Rohan Venkat
@rohanvenkat.bsky.social
1.3K followers 3.9K following 120 posts
Newsletter: India Inside Out || Non-Resident Visiting Scholar & Managing Editor, CASI, University of Pennsylvania || 📍Cairo, Egypt rohanv on Twitter
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Reposted by Rohan Venkat
Reposted by Rohan Venkat
rohanvenkat.bsky.social
Keep going back to these paras from @abuaardvark.bsky.social right around the Gulf trip, when it seemed there was a spat with Bibi, w/ Trump decrying "the interventionalists... intervening in complex societies that they did not even understand themselves." abuaardvarkghost.ghost.io/what-does-tr...
Reposted by Rohan Venkat
nicoblar.bsky.social
Thanks to @rohanvenkat.bsky.social for inviting me on his great podcast, the political cycle, to discuss India's stance on the Israel-Iran conflict. Many moving parts and complex webs to decipher shows.acast.com/the-election...
The Iran/Israel Conflict: where does India stand? | The Political Cycle
shows.acast.com
rohanvenkat.bsky.social
Arvind Panagariya, chairman of 16th Finance Commission, said that *22-23* of India’s 28 states had made a case for increasing their share in the divisible pool from 41% to 50%.

But... the Commission is likely to keep states’ tax share unchanged
www.livemint.com/economy/sixt...
www.livemint.com
rohanvenkat.bsky.social
The BJP has always been more than willing to describe its political opponents as 'anti-national.'

So what then explains its decision to rely on a cross-party effort to make India's case abroad, following Operation Sindoor?

On India Inside Out this week:

rohanvenkat.substack.com/p/what-promp...
Why did the BJP take the 'all-party' route on Op Sindoor delegations?
Is this a shift in political tactics or a maneuver to blunt domestic criticism?
rohanvenkat.substack.com
rohanvenkat.bsky.social
For @casipenn.bsky.social's India in Transition, I spoke to Tariq Thachil about his tenure as director through a complex time, the role of 'India Centers' in US academia, the disconnect in how India is studied in the US and why it's important to build academic bridges.
casipenn.bsky.social
In this CASI Deep Dive IiT Interview, as CASI Director Tariq Thachil prepares to step down from his role next month, CASI Managing Editor @rohanvenkat.bsky.social speaks to him about "CASI and the Complex Challenge of Studying India in the United States" casi.sas.upenn.edu/iit/casi-dee...
CASI Deep Dive: Tariq Thachil on CASI and the Complex Challenge of Studying India in the United States | Center for the Advanced Study of India (CASI)
casi.sas.upenn.edu
Reposted by Rohan Venkat
nicoblar.bsky.social
Re-hyphenation? Excellent pc from @rohanvenkat.bsky.social for India Inside out & Scroll
nicoblar.bsky.social
“By casting both nations in an identical light,promising enhanced trade & venturing to address the perennial Kashmir conundrum,Trump appears to equate India a strategic partner pivotal in countering China w Pakistan whose role in the region carries different weight” scroll.in/article/1082...
India hyphen Pakistan: US rhetoric revives New Delhi’s nightmare
Decades of Indian efforts to rise above comparisons or being slotted with Islamabad have been undermined.
scroll.in
rohanvenkat.bsky.social
On India Inside Out:

"In some ways, the fallout of the Pahalgam attack has meant that the hyphen is once again hovering over India. If Operation Sindoor does indeed establish the deterrence India has long sought, then it may well be shot down."

rohanvenkat.substack.com/p/the-hyphen...
Reposted by Rohan Venkat
annaleen.bsky.social
I love this story so much. We leave our marks on the world, even when they try to erase us.
nghivo.bsky.social
Hey, who wants something nice?

So I was on tour this month, and when I was doing my event for the Princeton University Library and the Princeton Public Library, I ended up at the graveyard, where I found this gravestone:
A rectangular gray gravestone, inscribed with Whitin Badger, 1906-1992, Dwight Cooke 1908-1992, and underneath the line "THE UNICORN WAITS IN A DARKENING WOOD"
rohanvenkat.bsky.social
On India Inside Out:

This week's @politicalcycle.bsky.social pod in where we spoke to @cfhorgan.bsky.social about Canada and whether Mark Carney is now the 'model' for anti-Trump politics.

Plus links to important pieces on caste census, Pahalgam & more.

rohanvenkat.substack.com/p/the-politi...
The Political Cycle: Is Mark Carney the model 'anti-Trump'?
Plus, links on the caste census, Pahalgam and more.
rohanvenkat.substack.com
rohanvenkat.bsky.social
I wrote this a couple of years ago about the demands for a 'caste census' in India, which the Modi government – following much reluctance – has now approved.

Read this for a backgrounder:

rohanvenkat.substack.com/p/india-insi...
India Inside Out: What is driving demands for a 'caste census' ahead of the 2024 elections?
Plus, two other notes on counting Indians.
rohanvenkat.substack.com
Reposted by Rohan Venkat
samanthsubramanian.bsky.social
Out in the US and UK in less than six months! Pre-order here, pretty please — it makes a world of a difference to sales. And please RT / spread the word!

www.amazon.co.uk/Web-Beneath-...
rohanvenkat.bsky.social
If you're interested in writing for India in Transition, where we carry analytical pieces from across the social sciences on contemporary India, see our guidelines here casi.sas.upenn.edu/iit/submissi... and get in touch!
rohanvenkat.bsky.social
While Western AI discourse tends to focus on the mirage of AGI, in India it is sold as a quick fix that will bring 'development' to the masses.

For @casipenn.bsky.social's India in Transition, @bulletprooflama.bsky.social examines the Indian flavour of AI hype: casi.sas.upenn.edu/iit/mila-t-s...
rohanvenkat.bsky.social
What is the overlap between Elon Musk's DOGE and Modi's India? A (misguided) fetish for government efficiency above all else.

This week on the Political Cycle, I speak to Yamini Aiyar, co-author with @danhonig.bsky.social of a recent piece on the subject.

rohanvenkat.substack.com/p/the-politi...
The Political Cycle: DOGE, Modi and the 'fetish' for government efficiency
A conversation with Yamini Aiyar.
rohanvenkat.substack.com
Reposted by Rohan Venkat
indrapramitdas.bsky.social
My books (and many of my stories) have all been fed to Meta's (& other) genAI without consent or compensation to feed tech's anti-art crusade, so I'd appreciate if a few more humans bought/read my books. ICYMI, I've a mythic realist novella out about extradimensional refugees living in Calcutta:
The Last Dragoners of Bowbazar eBook
Subterranean Press creates readable art, publishing limited editions and groundbreaking original works of science fiction, fantasy, and horror.
subterraneanpress.com
rohanvenkat.bsky.social
For @casipenn.bsky.social's India in Transition, I spoke to @paliwalavi.bsky.social about India's Near East, why he chose to the 'near east' framing – mixing domestic and international – and how history is 'rhyming' in Bangladesh:

casi.sas.upenn.edu/iit/rohan-ve...
rohanvenkat.bsky.social
On India Inside Out:

Why the 'birthright citizenship' debate in the US made me think of 'Gulfie' Indians, and how Gulf states are a useful model in helping understand Trump.

+ links to pieces by @abuaardvark.bsky.social and @quinnslobodian.com rohanvenkat.substack.com/p/trump-birt...
Trump, 'birthright citizenship' and the Gulf model
'Long live the King'
rohanvenkat.substack.com