The Inter-Linked podcast series aims to hold nuanced conversations on the interdisciplinary nature of the problems that are plaguing the world today. In some ways intersectionality has become not only the backbone of most of the academic discourse – but it has also manifested itself onto a larger canvas. No longer do we simply understand problems in the tight neat boxes that they were classified as. As we hold conversations conversations on the socio-political climate, we want to break down these intellectual barriers and look at topics in a way that may allow us to question it from several facets.
In many ways, politics is more omnipresent than ever as information becomes widely accessible. We are committed to providing students an insight into this, but from newer more innovative angles, we present to you, “INTER-LINKED: A Podcast Series”.
Episode 24
Prison Systems and their Impact
Prisons are punitive spaces, but they punish certain vulnerable prisoners in more ways than one. What happens when the structures that aim to protect us, through constitutional guarantees become breeding grounds to reinforce untouchability and segregation? In her recent article, “From Segregation to Labour, Manu’s Caste Law Governs the Indian Prison System” published in the Wire, Ms. Sukanya Shantha provides us an insight into how in several states, prison manuals still dictate the kind of labour that should be assigned to prisoners based on caste. We aim to have a larger conversation on marginalized inmates and their basic human rights, the psychological impact of labour segregation, deconstructing such violence and the motivation behind her work
Speaker – Ms. Sukanya Shantha
Interviewer- Diya Narag
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Episode 23
Jammu and Kashmir DDC elections
The recently conducted DDC (District Development Councils) elections in Jammu and Kashmir is the first democratic exercise conducted within the state since the amendment of Article 370 in the state on August 5, 2019. While PAGD (People’s Alliance of Gupkar Alliance) and the BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party), both claimed victory, the results of the elections present special challenges for anyone trying to analyse them. It was the first of its kind exercise in Jammu and Kashmir and the present political context of it makes it all the more difficult to make sense of.
To understand these elections, we are joined by Dr. Ellora Puri in this episode of Interlinked. Prof. Puri is Assistant Professor of political science at the Jammu University. Her expertise in political violence and the politics of Jammu and Kashmir is particularly relevant to the topic at hand and we hope that through her insights we can enrich the conversation around the politics of Jammu and Kashmir.
Speaker – Dr. Ellora Puri
Interviewer- Samarth Gupta
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Episode 22
France and Islam
In this episode of Interlinked we examine the debates around Free speech, secularism and the rise of Islamism in France and Europe. In order to do so we have with us Dr. Ali Khan Mahmudabad of Ashoka University. Dr. Khan is a professor of Political Science and History at Ashoka University. He has done his Phd in History from the University of Cambridge and regularly writes on Islamic affairs in various international dailies.
Speaker – Dr. Ali Khan Mahmudabad
Interviewer – Samarth Gupta
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Episode 21
The Politics of Translation
Professor Arunava Sinha translates classic, modern and contemporary Bengali fiction, nonfiction and poetry into English. He has so far translated 60 texts into English. Along with this he has also worked as a journalist and is currently a books editor at Scroll. He is currently an associate professor of practice in the Creative Writing department at Ashoka University. This episode focuses on the politics behind the translation of texts- especially in the context of identities in post-colonial nations. It explores the question “What are the implications of translation and how has it become almost a sort of independent literary tradition in some senses?”
Speaker – Professor Arunava Sinha
Interviewer – Prerna Vij
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Episode 20
Delhi’s Airpocalypse And Zero Carrying Capacity
Dr. Kamna Sachdeva is an associate professor and head of dept for energy and environment at TERI School of Advanced Studies, Delhi. Her research focuses are atmospheric sciences and its linkages to climate change, especially aerosol-fog interaction, air pollution and aerosol and health. This episode is dedicated to the urgency of the air quality in Delhi and the policy scenario regarding it. It discusses Delhi’s zero carrying capacity, the policies at fault behind the current situation of stubble burning, the other underlying causes of the pollution and India’s response to it.
Speaker – Dr. Kamna Sachdeva
Interviewer – Vanshika Mittal
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Episode 19
Importance of Emotional Intelligence in the post COVID world
Mr. Rameysh Kumar is a well known Emotional Intelligence and Life Skill Trainer. He has been teaching various Central Government officials working across the length and breadth of the country, including the Central Armed Forces. He is also well trained in Yoga & Pranayama. In this podcast, Mr. Rameysh emphasises the importance of developing a strong EI in these turbulent times. He provides us with useful advice on how to attract positivity and develop the self.
Speaker – Mr. Rameysh Kumar
Interviewer – Vanshika Shah
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Episode 18
Changes in K-12 Education Post-COVID: Curriculum, Examinations and Teaching
Ms. Divya Punjabi is currently the Culture Custodian at Kangaroo Kids Education Limited and has been with the organisation for 25 years now. She specialises in curriculum designing for primary and pre-school. She has completed the Cambridge International Diploma in Teacher Training with a distinction and the certificate level of the Programme Leader course for
Educational Leadership provided by Cambridge.
Dr Sunil Kaul is the Founder and currently the Managing Trustee of the Action Northeast Trust. He is a public health doctor who has consulted on malaria, T.B , Maternal and Child Health and other public health issues with national & international agencies. With over 10 years experience in the Army as a medical doctor, Dr. Kaul has been associated with Development Sector for over 25 years.
Mr. Ashish Agarwal is currently the principal of Billabong High International School, Bhopal. Accredited and well-versed with IGCSE, ICSE and ISC curriculum, Mr. Agarwal has been in the educational sector for 25 years in administration and teaching. A professional in K-12 education, Mr. Agarwal has a profound knowledge of educational theories, methods and practices. For his work in the sector, he has received multiple awards such as ‘Trendsetter in Digital Education’ by iMature.in.
This episode explores the pivotal changes in K-12 education; particularly the paradigm shifts in pedagogy, examinations patterns and curriculum designs post-COVID. The three speakers will offer insights on how the many months of online education have revolutionised the approach to education altogether.
Speakers – Mr. Ashish Agarwal, Dr. Sunil Kaul, Ms. Divya Punjabi
Interviewer – Advaita Singh
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Episode 17
EIA DRAFT 2020 : Environmental Injustice and the Way Ahead (Part II)
Professor Atreyee Majumder is a historical and political anthropologist with a focus on the impact of capitalism on space and time. She has a law degree from the NLU, Bangalore and has practiced law and conducted legal research in New Delhi on questions of land, environment, water rights and indigeneity. She has also been engaged in ethnographic research and teaching anthropology in Bangalore and Toronto after completion of her PhD. This episode delves into the social aspect of environmental degradation in India. Professor also talks about the various clauses provided under the EIA notification draft and how they can be reformed further.
Speaker – Professor Atreyee Majumder
Interviewer – Vanshika Mittal
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Episode 16
India’s Struggling Financial Sector
Professor Shohini Sengupta, at the Jindal School of Banking and Finance, has a strong research background in law and finance. Her research interests focus on areas of financial regulation, financial stability and the banking sector. She has previously assisted the Ministry of Finance, the Ministry of Corporate Affairs, the Ministry of Petroleum, financial regulators, and the Fifteenth Finance Commission, on a number of socio-economic issues and legal matters. This episode of Inter-Linked focuses on the state of financial regulation in India’s troubled banking sector; the RBI’s EMI moratorium introduced during the pandemic, and on other aspects (such as understanding the central’s bank role in responding to the current crisis shocks).
Speaker – Professor Shohini Sengupta
Interviewer – Advaita Singh
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Episode 15
EIA DRAFT 2020 : Economic Development Vs. Environment Prosperity (Part I)
Professor Divya Karnad, an Assistant Professor of Environmental Sciences at Ashoka University, has founded InSeason Fish, a sustainable seafood initiative. The focus of her work is marine conservation, fisheries management, geography and common property theory. She is also the first Indian woman to receive the Netherlands based Nature for Future 2019 award. As the government of India announced the Environmental Impact Assessment Draft 2020, this episode deconstructs the discourse of economic development and environment prosperity.
Speaker – Professor Divya Karnad
Interviewer – Vanshika Mittal
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Episode 14
Indo – Nepal Conflict : The disputed Lipulekh
Mr. Ramesh Prasad Kharel is a policeman of Nepal known for his integrity and fight against corruption. He served as the SSP for Kathmandu, Pokhara, and Birgunj. He is one of the few policemen who contested political criminality in Nepal. In this episode, Mr. Kharel provides deep insights into the Indo- Nepal relations with regards to the Lipulekh Dispute. He presents an in-depth explanation of Nepal’s domestic politics and its impact on the relations with India.
Speaker – Mr. Ramesh Prasad Kharel
Interviewer – Vanshika Shah
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Episode 13
India China Skirmishes
In this episode, Ambassador Shivshankar Menon helps us unfurl India’s relationship with China in light of the recent skirmish in the Galwan Valley. Mr. Menon served as the National Security Advisor to the Prime Minister of India from January 2010-May 2014, Foreign Secretary of India from October 2006-July 2009 and was the Indian Ambassador or High Commissioner to China, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Israel. In 2010, he was chosen as one of the “Top 100 Global Thinkers” by Foreign Policy magazine. This podcast provides a historical, social, economical and political overview of India and China’s strategic relationships with its neighbouring nations and the dynamics they share among themselves.
Speaker – Ambassador Shivshankar Menon
Interviewer – Vanshika Shah
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Episode 12
Human Development and its Evolution in Policy Making
This episode attempts to chronologically trace the idea and the application of “human development” in the public policy landscape since the early 1980’s, while drawing upon Professor Sudarshan’s experience of work at institutions like the UNDP and Ford Foundation during the decades of 1980s, 90s and the 2000s. Professor Ramaswamy Sudarshan is now the founding dean of the Jindal School of Government and Public Policy and has had distinguished careers in the domain of research, development programming and governance in international institutions.
Speaker – Professor Ramaswamy Sudarshan
Interviewer – Vanshika Mittal
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Episode 11
COVID- 19 Crisis and Women Farmers
Ms. Gargie Mangulkar is the National Coordinator of Makaam (Mahila Kisan Adhikar Manch). Makaam is an informal forum that aims to visibilise women farmers and create and secure rights over productive livelihood. In this episode, she provides the listeners with an insight on the unequal rights and recognition of the women farmers of India. She talks about the impact of the climate change and the Covid-19 crisis on the livelihoods of the women farmers and the work Makaam is doing to solve the same. This podcast is an attempt to voice the struggles of women’s labour that is often seen as unproductive and has been invisibilised.
Speaker – Ms. Gargie Mangulkar
Interviewer – Vanshika Mittal
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Episode 10
Impact of the Coronavirus Lockdown on Labour
Mr. Bankat Mandhania is a director at Ashtech India, India’s leading fly-ash processor and exporter. He has been involved in India’s construction and infra industry for the last three decades. In this episode, he discusses the damage brought to the labor market, where millions of laborers are unemployed and displaced. Mr. Mandhania presents us with the ground reality of the situation laborers are in today and what the future might hold.
Speaker – Mr. Bankat Mandhania
Interviewer – Vanshika Shah
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Episode 9
Commerce and Conflict
In this episode, Professor Aditi Saraf delves into the field of economic sociology and its development in response to classical economics. She speaks about the facilitation of commerce in unique and ambiguous ways in the background of conflict and combat. She shares insights from her field study in Kashmir and elaborates on the making and breaking of dalliances, provision of credit, informality in the economy and much more. At a time when Article 370 and its aftermath has brought the discussion on Kashmir in the limelight, the podcast ties this discussion back to the political and economic lives of traders, cross border movements of finances and their sociological implications.
Speaker: Prof. Aditi Saraf
Interviewer: Niharika Yadav
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Episode 8
A Peek into Earth Science
In this episode, Professor Iain Stewart provides an Earth Scientist’s perspective to climate change – both as a science and as a movement. He explores the notion of environmental determination where societies can empower themselves through cultural geology and geo-heritage. He also talks about the importance of communicating the complex details of science to non-technical audiences and how that can be a way into making people acknowledge the realities of climate change.
Speaker: Prof. Iain Stewart
Interviewer: Vanshika Mittal
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Episode 7
Unpacking Nationalism in India
In this episode, Prof. Ali Khan delves into the history and state of Hindu Nationalism today. In doing so, he contextualises the modern rhetoric deployed by parties like the BJP with respect to that of its progenitors and explores the historical reasons that have led to an inflammation of the Hindu-Muslim divide. It further probes how the nationalist movement transformed from an elite ideology to a mass movement.
Speaker: Prof. Ali Khan Mahmudabad
Interviewer: Abhay Almal
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Episode 6
Unpacking Gender and International Relations
In this episode, Prof. Ananya Sharma, a critical theorist in International Relations highlights the relationship and role of Gender in the field of International Relations and Global Affairs. She takes us through many important concepts like intersectionality, gender mainstreaming and introduces us to ideas by various authors like Chandra Talpade Mohanty, who have hugely contributed to this part of the discipline.
Speaker: Prof. Ananya Sharma
Interviewer: Niharika Yadav
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Episode 5
Unpacking State Elections and voter behaviour
In the episode Prof. Nilanjin Sarcar deconstructs the stark results of recent State Elections in India with a special focus on Haryana, Maharashtra and Jammu and Kashmir. He dives into the differences in voting behaviour from the national election as well as the previous state elections. The podcast then discusses the motivation behind significant electoral choices and analyses the decline BJP’s vote share.
Speaker: Prof. Neelanjan Sircar
Interviewer: Abhay Almal
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Episode 4
Unpacking Female Labour Force Participation
In this episode, Prof. Ashwini Deshpande of Ashoka University breaks down the recent decline and persistently low levels of female labour force participation in India. Professor Deshpande has worked extensively in the broad field of economics of discrimination in South-Asia. In this podcast, she discusses the impact of various determinants like education, income and cultural factors on LFPR.
Speaker: Prof. Ashwini Deshpande
Interviewer: Niharika Yadav
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Episode 3
Unpacking Democratic Peace Theory
In this episode, Prof. Bann Seng Tan of Ashoka University, dives into the morality of conflict and warfare – Two democratic states will avoid conflict with each other. But why? What exactly determines the relationship between one liberal democracy and another? Do these democracies remain liberal when negotiating with non-democracies? Do states need to be governed by an authority to prevent the outbreak of violence, and how exactly it is that the mechanisms of international relations can lead to perpetual democratic peace.
Speaker: Prof. Bann Seng Tan
Interviewer: Abhay Almal
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Episode 2
Unpacking India’s Legal Climate
In the episode Prof. Apurv Mishra gives a broad overview of the functioning of Judiciary in India through its relationship with various stakeholders like the executive, the citizens and the communities. He discusses some of the recent cases like the Triple Talaq and Sabarimala case to highlight the trends of Judicial thought in India. He also speaks about issues of contemporary relevance like citizenship and nationalism in the context of the Indian Judicio-legal system.
Speaker: Mr. Apurv Mishra
Interviewer: Niharika Yadav
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Episode 1
Unpacking India’s Neighbourhood Policy
In this episode, Professor Raghavan discussing some of the finer details of India’s Foreign Policy in South Asia, its history, and recent trends in relationship with neighbouring nations. He speaks about the systematic rise of China, its implications and the place India occupies in the broader geo-political setting.
