Newslaundry Podcast

In this episode of NL Hafta, Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande and Mehraj D Lone of Newslaundry are joined by Kaveree Bamzai, author and former editor of India Today, and Sanjay Rajoura, stand-up comedian and a member of Aisi Taisi Democracy. This episode was recorded live at Bedlam, Hauz Khas Village, Delhi.Mehraj kicked off the discussion explaining the recent Supreme Court judgement on the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act, and what it means for Dalits and Adivasis subjected to hate crimes.Speaking about the Delhi election, Kavaree says, “We were too excited by the fact that Delhi did not vote for the BJP, but what is worrying is how migrant-dominated northeast Delhi overwhelmingly voted for them.” She adds that the normalisation by the media of binaries such as “tukde tukde gang versus the rest of us” worries her. Abhinandan asks Sanjay why he feels his political commentary and that of fellow comedians isn’t making much difference when it comes to changing the minds of vote

Hafta has gone behind the paywall. But since we love our listeners, here’s a sneak peek into this week’s episode.Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Anand Vardhan, and Mehraj D Lone of Newslaundry are joined by journalist Faye D’souza to discuss how the Delhi election campaign has been marked by communal rhetoric and how Arvind Kejriwal attempted to play the Hindu card. They also talk about the situation in Kashmir, where former chief ministers Omar Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti have been held under the draconian Public Safety Act; the ongoing debate about Kunal Kamra’s ambush of Arnab Goswami; and the role of religion in Indian politics. To listen to the full episode: https://www.newslaundry.com/subscription See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode of NL Hafta, Manisha Pande, Raman Kirpal, Mehraj D Lone and Madhu Trehan are joined by Vivek Kaul, an author who’s been writing a series on the Union Budget for Newslaundry.Vivek starts the conversation with the 2020 Budget and the Economic Survey. “What used to be a remarkably esoteric document suddenly became very readable,” he says. Vivek says the invariable economic slowdown India is witnessing is a result of a lack of investments.Manisha talks about how Kunal Kamra gave Arnab Goswami “the Republic TV treatment” on an IndiGo flight.The panel also discusses the shooting at Jamia Nagar, Sharjeel Imam’s sedition case, Prashant Kishore’s ousting from the JDU, and much more. To listen to the full episode, subscribe to Newslaundry: https://www.newslaundry.com/subscription See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Hafta has gone behind the paywall. But since we love our listeners, here’s a sneak peek into this week’s episode.Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Anand Vardhan, and Mehraj D Lone of Newslaundry are joined by Advaita Kala, novelist and commentator, to talk about the impending Delhi election and how AAP has been mainstreamed into India’s political system. They also discuss the Coronavirus outbreak in China; how the Saudi crown prince hacked the phone of Amazon boss Jeff Bezos and the irony of it all; the “reporting” of OpIndia, and much other. Listen to the full episode on Newslaundry: https://www.newslaundry.com/subscriptionProduced by Ivneet Kaur, recorded by Anil Kumar, edited by Satish Kumar and Harshula Sharma.You can also listen to all our podcasts on the Newslaundry app and get updates about them via Twitter and Facebook. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode of NL Hafta, Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Raman Kirpal, and Mehraj D Lone of Newslaundry are joined by Anuradha Bhasin of Kashmir Times. Abhinandan begins the discussion by asking Anuradha about the significance of the arrest of Davinder Singh, a deputy superintendent of police in Kashmir, along with two militants he was ferrying in his private car. She responds that Singh has a shady record. “Obviously these people are not operating on their own,” she adds, “That there’s somebody patronising them, to which level and how deep does this go, these are very vital questions.”Abhinandan agrees, “It is not unheard of for governments to use militants or other people, or even the armed forces.”On whether Singh’s is a case of a cop gone rogue, Raman argues, “If nothing comes out, let’s say in the next two months, three months, then obviously the government has something to hide.”Mehraj doesn’t buy the argument of the cop gone rogue. It’s preposterous, he says. Pointing out that there’s evidence of

In this episode of NL Hafta, Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Anand Vardhan, and Mehraj D Lone of Newslaundry are joined by Rohan Venkataramakrishnan from Scroll. The episode also features three Newslaundry subscribers, Dhiraj Krishna Kumar, S.Harikrishnan and Jefferson Simon.Abhinandan begins the podcast by asking subscribers why they chose to subscribe to Newslaundry. The trio also shares feedback about areas where Newslaundry can improve.Moving to the violence in Jawaharlal Nehru University, Rohan gives a blow by blow account of how he was roughed up by middle-aged, saffron-clad men while he was reporting, while personnel from the Delhi police looked on.Expressing his sympathy towards students who had nothing to do with the incident, Anand notes, “Loss of one year is costly for them. Perhaps more costly than a fee hike”. Manisha, on the other hand, thinks Anand’s view is a misreading of what actually happened. She emphasizes how the on-campus scuffle changed when men from outside entered the university, p

In this episode of NL Hafta, Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Raman Kirpal and Mehraj D Lone of Newslaundry are joined by Joanna Slater, the India Bureau Chief of The Washington Post. They begin with a discussion on the gangrape and murder of a veterinarian in Hyderabad, and the subsequent killing of the four accused by the police. Delving on the psyche of the rapists, Abhinandan says, “I could not believe they actually plotted this all evening. I mean with the intention that they just wanna have sex and they would rape a woman and kill her.”On the police’s shooting of the four accused men, Mehraj talks about the culture of impunity that exists in this country and the lack of accountability. Raman adds that the mindset for lynching the rapists was already out there.Pointing finger at the media discourse surrounding this case, Manish remarks, “One thing that’s really disturbing in cases like these is how the media frenzy just takes over any sane discourse.” By way of example, she mentions TV anchors who ran

NL Hafta has gone behind the paywall, but we love our listeners. So here's a little sneak peek into the complete episode.This episode of NL Hafta is hosted by Manisha Pande, who is joined by Mehraj D Lone, Raman Kirpal and Meghnad S of Newslaundry.. They discuss the highs and lows of the year gone by and their hopes for 2020. Coming to the big news of the week, the panel discusses Narendra Modi’s latest speech where he urged anti-CAA protestors to protest against Pakistan instead. The panel also talk about the killing of the Iranian military general Qassem Suleimani by the US, the denouncement of Faiz’s poem Hum Dekhenge as anti-Hindu, among other things. Listen to the full episode: https://www.newslaundry.com/2020/01/04/hafta-257-modis-speech-faiz-ahmad-faiz-iranian-generals-assassination-and-moreProduced by Ivneet Kaur, recorded by Anil Kumar, edited by Samarendra K Dash. You can also listen to all our podcasts on the Newslaundry App and get updates about all our podcasts via Twitter and Facebook. See acast

In this episode of NL Hafta, Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Anand Vardhan, and Mehraj D Lone of Newslaundry are joined by Aditya Menon from The Quint.They begin with a discussion on BJP’s offensive tweet about the Tamil icon EV Ramasamy Periyar. Pointing out the reason for BJP’s dislike for Periyar, Aditya notes, “It's the Periyar legacy that is preventing the BJP from growing in Tamil Nadu, so they do want to attack the icon somehow.” Mehraj joins in and says it is more to do with ideology than political point-scoring.Talking about Narendra Modi’s mega rally kicking off the Delhi election campaign, Abhinandan expresses disgust at the messaging that asked people to come and thank Modi. About the falsehoods in the prime minister’s speech for which he was widely criticised, Anand argues that it had to be full of bombast given the prime minister was in a mood for tactical retreat.On the Jharkhand election, Manisha says she was impressed by Hemant Soren and how he campaigned and took on the incumbent chief min

In this episode of Hafta, host Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal, Manisha Pande and Meghnad S are joined by Sudhir Suryawanshi, the man behind Katta News, the only media outlet that managed to sift through the chaos during the Maharashtra political crisis. The panel discusses the Maharashtra political drama, Pragya Thakur’s recent remark on Nathuram Godse in Lok Sabha, the controversial Transgender Persons Bill, among other things.Uddhav Thackrey was sworn in as chief minister of Maharashtra after a failed attempt by Ajit Pawar to split Sharad Pawar’s Nationalist Congress Party. Katta News, managed by Suryawanshi had announced Ajit’s coup two days in advance. Suryawanshi gives us insights on Maharashtra political drama and how Maha Vikas Aghadi (Congress, Shiv Sena and NCP alliance) came to power. On the Godse row, Manisha says, “There is genuinely an active push now to turn the narrative on Godse as a patriot and you can see this in the way his supporters have reacted on Twitter to Pragya’s remark .” Meghnad

NL Hafta has gone behind the paywall, but we love our listeners. So here's a little sneak peek into the complete episode.In this episode of NL Hafta, Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal, Meghnad S and Mehraj D Lone of Newslaundry are joined by Betwa Sharma, Politics Editor at HuffPost India. They discuss the big news of the week, from the nationwide protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act and police violence to objectivity in journalism to the death penalty for Pakistan’s former military ruler Pervez Musharraf. Listen to the full episode:https://www.newslaundry.com/2019/12/21/hafta-255-citizenship-law-data-protection-bill-and-more You can also listen to all our podcasts on the Newslaundry App and get updates about all our podcasts via Twitter and Facebook. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

NL Hafta has gone behind the paywall, but we love our listeners. So here's a little sneak peek into the complete episode.In this episode of NL Hafta, Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Anand Vardhan and Mehraj D Lone of Newslaundry are joined by author and journalist Samrat X. The panel discusses the big news of the week, from the contentious Citizenship Act and Delhi fire to death penalty for rapists, among other things.Listen to the complete episode here.https://www.newslaundry.com/2019/12/14/hafta-254-citizenship-law-delhi-fire-death-penalty-and-more Produced by Ivneet Kaur and Kartik Nijhawan, recorded by Anil Kumar and edited by Satish Kumar.You can also listen to all our podcasts on the Newslaundry App and get updates about all our podcasts via Twitter and Facebook. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode of Hafta, host Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Meghnad S are joined by freelance journalists, Nitin Sethi and Vrinda Gopinath. The panel discusses the big news of the week -- electoral bonds, Pragya Thakur’s nomination on parliamentary defence panel, massive protests by JNU students, among other things.Speaking on the issue of electoral bonds, Nitin Sethi says, “If you pay for journalism, journalism will respond to your requirements and desires and expectations. Similarly, for politics. This is why electoral bonds is such a big issue. Because if you want politics to be responsible to citizens then you can’t have corporates paying for politics. You need to have transparency. You need to have answerability to citizens.” Abhinandan says, “This pretty much implicates the government for lying to the Parliament, ministries and the Election Commission.”On Pragya Thakur’s nomination to the Parliamentary Defence Committee, the panel wonders which committee the Bhopal MP should have been ideally given

To watch the unedited interview, Subscribe to Newslaundry.Click here to watch the full 1 hour 7 minute interview: https://www.newslaundry.com/2019/12/07/nl-interview-gd-bakshi-army-human-rights-the-sarasvati-civilisationMajor General GD Bakshi is a decorated Indian Army officer, a veteran of many skirmishes along the Line of Control and counterinsurgency operations in Jammu and Kashmir and Punjab. He served in the military for 37 years, winning the Vishisht Seva Medal for commanding a battalion during the Kargil War and the Sena Medal for distinguished service in commanding a battalion during counterinsurgency drives. He has authored as many as 36 books, including on information warfare and psychological operations. In conversation with Abhinandan Sekhri, he talks about how the Army is represented in the media and popular culture, human rights violations, psychological warfare, collateral damage in war. Speaking about psychological warfare, Bakshi says, “There are two negative emotions in combat. These are di

NL Hafta has gone behind the paywall, but we love our listeners. So here's a little sneak peek into the complete episode. This week’s episode features host Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Raman Kirpal and Mehraj D Lone who are joined by Joanna Slater, the India Bureau Chief of The Washington Post. The panel discusses the big news of the week, from the gangrape and murder of a veterinarian in Hyderabad, and the subsequent killing of the four accused by the police to Donald Trump’s impeachment process, among other things.Listen to the complete episode, here: https://www.newslaundry.com/2019/12/07/hafta-253-hyderabad-killings-citizenship-bill-donald-trumps-impeachment-and-more\ See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

In this episode, the usual Hafta gang of Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Mehraj D Lone, Anand Vardhan and Madhu Trehan is joined by Alok Prasanna Kumar, a senior resident fellow at Vidhi Centre for Legal Policy. The podcast begins with the panellists airing their views on the Ayodhya verdict and the Sabarimala issue. While discussing the Supreme Court’s verdict on Ayodhya, Alok says, “The burden of proof falls on both people and both sides have to prove this claim. What the Supreme court has said is quite puzzling.” He points out that the Muslims had been offering namaaz on that particular piece of land since 1857 and that one could not deny their claim to the particular part of that property. Speaking on the Sabarimala issue, he suggests, “You cannot, by law, impose a certain kind of religious prohibition that goes against the constitutional principles.”Speaking about an email by a subscriber about political advertising on Twitter, Mehraj comments, “One person shouldn't have the power to decide what goes a

The British author and journalist tackles all the criticism that has come his way since his Overseas Citizen of India status was revoked.Early in November, the Narendra Modi government revoked British author and journalist Aatish Taseer’s Overseas Citizen of India status. Aatish stated that this was the government’s way of punishing him for some of his recent journalistic work — chiefly, the Time magazine piece that described Modi as “India’s Divider-in-Chief”. In a Skype conversation with Manisha Pande, Aatish talks about the government’s decision and the impact it’s had on his life. He also takes on a range of criticism that has come his way since the controversy erupted: why does he keep his father’s surname? What about the piece he wrote celebrating his American Green Card? Listen. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

NL Hafta has gone behind the paywall, but we love our listeners. So here's a little sneak peek into the complete episode. This week’s episode features host Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, and Meghnad S who are joined by Sudhir Suryawanshi, the man behind Katta News -- the news outlet that predicted the Ajit Pawar-Fandavis coup two days before it occured. The panel discusses the big news of the week, from the Maharashtra political drama and Pragya Thakur’s recent remark on Nathuram Godse to the controversial Transgender Persons Bill, among other things. The panel also discusses the Draft Registration of Press and Periodicals Bill 2019.Listen to the complete episode here: https://www.newslaundry.com/2019/11/30/hafta-252-maharashtra-pragya-singh-thakur-trans-bill-2019-and-more See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

NL Hafta has gone behind the paywall, but we love our listeners. So here's a little sneak peek into the complete episode.This week’s episode features host Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, and Meghnad S who are joined by freelance journalists, Nitin Sethi and Vrinda Gopinath. The panel discusses the big news of the week -- electoral bonds, Pragya Thakur’s nomination on parliamentary defence panel, massive protests by JNU students, among other things. Nitin talks at length the issue of electoral bonds and his investigative series on the same. The panel also talks about the announcement of a nation-wide NRC by Union Home Minister Amit Shah in Rajya Sabha, water impurity issue in Delhi, and more.Listen to the complete episode here: https://www.newslaundry.com/subscription-data/2019/11/23/hafta-251-electoral-bonds-jnu-pragya-thakur-and-more See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

NL Hafta has gone behind the paywall, but we love our listeners. So here's a little sneak peek into the complete episode. In this episode, host Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Mehraj D Lone, Anand Vardhan, Madhu Trehan from the Newslaundry team are joined by guest Alok Prasanna Kumar, to discuss the brewing topics from this week. Speaking about the Ayodhya verdict,Mehraj asks,”Should the Supreme Court of the Republic of India be adjudicating disputes that are from before the formation of the Republic?”The panellists also talk about the Sabarimala issue, government formation in Maharashtra, JNU protests, Aatish Taseer and more. Listen to the complete episode, here: https://www.newslaundry.com/subscription-data/2019/11/16/hafta-250-ayodhya-sabarimala-jnu-protests-and-more See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.