Bharatvaarta

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

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).

Tuhin Sinha and Suraj 'Clark' Prasad have authored a book Mission Schenzen, to be released in June 2021 by Bloomsbury. This discussion features the authors and also a conversation with Mr Maroof Raza, India's foremost defence expert and commentator.   Tuhin and Clark talk about the limits of fiction and its resemblance with real life. Tuhin is in fact a professional script writer who has written for films and television. Suraj is a professional working with leading firms around the world and uses his masters in business administration to portend the future. They collaborated for writing the book bringing in their individual expertise.  Tuhin helped conjure up a world where bio-weapons are a hazard and the world is being taken over by one country brick by brick. Using unconventional warfare, pushing its own reserve currency and making the world dependent on itself, this country has expansionary dreams. Suraj wrote the book bringing the textual imagery to a series of sophisticated plot elements which involves many countries, cities and domains of knowledge.   Mr Maroof Raza has reviewed the book and written a blurb for it. But on this podcast, more importantly, he spoke about the present global geopolitical situation. He talked about China's ambition to rule the world by 2050, what is QUAD doing and the ongoing Israel - Palestine conflict. His insights are deep and authentic - mirroring two decades of his TV appearances explaining security and foreign affairs situation on prime time night after night.  This session is presented along with News Bharati - a leading digital platform and will also be available on all their digital properties. We thank the publisher Bloomsbury who via their representative Mr Nitin Valecha helped organize this event.

Shri DV Sridharan is a noted social worker, environment and water  conservation enthusiast and a guiding light for several known and  unspoken social causes, especially in the Indic domain. DV ji as he is  called by his friends and followers, has been at the forefront of  spreading positivity about India and the good things happening around  us.  DV ji started a website Good News India with his own money and his  singular personal efforts in 2001. He used to go around the country  talking to individuals who were attempting to bring about social changes  out of their own conviction and efforts. DV ji would then talk to them,  photograph them and publish their work on his website. He roamed around  India covering many such achievers.  His website ran for 6 years and featured Anna Hazare, Anshoo Gaur of  Goonj, Rajendra Singh - the waterman of India and Thimakka -  Padma Shri  recipient for her tree plantation efforts. He passionately ensured that  only those stories were featured which had been personally verified.  The website ran till 2006 after which DV started focusing on his water  conservation efforts.  Good News India has now been turned into an anthology published by  Bloomsbury. The book with the eponymous name was supported by the Indic  Academy and Indic Writers' Club then headed by Dimple Kaul.   In this discussion, host Aashish Chandorkar spoke to DV ji about his  website, book and his contributions to various Indic causes.

On this episode of the Long India Series, listen to Economist, Author,  and Investor, Harsh Gupta, speak about why he is bullish about India’s  growth. Harsh’s much acclaimed book, A New Idea of India, which he  co-authored with friend and investor, Rajeev Mantri, is a compelling  analysis of India’s social, economic, and political conditions and a  prognosis for its imminent rise to power.  In 2017, Harsh introduced ‘Modinomics’ as an overarching term to  describe Prime Minister Modi’s policies and in this conversation we  revisit its  various elements, including fiscal policy consolidation  while increasing infra spend, monetary policy hawkishness and low  inflation, structural reforms like GST, RERA, and  bankruptcy law,  formalisation of the economy through digitalisation, and state capacity  creation and smart welfare.   Along the way, we discuss how India can move on from the pandemic and  also make good on our immense potential for growth owing to the  convergence of macroeconomic, technological, and geopolitical trends.  This is a fascinating conversation for anyone interested in  understanding India’s prospects for growth this decade. You can follow  Harsh’s views on Twitter (@harshmadhusudan) and Substack (Long 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.   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