6 February 2018: Artificial Intelligence, Society, and Politics of the Future

Anupam Guha

Abstract:
At the dawn of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, this time centred around artificial intelligence there is both great peril and great hope. Great peril because currently demonstrated technology, if there are no radical socio-economic changes, will kill a significant percentage of Indian jobs and create precarity for the hundreds of millions of India’s workers, both formal and informal, from farmers to engineers. Great hope because the same technology could create a quantum leap in productivity and logistics enabling the potential formation of a radical national policy which could perhaps, if backed with political imagination and wisdom, lead to an emancipation of Indian labour. This fork in the road cannot be avoided.

There are reactionaries who will not look at AI critically and such a political dismissal of a titanic force will render us vulnerable, and there are also neoliberal technocrats who are enamoured with solutionism and who ignore the structural changes needed to make prosperity under AI possible. My talk will focus on, in the Indian context, the potentials of current AI, the need for a critical politically-educated look at it, the need for a radical rethink, beyond band-aid measures like UBI and robot taxes, towards the structural issues of work, wage, property, and public prosperity, and the possible futures of AI. In describing the above, my talk will also lay out the framework for a new kind of politics for the same.

Discussant:
Smriti Parsheera, NIPFP

Date: February 6, 2018
Time: 04:30 P.M.

Venue:
Conference Hall, Ground Floor
R&T Building
National Institute of Public Finance and Policy,
18/2 Satsang Vihar Marg, Special Institutional Area,
New Delhi-110067(INDIA)

Note:
Those who are interested may please confirm your participation at latha.balasubramanian@nipfp.org.in

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1 February 2018: Panel Discussion on 'The role of the transport sector in Delhi’s air quality: key drivers and opportunities for intervention'

Panellists:
Amit Bhatt, WRI India
Parthaa Bosu, Environment Defence Fund and
Sumit Sharma, Earth Science and Climate Change, TERI

Moderator:
Mukta Naik, Centre for Policy Research

Abstract:
Vehicular pollution has been a significant contributor to Delhi’s air pollution, accounting for up to a fourth of PM 2.5 emissions. Delhi has the largest vehicular population of any city in India, with over a crore registered vehicles. More than 90% of these are private vehicles, and this number has steadily grown over the years. However, regulatory interventions towards promoting cleaner fuel and phasing out old vehicles, as well as legal measures to cap or decrease the number of vehicles have primarily focused on public transit vehicles. The panel will deliberate on key technical and policy drivers for reduction and management of emissions from the transport sector, including the source composition of air pollution from transport, potential gains from changes in fuel standards and fuel types, and issues related to public transport and modal shares.

Date: February 1, 2018
Time: 04:00 P.M.

Venue:
Conference Hall
Centre for Policy Research,
Dharma Marg, Chanakyapuri,
New Delhi–110021(INDIA)

Note:
Please do RSVP at climate.initiative.cpr@gmail.com

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30 January 2018: Investment Opportunities and Economic Outcomes: Who Benefits from College and the Stock Market?

Urvi Neelakantan
Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, U.S.A.

Organised by:
Brookings India

Abstract:
Two investments stand out for their power to improve economic outcomes: higher education and stocks. In the absence public funding, though, both are seen as the preserve of the wealthy. As a result, higher education in particular is, in many countries, heavily subsidized with the explicit aim of promoting equality of opportunity. An important point, however, is that differences in learning ability, preparedness, and wealth are likely to affect individuals’ capacity to take advantage of investment opportunities and improve their economic well-being. This seminar will examine and present the effect of access to college and the stock market on individual earnings, wealth, and mobility. Does the power of college to increase well-being exceed that of stocks, as large subsidies to the former suggest?

Date: January 30, 2018
Time: 03:00 P.M.

Venue:
Kamalnayan Bajaj Auditorium
Brookings India
No. 6, Second Floor,
Dr. Jose P. Rizal Marg,
Chanakyapuri,
New Delhi-110021

Note:
Please RSVP psharma@brookingsindia.org and contact nmehta@brookingsindia.org for media inquiries.

Location:

26 February 2018: Indian Migration in Global History

Sunil Amrith
Harvard University

Abstract:
Over the past 200 years, tens of millions of people have left India’s shores to make their living on every continent. Until recently, their experiences have been missing from our accounts of both Indian history and global history. This lecture will show how multiple Indian diasporas have been a cultural, economic, and political force in the making of the modern world.

Date: February 26, 2018
Time: 06:30 P.M.

Venue:
Lecture Room II,
India International Centre (Annexe)
Max Mueller Marg,
New Delhi - 110003(INDIA)

Note:
Please RSVP to president.cpr@cprindia.org

Location:

29 January 2018: Water: Rethinking Service Delivery in India

Junaid Ahmad
World Bank

Moderator: Isher Judge Ahluwalia, ICRIER

Date: January 29, 2017
Time: 07:00 P.M.

Venue:
Gulmohar Hall,
India Habitat Centre,
Lodi Road,
New Delhi 110003 (India)

Location:

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24 January 2018: Indian Migration to the United States of America

Neil Ruiz
Pew Research Center, Washington D.C., USA

Organised by:
Brookings India

Abstract:
Indian migrants in the United States remain unique compared to the majority of U.S. immigrants. Indians in the U.S. are high-skilled, highly-educated, and have high incomes compared to the general U.S. population and other immigrant groups. Neil Ruiz will present and examine the main sources for Indian migration to the U.S., particularly those entering the U.S. via the H-1B visa programme and the foreign student F-1 visa programme. He will also present the demographic profiles of Indians in the U.S. such as income and educational attainment.

Date: January 24, 2017
Time: 03:00 P.M.

Venue:
Kamalnayan Bajaj Auditorium
Brookings India
No. 6, Second Floor,
Dr. Jose P. Rizal Marg,
Chanakyapuri,
New Delhi-110021

Note:
Please RSVP psharma@brookingsindia.org and contact nmehta@brookingsindia.org for media inquiries.

Location:

10 January 2018: Air pollution as a preventable cause of adverse birth outcomes in India: New evidence from cohort studies in Tamil Nadu

Kalpana Balakrishnan
WHO Collaborating Center for Occupational and Environmental Health; SRU-ICMR Centre for Advanced Research on Air Quality, Climate and Health, and Department of Environmental Health Engineering, Sri Ramachandra University, Chennai

Abstract:
There is increasing consensus that exposures to ambient and household air pollution may be associated with increased risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes including intra-uterine growth retardation, low birthweight, and pre-term births. The evidence from high exposure settings that are commonly encountered in low and middle income countries (LMICs) has however been sparse.

The Talk presents results from recently concluded cohort studies in Tamil Nadu that provides some of the first quantitative effects estimates for linking rural-urban PM2.5 exposures and birthweight in India, adding important evidence for this association from high exposure settings that experience dual health burdens from ambient and household air pollution. Study results point to the need for considering maternal PM2.5 exposures alongside other risk factors for low birthweight and other adverse pregnancy outcomes in India. The results also point to the imminent need for strategic air quality actions focused on protecting vulnerable groups such as pregnant women and infants.

Findings from this work have been published in Environmental Research (2018) and BMJ Open (2015).

Date: January 10, 2017
Time: 04:00 P.M.

Venue:
Conference Hall
Centre for Policy Research,
Dharma Marg, Chanakyapuri,
New Delhi–110021(INDIA)

Note:
Please do RSVP at climate.initiative.cpr@gmail.com

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17 January 2018: PRIndex: A Global Indicator of Citizens’ Perceptions of Property Rights

Malcolm Childress and David Spievack
Land Alliance

Abstract:
Property rights are a cornerstone of both economic development and social justice. However, there is no well-established methodology to-date to measure and reasonably compare property rights as perceived by citizens over time and across countries. Building on initial pilot data collected from nine countries including Brazil, Colombia, Egypt, Greece, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Peru and Tanzania in 2016 and 2017, PRIndex plans to collect data from an additional 36 countries across the world in 2018, creating the world’s first comprehensive account of people’s perceptions and opinions of property rights. The presentation will recapitulate the history of PRIndex, discuss results from its most recent round of testing in India, Tanzania, and Colombia, and share current plans and timelines for 2018.

PRIndex is an initiative supported by the Omidyar Network and DFID, the UK Department for International Development, and implemented by Land Alliance in association with Gallup, Inc. Land Alliance is a think-and-do tank that tests new approaches to defining and managing rights, shares expertise and best practices globally, and supports groups working to scale the solution of land issues. It works to find solutions to the complex development challenges of cities, rural landscapes and forests by aligning local, national and international resources.

Date: January 17, 2017
Time: 03:00 P.M.

Venue:
NCAER Conference Room
National Council of Applied Economic Research
Parisila Bhawan, 11, Indraprastha Estate
New Delhi-110002(INDIA)

Note:
For queries, please contact Ms Sudesh Bala at sbala@ncaer.org or on +91-11-2345-2722.

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