mumbai? Can China become the hub of medical tourism for the next generation of treatments? Are there new dangers to democracy in the Indian subcontinent? In Episode 35 of The Pragati Podcast, Hamsini Hariharan (https://twitter.com/HamsiniH) and Pavan Srinath (https://twitter.com/zeusisdead) catch up on news over the last few months in India and abroad. Have any questions that you would like answered in a later episode? Write in to [email protected]. For more awesome IVM podcasts,find us at:  Website: Indusvox.com Facebook: facebook.com/ivmpodcasts Twitter: twitter.com/ivmpodcasts Instagram: instagram.com/ivmpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In this episode, we'll be doing something a little different. We'll be talking about ideas, values and labels. The word Liberal has become a slur in India, but it stands for something more. What does it mean when we say that the Pragati magazine is founded on the values of a free society? Amit Varma joins hosts Pavan Srinath and Hamsini Hariharan to discuss exactly that. Amit is the editor of Pragati, the host of the Seen & the Unseen podcast and a writer at the India uncut blog. He's also a two time winner of the Bastiat Prize, for his writings that have helped explain, promote and defend the principles of the a society. Send in your comments, questions and brickbats to [email protected]. This is an IVM Production; for more such awesome podcasts, come find us: Website: Indusvox.com Facebook: facebook.com/ivmpodcasts Twitter: twitter.com/ivmpodcasts Instagram: instagram.com/ivmpodcastsSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Should India always put its neighbourhood first? Was Nehru’s foreign policy idealist or realist? How should we think of external powers acting in the the Indian subcontinent? In Episode 33 of The Pragati Podcast, Constantino Xavier joins Hamsini Hariharan and Pavan Srinath to discuss how India should tackle its neighbours. Constantino Xavier is a fellow at Carnegie India, based in New Delhi. His research focus is on India’s foreign policy, with emphasis on relations with its neighboring countries and South Asian regional security. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcast App on Android: https://goo.gl/tGYdU1 or iOS: https://goo.gl/sZSTU5 You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is Bangalore going to run out of water in a couple of years? How should Tamil Nadu and Karnatake share the Kaveri? Should we start paying for water? In episode 32 of the Pragati Podcast, Nitin Pai joins Pavan Srinath and Hamsini Hariharan to discuss water, Bangalore and Kaveri. Nitin Pai is the co-founder and director of The Takshashila Institution. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcast App on Android: https://goo.gl/tGYdU1 or iOS: https://goo.gl/sZSTU5 You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is Black Mirror unfolding in real life? What is this social credit system? Is an Orwellian dystopia unfolding in China? In episode 31 of the Pragati Podcast, Manoj Kewalramani joins Hamsini Hariharan and Pavan Srinath to discuss how the social credit system is unfolding in China, and how it affects the way the rest of the world approaches social credit. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcast App on Android: https://goo.gl/tGYdU1 or iOS: https://goo.gl/sZSTU5 You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We’ve heard of hard power, soft power and smart power, but what is this new sharp power? What are the major changes in the global order that we should watch out for? How can middle powers that are neither here nor there cope? Rory Medcalf of Australian National University talks to host Hamsini Hariharan in episode 30 of The Pragati Podcast. Medcalf heads the National Security College at ANU, and is a former diplomat, intelligence analyst and journalist. His work covers a wide spectrum of strategic and geopolitical issues in Indo-Pacific Asia. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcast App on Android: https://goo.gl/tGYdU1 or iOS: https://goo.gl/sZSTU5 You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How serious are ceasefire violations? Why do they happen? How can India end this cycle of violence? Ceasefire violations have become part and parcel of the Indo-Pacific relationship. In January 2018 alone, there were more than 100 ceasefire violations. Hosts Pavan Srinath and Hamsini Hariharan are joined by Pranay Kotasthane and Lt Gen Prakash Menon to decode the events at the border. Lt Gen Menon (ret) has spent 40 years in the Indian army, and has extended operational experience on the Siachen glacier, the Line of Control and counterinsurgency operations in Kashmir. He is now the Director of the Strategic Studies programme at the Takshashila Institution. Pranay Kotasthane is Head, Research Programmes, the Takshashila Institution. Send us your questions, comments and brickbats by writing to [email protected]. We are also on twitter at @HamsiniH and @Zeusisdead You can find the Pragati podcast on thinkpragati.com and on your preferred podcast app - we are there everywhere. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcast App on Android: https://goo.gl/tGYdU1 or iOS: https://goo.gl/sZSTU5 You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why do we have ten guests of honour for the Republic Day Parade instead of one? How do domestic policy and politics affect India's foreign policy? How should India improve relations with countries in South-East Asia? On episode 28 of the Pragati Podcast, hosts Hamsini Hariharan and Pavan Srinath are joined by Sinderpal Singh at the Raisina Dialogues to answer some of these questions. Sinderpal Singh is a Senior Fellow in the South Asia Programme at the S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. If you have any comments or questions, send them to [email protected] reach out to the hosts on Twitter as @HamsiniH and @zeusisdead  You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcast App on Android: https://goo.gl/tGYdU1 or iOS: https://goo.gl/sZSTU5 You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why did four senior judges of the Supreme Court hold a press conference? Why are they complaining about the Chief Justice of India? Can we expect judicial reforms in 2018? Harish Narsappa of Daksh  and Alok Prasanna Kumar of Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy talk to hosts Pavan Srinath and Hamsini Hariharan about the current judicial crisis. Send your questions, comments and feedback to us at [email protected]. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcast App on Android: https://goo.gl/tGYdU1 or iOS: https://goo.gl/sZSTU5 You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is it true that the Indian civilisation never attempted to conquer anything beyond the subcontinent? Did Indian and the Chinese courts establish diplomatic relations as early as the 10th century? How did trade transform coastal cities in Medieval India? The 26th episode of The Pragati Podcast goes back to one of the richest and easily overlooked dynasties in India; the Cholas. The hosts Pavan Srinath and Hamsini Hariharan are joined by Devi Yesodharan, author of the historical fiction novel, Empire  Send in your questions, comments and brickbats by writing to [email protected], or reach the hosts on twitter as @HamsiniH and @zeusisdead See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ideas are stubborn, and bad ones even more so. In North Korea, the Kim family used bad economic ideas with a heavy role for the government, no rule of law, and no economic freedoms. This kept them in abject poverty and hunger, as they suffered famines, lacked access to basic human needs, and even today have little hope in sight. You may think that bad economic ideas in India can't push us to North Korean levels of misery -- but they will not help us reach South Korean levels of prosperity either. The 25th episode of the Pragati Podcast presents the 2017 Kim Jong Awards for Stupid Economic Ideas - terrible economic ideas that refused to die in 2017. Anupam Manur joins Pavan Srinath and Hamsini Hariharan to nominate the bad, the ugly and the worst in the Indian economy. Send in your questions, comments and brickbats by writing [email protected], or reach the hosts on twitter as @HamsiniH and@zeusisdead. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcast App on Android: https://goo.gl/tGYdU1 or iOS: https://goo.gl/sZSTU5 You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What does it mean to edit someone's genes? Is Malaria in its last days? What is CRISPR, if not a startup that makes chips? Shambhavi Naik and Madhav Chandavarkar are guests on Episode 24 of the Pragati podcast to they explain the recent revolution in gene editing. Cures for blood cancers, hornless cattle & impotent mosquitoes - new technologies are promising a lot of things, while the fear of Eugenics and designer babies is never far away. Hosts Hamsini Hariharan and Pavan Srinath talk to them about how gene editing tech can be governed, and what it would take to do great work in India. Shambhavi, Madhav and their colleagues have also published a framework to govern gene editing in India . Do check it out. As always, send in your questions, comments and suggestions to [email protected], and get them featured in a future episode. The Pragati Podcast is on a break for the last week of December, and is back on January 4, 2018. Happy holidays!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What has Al Qaeda been up to since Osama? What happens in India and the subcontinent after the Islamic State falls? What does Bollywood director Vishal Bharadwaj have to do with all this? In Episode 23 of the Pragati Podcast, Hamsini Hariharan and Pavan Srinath sit down with Adrian Levy, a journalist with the Guardian, and one of the authors of The Exile: The Stunning Inside Story of Osama bin Laden and Al Qaeda in Flight, to discuss what happened to the feared terrorist group after the fall of Osama Bin Laden and where it could go from here. What do you want us to talk about in the next episode? Send in your questions, comments and brickbats by writing to [email protected], or reach the hosts on twitter as @HamsiniH  and @zeusisdeadSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is taxation theft? Is the government of India any better than Gabbar Singh? Why do Indian actors pretend to be farmers? Tune in episode 22 of the Pragati podcast to find out. Hosts Hamsini Hariharan and Pavan Srinath are joined by Pranay Kotasthane from the Takshashila Institution, a frequent guest on the show. This podcast explores how taxes provide bad incentives, how the purpose and the importance of taxation has changed over time and more. Have more questions on taxes? Write in to [email protected] and have your questions answered in later episodes. Visit the episode page on thinkpragati for more readings on taxes. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcast App on Android: https://goo.gl/tGYdU1 or iOS: https://goo.gl/sZSTU5 You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Doctors protesting across Karnataka. Price controls on private medical care. Kangaroo courts for errant doctors. Missing patient empowerment. All from an eventful November. Episode 21 of the Pragati podcast dives into the politics and economics of regulating hospitals in Karnataka, and how it matters for all of India. Hosts Hamsini & Pavan are joined by their Takshashila colleagues Anupam Manur, Sowmya Nandan and Pranay Kotasthane. Share your questions, comments and brickbats by writing to [email protected], or reach the hosts on twitter as @HamsiniH and @zeusisdead. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcast App on Android: https://goo.gl/tGYdU1 or iOS: https://goo.gl/sZSTU5 You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

What is the GDP, and why is the world so obsessed with GDP growth? We associate human wellbeing with growth in the GDP -- but are there better measures? And what do the two World Wars and the rise of Hitler have to do with this? This episode of the Pragati Podcast dives deep into the origins, the evolution and the future of the Gross Domestic Product, a number that has shaped the modern world as we know it. Joining hosts Hamsini and Pavan on this podcast is Anupam Manur, Fellow & Faculty at the Takshashila Institution, and a macroeconomist by training. Share your questions, comments and brickbats by writing to [email protected], or find the hosts on twitter as @HamsiniH and @zeusisdead. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcast App on Android: https://goo.gl/tGYdU1 or iOS: https://goo.gl/sZSTU5 You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Delhi has introduced high parking fees to combat pollution, but is it really helping? After a decade, the India-US-Japan-Australia quadrilateral is getting revived. What does that mean for India in Asia? This week, Hamsini Hariharan and Pavan Srinath follow up on issues previously discussed on the Pragati podcast, and take a listener question from @booleanbalaji. And don't miss the second cheat sheet, which reveals scams around land in Bangalore. Have any questions or comments that you would like the Pragati podcast to address? Send them to us at @Zeusisdead and @HamsiniH on Twitter. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcast App on Android: https://goo.gl/tGYdU1 or iOS: https://goo.gl/sZSTU5 You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

With the impeachment of Pakistani President Nawaz Sharif and India's preoccupation with the Doklam standoff, little of the national mindspace is being occupied by Pakistan. To weigh in on current relations with our western neighbour, Ambassador TCA Raghavan joins Hamsini Hariharan. Ambassador Raghavan is the former High Commissioner of India to Singapore and Pakistan. His second book, The People Next Door is an anecdotal chronicle of India s strange and often obsessive relationship with its neighbour. Have any follow up questions or comments? Tweet them to us at @HamsiniH or @zeusisdead. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcast App on Android: https://goo.gl/tGYdU1 or iOS: https://goo.gl/sZSTU5 You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

While India has successfully sent a mission to Mars and has a globally competitive tech sector back home, we still struggle to do great scientific research in the country. In this episode of the Pragati Podcast, Pavan Srinath and Hamsini Hariharan discuss how to increase the batting average of science in India with Sunil Laxman from the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcast App on Android: https://goo.gl/tGYdU1 or iOS: https://goo.gl/sZSTU5 You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Why should Indian cities consider paid parking as a solution to improve traffic? Should curbside parking be priced? In this episode of of the Pragati Podcast, hosts Pavan Srinath and Hamsini Hariharan discuss the practicalities of paid parking in India. Have questions or comments? Share them with us at @HamsiniH and @zeusisdead on twitter. Also, we have a huge announcement: The Pragati Podcast is now weekly! You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcast App on Android: https://goo.gl/tGYdU1 or iOS: https://goo.gl/sZSTU5 You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Can we use sand in India without having to deal with a sand mafia? Why do Indians have toilets at home, but defecate outside? And does anyone ever use a toilet for health reasons? Thejaswi Udupa and Nidhi Gupta join hosts Pavan Srinath and Hamsini Hariharan for episode 15 of the Pragati Podcast. Starting with a look at sanitation in India three years after the Swachh Bharat Abhiyaan, the podcast features how the construction sand market is evolving in Karnataka. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcast App on Android: https://goo.gl/tGYdU1 or iOS: https://goo.gl/sZSTU5 You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Is the Indian economy doing alright? Is it suffering from something worse than the painful effects of demonetization? Is 2017 the beginning of a new chapter between India and Afghanistan? Did Trump actually say something good for a change? You'll find all this and more on the fourteenth episode of the Pragati podcast. Hosts Hamsini Hariharan and Pavan Srinath sit down with their colleagues Anupam Manur and Pranay Kotasthane from the Takshashila Institution. Starting with a roundup of where the Indian economy today, they also discuss what Trump's latest Afghanistan policy might mean for India in the region. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcast App on Android: https://goo.gl/tGYdU1 or iOS: https://goo.gl/sZSTU5 You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How do we stop urban flooding year after year? What is this mysteriously named pyjama-laadi scheme? Why should more Indians learn Mandarin? You'll find all this and more in episode 13 of the Pragati Podcast, where Pavan Srinath and Hamsini Hariharan sit down for a fortnightly catch-up. The episode also features a new segment called Cheat Sheet, which looks at innovative attempts to squander public money. In the second half, Hamsini talks to Dr Alka Acharya, one of the foremost Indian experts on China, and Pranay Kotasthane, the Head of Geostrategy at The Takshashila Institution, on why we need an overhaul in our approach towards China. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcast App on Android: https://goo.gl/tGYdU1 or iOS: https://goo.gl/sZSTU5 You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How can cities protect their heritage when growing rapidly? Why is India deporting 40,000 refugees? How should we think of the trajectory of India's foreign policy? All of this in the twelveth episode of the Pragati Podcast where Pavan Srinath and Hamsini Hariharan sit down for a fortnightly catch up. In the second half, Hamsini and Aparna Pande, a scholar at the Hudson Institute in Washington DC, look at the roots of India's foreign policy. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcast App on Android: https://goo.gl/tGYdU1 or iOS: https://goo.gl/sZSTU5 You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

How do the recent job losses in the IT industry impact the economy? Did Nawaz Sharif really lose prime ministership over a font? What's with the inflation targeting mechanisms? In the first half of the 11th episode, Hamsini Hariharan and Anupam Manur catch up on fortnightly happenings. In the second half, Saurabh Chandra comes on board to talk about the future of information technology in the country. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcast App on Android: https://goo.gl/tGYdU1 or iOS: https://goo.gl/sZSTU5 You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Do you own your data? What do you give up every time you sign up for something new on the interweb? In the 10th episode of the Pragati Podcast, Hamsini Hariharan discusses what a new law on data protection could look like with Rahul Matthan and Manasa Venkatraman. In the second half, Nitin Pai comes onboard to talk about the almost month long border standoff between India and China. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcast App on Android: https://goo.gl/tGYdU1 or iOS: https://goo.gl/sZSTU5 You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Have the photos of food on your timeline been replaced by photos of bills? In the ninth episode of The Pragati Podcast, Hamsini Hariharan sits down with Anupam Manur, Research Fellow at the Takshashila Institution to break down the Goods and Services Tax (GST). In the second half of the podcast, Pavan Srinath and Madhav Chandavarkar discuss the church, the state and how we draw the line between the two. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcast App on Android: https://goo.gl/tGYdU1 or iOS: https://goo.gl/sZSTU5 You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Will ISRO be relevant in ten years? Will Britain give up its last colony in the Indian Ocean? How should India think China's infrastructure projects? In the eighth episode of the The Pragati Podcast, Hamsni Hariharan and Pavan Srinath swap news from June that may matter more than you know. In the second half, Hamsini sits down with contributing editor, Pranay Kotasthane and one of India's foremost experts on China, Dr. Alka Acharya, to contemplate how India approaches China. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcast App on Android: https://goo.gl/tGYdU1 or iOS: https://goo.gl/sZSTU5 You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Not sure which TV show to pick up next? In the 7th episode of the Pragati Podcast, Hamsini Hariharan and Pavan Srinath discuss a number of shows that break down American and British politics. In the second half they are joined by Amit Varma and Ramez Naam in a discussion on how our education systems can be improved through the integration of artificial intelligence. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcast App on Android: https://goo.gl/tGYdU1 or iOS: https://goo.gl/sZSTU5 You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

In the sixth episode of The Pragati Podcast, Pavan Srinath and Hamsini Hariharan talk about where the jobs have gone, the crackdown on conjunctions at World Bank, civil- military relations and Shuajiao Baba. In the second half, Pavan sits down with the Takshashila lawyer, Madhav Chandavarkar to discuss the current controversy surrounding triple talaq. You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcast App on Android: https://goo.gl/tGYdU1 or iOS: https://goo.gl/sZSTU5 You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Pavan Srinath and Hamsini Hariharan catch up on some reading while the hullaballoo of the GST and the One Belt, One Road Project reverberates in the background. Then, Devanghsu Datta joins them to talk about when why they can't host the podcast smoking ganja and drinking alcohol in Gujarat while betting on the IPL. It's the week of victimless crimes at https://thinkpragati.com and you can read Devangshu's three-part series at the following link: https://www.thinkpragati.com/opinion/1416/gamble-make-legal/ You can listen to this show and other awesome shows on the IVM Podcast App on Android: https://goo.gl/tGYdU1 or iOS: https://goo.gl/sZSTU5 You can check out our website at http://www.ivmpodcasts.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Left or right? Liberal or conservative? Paper or plastic? Political identities and political labels are becoming popular these days, when someone is describing themselves or labeling someone else. Pavan Srinath and Hamsini Hariharan discuss what these labels are, and whether they are relevant for India. In the second half of the podcast, they are joined by Amit Varma and award-winning author Ramez Naam to discuss the future of energy in India and the world. Visit thinkpragati.com to read more about coronary stents , artificial intelligence and the future of the Indian republic this fortnight. This is an IVM Production; for more such awesome podcasts on the go, download the IVM Podcasts app on Google Play: https://goo.gl/bI1toI and on iOS: https://goo.gl/9UhnGd Or come find us: Website: Indusvox.com Facebook: https://goo.gl/P130uw Twitter: https://goo.gl/7P7Uec Instagram: https://goo.gl/qH3PHmSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The first full Pragati Podcast covers everything from swimming pools in Udupi to Indian military adventures in West Africa. As the budget season comes to a close, Pavan Srinath, Hamsini Hariharan and Amit Varma discuss the importance of state government budgets. In the second half, Pavan Srinath talks to army officer-turned-journalist Sushant Singh, on his new book, Mission Overseas: Daring Operations by the Indian Military (http://www.amazon.in/Mission-Overseas-Daring-Operations-Military/dp/9386228173) This is an IVM Production; for more such awesome podcasts on the go, download the IVM Podcasts app on Google Play: https://goo.gl/bI1toI and on iOS: https://goo.gl/9UhnGd Or come find us: Website: Indusvox.com Facebook: https://goo.gl/P130uw Twitter: https://goo.gl/7P7Uec Instagram: https://goo.gl/qH3PHmSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

The American economist Alex Tabarrok, who is in Mumbai these days, feels that tourism could be "India's leading export sector." In his piece in Pragati, 'Let the World In' (https://www.thinkpragati.com/opinion/937/let-the-world-in/), he discusses some of the reforms India needs to carry out to make this happen. Alex discusses those reforms with Pragati editor Amit Varma. Snake charmers and sim cards also feature in this episode! This is an IVM Production; for more such awesome podcasts on the go, download the IVM Podcasts app on Google Play: https://goo.gl/bI1toI or on iOS: https://goo.gl/9UhnGd Or come find us: Website: Indusvox.com Facebook: https://goo.gl/P130uw Twitter: https://goo.gl/7P7Uec Instagram: https://goo.gl/qH3PHmSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Welcome to the first episode of The Pragati Podcast. As Pragati relaunches, editor Amit Varma gets together with founder Nitin Pai and frequent contributor Pavan Srinath to discuss the changes in the political landscape in the last 10 years. How has the political discourse changed? What are the challenges that lie ahead of us? This is an IVM Production; for more such awesome podcasts on the go, download the IVM Podcasts app on Google Play: https://goo.gl/bI1toI or on iOS: https://goo.gl/9UhnGd Or come find us: Website: Indusvox.com Facebook: https://goo.gl/P130uw Twitter: https://goo.gl/7P7Uec Instagram: https://goo.gl/qH3PHmSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.