All Things Policy

The Bar Council of India recently allowed the entry of foreign lawyers and law firms in India to practice foreign law, diverse international issues, and international arbitration. In this episode, Saurabh Todi speaks to Shrikrishna Upadhyaya about the significance of the reform, its reception, and future prospects. They also discuss other bottlenecks in the growth of the legal sector, namely, restrictions on capital such as FDI and bar on solicitation and advertisement.

In this podcast, Anushka Saxena and Amit Kumar discuss the mandates of Private Security and Military Companies operating in situations of armed conflict, debates surrounding their proliferation in international law, and repercussions for UN peacekeepers and the state monopoly on coercive power.

Career Impact Bonds

The extent of female property ownership impacts women and their families, society, and the economy. Governments provide gender-based tax incentives to increase female property ownership. Suman Joshi and Sarthak Pradhan discuss the effectiveness of these measures as outlined in a recent World Bank working paper. Here are the papers referred to in the episode: World Bank Working Paper Which women own land in India? Between divergent data sets, measures and laws - Impact of Intergovernmental Fiscal Transfers on Gender Equality in India: An Empirical Analysis

Denmark, Finland, Norway and Sweden have recently signed the first Nordic Air Commanders' Intent to create a unified Nordic air defence alliance, pooling the resources of their air forces. In this episode, Saurabh Todi and Pranav Satyanath unpack this development and analyse its implications.

It came as no surprise that Chinese President Xi Jinping’s first diplomatic visit after the commencement of his unprecedented third term was to Russia. In this episode, Manoj Kewalramani dissects Xi’s visit to Russia and its strategic importance and gets quizzed by Shrikrishna Upadhyaya on its implications for India-Russia relations.

In February 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin announced that his country will suspend its participation in the New START Treaty. But does this mean the end of bilateral arms control between Russia and the United States? Not quite so. In this episode, Aditya Ramanathan and Pranav Satyanath discuss the nuances of the New START treaty's suspension and its implications for future arms control treaties.

India needs to grow its bio-economy and work with other countries to bolster its research and development capabilities and its manufacturing capacity. In this episode, Shambhavi Naik and Saurabh Todi discuss how India should work with like-minded partners across the globe, including with plurilateral groupings such as the Quad to seize this opportunity.

Does the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Credit Suisse herald wider troubles for banks? Anupam Manur talks to Shrikrishna Upadhyaya and Aditya Ramanathan about how a combination of macroeconomic factors, monetary tightening, and bad management have conspired to create a major crisis.

In this episode of All Things Policy, Amit Kumar and Anushka Saxena discuss key developments and sweeping institutional reforms that took place at the Two Sessions of the 14th NPC, as well as in the follow-up 'Party and State Institutional Reform Plan' released by the CPC Central Committee