Author: cprindia

A CONVERSATION BETWEEN SENIOR FELLOW YAMINI AIYAR AND RICHA BANSAL
PODCAST POLITICS BUREAUCRACY

India’s bureaucracy has been her Achilles heel, often described as ‘corrupt’, ‘lazy’, ‘ineffective’ and more. And the reason for why the best-intentioned policies do not get implemented successfully on the ground. 70 years after independence, why are we still struggling with a ‘19th century administrative system in the 21st century’, as defined by Prime Minister Modi?

In the second episode (above) of CPR’s podcast, ThoughtSpace, Richa Bansal talks to Senior Fellow and Director of Accountability Initiative Yamini Aiyar on what is the root cause of this and unpacks ‘Bureaucracy from the Bureaucrat’s Perspective’, drawing on AI’s research with frontline bureaucracy.

PART 3 OF A SERIES OF INTERPRETATIONS DRAWING ON A NEW BOOK ON SMALL TOWNS IN INDIA: A CONVERSATION BETWEEN RICHA BANSAL, DR PARTHA MUKHOPADHYAY & PROF. SURINDER JODHKA
PODCAST URBAN GOVERNANCE

Small towns have remained an important feature of the Indian urban system. In this episode of CPR’s podcast, Richa Bansal speaks to Dr Partha Mukhopadhyay from CPR and Professor Surinder Jodhka from the Jawaharlal Nehru University, in part three of a series of interpretations drawing on a recently published edited volume on Subaltern Urbanisation in India. Dr Mukhopadhyay and Professor Jodhka draw on their research in the Madhubani district of Bihar to discuss the various aspects of social and economic transformations taking place in rural areas and small towns of India.

The other pieces in the series can be accessed below:

Understanding Economic Processes in Small Towns
What is happening beyond large cities? Understanding census towns in India
Understanding Subaltern Urbanisation in India and its Impact

A CONVERSATION BETWEEN AMB G PARTHASARATHY AND RICHA BANSAL
INDIA-PAKISTAN PODCAST

In an election that was marred by allegations of rigging, military interference and violence, Pakistan recently elected former cricketer, Imran Khan as Prime Minister. While Khan has called for a resolution of all issues with India, it is essential for India to discern whether his words translate into action, going forward.

In the 22nd episode of CPR’s podcast, ThoughtSpace (above), Richa Bansal talks to Honorary Research Professor at CPR and former ambassador to Pakistan, G Parthasarathy about this development across the border.

Amb Parthasarathy delves into the role of the army in the governance of Pakistan and sheds light on the possible future of India – Pakistan relations, focusing on issues like homegrown terror within Pakistan, terror groups targeted at India, Kashmir, and future trade relations between the two countries.

Amb Parthasarathy has also written on the subject in ‘The Tribune’,  ‘The Economic Times’, ‘PrimeTimes.IN’ and ‘The New India Express’.

A CONVERSATION BETWEEN SENIOR FELLOW NEELANJAN SIRCAR AND RICHA BANSAL
PODCAST INTERNATIONAL POLITICS

On November 8, the American electorate voted in Donald Trump as the 45th president of the United States, a phenomenon that the world is trying to deconstruct.

In the third episode (above) of CPR’s podcast, ThoughtSpace, Richa Bansal talks to Neelanjan Sircar, a Senior Fellow at CPR and an in-house election expert, who was born and raised in the US, to unpack the results of these presidential elections. Sircar both contextualises Donald Trump’s victory historically and analyses it by interpreting the data available.

A CONVERSATION BETWEEN SENIOR FELLOW SHYAM SARAN AND RICHA BANSAL
PODCAST INTERNATIONAL POLITICS

Relations between India and China have changed considerably over the past decade as China’s growth rate outpaced India’s, placing both countries in unique and different positions in the current global geopolitical context.

This has been most evident in recent times with China’s open opposition to India’s NSG membership bid; its blocking India’s move to ban Masood Azhar; and pledging large aid packages to other South Asian countries at the recent BRICS summit. India, on the other hand, has grown increasingly closer to the US; attempted to take on China over the South China sea dispute; and not shied away from a muscular response to terrorism emanating from Pakistani soil, notwithstanding China’s proximity to Pakistan. Add to this Donald Trump’s victory in the recent US elections and what this posits for the future.

In the fourth episode (above) of CPR’s podcast, ThoughtSpace, Richa Bansal talks to Shyam Saran, a Senior Fellow at CPR and a career diplomat, who is a respected authority on India-China relations, on the evolving India-China relations and what the future holds.

A CONVERSATION BETWEEN SENIOR FELLOW DR RAJIV KUMAR AND RICHA BANSAL
PODCAST ECONOMY

On the night of November 8, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the withdrawal of 500 and 1000 rupee notes from the market, with immediate effect, with the aim of curbing black money. While this move at demonetisation was hailed with great enthusiasm when announced, the euphoria soon gave way to frustration, anger and resentment, as the ‘inconvenience’ faced by people continued to mount with banks and ATMs running out of the new notes.

Is the move worth the trouble people are going through? How will those in the informal economy cope? Will the micro overshadow the macro? What are the larger benefits? How are things likely to unfold, going forward?

In the fifth episode (above) of CPR’s podcast, ThoughtSpace, Richa Bansal talks to Dr Rajiv Kumar, a well-known economist and Senior Fellow at CPR, to deconstruct the debate on demonetisation more deeply, moving beyond the binaries.

A CONVERSATION BETWEEN AMBASSADOR G PARTHSARATHY AND RICHA BANSAL
INDIA-PAKISTAN PODCAST SOUTH ASIA

The India-Pakistan relationship has been at an all-time low since the Uri attack, with India closely watching the change in guard of the Pakistani army chief, the de-facto power centre there. With the replacement of Raheel Sharif with General Qamar Javed Bajwa last week, who is known to be pro-democracy, a new equation is expected to take shape between the two countries, and the larger geopolitical scenario is also likely to be impacted.

In the sixth episode (above) of CPR’s podcast, ThoughtSpace, Richa Bansal talks to Ambassador G Parthsarathy, a career diplomat and Honorary Research professor at CPR, who has also been the High Commissioner of India to Pakistan, to understand what General Qamar Javed Bajwa’s appointment as the new Army Chief of Pakistan means for India and the region at large.

A CONVERSATION BETWEEN SENIOR FELLOW KIRAN BHATTY AND RICHA BANSAL
EDUCATION RIGHTS PODCAST

The government of India is working to bring out a New Education Policy or NEP to meet the needs of a changing India, ensuring quality, innovation, research to make the country a knowledge hub. The draft NEP, which was formulated under the regime of the previous HRD Minister Smriti Irani now lies in a state of flux since the change of guard, and there is a possibility that it could be revisited completely under a new committee.

As India waits for a New Education Policy, which hasn’t been revised for over three decades now, and is critical to address the gaps in the existing public education system, in the ninth episode of CPR’s podcast ThoughtSpace (above), Richa Bansal talks to Kiran Bhatty, a Senior Fellow at CPR and one of the experts consulted during the formulation of the first draft, to understand where we stand and what needs to be done.

A CONVERSATION BETWEEN D SHYAM BABU AND RICHA BANSAL
PODCAST IDENTITY DISCRIMINATION POLITICS

Listen to the full CPR podcast, ThoughtSpace (above) featuring Senior Fellow, D Shyam Babu, where he discusses the Lok Sabha bill that aims to provide 10 percent reservation in government jobs and education to the economically backward section in the general category.

Through the amendment of Articles 15 and 16 of the Constitution, the bill seeks to allow states to make ‘special provision for the advancement of any economically weaker sections of citizens’.

In an article in ‘Times of India’, D Shyam Babu questioned whether ‘one should treat the exercise as a bold attempt at social reform, or as a cynical politics of divide and rule?’ Shedding light on the ironies of the policy, he highlighted that ‘the same social groups who ridiculed the quota system as ‘vote-bank politics’ have now become the recipients of quota benefits.’