M.R. Sharan Examines Decentralization and Local Representation in India
Ideas of India
Today my guest is , an assistant professor in the department of agricultural and resource economics at the University of Maryland College Park. He is the author of numerous papers and the book . His main research interests are development economics and political economy. We talked about his research on local government in India, incentives of various political actors and the power structures they inhibit, fiscal federalism, and much more. Recorded May 21st, 2025. Read a enhanced with helpful links, or watch the . Connect with Ideas of India Follow on X Follow on X...
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Rakesh Mohan Reflects on Dismantling the License Permit Raj
Ideas of India
Today my guest is He is the President Emeritus and Distinguished Fellow at in New Delhi. He has previously served as Executive Director on the Board of the International Monetary Fund and as Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India. We talked about his work with the Government of India since the 1980s, especially dismantling the infamous License Permit Raj during the 1991 reforms, his work on urbanization and infrastructure, the kinds of structural reforms India still needs to undertake, and much more. Recorded April 25th, 2025. Read a enhanced with helpful links, or...
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Ramachandra Guha on the Origins of Indian Environmentalism
Ideas of India
Today my guest is environmental scholar, historian and biographer . He is the author of a number of books, including a two-volume biography of Gandhi and the award-winning book “.” We talked about his latest book, ".” We spoke about global versus local commons, bottom up approach to environmentalism in India, urbanization, economic growth and technological progress and much more. Recorded May 7th, 2025. Read a enhanced with helpful links. Connect with Ideas of India Follow on X Follow on X Click for the latest Ideas of India episodes sent straight...
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Rajmohan Gandhi on Revenge and Reconciliation in South Asia
Ideas of India
Today’s episode is the second part of my conversation with , a historian and biographer involved in efforts for trust-building and reconciliation and author of more than fifteen books, of which the most recent is . He taught history and politics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 1997 until he retirement in 2022. His most recent initiative is , a writers collective responding to the worldwide thrusts against democracy and equality. We spoke about his reflections on communal violence between Hindus and Muslims, revenge and reconciliation in South Asia, Sikhs and...
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Rajmohan Gandhi Reflects on India's Founding Fathers
Ideas of India
Today my guest is , a historian and biographer involved in efforts for trust-building and reconciliation and author of more than fifteen books, of which the most recent is . He taught history and politics at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 1997 until his retirement in 2022. His most recent initiative is , a writers collective responding to the worldwide thrusts against democracy and equality. We spoke about his reflections on his biographies of the founding fathers, , , , and , their competing visions, debates with others like Ambedkar...
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Taking Stock of the Indian Economy with Prachi Mishra
Ideas of India
Today my guest is Prachi Mishra, who is a Professor in the Department of Economics, and Director and Head of Isaac Center for Public Policy at Ashoka University. Prior to joining Ashoka, Prachi was Chief of the Systemic Issues Division and Advisor in the Research Department at the International Monetary Fund. We spoke about the current state of the Indian economy, India’s growth trajectory, if the rupee is overvalued, India’s fiscal consolidation, and much more. We also spoke about Trade, but this episode was recorded before the big tariff announcements on April 2. ...
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Sajith Pai on India's Digital Divides
Ideas of India
Today my guest is , who is a Partner at , an early stage Indian venture fund. He is also a well known writer, and the author of the annual Indus Valley Report. We spoke about the trends in the latest Indus Valley Report, the stratifications in Indian consumer markets, investor sentiment, policies and infrastructure to foster the AI boom in India, the AI start-up scene and much more. Recorded March 6th, 2025. Read a enhanced with helpful links. Connect with Ideas of India Follow on X Follow on X Click for the latest Ideas of...
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Jasti Chelameswar on Constitutional Interpretation and Judicial Independence
Ideas of India
Today my guest is , who is a former justice of the Supreme Court of India. Prior to his elevation, he served as chief justice in High Courts in Gauhati and Kerala and as a justice in the Andhra Pradesh High Court. We spoke about his judgments on electoral qualifications, judicial conduct, transparency in judicial appointments, the constitutional right to privacy, separation of powers, and how dissent shapes constitutional interpretation, and much more. Recorded February 25th, 2025. Read a enhanced with helpful links. Connect with Ideas of India Follow on X...
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Akshay Jaitly on India's Energy Sector Challenges, Reforms, and Future Pathways
Ideas of India
Today my guest is , one of the founders of Trilegal, one of India’s leading law firms. He specializes in advising on energy and infrastructure projects. His research interests include power sector reform, the energy transition and public-private contracting. We talked about the top-down nature of electricity regulation and pricing in India, the dysfunctional DISCOMS, the reforms required for an energy transition towards renewables and nuclear energy, and much more. Recorded February 11th, 2025. Read a enhanced with helpful links. Connect with Ideas of India Follow on X...
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Christopher Coyne on War, Conflict, and the Quest for a Stable Peace
Ideas of India
Today my guest is , who is a Professor of at George Mason University, the Associate Director of the at the Mercatus Center. We talked about the economics of conflict and peace, history of the US security state, the US intervention in Afghanistan, domestic consequences of militarism abroad, and much more. Recorded January 15th, 2025. Read a enhanced with helpful links, or watch the . Connect with Ideas of India Follow on X Follow on X Click for the latest Ideas of India episodes sent straight to your inbox.
info_outlineToday my guest is environmental scholar, historian and biographer Ramachandra Guha. He is the author of a number of books, including a two-volume biography of Gandhi and the award-winning book “India After Gandhi.”
Recorded May 7th, 2025.
Read a full transcript enhanced with helpful links.
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Timestamps
00:00:00 - Intro
00:01:08 - Speaking with Nature
00:08:42 - Unquiet Woods
00:38:29 - Science and Progress of Environmentalism
00:47:33 - Radhakamal Mukerjee
00:55:06 - K. M. Munshi
01:03:38 - Technological Progress and Tradeoffs
01:11:22 - Jayaprakash Narayan
01:19:39 - Outro