BIC TALKS

Did you know that ostriches originated in India, and co-existed with the first humans in the subcontinent? Or that early ancestors of whales and dolphins lived in the present-day Kutch and the Himalayas? Did you know that the granite countertop in your kitchen is likely two billion years old?

Pranay Lal returns to BIC Talks and regales host Pavan Srinath with numerous stories from India and the World's deep past, with geological tales of wonder that are as old as the Earth, to stories of microscopic life that changed the world as we know it, to stories of elephants of rhinoceroses competing in the Indian subcontinent. Pranay takes listeners on a journey through the wonders of the natural world and makes a compelling case for how natural history appreciation can deepen our thinking on climate change, environmental conservation, and more.

Pranay Lal is a biochemist and an artist, who works on public health and the environment. He is the author of Indica, A Deep Natural History of the Indian Subcontinent. He was previously on Episode 19 of BIC Talks, 'Virus Rhapsody', where he shared wonders of world of viruses, and how these sub-microscopic creatures influence even global climate.

BIC Talks is brought to you by the Bangalore International Centre. Visit the BIC website for show notes, links and more information about the guest.

Pranay Lal returns to BIC Talks and regales host Pavan Srinath with numerous stories from India and the World’s deep past.

Did you know that the granite slab in your kitchen is cut from a billion-year-old rock? Or that the ancestors of Whales lived in Kutch and the Himalayas? Or that ostriches originated in India, and even lived alongside humans?

Pranay Lal is a biochemist and author of Indica, A Deep Natural History of the Indian Subcontinent.

Admiral Arun Prakash and Lieutenant General (Dr) Prakash Menon discuss the creation of a Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) position in India in 2019-2020, a reform idea that is even older than the Republic of India. The Admiral and the General discuss the history of the CDS story, how the idea got new life after the Kargil war, and what was finally implemented in 2019 and 2020. They also discuss the path ahead for India's first CDS, and the challenges that need to be tackled in defence policy, planning and strategy, as well as other defence reforms such as the creation of theatre commands or regional commands.

Admiral Arun Prakash served as India's 20th Chief of Naval Staff, Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff Committee, and was a naval aviator. He also served on the 1999 Arun Singh taskforce as well as the Naresh Chandra Committee on national security reforms. He is on twitter at @arunp2810.

Lt General (Dr) Prakash Menon is Director of the Strategic Studies Programme at The Takshashila Institution, and former Military Adviser in the National Security Council Secretariat. He is the author of the book, 'The Strategy Trap – India and Pakistan Under the Nuclear Shadow', and is on Twitter at @prakashmenon51.

BIC Talks is brought to you by the Bangalore International Centre. Visit the BIC website for show notes, links and more information about the guests.

Admiral Arun Prakash and Lt General (Dr) Prakash Menon discuss the creation of a Chief of Defence Staff (CDS) position in India in 2019-2020, a reform idea that is even older than the Republic of India. They discuss the history of the CDS story, how the idea got new life after the Kargil war, and what has been implemented now.

Admiral Arun Prakash is a naval aviator and was the 20th Naval Chief of India. General Menon is a former Military Adviser in the National Security Council Secretariat.

Author and scholar Harini Nagendra joins host Pavan Srinath and BIC's Raghu Tenkayala to discuss how to re-wild India's cities, for the World Environment Day episode of BIC Talks. The discussion moves beyond stale formulations of environment pitted versus development. The conversation centres around how urban jungles can also allow for nature in all its glory and 'wildness' to coexist and become an integral part of any city, from roadside trees, to essential lakes to green zones and protected areas at the edge of growing cities.

Harini Nagendra is a Professor of Sustainability at Azim Premji University, and is the author of numerous books and several papers on the role of nature in cities. Her books include Cities and Canopies: Trees in Indian Cities (2019, authored with Seema Mundoli) and Nature in the City: Bengaluru in the Past, Present, and Future (2016)

BIC Talks is brought to you by the Bangalore International Centre. Visit the BIC website for show notes, links and more information about the guest.

Author and scholar Harini Nagendra joins host Pavan Srinath and BIC’s Raghu Tenkayala to discuss how to re-wild India’s cities, for the World Environment Day episode of BIC Talks.

The discussion goes beyond stale formulations of environment pitted versus development. The conversation centres around how urban jungles can also allow for nature in all its glory and ‘wildness’ to coexist and become an integral part of any city

Harini Nagendra is a Professor of Sustainability at Azim Premji Univ

Oncologist Dr. Hari Menon talks to host Pavan Srinath about how treatable cancer is today, and a how cancer diagnosis is no longer always terminal.

Dr. Hari Menon is the director of hemato-oncology at Cytecare Cancer Hospital in Yelahanka, Bangalore. Previously, he was a Professor at the Tata Memorial Hospital, Mumbai.

Don't miss filmmaker and theatre practitioner Ranjan Kamath's readings of his poems, 'Planet Under Repair" and 'Home Thoughts from Unknown Indians' in this episode of BIC Talks.

BIC Talks is brought to you by the Bangalore International Centre. Visit the BIC website for show notes, links and more information about our guests.

Oncologist Dr. Hari Menon of Cytecare Cancer Hospital, Bengaluru talks to host Pavan Srinath about how treatable cancer is today, and a how cancer diagnosis is no longer always terminal.

Don’t miss filmmaker and theatre practitioner Ranjan Kamath’s readings of his poems, ‘Planet Under Repair” and ‘Home Thoughts from Unknown Indians’ in this episode of BIC Talks.

Author, environmentalist and biochemist Pranay Lal talks to host Pavan Srinath about the fascinating world of viruses, their natural history, their biology, and their role in maintaining human and global systems.

Humans have only discovered about 5,600 species of viruses till date, and a small number of them are known to cause lethal diseases in humans. During the COVID-19 epidemic, it is useful to take a step back and understand how sub-microscopic, not-fully-alive viruses shape so many aspects of the world as we know it.

Pranay Lal takes listeners on a rhapsodic journey through the world of viruses and paints vivid pictures of them as cosmopolitan colonisers, as regulators of global Oxygen and Carbon Dioxide, of microbes in our own digestive systems, and as even the cause of one of the oldest economic bubbles in human history – Tulip Mania.

Pranay Lal is a biochemist and an artist, who works on public health and the environment. He is the author of Indica, A Deep Natural History of the Indian Subcontinent.

BIC Talks is brought to you by the Bangalore International Centre. Visit the BIC website for show notes, links and more information about the guest.

Author, environmentalist and biochemist Pranay Lal talks to host Pavan Srinath about the curious world of viruses, their natural history, biology, and their role in maintaining human and global systems.

Lal takes listeners on a rhapsodic journey through the world of viruses and shares vivid stories of them as cosmopolitan colonisers, as regulators of global Oxygen levels, their role in the human gut, and even as the cause of one of the oldest economic bubbles in human history, Tulip Mania.