Details about my Research and Praxis
As part of the research team at Factly Media and Research, I worked on an international research report on Countering Misinformation (Fake news) in India: Solutions and Strategies.
The Report was a collaborative effort by Factly Media & Research (Factly) and the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), with inputs from First Draft News and Google.
I wrote about Millennials seeking to occupy space at the policy table here: “More often than not, we place the emphasis on the word ‘policy’, when in fact, the word ‘public’ is equally important. In a world where the digital is taking over the governance space, and corporations get a big slice of the policy pie, one wonders what is left of the ‘public’, as people need not necessarily want to occupy the digital space alone, to be governed. Any young public policy enthusiast must ask her/himself these questions, to understand the flow of power, both material and soft.
I look at the Indian experience of Data in the context of security, the purview of the public, and the democratic mobility of Data, here
My stint at the Annenberg-Oxford Media Policy Summer Institute gave rise to a blogpost on Nepal’s community radio policy for the erstwhile CGCS Wire, which was then picked up by the World Bank blog.
I was then contacted by Media Asia, which picked it up yet again. All this served as a major encouragement for a budding researcher, early on, and will be cherished! Click here to read the article in Media Asia.
In 2014, I wrote for my favourite Himal Southasian on community radio in three countries of South Asia. Seeing my name in the special issue on ‘Growing Media, Shrinking Spaces’ was an exhilarating experience!
The blurb says, proponents of community radio have had varying experiences in different parts of Southasia and continue to carve out space for this media. Drawn from first insights from my field-visits, this long-form piece continues to remain a favourite!
First put out in 2013, and subsequently as improvised versions, the Community Radio – Continuous Improvement Toolkit (CRCIT) was worked on by a team I was part of.
The team worked with various groups that ensured that the toolkit was translated into other languages, and that it was peer reviewed rigorously.
In 2013, I worked on a Research Report on the Interface between Social Innovators and Government: Challenges and Recommendations
The social innovation sector has been picking pace in India for about less than a decade now, and this report was showcased and used by Action For India, at the ‘Building Innovation Ecosystems for Mega Impact: A National Conference on Social Innovation, Technology and Government’, organised by IIT Delhi.
Here is an OpEd I co-wrote, on recent shifts in the Education Policy in India and sustainable policy for education.
The transfer of policy ideas and learnings is key to the work of a policy researcher and practitioner.
It was also nice to see the draft New Education Policy taking cognisance of Liberal Arts education in a big way.
The launch of the South Asia satellite funded by India demonstrates a new form of regional diplomacy. However, I write that a communication and meteorology satellite will only go so far in building regional ties. I write that the answer to sustained diplomatic engagement lies in promoting public diplomacy between the region’s peoples.
The telecom sector in South Asian countries have followed different trajectories with similar characteristics. I take stock of policy developments in each of the South Asian countries.