Podcasts about lutyens

Indian markets bleed amid global recession fears, but fare better than others. The Fed meets behind closed doors as investors brace for a pivot. China may flood India with cheap goods as US tariffs bite. Meanwhile, women investors are surging ahead in the Hindi heartland. Also on the radar: Nothing plans a ₹1,000 crore India investment, India shields dairy in US trade talks, and Lutyens' Delhi sees a new wave of elite buyers. Tune in!

On November 14th every year, I mourn my old friend Varsha Bhosle on her birth anniversary. This year she would have turned 69. Unfortunately she passed away in 2012, and she had ceased being her fiery public self a few years before that when she went into self-imposed exile from her column-writing.When she and I used to write together on rediff.com we used to dream of an India that would “be somebody” (credit Marlon Brando in On the Waterfront). Today India is beginning to matter, “not in full measure” (there, obligatory nod to Nehru, because Varsha shared a birthday with him), but there are “green shoots”.In Malayalam, we say vyazhavattom, or a revolution of Jupiter (which is twelve years), to denote a significant period of time in which epochal things may well have taken place. What has happened in the dozen years since Varsha left us? Let me take a general inventory.Despite misgivings about the lack of movement on serious Hindu issues (such as the freeing of temples from the grip of bureaucrats and hostile politicians) it must be granted that Narendra Modi's 10+ years have substantiated what Varsha and I honestly thought: that the only thing missing in India is leadership. (I said that in my homage to her in 2012.) Maybe, just maybe, Modi is India's Lee Kwan Yew.India is finally moving away from its dirigiste Nehruvian stupor, which was exacerbated, and extolled, by the Anglo-Mughalai hangers-on of Lutyens and Khan Market and JNU, and which resulted in an increasingly depressing relative decline compared to the rest of Asia and the rest of the world. That India is beginning to matter, especially economically, and consequently in the military and diplomatic domains, should be seen as the result of bhageeratha prayatnam, especially since the Swamp in India (not the Military Industrial Complex per se but babudom) is so powerful. Not to mention the Media, and the Judiciary.But there is so much more to be done. And Varsha would have pointed this out with her signature directness and humor: she could get away with that because she was She Who Must Be Obeyed, and imperious. She used to say things that I wouldn't dare say: for instance, she called Antonia Maino “The Shroud of Turin”.Varsha would have had a field day with the silly viswaguru meme, for instance. For, it is much better to learn from others, rather than have everybody mine our traditional knowledge systems and then go and patent them and sell the result back to us (eg. basmati, turmeric, yoga). India should be vishwa-vidyarthi. Learn, and, if possible, steal from everyone. (Ask China how to).Similarly, sabka sath sabka vikas sounds like a good slogan, but let me give you Exhibit A: Lebanon. I will not elaborate, but you can go look it up for yourself.On the other hand, as a warlike Maratha, she would have been happy to see an assertive India, one that upholds its national interests and does not bend to threats or blandishments (Exhibit B: Dalip Singh of the US trying to bully India into a sanctions regime against Russia re Ukraine).I am not quite sure what she'd have made of the Covid fuss, but I'm pretty certain she'd have gone hammer and tongs against the imperialism of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, and the propagandists for the same (Exhibit C: I guess I can't name names, but there's a famous and prize-winning doctor who was on every TV channel at the time deriding Indian vaccines).I write this on 18th November, another painful anniversary, that of 13 Kumaon's last stand, and here too India has made progress, standing up to China in Galwan, going eyeball-to-eyeball on the Indo-Tibetan frontier. But India has made only very slow progress in catching up on manufacturing, and for the wrong reasons (Exhibit D: a famous Indian-American economist).Yet, there is good news. Indians as a whole are more optimistic about their country's future. This may be because the economic center of gravity is shifting towards us, and because it appears the Anglosphere, China, Europe, and Wokeness are all declining at the same time, and India may well benefit from being the swing state between the West and China, both hegemons.I wonder what Varsha would have had to say about this bitter-sweet stage in India's trajectory. Alas, I can only conjecture.Varsha left us at a point when, as in the Malayalam saying, swaram nallappozhe pattu nirthuka, that is, as a singer you should stop singing when your voice is still good. People will ask you why you stopped singing, not why you haven't stopped singing. She lives on in our collective memory, fierce, powerful, a compelling voice. I miss her. May she live on, forever young.800 words, Nov 18, 2024, posted 7 Jan, 2025 This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rajeevsrinivasan.substack.com/subscribe

On this episode of Ropes & Gray's podcast series A Word for Our Sponsors, Deb Lussier, partner and co-leader of the sponsor solutions practice, and Marc Migliazzo, counsel in the sponsor solutions practice, are joined by Darren O'Brien and Chirag Shah, managing directors on the secondary advisory team for Campbell Lutyens. Together, they examine the results of a “North America Private Equity GP-Led Secondary Perceptions” survey they jointly conducted this year, and explore the booming GP-led secondaries market, discussing key trends, the importance of LP-GP alignment, and the strategic use of continuation funds. Tune in to gain valuable insights on how these transactions are shaping the future of private equity. 

In A is for Architecture's 134th episode, the writer, publisher, former editor of Country Life and visiting Professor of Architecture at the University of Cambridge, Clive Aslet, discusses his book, Sir Edwin Lutyens: Britain's Greatest Architect? (Triglyph Books 2024) which describes the life, work and enduring importance of Edwin Lutyens, including the impact of Gertude Jekyll on his design imagination and Lutyens' pivotal role in both illustrating the British imperial project, and memorializing it's fallen.   Lutyens (1869–1944) was a renowned British architect celebrated for his enormous body of work which straddled the Victorian and early modern period, and incorporated country houses, war memorials, and monumental projects like New Delhi's Rashtrapati Bhavan, Castle Drogo in Devon, the Cenotaph in London and the Midland Bank in Manchester. Known for good nature, and his prodigious work rate, there is a case to be made – and Clive makes it well – for Edwin Lutyens to claim the crown of Britain's greatest architect. Lutyens' work exemplifies timeless elegance and architectural ingenuity. Beyond the binary of modern or not, ethical or not, Lutyens work stands alone, more than an emblem of its time. Have a listen and find out why. Clive can be found on his personal website and on Instagram. The book is linked above. +  Music credits: ⁠Bruno Gillick

fWotD Episode 2747: Mells War Memorial Welcome to Featured Wiki of the Day, your daily dose of knowledge from Wikipedia’s finest articles.The featured article for Monday, 11 November 2024 is Mells War Memorial.Mells War Memorial is a First World War memorial by Sir Edwin Lutyens in the village of Mells in the Mendip Hills of Somerset, south-western England. Unveiled in 1921, the memorial is one of multiple buildings and structures Lutyens designed in Mells. His friendship with two prominent families in the area, the Horners and the Asquiths, led to a series of commissions; among his other works in the village are memorials to two sons—one from each family—killed in the war. Lutyens toured the village with local dignitaries in search of a suitable site for the war memorial, after which he was prompted to remark "all their young men were killed".The memorial takes the form of a marble column topped by a sculpture of Saint George slaying a dragon, an image Lutyens used on two other public war memorials. At the base of the column, the names of the village's war dead are inscribed on stone panels. The memorial is flanked by identical rubble walls in local stone, on top of which grows a yew hedge. Low stone benches protrude from the walls to allow wreaths to be laid. Additional panels were fixed to the wall after the Second World War to commemorate that conflict. The memorial was unveiled on 26 June 1921 by Brigadier-General Arthur Asquith, whose brother is among those commemorated on it. It is a grade II* listed building and since 2015 has been part of a national collection of Lutyens' war memorials.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:47 UTC on Monday, 11 November 2024.For the full current version of the article, see Mells War Memorial on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm neural Aria.

What happened in the aftermath of the assassination of Indira Gandhi ? What was the response of Rajiv Gandhi ? What was the public mood like ? Eyewitness account of Tavleen Singh as shared in her book Durbar. Follow me: Twitter: ⁠https://twitter.com/indologia⁠  Instagram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/indologiaa/⁠ YouTube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/@indologia⁠ Whatsapp: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029Va55D2lBPzjRND3rPC0A Telegram: https://t.me/indologia

Julia is a well known psychotherapist, author of the best seller ‘Grief Works', and she has a podcast ‘Therapy Works'.  She is Godmother to Prince George, and was a close friend of the Late Princess Diana. Julia discusses her upbringing and how she got into psychotherapy via Interior Design. In this episode Julia discusses her upbringing and how she got into psychotherapy via Interior Design.  She talks about her garden, which was originally laid out by Lutyens and Jekyll, and how she enjoys it at every season of the year. Additionally, she explains the importance of outside spaces especially when you are affected by trauma and grief.  Bunny took Julia a gift box of beautiful products from Bertioli by Thyme, containing their hand & body lotion, hand & body wash, their 3-in-1 shampoo bar, a large double wick candle, and best of all their breathing balm. All of which are in their comforting Water Meadow fragrance, inspired by their water meadows at home in Southrop. Bertioli.co.uk.

On this episode of Deal-by-Deal, host Greg Hawver is joined by Darren O'Brien, Managing Director of Campbell Lutyens, the largest independent private capital advisory firm. Tune in as Greg and Darren discuss the hot topic of secondary transactions, a growing niche area. Starting with a high-level introduction to secondary transactions and the secondary market, Darren covers the distinction between LP-led and GP-led secondaries, continuation funds and why a sponsor might choose to pursue a continuation vehicle, how valuations are calculated, market drivers, what to expect going forward, and next steps for interested investors.Meet Your Guest Name: Darren O'BrienCompany: Campbell LutyensConnect: LinkedInContactConnect with us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube.This podcast was recorded and is being made available by McGuireWoods for informational purposes only. By accessing this podcast, you acknowledge that McGuireWoods makes no warranty, guarantee, or representation as to the accuracy or sufficiency of the information featured in the podcast. The views, information, or opinions expressed during this podcast series are solely those of the individuals involved and do not necessarily reflect those of McGuireWoods. This podcast should not be used as a substitute for competent legal advice from a licensed professional attorney in your state and should not be construed as an offer to make or consider any investment or course of action.

fWotD Episode 2458: Civil Service Rifles War Memorial Welcome to featured Wiki of the Day where we read the summary of the featured Wikipedia article every day.The featured article for Saturday, 27 January 2024 is Civil Service Rifles War Memorial.The Civil Service Rifles War Memorial is a First World War memorial located on the riverside terrace at Somerset House in central London, England. Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and unveiled in 1924, the memorial commemorates the 1,240 members of the Prince of Wales' Own Civil Service Rifles regiment who were killed in the First World War. They were Territorial Force reservists, drawn largely from the British Civil Service, which at that time had many staff based at Somerset House.Both battalions of the expanded Civil Service Rifles were disbanded shortly after the war; the regiment amalgamated with the Queen's Westminster Rifles, but former members established an Old Comrades Association to keep the regiment's traditions alive. The association began raising funds for a war memorial in 1920, and the Prince of Wales unveiled the memorial on 27 January 1924. It takes the form of a single rectangular column surmounted by a sculpture of an urn and flanked by painted stone flags, the Union Flag on one side and the regimental colour on the other. The base on which the column stands is inscribed with the regiment's battle honours, while an inscription on the column denotes that a scroll containing the names of the fallen was placed inside.The memorial first stood in the quadrangle of Somerset House, which the Civil Service Rifles had used as a parade ground, but the civil service began to vacate Somerset House towards the end of the 20th century. As the building and its courtyard were re-purposed, the memorial was moved to the riverside terrace in the late 1990s. Members of the regiment continued to attend Remembrance Sunday ceremonies until at least the late 1980s, by which time many former members were in their nineties; the last known surviving member of the regiment attended a rededication ceremony in 2002. The memorial was designated a grade II listed building in 1987, which was upgraded to grade II* in November 2015 when it became part of a national collection of Lutyens' war memorials.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:52 UTC on Saturday, 27 January 2024.For the full current version of the article, see Civil Service Rifles War Memorial on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm Emma Neural.

A captivating anthology of British clarinet compositions curated and performed by versatile musician Ronald Woodley and pianist Andrew West. This collection explores British musical modernism, featuring both new and underappreciated pieces from the twentieth century by composers Elisabeth Lutyens, Angela Elizabeth Slater, Morris Pert, Christopher Fox, and Edward Cowie. Woodley's deep-rooted fascination for the basset horn, inspired by Lutyens, drove him to rediscover the world of British musical modernism, revealing its complexities and dynamics.Notable compositions in the anthology include Elisabeth Lutyens' “This Green Tide” for the basset horn, Angela Elizabeth Slater's “Around the Darkening Sun” for bass clarinet and piano, Morris Pert's “Luminos” for basset horn and piano, Christopher Fox's “This has happened before” featuring multitracked bass clarinets, and Edward Cowie's “Heather Jean Nocturnes” inspired by visual art. This collection is a valuable addition for clarinet enthusiasts and music lovers, shedding light on the lesser-known gems of British music and showcasing the power of artistic collaboration across mediums, offering a glimpse into the evolution of British music.TracksElisabeth LutyensThis Green Tide, Op. 103 (10:15)Angela Elizabeth SlaterAround the Darkening Sun* (5:25)Morris PertLuminos, Op. 16a (16:22)Christopher FoxThis has happened before (10:54)Elisabeth LutyensFive Little Pieces, Op. 14 No. 1* I. Lirico (1:21) II. Drammatico (0:47) III. Doloroso (1:41) IV. Pastorale (0:46) V. Declamatorio (0:35) Liz Dilnot JohnsonThe Space Between Heaven and Earth* I. Winter (4:19) II. Spring (1:08) III. Summer (1:24) IV. Autumn (1:08) Edward CowieHeather Jean Nocturnes* I. The Singing Stream – Evening (4:08) II. Sun and Moon Dancing (4:11) III. Okavango Dream Streams (4:00) IV. Lake Eacham Blue (3:31) V. Earth Nocturnal (3:58) Classical Music Discoveries is sponsored by Uber. @CMDHedgecock#ClassicalMusicDiscoveries #KeepClassicalMusicAlive#CMDGrandOperaCompanyofVenice #CMDParisPhilharmonicinOrléans#CMDGermanOperaCompanyofBerlin#CMDGrandOperaCompanyofBarcelonaSpain#ClassicalMusicLivesOn#Uber#AppleClassical Please consider supporting our show, thank you!Donate (classicalmusicdiscoveries.store) staff@classicalmusicdiscoveries.comThis album is broadcast with the permission of Crossover Media Music Promotion (Zachary Swanson and Amanda Bloom).

Join us on a riveting expedition through the heart of Delhi with our guest, Ms. Haritha Vijay VL. In this episode, we unravel the threads of time, exploring the dichotomy between Old and New Delhi, where history, culture, and modernity converge in a mesmerizing dance. From the ancient allure of the Red Fort to the contemporary marvels of Lutyens' Delhi, discover how this city seamlessly blends its rich past with a dynamic present. Navigate the labyrinthine streets of Old Delhi, where each monument, each stone resonates with tales of empires past - from the iconic Red Fort to the mystical allure of Jama Masjid. Then, fast forward to the Lutyens' Delhi and the bustling markets, witnessing a city that not only preserves its history but also thrives on the pulse of the modern world. Indulge your palate in the global flavors of Delhi's diverse culinary scene – from the parathas of Chandni Chowk and the niharis of Jama Masjid area to the chic cafes in CP and Hauz Khas, and immerse yourself in a cultural crossroads that embraces traditions from around the globe. Discover how Delhi embraces and weaves together a mosaic of global influences. Don't miss the blog for this episode as we bring you the captivating stories, photographs and lots of hidden heritage recommendations from our guest Haritha. Subscribe now and embark on this immersive adventure with us. & don't forget to follow our Instagram page as well – we put out lots of travel hacks, tips, reels and videos just for you. Like our work? Follow, Like & Subscribe to our podcast from wherever you are listening in. We would also love to hear from you, so do write to us at: Email: misadventuresofasneaker@gmail.com Instagram: @misadventuresofasneaker Blog: misadventuresofasneaker.substack.com

This week on The Lit Pickers, we're exploring a capital idea. Let us take you on a time-slipping tour of Delhi, home to scholars and poets, Sufis and crazy rich Indians. It's a place where seven cities are constantly re-learning and re-membering how to create a space for both those in the centre and on the margins. It's India's  political capital, and also the jewel of the Mughal Empire; it's Lutyens's creation, and the dream of its bureaucrats. Join us on this literary ramble of an episode, the podcast equivalent to a stroll through Lodi Gardens in autumn.   You can find Supriya Nair at @supriyanair and Deepanjana Pal at @dpanjana on Instagram.    If you have any books, reading or literature-related questions, please email us at contact@maed.in.    For a list of all the books mentioned in the season so far, check out: https://thelitpickers.fanlink.to/books   This is a Maed In India Production; check us out at www.maedinindia.in.  Creative Director: Mae Mariyam Thomas Project Manager: Shaun Fanthome Head of Audio: Kartik Kulkarni Producer: Meghna Gulati  Sound Editor: Lakshman Parsuram Artwork: Alika Gupta   Theme Music: Easy Wanderlings - Here's to You

fWotD Episode 2379: Hove War Memorial.Welcome to featured Wiki of the Day where we read the summary of the featured Wikipedia article every day.The featured article for Thursday, 9 November 2023 is Hove War Memorial.Hove War Memorial is a First World War memorial designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and located on Grand Avenue in Hove, part of the city of Brighton and Hove, on the south coast of England. Hove was the site of one of the earliest recruiting events at the beginning of the war and later of several military hospitals. Over 600 men from the town were killed during the war, a quarter of them from the local regiment alone. A war memorial committee was established in 1919 and Lutyens was engaged as architect. A design was agreed in 1920 after two unsuccessful proposals; Lutyens chose the site from several options.Lutyens designed a Tuscan column on a three-staged base, topped with a statue of Saint George, patron saint of England. George, cast in the studio of Sir George Frampton, holds a sword by the blade in one hand and a shield in the other. The same statue, with variations, appears on several of Frampton's other monuments, including Fordham War Memorial in Cambridgeshire, also by Lutyens. The base contains several dedicatory inscriptions but no names, which are instead recorded on plaques in the town's library. The memorial was unveiled on 27 February 1921 by Lord Leconfield; Lutyens, in India, was represented by his office manager. It is a grade II listed building.This recording reflects the Wikipedia text as of 00:25 UTC on Thursday, 9 November 2023.For the full current version of the article, see Hove War Memorial on Wikipedia.This podcast uses content from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License.Visit our archives at wikioftheday.com and subscribe to stay updated on new episodes.Follow us on Mastodon at @wikioftheday@masto.ai.Also check out Curmudgeon's Corner, a current events podcast.Until next time, I'm Danielle Neural.

A version of this essay was published by news18.com at https://www.news18.com/opinion/opinion-what-a-difference-ten-years-make-india-since-2014-8559632.htmlI wrote ten years ago on Rediff.com (‘The great Indian rope trick and other illusions of progress' https://www.rediff.com/news/column/the-great-indian-rope-trick-and-other-illusions-of-progress/20130716.htm) about how the average Indian is satisfied with illusion, never mind real progress. That made India a Potemkin State, where form is everything and substance is immaterial. It turns out that I was wrong: Indians do want actual progress. I might be pardoned for saying what I said then because the country was at the fag-end of the Lost Decade, 2004 to 2013, wherein things deteriorated steadily. Decline had been par for the course throughout the Nehruvian-Stalinist decades of dirigisme. Conversely, there has been noticeable change in 2014-2023.Apart from mis-steps in economic management, the political environment was also dicey. There was the appalling spectacle of a constitutional coup, as I noted at the time (‘Four ways the Congress won power by Constitutional coups' https://www.rediff.com/news/column/column-rajeev-srinivasan-4-ways-the-congress-won-power-through-constitutional-coups/20140107.htm): by colluding with the Communist Speaker in the cash-for-votes scam, the Congress clung on to power violating democratic norms. We see the same recklessness today in the US (“Let's jail the leading opposition candidate”) and in Germany (“One party is getting too popular, let's ban it”). It does not bode well. The New York Times, on August 21, 2023 ran the striking headline, “Elections Are Bad for Democracy” before changing it to “The Worst People Run for Office. It's Time for a Better Way”. Yes, democracy is too important to leave to the people. Let us elites tell them what to think. The most striking example of this uncaring State, the very nadir of its contempt for the man in the street, was the length of the chain anchoring the mug in the loo in railway compartments: just three inches too short, thus shattering the illusion that you could actually clean your bottom.  A daunting prospect for any traveler, especially because of the overwhelming stink, and a world of difference from Japan's shinkansen and their amazing high-tech loos.Recently I traveled in several train compartments, including ancient Jan Shatabdi chair cars and newish Hamsafar sleeper coaches, although, alas, not in Vande Bharat coaches yet; but I was surprised at how much better the toilets were. The ‘bio toilet' means human feces are not dumped on the tracks; they do not smell terrible, and, wonder of wonders, there is a hygiene hose/bidet that is actually long enough to do the deed.And, perhaps redundantly, the chain for the mug has been lengthened. And there is water! It is hard to explain to a non-Indian what a difference all this makes. I had a cousin who denied herself food and drink while traveling by train just so she could avoid the toilet. It is a sea-change when you are granted a little self-respect. I am reminded of the placard held by a man at a Martin Luther King rally: “I am a man”. Yes, the proverbial average Indian aam admi is a human who deserves consideration: not only Lutyens and Khan Market types.I am sorry to talk about a cringe-making topic like toilets, but this is something earthy and immediately understandable; it makes the point that India is, 76 years after the imperialists left and brown sahebs took over, finally on the march. Indians are beginning to see that they can demand respect from their rulers, and get it. Dignity, that watchword of the butler Stevens in Kazuo Ishiguro's brilliant The Remains of the Day.In a penetrating 1997 essay, “India shouldn't have fantasies about the past, but face it” (https://www.indiatoday.in/india-today-insight/story/from-the-archives-1997-v-s-naipaul-india-shouldn-t-have-fantasies-about-the-past-but-face-it-1988599-2022-08-16) Sir V S Naipaul mentioned that those who have been oppressed and denigrated for centuries are now rising, and this rise will be messy. He was talking about those outside the charmed circle that ruled the country for long. It is also broader: the rise of the Other Backward Communities, that uncharming name for the majority of Indians, the bahujan. Naipaul also said that the rulers will now of necessity be of the people, not overlords. It can be argued that for over a thousand years, Indians have been effectively ruled by a comprador ‘elite', middlemen who did the dirty work on behalf of invaders or distant rulers. It is my suspicion that the zamindars and other local strongmen were largely from the upper or middle jatis, and it is only now that those from the bottom of the pyramid are finally getting a say in things. No, this is not a jati-bashing exercise, and I may be extrapolating from my observations in Kerala, where a middle jati, Nairs, were the kulaks who lorded it over those below them in the hierarchy, such as OBC Ezhavas, SC Pulayas, and ST Mala-arayans. The latter are now rising, though not in full measure, yet. I think it's similar in Tamil Nadu, too. In the Soviet Union, Stalin liquidated the kulaks. In India, their eclipse has come about too late, though without violence. The usual woke Lutyens/Khan Market suspects were disappointed they couldn't chortle about Chandrayaan-3 being yet another expensive failure a poor country could ill afford, echoing Brits upset that their alleged ‘aid' was going to India (in reality, as per the UK Foreign Office, India politely declined any charity from them starting 2015; any money coming to India from the UK is foreign direct investment (FDI), or strictly in support of their geopolitical objectives, channeled via dubious NGOs or missionaries).The ‘wokes' also grumbled about ISRO engineers going to Tirupati and invoking the blessings of the Divine for their project. I am glad they got a munh thod jawab. There really is no dichotomy in Hindu thought between science and faith: science too requires faith and belief.The ‘wokes' have reason to be worried, not only by the picture-perfect moon landing, but also by Praggnaanandhaa, who almost unseated the reigning World Champion in chess; Neeraj Chopra, who won the World Athletic Championship in javelin to go with his Olympic gold; the 4x400 relay quartet with their heroics of almost defeating the Americans in the heats while setting an Asian record; and Vivek Ramaswamy, who is unabashedly Hindu and at the same time a patriotic American and a force to contend with in the Republican party in the US.Even though they haven't been defenestrated, except perhaps some unfortunate folks at Ashoka University, India's Left are less and less relevant: relics of a failed ideology. They should count their lucky stars: in Singapore, Lee Kwan Yew liquidated them. And indeed, even in the US, the ‘woke' capital of the world, their star is setting. There is another reason I brought up toilets: the unseemly obsession that westerners have with them. I was delighted to see this cartoon on Twitter, and it is obviously a parody of the earlier one in the sadly overrated New York Times, below.While the racist derision of the original cartoon, and the celebration of the be-jasmined and be-bindi'd women in Indian engineering are the obvious takeaways, I was intrigued by a detail: the white guy in the cartoon is dragging a shopping-cart full of toilet paper behind him! I am not sure why toilet paper is some kind of atavistic guilty pleasure for westerners. Despite being purely climate-related (they could not afford to melt ice and snow just to wash their bottoms, or for that matter their hands, thus cutlery), toilet paper has become a cultural staple for them. You might remember the hoarding of toilet paper in the early days of covid! It's time westerners abandoned killing trees, and went for the more healthy bidet-like health faucet. For that matter, the squat in Indian closets is apparently better than the sitting posture on a western ‘thunder-box'. Recently while traveling in the Czech Republic, I stayed in a (fancy) hotel that had a bidet: such a relief! May their tribe increase!Of course, some things never change. This was demonstrated in two ways: the thinly-veiled envy from the British that manifested itself in their assertion that an India full of open defecation shouldn't be spending on space research, and The Economist magazine in their recent obituary of Bindeswar Pathak repeatedly emphasizing caste discrimination and manual scavenging. These are vestiges of the past, and mostly due to the $10 trillion (or $45 trillion depending on whom you ask) that the Brits looted, impoverishing India. But then, who's counting?Oh, you want to talk about open defecation? Once-beautiful San Francisco is now the champion, while India has built large numbers of indoor toilets all over the country. See the ‘poop map' of San Francisco here (https://mochimachine.org/wasteland/# ).One thing that has definitely changed in the last ten years is the amount of Hindu-hatred expressed in the West, particularly America. The California caste Bill, Equality Labs, Audrey Truschke, and the latest, tech journo Kara Swisher's racist attack on Vivek Ramaswamy, are all related to the fact that Hindus have quietly become one of the most economically successful (but politically powerless) groups in the US. It is really a back-handed compliment, happily cheered on by rogues from the “Chindu” stable or similar. Caste is the weapon.Hindus tend to be defensive about caste. We shouldn't be. Caste is really a white invention, from the Portuguese casta, intended to segregate mixed-race people based on how white they are, half, quarter, one-eighth, etc: thus mulatto, quadroon, octroon, etc. It is their cross to bear. There is an ocean of difference between this caste business and jatis, but I digress..Besides, there are de facto castes in the US: the investment banker caste, the doctor caste, the lawyer caste, the management consultant caste, etc. They all go to the same tony prep schools, the same Ivy League colleges (legacy admissions mean you easily get into Harvard, if your parent(s) went to Harvard, regardless of your grades. Raj Chetty has published reams of data about this); they are endogamous; and they all miraculously end up at Goldman Sachs or McKinsey. An outsider can't break in. These castes are also Lindy (ask Nassim Taleb).Perhaps, taking a cue from other groups that have prospered, Hindus (and Indian Americans in general) are becoming ‘white', like others have before them. Irish, Italians, Jews, Japanese, Koreans, Chinese: there is a long list. ‘Whiteness' is a construct. I was flabbergasted decades ago when a well-meaning white guy said, “You guys are almost white”. I stuttered: “But, but… we are brown!”. If you have money, you pretty much become white. I give it another ten years. With India's GDP at $10 trillion, and more Hindu-Americans creating unicorns, I bet by 2034 Hindus will be ‘white'. Maybe Vivek is the first white Hindu. I am not making a value judgment, merely making a prediction. You heard it here first.1800 words, Aug 29, 2023, updated Sep 10, 2023 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rajeevsrinivasan.substack.com

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This week, host Gurmehar Kaur is joined by Newslaundry's Shivnarayan Rajpurohit and Pratyush Deep.Shivnarayan reported on Congress leader Sachin Pilot's relationship with his party in Rajasthan, and the impediments on his way ahead of Rajasthan's assembly polls. He explains how he traced the 45-year-old's journey from being the youngest MP in the Indian parliament to his current tussle with chief minister Ashok Gehlot, also throwing light on his chances of a strong comeback. Pratyush reported on the RSS-linked outfits illegally occupying housing meant for members of parliament in Lutyens' Delhi. He recounted how he found out that at least 14 of the 176 flats at Vithal Bhai Patel complex were illegally occupied, with one of the occupants being Rajyavardhan Singh Parmar, a Hindutva leader accused of sexual assault. Tune in.Timecodes00:00:00 - Introduction00:00:50 - Sachin Pilot00:07:14 - Illegal occupancy at the Vithalbhai Patel Complex00:38:46 - RecommendationsRecommendationsShivnarayan24 Akbar Road: A Short History Of The People Behind The Fall And Rise Of The CongressPratyushTargeting of Kukis the main reason behind Manipur violenceGurmeharThe IdolProduced by Tehreem Roshan and Saif Ali Ekram, recorded by Anil Kumar, and edited by Samrendra K Dash. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Maggie's beneath the sea, van Lutyens is going down the impeller, and Victoria has gone under ... things need to look up! So the Doctor is grateful for the arrival of Megan Jones from Gavin and Stacy, but what has put a smile on Jess Jurkovic's face this week? Your host Toby Hadoke dives in - let's see what he's in a froth about. 

A version of this essay was published by firstpost.com at https://www.firstpost.com/opinion/shadow-warrior-no-the-finance-mandarins-dont-always-screw-up-they-only-do-it-in-petty-ways-12678122.htmlThe Twitterverse and the media in general have been brutal on India's babu-log for several recent missteps. These, many fear, revive the ghosts of the late lamented License Raj: for instance the imposition of 20% Tax Collected at Source for overseas credit card transactions, the poorly-managed withdrawal of 2000-rupee notes, or the angel tax on domestic investments in startups (but not on investments from 21 specified countries).But let's be honest and give them credit where it's due: they shepherded India through the pandemic leaving the economy in pretty decent shape compared to the rest of the world. Even more importantly, the general handling of the economy has gone so well (of course thanks also to other tailwinds like the infrastructure push and the manufacturing thrust) that there is a genuine feeling among both locals and foreigners that India's time in the sun is finally here.This is no mean achievement, especially given the withering information warfare waged by the Deepstate. India's GDP grew in FY 2022-23 at 7.2%, pretty much the highest rate for any large economy, exceeding estimates even by the RBI. An optimistic report from Morgan Stanley, "How India Has Transformed in Less than a Decade" cites several reasons for such optimism: government reforms, demography, technology, strong economic fundamentals. “India is broken”, it ain't. And let's not go with services alone, Raghuram Rajan!And then the babus go and screw up on these relatively minor things, making everybody look bad!This is like I have always said, Indians thrive on complexity. We can do the Kumbh Mela in fine style (kudos to the much-maligned babus), but we can't queue up for an elevator to save our lives. Or desist from driving like maniacs, honking like mad and darting all over the place. Too simple, I guess. There are also habitual naysayers (some surely beholden to the Nehruvian Stalinist ecosystem or on the Deepstate/Soros payroll) who simply cannot believe that things are finally beginning to look up in and for India. There are those who are perennially on pet hobby-horses (one who gets all his wisdom from taxi-drivers, and another who thinks low-quality service jobs that add no lasting value are manna from heaven). Others are periodically astroturfed like mushrooms after rains, to mix American and Malayalam metaphors recklessly.What they fail to see (intentionally) is that the glass is half-full. Yes, there are major problems: India's education system is going from bad to worse; corruption is still a menace; the public sector continues to be an albatross around India's neck; the endless election cycle means that it is hard to think long-term (both for babus and for politicians); populist giveaways and special interest lobbies bankrupt the exchequer; the judicial system is in bad shape; and so on. On the other hand, there is proof of progress. Undeniable proof. Once the dirigiste state was partly dismantled under duress by Narasimha Rao, things improved notably, as the animal spirits of Indian entrepreneurs and traders apparently had a field day. Under Narendra Modi India's steady recent growth has been in nice contrast with tepid growth elsewhere. But the more intriguing tale is about poverty reduction on the one hand, and of the provision of services on the other. If the UN is to be believed, India has lifted 415 million people from poverty in 15 years. Furthermore, various infrastructure projects providing electricity, drinking water, roads and railways to even remote parts of the hinterland are quite likely increasing the quality of life as well as the per capita income. The other big deals, of course, are Demonetization and GST. Despite massive negative propaganda, I think the impartial observer today would be hard pressed to see these as net negatives. The giant strides made towards digitization, just by themselves, would justify the relatively minor inconvenience people went through at the time. UPI has made inroads into the remotest interior villages (Ecowrap from the SBI says that 60% of transactions by volume and value are now coming from rural and semi-urban areas). The same report says the value of UPI payments has gone up from Rs. 6947 crore in FY17 to Rs. 139,00,000 crore in FY23, a huge growth of 2004x. The use of the smartphone as a Point of Sale system has been a nice adaptation of technology, supported by Jio and inexpensive data.There is a video clip of P. Chidambaram, the former Finance Minister of India, mocking digital transactions. In the video, Chidambaram is speaking at an event and he says, "How can you expect a poor lady in a village to use digital transactions when there is no electricity and no POS devices?"Pretty bad look from the supercilious Chidambaram. It is the same attitude displayed by nay-sayers from Lutyens and Khan Market: they do not believe the average Indian can or will progress. Only the mai-baap sarkar of the Nehru Dynasty can save them, they claim. On the contrary, the Nehruvian Penalty has kept 500 million Indians poor, as I wrote on Rediff.com in 2004. The reality is that under the Nehruvian Stalinists, India kept falling behind the rest of the world. After 1991, India is slowly and painfully clawing its way back up the ranks of global wealth. The GST, despite many flaws, has also been a success in creating a single national marketplace, and in reducing logistics bottlenecks (remember those mile-long queues of trucks idling at state boundary checkpoints, and surely the enormous amounts changing hands?). As India ramps up manufacturing, the improvement in transportation efficiency will pay for itself.None of this happened just like that, it was willed into existence, says TheEmissary in a positive post https://theemissary.co/modinomics-why-india-is-rising/ and this is true, somebody imagined it, and somebody else, yes, the very same babus, put things into motion. Compared to all these pluses, surely the mandarins are entitled to screw up a little bit now and then. But the point is the mindset behind the TCS, and the poor communication strategy behind the Rs 2000 note withdrawal.At a time when India is attempting to offer the rupee as a global currency, and trying to make India a more attractive investment location, the TCS (Tax Collected at Source) surely feels like a retrograde step dating back to the days of worrying about foreign exchange reserves (unnecessarily, as India's current kitty is around $572 billion, which is close to an all-time high).The signal it sends out is that officious babus will make life difficult for average users in the pursuit of either minor increases in tax collections or an illusory improvement in forex reserves. Far more useful would be a deep analysis of what is causing the trade deficit with China to balloon (it is now bigger than India's entire defense budget), which sectors or products will have the greatest bang for the buck (eg. pharma APKs), and solid Production Linked Incentives to increase Indian production of the same. The withdrawal of the Rs. 2000 notes is probably a good idea, because by now the criminal ecosystem has figured out how to counterfeit them efficiently. As in years past, the ‘second-best' notes are likely being produced in Pakistan and shipped through the Middle East to India. So there's nothing wrong in removing them from circulation.Two caveats, though. It would have been a lot better to withdraw them before the BJP's debacle in Karnataka. It's sort of locking the barn door after the horse has bolted. As in years past, the vast bulk of corruption money intended for elections is quite likely stored in these larger notes, and removing them from circulation is a good idea. Well, fine, this will have an impact on the 2024 elections, I imagine. The second is the total cockup in the communication of the withdrawal. The first announcement said the notes could be deposited before a certain date, but that they would continue to be legal tender (which seems counter-intuitive). If you deposited more than Rs. 20,000 a day, though, the idea seemed to be that you would have to show some id, PAN/Aadhar. That would help identify anybody who had been hoarding large quantities of cash (usually for dubious purposes). But then the second announcement, from SBI, said that there would be no need for any paperwork. Meanwhile people were using 2000-rupee notes to buy luxury items, especially gold. So exactly what is going on? What is the point in this not-demonetization? Did the babus get cold feet and do U-turns?The angel tax on startups is itself a dubious idea, especially when India is attempting to increase the viability of its homegrown early-stage companies. The regulatory atmosphere and the relative paucity of local venture funding is anyway encouraging startups to register themselves abroad, say in Singapore or Dubai or Silicon Valley. By adding a tax you're making Indian startups less appealing to investors. Furthermore, by picking and choosing investment from certain countries to be exempt from the tax seems either capricious or over-reach/meddling. It simply isn't true that these Anglo and Nordic countries are all pure as the driven snow, as we have seen on numerous occasions.The bottom line, though, is that despite periodic missteps, India's finance folks and the central bank have done a stellar job, and it shows: India's banks are currently among the most profitable in the world, with no worrying bank failures (unlike, say, in the US and Europe); interest rates and inflation are modest (again, unlike the US and EU). So two cheers for the babus! 1538 words, May 27, 2023, updated 1626 words, June 1, 2023 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rajeevsrinivasan.substack.com

In this episode, I chat with Claire Harris, manager of Lutyens and Rubinstein Bookshop, about how the demographics of Notting Hill affect the curation of the bookshop, their bespoke services, independent stores in the area, and books!Lutyens and Rubinstein Bookshop was founded in 2009 by literary agents Sarah Lutyens and Felicity Rubinstein. The emphasis for the curation of the bookshop is on excellence in writing and narrative across a broad range of genres. The core stock was assembled by canvassing hundreds of readers – writers, publishing contacts, and friends (both adults and children) about which books they would most like to find in a bookshop.  Every book stocked has its place because somebody loves and recommends it.Shop Manager Claire Harris and Partnerships Manager Tara Spinks joined the bookshop team before opening and are supported by Children's Buyer Caroline Eade and Booksellers Eoin Mulligan and Veronica Faulks.Lutyens and Rubinstein BookshopLutyens and Rubinstein Bespoke Services Why I Love Indie Bookshops, Mandy Jackson-BeverlySmall Things Like These, Claire Keegan Sorrow and Bliss, Meg Mason Books by Kate Morton Books By Elizabeth Sprout Books by Annie Ernaux Lessons in Chemistry, Bonnie GarmusSupport the showThe Bookshop PodcastMandy Jackson-BeverlySocial Media Links

Wishing You a Great 2023Others might begin the new year with resolutions, but we prefer excuses. Last year, we wrote only 42 editions. There was much to do in the remaining ten weeks. There was the Football World Cup, a few time-offs, a couple of vacations, and of course, a lapdog ate our laptops. If these honourable reasons weren't enough, we add another: we wrote a book!Our book Missing in Action: Why You Should Care About Public Policy will be published on 23 January 2023. Like this newsletter, it is a 'pop' public policy book in which we explain concepts through stories rooted in the Indian context. We couldn't have asked for a more helpful and encouraging team than our friends at Penguin India, who got us over the line and in time for a Republic Day release. The book is ready for pre-order now. You will have to excuse us for a bit of promotion that we will do over the next month or so on these pages. So what's the book about? At the heart of the book is our belief in the core objective of public policy. It should increase the welfare of the citizens. Like the verse from Bhagavad Gita goes:अनन्याश्चिन्तयन्तो मां ये जनाः पर्युपासते।तेषां नित्याभियुक्तानां योगक्षेमं वहाम्यहम्।।9.22।।That word - Yogakshema - to preserve the prosperity and welfare of citizens is what public policy should be about. We write this newsletter with the hope that it will, in its small way, move the needle on discourse. The book is a logical extension of this hope. Hope, as Andy Dufresne taught us, ‘is a good thing; maybe the best of things'. We are hopeful about the future of India, but not in a misguided nationalistic way. We believe we can make an impact, however small, on the demand side of the policy equation. That making people aware of policy choices and helping them anticipate the unintended will lead to a change in the supply side of politics. There are two preconditions for this to happen, which we assume hold true. One, people have time and mental space available for discussions that matter to their lives. Two, a belief we can arrive at what's good for us through those debates and discussions.In the book, we have taken the citizens as the point of reference and elaborated on their interactions with the state, the market and the society. Think of the book as a primer to understanding the fundamentals that underpin these interactions. We cover why we need a state or the markets, what is the role of society and how the three interplay among them. We go back to the foundational texts on political philosophy and economy in the book to explain the core concepts of public policy but in what we hope is an accessible fashion. We have tried to avoid jargon and approached all topics using first principles. Like the 16th century Bhakti poet, Nabha Dasa, who compiled the life of every saint from time immemorial in Bhaktamala, wrote:"Jaat na puchhie saadhu ki, poochh leejie gyan, mol karo kirpan ka, padi rahne do mian" ("Do not ask for the antecedents of a learned saint. Only seek their wisdom. The true worth is what's within us and not what you see from outside.")We have been ecumenical in our approach in this book.The other thing you might find interesting in the book is our focus on finding examples in the Indian context to illuminate a point or to make a case for our arguments. This will contextualise a lot of the discussions in the book to our immediate environment, and we hope it will make our reasoning clearer to our readers. Further, we have tried to keep ourselves free of dogma in the book. We have strong faith in markets, but we understand their limitations and the critical role of the state and society. We have been open to knowledge from all sources and have challenged our premises and priors before stating our point of view. Lastly, the tone of the book is conversational, and it is filled with some of our usual groan-inducing Bollywood references. Special thanks to all of you for reading us and engaging with us. Without your encouragement, we wouldn't have attempted a book. And now that we have said such good things go buy the book! Truth be told, we are a tad nervous about how the book will be received. We hope you will enjoy reading it and recommending it to others. Show it some love, friends and order it now. ThanksPranay & RSJIndia Policy Watch: How Did I Do On My Predictions For 2022?— RSJ Each year I start with a prediction post. But before I get down to my predictions for 2023 (which I will in the next edition), there's the unfinished business of how I fared on the predictions that I made in 2022. So, here's a look back at the year through the lens of my predictions at the start of the year.Economy - Prediction #1 This is what I wrote:“we will be in the 5-5.5 per cent growth range (if you take the base of FY 21). Inflation (CPI) will be around 5 per cent with an occasional jump to 6 per cent during the year despite threatening to go out of control. Maybe three interest rate hikes (a total of 75 bps) during the year will keep a lid on it. Public markets will moderate a bit (around 10 percent upside).... China won't attract it (foreign capital) as it will continue to go down the path of self-reliance and its notion of an equal society.”Result: No one could see the Ukraine war coming back when I made the predictions. Notwithstanding that, I think I got the growth and the inflation prediction in the ballpark. The war threw the interest hike prediction off totally. Instead of a 75 bps hike over the year, we got a 225 bps increase. I think, on balance, the Indian economy did quite well in 2022, given the headwinds. Domestic consumption was strong; we weathered the peaking of oil and commodity rates quite well, the twin balance sheet problem is now behind us, and by the end of the year, we saw private Capex growing. Not a bad state of affairs. I would have taken this happily at the start of the year. Overall, I'd give a 6/10 on this prediction.Economy - Prediction #2“There won't be much to write about reforms. Some attempts at piecemeal MSP reforms will be attempted to make up for the repealed farm laws. The National Monetisation Pipeline will get going but the progress will be modest. A couple of more disinvestment proposals of PSUs (including banks) will be taken up. But this will be for raising revenues rather than a planned strategy to make PSUs market competitive. The LIC IPO will just go over the line and that will be the big event to showcase reforms.”Result: Got that pretty much spot on. Maybe an 8/10.Politics - Prediction #1 & 2Here's what I wrote:“BJP election machine will continue its winning run barring the odd defeats in Punjab and Goa. The big prize, UP, will be fought hard but BJP will win a safe majority. The bahujan vote of the depleted BSP will shift to it more than to SP and that will make all the difference.”“There will be a split in the Congress. The party in its current form is untenable and beyond a point, there will be nothing to lose for those who split it. The key question is who will lead it - those who have a political base and think Congress leadership is a liability that cannot be carried along any further, or those without a political base but with strong ideological opposition to the BJP. My guess is it will be the latter. In any case, it won't make much of a difference.”Result: Punjab went the way I had guessed. Goa was close. Congress didn't split but it lost senior leaders like Capt. Amarinder Singh and Ghulam Nabi Azad among others. And despite the Bharat Jodo Yatra, which has only been in the news because people cannot believe Rahul Gandhi has sustained it for so long, I don't think Congress improved its election prospects dramatically this year.Society - Prediction #1“Expect love jihad and anti-conversion laws in various states, some kind of population control bill, a revival of CAA and a push for a uniform civil code during the year. There's that early 20th century Europe playbook of stoking demographic anxiety that plays on a threat to the survival of a civilisation or a way of living. The pitch will be queered on this. Indian society is a fertile ground for it. This land can be shown to its people as a palimpsest. But it can, perhaps more easily, be shown as a glorious, ancient civilisation that's been asphyxiated for centuries by ‘outsiders'. A true revival of it requires setting the past records straight and the right demographic arithmetic.”Result: Well, there was the usual noise around a lot of these issues but, thankfully, we had a somewhat muted year on legislating these. This didn't mean that the media mouthpieces and influential voices within and outside the government went slow on stirring the pot on these topics. We have reached a point where turning back on these issues will be difficult. It remains the one faultline that can derail our economic prospects that look surprisingly good at this moment. I will give myself a 7/10 as much as I want to score a zero here.   Society - Prediction #2“Politics is driven by the idea of having an enemy; the other. For much of the last decade, this was the left-liberal cabal (Lutyens, Khan market, NYT, Soros, Amnesty etc). Even when much of news and propaganda came to be dominated by the right-wing, there was a strawman of this all-powerful cabal of anti-nationals that was kept alive because the notion of an enemy is critical. But once you have decimated it, what do you do? You look for the enemy within.”Result: I will be the first to admit that I am still amazed at how this prediction isn't yet true. There are still imaginary left cabals to be fought against. It is a measure of both the enterprise of the propaganda machinery and the gullibility of ordinary voters that we are still drinking up all the kool-aid that we are being served on how anti-India interests are still the ‘establishment' in India and globally. There's still a long way to go before finding the enemy within your camp to fight. I will give a 5/10 on this. Miscellaneous - Prediction #1“There will be serious big tech regulations that will come into play in America. Others will follow suit. India will have a version of this along with dollops of atmanirbharta. This will mean some tough days for big consumer tech giants in India.”Result: Some big tech regulations have come into play in the US, and the collapse of FTX will lead to further clamping down. India came down heavily on Chinese apps and made life difficult for consumer-facing tech giants like Amazon, Meta and Alphabet. I expect this to continue. I guess a 7/10 on here will be about right. Miscellaneous - Prediction #2“China will struggle for growth. Demographics, debt and delusion have come together in China in a way that will make it difficult for it to sustain growth. China-Russia relationship will get stronger with their support for each other and for other authoritarian regimes around the world.”Result: Even without the Ukraine war, I thought this was how it was going to play out. It only became stronger with the war. I think I got a 9/10 there. Miscellaneous - Prediction #3“Meta, Crypto, Decentralisation, NFT (and everything else pumped up by the Valley tech bros) will see their hype abate (about 25-30 percent drop in asset value). When John Terry starts buying Bored Ape NFTs, you know the whole thing has jumped the shark. About time too.”Result: I should have followed my gut more and doubled down on this last year. I could sense a big correction, and a large-ish collapse was in the offing in this space. But I stopped short of calling a mini meltdown in this space. But that's how it turned out by the end of the year. An 8/10 here.So, there we are with how I fared on last year's predictions. I will come back next week with a few specific and somewhat contrarian predictions for 2023. Not(PolicyWTF): Making Education ProfitableThis section looks at surprisingly sane policies- Pranay KotasthaneThe University Grants Commission (UGC) released draft regulations earlier this week, permitting foreign universities to set up Indian campuses. While the draft needs some much-needed improvements, this reform is in the right direction. For the moment, keep the programmatic part of the policy aside. It's the politics of this move that caught my attention.Ritika Chopra in the Indian Express reminds us that the first such attempt was made in 1995. Another one in 2005-06 never made it past the cabinet. Then in 2010, the UPA government brought in another bill. The Foreign Educational Institutions (Regulation of Entry and Operations) Bill, 2010 was introduced in the Lok Sabha, a Standing Committee gave some suggestions, the government sat on it for three years, and it was tabled again in 2013. By 2014, the UPA was voted out, and the bill lapsed.It's interesting to observe how the Overton Window has changed on this issue. The 2010 bill was far less radical than the draft UGC regulations being proposed now. That bill disallowed foreign universities from repatriating any money abroad, it mandated that interested entities have a corpus fund of at least Rs 50 crores, and it allowed only entities that had operated for at least 20 years. Despite these unreasonable restrictions, the Left and the BJP still found the bill too permissive and buried it. The Left had a far greater influence on the matter as it was a part of the ruling coalition. I went back to check the best form of arguments put forward by the Left. True to form, they argued that this bill would encourage “commercialisation” of education. The CPM said it would open the ‘floodgates for weakening and dismantling the public education system in higher education. And India could be atmanirbhar in developing a higher education system; we need no help from anyone. Shouldn't we reflect on how much this ideological opposition cost us? What was the number of people who went ahead to get quality education in other countries, including in risky countries like Ukraine and Kazakhstan? Blocking foreign educational institutes for equity reasons is akin to banning people from eating Sushi just because India still has a large poor population. Forget the fact that a former General Secretary of the CPM is himself an alumnus of a British university. The BJP's objection predictably was that the courses offered could ‘adversely affect the sovereignty and integrity of India'. That insecurity hasn't subsided, and the new draft regulations have an explicit clause forbidding such courses. We can interpret the new draft regulations as an example of the Overton Window stretching on this issue. On some counts, it has extended the boundaries of freedom by allowing people to have more options within India while allowing foreign universities to repatriate money back home. It's a hesitant acknowledgement that profit-making in education is not bad. On the other hand, the Window has also stretched toward “lesser freedom” with clauses banning certain types of courses, effectively implying that non-controversial “technology” universities might receive preference over liberal arts universities. Real-life policymaking is often a search for the second-best option. So I'll take the door left ajar, rather than it remaining closed altogether.HomeWorkReading and listening recommendations on public policy matters* [Podcast] Some predictions for 2023 by the Puliyabaazi team* [Book] Optimally Irrational: Good Reasons Why We Behave The Way We Do is promising.* [Article] Many editions ago, we wrote about the EU ban on chargers, warning that it could come to India as well. That ban is here though, and we again reiterate why it is counterproductive. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit publicpolicy.substack.com

A version of this essay was published by firstpost at https://www.firstpost.com/india/75-years-have-midnights-children-come-of-age-11093221.htmlIt is a bit of a coincidence that, just around the 75th anniversary of India gaining political independence from the British, Salman Rushdie should be in the news again, because he was stabbed in Chautauqua, a literary watering-hole in upstate New York. His book Midnight’s Children was, as is well known, a sensation when it first came out some forty years ago, in 1981.The central conceit in the book is that 100,000 children born all over India on or around midnight on August 15th, 1947, are endowed with magical powers. Their lives are an allegory for India’s progress. It is a picaresque romp centered around the protagonist, Saleem Sinai, who can telepathically connect with and organize them. When I first read the book, I was impressed by the verbal pyrotechnics, and more so the clever interweaving of contemporary events into the magical realism of the ‘children’s’ lives. The great human tragedies and triumphs of Bharat, that is India, are a rich mother-lode to mine for fiction, and another example is the re-telling of the Mahabharata by Shashi Tharoor in The Great Indian Novel. But over time, the book’s impact faded for me. Even though I didn’t pay attention to it on first reading it, now I see it as significant that Saleem Sinai’s principal rivals among the children are ‘Shiva’ and ‘Parvati-the-witch’. Interesting choice of names, wouldn’t you say? A bit like Deepa Mehta’s choice of Radha and Sita for Fire, which I criticized as dog-whistle Hindu-hatred at the time in The problem with Fire.Thank you for reading Shadow Warrior. This post is public so feel free to share it.Nevertheless, Rushdie’s and the book’s charm obviously did not fade for the Anglosphere, because it fit into their world-view of India, as an exotic, barbaric country where bizarre things happen. They awarded it a Booker Prize, and later a Booker of Bookers, basically dubbing it the best book to have been written in English in decades. Rushdie rode his new-found stardom to riches and influence, and became a sort of seer on all things related not only to India, but also literature in general. And he physically moved to the Anglosphere, all the better to suit his new status as an oracle. In this he trod a well-trodden path which, for example, Amartya Sen and V S Naipaul also followed. More on that by and by.If I am not mistaken, Rushdie’s output after Midnight’s Children is hit-and-miss. His only other work that gained fame (notoriety?) was The Satanic Verses, but that was for other reasons, not literary merit. Since I haven’t read that book, I have no particular opinion on it, and the politics is anyway complicated because of Shia-Sunni issues and internal Muslim issues of blasphemy. But I am now beginning to wonder if Rushdie is also a one-horse wonder, like Arundhati Roy. I have not read her The God of Small Things, but her trajectory has been similar to Rushdie’s: one hit, instant elevation to global stardom and a bully pulpit from which to spout all sorts of radical ideas. A pliant Anglo media piled on and lionized both, regardless of actual merit. Furthermore, I am struck by the parallels with Amartya Sen, who also parlayed fame from early works into global demi-god status, marriage into the Rothschild empire, and a Nobel Prize (although technically it is only the Swedish bank’s prize for economics). His theories about the ‘Kerala model’ of development turn out to be pure bunkum, but then who’s counting? Which reminds me, I suspect the always au courant Scandinavians will now award the Nobel Prize in Literature to Rushdie as a knee-jerk reaction to the stabbing, as they awarded the Peace Prize to Barack Obama basically because, he was, well…. black. Well, bully for Rushdie!That, of course, is pure speculation. But the comparison with Naipaul is interesting. Both made Britain their home, and both commented on India in less-than-flattering terms. Naipaul’s An Area of Darkness was fierce, disappointed, and condemnatory. But the difference is that Naipaul, over time, became convinced that India was on the rise. Rushdie, so far as I can tell, does not see any future for India, nor anything worth celebrating.Maybe that’s why I like Naipaul, because he agrees with my prejudices; but objectively speaking his writing has greater insight. Here’s an excerpt from Naipaul’s India Today article on the occasion of the 50th Independence Day. I think that within every kind of disorder now in India there is a larger positive movement. But the future will be fairly chaotic. Politics will have to be at the level of the people now. People like Nehru were colonial-style politicians. They were to a large extent created and protected by the colonial order. They did not begin with the people. Politicians now have to begin with the people. They cannot be too far above the level of the people. They are very much part of the people. The Nehrus of the world have to give way now to the men of the people...It is important, in this apparent mess, for two things not to be interfered with. One is economic growth. I would like to see that encouraged in every way. It is the most important news coming out of India, more important than the politics. I would like to see education extended and extended. If this were to happen, and I feel it might, gradually, the actual level of politics will reflect both the economic life and higher level of education.Rushdie doesn’t have that sympathy, nor the realization that there is something behind the chaos. Fair enough, he is entitled to his opinion. But the point at which I personally became annoyed with Rushdie was when he proclaimed (like Macaulay before him) that there is nothing worthwhile in modern Indian-language literature. I knew this to be false because there is proof of existence: I had read O V Vijayan, Thakazhi, S K Pottekkat, Basheer, Anand, and M Mukundan in Malayalam; Ashapurna Devi and Tarasankar Banerjee in translation from Bengali; S L Bhyrappa in Kannada and a host of other world-class writers. For Rushdie to blithely denigrate them all showed both arrogance and ignorance, typical of India’s ‘liberals’. In fact, it is India’s English-language output that is inferior and derivative. With the exception of a few tour-de-force works such as Vikram Seth’s Golden Gate and Amitav Ghosh’s The Shadow Lines, there’s nothing unique or noteworthy that will stand the test of time. Even Rushdie’s magical realism, I found out, pales before Vijayan’s 1960’s The Legends of Khasak with its shape-shifting odiyans and the disembodied flying oracular head of the ancient magician Kandath Nair; not to mention Gabriel Garcia Marquez’ 1970s English publication of One Hundred Years of Solitude.Thanks for reading Shadow Warrior! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.It also turns out that Naipaul was right: 25 years later India is finally on an upward trajectory (that graphic from the FT is interesting, although it misrepresents India’s external boundaries). The colonialists are dead and buried, and ordinary men are now taking India forward. With economic growth, everything comes your way; and yes, the education system still sucks, as it’s infested with English and anti-national woke leftism (alas, also derivative and unoriginal). A Rushdie, steeped in the groupthink of Lutyens and Khan Market, has simply failed to see this, which  may mean he lacks the empathy, understanding, and feelings the greatest writers possess. The children and grandchildren of ‘midnight’s children’, however, see this.And what of the real midnight’s children? Hat tip to @NAN_DINI:  they are honoring the flag. They believe. Now personally, I am a little ambivalent about the ‘fly the flag in every house’ request by Prime Minister Modi. Of course, in my neighborhood in leftist paradise Thiruvananthapuram, hardly anybody took up his clarion call. Besides, I feel a little queasy about the American kitsch of flag-waving jingoism. In addition, flying the national flag from temples bothers me. I believe in the separation of ‘church’ and state; and I honestly think the interference of politicians in temples is an abomination. But I guess this Magnificent Generation that suffered through fifty years of kakistocratic dynasty mis-governance (see my earlier piece The Nehruvian Penalty: 50 wasted years) deserves to be applauded because they still believe. I do, too, but maybe I am an old cynic. I am not as old as them, but I remember suffering through those awful years of PL-480 and war and shortages of everything. I left, but then I returned because I, too, do believe. Giving credit where it’s due, I applaud Rushdie for coming up with the vanity of ‘midnight’s children’ and giving it a lot of airplay. But I’m afraid they, and their children and grand-children, have left Rushdie behind. They have moved on. He hasn’t, like the rest of the Anglo-Mughlai elite. Rushdie, midnight’s child himself, stayed stuck in the past while the others moved ahead. And that can become an avalanche, an irresistible force, if all goes well.1470 words, 18 Aug 2022 This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit rajeevsrinivasan.substack.com

How did an architect help pioneer blood transfusion in the 1660s? Why did eighteenth-century dentists buy the live teeth of poor children? And what role did a sausage skin and an enamel bath play in making kidney transplants a reality? In today's episode, I talked with Dr. Paul Craddock about the history of body transplants. We think of transplant surgery as one of the medical wonders of the modern world. But transplant surgery is as ancient as the pyramids, with a history more surprising than we might expect. Shortened Bio: Dr. Paul Craddock is a cultural historian and award-winning author based in London. His debut book, Spare Parts: A Surprising History of Transplants was a Daily Mail Book of the Week and won the Special Commendation of the Royal Society of Literature Giles St Aubyn Awards. Paul is a Science Museum Group Senior Research Associate (SMGSRA), an Honorary Senior Research Associate of UCL's Division of Surgery, and a Visiting Lecturer at Imperial College London. He is represented by Jenny Hewson at Lutyens and Rubinstein Literary Agency. Website - https://paulcraddock.com/ Cover made by Kayro The Saint - https://instabio.cc/Kayrothesaint - https://twitter.com/kayrothesaint To watch the visuals with the trailer go to https://www.podcasttheway.com/trailers/ The Way Podcast - www.PodcastTheWay.com - Follow at Twitter / Instagram - @podcasttheway (Subscribe/Follow on streaming platforms and social media!) Thank you Don Grant for the Intro/Outro. Check out his podcast - https://threeinterestingthings.captivate.fm Intro guitar copied from Aiden Ayers at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UiB9FMOP5s *The views demonstrated in this show are strictly those of The Way Podcast/Radio Show*

Welcome to the Instant Trivia podcast episode 490, where we ask the best trivia on the Internet. Round 1. Category: Going Bananas 1: Recipes for this cake-like loaf call for 2 or 3 ripe bananas, mashed. Banana bread. 2: This term for the leading comedian in a show originated in a burlesque routine involving bananas. Top banana. 3: A traditional banana daiquiri contains the light type of this liquor. Rum. 4: While singing with The Tarriers, Alan Arkin had a hit with this song one month before Harry Belafonte. "The Banana-Boat Song". 5: The documentary film subtitled "Bananas Is My Business" profiles this movie star of the '30s and '40s. Carmen Miranda. Round 2. Category: Old Hickory 1: With no $7 bill, seventh president Andrew Jackson is honored on this currency denomination. $20 bill. 2: In 1787 Jackson set up his office to practice this in McLeansville, North Carolina. Law. 3: On June 6, 1833 Jackson became the first sitting president to take a ride on one of these. Train. 4: Waightstill Avery in 1787 and Charles Dickinson in 1806 are 2 of about 100 men Jackson faced in these. Duels. 5: This 6th president wouldn't attend Jackson's inauguration or his honorary degree ceremony at Harvard. John Quincy Adams. Round 3. Category: 2-Word Capitals 1: This Asian capital was built between 1912 and '29 and designed by the British architect Lutyens. New Delhi. 2: The name of this capital of El Salvador is similar to the name of the country. San Salvador. 3: Of the capitals of South Africa, it's the only one that fits the category. Cape Town. 4: Do you know the way to this capital of Costa Rica?. San José. 5: This Ethiopian capital whose name means "new flower" was founded by Emperor Menelik II in 1887. Addis Ababa. Round 4. Category: Warner Bros. 1: In May 1999 her Warners talk show was hit with a $2.5 million judgment after one guest killed another. Jenny Jones. 2: You can tour the Warner Bros. lot online, or in person in this San Fernando Valley city. Burbank. 3: Former mortuary entrepreneur Steve Ross negotiated Warners' 1989 merger with this publisher. Time. 4: Movies found their voice in this 1927 Warner Bros. film. The Jazz Singer. 5: He outlasted his brothers Sam, Albert and Harry in the company, finally selling out in 1967. Jack Warner. Round 5. Category: Famous Joes And Josephs 1: 1 of the 3 heavyweight boxing champs to fit this category. Joe Frazier, Joe Louis and "Jersey Joe" Walcott. 2: This Delaware senator chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee. Joseph Biden. 3: This world leader's real name was Joseph Vissarionovich Dzhugashvili. Joseph Stalin. 4: In 1982 this British singer paired with Jennifer Warnes in the No. 1 hit "Up Where We Belong". Joe Cocker. 5: Late charismatic scholar seen on a PBS series in 1988 conversing with Bill Moyers on "The Power Of Myth". Joseph Campbell. Thanks for listening! Come back tomorrow for more exciting trivia!

durée : 00:25:16 - Elisabeth Lutyens, première compositrice sérielle britannique - par : Anne-Charlotte Rémond - Dans cet épisode de Musicopolis, Anne-Charlotte Rémond revient sur l'oeuvre prolifique et le parcours impressionnant de la compositrice Elisabeth Lutyens (1906-1983). - réalisé par : Philippe Petit

Rahul Gandhi and many opposition CMs seem full intent on tukde-tukde politics, aided and abetted by the Mulla-Marxist -Missionary nexus and supported by Macaulayites and Lutyens' Media. Pradeep Singh joins Sanjay Dixit to discuss this brand of politics that seems to be giving only diminishing returns.

Elisabeth Lutyens hat als erste in Großbritannien atonale Musik geschrieben - und blieb damit lange allein. Mit brachte sie es schließlich doch noch zum Erfolg. Dorothee Riemer über eine Frau, die gegen alle Widerstände einfach immer weiter komponierte. Von Dorothee Riemer.

Jaishankar is a patriot and honourable man. He cannot be pleased to make excuses for ‘gau rakshaks' or criminals who have entered politics. ----more---- https://theprint.in/opinion/ifs-jaishankar-foreign-minister-it-cell-us-media-lutyens-lobby/844177/

India Policy Watch: Prediction TimeInsights on burning policy issues in India— RSJHappy New Year! This is a time of hope, optimism and new beginnings. But 2022 has signalled it has no time for such niceties. It is already hitting high notes on all kinds of wrong metrics - peak COVID-19 positivity rates, deeper social polarisation and dangerous levels of toxicity on social media. And it is only the first week. Maybe 2022 intends to get all the bad news out early and then coast on calm waters. That’s the hope. Hope, like Andy Dufresne taught us, is a good thing; maybe the best of things. We write this newsletter because we are hopeful about the future. We believe we can make an impact, however small, on the demand side of the policy equation. That making people aware of policy choices and helping them anticipate the unintended will lead to a change in the supply side of politics. There are two preconditions for this to happen which we have assumed to hold true. One, people have time and mental space available for discussions that matter to their lives. Two, a belief we can arrive at what’s good for us through those debates and discussions. But there are days when you wonder if these hold. The cacophonous noise on issues of identity, validity and nationalism drowns all other conversations. There’s no conceding of ground regardless of the merits of an issue. Any factoid that questions your existing hypothesis isn’t seen as worthy of contemplation. The more perceptive might register a mild dissonance. Instead, you wait for your side to dig out a counter that reconfirms your bias and negates the dissonance. Politics is often considered to be performative for the audience that’s the electorate. Now, the audience has donned the makeup and is declaiming on stage. The possibility of consensus on what’s good is increasingly remote. And once you are in this territory, the public part of public policy goes out of the window. Whatever remains then is no different from a fiat. But then hope is a good thing. And so we begin the new year with hope. Like those last lines from The Great Gatsby:“...tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther…And one fine morning- So we beat on, boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.”Like last year, we start with that timeless lazy way to fill pages during this time of the year. Here is my random list of predictions for 2022.Economy#1: It will be more of the same for India on growth, inflation and fiscal deficit. Factoring in the Covid base effect, we will be in the 5-5.5 per cent growth range (if you take the base of FY 21). Inflation (CPI) will be around 5 per cent with an occasional jump to 6 per cent during the year despite threatening to go out of control. Maybe three interest rate hikes (a total of 75 bps) during the year will keep a lid on it. Public markets will moderate a bit (around 10 percent upside). Private market valuations will continue to be in bubble territory. There’s a lot of liquidity that’s already raised and ready to be deployed for start-ups. China won’t attract it as it will continue to go down the path of self-reliance and its notion of an equal society. So, expect even more than the $36 billion that flowed into startups in 2021. There will be more gushing commentary on the Indian entrepreneurial energy. That will be appropriated to show how well the economy is doing. The money flowing for Indian startups is good news, of course. But it cannot be the only metric to determine the health of the economy. The divergence between the formal and informal economy and the K-shaped recovery that we have written about (“Two Indias”) will continue.#2: There won’t be much to write about reforms. Some attempts at piecemeal MSP reforms will be attempted to make up for the repealed farm laws. The National Monetisation Pipeline will get going but the progress will be modest. A couple of more disinvestment proposals of PSUs (including banks) will be taken up. But this will be for raising revenues rather than a planned strategy to make PSUs market competitive. The LIC IPO will just go over the line and that will be the big event to showcase reforms. All of this doesn't mean we will be short of big announcements about reforms or intention to reform.Politics#1: BJP election machine will continue its winning run barring the odd defeats in Punjab and Goa. The big prize, UP, will be fought hard but BJP will win a safe majority. The bahujan vote of the depleted BSP will shift to it more than to SP and that will make all the difference. By the end of the year, there will be a more formal coming together of regional parties as opposition. Some sort of a “front” will be formalised.#2: There will be a split in the Congress. The party in its current form is untenable and beyond a point, there will be nothing to lose for those who split it. The key question is who will lead it - those who have a political base and think Congress leadership is a liability that cannot be carried along any further, or those without a political base but with strong ideological opposition to the BJP. My guess is it will be the latter. In any case, it won’t make much of a difference.Society #1: Demographic anxiety is now a thing in Indian society. The desire to address it or to be seen to address it will animate much of our social discourse. Expect love jihad and anti-conversion laws in various states, some kind of population control bill, a revival of CAA and a push for a uniform civil code during the year. There’s that early 20th century Europe playbook of stoking demographic anxiety that plays on a threat to the survival of a civilisation or a way of living. The pitch will be queered on this. Indian society is a fertile ground for it. This land can be shown to its people as a palimpsest. But it can, perhaps more easily, be shown as a glorious, ancient civilisation that’s been asphyxiated for centuries by ‘outsiders’. A true revival of it requires setting the past records straight and the right demographic arithmetic. That’s the view and it is open season for this. There will be more performative gestures that will be broadcast as reclaiming of that civilisation. #2: The last week saw the mainstreaming of the ‘trads’ and ‘raitas’ nomenclature. If you don’t know about this sharp distinction that’s emerging within the right-wing, here’s a short introduction to it. We have written in the past Schmitt’s ‘friend-enemy’ distinction in politics. Politics is driven by the idea of having an enemy; the other. For much of the last decade, this was the left-liberal cabal (Lutyens, Khan market, NYT, Soros, Amnesty etc). Even when much of news and propaganda came to be dominated by the right-wing, there was a strawman of this all-powerful cabal of anti-nationals that was kept alive because the notion of an enemy is critical. But once you have decimated it, what do you do? You look for the enemy within. That’s what trads versus raitas is all about. It isn’t a surprise really. This is something I discussed in Amit Varma’s podcast last February.  Miscellaneous#1: There will be serious big tech regulations that will come into play in America. Others will follow suit. India will have a version of this along with dollops of atmanirbharta. This will mean some tough days for big consumer tech giants in India.#2: China will struggle for growth. Demographics, debt and delusion have come together in China in a way that will make it difficult for it to sustain growth. China-Russia relationship will get stronger with their support for each other and for other authoritarian regimes around the world. #3: Meta, Crypto, Decentralisation, NFT (and everything else pumped up by the Valley tech bros) will see their hype abate (about 25-30 percent drop in asset value). When John Terry starts buying Bored Ape NFTs, you know the whole thing has jumped the shark. About time too. Global Policy Watch: A Season of Industrial PoliciesBringing an Indian perspective to burning global issues— Pranay KotasthaneOn December 29, the union government issued guidelines for another production-linked incentive (PLI) scheme, this time for textiles. In all, there are thirteen sectors — from electronics to steel — where PLI schemes are under various stages of execution. We had given such schemes the full Anticipating the Unintended treatment in edition #86. In this edition, I want to step back and review the merits and demerits of industrial policies, of which PLI is a specific variant. What’s an Industrial Policy?Scott Lincicome of the Cato Institute has a neat definition. Industrial policies are“targeted and directed government interventions intended to achieve specific, market‐​beating industrial and commercial outcomes within national borders. The specificity of these targeted interventions is what makes them different from other kinds of broader, more general interventions.”In contrast, broader pro-market policies that are not sector-specific such as reducing corporate tax rates, reducing import duties, simplifying labour laws and making land acquisition easier are not categorised as industrial policies. Why Should You Care?Industrial policies are all the rage today and not just in India. Industrial policies never went in demand really. The theory of change behind industrial policies is enticingly simple: “to get an uncompetitive business sector of yours to grow, subsidise investment in that sector over the next few years out of taxpayer money.” And as you can imagine, industrial policies are quick-fix solutions that any policymaker would love. So, one or the other industrial policy solution is always cooking in government departments regardless of the sector and the country.The reason why such policies are now getting concurrent attention worldwide is because of one reason: China. With all the talk of reducing dependence on Chinese technology and manufacturing firms, entire sectors are being deemed as “strategic” across countries. And once a sector gets termed as strategic, a “strategic” industrial policy is never far away. And so, the US, EU, India, and China itself, are all launching a spate of new incentive schemes to reshore manufacturing and technology firms. Do Industrial Policies Work?They are popular, alright. But are industrial policies effective? In this section, I’ll review some arguments for and against them. Batting for industrial policy, albeit in the American context, Steven K Vogel declares in a Niskanen Center paper that industrial policy is both imperative and inevitable going ahead. His argument is that all critical goals of the future — reducing carbon emissions, mitigating climate change, and strengthening supply chain resilience — would be unachievable without targeted government support. And that achieving these goals cannot be left to private firms because of three reasons. One, only the government can formulate national missions. Two, the private sector is bound to underinvest in R&D due to positive externalities. And three, only government can resolve coordination or network failures. Batting against industrial policies are people at the Cato Institute (of course). Their paper Industrial Policy: A Bad Idea Is Back is a searing critique of industrial policies due to four reasons that block success.One, centralised attempts to pick winning critical technologies are more likely to fail as the government does not know it all. Even when the government picks up the right industries for support, it often ends up picking up the wrong products and companies.Two, as you can guess, targeted support enables rent-seeking. Companies that get government backing block competition and seek to mould the scheme for their own benefits rather than policy objectives. Costs balloon, performance falters, bailouts get demanded, and political considerations become paramount. Three, industrial policies come at an immense cost to society. Besides the “seen” cost overruns, there are “unseen” opportunity costs, misallocation of resources, and deadweight losses due to higher tariffs. Finally, industrial policies don’t pick winners but it’s winners that pick industrial policies. This means even in sectors where such policies created a few successful companies, “government support mostly went to companies that could have obtained private funding or produced outcomes that the market could have provided (and did previously without government assistance)”.Where Does That Leave Us?From an Indian perspective, I want to amplify two concerns about industrial policies. First, as the previous section suggests, the real problem with industrial policies is in their design and implementation. Vogel argues that one can get industrial policy ‘right’ by doing three things: set clear priorities, deploy the appropriate policy tools; and structure government institutions to limit political capture and maximize policy effectiveness. Each of them requires high state capacity. While the first two can be still resolved as they are not transaction-intensive, a lack of adequate regulatory capacity to prevent companies from gaming the system is a big challenge in India.Second, the opportunity cost argument is especially important for a 2000$ per capita income economy. Given that every rupee of revenue raised by the government costs three rupees to the Indian society, industrial policies are by default expensive instruments. Reflecting on both sides of the argument, my current position is that industrial policies should be deployed very selectively, in sectors that are uber-strategic or where Indian companies enjoy a comparative advantage globally. For example, I would support an industrial policy for building a speciality semiconductor fab in India but I would oppose one that attempts to make display panels in India. Reducing import dependence from China cannot be the driving reason to shower billions of dollars for as many as thirteen sectors. We shouldn’t forget that incentive schemes are finally band-aid solutions. They might create a few national champions but to eliminate the cost disabilities lakhs of Indian companies face, there is no alternative to improving tax, business, intellectual property, and trade regimes. Post Script: Industrial Policies for SemiconductorsThe union government launched four schemes worth a total of $10billion to build a semiconductor and display ecosystem in India. I’ve given these policies the Anticipating the Unintended treatment here and here.To understand the European Union’s perspective on industrial policies in this sector, I spoke with Mathieu Duchâtel in an episode for the All Things Policy Podcast. * from Emily Dickinson’s “Hope” is the thing with feathersHomeWorkReading and listening recommendations on public policy matters[Book] Diana L. Eck’s 2012 masterpiece India - A Sacred Geography challenges the notion that the Indian “nation” was a project born in response to colonial occupation. [Paper] Questioning Industrial Policy: Why Government Manufacturing Plans Are Ineffective and Unnecessary is an insightful read.[Article] Noah Smith on “Six reasons 2021 was a better year than people think” If you find the content here useful, consider taking a deep dive into the world of public policy. Takshashila’s PGP — a 48-week certificate course will allow you to learn public policy analysis from the best practitioners, academics, and teachers. And that too, while you continue to work. In other words, the opportunity costs are low and the benefits are life-changing. Do check out. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit publicpolicy.substack.com

Read by Kate Finning

Unprecedented support for the druggies of Bollywood across the Panchmakkar class shows up our celebrity and political class for what it is. Lutyens' Media is twisting and turning and MVA is behaving as i fit has lost its very mojo. Barkha Trehan joins Sanjay Dixit to recount the troll attacks she has had to face for calling out the drug menace.

Stevie and Tessa are incredibly excited to have a Big Announcement and hope you're as excited as they are once you hear what the Big Announcement is. Without wanting to give the surprise away, here are some of the links they mention that you should definitely have a look at: Pre-order a signed copy at Lutyens & Rubinstein: https://www.lutyensrubinstein.co.uk/product/signed-nobody-panic/Or pre-order a regular copy from:Blackwell's: https://blackwells.co.uk/bookshop/product/9781529364408Waterstones: https://www.waterstones.com/book/9781529364408Foyles: https://www.foyles.co.uk/witem/health-wellbeing/untitled,anonymous-9781529364408Bookshop.org: https://uk.bookshop.org/books/nobody-panic-how-to-be-a-functional-adult-without-screaming/9781529364408Hive: https://www.hive.co.uk/Product/Anonymous/Untitled/25842563Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Nobody-Panic-functional-without-screaming/dp/152936440XHachette: https://www.hachette.co.uk/titles/anonymous-9/untitled/9781529364408/Want to support Nobody Panic? You can make a one-off donation at https://supporter.acast.com/nobodypanicRecorded and edited by Ben Williams for Plosive.Photos by Marco Vittur, jingle by David Dobson.Follow Nobody Panic on Twitter @NobodyPanicPod Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/nobodypanic. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Today we celebrate the man who conceived of a new holiday that became Arbor Day. We'll also learn about the man who developed the first classification system for plants based on evolution. We’ll hear some grateful words about spring from the author Barbara Kingsolver. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a garden cookbook that is a total gem for the gardener-cook. And then we’ll wrap things up with a look back at the dedication of the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden.   Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart To listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to “Play the latest episode of The Daily Gardener Podcast.” And she will. It's just that easy.   The Daily Gardener Friday Newsletter Sign up for the FREE Friday Newsletter featuring: A personal update from me Garden-related items for your calendar The Grow That Garden Library™ featured books for the week Gardener gift ideas Garden-inspired recipes Exclusive updates regarding the show Plus, each week, one lucky subscriber wins a book from the Grow That Garden Library™ bookshelf.   Gardener Greetings Send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes, and so forth to Jennifer@theDailyGardener.org   Curated News Plants and People of Vanuatu (“vah-new-AH-too”) | The New York Botanical Garden | Earth Day Documentary Premiere   Facebook Group If you'd like to check out my curated news articles and original blog posts for yourself, you're in luck. I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. So, there’s no need to take notes or search for links. The next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community, where you’d search for a friend... and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group.   Important Events April 22, 1832 Today is the birthday of a Nebraska newspaper editor, Secretary of Agriculture, and father of Arbor Day, Julius Sterling Morton. In 1867, after moving west to Nebraska from Detroit, J. Sterling and his wife Caroline were shocked by the treeless landscape. Together, they conceived of a day to promote tree planting. The original proposal to the agricultural board of Nebraska was for a “Sylvan Day” - to promote forest trees. In Latin, “sylva” means "wood" or "forest." And Sylvanus was the Roman god of woods and fields. J. Sterling decided that a broader celebration of all trees was in order. He proposed “Arbor Day.” The first Arbor Day on April 10, 1872, was an overwhelming success - with over a million trees planted in frontier Nebraska. Arbor Day quickly became a yearly national holiday - celebrated on April 22 to honor J. Sterling Morton's birthday. Despite his many professional and honorable appointments at the state and federal level, J. Sterling considered Arbor Day to be the ultimate accomplishment of his life. In 1923, the beautiful Morton family home, known as Arbor Lodge, and the surrounding property were gifted to Nebraska. Today Arbor Lodge is a historic state park. Nowadays, Arbor Day is generally celebrated on the last Friday in April in the United States. Arbor Day 2021 will occur on Friday, April 30th. It was J. Sterling Morton who said, Other holidays repose upon the past; Arbor Day proposes for the future.   April 22, 1839 Today is the birthday of the German botanist August Wilhelm Eichler. Wilhelm developed one of the first widely used natural systems of plant classification. Most importantly, it was the first classification system based on evolution. In addition, Wilhelm divided the plant kingdom into non-floral plants and floral plants. Wilhelm spent many years working tirelessly as a private assistant to the naturalist Karl Friedrich Philipp von Martinus. Karl had traveled to Brazil and collected over 20,000 specimens. He spent the final three decades of his life documenting his findings in a book called Flora Brasiliensis, which Wilhelm helped edit. Generally speaking, a Flora is a book describing all plants from a set geographic area. When Karl died in 1868, Wilhelm carried on the work of Flora Brasiliensis unassisted. It was a labor of love. After Wilhelm died, botanist Ignatius Urban continued with the project until its completion. Today, Wilhelm Eichler Strasse (Street) in Dresden is named in Wilhelm’s honor. Wilhelm Eichler who said, "The felling of the first tree is the beginning of human civilization. The felling of the last is his end."   Unearthed Words Spring is made of solid, fourteen-karat gratitude, the reward for the long wait. Every religious tradition from the northern hemisphere honors some form of April hallelujah, for this is the season of exquisite redemption, a slam-bang return to joy after a season of cold second thoughts. ― Barbara Kingsolver, Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life   Grow That Garden Library Kitchen Garden Cookbook by Jeanne Kelley This book came out in 2013, and the subtitle is Celebrating the homegrown & homemade. Jeanne is also the author of the acclaimed Blue Eggs and Yellow Tomatoes: Recipes from a Modern Kitchen Garden and Williams-Sonoma Kitchen Library Holiday Baking. In this cookbook, Jeanne shares the recipes she developed to feature the fruits, vegetables, herbs, eggs, and even honey harvested from your own garden. Jeanne’s simple recipes are inspiring and delicious. Whether you have a large garden, a small kitchen garden, or simply enjoy shopping for fresh ingredients from the farmer’s market, Jeanne’s cookbook will give you plenty of new ideas for every season in the garden. Jeanne’s cookbook is cleverly divided into four main sections, spring, summer, fall & winter, and the coop & the hive. What I love about Jeanne’s cookbook is her focus on the “greatest hits” of a traditional kitchen garden - like tomatoes, zucchini, and berries. Jeanne also shares her tips for planting a well-thought-out kitchen garden. Jeanne offers more than 100 recipes featuring the fresh and natural flavors of whatever is in season. Some of my favorites include her shaved zucchini salad with almonds, ricotta & pea crostini, grilled ham and cheese with herb pesto, cherry tomato and thyme frittata, lettuce, butter & Radish Salad, and her summer herb drizzle with sliced tomatoes and mozzarella. This book is 224 pages of beautiful photography, quaint illustrations of Jeanne’s garden, and a fabulous go-to cookbook for the gardener-cook. You can get a copy of the Kitchen Garden Cookbook by Jeanne Kelley and support the show using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for around $2.   Today’s Botanic Spark Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart April 22, 1965 On this day, the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden was dedicated. Jackie did not attend the dedication. Her mother attended in her place. The dedication brought tears and smiles. Jackie had helped design the garden - which was to be called the White House East Garden - along with her friend, the horticulturist and gardener Rachel Lambert Mellon, who always went by “Bunny.” After the assassination of President Kennedy, the first lady, Lady Bird Johnson, reached out to Bunny to complete the East garden. Bunny agreed to do the work on one condition: that the garden be named the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden in honor of her friend, the former First Lady. The dedication ceremony for the garden was bathed in sunlight. First Lady Johnson gave a speech, saying: "There could be only one name for this garden." Jackie was not keen to have the garden named in her honor. Both the Rose Garden and the East Garden had been John’s ideas. After Lady Bird persisted, Jackie finally relented but asked that the naming be downplayed and placed inconspicuously on a bench in the garden. In fact, there is a bench in the garden - a Lutyens bench - designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens ("Lutchins"). This bench is an iconic feature of many gardens. The bench was placed next to the grape arbor, and on one of the posts for the grape arbor, there is an elegant, small, silver plaque - 2.5 inches square. The font for the plaque is Bunny’s own handwriting - and it says, "This garden is dedicated to Jacqueline Kennedy with great affection by those who worked with her in the White House, April 22, 1965."  In appreciation for Bunny’s work, Jackie gifted Bunny a large folio-sized scrapbook tracing the work on both the Rose Garden and the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden. A self-taught gardener and designer, Bunny kept the book in her magnificent personal garden Library at her Oak Hill estate in Upperville, Virginia. In fact, the basketweave brick hardscaping in the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden is a replica of Bunny’s paving at Oak Spring. To make the surface permeable, Bunny made sure there was no mortar between the bricks. In the weeks following the dedication, a little story about Bunny’s time designing the White House gardens began circulating through newspapers. The Morning Call out of Paterson, New Jersey reported that, “Robert Kennedy… recalled the day that Bunny Mellon’s garden hoe cut the White House communication link with the outside world. Mrs. Mellon did a lot of the actual spading and planting herself, Senator Kennedy noted, “Often, during Cabinet meetings, we would see her out there in the rose garden - a little figure with a bandana around her head," he said. One day, he recalled, there was complete consternation. Mrs. Mellon's hoe had cut right through a buried cable that connected the President of the United States with key spots around the world. Immediately after that, a long-planned improvement and modernization of White House communication equipment was hastily commenced... Cables were moved out of the Rose garden, into another area of the grounds, and deeply buried in a vault-like structure, secure from any future woman with a hoe. President Kennedy, who had not previously paid much attention to yards and gardens, became intensely interested in the appearance of the White House grounds and devoted a lot of thought to improving them, Robert Kennedy recalls, even in times of great crisis, "John Kennedy found time for his gardens."  JFK learned the names of most of the species and proudly reeled them off to visitors as he showed them around. President Kennedy actually had a lot more to do with the Jacqueline Kennedy Garden, which is to be used by First Ladies and their children, than did Mrs. Kennedy. It was a consciousness of this that made the gentle Jacqueline Kennedy very reluctant to have the garden bear her name. The new garden is an interesting contrast to the rose garden. Whereas the latter is strong and bold, with large clusters of brilliantly hued tulips, marching lines of flowering crabapple trees, and beds laid out in strong diagonal lines. The Jacqueline Kennedy Garden was deliberately planned by Mrs. Mellon to be a gentle garden. Tulips are widely scattered and are in shades of white, yellow, and soft orange. Bed outlines are circular rather than diagonal. This is the first time, incidentally, that an area in or around the White House ever has been named for a First Lady. The White House curator office says it can find no record that any other First Lady was so honored. There are not many things around the mansion named after Presidents, in fact. The only present exception is the Lincoln Room.”   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener. And remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."

This podcast is a two part  Ramadan special, bought to you by Gulfood - https://www.gulfood.com and Meelz - https://meelz.meFor the second part, I talk to one of the most exciting and prominent Chef's of the region!Tim Newton started cooking at at an early age, cooking for his mum.He was raised in Southern California, first working in a pizzeria, he then stepped into a professional kitchen at the age of 18 in a restaurant called “ Stacy's in Oakland,  then went backpacking through Europe,  and ended up studying culinary arts in Paris no less, an incredible place to study and learn his craft.Tim went onto work in England and Australia with some of the best people in the business.Matt Moran was one of them - https://mattmoran.com.auFollowed working in of London's most established restaurants - Lutyens - https://www.thened.com/restaurants/lutyens-grillAfter sometime, he got an opportunity to work in the Middle East, this time it was Dubai that welcomed him.Tim mentioned with a cheeky grin that he came to open a “small” restaurant named La Petite Maison - https://lpmrestaurants.com/dubai/This “small” restaurant went onto win several accolades,  and to this day, it is an extremely popular place amongst the dining scene in Dubai.A couple of years down the line, Tim became the Group Executive Chef for the demand group, that has such restaurants as Bagatelle, Opa and more recently Myrra - https://www.demindme.comThis has led Tim to open several ventures, with more to follow, he mentions that the success is also down to his solid team.His culinary heroes are the incredible Thomas Keller, the late great Anthony Bourdain, most importantly his Mother. She was the one who pushed Tim to go into the kitchen at home to then go into a professional kitchen.Ramadan as an expat chef could be daunting for cooks who experience it for the first time, but Tim respects the culture of what Ramadan means in this region, not only that, his wife who is also a chef, her family originate for Yemen, so there is a rich food culture within the Newton household.The chef has seen Ramadan change in Dubai throughout the years, his menus however, stay true to their concepts during this time.Tim has embraced the Arabic cuisine, to the point that he mentions the firm crowd pleasers, are some of his personal favourites.The real deal over Ramadan for him, are the Iftars, this is where you can really experience the true sense of the holy month, as well as the incredible flavours that are presented.To see what Tim is doing, you can follow him on Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/cheftim420Stay tuned for next weeks show, I will be giving a sneak preview on Season 3.Thank you to our partners Gulfood and Meelz, make sure to click on their links at the very top of the page.Until next time, food is memories!Support the showFollow The Chef JKP Podcast on Instagram HERE

This Professional Industry Insight with James Windsor (Vice President at Campbell Lutyens) covers a whole host of topics - we hope you enjoy! To sign up to Degiro: https://www.degiro.co.uk/lp/shares?tap_a=55084-256ae9&tap_s=1285775-929e62&utm_source=finfoc&utm_campaign=DEGIRO+UK&utm_medium=a&utm_content=shares_lp. Please note that they (DEGIRO) are deemed authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. The nature and extent of consumer protections may differ from those for firms based in the UK. Details of the Temporary Permissions Regime, which allows EEA-based firms to operate in the UK for a limited period while seeking full authorisation, are available on the Financial Conduct Authority's website. Investing involves risk of loss. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/financefocused/support

Jenny Hewson is a literary agent based in London. She worked for 13 years as an agent at one of England's best agencies, Rogers Coleridge and White or RCW as it's known, representing authors across fiction and non-fiction. A year ago she joined the prestigious Lutyens & Rubinstein agency, bringing her list of authors with her, including Sarah Perry, Melissa Harrison, Amy Sackville and Alexander Macleod.Lutyens and Rubinstein was the first literary agency to own an independent bookshop when they opened their doors in Notting Hill in 2009. The bookshop itself has a beautifully curated selection which makes it a pleasure to browse – and of course having a bookshop means the agents can witness the appetite of readers daily.

"90 percent of the cenotaph is invisible, like grief"

Sham, Abhijit Iyer-Mitra, and Kushal discuss the Biden inauguration, his speech, what to expect from the Biden administration, and how the world will start to heal with Kamala Harris' love. And of course how happy Lutyens' Indians are. We also discuss the government offering to postpone the farm laws, Jack Ma's strange video, and meme review! #biden #kamalaharris #uselection ----------------------------------------- Follow Sham: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/shamsharmashow/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/shambhav15 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shamsharmashow/ Email Inquiries: contact@shamsharmashow.com Feedback: shambhav10@gmail.com  

Following the 2:1 majority order of the Supreme Court in favour of Modi government‘s Central Vista redevelopment project for the area around Lutyens' Delhi, Shekhar Gupta analyses the facts & controversies of the project, the views of the three Justices, India's suspicion of urban renewal issues and more in episode 655 of #CutTheClutter

In the shadow of Lutyens' mighty Thiepval Memorial, we visit the graves of British soldiers in the picturesque Authuille Military Cemetery, discover how a Newcastle United player launched the attack here with a football on 1st July 1916, and find what remains of the pre-war village of Thiepval, more than a century after its destruction. Support the show (https://www.patreon.com/oldfrontline)

This week the JV turns its attention towards the fundraising landscape for infrastructure, with a special interview with Gordon Bajnai, head of global infrastructure at Campbell Lutyens. Gordon, who was formerly the prime minister of Hungary and COO at Meridiam Infrastructure, relayed to us how the fundraising market had been impacted by Covid-19, how investment strategies might change over coming months and years, and the success of the EU's coronavirus recovery package, which was agreed this week. Jon and Ott also caught up on some of the latest moves within the infrastructure and renewables sectors. 

Our economy goes down, down, down. Our stock market is hyped up, up, up. Amit Varma and Vivek Kaul make sense of this paradox in episode 6 of Econ Central. Also discussed: The economic principles behind good writing, the game theory behind rebellion in the Congress, and how both Amit and Vivek are enemies of Lutyens.   Also check out:1. Steve Jobs and His Black Turtleneck -- Amit Varma (on decision fatigue). 2. This Passing Moment -- Amit Varma (on opportunity cost). 3. How to Escape From the Shallows -- Amit Varma. 4. That Will Be England Gone -- Michael Henderson. 5. If Gold Is a Bad Investment, so Are Stocks -- Vivek Kaul. 6. A Sustained Bull Market? -- Debashis Basu. 7. Radical Uncertainty -- Mervyn King & John Kay. 8. A Game Theory Problem: Who Will Bell The Congress Cat? -- Amit Varma. 9. Congress Crisis is Structural -- Pradeep Chibber & Rahul Verma. 10. Political Ideology in India -- Episode 131 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Rahul Verma), 11. Taking Stock of Our Republic -- Episode 157 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Ram Guha). 12. Mohua Moitra interview by Barkha Dutt. 13. Who Moved My Interest Rate? -- D Subbarao. 14. RBI Is Behaving Like a Football Goalkeeper -- Vivek Kaul. 15. Of Football Goalkeepers, RBI Governor Subbarao and the Art of Doing Nothing -- Vivek Kaul. 16. Green Shoots in the Desert Sand -- Episode 2 of Econ Central (w discussion on poverty and inequality at the end). 17. India’s Problem is Poverty, Not Inequality -- Amit Varma. 18. Books by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, Steven Pinker, Philip Tetlock, Nate Silver & Per Bylund. 19. Fooled by Randomness -- Nassim Nicholas Taleb. 20. The Blank Slate -- Steven Pinker. 21. Superforecasting -- Philip Tetlock & Dan Gardner. 22. The Seen, the Unseen and the Unrealised -- Per Bylund. 23. Conversation and Society -- Episode 182 of The Seen and the Unseen (w Russ Roberts).  24. Farmers, Technology and Freedom of Choice: A Tale of Two Satyagrahas -- Amit Varma (on GMO foods). 25. The Audio Publishing Boom -- Episode 11 of Publishing Perspectives (w Amit & Arcopol Chaudhuri among others). Registrations for the August batches of Amit's course, The Art of Clear Writing, are now open. Rush! And do check out Bad Money and Vivek's other books

Show Notes Today we celebrate the Chelsea Physic Garden Curator who was partly responsible for the British Fern Craze and the botanical illustrator whose art ended up on South African currency. We'll learn about the man who discovered the virus researching tobacco plants and the English architect who partnered with Gertrude Jekyll to design Country Estates. Today’s Unearthed Words feature garden-inspired poetry from the English gardener and writer Thomas Moore. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book that will make you feel like you’ve made a garden friend. I'll talk about a great garden item that is made from repurposed weapons. and then we’ll wrap things up with the origin story of the Kent mango. But first, let's catch up on a few recent events.   Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart   Curated Articles The Herbs of Christmas by Mother Earth Living @mthrearthliving “Learn which herbs help welcome us into the holiday season The botanical trappings of the season have proven astoundingly consistent throughout the past several thousand years.” Naturally, they discussed the holly and the ivy and the poinsettia. But, they also discussed the mistletoe. They explained: "Mistletoe called for a gesture of conciliation—usually a kiss. Under the original rules, a berry must be picked for each kiss." After all the berries were removed, the sprig was taken down and replaced with a new one.   Superglue plant and ‘miracle berry’ among 2019’s new finds by @dpcarrington @guardian  As we welcome the new year, here's a nod to a handful of the plant discoveries made in 2019. @Kew scientists officially named 102 plants & 8 fungi in 2019 - including a shrub that oozes superglue and cancer-fighting fungi. A new species of Snowdrop was spotted on #Facebook!   Now, if you'd like to check out these curated articles for yourself, you're in luck, because I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. There’s no need to take notes or search for links - the next time you're on Facebook, just search for Daily Gardener Community and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group.   Important Events 1887  Today is the anniversary of the death of the gardener, naturalist, and Chelsea Physic Garden curator Thomas Moore. Before Moore worked at Chelsea Physic Garden @ChelsPhysicGdn, he spent four years at Fraser’s Lea Bridge Nurseries, Leyton from 1839-1842. Moore wrote several books on horticulture - many reflected his lifelong passion for ferns. In 1848, the year he started at Chelsea Physic Garden, he wrote the 'Handbook of British Ferns.’ His maniacal focus on ferns led to the creation of a Fernery in the garden and inspired the Victorian Fern craze or "Pteridomania". Twelve years after his first book on ferns, his love was still going strong and he wrote British Ferns and Their Allies in 1869. Thomas is remembered for these wonderful quips like: “The soul cannot thrive in the absence of a garden,” or “Garden as though you will live forever.” My favorite Thomas Moore quote is about rosemary. He wrote, “As for rosemary, I let it run all over my garden walls...because it is the herb sacred to remembrance and to friendship.”   1895  Today is the birthday of the South African botanical artist Cythna Letty. Letty’s mom was a painter and she gave Cythna her first lessons on painting and sketching. As a small girl, she began creating a book that illustrated all of the flowering plants of her homeland. It took her a lifetime to finish the work and it was finally published in 1962. Letty captured the wildflowers of Africa with detail and grace. She worked for the Botanical Institute in the Department of Agriculture in South Africa. Based in Pretoria. In the 1960s as South Africa moved from the English sterling system, Cythna’s work was selected for three coins in South African currency. The 10-cent coin featured the Aloe, the 20-cent featured the Protea which was the National Flower of South Africa. And the 50-cent flower featured the Agapanthus. Cythna wrote poetry as well. She once wrote: “I hitched my wagon to a daisy Direction vague and destination hazy But, could any star have guided me more exactly to where I most dearly loved to be?”   1931 Today is the anniversary of the death of the botanist Martinus Beijerinck (pronounced “by-a-rink”). Beijerinck searched for the reason tobacco plants were dying. In his research, Beijerinck ground up some diseased tobacco leaves and then pressed the juices through a bacteria filter. He was utterly shocked when the filtered, bacteria-free liquid still spread the disease. After reviewing his experiment, Beijerinck concluded that a "contagious living fluid" was the culprit. It was a disease-carrying micro-organism that was smaller than bacteria and he called it a virus, the Latin word for poison." Today, two of the most common viruses are the flu and the common cold.   1944  Today is the birthday of the English Architect Sir Edwin Lutyens ("Lutchins"). Edwin went by Ned. When Ned was almost forty, he was hired to work on a house for the great garden designer and horticulturist Gertrude Jekyll. It was the beginning of a professional collaboration and friendship that had profound effects on the English country garden. Jekyll and Ned created some of the greatest Edwardian gardens in the world. Lutyens reflected on the work of a garden designer when he wrote: “No artist has so wide a palette as the garden designer, and no artist is in greater need of discretion and reserve.” When Jekyll introduced Ned to the founder of Country Life Magazine, Edward Hudson, she created another invaluable source of synergy for his work. Hudson greatly admired Ned’s work and he became a vital patron. He regularly shared Ned’s work in his magazine, he commissioned Ned to design numerous jobs for his many homes, and he even had Ned design the new office space for the magazine. The home Lutyens designed for Hudson known as Deanery Garden is arguably his best country home. It’s now owned by Led Zepplin guitarist Jimmy Page.   Unearthed Words After researching the Chelsea Physic Garden curator Thomas Moore for today’s show, I thought you’d enjoy a few of his delightful poems.    In 1805, Moore was inspired by a rose specimen called ‘Old Blush’ and wrote a poem called The Last Rose of Summer: Tis the last rose of summer, Left blooming alone; All her lovely companions Are faded and gone.   Moore wrote this verse about the tuberose also known as a Night Violet or Dame's Violet (Hesperis matronalis): The tuberose, with her silvery light, That in the gardens of Malay Is called the Mistress of the Night, So like a bride, scented and bright; She comes out when the sun's away.   And, here’s a lovely verse from Moore about Jasmine (Jasminum officinale): From plants that wake when others sleep, from timid jasmine buds that keep their odor to themselves all day, but when the sunlight dies away let the delicious secret out to every breeze that roams about.   Grow That Garden Library Potted and Pruned: Living a Gardening Life by Carol J. Michel The subtitle to Carol’s book is Living a Gardening Life and it came out in February of 2017. Potted and Pruned won the 2018 Garden Media Awards Gold Medal for Best Overall Book. As someone who has a large garden library, one of the things I love about Carol’s delightful little book, Potted and Pruned, aside from the title and all the wonderful stories inside, is the cover - it’s a verdant green. Is there any other color more suited to a garden book? I think not. Yet, you wouldn’t believe how few garden books are actually green nowadays. Beautiful green books like Carol’s are wonderful to have out during the holidays. But all year long, Carol’s book is really the perfect book to have by the bed in a guest room or at the cabin or just on an end table because it’s short and sweet - just 144 pages; and best of all, it is heartwarming. To read Carol’s book is to feel like you’ve made a garden friend. Carol’s the kind of gardener that can laugh at her garden mistakes and she makes you feel like making mistakes is as natural as the garden itself. After all, how else are we to learn? In her book, Carol has written 36 wonderful stories for gardeners. You’ll feel like you’re right beside her in her garden called May Dreams where some of her plants prove frustrating, where the weeds want her full-time attention and where new rare plants are always welcome. You’ll find inspiration as you read about how Carol handles drought or her practical pieces of advice that are sprinkled throughout the book. Carol’s Book reminded of the book Gardener’s BedTime Stories - only shorter, sweeter, and more relatable. You can dip in and out of her stories and then drift off to dreamland where you’ll hopefully dream of your garden - your happy place.   Great Gifts for Gardeners Here’s a very unique gift for gardeners; it’s the Garden Mattock from Raw Tools.  Raw Tools makes garden tools from guns, in the spirit of beating swords into plowshares. The mattock is a double-sided tool that meets a variety of needs when caring for your garden. It offers a hoe on one side and a fork on the other. The tool is made from about 5” of a rifle barrel. Every barrel gives us a different tool. Each is one of a kind and made by hand. The handle is 14″-18″, the hoe and fork are 6″-8″. You can check out their amazing work here.   Today’s Botanic Spark 1933 On this day the Kent Mango (Mangifera indica) is planted on land belonging to Leith Dunlop Kent in Coconut Grove, Florida. Kent was just a kid when he was given a little Brooks Mango seedling for Christmas. Six years later, Kent’s tree produced its first crop of mangos. The tree was a prolific and consistent producer. Kent brought some of the mangos to the Florida Mango Forum and the Kent Mango became a vital part of the commercial mango industry in Florida. By 1950, Kent was elected president of the Florida Mango Forum. And, here’s a caution for gardeners when it comes to mangos. People can have a sensitivity to the peel and milky sap of the plant. It turns out that the substance, urushiol ("u-ROO-she-ol"), is also found in poison ivy, sumac, and poison oak.

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Campbell Lutyens' head of North America fund placement on private capital fundraising in 2020

In 1995 Lars Fält organised a seminal survival instructors conference in northern Sweden. Tom Lutyens and Mors Kochanski were among the instructors. Johan Skullman was one of the students. Here they discuss the importance of that event....

Come and see us record a live episode at Dulwich Picture Gallery on the 26th June! We'd love to meet you!Modernist Architecture has always had more than its fair share of critics. In this episode, the first of a two parter, we discuss the reactionary, counter-revolutionary opposition to modernism in Britain during the interwar period. First, comes an examination of the stodgy, flag-waving, imperialist Classicism of the Edwardian era, which Luke thinks includes some of the worst architecture in Britain. One of the perpetrators of that style, Reginald Blomfield, wrote a patriotic screed against the continental, ‘cosmopolitan’ Modern architecture, which he subtly titled ‘Modernismus.’ We also examine Lutyens’ review of ‘Towards a New Architecture,’ a critique of Corbusier’s theory, but also a refutation of modernism as an appropriate style for living in. Lastly we consider the slightly outlandish ‘England and the Octopus’ by the eccentric architect Clough William Ellis, famous for designing the town sized folly of Portmeirion in North Wales. Fruity characters, problematic tropes and anxiety about a declining Empire abound.In the bonus episode we will discuss the Evelyn Waugh's 'Decline and Fall.'This episode is sponsored by The Article Trade Program.Edited by Matthew Lloyd Roberts. Support the show on Patreon to receive bonus content for every show. Please rate and review the show on your podcast store to help other people find us! Follow us on twitter // instagram // facebookWe’re on the web at aboutbuildingsandcities.orgThis podcast is powered by Pinecast.

The Quint's Editor-in-Chief Raghav Bahl argues that Lutyens’ Delhi did more to propel Modi into the PMO and may even be able to bring him down in 2019. Tune in to this edition of Raghav's Take.

Adam Kay is a best-selling and award-winning author, script writer and performer.We recorded this episode as part of Independent Book Shop Week in Lutyens & Rubenstein in Notting Hill to a live audience, thanks to everyone who came along!He writes extensively for TV and film. He is author of the number one bestselling and multi-award-winning book "This is Going to Hurt", about his former career as a junior doctor, which was an instant Sunday Times number one bestseller, topping the charts for five months. It has been translated into 20 languages.Adam first achieved success as frontman of Amateur Transplants, with 20 million hits (including the iconic London Underground Song), and as a solo performer has had multiple sell-out Edinburgh Fringe and West End seasons as well as sell-out international tours.Hope you enjoy this episode! See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Human intervention on the natural landscape: Brian Dillon on his book 'The Great Explosion' and Julian Gaisford St Laurence, Mathew Jebb and David Averill on British architect Edwin Lutyens

This talk focuses on the work of Sir Edwin Lutyens between 1920 and 1939. By seeing his work in the City as at once both ‘commercial’ and ‘imperial’ I will argue that an analysis of the evolution of Lutyens’s interwar design practice can provide a useful window on the complex process of ‘imperial building’ at this key site at the heart of empire.

In Kassel, Germany, Cathy Byrd joins documenta(13)artist Marcos Lutyens for a Hypnotic Session in the Reflection Room. Based in Los Angeles, the London-born intermedia artist works with other artists and curators to develop events and exhibits that reflect his research into the mind and the unconscious. Marcos collaborated with artist, curator and writer Raimundas Malašauskas and smell researcher and artist Sissel Tolass to create this Hypnotic Session. Sound Editor: Leonardo Madriz Photos: courtesy the artist, except where noted Music: Bill Frisell, Richter 858-8

If Edwin Lutyens, the architect behind New Delhi, the Cenotaph, and the British embassy in Washington, sounds an austere, imperial figure then think again. He was fun and almost child-like - he loved to dance and doodle, and he told terrible jokes. But his great grand daughter, Jane Ridley, believes it was Lutyens' shockingly miserable marriage that inspired his greatest work. Simon Jenkins, former editor of The Times and current head of the National Trust, chooses Lutyens primarily for the quality of his work. But he also recognises that the grimness of the marriage - Emily Lutyens fell in love with Krishnamurti - spurred the architect onto greater heights. Presenter Matthew Parris initially questions whether the quality of Lutyens' sex life really needs to play a part in this tale, then declares himself underwhelmed by much of the work. Expert Jane Ridley is the author of the Architect and his Wife, and the producer is Miles Warde.