Bharatvaarta

The Bharatvaarta Weekly is our reaction to the news headlines of the week that was.   This week we discuss Apple creating 20k jobs in India, States offer fiscal incentives to businesses, Tata Digital's investment in 1 Mg and more. If you liked this episode, then don’t forget to subscribe to our channel and share this content. You can stay updated with everything at Bharatvaarta by following us on social media: we're @bharatvaarta on Twitter, facebook.com/bharatvaarta.in on Facebook, and @bharatvaarta on Instagram).  #Bharatvaarta #BVWeekly

India bureaucracy is quite unique in its structure, in that it was  created by the British for their administrative needs and in independent  India, the systems and the processes have been gradually adjusted to  align with evolving demands of statecraft. Yet there is a feeling that  these changes are neither fast enough nor adequate.  We discussed these issues with Shri Avinash Dharmadhikari. Shri   Dharmadhikari was a freelance journalist and a social activist before  writing the UPSC and entering the Indian Administrative Service. He was  in the IAS for 10 years, rising to the position of working in the  Maharashtra CM Office. He quit the service then and started Chankaya  Mandal Parivar.  Chanakya Mandal focuses on coaching the UPSC aspirants and preparing  them not just in terms of content but also personal qualities for the  services. Over the years, Shri Dharmadhikari has coached and mentored  thousands of youngsters and he is a household name in the UPSC  preparation circles, especially in Pune and Maharashtra.    In this episode, Shri Dharmadhikari shared his views on how the IAS  needs to change, how the UPSC exam itself needs to evolve, the role of  lateral entry and several other challenges to the UPSC model. His candid  and forthcoming views on enforcing greater accountability for the  bureaucracy are thought provoking. Shri Dharmadhikari also talked about  the generalization vs specialization debate.

The Pallavas and Chalukyas were some of the most influential kingdoms of  South India. Their art, architecture, and culture were the defining  traits of Ancient South Indian history, and their eternal architectural   battles against each other resulted in some of the most awe-inspiring  structures India has ever seen. To explore the depth of Pallava  and Chalukya Architecture, authors Gurpreet Chopra and Bharath wrote the  book "Pallavas and Chalukyas - Coopetition in Stone". This coffee table  book is the author's endeavor to bring out the glorious achievements of  the Pallava and Chalukya dynasties and their awe-inducing temple  constructions which have left an indelible mark on India. Their  creations were pioneering structures that each subsequent kingdom, which  followed them, learnt and adopted from. From the shores of  Mahabalipuram to the great temple town of Kanchi, and from the capital  town of Badami to Aihole and Pattadakal, the authors take the readers  through a picturesque journey of the temples of these two great  kingdoms. Readers will experience the temple architecture, the  associated iconography, the inscriptions, the dynastic history and  patrons for the different structures through this visual treat.This is  an enthusiastic and joyful writing on the most beautiful monuments of  the Pallava rulers of Kanchi around 700 CE and also the Chalukyas of  Badami at Aihole and Pattadakkal of the same time. In this  episode, the authors discussed the genesis of the book, along with their  journey of writing it. We then explored the unique elements of Pallava  and Chalukya architecture, as well as the most signficant contributions  of both these empires. We also delved into the intent and societal  purpose of building temples in ancient India, and the other influences  in the architectural styles of South Indian temples. This  podcast is available on YouTube, Apple, Google, Spotify, Breaker,  Stitcher, and other popular platforms. If you like this episode, then  please rate, subscribe and share! For more information, do check out  www.bharatvaarta.in. Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfBfBd-1kvCOPxVll8tBJ9Q/join

The Bharatvaarta Weekly is our reaction to the news headlines of the week that was.   If you liked this episode, then don’t forget to subscribe to our channel and share this content. You can stay updated with everything at Bharatvaarta by following us on social media: we're @bharatvaarta on Twitter, facebook.com/bharatvaarta.in on Facebook, and @bharatvaarta on Instagram).  #Bharatvaarta #BVWeekly

IIT Kanpur hosts India's National Blockchain Project which is working on  several eGovernance ideas. This discussion features two experts related  to eGovernance.  Professor Abhay Karandikar is best known for his work in the  telecommunications sector in India. Professor Karandikar is an engineer  who taught for several years at IIT Bombay, has been associated with  institutions like C-DAC, Telecom Standards Development Society of India  and is a part time member of TRAI. He has been the Director at IIT  Kanpur since 2018. With IIT Kanpur hosting the National Blockchain  Project, there’s no better person than him to understand what India  plans to use Blockchain for the eGovernance space.  Krishna Vishwanath is an entrepreneur and investor based out of Pune. He  calls himself a student of Blockchain, by which he means a PhD student  at Symbiosis. Before he got enamoured with Blockchain, Krishna has  worked extensively in the Indian capital markets. He was one of the  first investment bankers in the country when ICICI got into the  traditional merchant banking business and is an alumnus of IIM  Ahmedabad. Krishna is also the ex-boss of two of the Bharavaarata  co-founders Aashish and Srivatsa.  We talked about the concept of Blockchain at a very fundamental level -  how it relates to the way humans organize. We explored if the  distributed, permission-less concept can be fitted in the centralized  governance structures we have evolved over time. Many initiatives are  being led by IIT Kanpur using the concept of Blockchain and there was a  detailed discussion on evolution of these.   We also talked about how some of these academic innovations are used by  the government and the industry. The guests discussed the broad process  of commercialization of the research and development work done by the  academia.   Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfBfBd-1kvCOPxVll8tBJ9Q/join

Cryptocurrency has been one of the most hotly debated topics in recent  times. On this podcast we speak with Akshay BD (ex-Uber, Startup Advisor  & Investor) and Rameesh Kailasam (CEO - Indiatech.org, Policy  Expert & Columnist) on the nuances of how crypto will impact India,  specifically. Akshay begins the discussion by laying out the immense  possibilities crypto holds for India as an asset, currency, and  technology - from wealth creation to innovation and then Rameesh speaks  of the policymaker’s perspective and how crypto has to be positioned to  make it easier to understand and regulate. Along the way, we discuss the concept of a sovereign digital currency  and how that can be compatible with an unregulated currency like bitcoin, India-specific use cases for blockchain, the concept of  Decentralised Finance (DeFi) and how it can potentially disrupt  financial services and credit access in India. We end the podcast with a  discussion on the road ahead for India and how Indians can participate  in crypto and gain from it. This is a fascinating conversation about an  important innovation that is sure to set you off on a rabbit hole quest  to learn and understand better. This podcast is available on YouTube, Apple, Google, Spotify, Breaker,  Stitcher, and other popular platforms. If you like this episode, then  please rate, subscribe and share! For more information, do check out  www.bharatvaarta.in.

The Bharatvaarta Weekly is our reaction to the news headlines of the week that was.   If you liked this episode, then don’t forget to subscribe to our channel and share this content. You can stay updated with everything at Bharatvaarta by following us on social media: we're @bharatvaarta on Twitter, facebook.com/bharatvaarta.in on Facebook, and @bharatvaarta on Instagram).

Over the last couple of months, the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic  has ravaged through India. It has been a difficult time for all of us  and indeed, most of us have been personally affected. There is plenty of  interest both at home and abroad about the status of the pandemic and  the measures taken by the Modi administration to combat it.  In this special episode of Bharatvaarta, conducted in collaboration with  Conservative Friends of the Commonwealth, we spoke to veteran  journalist Anil Padmanabhan. He has written for publications such as the  Economic Times, Open Magazine, Khaleej Times, Mint, and India Today. He  is also a Nieman Foundation Fellow. With his educated view, we cut through the clutter and see things the  way they are. We began the discussion with an introduction to the second  wave, exploring whether we were unprepared for the resurgence of the  pandemic. We then went on to discuss changes taht can be made to the  federal structure to increase effectiveness in such situations.   We also discussed media coverage of the second wave, parallels between  the UK and India, and possible steps that the government can take to  reduce the impact of the third wave. We ended by decoding the political impact of the second wave of COVID and the economic future of  India.   This podcast is available on YouTube, Apple, Google, Spotify, Breaker,  Stitcher, and other popular platforms. If you like this episode, then  please rate, subscribe and share! For more information, do check out  www.bharatvaarta.in.

Tzar Labs and Epigeneres Biotech have jointly developed a new cancer  test, which is non-invasive, has diagnostic as well as prognostic value  and is easy to administer and scale up. They have conducted trials on a  large sample of 1000 cases and their test has worked very well.Ashish  Tripathi of Tzar Labs and Anish Tripathi of   Epigeneres   spoke to Bharatvaarta about their innovation and answered many  questions posed specifically by medical professionals, which  Bharatvaarta had crowd-sourced.The two  brothers are passionate about the social impact of an early cancer  diagnosis and prognosis - this not just helps families control their  medical expenses but also provides lifespan longevity to the impacted  patients. The test is named HrC and there is a deeply personal story  behind this, which was also covered by the Tripathi brothers.Ashish  has been an investment banker working across multiple countries while  Anish is a supply chain expert and consultant, also with extensive  global and India expertise. They plan to launch the test in India first,  although this has a huge global impact.Will  an Indian innovation in healthcare leave a lasting impact on the way the  world fights with cancer? Hear from the two individuals who may be at  the cusp of making history.

As part of India's response to Covid-19, the Department of Science and  Technology (DST) appointed a committee of experts fro within the Indian  scientific community, and to arrive at a “COVID-19 India National  Supermodel". The objective of this committee was to make projections  about the progress of the disease over time, both at national and state  levels. One of the key members of this committee is our guest, Prof.  Manindra Agrawal.  Prof. Manindra Agrawal is a professor at the Department of Computer  Science and Engineering and the Deputy Director at the Indian Institute  of Technology, Kanpur. Among the many accolades he has received, Prof  Agrawal has been a recipient of the prestigious Clay Research Award in  2002, the Godel Prize in 2006; and the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Award in  Mathematical Sciences in 2003. He has been honoured with Padma Shri in  2013.  Prof. Manindra Agrawal (IIT Kanpur) co-authored SUTRA (a mathematical  model for pandemics, with M Kanitkar (Integrated Defense Staff), and M  Vidyasagar (IIT Hyderabad). SUTRA stands for Susceptible, Undetected,  Tested (positive), and Removed Approach. In this episode, we talk to  Prof. Agrawal to understand the role of the committee, terms of  reference of the committee, challenges faced in modeling a pandemic,  factoring in external factors such as insufficient testing etc. in the  model and more.   Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfBfBd-1kvCOPxVll8tBJ9Q/join