How is the SARS-COV-2 virus mutating and evolving? Why is one sub-type, A2a becoming more common across COVID-19 infections across the world? What impact does the defining D614G mutation have on the infection? Distinguished genomics researcher Partha P Majumder joins host Pavan Srinath to explain the science, and share his latest research on Episode 136 of The Pragati Podcast. [iframe...
The Pragati Podcast
Weekly podcast on public policy, economics and international relations hosted by Pavan Srinath. New episodes every Thursday.
Can India’s health and healthcare systems ramp up on mission mode to respond effectively to the COVID-19 pandemic? What should we know about India’s messy public and private healthcare systems before we think about a pandemic response? Listen to Yamini Aiyar’s conversation with Pavan Srinath on Episode 135 of The Pragati Podcast. [iframe src=’; width=’100%’...
Srini Venkatramanan of the University of Virginia’s Biocomplexity Institute explains how the spread of infectious diseases like COVID-19 can be modeled, and how insightful models can inform public action, on Episode 133 of The Pragati Podcast. [iframe src=’; width=’100%’ height=’304′ frameborder=’0′ scrolling=’no’...
Health journalist Vidya Krishnan talks about India’s initial response to the global COVID-19 pandemic on Episode 132 of The Pragati Podcast. [iframe src=’; width=’100%’ height=’304′ frameborder=’0′ scrolling=’no’ allow=’autoplay’] Close to 200,000 people across 160 countries have been affected by COVID-19 or Coronavirus...
Alok Prasanna Kumar returns to Episode 131 of The Pragati Podcast to talk about the dire institutional state of India’s highest court. [iframe src=’; width=’100%’ height=’304′ frameborder=’0′ scrolling=’no’ allow=’autoplay’] Two years ago, four senior judges of the Supreme Court of India held an unprecedented press...
Avinash Ambale joins Pavan Srinath to talk about how intelligent and capable of learning the latest of AI talks to Pavan Srinath about the scientific pursuit of economics on Episode 129 of The Pragati Podcast. [iframe src=’; width=’100%’ height=’304′ frameborder=’0′ scrolling=’no’ allow=’autoplay’] What is intelligence? How do we...
Ajay Shah talks to Pavan Srinath about the scientific pursuit of economics on Episode 129 of The Pragati Podcast. [iframe src=’; width=’100%’ height=’304′ frameborder=’0′ scrolling=’no’ allow=’autoplay’] The science of economics can often be misunderstood. Economics as a discipline is riddled with paradoxes. We often want...
Anupam Manur talks to Pavan Srinath about India’s falling economic growth and how to get back on track on Episode 128 of The Pragati Podcast. [iframe src=’; width=’100%’ height=’304′ frameborder=’0′ scrolling=’no’ allow=’autoplay’] India’s economic growth dips below 5% per annum again, less than a decade after the...
Amol Agarwal talks to Pavan Srinath and shares a magisterial history of modern banking in India on Episode 127 of The Pragati Podcast. [iframe src=’; width=’100%’ height=’304′ frameborder=’0′ scrolling=’no’ allow=’autoplay’] Is India’s banking crisis the first of its kind in the country? How did banks flourish and fail a...
Pavan Srinath talks to China analyst Manoj Kewalramani about the US-China Phase-1 Trade Deal and the ongoing war for technology between USA and China on Episode 126 of The Pragati Podcast. [iframe src=’; width=’100%’ height=’304′ frameborder=’0′ scrolling=’no’ allow=’autoplay’] On January 15, 2020, the United States of America and...
Pavan Srinath talks to journalist Rohini Mohan about the NRC in Assam on Episode 125 of The Pragati Podcast. [iframe src=”; height=”90″ width=”640] A nation-wide NRC is an unknown beast of unknown dimensions. Real world examples of the NRC come from Assam, where close to 19 lakh residents of the state were left out of the NRC list brought out in August 2019. How do you...
This is Episode 124 of The Pragati Podcast hosted by Pavan Srinath. [iframe src=”; height=”90″ width=”640] Nuclear war feels unthinkable, but how much peace does nuclear deterrence guarantee? Do nuclear programmes truly deter or compel adversaries in the real world? And can we imagine a world where 20+ countries have nuclear weapons? Vipin Narang joins Pavan Srinath on...
This is Episode 123 of The Pragati Podcast hosted by Pavan Srinath. [iframe src=”; height=”90″ width=”640] The Republic of India is often a Republic of men. While men and women nationally enjoy the same rights, we are yet to solve many of the social failures from decades ago. Child marriage for women remains the norm in many parts of the country, many girls drop out early...
This is Episode 122 of The Pragati Podcast hosted by Pavan Srinath. [iframe src=”; height=”90″ width=”640] India has made strides in improving the health, well-being and lives of infants and expecting mothers over the last several decades. But once children enter school and enter adolescence, they get lost as a public priority till they enter adulthood. Adolescence is a...
This is Episode 121 of The Pragati Podcast hosted by Pavan Srinath. [iframe src=”; height=”90″ width=”640] The Indian State has incredible ambition, but often falls very short of meeting grand outcomes. The mismatch is linked to State Capacity, a nebulous concept at the best of times. Prakhar Misra is on Episode 121 of The Pragati Podcast to help us understand what state...
This is Episode 120 of The Pragati Podcast hosted by Pavan Srinath. [iframe src=”; height=”90″ width=”640] What has been happening in Pakistan after Imran Khan became the Prime Minister? Why do some people want General Qamar Javed Bajwa’s tenure as the army chief to come to an end? Dr Christine Fair gives us a tour of Pakistani politics, geopolitics and skulduggery...
This is Episode 119 of The Pragati Podcast hosted by Pavan Srinath. [iframe src=”; height=”90″ width=”640] About 1% of the world’s population today are refugees, internally displaced or stateless. They live difficult, dangerous lives, have few protections and often no voice. Meanwhile, globalisation has been lop-sided. Money and goods can move relatively easily...
This is Episode 118 of The Pragati Podcast hosted by Pavan Srinath. [iframe src=”; height=”90″ width=”640] The State of Jammu & Kashmir as we know it has changed permanently in 2019. With the end of J&K’s special status and the restructuring of the state into two union territories under greater control of New Delhi, there have been many discussions on...
This is Episode 117 of The Pragati Podcast hosted by Pavan Srinath. [iframe src=”; height=”90″ width=”640] The States Reorganisation Act came into effect 63 years ago to this day, on November 1, 1956. India’s states as we know them started taking their shape then. Many states like Karnataka, Kerala, West Bengal and others celebrate this as a State Formation Day or a...
This is an updated rebroadcast of episode 62 of The Pragati Podcast hosted by Pavan Srinath. [iframe src=”; height=”90″ width=”640] The Syrian Civil War has been raging since 2011, and crimes against humanity are being committed even in 2019. How did a peaceful protest turn into a multi-sided war that has killed half a million people and displaced more than 10 million...