NL Hafta

In the latest episode of NL Hafta, 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. He emphasises how ANI is considered over any other publication and that it reports the government's version of the truth. He adds: “It (ANI) has a monopoly … the story is: the government allowed it to be a monopoly, discouraging other people.”The discussion moves to 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. Madhu says, “The Official Secrets Act was written in 1923, the date itself should explain it.” The panel unanimously stands for the freedom to question the government. The panel also discusses the aftermath of the Balakote airstrikes, especially the varying numbers cited as "casualties" by media houses with no official confirmation. Praveen talks about how compromised India's national security beat is, citing his 2013 story on the same issue, and the damage these "source-based" reports do. The panel brings up the story on the "lynched" Pakistani Air Force pilot, which later turned out to be fake. Abhinandan asks, "How can the Opposition be accused of setting narrative … does anyone buy that this narrative is set by the Opposition and those who question Modi?" Manisha responds: “Forget the BJP and Congress, the international media … they are testing India’s claims of major damage, destruction of a terror camp … so all the sceptics are responding to what the government has said from day one."This and much more, so listen up!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more 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 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

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week’s Reporters Without Orders features host Cherry Agarwal with Newslaundry's head of research Ayush Tiwari and desk writer Gaurav Sarkar. The panel talks about the SSC paper leaks, Yogi Adityanath’s rally, the Congress manifesto and the newly launched NaMo TV.Ayush talks about the press conference he attended on the SSC paper leaks conducted by Yogendra Yadav and Kanhaiya Kumar, an SSC aspirant from Bihar. He explains what happened and how the government and authorities were hand-in-glove. He says: “The Chairman of the SSC should be taken into account because this incident has happened under his nose.”Cherry discusses the recently released Congress manifesto which made a slew of promises including some focusing on the media, like the amendment of Press Council of India Act to strengthen self-regulation of the media, and the empowering of the Press Council of India to fight the menace of fake news and misinformation. Most fake news is amplified by TV news on a daily basis, and Cherry says: “TV newsrooms have whipped up war hysteria, communal mongering ... Be it Ayodhya, Pulwama, Balakot—I mean TV newsrooms go insane.” She also discusses the Congress’s promise of making defamation a civil offence and the removal of the controversial sedition law.Gaurav tells us about Yogi Adityanath’s rally in Bisara village near Greater Noida where the prime accused in the Akhlaq lynching case were present in the front rows, attending the rally. Gaurav quotes one of the accused as saying “we are out on bail and nothing can happen to us”. Ayush adds, “When one of the accused died, he was wrapped in a tricolour.” The panel discusses religion and the caste system in the context of the beef ban, and its impact on people. Cherry also brings up NaMo TV—now renamed Content TV—and how most details about the channel are hidden. "The Election Commission should examine its funding, violation of the Model Code of Conduct, ownership and whether the broadcasting rules are being violated or not,” she says.This and more, so listen up!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of The Awful and Awesome Entertainment Wrap, hosts Rajyasree Sen and Abhinandan Sekhri discuss the latest How To Train Your Dragon, Vice, Us, A Star is Born, The Favourite and much more.The podcast kicks off with Abhinandan and Rajyasree discussing animated movies, particularly the How To Train Your Dragon series. Though Abhinandan liked the earlier parts, the latest offering didn't captivate him. Rajyasree, who's not passionate about animated movies, moves on to the Oscar-nominated movie Vice, a comic-biopic on former US Vice President Dick Cheney. She says the movie captures the nature of politics at the time, Cheney’s relationship with Donal Rumsfeld, and the charismatic interactions and motivations of the wives of prominent political leaders.Abhinandan expresses his dissatisfaction with Jordan Peele’s movie Us (2019) which may also stem from his dislike of horror films in general. He says he predicted the plot minutes into the movie. Rajyasree says she enjoys most of Peele's work. "Everything is a commentary with Jordan Peele.” She recommends Get Out by the same director. Moving on to the movie A Star is Born, Rajyasree says the actors' performances and the movie in general were adequate, but not challenging. Abhinandan remarks that with musicals, there are often two kinds of reviews: those who like the movie too much, and those who didn't. He says: "A Star is Born, like La La Land, had two kinds of reviews. There were the La La Land haters and there were people who said it was just the most amazing film ever. Same thing with A Star is Born.”Rajyasree then gives a brief synopsis of the movie The Favourite, saying she enjoyed watching it and found it funny. Abhinandan seems to lose interest just from its description. Rajyasree then says she found the mini-series A Very English Scandal extremely intriguing and amusing, and a wonderful commentary of the time. "It's very funny because it's British, right?" she says. Abhinandan agrees that British humour is very good.The discussion also spans Akshay Kumar's new advertisement for Suthol and Madhur Jaffrey's music video Nani. Rajyasree and Abhinandan also plan on watching the upcoming movies PM Narendra Modi and The Tashkent Files—notwithstanding their dread.Tune in for more!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode of The Awful and Awesome Entertainment Wrap, hosts Rajyasree Sen and Abhinandan Sekhri discuss the latest How To Train Your Dragon, Vice, Us, A Star is Born, The Favourite and much more.

The podcast kicks off with Abhinandan and Rajyasree discussing animated movies, particularly the How To Train Your Dragon series. Though Abhinandan liked the earlier parts, the latest offering didn't captivate him. Rajyasree, who's not passionate about animated movies, moves on to the Oscar-nominated movie Vice, a comic-biopic on former US Vice President Dick Cheney. She says the movie captures the nature of politics at the time, Cheney’s relationship with Donal Rumsfeld, and the charismatic interactions and motivations of the wives of prominent political leaders.

Abhinandan expresses his dissatisfaction with Jordan Peele’s movie Us (2019) which may also stem from his dislike of horror films in general. He says he predicted the plot minutes into the movie. Rajyasree says she enjoys most of Peele's work. "Everything is a commentary with Jordan Peele.” She recommends Get Out by the same director.

Moving on to the movie A Star is Born, Rajyasree says the actors' performances and the movie in general were adequate, but not challenging. Abhinandan remarks that with musicals, there are often two kinds of reviews: those who like the movie too much, and those who didn't. He says: "A Star is Born, like La La Land, had two kinds of reviews. There were the La La Land haters and there were people who said it was just the most amazing film ever. Same thing with A Star is Born.”

Rajyasree then gives a brief synopsis of the movie The Favourite, saying she enjoyed watching it and found it funny. Abhinandan seems to lose interest just from its description. Rajyasree then says she found the mini-series A Very English Scandal extremely intriguing and amusing, and a wonderful commentary of the time. "It's very funny because it's British, right?" she says. Abhinandan agrees that British humour is very good.

The discussion also spans Akshay Kumar's new advertisement for Suthol and Madhur Jaffrey's music video Nani. Rajyasree and Abhinandan also plan on watching the upcoming movies PM Narendra Modi and The Tashkent Files—notwithstanding their dread.

Tune in for 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.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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. Nitin rules out the possibility of ascertaining the "number of terrorists killed in the strike". However, he says: “To me, the significance of the strike was not in numbers, it was about crossing the red line … and planning.” Madhu explains the reportage of the air strike, saying, “When we get statements from the government during the conflict, I think it has to be just context with government sources.” She says it prevents journalists from jumping the gun and puts the onus on government. The panel is unanimously annoyed about the unconfirmed and propagandist reportage by sections of Indian media. Manisha feels it warrants criticism from the international community.When asked about dos and don’ts for defence correspondents, Nitin says, “Don’t be in a hurry to give out everything you get … It’s more important what you don’t write than what you write.”The conversation moves to a discussion on the protests in Arunachal Pradesh over the Permanent Residence Certificates. Abhinandan says: “I don’t get that feeling when I went to Arunachal … it doesn’t seem like a kind of place which I would imagine would burn deputy CM’s house down.” He asks Samrat why it reached such a level. Samrat says, “Politics of indigeneity is very much there, inter-tribal rivalry … tribal divide … these are actually big things.” He adds that tourists don't face things like this.The discussion covers Caravan’s article where reporter Ajaz Ashraf tabulated soldiers killed in Pulwama on a caste basis. Raman says, “The sample that they have taken is very, very small … I think caste still dominates the class.” Manisha says, “I think the article borrows its narrative from … American media after the Iraq war. I have a central problem with one saying that the war in India is driven by Hindu nationalism—because Kashmir and Chhattisgarh where most of the CRPF is deployed have existed before Hindu nationalism rose.”Listen up! There’s more.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

चुनावी गहमा-गहमी के बीच बीता हफ़्ता तमाम अच्छी-बुरी खबरों के साथ हिंदुस्तान के लिए एक उपलब्धि लेकर आया. इस हफ़्ते प्रधानमंत्री नरेंद्र मोदी द्वारा खगोल विज्ञान के क्षेत्र में भारत की हालिया उपलब्धि को बताते हुए राष्ट्र के नाम संदेश जारी संदेश, राहुल गांधी द्वारा चुनावी अभियान के तहत की एक बड़ी योजना ‘न्याय’ का ऐलान, पिछले हफ़्ते होली के रंगों को धूमिल करती हुई व सामाजिक ताने-बाने को नुकसान पहुंचाने वाली गुड़गांव में एक मुस्लिम परिवार के साथ हुई हिंसक वारदात और सामाजिक कार्यकर्ता व अर्थशास्त्री ज्यां द्रेज़ की झारखंड में हुई गिरफ़्तारी, प्रधानमंत्री नरेंद्र मोदी का रिपब्लिक भारत चैनल को दिया गया इंटरव्यू आदि चर्चा में विषय के तौर पर लिया गया.चर्चा में इस बार लेखक-पत्रकार अनिल यादव व हिंदुस्तान अख़बार के विशेष संवाददाता स्कंद विवेकधर शामिल हुए. चर्चा का संचालन न्यूज़लॉन्ड्री के कार्यकारी संपादक अतुल चौरसिया ने किया.प्रधानमंत्री नरेंद्र मोदी द्वारा ज़ारी राष्ट्र के नाम संदेश में उपग्रह को मार-गिराने की क्षमता के ज़िक्र के साथ चर्चा की शुरुआत हुई. अतुल ने पॉलिटिकल पार्टियों का हवाला देते हुए सवाल किया कि क्या इसकी ज़रूरत थी कि प्रधानमंत्री इतना ज़्यादा सस्पेंस बनाते हुए इसकी घोषणा करें? इसमें दूसरी बात यह भी शामिल की गई कि इसको भारत सरकार की तरफ़ से इस तरह पेश किया गया कि इसमें 1974 या 1998 में हुए परमाणु परीक्षण जैसी कोई बात है. आप इन दोनों ही बातों को किस तरह देखते हैं?जवाब देते हुए अनिल ने कहा, “वास्तव में प्रधानमंत्री को राष्ट्र के नाम विशेष संबोधन के ज़रिए इसे बताने की आवश्यकता नहीं थी. अगर राष्ट्र के नाम संबोधन की आवश्यकता थी तो वह पुलवामा हमले के समय ज़्यादा थी. पूरा देश उस समय बहुत सदमे में था, लोगों में नाराज़गी थी. वो एक बड़ी घटना थी, पूरे देश को हिला देने वाली. लेकिन उस वक़्त प्रधानमंत्री को यह ज़रूरत नहीं महसूस हुई कि राष्ट्र के नाम विशेष संबोधन दें. लेकिन ये जो घटना हुई कि तीन मिनट के भीतर अपने ही कबाड़ हो चुके एक उपग्रह को एक मिसाइल द्वारा नष्ट कर दिया गया तो उन्होंने पूरे देश को बताया. तो इसके पीछे जो मकसद है वो प्रोपेगैंडा का है.”इस घटना पर विपक्ष द्वारा सवाल उठाए जाने पर- ‘विपक्ष हर चीज़ पर सवाल खड़े कर रहा है’- जैसी बात भारतीय जनता पार्टी व प्रधानमंत्री द्वारा बार-बार कही जा रही है. इस बात का ज़िक्र करते हुए अतुल ने सवाल किया कि अब जबकि इस समय आदर्श आचार संहिता लागू है तब इसे राजनीति के चश्मे से देखा जाए या नहीं?जवाब देते हुए स्कंद ने कहा, “ये कहना कि इसमें राजनीति नहीं है, बिल्कुल ग़लत होगा. प्रधानमंत्री ने अगर राष्ट्र के नाम संबोधन किया तो उन्होंने यह भी राजनीतिक नज़रिए से ही किया है क्योंकि अभी चुनाव सिर पर हैं और सत्तारूढ़ दल भाजपा चाहता है कि पूरा का पूरा चुनाव इस बात पर हो कि राष्ट्र के लिए मजबूती से निर्णय लेने वाला दमदार प्रधानमंत्री कौन है. वो पूरा नैरेटिव इस पर ही शिफ्ट कर रहे हैं. यह हमारी बड़ी उपलब्धि हैं, हम इनकार नहीं कर सकते. ख़ास तौर से तब जबकि चीन जिससे आपके बहुत अच्छे रिश्ते नहीं हैं, उसके पास यह ताकत है. और आने वाले वक़्त में ऐसे मौके बने हुए हैं कि युद्ध के दौरान कोई देश आपके उपग्रहों को नष्ट कर दे तो आपके पास एक डेटरेंस होना चाहिए.”इसके साथ-साथ बाकी विषयों पर भी चर्चा के दौरान विस्तार से बहस हुई. बाकी विषयों पर पैनल की राय जानने-सुनने के लिए पूरी चर्चा सुनें.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week’s Reporters Without Orders features host Cherry Agarwal, Business Standard's Arup Roychoudhury, Newslaundry’s head of research Ayush Tiwari, and Newslaundry's associate editor Meghnad. The panel talks about the Election Commission of India's Model Code of Conduct, a recent study by Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism on Indian digital media, and Rahul Gandhi’s announcement of the Nyuntam Aay Yojana (NYAY).The discussion starts with the Reuters report with Ayush explaining the nuances of the survey. The panel discusses its important aspects like the sample size and type of questions, and examines why some news sites are more trusted by Indians. Arup says, "Times of India right now in this country is almost as synonymous as 'Xerox' versus 'photocopy'."Meghnad tells us about the guidelines issued by the Election Commission of India with respect to social media for the conduct of political parties and candidates during elections. Ayush and Arup share their opinions on why the EC may face a lot of trouble in the absence of laws regarding political advertisements. On the EC's effort to keep a check on social media, Meghnad says, “Maybe they are just putting out reports of ‘we have taken action’, whereas there might be thousands and thousands which have just been ignored.” The panel also discusses the "ghost advertisers" on Facebook and the effectiveness of the EC’s guidelines. Cherry discusses the recent announcements made by the Congress as poll promises, focusing on the NYAY, which is the party's minimum income guarantee scheme. “This is a poll promise, how well this gets implemented—if it gets implemented—is what we have to see.” NYAY offers ₹12,000 per month for a family (up to ₹72,000 per year) as basic income. When it comes to how the scheme will be funded, Ayush says: “Till the coming election they won’t clarify it, because keeping it vague is the best idea.” Arup also gives an in-depth analysis of the basic structure of a minimum income guarantee scheme and ways to fund it.For all this and more, listen up!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.