UPIASI works closely with various schools and departments across Penn to facilitate a number of research and allied activities. We are pleased to share the latest updates:
NEW BOOKS
Eswaran Sridharan, Elections, Parties and Coalitions in India: Recent History and Theory, Permanent Black, 2024 (a selection of ten published papers, seven in academic journals, three in edited volumes on this subject)
Sumit Ganguly and Eswaran Sridharan, eds., The Oxford Handbook of Indian Politics, Oxford: Oxford University Press, UK, 2024.
UPIASI KNOWLEDGE SERIES (WORKING PAPERS ON POST-COVID-19 INDIA)
(Supported by a grant from Gaurav Motwane, Chairman and Managing Director, MSL Driveline Systems Ltd.)
Varun Sahni, "Nuclear Weapons and Grand Strategy: The Indian Case," February 2025
Rajesh Basrur, "The Challenge of Nuclear Modernization," May 2024
Ajay K. Mehra, "Police Reform in India: A Discourse for the Twenty-First Century," May 2024
Rajeswari Sengupta, “Some Problems with India’s GDP Data and the Way Forward,” April 2022
Ashwini Deshpande, “Report Card on the Health of the Nation,” April 2022
Navroz K. Dubash "Climate Faultlines: India’s Lessons from the Glasgow Climate Negotiations"
N. Ravichandran "Post COVID-19: Modernizing India's Healthcare Infrastructure"
Roshan Kishore "India, Post-COVID-19: Reviving Growth, 2021-25"
Divya Venkatavaraghavan "The Future of Online Learning"
(Supported by a grant from Infinite Computer Solutions Ltd.)
C. Chandramouli, "Contours of Future Demographic Change in India," January 2023
Rajeswari Pillai Rajagopalan, "India’s Evolving Space Concerns and Policy," March 2023
CONFERENCES
Penn-India Engagement Forum, on "India After Covid: Recovery and Onward," January 5, 2023, Taj Palace Hotel, New Delhi
The theme was that India, like the rest of the world, is faced with two crises. One is the immediate, once-in-a-century Covid-19 crisis and its attendant economic contraction, and the other is a gradually unfolding long-term environmental crisis of climate change with its economic implications. India's political and economic policymaking institutions must cope with these tremendous challenges in the immediate moment and over the longer term.
This Penn India Engagement Forum addressed the issues of India's recovery and onward development, covering a broad range of issues in its three panels - 'Healthcare Reforms', 'Digitization and Education' and 'Entrepreneurship, Innovation and India's Economy'. Each panel had speakers from both Penn and from Indian institutions, including Penn alumni.
UPIASI 25th Anniversary Symposium on "India's Future in a Changing World: Possible Trajectories," March 11, 2023, Claridges Hotel, New Delhi
In a bid to provide an opportunity for a meaningful discourse on pressing topics and key issues in India's post-Covid growth, to belatedly mark its 25th anniversary, UPIASI in association with CASI, organized an academic symposium with leading experts from academia and policy institutes to discuss India possible future trajectories on the political, economic and foreign policy fronts in a changing and uncertain world order. The day-long symposium featured three panel discussions themed on 'New Developments in the Study of Indian Politics', 'The Evolution of India's International Relations in a Changing World' and ' India's Economic Reform and Development Trajectory'. The keynote address was presented by Amitabh Kant, G20-Sherpa, India. Associate Dean for Social Sciences, SAS, Emily Hannum, addressed the conference, and CASI Director Tariq Thachil was the lead speaker in the first panel.
WEBINARS
Since early 2023, UPIASI has held webinars on topics of current academic and policy interest every quarter. The following webinars have been held:
(1) Webinar on "Partition through Popular Media," February 10, 2023
Remembering 75 years of the India-Pakistan partition and 50 years of Bangladesh’s Liberation, the webinar presented a discussion on ‘Partition through Popular Media’. The discussants were recent contributors to the special issue on Partition in the peer-reviewed academic journal India Review (Volume 21, Number 3) of which UPIASI Director Eswaran Sridharan is Editor-in-Chief, published by Taylor and Francis under their Routledge imprint. This special issue had been guest edited by Amit Ranjan and Farooq Sulehria. All the articles in this volume interrogate the continued portrayal of ‘otherness’ or communal differences, which were at the root of the partition, in the various forms of mass media, films and textbooks across India, Pakistan and Bangladesh. Building on this volume, the speakers provided analyses on the larger theme of Partition portrayals in their respective countries. The speakers included Amit Ranjan (Institute of South Asian Studies, Singapore, Farooq Sulehria (Beaconhouse National University, Lahore, Pakistan) and Afroja Shoma (American International University, Dhaka, Bangladesh), The session was moderated by E. Sridharan, UPIASI.
(2) Webinar on “Geopolitics and Trade,” June 9, 2023, the second in UPIASI’s new webinar series, featured speakers Sachin Chaturvedi, Director-General, Research and Information System for Developing Countries (RIS), Prabhash Ranjan, South Asian University, and Amita Batra, JNU, moderated by E. Sridharan, UPIASI.
(3) Webinar on “Indian Federalism: A Comparative and Contemporary View.” This webinar, the third in UPIASI’s new webinar series, was held on Sept. 8, 2023.The speakers, experts on Indian federalism, were: Balveer Arora, Centre for Multi-level Federalism, Institute of Social Sciences, Delhi; Rekha Saxena, Political Science, Delhi University; K. K. Kailash, Political Science, University of Hyderabad, moderated by E. Sridharan, UPIASI.
(4) Webinar on “India’s Defence Modernisation, Indigenisation and Diversification.” This webinar, UPIASI’s fourth, was held on April 19, 2024, the speakers being Ashley Tellis, Tata Chair in Strategic Studies, Carnegie Endowment, Washington DC; Anit Mukherjee, King’s College, London; Bharat Karnad, former Member, National Security Advisory Board, chaired and moderated by E. Sridharan, UPIASI.
(5) Webinar on “Uncertain Times: India’s Turbulent Neighbourhood and Its Implications.” This webinar was held on September 20, 2024, the speakers being Prof. Imtiaz A Hussain, Independent University of Bangladesh; Prof. Srinath Raghavan, Ashoka University; and Prof. Rajesh Rajagopalan, Jawaharlal Nehru University, chaired and moderated by E. Sridharan, UPIASI.
(6) Key Takeaways from the US Presidential Election 2020 (18 November 2024)
The just concluded US Presidential election 2024 saw possibly the most polarized campaign in recent history. With Donald Trump becoming the President-elect of the United States, all eyes are now on the implications of this vital mandate. In this post-election webinar, John Lapinski (UPenn) in conversation with Prashant Jha (Hindustan Times), discussed the key takeaways from the US Presidential election - from both a domestic as well as global perspective. The expert talk follows a discussion highlighting the implications of a second Trump presidency for the US and the world. The session was moderated by E. Sridharan (UPIASI).
PENN FACULTY TALKS IN DELHI
The following two Penn Faculty Talks were held recently in Delhi in collaboration with the Penn Club of Delhi:
(1) A Book Talk on Bankrolling Empire: Family Fortunes and Political Transformation in Mughal India by Sudev Sheth, followed by a discussion featuring Swapna Little and Farhat Hasan (Delhi University) on December 18, 2024
(2) The 2024 US Presidential Election & its Implication for the Future by John Lapinsky. This talk was organised by the Penn Club of Delhi and UPIASI on February 11, 2025. The talk was moderated by Anirudh Suri, Managing Partner, India Internet Fund, and Non-resident Scholar, Carnegie India.
PENN ACTIVITIES
Recently, UPIASI has partnered with Penn Global to support the new India Research and Engagement Fund, and its India Forerunner program (pictured below), which supports newly admitted students in their transition to life at Penn and the United States.
