In this week’s episode, host Abhinandan Sekhri is joined by Madhu Trehan, Raman Kirpal, Anand Vardhan, and journalist and author Puja Mehra. The podcast kicks off with a deconstruction of Mehra’s book, The Lost Decade (2008-18): How India's Growth Story Devolved into Growth Without a Story. Abhinandan asks Puja why she believed that the decade was indeed lost. In response, she says both Prime Ministers (Manmohan Singh and Narendra Modi) were equally responsible for ineffectively dealing with the crisis. She also states that temporary emergency measures were relied upon to compensate for a mammoth crisis that demanded a permanent solution. She adds, “When an economy grows at that rate [8.8 per cent GDP growth] and is hit by a crisis, a shock, to bring it back to that level you need to take some steps. That follow-through was not undertaken.” When Abhinandan asks her if she believed that the Modi government’s economic agenda was cemented in a cultural singularity, she says that the government’s attitude is more symptomatic of a policy inattention than anything else. She describes her book as a documentation of governance in the last ten years that analyses the policies adopted while also discussing the policies that should have been. Talking about its essence, she says, “The whole argument of my book is that our politicians just don’t listen to expert advice and they assume that an economy as large as India, as complex as India, can be driven by policies that are crafted keeping political objectives in mind with complete disregard for underlying economics.” The discussion then moves to sexual harassment allegations levied against Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi. Madhu makes a compelling case of the escalating hubris of the Supreme Court. She says, “The Indian judiciary, for decades, has avoided any accountability. Every time they are asked for accountability, they behave like [they] are above the law. Well [they’re] not. It’s a democracy.” Puja says she pref

Nl Hafta

Hafta 221: India's Growth Story, Sadhvi Pragya, Chief Justice of India & more

In this week’s episode, host Abhinandan Sekhri is joined by Madhu Trehan, Anand Vardhan, Manisha Pande, and author Kishwar Desai. The podcast starts off with a discussion on Desai’s latest book, Jallianwala Bagh, 1919: The Real Story, and why she believed that this was a book that needed to be written. She says that writing the book became “a journey of discovery” for her as she uncovered unknown facts of the incident like the “sadistic tortures that were inflicted on the people of Amritsar”, especially in its build-up and aftermath. The panel also discusses the importance of an apology, as opposed to regret, from Britain now. Anand observes that although “national psyches have this need for reconciliation with historical memory”, after the decades that have passed, “even if it [an apology] comes, it would not serve that instrumental purpose.” Abhinandan shifts the conversation towards the arrest of Julian Assange and the panel debates if his work qualifies as ethical journalistic enterprise or if it is an instance of the phenomenon of ‘information banditry’, as Anand puts it. Madhu says, “What they did was they just hacked everything and dumped it all…the way it was done was not journalism.” The panel agrees that editorial discretion is crucial when dealing with data as raw as this and that it should have been processed in a more refined manner to serve public interest. The panel picked up the recent appointment of Sadhvi Pragya by the BJP to contest the seat in Bhopal. While the panel was initially unsurprised by this decision, given the Hindutva roots of the party, Abinandan points out how indefensible this decision was. He says, “He [Kamal Nath] was in politics, he’s accused of that [1984 anti-Sikh riots] and in continuation, he got a ticket again. Sadhvi Pragya has got a ticket because of her accusation…there’s a big difference.” Anand says that Pragya embodies the victimhood narrative that is “deeply entrenched in the psyche [of the voters] that they [the B

Hafta 220: Jallianwala Bagh, Julian Assange, Sadhvi Pragya and more

In this week’s episode, host Abhinandan Sekhri is joined by Madhu Trehan, Raman Kirpal, Manisha Pande and journalist Sudipto Mondal. The podcast kicks off with Sudipto talking about the book he’s working on which is centred around the 25-year history of the Ambedkar Students' Association. Although the book was originally intended to be about Rohith Vemula, the Dalit PhD student and ASA member who committed suicide in 2015, Sudipto says: "There were four other students who were suspended with him, do they not deserve to be written about? Just because they didn’t kill themselves? That for me became a big question … that made me expand my quest.” Sudipto also talks about the politics of violence used by the ASA, adding that it's "not pro-violent that it attracted the greyhounds and the anti-Naxal police”. He points out that the frames used to categorise Dalits as "thugs" is what constituted the foundation of their fight. He says it's in the granularity of the politics of representation that we can find the essence of the fight between the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad and Vemula. Abhinandan steers the discussion towards the elections and the panel reminisces on how it has changed over the years. They debate the idea of voter suppression as a genuine concern or general paranoia. Madhu observes, “This election is going to stand out for messing up of the honesty of the elections. Because everywhere you go, it is far more sophisticated than booth capturing.” The conversation moves to the Model Code of Conduct which, as Raman says, "does not even exist anymore”. They discuss how the EC isn't doing itself any favours with its soft attitude, especially in terms of its (non)response to things like NaMo TV. Sudipto compares it to a “nagging South Delhi parent” in the way it's executing its duties. Shifting to AgustaWestland, the panel talks about the recent attack on the credibility of journalists such as Shekhar Gupta. They delve into the ED chargesheet's accusations t

Hafta 219: Model Code of Conduct, Dalit politics, AgustaWestland and more

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 week’s episode, Abhinandan Sekhri is joined by Anand Vardhan and Manisha Pande. Also joining them is political journalist and author of Politics of Jugaad: The Coalition Handbook, Saba Naqvi. The discussion kicks off with Saba’s new book. Saba also briefly describes the farmers' coalitions and the constant splitting of party members from the Congress that kept it at an unstable position in UP. “Most of us who follow politics seem to believe the change happened with Mandal and Mandir…[however] The history of this [coalitions]… goes back to the late sixties,” she says. Other topics broadly discussed in this podcast include Bihar politics, NaMo TV, Vivek Oberoi’s appearance in news interviews, a few election speeches made by different politicians, references made to various historical events in the politics of UP and Bihar, Mayawati’s affidavit and so much more. Listen up! Listen to the full Hafta here: https://www.newslaundry.com/2019/04/05/hafta-218-coalitions-campaigns-afspa-namo-tv-uttar-pradesh-bihar

Chhota Hafta — Episode 218

In this week’s podcast, Abhinandan Sekhri is joined by Anand Vardhan and Manisha Pande. Also joining them is political journalist and author of Politics of Jugaad: The Coalition Handbook, Saba Naqvi. The discussion kicks off with Saba’s new book. Saba also briefly describes the farmers' coalitions and the constant splitting of party members from the Congress that kept it at an unstable position in UP. “Most of us who follow politics seem to believe the change happened with Mandal and Mandir…[however] The history of this [coalitions]… goes back to the late sixties,” she says. Abhinandan asks Anand whether coalitions can form a “stable government”. He also asks him about Bihar politics. “Coalitions depend on the reciprocity of interest,” responds Anand, and further mentions that politicians must embody reciprocal interests in case situations for a coalition arise. He also mentions that the only benefit with “stable governments” is that the policies for different stakeholders are kept constant and that these stakeholders know what to expect from the Budget. Anand also talks about the “dramatic stage in Lalu’s family”—sibling rivalry between brothers Tej Pratap Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav. Saba seeks Anand’s opinion on Kanhaiya Kumar contesting from Begusarai. He thinks Kanhaiya Kumar has a chance and remarks: “Anyone who comes from Bihar in his twenties is a careerist.” He also mentions the demographic factors, political history of Begusarai and determinants of other contestants like Giriraj Singh and Tanveer Hasan. Further, Abhinandan asks Saba about the election campaign in UP. She responds: “there is no one campaign …the demographics are changing seat by seat." She lists a few unexpected elements that have happened like the SP and BSP coalition, Priyanka Gandhi’s arrival, Muzaffarnagar’s muslim vote turn-out and the likes. The panel discusses the spread of propaganda through popular culture like Eros Now’s series Modi: Journey of a Common Man and Omung Kumar’s mov

Hafta 218: Coalitions & Campaigns, AFSPA, NaMo TV and more

In this week’s episode, host Abhinandan Sekhri is joined by Madhu Trehan, Raman Kirpal, Manisha Pande, and lawyer Gautam Bhatia. The podcast kicks off with Gautam talking about his latest book, The Transformative Constitution: A Radical Biography in Nine Acts. The discussion moves to Arnab Goswami's interview with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Discussing Mission Shakti, Madhu describes what she calls the “remarkable discomfiture” with which Modi made his announcement. The conversation also covers Rahul Gandhi's announcement of the NYAY scheme, Vijay Mallya recent statements after the Jet Airways bailout, cessation dialogues in Kashmir and Sikkim, and a whole lot more.

Chhota Hafta — Episode 217

In this episode of NL Hafta, Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal and Anand Vardhan are joined by journalist Maya Mirchandani. The discussion kicks off with Amit Shah getting Lok Sabha elections ticket from LK Advani’s constituency, Gandhinagar. The panel also discusses Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s role in the current political scenario. Maya says, “Priyanka Gandhi is great optics for Congress.” The panellists agree that she is creating enough ripples as a new leader and is making BJP nervous. However, Raman differs, “Congress seeking an alliance is openly declaring that they have reduced to a regional party.” Moving forward Abhinandan and Maya appreciate the Election Commission's idea of increasing the transparency by asking for details of commutation of politicians via personal choppers and chartered flights. Talking about elections and parties, the panel also talks about Shah Faesal’s new political party, J&K Peoples' Movement. While Abhinandan is skeptical about the party's success, Maya also agrees that the party has no clear agenda. Raman adds, “As the polling percentage is low in J&K, so at this point, it might be a gamechanger.” The panel also talks about the ardent and strong leadership of New Zealand’s PM Jacinda Ardern, who imposed an immediate ban on all military-style semi-automatic weapons, assault rifles and stood in complete solidarity with the community. Raman says, “Its an example of how to handle a crisis." The panelists agree in unison that if she wouldn’t have called the incident a terror attack, nobody would have stood up. The panel also discusses Shashi Tharoor's defamation case against the derogatory remarks of Ravi Shankar Prasad in the Samjhauta Express verdict. For this and more, tune in!

Hafta 216: Christchurch shooting, Samjhauta blast verdict & more

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 week’s podcast, Abhinandan Sekhri is joined by Raman Kirpal, Anand Vardhan and Manisha Pande. Joining them over the phone is The News Minute's deputy news editor, Ragamalika Karthikeyan, to talk about the Pollachi case. The podcast begins with Ragamalika detailing the Pollachi sexual abuse and extortion case. The four men accused “seem to be doing it as a racket”, she says. Manisha says she agrees with the Madras High Court's observations on Delhi media's lack of priority in covering the case, but Abhinandan says he's conflicted. The conversation shifts to how newspapers in Assam went on a three-day boycott of all state government news, ads and photographs in protest against its alleged apathy. The panel also talks about Nirav Modi, the Shillong Times case, and Chandrashekhar Azad who has announced he will contest against PM Modi from Varanasi. Listen to the full episode here.

Chhota Hafta - Episode 215

In this week’s podcast, Abhinandan Sekhri is joined by Raman Kirpal, Anand Vardhan and Manisha Pande. Joining them over the phone is The News Minute's deputy news editor, Ragamalika Karthikeyan, to talk about the Pollachi case. The podcast begins with Ragamalika detailing the Pollachi sexual abuse and extortion case. The four men accused “seem to be doing it as a racket”, she says. She also mentions the controversy with the AIADMK since an FIR is registered against AIADMK functionary A Nagaraj over the assault of a victim’s brother. Manisha says she agrees with the Madras High Court's observations on Delhi media's lack of priority in covering the case, but Abhinandan says he's conflicted. He says: “This is a problem not just related to Chennai or Kerala … It is more true of the Northeast … If judges start commenting on everything then it just dilutes the impact when they something that is truly about justice rather than a social observation.” Ragamalika indicates the importance of giving incidents national coverage in order to formulate appropriate and more nuanced laws on sexual violence. Abhinandan talks about how newspapers in Assam went on a three-day boycott of all state government news, ads and photographs in protest against its alleged apathy. Anand mentions how India still imports newsprint which makes it quite expensive. Though local papers buy cheaper versions, it's not a sustainable model. “State governments control a lot of things through government ads,” he says. The discussion moves on to journalist Sunetra Choudhury’s exclusive on the UK’s efforts to extradite Nirav Modi and India’s absence of a response. While Anand examines the validity of Sunetra’s report, Abhinandan emphasises the need for extensive reports on Nirav Modi across media as it affects informed citizenry. The panel discusses the Meghalaya High Court’s sentence—which was stayed by the Supreme Court today—to Shillong Times editor Patricia Mukhim and publisher Shoba Chaudhuri. Manisha

Hafta 215: Pollachi case, Lok Sabha elections, Assam newspapers protest, Nirav Modi and more

NL Hafta has gone behind the paywall, but we love our listeners. So, here's a little sneak peek into the complete episode. In the latest episode, Abhinandan Sekhri is joined by the usual gang of Raman Kirpal, Manisha Pande and Madhu Trehan, and special guest Praveen Donthi, staff writer at The Caravan. The discussion takes off with Praveen discussing his cover story on the rise of ANI news agency during the NDA government's tenure. The panel then talks about Attorney General KK Venugopal's remarks in the Supreme Court, where he accused The Hindu of putting "stolen" documents from the Defence Ministry in the public domain which he said violated the Official Secrets Act. They also discuss the aftermath of the Balakote airstrikes, especially the varying numbers cited as "casualties" by media houses with no official confirmation, and the issues with some "source-based reports". Listen to the full episode

Chhota Hafta Episode-214

NL Hafta has gone behind the paywall, but we love our listeners. So, here's a little sneak peek into the complete episode. In the latest episode of NL Hafta, Abhinandan Sekhri is joined by the usual gang of Raman Kirpal, Manisha Pande and Madhu Trehan, as well as Nitin A Gokhle, a national security analyst, and Samrat, a journalist and author. The conversation kicks off with Indo-Pak tension, with Abhinandan asking Nitin about the details of the air strikes on JeM camps and the non-credible information that flowed with it. The conversation moves to a discussion on the protests in Arunachal Pradesh over the Permanent Residence Certificates, and also covers Caravan’s article where reporter Ajaz Ashraf tabulated soldiers killed in Pulwama on a caste basis. Listen to the full Hafta here: https://www.newslaundry.com/2019/03/01/hafta-213-pulwama-attacks-indo-pak-conflict-arunachal-pradesh-protests-and-more

Chhota Hafta - Episode 213

NL Hafta has gone behind the paywall, but we love our listeners. So, here's a little sneak peek into the complete episode. On this episode of NL Hafta, our host Abhinandan Sekhri is joined by Manisha Pande, Anand Vardhan, Raman Kirpal and Kaveree Bamzai to discuss the news of the week. Listen to the full Hafta here: https://www.newslaundry.com/2019/02/22/hafta-212-pulwamaattack-saudi-princes-visit-and-online-harassment-of-barkha-dutt

Chota Hafta — Episode 212

In the latest episode of NL Hafta, the usual gang of Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Raman Kirpal, and Anand Vardhan are joined by Setu Niket, a Delhi-based lawyer and Newslaundry subscriber. The discussion kicks off with Setu talking about the latest updates on the Supreme Court’s split verdict in the Delhi government vs LG power tussle case. The apex court referred the decision on public service to the larger bench. But who is this verdict in favour of? Abhinandan says: “If your own guy who’s supposed to report to you in your office, which happened a year ago, would not listen to Arvind Kejriwal ... He wouldn’t come in the room when you called him—what can be the reason for giving that to the Centre?” The panel moves on to discuss the contempt charges against the CBI's former interim director Nageswara Rao. Raman says the main reason for contempt charges was transferring the officer probing the Muzaffarpur shelter home horror. He adds, “Right from the day one, he has been breaking all the rules.” The panel also talks about the CAG report on the Rafale deal, with Abhinandan reading out some of the details. The discussion goes on to Patiala House’s direction to the Delhi Police to file an FIR against Arnab Goswami on Shashi Tharoor’s complaint. The panel discusses how this will set a bad precedent. They also talk about Priyanka Gandhi's Lucknow rally, the Republic TV vs AMU fiasco, and a whole lot more. Listen up!

Hafta 211: Delhi Govt vs LG, Nageswara Rao, Republic TV vs AMU, and more

In the latest episode of NL Hafta, the usual gang of Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Raman Kirpal, and Anand Vardhan are joined by Setu Niket, a Delhi-based lawyer and Newslaundry subscriber. The discussion kicks off with Setu talking about the latest updates on the Supreme Court’s split verdict in the Delhi government vs LG power tussle case. The panel then moves on to discuss the contempt charges against the CBI's former interim director Nageswara Rao. Raman says the main reason for contempt charges was transferring the officer probing the Muzaffarpur shelter home horror. The discussion also covers Priyanka Gandhi's Lucknow rally, the Republic TV vs AMU fiasco, and a whole lot more! Listen to the full episode here.

Chhota Hafta - Episode 211

NL Hafta has gone behind the paywall, but we love our listeners. So here's a little sneak peek into the complete episode. In the latest episode of NL Hafta, Abhinandan Sekhri is joined by the usual gang of Anand Vardhan, Manisha Pande and Madhu Trehan, as well as Niha Masih, India correspondent for Washington Post. The conversation covers #MamataVsCBI in West Bengal, Robert Vadra being questioned by the ED, the Supreme Court’s contempt notice to Prashant Bhushan, the Right-wing's protest against Twitter, and a lot more. Niha kicks things off by talking about the face-off between Mamata Banerjee and the Centre. The conversation then moves to the list of questions Justice Markandey Katju directed to Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, and Abhinandan attempts to explain why the media didn't pick up the story. Listen to the full episode here: https://www.newslaundry.com/2019/02/08/hafta-210-mamatavscbi-twitters-alleged-bias-robert-vadra-and-more

Chhota Hafta — Episode 210

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