The Great Indian Tournament

More from All Things Policy All episodes →

1. 

   S1 · E1947 · 3 Sep 2026 · 29 min

   You Can Have a Rocket and Still Lose Access to Space | Space Launch 2

   A rocket is only useful if it has somewhere reliable to launch from. Lokendra Sharma and Ashwin Prasad Rao discuss how geography, launch ranges, sea launch and access to foreign spaceports shape national launch capacity. They also examine India’s dependence on Sriharikota, the role of Kulasekarapattinam, and whether Technology Safeguards Agreements and overseas launch sites could give India more resilient access to orbit. The discussion draws on this recent newsletter edition discussing global space launch: https://orrery.ashwinprasadrao.com/p/still-on-the-umbilical For those interested in…

2. 

   S1 · E1946 · 2 Sep 2026 · 29 min

   Who Pays for Private Rockets? | Space Launch 1

   Private rockets may be built by companies, but who gives them enough demand to survive and scale? Lokendra Sharma and Ashwin Prasad Rao discuss how government procurement has shaped launch capacity in the United States and China, why India has largely supported the supply of rockets rather than buying launches, and how anchor contracts could help build a stronger domestic launch industry. The discussion draws on this recent newsletter edition discussing global space launch: https://orrery.ashwinprasadrao.com/p/still-on-the-umbilical For those interested in exploring these questions further,…

3. 

   S1 · E1945 · 1 Sep 2026 · 28 min

   Should India Aspire to Have 15-Minute Cities?

   A 15-minute city is an urban planning concept where all daily essential services are accessible within a 15-minute walk or bike ride from any resident's front door. Developed by Franco-Colombian scholar Carlos Moreno and popularised in Paris, the model aims to reduce car dependency, lower carbon emissions, and boost local quality of life. But would this concept play out well in the average Indian city? To unpack this question and more, Kripa Koshy (Staff Programme Manager) is joined by Sarthak Pradhan (Assistant Professor, Economics) and Suman Joshi (Staff Programme Manager) in this latest…

4. 

   S1 · E1944 · 31 Aug 2026 · 38 min

   How Is The Iran War Impacting US Midterms?

   In this episode of All Things Policy, Vanshika Saraf and Abhishek Kadiyala examine what the war on Iran means for the November 2026 midterm elections in the U.S. The joint U.S. and Israeli strikes that began on 28 February 2026 have not become a campaign issue in their own right, with only 4 per cent of Americans naming foreign policy as their top concern by July. The conversation applies a test drawn from Iraq in 2002 and Afghanistan in 2010, which is that American wars seldom rank as voter priorities yet often worsen the issues that do. The episode works through the evidence, including…

5. 

   S1 · E1943 · 28 Aug 2026 · 1 hr 40 min

   Where Will Future Growth Come From?

   Since 1950, only a handful of countries have made the jump from poor to rich, and nearly all of them did it in a similar way. Put a lot of people in factories, sell cheap goods into open Western markets, and climb, one rung at a time, for forty years. Today, the tariff walls are going back up, the trade rulebook is fraying, and China sits on every rung of that ladder. The fashionable verdict is that India's window has closed. Has it? In this final episode of Turbulence, Anupam Manur is joined by Shruti Rajagopalan, Senior Research Fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University and…

6. 

   S1 · E1941 · 26 Aug 2026 · 34 min

   The State of Fiscal Decentralisation in Karnataka

   Karnataka has long been seen as a leader in fiscal decentralisation, giving local governments both responsibilities and resources to deliver public services. But as the state urbanises rapidly, is this changing? In this episode of All Things Policy, Sarthak Pradhan speaks with Manisha Marulasiddappa from Janaagraha, co-author of the report A Slow Reversal of Karnataka’s Fiscal Decentralisation, to unpack what is happening to fiscal decentralisation in Karnataka. Manisha discusses the role of State Finance Commissions, the growing gap between Karnataka’s urbanisation and its fiscal transfers…

7. 

   S1 · E1940 · 25 Aug 2026 · 26 min

   Pakistan in the Middle: Mediating West Asia

   Pakistan has emerged as an unlikely mediator in the conflict in West Asia, balancing its relationships with Iran, Saudi Arabia, the US and China. In this episode of All Things Policy, Suman Joshi speaks with Aishwaria Sonavane about what has enabled Pakistan to play this role, the limits of its diplomatic leverage, and what its growing relevance could mean for India. This is based on Aishwaria's recent paper titled: SWOT Analysis of Pakistan’s Mediation in West Asia - takshashila.org.in/content/publications/20260811-swot-analysis-of-pakistans-mediation-in-west.html All Things Policy is a…

8. 

   S1 · E1939 · 24 Aug 2026 · 35 min

   State Equity In AI Companies

   In August, Sam Altman floated the idea of handing the US government about five per cent of OpenAI, dressed up as a sovereign wealth fund for ordinary Americans. Around the same time, and with far less noise, the Indian government moved towards taking a one to two per cent share in Sarvam, the Bengaluru startup building foundation models, in exchange for a compute subsidy under the IndiaAI mission. While the sums are small, what these arrangements set up needs to be analysed for its unintended consequences. MeitY writes the rules for AI in India. It also runs the mission that decides who gets…

9. 

   S1 · E1938 · 21 Aug 2026 · 1 hr 36 min

   Risk and Resilience: Built in Peacetime

   Sooner or later, every country gets hit — a pandemic, a war, a shipping lane that closes, a bank that fails. And there is a comfortable belief in Indian public life that crisis is when things finally get fixed. 1991 is the proof, we tell ourselves. The fashionable verdict is that a crisis is an opportunity, and a terrible thing to waste. Is it? In this episode of Turbulence, Anupam Manur is joined by Ajay Shah — co-founder of the XKDR Forum, formerly of the Ministry of Finance and NIPFP, and co-author with Vijay Kelkar of In Service of the Republic — who calls that idea drawing-room chatter.…

10. 

    S1 · E1937 · 20 Aug 2026 · 44 min

    Why Swimming Is A Policy Issue

    India recorded 38,503 drowning deaths in 2022, 9.1% of all accidental deaths in the country (source: NCRB). Yet swimming is still treated as a summer hobby for the urban few, not the public-health and sporting priority the numbers demand. On this episode of All Things Policy, Malathi Renati is in conversation with Hakimuddin Habibulla OLY, 2000 Sydney Olympian and founder of Swimming Matters, about the importatance of swimming: why water safety has no real home in Indian policy, why the sport with the most Olympic golds on offer stays under-resourced, and whether India's swimming pool market…