Amidst the school closures of the Covid-19 pandemic, India saw exponential growth in the use of DIKSHA, its free-to-use education technology platform. According to the education ministry, the platform could address some of India’s challenges in basic education. However, the platform did not seem to improve learning outcomes among the most disadvantaged students. In 2021, with schools reopening and budgets tightening, Secretary of Education Anita Karwal had to decide: should she continue to bet scarce resources on DIKSHA?

In 2020, India was laying the groundwork to deploy 5G telecom technology expected to transform economies and societies worldwide. China-based Huawei was the dominant vendor, with cheaper, faster, and more advanced technology than its competitors. However, Western intelligence agencies, including the US, suspected that Huawei would enable espionage by the Chinese government. Ahead of a meeting with the US president, India’s prime minister had to decide: should – and could – India deploy Huawei’s 5G equipment, despite its allies’ security concerns?