NL Hafta

This week on NL Hafta, Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Raman Kirpal, and Anand Vardhan of Newslaundry are joined by independent journalist Anumeha Yadav. Anumeha analyses the various aspects of the Bhima Koregaon case in the wake of the activist Stan Swamy’s death in custody. Anand opines that "in this particular case, a lot of things have come down to freedom of expression". The conversation also spans the media’s coverage of Swamy's death. To listen to the full episode, subscribe to Newslaundry. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Hafta, Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Raman Kirpal, Anand Vardhan and Mehraj D Lone are joined by Hartosh Singh Bal, political editor of the Caravan. Hartosh begins the discussion by laying out the sociopolitical context of the communal campaign whipped up by politicians and sections of the media over the marriage of a Sikh woman with a Muslim man in Kasmir. Drawing parallels with the rhetoric around Uttar Pradesh’s anti-conversion law, he says, "The timing of it is what I want to emphasise, it is no mere coincidence.”To listen to the full episode, subscribe to Newslaundry. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on Hafta, Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Raman Kirpal and Jayashree Arunachalam of Newslaundry are joined by public health physician Jammi N Rao.Talking about the controversies surrounding Bharat Biotech's Covid vaccine, Covaxin, Jammi notes that the company hasn’t provided the final data yet, so “nobody can assess it". Moving the discussion to the mega vaccination drives conducted on International Yoga Day, Jayashree says, "In our long list of PR focussed disasters, this is a lesser evil.” In this vein, Raman talks about the Narendra Modi government’s supposed reclamation of yoga and argues that it’s mostly been reduced to a publicity exercise. To listen to the full episode, subscribe to Newslaundry. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on NL Hafta, Manisha Pande, Raman Kirpal and Mehraj D Lone of Newslaundry are joined by data journalist Rukmini S.Rukmini explains her recent findings about actual Covid death tolls in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh. Talking about the key insights she gleaned from looking at the data, she says, "Instead of hanging on to the notion of exceptionalism, India should have actually focused on why it was that these numbers were low." To listen to the full episode, subscribe to Newslaundry. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on NL Hafta, Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal, Manisha Pande, Jayashree Arunachalam and Anand Vardhan are joined by legal affairs expert Bhabna Das.They begin the discussion by reviewing a Goa court's judgement in the Tarun Tejpal rape case. Remarking on the court's observations about the behaviour of the former Tehelka editor's accuser soon after the incident, Bhabna asserts that "any judge has their own inherent biases and stereotypes but they must divorce that from what the law says".To listen to the full episode, subscribe to Newslaundry. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on NL Hafta, Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal, Manisha Pande and Jayashree Arunachalam are joined by filmmaker and writer Rajesh Rajamani.The discussion begins with the controversy over tennis player Naomi Osaka's refusal to do a press conference at the French Open, and the nuances of sports journalism. To listen to the full episode, subscribe to Newslaundry. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on NL Hafta, it’s an all-Newslaundry panel of Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal, Manisha Pande, Mehraj D Lone, and Anand Vardhan.The conversation starts with the unrest in Lakshadweep after a series of proposed laws were introduced by administrator Praful K Patel. On the draft Lakshadweep Development Authority Regulation, Anand says, “If the implications are the way that it changes the cultural texture of a particular land, then it is absolutely a bad policy.”To listen to the full episode, subscribe to Newslaundry. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on NL Hafta, Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal, Manisha Pande and Mehraj D Lone are joined by Leena Gita Reghunath, an independent journalist based in Kerala.Leena starts the discussion talking about Pinarayi Vijayan's new ministry, especially the controversy over KK Shailaja's exclusion despite her laudatory work as the health minister. While noting that she was dropped in line with the governing Marxist party’s policy to not retain any of its previous ministers, Leena argues, “There is something Shailja has proved and not to be rewarded for that, politically, sends out a very bad gender message."To listen to the full episode, subscribe to Newslaundry. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on NL Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal, Manisha Pande, Mehraj D Lone and Anand Vardhan are joined by Dhanya Rajendran, co-founder and editor-in-chief of the News Minute.Dhanya begins with MK Stalin taking oath last week as chief minister of Tamil Nadu. She talks about how the ceremony took place even as the second wave of Covid has hit the country. Dhanya also talks about Karnataka’s Covid emergency and the state government’s problematic approach to it.To listen to the full episode, subscribe to Newslaundry. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week on NL Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal, Manisha Pande, and Jayashree Arunachalam are joined by journalist and writer Samrat X.Samrat begins by explaining the nuances of the recent post-poll violence in West Bengal. On the courts stepping in with respect to the poor handling of Covid in the country, Jayashree says, “It baffles me that it’s been four weeks and we still see SOS messages, oxygen shortages, and health aid being stuck at customs.” Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.