South Central

The 18th episode of South Central, a weekly podcast hosted by TNM’s editor-in-chief Dhanya Rajendran and editorial head for reporting Pooja Prasanna, discussed concerns of  electoral roll manipulation and Bengaluru’s governance challenges. Joining them were senior editor Nandini Chandrashekar, Nitin Sethi, the founding editor of Reporters' Collective, and activist Tara Krishnaswamy.

Nitin Sethi highlighted serious concerns regarding electoral rolls. He said, "Voter list manipulation has been part of the game for a fairly long while. If you look at election records, you’ll ghost voters up to two, three lakhs in a population of twenty lakhs. Now, technology allows rigorous manipulation at a greater scale. If any party, with a considerably large number of workers try to do this, they can affect it at scale. At this moment, we do not have adequate safeguards to ensure the credibility of the electoral process."

Nandini Chandrashekar raised concerns about voter disenfranchisement, pointing out systemic issues within the electoral process. She highlighted, "Faulty voter rolls and procedural errors deny citizens their right to vote effectively. These errors severely hinder democratic participation."

Tara Krishnaswamy focused on Bengaluru's governance issues, particularly criticising the Greater Bengaluru Governance Bill. She argued, "This Bill centralises administrative control instead of empowering local bodies, undermining local governance and accountability. It moves us further away from decentralisation."

The episode delves into both the electoral concerns of the country in general, and Bengaluru’s governance conundrum. 

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Audio Timecodes 

00:00:00 - Intro 

00:03:17 - Reporter's Collective 

00:01:40- Announcements 

00:10:20 - Headlines 

00:13:09 - Flaws in Electoral Process

00:44:59 - Greater Bengaluru Bill 

01:07:15- Recommendations 

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Produced by Bhuvan Malik, edited by Jaseem Ali

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

This week’s episode of South Central, hosted by journalist Dhanya Rajendran and co-hosted by Pooja Prasanna and Leena Reghunath, explored two pressing topics—youth violence in Kerala and the growing influence of hyper-nationalism in Indian cricket. The episode featured filmmaker Don Palathara, senior sports journalist Sharda Ugra, and social media influencer Aysha Mahmood.

With Kerala witnessing violent crimes, the state is debating whether movies, drugs, or the internet were fueling these incidents. Don Palathara argued against blaming any single medium, including cinema. He emphasized that cinema does not dictate behavior but is a reflection of the larger society.

Aysha Mahmood, however, highlighted the impact of technology on behavior, particularly among children. “Our brain has been rewired to have instant justice, instant dopamine hits, instant gratification,” she said.

The conversation then shifted to Indian cricket, examining the power of the BCCI and the rising wave of hyper-nationalism. Sharda Ugra pointed out how nationalism in cricket is being deliberately amplified. “This kind of jingoism has been amplified by the government at the centre, and by the broadcasters,” she said. She likened BCCI’s dominance in cricket to the U.S.’s global influence, saying, “BCCI is like the United States of cricket.”

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Audio Timecodes 

00:00:00 – Introduction

00:02:05 – Subscribe & Support TNM 

00:02:52 – Headlines

00:06:44 - TNM turns 11

00:08:03– Cinema & Violence

00:42:23 - Indian Cricket and Hyper-nationalism

01:05:51 - Letters

01:08:41 – Recommendations

Check out the recommendations and references from this episode.

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To not miss any updates, join TNM's WhatsApp Channel! Click here

Produced by Bhuvan Malik, edited by Jaseem Ali

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

In this episode of South Central, hosts Dhanya Rajendran, Pooja Prasanna, and Leena Reghunath are joined by activist and journalist Shivasundar and retired IAS officer PV Ramesh to discuss the looming delimitation and Karnataka’s Naxal journey.

With delimitation set for 2026, will south India’s political representation shrink if more seats go to northern states? What does this mean for governance, federalism, and the country’s power balance?

On delimitation, PV Ramesh says, “It does not really matter how many citizens one MP represents—certainly, the lesser, the better—but any revision must be pro-rata across the country. If seats must increase, it should be across the board by 10–20% without reference to population, ensuring fair representation for union territories and smaller states. In a country as diverse as India, a one-size-fits-all rule simply won’t work.”

Shivasundar argues, “There should be a numerical increase, but it should come with devolution of power. Why should the Lok Sabha have so much power? Devolve the power to the regional states. Bengaluru is developing as Delhi, and Raichur is developing as another Bihar. So when you say South, South is not uniform in that sense. This is a consequence of the mode of development we are pursuing. Unless we attend to that, these superficial solutions will not go to the roots.”

Dhanya points out the lack of transparency from the Union government, saying, “The BJP is very calculative. They aren’t revealing how many seats will be added or which states will gain. That itself shows there’s a political strategy behind it.”

As the conversation turns to Karnataka’s recent declaration that it is Naxal-free, the panel examines whether the movement is truly gone or if it has only changed form.

On the state’s anti-Naxal operations, Shivasundar challenges the official narrative, saying, “The idea that Naxalism has been ‘eliminated’ is misleading. The state has used repression, but it has not addressed the conditions that gave rise to the movement.”

Shivasundar challenges the claim that Karnataka is “Naxal Free,” arguing that Naxalism is more than an armed movement—it’s an ideology born from deep inequalities. “The armed rebellion may have ended, but as long as the conditions that created it exist, the ideology isn’t going anywhere.

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Audio Timecodes 

00:00:00 – Introduction

00:02:05 – Subscribe & Support TNM 

00:03:00 – Headlines

00:08:54 – Delimitation 

00:39:57 - Karnataka’s Naxal Journey 

01:07:44 - Letters

01:11:30 – Recommendations

Check out the recommendations and references from this episode.

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Produced by Bhuvan Malik, edited by Jaseem Ali

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

The Union government is withholding education funds from Tamil Nadu over its refusal to implement the three-language policy. Is this really about language, or is it about control over states? Vikatan’s website was abruptly blocked days after BJP leaders attacked its cartoon on Modi. With independent media under pressure, is digital censorship the next frontier?

Hosts Dhanya Rajendran, Pooja Prasanna, and Leena Reghunath are joined by TNM’s executive editor Sudipto Mondal and senior journalist K Venkataramanan to break it all down.

Once a month, we will invite one TNM subscriber to the show. Write to us on what you would like to speak about to [email protected]

Send your thoughts, suggestions and criticism as well.

Audio Timecodes 

00:00:00 – Introduction

00:01:27 – TNM’s 11th Birthday

00:04:34 – Headlines

00:09:07 – Union Govt vs TN

00:38:23 - Rohith Act 

00:44:21 - Vikatan, BeerBiceps & Digital Censorship

01:04:30 – Recommendations

Check out the recommendations and references from this episode.

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Contribute to our reporting fund. Click here. 

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Produced by Bhuvan Malik, edited by Jaseem Ali

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

Did Infosys rig performance tests to push employees out? As mass layoffs spark outrage, why do IT workers resist unionizing, and what deeper issues plague corporate India? India’s film industry is censoring itself—before the government even steps in. From CBFC delays to streaming platforms playing it safe, who really controls what we watch? Hosts Dhanya Rajendran, Leena Reghunath, and Sudipto Mondal are joined by political and public policy consultant Tara Krishnaswamy and journalist and author Anna MM Vetticad to break it all down.

TNM’s 11th b’day- Gift a subscription: https://rzp.io/rzp/tnm-11th

Once a month, we will invite one TNM subscriber to the show. Write to us on what you would like to speak about to [email protected]

Send your thoughts, suggestions and criticism as well.

Audio Timecodes 

00:00:00 – Introduction

00:01:24– TNM’s 11th Birthday 

00:04:34 – Headlines

00:09:38: Summons to BeerBiceps

00:15:57 – Infosys Layoffs & IT Unions

00:35:20 – Film Censorship

01:04:59– Recommendations

Check out the recommendations and references from this episode.

Become a subscriber- Click here.

Contribute to our reporting fund. Click here. 

To check out our other shows, Click here 

To not miss any updates, join TNM's WhatsApp Channel! Click here

Produced by Bhuvan Malik, edited by Jaseem Ali

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

In this episode of South Central, hosts Dhanya Rajendran, Pooja Prasanna, and Leena Reghunath are joined by NewsLaundry’s Manisha Pande, along with TNM’s Sudipto Mondal and Jahnavi. 

On the Kumbh Mela Stampede, Manisha Pande discusses NewsLaundry’s ground report, highlighting how the official death toll is significantly lower than the actual numbers. “We accessed hospital records that show at least 79 bodies were brought in from the Kumbh stampede, while the government’s count remains much lower,” Manisha says.

Dhanya questions the lack of mainstream media coverage: “But why have more people not demanded these numbers? That is what really puzzles me.

Pooja adds, “Governments want to set world records for attendance at these events, but basic crowd control measures are missing.”

The conversation moves to the alarming case of the Chennai Police summoning journalists and seizing their phones over their coverage of the Anna University sexual assault case. “Downloading an FIR in itself is not a crime. Justice Madan Lokur, who wrote the Supreme Court guidelines on how to report on rape has said if the police have uploaded the FIR on the website and reporters have downloaded it, that itself is not a crime. It becomes a crime if a reporter gave away the detail of the rape victim.

Leena highlights the broader legal implications: “Courts have given mixed rulings on the seizure of journalists’ phones, but this raises serious concerns about press freedom and police overreach.”

On the Telangana caste survey, Jahnavi breaks down the findings of Telangana’s recently conducted caste survey. “The government claims they’ve enumerated 97% of the population, but the numbers don’t match Aadhaar or voter ID records,” she points out.

Sudipto critiques the lack of transparency: “A caste survey is supposed to reveal the socio-economic status of different groups, but this government has only released broad percentages. Without real data, how can policies be made?”

Once a month, we will invite one TNM subscriber to the show. Write to us on what you would like to speak about to [email protected]

Send your thoughts, suggestions and criticism as well.

Audio Timecodes 

00:00:00 - Announcements

00:01:45 - Introduction

00:03:21- Headlines

00:07:11- Kumbh Mela Stampede: Cover-up?

00:22:56 - Delhi Elections: AAP’s Toughest Battle?

00:33:20 - Chennai Police vs. Journalists

00:46:59 - Telangana Caste Census: What’s Missing?

 01:02:37 - Letters

01:07:36 - Recommendations

Check out the recommendations and references from this episode.

Become a subscriber- Click here.

Contribute to our reporting fund. Click here. 

To check out our other shows, Click here 

To not miss any updates, join TNM's WhatsApp Channel! Click here

Produced by Bhuvan Malik, edited by Jaseem Ali

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

In this episode, hosts Dhanya Rajendran and Leena Reghunath are joined by Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri and independent journalist Sowmiya Ashok. 

On the AI copyright battle between Indian news organizations and OpenAI, Dhanya points, “This is not the first time. We are seeing a lot of litigation like this across the world. The New York Times and others have gone to court over this. Leena adds, “New York Times and its newsroom have diligently and painstakingly put content together with significant monetary investment. But AI is saying that this is all fair use.” 

Abhinandan highlights the OpenAI and large learning models crawl the web for content. “The catch-22 situation is when American AI companies accuse the Chinese, saying that your model has copied our model. Then the question is, how did you become what you became?”

As the conversation shifts to Tamil Nadu’s latest archaeological discovery that challenges the world’s Iron Age timeline, Sowmiya says, “This iron was found in the Harappan areas, and then we find it in southern India as well. So, were these two settlements communicating, or was there some movement between the two? it just seems very exciting that in this part of the region of India, there seems to have been some incredible technology at one point.”

Abhinandan adds, “There is so much other scientific research that needs to be done, which doesn't get any money. 60 percent funding has been allocated for cow dung and urine startups. The question is: What does the government choose to fund? Is it giving it to collect cow piss and sell it in bottles, or are they investing in excavations which have scientific robustness the world over? I think that is where politics enters— what is a priority, and the boast.

Once a month, we will invite one TNM subscriber to the show. Write to us on what you would like to speak about to [email protected]

Send your thoughts, suggestions and criticism as well.

Audio Timecodes 

00:00:00:00 - Annoucements

00:01:24:00 - Introduction

00:02:44:00 - Headlines

00:14:13:00 - Indian Media Sues OpenAI

00:41:01:00 - TN Iron Age Discovery

01:01:02:00 - Letters

01:08:29:00 - Recommendations

Check out the recommendations and references from this episode.

Become a subscriber- Click here.

Contribute to our reporting fund. Click here. 

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To not miss any updates, join TNM's WhatsApp Channel! Click here

Produced by Bhuvan Malik, edited by Vignesh Manickam

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

In episode 11 of South Central, hosts Dhanya Rajendran and Leena Reghunath are joined by TNM’s senior journalist Nandini Chandrashekar, investigative journalist  Poonam Agarwal and lawyer Anup Surendranath.  The first topic they discuss is the differing judgments in two legal cases, one from West Bengal and one from Kerala. Why did a judge give Sanjay Roy life imprisonment in the RG Kar case and why did another judge give Greeshma the death penalty in the Sharon Raj murder?   

Anup argues that the RG Kar judgment is a better interpretation of the law. He says that the judge in this case is aware of what the Supreme Court has said about when to choose life imprisonment and when to choose the death penalty. Anup says that this was not done in the Greeshma case.  He believes that the judge had a "shocking ignorance" of what the Supreme Court requires, and that the judge "cherry picked" the judgments that he liked. 

Leena says that the public are trigger happy and many times judgements are a reflection of this.

On PM Cares, Poonam questions why financial statements have not been made public. “Why do we need to know these details?  Because donations were made by us as well.  As a citizen, many people donated during COVID.”   

Once a month, we will invite one TNM subscriber to the show. Write to us on what you would like to speak about to [email protected]

Send your thoughts, suggestions and criticism as well.

Audio Timecodes 

00:00:00:00 - Introductions

00:00:43:00 - Announcements

00:02:40:00- Headlines

00:07:15:00 -  RG Kar and Greeshma case

00:48:28:00 - PM Cares secrecy

01:14:14:00 - Recommendations

Check out the recommendations and references from this episode.

Become a subscriber- Click here.

Contribute to our reporting fund. Click here. 

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To not miss any updates, join TNM's WhatsApp Channel! Click here

Produced by Megha Mukundan, edited by Jaseem Ali

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

In episode ten of South Central, hosts Dhanya Rajendran, Pooja Prasanna, and Leena Reghunath are joined by public policy professionals Tara Krishnaswamy and Tushar  Chakrabarthy, along with advocate Sandhya Raju who practises in the Kerala High Court.

In this episode, first we discuss whether the union government is messing the finances of comparatively richer southern states? Or are states responsible for their fiscal woes? The discussion later is on the sexual assault of a Dalit teen in Kerala that has shook the country. The teen has accused 58 men of raping her.

Tune in for an in-depth discussion. 

Once a month, we will invite one TNM subscriber to the show. Write to us on what you would like to speak about to [email protected]

Send your thoughts, suggestions and criticism as well.

Audio Timecodes 

 00:00:00:00 - Introductions 

00:00:48:00 - Announcements

00:02:24:00 - Headlines

00:06:39:00 - States vs Union

00:41:07:00 - Pattanamthitta crime

01:11:03:00 - Recommendations

Check out the recommendations and references from this episode.

Produced by Bhuvan Malik, edited by Jaseem Ali.

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

In episode nine, hosts Dhanya Rajendran, Pooja Prasanna, and Leena Reghunath are joined by TNM’s senior journalist Anisha Sheth and journalist Yunus Lasania. This week, we discuss why communal violence went down in coastal Karnataka in 2024. 

On the changing trends of communal violence in Karnataka, Pooja highlights, “These incidents don’t happen in isolation. They happen for a reason, and that reason is to convert the region first to think in a certain way and then get electoral benefits out of it. They are part of a long-term strategy to polarize communities, first culturally and then politically, as seen in the coastal belt.” 

Anisha explains how violence has declined in coastal Karnataka but risen in northern districts, “Ideologically, nobody has had a change of heart. But they're no longer participating in violence. There is also the realization that communities like the Billawas have always been sidelined and considered unimportant, never given important positions in leadership. This transformation of primary identities into a broader Hindutva identity is its biggest achievement.” 

In Telangana, it’s Congress CM Revanth Reddy vs BRS’ KTR. Yunus says, “Revanth Reddy, being a first-time chief minister, has to assert himself and show that he’s sticking to his promises. His focus on KTR is strategic, aiming to keep the BRS tied up in controversies while asserting his leadership.” 

Leena adds, “There’s always cases and images being tarnished of your political opponent once they are out of power. It’s not tough for governments to bring out such cases, drag them into the mud, and permanently harm their reputation, ensuring their political mileage is lost.”

Tune in for sharp insights, riveting debates, and a delicious twist—Yunus shares his top biryani picks!

Once a month, we will invite one TNM subscriber to the show. Write to us on what you would like to speak about to [email protected]

Send your thoughts, suggestions and criticism as well.

Become a subscriber- Click here.

Contribute to our reporting fund. Click here. 

To check out our other shows, Click here 

To not miss any updates, join TNM's WhatsApp Channel! Click here

Audio Timecodes 

00:00:00:00 - Introductions

00:02:08:00 - Announcements

00:03:14:00 - Headlines

00:14:28:00 - Karnataka Communal Violence Trends

00:52:41:00 - Formula E Case Against KTR

01:09:29:00 - Recommendations

Check out the recommendations and references form this episode.

Produced by Bhuvan Malik, edited by Jaseem Ali.

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