Takshashila Academic Conference - June 2023

The Takshashila Institution conducted a two-day online Academic Conference for its 35th cohort of Graduate Certificate in Public Policy (GCPP) students on June 3rd and 4th, 2023. Over 200 students from the cohort attended the conference.

The keynote sessions were addressed by Anirudh Suri, Dr. Kajari Kamal, Shanti Raghavan, Jayraj Pandya, Lt. Gen. Prakash Menon, and Uma Mahadevan Dasgupta. The conference also witnessed several breakout sessions delivered by various speakers on a diverse range of topics such as policymaking in India, reading a budget, game theory, geospatial technology, China’s foreign policy initiatives, behavioral economics, sports policy, artificial intelligence in India, outer space as a strategic environment, urban drinking water problems and more.

The conference also played host to spontaneous order sessions, where students led discussions on engaging issues like internet shutdowns, Atmanirbhar Bharat policies, euthanasia, and environmental friendliness of electric vehicles.

Day 1

The great tech game is on and it could lead to a divergence in national power similar to the Industrial Age. Delivering this keynote address, Anirudh Suri discussed the interplay between tech, national power & geopolitics.

The ancient Indian text Arthashastra provides insights into governance, economics & statecraft that are relevant even today. What are its key facets? In this engaging session, Dr. Kajari provided some guidelines while introducing this fascinating body of knowledge.

Shanti Raghavan, in an interactive talk, spoke about the 'Purple Economy' & the future of work for people with disabilities, highlighting the lacuna & thus the potential for policy interventions in India and globally.

Macroeconomic indicators help with analysing the overall health of the economy. What are some of the indicators? How should they be interpreted? Anupam Manur took the cohort through some of these nuances while explaining important terms like GDP, unemployment & inflation.

Understanding a budget just got easier! In an application-based session, Sarthak Pradhan conducted a tutorial on how to read, analyse and evaluate union and state budgets.

Robinhood taxes, sandalwood farming & Indian Republic! Pranay Kotasthane discussed case studies from his book 'Missing in Action', a best-seller in the public policy category. He explained the role played by the 3 pillars - state, society & markets in driving transformative change.

In this insightful session, Manoj Kewalramani gave a primer on China's new foreign policy initiatives of GSI, GDI & GCI. He broke down the complex narratives at play & explained the pragmatism of opposing nations in the battle for strategic influence & dominance.

In an interactive session, Anupam Manur demystified the concepts of Nash Equilibrium, Dominant Strategy using popular games like Prisoner's Dilemma, the Beach Location Game among others.

What are the scenarios under which such data should be accessible & how should institutions be designed to ensure the citizen's rights to privacy are safeguarded? Subhashish Bhadra offered an explainer in this engaging session.

From detecting the shape, form & space an object takes to predicting trends in agriculture, geospatial data influence our lives in more ways than we imagine!

Day 2

The day began with a keynote session by Jayraj Pandya on the journey of the parliament. He discussed the pivotal role it played over the decades in representing diverse views, enacting legislation & fostering democracy.

“National Security should be viewed not only in military terms but also in terms of internal security, economic security, technological strength, foreign policy & environment," said General Menon, who gave a practitioner's guide to India's national security structure.

In an informative session, Uma Mahadevan shared her experiences with the rural public libraries initiative. She stressed the influence that local government bodies such as panchayats & SHGs can wield in strengthening citizen services in a democracy.

Dr. Ashish Kulkarni highlighted how decision-making is affected by various factors & traditional economic axioms don't always hold true. He discussed the power of behavioural economics to bridge this gap but also cautioned about its ethical implications.

How does a bill become a law? Shrikrishna gave a helpful overview of a bill's journey from ideation to enaction & offered a critical examination of the process where courts, committees, or the public may intervene & participate in checking a law’s progress.

In a discussion on the political & geopolitical aspects of the Chinese economy, Anushka Saxena touched upon the governance aspects & policy measures in China while Amit Kumar discussed the effects of foreign policy on businesses in China.

What is India's sports policy? In this timely session, Malathi Renati traced the positive changes occurring in the sports policy sphere while highlighting the challenges sportspersons face and the possible way forward to make a sporting nation.

Saurabh and Shambhavi discussed the scientific as well as the policy angle behind mandating the fortification of #ice in PDS. While offering the rationale behind the decision, they analyzed the risks, alternatives & developments in the sector.

Should we price water more? Providing potable water to everyone remains among urban India's biggest challenges. In a thought-provoking session, Anupam discussed the issues with water distribution, drawing attention to the consequences of mispricing this vital commodity.

Adnan Ansari's session on frameworks for public advocacy shed light on the significance of policy in today's business world. He asserted that policies affect every organization, big or small, across sectors - making it a vital factor to consider for businesses

The current path of AI (Artificial Intelligence) growth in India is slow. What are some of the issues with India’s AI policy? In this enlightening session, Shailesh Chitnis discussed the pathways & what it would take for India to become a leader in AI.

What are the various applications of geopolitics in space? Aditya succinctly laid out a framework for understanding Astropolitics, explained the works of famous strategists in the field, delved into space military strategy and 's place as an emerging space power.

A fitting finale to the GCPP Academic Conference! Nitin Pai's session on Ethical Reasoning in Public Policy reiterated the need for all of us to use the Constitution of India as the guiding light while framing policies.

The Takshashila Institution is a pioneer in public policy education. To prepare our students to tackle the complex policy challenges, we bring together academic experts and policy practitioners from across the world. Takshashila’s unique pedagogy allows individuals to study from anywhere and while pursuing their current occupations.

For more details, check out our 12-week Graduate Certificate in Public Policy (GCPP), year-long Post Graduate Programme (PGP) and short-term Special Credit Courses (SCC).