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This week, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, and Anand Vardhan are joined by political analyst Suhas Palshikar, tech expert Madhav Deshpande, and professor Shruti Kapila.
On the robustness of the election voting machines, Suhas Palshikar says EVMs have “definitely lost the credibility that they initially had”. He cites Lokniti-CSDS data. Madhav says “major technological change” in 2013, with the introduction of VVPAT has made EVMs a “different beast”.  
The panel then discusses the manifestos and poll promises. Shruti says the BJP manifesto is “very weird” and that “it wants to lower the temperature on Hindutva”. Anand calls it the manifesto of a party that is “very sure of a renewed mandate”, unlike the Congress manifesto, which is trying to “tick too many boxes”. 
This and a whole lot more. Tune in!
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Timecodes
00: 05:02 - Headlines
00: 13:16 - Trust deficit in EVMs 
00: 53:24 - BJP’s manifesto
01: 28:36 - Letters 
01: 34:00 - Recommendations 
Hafta letters, recommendations, songs and references
Check out our previous Hafta recommendations.
Produced and recorded by Aryan Mahtta, edited by Hassan Bilal.



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This week, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, and Jayashree Arunachalam are joined by policy researcher Yamini Aiyar and senior journalist Rasheed Kidwai. 
On the challenges facing think tanks in India, Yamini says working in policy has “moved from jholawala inputs to suit-boot inputs” over the years, referring to the increased corporatisation.  
The panel then discusses the Congress manifesto, and the party’s relevance in the upcoming elections. Abhinandan asks, “Is the Congress inevitable?” Rasheed says the grand old party is “not a dead body. It is very much alive and kicking.” 
The conversation then moves on to the controversy around Ramayana fame actor Arun Govil campaigning in Meerut with a photograph of the deity Ram. On the use of religion for votes, Rasheed says it’s “not an issue” for voters in India. 
This and a whole lot more. Tune in!

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General elections are around the corner, and Newslaundry and The News Minute have ambitious plans. Click here to support us.

Timecodes
00:07:09 - Policy research in India 
00: 17:41 - Headlines
00:27:09 - Think tanks in India 
00:38:13 - Is the Congress inevitable?
00:59:50 - Use of religion in election campaign 
01:22:31 - Letters
01:55:19 - Recommendations 
Hafta letters, recommendations, songs and references
Check out our previous Hafta recommendations.
Produced and recorded by Priyali Dhingra, edited by Samarendra K Dash and Umrav Singh. 
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This week, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal, and Manisha Pande are joined by ex-Chief Election Commissioner Dr SY Quraishi, and academic Professor R Manivannan.
Dr Quraishi says that ensuring a level-playing field is the Election Commission’s “dharma”. He says it is necessary for conducting free and fair elections which are “a basic structure of the Constitution”. He adds that the EC follows the principle of “what can wait must wait”, and asks whether the arrest of opposition leaders could have waited.
On the Katchatheevu island issue, Prof. Manivannan says the island was historically “within the revenue region of the king of Ramanathapuram”, adding that by 1976, the fishing rights of  Tamil fishermen had been taken away in the region. “What happens to the population that relies on fishing in the region?” he asks.
This and a lot more. Tune in!
We have a page for subscribers to send letters to our shows. If you want to write to Hafta, click here. 
Check out the Newslaundry store and flaunt your love for independent media. 
Download the Newslaundry app.
General elections are around the corner, and Newslaundry and The News Minute have ambitious plans. Click here to support us.
Timecodes
00: 02:41 - Headlines
00:10:53 - Role of Election Commission
41:01:30- Katchatheevu 
01:22:01 - Letters
01:46:48 - Recommendations
 Hafta letters, recommendations, songs and references
Check out our previous Hafta recommendations.
Produced and recorded by Aryan Mahtta and Priyali Dhingra, edited by Hassan Bilal and Umrav Singh.

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

This week, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal, and Anand Vardan are joined by music producer and public health consultant Dr Aiswarya Rao.
On the controversy around TM Krishna being conferred the Sangita Kalanidhi award by the Madras Music Academy and the Carnatic music fraternity’s response, Rao says it is an “intra-Brahmin musician dispute”. One faction wants to “take Carnatic music to the masses”, while the other wants to maintain its “hegemony”.  
On Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest, Manisha says the PMLA Act is “scary”. “You cannot get bail in PMLA till the court is satisfied that there is prima facie no case.” 
This and a lot more. Tune in!
We have a page for subscribers to send letters to our shows. If you want to write to Hafta, click here. 
Check out the Newslaundry store and flaunt your love for independent media. 
Download the Newslaundry app.
General elections are around the corner, and Newslaundry and The News Minute have ambitious plans. Click here to support us.
Timecodes
00:05:40 - Headlines
00:12:20 - TM Krishna’s Sangita Kalanidhi award controversy
00:31:32 - Arvind Kejriwal arrest
00:59:57 - Letters
01:16:13  - Recommendations
Hafta letters, recommendations, songs and references
Check out our previous Hafta recommendations.
Produced and recorded by Aryan Mahtta, edited by Hassan Bilal.

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

This week, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal and Anand Vardan are joined by Dhanya Rajendran, co-founder of The News Minute.
On electoral bonds, and the Trinamool Congress being its second-largest recipient, Anand says, “One factor [which determines this] is which party is seen as remaining in power for more time. Power magnets in a region.”
The conversation moves on to the seat-sharing arrangements for the Lok Sabha polls. Talking about Tamil Nadu, Dhanya says the BJP has “almost sidelined the AIADMK” and has become “confident of forming an alliance in Tamil Nadu without the party, which was not possible five or 10 years ago”.
On the Adani group funding the Ramnath Goenka Awards, Abhinandan says, “It’s complicated. For new journalists, it is a motivating factor, it builds morale.” Raman says it’s okay to receive awards funded by conglomerates as long as they do not interfere in the outlet’s coverage. He adds that The Indian Express’s coverage of the Hindenburg Research report accusing Adani group of stock manipulation was “relentless”.
This and a lot more. Tune in!
We have a page for subscribers to send letters to our shows. If you want to write to Hafta, click here. 
Check out the Newslaundry store and flaunt your love for independent media. 
Download the Newslaundry app.
General elections are around the corner, and Newslaundry and The News Minute have ambitious plans. Click here to support us.
Timecodes
00:05:20 - Headlines
00:17:02  - Electoral bonds
00:38:28 - Tamil Nadu, Bihar seat-sharing
00:53:15  - Adani sponsoring Ramnath Goenka Awards
01:13:55   - Letters
01:35:11   - Recommendations
Hafta letters, recommendations, songs and references
Check out our previous Haftai recommendations.
Produced and recorded by Aryan Mahtta, edited by Umrav Singh.


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

This week, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Shardool Katyayan and JayashreeArunachalam are joined by Jagdeep Chhokar, founder and member of the Association for Democratic Reforms.
On electoral bonds, Jagdeep says the exercise of matching the bonds data can never be conclusive, but “we should remember that the window between a bond being purchased and it being redeemed is 15 days”.
The panel then discusses the BJP’s second list of candidates for the Lok Sabha polls. Abhinandan asks if the party is trying to change its image by dropping names of sitting MPs with a history of hate speech. Jayashree says it is fielding new faces only to strengthen the central leadership’s grip on state units.
On the implementation of the Citizenship Amendment Act, Shardool says the law is “practically useless”. He explains that the naturalisation process requires 11 years of residency in the country, whereas the deadline for granting citizenship under the CAA is December 2014, and the law is being notified almost after a decade.
Tune in!
We have a page for subscribers to send letters to our shows. If you want to write to Hafta, click here. 
Check out the Newslaundry store and flaunt your love for independent media. 
Download the Newslaundry app.
General elections are around the corner, and Newslaundry and The News Minute have ambitious plans. Click here to support us.
Timecodes
00:02:31 - Headlines
00:19:19 - Electoral bonds
00:38:15 - BJP’s second list of candidates 
00:48:33 - Notifying of CAA rules
01:02:49 - Letters
01:34:48 - Recommendations
Hafta letters, recommendations, songs and references
Check out our previous Haftai recommendations.
Produced and recorded by Aryan Mahtta, edited by Satish Kumar and Samarendra Dash.

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