Bharatvaarta

In this episode of the #LongIndia series we speak to Binu Verma and Ramesh Balasundaram, Founders of of Bal Utsav. Binu and Ramesh quit their corporate careers and have spent over a decade working to reform government schools in Karnataka, enabling children to access quality education through their NGO, Bal Utsav. They are trying to affect change along the four key axes of financing, infrastructure, teaching, and community development.  In this episode, we speak about their journey thus far, the challenges in public school Education in India, how technology has impacted last mile education, working with the government and other key stakeholders to impact change, and many other facets.   This is a fascinating podcast that uncovers the nuances of public school Education in India. Available now 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.  For more information about Bal Utsav, please visit https://balutsav.org/.

Advocate Lokenath Chatterjee is the BJP candidate for the Ballygunge  assembly constituency in the ongoing West Bengal assembly elections. His  seat went to polls on April 26th in the seventh phase of the election,  He is an alumnus of Don Bosco, Park Circus and prestigious law  university NUJS.  Adv Chatterjee has worked with the BJYM, the youth wing of his party and  was a lawyer for several key cases in the cultural sphere since 2016.  His association with cases around Durga Puja immersions and Ram Navami  rallies helped him shine to the limelight.   Adv. Chatterjee talks about his vision for Kolkata, his political  journey, the impact of the pandemic on the West Bengal elections and the  main issues involved in this state election.

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).

The 14th edition of the Indian Premier League kicked off on 9th April. There have been a few surprises, with RCB leading the points table and winners of the last two editions Mumbai Indians losing 3 out of the 5 games they have played so far.   With about a quarter of the games in the group stage completed, and teams moving to a different venue, we look back at the games so far with Abhishek Paul(@abhility), Mahek Vyas(mahektetweet), Nirav Kanodra (@niravstoons) & Srivatsa Subbanna (@s_srivats). They also analyse what teams have done right so far and what do they need to do to improve going ahead.   This episode is part of an ongoing series where will be analysing the key games, performances and moments each week.

India reported over 15 million confirmed cases of the coronavirus  (COVID-19) as of April 18, 2021. Out of these, over 12.9 million  patients had recovered, while 178 thousand cases were fatal. The number  of people infected with the virus was growing and the government had  swung into action to curtail further spread of the outbreak. Globally,  over 141 million cases of the coronavirus were reported as of April 18,  2021.   India expanded its vaccination programme to include all adults over the  age of 18 starting 1 May amid a deadly second wave of infections. India  has so far administered more than 127 million doses of a coronavirus  vaccine in what is the world's largest inoculation drive.   India launched its vaccination drive on 16 January, restricting it to  healthcare workers and frontline staff - a sanitation worker became the  first Indian to receive the vaccine. The drive gradually expanded to  other age groups - from 1 May, those above 18 years will be the latest  group to become eligible.   In this special live episode of Bharatvaarta, we are decoding India's  massive COVID-19 vaccination drive. Joining us will be Aashish  Chandorkar, Vivek Khaitan, and Amit Paranjape to delve deep into the  unknown variables of the world's biggest vaccination drive.

We have seen a spate of startup funding activity in recent times.  Just in the last couple of weeks we have seen Fintech startup, Groww, raised $83 million in its Series D funding, in a round led by Tiger Global; Gupshup raised a 100M from Tiger again; sharechat raised 500M from Tiger too; Meesho raised 300M from Softbank; epharmacy startup Pharmeasy raised 350M, Cred raised 200+ million from Falcon Edge. There have been 10 unicorns created in this year already! And this is aside from more mature startups like Zomato and Policy Bazaar raising large rounds ahead of their proposed IPO this year. To make sense of all of this, we invited Nimish Joshi (Senior Corporate Development Exec) and Rajeev Mantri (Managing Director, Navam Capital) on the podcast. Nimish and Rajeev begin with describing the significance of the current fundraising frenzy and then talk abou how the Indian startup ecosystem has evolved and why it’s attractive for investors at the moment. Along the way they also discuss nuances of listing in the Indian markets through IPO, second order effects of the fundraising, and criticism on sacrificing profits for growth. We end with our guests talking about sectors that are ripe for innovation and will attract more capital in the time to come. This is a very comprehensive overview and is unmissable for anyone interested in Indian startups. 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. This week, we'll be talking about Citibank's India exit, USA blocking export of vaccines, Nirav Modi's extradition, 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).

The Indian Railways are the backbone of the country, connecting the various remote parts of our country. It is the largest network in the world by size. Beyond the immense utility of the railways, there is also a rich cultural and historical significance to it. In this episode, we delve deeper into the history and culture of the Indian Railways. An officer with the Indian Railways, Vinita Srivastava is presently the Executive Director, Railway Heritage heading the Heritage Directorate of the Railway Board in Rail Bhavan, New Delhi. Ms Srivastava qualified as a Mechanical Engineer (IMechE) in 1996, and studied for an Executive Masters in Management from IIM Ahmedabad in 2011. More recently, in 2017 she became a Chevening Science and Innovation Fellow from St Cross College, Oxford University. Her work experience spans two decades in rail transportation and her previous posting was in the Ministry of Culture where she developed her knowledge of cultural studies, museology and conservation architecture. She took up her present post in April 2019 after three years  administrating the National Mission on Cultural Mapping and the IGNCA.  In 2018 she was instrumental in developing a bilateral MoU for cultural and conservation information for the UNESCO WHS temple complex of Angkor Wat in Cambodia. Her remit includes the UNESCO protected Railway Industrial Heritage sites like the CSMT building and the Mountain Railways of Darjeeling, Shimla & the Nilgiris.

Manohar Parrikar was India's first IIT-qualified Chief Minister. But that description doesn't capture even a fraction of his achievements. He used his natural brilliance to serve the country, first as a committed grass-roots volunteer, then as four-time popular Chief Minister of Goa and finally contributed to strengthening India's national security as Defence Minister between November 2014 and March 2017.  Nitin Gokhale, one of South Asia's leading strategic and defence analysts, became acquainted with Parrikar quite by accident during the latter's stint in New Delhi, but by sheer coincidence the two became very close friends. This book is as much a personal tribute by the author to his friend, as an honest attempt to capture the persona of Parrikar the man,the politician and patriot. Through the eyes of his family, friends and countless admirers the book dwells deep into his early influences, his journey from a small village in Goa to one of the highest posts in the country.

The Bharatvaarta Weekly is our reaction to the news headlines of the  week that was. This week, we'll be talking about the production-linked  incentives for solar & LED, Punjab Farmers' DBT, unicorns in rapid  succession, 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