Takshashila Sandesh - January 2022
A newsletter connecting Takshashila alumni to ideas, opportunities and networks.
— Sowmya Nandan & Apurva Kumar
Hi Takshashila Alum,
We are back with another dispatch of Sandesh where we share work opportunities in public policy, events, and other perspectives from the Takshashila Institution.
As the pandemic’s third wave looms large, we hope that you’ll have a safe and healthy 2022.
Meanwhile, a new year gives an opportunity to reflect and make new plans. After all, “Plans are useless but planning is everything” (source: disputed, as usual). On that note, we’re sure that you must have made some reading plans for the new year. So to help you with some killer book recommendations, listen in to these three episodes (1,2,3) of All Things Policy where Nitin, Manoj, and Rohan recommend some fantastic reads.
Moving on, December was an exciting month for us. We had the first Bangalore alumni meet-up at the regal Rajendra Singhji Army Officers Institute. Nearly 76 people showed up.
Elsewhere, Pranay turned up in Pune and there was a small alumni get-together there as well, at a cafe owned by a GCPPian from the current cohort. The Fat Labrador Cafe has Pune’s best filter coffee, so do check it out.
If you haven’t checked out the Kalpa newsfeed, you are missing out on a lot. We had posted a requirement on Kalpa for teaching at The B.PAC Civic Leadership Incubator Program (B.CLIP). We got an overwhelming response and our alumni Surya, Sathya, Kangan and Aneesh are now teaching the ongoing cohort of aspiring municipal corporators.
There are also some brand new job openings on Kalpa. Karthik from GCPP6 has shared a few job openings at Karnataka's Centre of Excellence in Cybersecurity.
Going back further, 2021 was a year of new experiments. For the GCPP, we conducted an academic conference on a proximity chat platform Gather Town. To see how it looks, check out Takshashila’s virtual campus 0.5 here.
In the PGP, we had a full course on Constituent Assembly Debates by Shruti Viswanathan where students donned the roles of the Constituent Assembly members and debated on important issues that India was facing at that momentous time in history
We also had a bunch of career webinars and alumni interactions. Through Kalpa, we organised online quizzes and book conversations. As we usher in the new year we are confident that we will keep doing fun things and keep engaging with all of you.
Do use the Kalpa newsfeed to post your questions, ideas, and comments. Let’s build this community platform together, we need your help and guidance.
Other Work/Internship Opportunities
1. Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi is hiring for multiple roles
2. Ashoka University is looking to hire a Program Manager for Ashoka's Center for China Studies
3. Unacademy is looking to hire a Corporate Affairs Manager
4. UNDP, New Delhi is looking to hire a Programme Analyst, Climate Change, Energy and Resilience
5. The Economic Times is looking to hire a Finance Journalist
Featured Alumni Story | Dr Sonnal Kkadu
After completing my M.D. Medicine, I came back to India with one motto - I wanted to contribute to the Indian Army. Without a clue on how to go about it, I started preparing for the Territorial Army & the Civil Services. One fine day, while scrolling through the Instagram feed I came across Takshashila's DFA course. Without a doubt, I went for it. Bestest decision of all my life.
As a Medico, I was on very unfamiliar terrain when I started the cohort. But the GCPP26 (DFA 8) online course has changed the course of my life! It has broadened my horizon. Through engaging lectures, diverse discussions, and with the bestest faculty to guide, I was able to study an eclectic mix of courses including foreign affairs, governance, politics, ethics and much more.
The DFA course gave me a strong foundation to complete my Military Medicine & Psychology. And I am currently pursuing my Masters in the same. I get to work with various soldiers and officers of the armed forces. And while doing so, I never miss a chance to mention that I am a proud Takshashila Alumni and that General Prakash Menon was our mentor! My ties with Takshashila shall forever be strong and everlasting.
Students’ Insights - A peek into what our students are writing about
From PolicyWTF to PolicyFTW: ‘Policy thinkers who read these case studies may naturally use the four categories of assessments in the framework - programmatic, process, political and temporal - to analyse the policies they are working on. I worry they would miss an opportunity if the reading is limited to that diagnostic lens. These case studies give us access to the worlds of the various actors. We can step in to their shoes with some mental gymnastics, and try to experience and assess the policy making as they would. We should not hope to find the ‘objectively true’ assessments. How could we?’- Shyam Kumar (GCPP Technology & Policy, 9th Cohort)
Ethical Dilemmas of [Digital] Indian Matchmaking: ‘One of the greatest arguments against the introduction of filters on matrimonial websites such as caste or religion is the division of society into endogamous groups. When people only marry those who are of the same social grouping, then the resultant society will also be divided along the same lines. Rather than being part of one Indian society, the highest social grouping of the person becomes that of his caste or religion, essentially splintering the society into competing social groups with no basis for cooperation. If left unchecked, the manifestation of this is likely to have explosive consequences.’- Ridhi Purohit, Aditya Gudimetla, Sreeya Mukherjee (GCPP Technology & Policy, 9th Cohort)
Takshashila Gyan
In the December dispatch for ‘The Compound Eye’ , Harshit writes about the new research on how Artificial Intelligence can help find new antimicrobial. In the latest dispatch for ‘Technopolitik’, Sapni writes about the benefits of Digital Communication Networks. In their year-end dispatch for Anticipating the Unintended, Pranay and RSJ write about their top recommendations of their books, podcasts and newsletters.
Podcasts
The Year Gone By In Tech Policy: 2021 has been very eventful for watchers of Tech Policy developments. Rohan Seth joins Prateek Waghre and Sapni G K to discuss major events and trends in the space and their expectations for 2022.
The Case Against Prohibition: Last year India voted in the UN to remove cannabis from the list of most dangerous substances. More recently, there was outrage with respect to the alcohol prohibition laws in Bihar. In this episode, Samparna Tripathy and Meryl Mammen Kurien talk to Sarthak Pradhan about the consequences of prohibition policies. They also discuss alternative approaches to prohibition policies.