All Things Policy
Takshashila Institution
Ever wondered how automation will change the world? Maybe you puzzle over what India could do to ease traffic congestion, or how China's aircraft carriers will transform Indian Ocean geopolitics? All Things Policy, a daily podcast brought to you by the Takshashila Institution, brings you all the answers. Every weekday, our researchers break down complex economic and geopolitical ideas through the lens of current events. For everyone from the busy executive to the curious student, All Things Policy is all you'll need to understand the world (and appreciate your breakfast) better.
Episodes
Mentioned books
Feb 18, 2026 • 33min
India Should Double Down On Rare Earth Recycling
Tannmay Baid, a researcher on high-tech geopolitics and urban mining, outlines why India should scale rare earth recycling. He explains the concept of urban mining and contrasts recycling with primary mining for supply resilience. Technical methods like hydrometallurgy and flash Joule heating are described. Policy hurdles, feedstock challenges, and a 2030 supply projection are also discussed.
Feb 17, 2026 • 22min
Limits of China-Pakistan Interoperability
Aishwaria Sonavane, research analyst on Pakistan Studies at the Takshashila Institution, explores China–Pakistan military ties. She explains what interoperability means and why arms sales and exercises fall short of full integration. She outlines structural, technological, and logistical barriers, reviews practical limits seen in the May 2025 clash, and considers why a formal alliance remains unlikely.
8 snips
Feb 16, 2026 • 46min
VB-GRAM-G And The Future Of Employment Guarantees
Ameya Naik, a researcher on development policy and digital public finance, and Liby Johnson, Gram Vikas leader with decades in rural community development, discuss VB‑GRAM‑G replacing MNREGA. They explore technology’s impact on welfare, risks of centralization and demand suppression, practical fixes like visible muster rolls, and linking village planning to strengthen local accountability and natural resource work.
Feb 13, 2026 • 25min
Sectoral Plurilateralism to Overcome Geopolitical Coercion
Arindam Goswami, staff research analyst at the Takshashila Institution, outlines sectoral plurilateral blocs as hedges against geopolitical coercion. He discusses forming focused coalitions where India is indispensable. Topics include pilot DPI and AI alliances, a Tropic Arc space consortium, and a phased roadmap to scale select blocs into strategic influence.
9 snips
Feb 12, 2026 • 18min
Can Tax Breaks Make India a Cloud Hub?
Anwesha Sen, an analyst on AI governance and India’s data center ecosystem, unpacks the 21-year tax holiday and its conditions for foreign cloud providers. She breaks down transfer pricing safe harbors, component warehousing and logistics perks. She discusses supply-side versus AI compute incentives, sustainability risks like power and water, and policy priorities needed to scale cloud infrastructure in India.
Feb 11, 2026 • 30min
Universal Patterns in Elections
Aanjaneya Kumar, a complexity postdoc at the Santa Fe Institute who studies statistical physics and elections, joins to discuss treating elections as complex systems. He outlines universality in voting patterns, why margin and turnout matter, a simple model reproducing robust distributions, and how the method flags anomalous contests and extends to protests and tipping points.
Feb 10, 2026 • 34min
Climate change & Sport
Sharda Ugra, veteran sports journalist and commentator on sports policy, discusses climate impacts on sport. She talks about athlete health risks from heat and pollution. She covers grassroots shifts in training, event cancellations due to AQI, and the carbon footprint of sporting goods. She explores green stadium design, schedule disruptions, and policy gaps needing coordinated action.
Feb 9, 2026 • 28min
Rupee Beyond India
Vanshika Saraf, research analyst focused on India-Pacific economic and strategic issues. She breaks down what rupee regionalisation means and how it differs from internationalisation. She explores why reducing dollar dependence matters now and India’s strategic case for promoting INR settlements. She outlines institutional prerequisites, real-world regional ties, potential sectoral spillovers, and political risks.
Feb 6, 2026 • 17min
The China–EU Battle Over Electric Vehicles
Bhumika Sevkani, a research analyst on China’s new energy sector at the Takshashila Institution. She discusses why EU tariffs on Chinese electric vehicles had limited effect. She explains how Chinese firms shifted to hybrids and local assembly. She outlines minimum import prices as an alternate tool and the broader trade and industrial policy tensions between China and Europe.
Feb 5, 2026 • 30min
Clean Energy, Hard Power: Tibet as Leverage
Y. Nithiyanandam, geospatial researcher and professor at the Takshashila Institution, studies infrastructure and renewables in Tibet. He traces hydro and solar growth, engineering fixes for permafrost and altitude, and plans to scale capacity massively. The talk covers strategic dams near India, dual-use uses like data centers and SIGINT, and how hubs form around military and transport nodes.
