Manohar Parrikar was India's first IIT-qualified Chief Minister. But that description doesn't capture even a fraction of his achievements. He used his natural brilliance to serve the country, first as a committed grass-roots volunteer, then as four-time popular Chief Minister of Goa and finally contributed to strengthening India's national security as Defence Minister between November 2014 and March 2017.  Nitin Gokhale, one of South Asia's leading strategic and defence analysts, became acquainted with Parrikar quite by accident during the latter's stint in New Delhi, but by sheer coincidence the two became very close friends. This book is as much a personal tribute by the author to his friend, as an honest attempt to capture the persona of Parrikar the man,the politician and patriot. Through the eyes of his family, friends and countless admirers the book dwells deep into his early influences, his journey from a small village in Goa to one of the highest posts in the country.

Bharatvaarta

#107 - The Life and Times of Shri. Manohar Parrikar | Nitin Gokhale

The Bharatvaarta Weekly is our reaction to the news headlines of the  week that was. This week, we'll be talking about the production-linked  incentives for solar & LED, Punjab Farmers' DBT, unicorns in rapid  succession, and more.   If you liked this episode, then don’t forget to subscribe to our channel  and share this content. You can stay updated with everything at  Bharatvaarta by following us on social media: we're @bharatvaarta on  Twitter, facebook.com/bharatvaarta.in on Facebook, and @bharatvaarta on  Instagram).  #Bharatvaarta #BVWeekly

Bharatvaarta Weekly #36 | PLIs For Solar, LEDs, and ACs | DBT For Punjab Farmers | Unicorn Rain

Robert 'Bob' Blackman is a Conservative Party leader from the United Kingdom, who has served as the Member of Parliament from Harrow East since 2010. He has also served as the Executive Secretary of the 1922 Committee since 2012.    Bob is a great friend of India, representing a constituency, where a third of his voters are of Indian origin. He has made great attempts to integrate and assimilate his constituents of the Indian origin in the business, social and political mainstream over the years. In the Labour dominated politics of the London area, he is one of the few Conservative MPs who win consistently with his strong local connect.   Bob understands the UK - India relations very well. He has been advocating a trade deal between the two countries. He tweeted the myths being spread on the recent Indian farm reforms and appealed to his fellow British MPs to not fall to the propaganda being spread about these laws. Bob had met PM Narendra Modi one on one during his last UK visit.   Bob was awarded the Padma Shri for exemplary public service in 2020. In this wide ranging conversation, we discussed India-UK relations and what the future holds.

#106 - India-UK Relations with Hon. MP Bob Blackman

The Bharatvaarta Weekly is our reaction to the news headlines of the week that was. This week, we'll be talking about the Yoga ban in Alabama, Indian Railways' electrification, highest ever exports in March 2021, and more.   If you liked this episode, then don’t forget to subscribe to our channel and share this content. You can stay updated with everything at Bharatvaarta by following us on social media: We're @bharatvaarta on Twitter, facebook.com/bharatvaarta.in on Facebook, and @bharatvaarta on Instagram).   #Bharatvaarta #BVWeekly

Bharatvaarta Weekly #35 | Yoga Ban | Highest Ever Exports | Punjab's Bonded Labourers

Gautam Bambawale is a retired Indian diplomat with a distinguished  career in key foreign missions like the USA, China, Pakistan and  Germany. Mr Bambawale retired in 2018 from the Indian Foreign Service  and is now settled in Pune. His last posting was India's Ambassador to  China,  Mr Bambawale has had several difficult situations in his career to deal  with. He was in Beijing during India's nuclear tests in 1998. He was  again in Beijing when the Doklam crisis unfolded in 2017. He was in the  USA around the time Indian nuclear deal was signed.  Mr Bambawale has  had an exemplary career guiding Indian diplomacy through choppy waters.  In this episode, Mr Bambawale spoke about these experiences but also  more broadly about India's foreign policy imperatives especially with  China and Pakistan. He explained the border situation on both the fronts  in detail.  Mr Bambawale also spoke about how India can engage the  Biden administration further. The discussion was conducted by Amit Paranjape, who you have heard on  several Bharatvaarta podcasts earlier, and Aashish Chandorkar, who is  part of the Bharatvaarta team.  Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfBfBd-1kvCOPxVll8tBJ9Q/join

#105 - Indian Foreign Policy | Gautam Bambawale | Policy | Bharatvaarta

The Bharatvaarta Weekly is our reaction to the news headlines of the week that was. This week, we'll be talking about the Suez Canal blockage, H&M and Nike's Chinese boycott, Lloyd Austin's India visit, the MMDR bill, and more. If you liked this episode, then don’t forget to subscribe to our channel and share this content. You can stay updated with everything at Bharatvaarta by following us on social media: we're @bharatvaarta on Twitter, facebook.com/bharatvaarta.in on Facebook, and @bharatvaarta on Instagram).

Bharatvaarta Weekly #34 | Suez Canal Blockage | GNCTD Bill | H&M & Nike's Chinese Boycott

Sridhar Vembu is the co-founder and CEO of Zoho, one of India’s best known software companies. He is also among the most avant-garde thinkers today, reimagining how India should view Education, Economy, and Entrepreneurship. In this quickfire conversation with Roshan Cariappa, he speaks about receiving the Padma Shri award, his learnings from running Zoho, and hiring, retaining, and nurturing talent in his copnay. He went on to speak about increasing productivity in the Indian workforce, additions to the India stack, and possible steps that can be taken by the government to enable innovation. He also expounded upon the Atmanirbhar Bharat mission and offered his opinion on Building for Bharat. This podcast is at once insightful and informative and is a must listen for anyone interested in India’s development. The podcast is available on YouTube, Apple, Google, Spotify, Breaker, Stitcher, and other popular platforms. If you liked this episode, then please rate, subscribe and share! #Bharatvaarta #BVPolicy #AatmanirbharBharat

#104 - Atmanirbhar Technology | Sridhar Vembu | #LongIndia | Bharatvaarta

The Tamil Nadu assembly elections will be held in a single phase on  April 6. For the last 50 years, the State’s politics has been dominated  by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) and The All India Anna Dravida  Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK).   For half that time, there have been two dominant figures, loved and  reviled in equal measure: J Jayalalithaa of the AIADMK and M Karunanidhi  of the DMK. But, with their passing in 2016 and 2018, respectively, the  State’s politics has seen tremendous flux over the last few years.  Parties have transmogrified, alliances have shifted shape, and new  entrants like cine star Kamal Hassan’s Makkal Needhi Maiam and T. T. V.  Dhinakaran’s breakaway faction from the AIADMK, Amma Makkal Munnetra  Kazhagam, are in the mix. Who will fill this political vacuum? Will the AIADMK suffer the  incumbent’s curse? Will the Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), which has  struggled to form a base in the State make new ground? What is the voter  sentiment now and what issues will come to the fore on election day? We  discuss all of this and more with Prasanna Vishwanathan (CEO, Swarajya  Magazine) in this comprehensive analysis of the upcoming Tamil Nadu  elections.   This podcast is available on YouTube, Apple, Google, Spotify, Breaker,  Stitcher, and other popular platforms. If you like this episode, then  please rate, subscribe and share! For more information, do check out  www.bharatvaarta.in.Join this channel to get access to perks: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCfBfBd-1kvCOPxVll8tBJ9Q/join

#103: Who is the next CM of Tamil Nadu? | Bharatvaarta | Politics

The Bharatvaarta Weekly is our reaction to the news headlines of the week that was. This week, we'll be talking about the new vehicle scrappage policies, vaccine diplomacy and its criticisms, the global chip shortage, and more.  If you liked this episode, then don’t forget to subscribe to our channel and share this content. You can stay updated with everything at Bharatvaarta by following us on social media: we're @bharatvaarta on Twitter, facebook.com/bharatvaarta.in on Facebook, and @bharatvaarta on Instagram).  #Bharatvaarta #BVWeekly

Bharatvaarta Weekly #33 | Vehicle Scrappage Policy | Vaccine Diplomacy | Global Chip Shortage

Sri. Rakesh Verma is the Managing Director and Founder of MapmyIndia –  which is a leader in digital map data and associated technologies and  products. Mr. Verma is a true innovator and visionary who quit a  successful career in the USA with General Motors to return to India and  build for Bharat. In this conversation, Mr. Verma described his journey  of the last two decades, how he persevered to invest in a space that had  multiple challenges including the fact that he had to take on one of  the World’s largest software companies – Google. MapMyIndia was last  valued at around 4700cr in 2015, it’s Move app recently won the  Aatmanirbhar Bharat Innovative Challenge, and it has struck an  interesting partnership with ISRO to build indigenous solutions in  mapping.

#102 -Building for Bharat | Sri. Rakesh Verma, MD & Founder - MapMyIndia | #LongIndia | Bharatvaarta

In its original form, Chess originated in the 6th century in India. However, India produced its first International Master only in 1961. In 1997, India had only 3 Grandmasters. This number has risen to 87 (including 20 Women GMs) thanks to the stellar work of organisations such as Chess Gurukul.   In this episode, we talk to Ramesh RB (Grandmaster & Founder - Chess Gurukul) about India's chess ecosystem, the approach Chess Gurukul takes when it comes to nurturing young talent, some of the key players from Chess Gurukul (including the second youngest Grandmaster ever Praggnanandhaa) and how the government and private sector can help build India's chess ecosystem. We also talk to Ramesh about his role as official commentator in the 2013 Chess World Championship Match.   We round off by talking about women's chess and listen to Ramesh share his outlook on Indian chess and what can be done to make Chess more spectator friendly.   This podcast is also available on all leading podcast platforms such as Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and more.

#101 - Nurturing India's Brightest Chess Talents | Ramesh RB

The West Bengal elections are a couple of weeks away and campaigning is  in full swing with high drama every day. It promises to be an exciting  content and on this episode, we delve into the nuances with our experts,  Aankhi Ghosh (Supreme Court Advocate) and Rohit Jayaraman (Political  Commentator). We begin the discussion by laying out some of the key  issues that this election will be contested on.   Then, we analyse the campaigns of the various parties and alliances  involved and also dissect some of the prevalent narratives. We drill down on TMC’s recent firefighting, Mamata Banerjee’s leadership and her contesting from Nandigram; the impact of the Left, Congress, and Muslim  parties alliance; how the BJP has rapidly built its base over the last  few years in a state which is not its traditional stronghold. Finally,  we end with predictions on poll numbers, winning parties, and also  potential Chief Minister candidates. This is a fascinating deep dive into one of the most important elections  of the year and is a must listen for anyone interested in Indian  Politics. This podcast is available on YouTube, Apple, Google, Spotify,  Breaker, Stitcher, and other popular platforms. If you like this  episode, then please rate, subscribe and share! For more information, do  check out www.bharatvaarta.in.

#100 | Battle for Bengal | Aankhi Ghosh | Rohit Jayaraman | Bharatvaarta | Politics

The Bharatvaarta Weekly is our reaction to the news headlines of the week that was. This week, we'll be talking about the the international Quad meeting with a joint statement, V-Dem report downgrading India to an electoral autarchy, Uttarakhand CM change (AC) and more.  If you liked this episode, then don’t forget to subscribe to our channel and share this content. You can stay updated with everything at Bharatvaarta by following us on social media: we're @bharatvaarta on Twitter, facebook.com/bharatvaarta.in on Facebook, and @bharatvaarta on Instagram).  #Bharatvaarta​ #BVWeekly

Bharatvaarta Weekly #32 | Quad Meeting Joint Statement | India J&J Vaccine | NFT Craze

This episode is a discussion with Mr Shailesh Pathak, who is a distinctive and unique personality. Mr Pathak  is currently the CEO of L&T Infrastructure Development Projects and has in the past worked in leadership roles with leading firms like Srei, IDFC and ICICI. He served the Indian Administrative Service for 16 years running projects to build roads, power plants, tiger habitats and dams – notably projects linked to the Sardar Sarovar dam. Mr Pathak is an alumnus of IIM Calcutta.    Mr Pathak's view from both sides - as a senior government official as well as an industry leader in the private sector offers a vantage point to understand the needs and opportunities for Indian infrastructure. He has personally run some of the largest infrastructure projects in the country from either side.   The following links were referenced in the podcast:   * Limitations of urban governance: https://www.business-standard.com/article/opinion/shailesh-pathak-getting-talent-and-youth-into-politics-115072500933_1.html   * Mr Pathak's experience when the Sardar Sarovar dam was being built - https://twitter.com/shypk/status/909349245894909952?s=20   * Constraints in building infrastructure in India - https://twitter.com/shypk/status/1181098164591325185?s=20

#099 - Building World-Class Infrastructure | Shailesh Pathak

India enacted three laws in September 2020 to liberate its agriculture sector from decades of restrictive market practices. These changes have however led to farmer protests in parts of India - specifically Punjab and Haryana. These protests have been extensively covered in the Western media after some celebrities were roped in to tweet in favour of these protests.   This episode attempts to demystify the farm laws and the ongoing protests. This is a joint production between Bharatvaarta and Conservative Friends of Commonwealth (CFOC). CFOC seeks to strengthen the Conservative ties with the Commonwealth to promote and uphold shared values of democracy. The UK and other Commonwealth countries have a large Indian diaspora and they have all been naturally interested in what’s going on in India with respect to the farm law reform.   Our guest for this episode is Dr Anand Ranganathan. Anand is a Professor at the Special Centre for Molecular Medicine at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in New Delhi. He is also an author, columnist and rules the Indian television airwaves every night with his 30-second quips.

#098 - Indian Farm Reforms | Anand Ranganathan

Bharatvaarta podcast is a commentary on politics, policy and culture focused on India. The podcast brings together people from different walks of life who have varied and interesting perspectives on what's happening around us.