NL Hafta

This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Manisha Pande, Jayashree Arunachalam, and Shardool Katyayan are joined by Nitin Pai, co-founder and director of The Takshashila Institution, and senior journalist Hridayesh Joshi from Uttarkashi.

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This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Manisha Pande, Jayashree Arunachalam, and Shardool Katyayan are joined by Nitin Pai, co-founder and director of The Takshashila Institution, and senior journalist Hridayesh Joshi from Uttarkashi. 

The episode opens with a discussion on Trump’s recent announcement to double the tariff on India, from 25 percent to 50 percent. Nitin argued that there is nothing wrong with India buying oil from Russia. 

He said, “ I don’t think there’s anything wrong in India buying oil from Russia or from Iran or from wherever, as long as we can get away with it. To claim that, 'Oh, you're buying gas from a country which is at war and you're killing' is absurd… If the yardstick is that you're supplying or buying from people who are killing others, then the United States has to sanction itself to death."

Manisha asks Nitin what India should do next. 

Despite the current tensions, including the imposition of steep tariffs by Trump and the broader uncertainty in US-India relations, Nitin underlines a crucial strategic point: that the United States remains India’s most important partner for long-term growth and development.

“Even after all of this, the United States is still India’s best partner for growth and development. We've got to work with these guys and figure out how we can make use of the US economy and US military power to help us grow and be secure.” Nitin said.

He further added that it would be foolish to talk about retaliation or going to the other side and forming an anti-US bloc. The answer is not in Moscow or Beijing – the answer is still in New Delhi.

For the discussion on the Uttarkashi disaster, Hridayesh joined the discussion from ground zero. 

Hridayesh said that the death toll in the incident could increase as the rescue operation unfolds. He asserted that this disaster is not the result of the cloud bursts. 

“According to the definition [of cloudbursts], you require a hundred millimeters of rainfall in one hour in a particular area. So it has not happened [in Uttarkashi]. And, the other theories that are coming in say that there may be some obstruction in the upper reaches, and it may have formed a temporary lake. And that lake burst because of some landslide from above or by its own volume or pressure because it was raining continuously.” Hridayesh added. 

Manisha added that the Uttarakhand government’s focus should be on such national disasters, but their priority instead is ‘Land Jihad’, ‘Love Jihad’, and registration of live-in relationships. 

Shardool added that you can negotiate with every human problem, but you cannot negotiate with nature. “Like an overflowing river, it does not care who you are and what you are, and what your problems are. Nature is very brutal in its judgment,” he said.

Timecodes

00:00:00 – Introductions and announcements

00:03:00 – Headlines 

00:08:11-Trump’s Tariff threat to India 

00:43:43- Nitin’s recommendations

00:44:49 - Uttarkashi disaster 

01:05:54- Letters

01:20:35- Recommendations

Check out previous Hafta recommendations, references, songs and letters.

Produced and recorded by Amit Pandey, Ashish Anand and Anil Kumar. 

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

This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande and Raman Kirpal are joined by Udit Misra from The Indian Express and independent journalist Sanjeev Srivastava.

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This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Anand Vardhan, Raman Kirpal, and Jayashree Arunachalam are joined by MK Venu, Founding Editor of The Wire, and award-winning investigative journalist and author Josy Joseph.

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This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Anand Vardhan, Raman Kirpal, and Jayashree Arunachalam are joined by MK Venu, Founding Editor of The Wire, and award-winning investigative journalist and author Josy Joseph.

The panel begins with a discussion on the recently signed “historic” India-UK free trade agreement. Venu argues that the BJP’s intention behind this FTA is to have a “fresh start” in global trade negotiations: “In the last 11 years of the Modi government, the narrative they built, led by Piyush Goyal, is that all the FTAs signed by the UPA government were bad for India, that they were being used as a conduit for Chinese goods.”

The conversation then shifts to Jagdeep Dhankhar’s resignation as vice president. Abhinandan asks who will oversee the Rajya Sabha “with the parliament session already happening, and all sorts of noise and protests”.

Explaining the legal framework, Anand says, “Article 67 says that till the next vice president is appointed, he will have to continue. But he has made it clear that he will not be attending the House.” 

Venu draws a pattern of abrupt and unexplained resignations among the Indian political and bureaucratic elite: “There is a striking parallel in the manner in which Dhankhar, CBI chief (former Director) Alok Verma, and (former Election Commissioner) Arun Goel abruptly left. What is it that drives leadership in the Modi-Shah regime? There’s intrigue, there’s cloak and dagger, there’s paranoia. Paranoia accompanied by complete power. It’s a paradox.”

Commenting on media speculation around Dhankhar’s resignation, Anand says, “Journalists and public and social media commentators cannot say the simple thing that ‘we don’t know’.” Jayashree adds, “It doesn’t matter if there is any value to these theories. What matters is that you have a story, a source, the source has said something outlandish, and that is your headline.”

The panel then shifts to the Bombay High Court’s recent verdict on the 2006 Mumbai blasts. Raman explains: “It’s a 576-page judgement talking about how the police have manufactured evidence in very great detail…This particular judgement has put a huge question mark on this state-specific law MCOCA.”

Drawing from his decades of experience reporting on intelligence and security, Josy says: “One of the things that has always struck me was the impunity with which our police and investigative agencies are able to do pure malicious things and get away because there is no prosecution for malpractices.”

Josy also sheds light on the complexities of police functioning and the political pressures that often influence investigations. “I think in India today, the most difficult job is not being a journalist or not being an NGO worker. I think the most difficult job is to be an honest government official.”

Timecodes

00:00:00 – Introductions and announcements

00:05:50 – Headlines 

00:14:20-FTA Deal between UK & India / VP’s resignation

00:47:55- MK Venu’s recommendations

00:54:02 - Bombay Blast acquittal by the HC

01:21:30 - Josy’s Recommendation

01:27:33- Letters

01:43:40- Recommendations

Check out previous Hafta recommendations, references, songs and letters.

Produced and recorded by Amit Pandey, Ashish Anand and Anil Kumar. 

Research assistance by Vibha Rajeev. 

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

This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Raman Kirpal, and Shardool Katyayan are joined by University of Michigan’s Associate Professor Joyojeet Pal and senior journalist Radhika Ramaseshan. 

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This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Jayashree Arunachalam, Anand Vardhan, and Shardool Katyayan are joined by election analyst and researcher Amitabh Tiwari, along with historian and Newslaundry subscriber Swati Chawla.

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This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Manisha Pande, Jayashree Arunachalam and Raman Kirpal  are joined by writer and economist Vivek Kaul and environmental journalist Hridayesh Joshi. 

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This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Jayashree Arunachalam, Raman Kirpal and Anand Vardhan are joined by senior journalist Neerja Chowdhury, The News Minute’s editor-in-chief Dhanya Rajendran, and Newslaundry reporter Sumedha Mittal. 

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This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal, and Shardool Katyayan are joined by The Hindu’s diplomatic affairs editor Suhasini Haider, The News Minute’s Pooja Prasanna, and filmmaker Hansal Mehta.

Check out the Newslaundry store and flaunt your love for independent media. 

Download the Newslaundry app.

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