Hafta 521: Donald Trump returns, RG Kar conviction, death penalty

This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Jayashree Arunachalam and Anand Vardhan are joined by author and political analyst Sanjaya Baru. 

The discussion begins with Donald Trump being sworn in as the 47th President of the United States of America. The panel analyses the fears of a second Trump presidency. “He will do a lot of damage, yes, but the fear of Trump is greatly exaggerated,” Sanjaya says, adding that India, and the world, historically, has shown the ability to withstand imperialist powers.  

Jayashree adds, “Trump comes off as unhinged, but he is the essence of what America is like.”

 The panel also addresses the Indian media’s exaggeration of Foreign Minister S Jaishankar’s presence in the ‘front row’ at Trump’s swearing-in ceremony. Commenting on India-US relations, Manisha says, “The Joe Biden administration was kind to Narendra Modi’s administration…if Trump is not accommodative, it will affect BJP’s ‘vishwaguru’ politics domestically.”

The panel also discusses how the CBI and TMC government are appealing for the death penalty in the RG Kar case, and catches up on all the subscriber letters we’ve received so far.  

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Timecodes

00:00:00 - Introductions and announcements

00:03:04 - Baru on his book ‘India’s Power Elite’

00:08:12 - Headlines

00:20:28 - The return of Donald Trump 

00:40:43 - Economic impact of a second Trump presidency

00:55:27 - Baru on Manmohan Singh 

01:02:43 - Baru’s recommendations

01:04:43 - Death penalty

01:16:44 - Letters

01:59:46 - Recommendations 

Check out Hafta recommendations, references, songs and letters 

Produced and recorded by Priyali Dhingra and Anil Kumar. 

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