To sign or not to sign: India and the Artemis Accords
Plus the price of Swadeshi, PLA @94, an exciting new event and more!
Dear Reader,
I hope you are doing well. Here is some of the exciting work we have done since I last wrote to you.
The price of Swadeshi
In an article in ThePrint, Nitin Pai traced the historical roots of the Swadeshi movement and analysed its effect on both 19th century and present-day India. Nitin writes:
“Swadeshi was – and remains – a political argument. Economic nationalism is nationalism applied to the economy. Its proponents accepted that it would result in costlier products of lower quality. They argued that the price is worth paying in order to achieve nationalist goals.”
Yet, he adds, there is a paradox in Swadeshi. The concept continues to be popular to this day despite “there being little evidence of its political effectiveness, and full knowledge of the burden that it imposes on the weakest segments of society.” Instead, Nitin proposes that India must focus on Samarthya, or capability, rather than Swadeshi. And Samarthya is best achieved through economic growth and free trade.
To sign or not to sign: India and the Artemis Accords
Aditya Ramanathan and Aditya Pareek published a paper on India and the Artemis Accords, which lay down norms governing space exploration and allow states to join NASA’s Artemis programme.
The authors do a SWOT analysis and argue that while the lunar exploration programme could provide a major boost to India’s space ambitions, there are concerns with the Accords. The primarily point to one provision in the Accords that allows for unregulated mining on the moon and other celestial bodies. The Accords also allow states to declare “safety zones” that could become de-facto private property by virtue of sustained presence.
Thus, they argue that India should sign the Accords, but keep its options open while also pushing for an overarching multilateral set of norms or a new treaty.
People’s Liberation Army @94
China’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) celebrated its 94th founding day on August 1. The PLA has been undergoing extensive reform and modernisation for the past few years. In a Times of India article, Suyash Desai identifies four reforms that India should be cautious of:
increased investment in border infrastructure
a rapidly evolving maritime strategy
cyberwarfare capabilities
missile systems that can carry both conventional and nuclear warheads.
India-Israel Digital health Cooperation
As part of our partnership with the Israeli think tank Abba Eban Institute for International Diplomacy (AEI), Shambhavi Naik and Gedaliah Afterman, Head of the Asia Policy Program at the AEI, authored an article arguing for increased co-operation between India and Israel in digital health. While India’s efforts in adopting digital health have yielded mixed results, the authors argue:
it is important to build to this goal, as digital health tools can help close several current gaps in healthcare. Electronic health records (EHR) maintained in an inter-operable manner, as envisioned under India’s Data Empowerment and Protection Architecture (DEPA), can reduce diagnostic costs and ease access to a patient’s health history for medical professionals.
Israel has shown the way digital health can be implemented effectively, having actively engaged digital health tools in its public health service and is well placed to share its experience and knowhow with international partners. Under the aegis of Healthcare Israel, it has already provided professional assessments on health care programs in Africa, Asia, and Europe.
#BookLounge: India – A Federal Union of States
I am pleased to invite you to participate in our latest BookLounge session, in which Nitin Pai will be in conversation with Madhav Godbole on the latter’s new book, India-A Federal Union of States.
Date and Time: August 13, 6 PM IST.
Register now: https://bit.ly/BookLounge12
You can also watch the event on YouTube below (Don’t forget to set a reminder).
About the book: India – A Federal Union of States takes a comprehensive look at how successful India has been in working its unique model of federalism. In the 70 years since the adoption of the Constitution, the country has transitioned into a multi-party democracy with a greatly polarised polity. Some fault lines are now evident and ways have to be found for strengthening cooperative federalism. This book analyses these complex issues from a policy perspective. The future of India’s federalism will depend on their resolution.
About the author: Dr. Madhav Godbole took premature voluntary retirement from the Indian Administrative Service in March 1993 when he was Union Home Secretary & Secretary, Justice. Previously, he was Secretary, Petroleum and Natural Gas, and Secretary, Urban Development, in the Government of India. Dr Godbole has written 26 books on public policy issues in English and Marathi. Of these, 15 are in English. He is currently working on his next book, Price of Democracy—The Indian Experience.
Making sense of feed algorithms
Whether we are shopping online, binge-watching TV shows, or scrolling through social media, algorithms watch over us and feed us what we see. Algorithmic content curation has associated accountability and ethical challenges that have no easy answers.
In episode 627 of All Things Policy, Mihir Mahajan joins Rohan Seth to talk about feed algorithms—how they work, and how technologists, regulators, and individual users can promote healthy information diets. Listen now!
Run the marathon to transform India and your career
Applications for the September 2021 cohort of our policy courses are open till August 28th. Our Graduate Certificate in Public Policy course is offered over 12 weeks. The programme will help you master the fundamentals of economics, policy evaluation, ethical reasoning, effective communication and public persuasion. Our pedagogy gives you the freedom to get a comprehensive introduction to the policy space, while keeping your day job.
Specialisations in Public Policy, Defence & Foreign Affairs, Technology & Policy and Health & Life Sciences equip students with a firm understanding of public policy & governance, geopolitics & defence strategy, the politics & regulation of technology and the political economy of public health and life sciences, respectively.
Visit the Takshashila School website to find more details about the programmes and submit your application.
What we have been reading
The last book we recommended was Midnight’s Borders: A People’s History of Modern India by Suchitra Vijayan. I hope you have been enjoying reading it. This week’s book, recommended by Shambhavi Naik, is The Gene: An Intimate History by Dr. Siddhartha Mukherjee.
Shambhavi says,
In this book published in 2016, Dr Mukherjee takes us on a journey to understand the most powerful tool at our disposal - our genes. He delves through the history of genetics as a research field, the interplay between genetics and society, and the responsibility that comes with the ability to play with one's genes. But this is no scientific document; Dr Mukherjee interweaves his own story, emphasising how genetics impacts beyond the physical appearance of a person and can govern mental characteristic. It's 2021 and if you are not familiar with genes yet, read this book. Slightly heavy reading, but you need this to prepare you for the coming of the age of genetics.
That’s it from us this week. Take care and stay safe.
Regards,
Atish Padhy,
Assistant Manager, Digital Properties,
Takshashila Institution