Hi NL team,

In the last Hafta, someone wrote a letter on whether we should have smaller states. I definitely also broadly support breaking the bigger states into right sized states, as they have been more successful. Mr Raman had mentioned that he can take it up and write on the same, it will be lovely to read the findings.

I myself have very passionately written on this as an amateur blogger in a four part series. I am sharing the links of the blog posts, which can be a starting point. I will be honored & humbled if something can be used for the article on the same. Please feel free to use anything from the blog posts. I will be happy if they actually help.

Part 1- http://theworldviewbyjashan.blogspot.com/2013/05/need-for-more-states-factors-behind.html

Part 2- http://theworldviewbyjashan.blogspot.com/2013/05/need-for-more-states-myths-in-making.html

Part 3- http://theworldviewbyjashan.blogspot.com/2013/06/need-for-more-states-concerns-and.html

Part 4:- http://theworldviewbyjashan.blogspot.com/2013/07/need-for-more-states-in-india.html

PS: As Dr Sahil mentioned, I do find Abhinandan very humble, witty, curious and open to criticism. This I assume because he is multilingual (intelligent) and well-read (knowledgeable). Continue to be this way as we have your back.

Regards,

Jashan

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Hi Team NL,

Loved Hafta 353 about COP26, and mostly agreed with Harjeet's points. But I don't share his optimism about rich countries doing their part. As he said, their promises to make $100 billion available did not materialise. As this article from the Wire shows, they include loans as part of this fund. That's just another way for the west to make money from the third world or grab its resources.

While the Scottish government’s damage funds are encouraging, as the costs of climate change pile up, what's the guarantee rich countries will pay up? Biden can agree to something today, the next president can just refuse to honor it. Both Bush and Trump did this with previous climate deals. So will other western countries - nobody will agree to pay up trillions of dollars. The victims of climate change in the third world don't have the power to force rich countries to pay for it.

Harjeet's repeated parallels to Covid vaccines were so apt. But the story of vaccines is sordid. The West hoarded vaccines and refused to waive intellectual property. Narrow corporate profits outweighed the survival of the human race. The third world paid the price.

Climate change, like Covid, is a real problem and an existential threat. Unfortunately , just like vaccines, it is now just another excuse for the West to cynically make money from the third world. Seeing this attitude from the West is what defeats any hope on climate change.

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NL team, just wanted to drop a note of appreciation that I really liked the November 13 Hafta, as both guest speakers were amazing. It was really nice to hear discussions on markets. Please have this as a segment at least once a month. Well done listening to the feedback you were getting from listeners.

Btw Manisha is awesome!!

Nimish Dutt

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Hi NL team!

I have been listening to Chhota Hafta and watching Newsance for quite a while now and every time it leaves me wanting for more because I am sort of a news junkie. So, I finally got my first salary and the first thing I did was subscribe to NL. The content behind the paywall is absolutely amazing! It left me thinking about what kind of shit is being passed on as journalism especially in the previous five to six years even from big legacy media houses which, before this, had some kind of sanity and ethics while reporting news.

Anyways, keep up the great work guys!

PS. Have asked a few people who were fed up with the TV media shouting matches to subscribe to you guys.

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I appreciate NL's inclusion of economic/financial topics this week. I imagine that is what prompted Vivek Kaul's inclusion in this week's Hafta. I hate ad hominems but I don't think you should invite him again.

His method of responding is off-putting and I cannot think it really informs listeners constructively. He seems stand-offish when pressed and almost adamantly convinced of his own position(s). I did not care for his rhetorical questions about breaking up social media companies nor for his quip to Abhinandan to come to Mumbai to explore reality. I'm sure he values his knowledge and the rest of NL respects him, but I think domain experts should make their topics more accessible, which includes checking tone and attitude.

Also, Newsance should be reimagined slightly, before putting it behind the paywall. People knew what to expect from Hafta so they subscribed. But Newsance could be 14 or 25 minutes. So, if you had at least 20 minutes per episode or some serious engagement with one topic (like John Oliver’s humour + information) there is greater predictability of the product, something consumers may appreciate.

Ironically, it is the show which encouraged me to subscribe because my conscience did not permit me to consume that kind of quality for free. Reading this out loud might hurt Mr Kaul's feelings so I'm okay if you don’t.

My best to NL always,

Aroon Menon

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Following up on one of the letters from another subscriber from last week:

It is pretty clear from data and news that freak weather events are becoming less-freak, and there seems to be a direct correlation with changing temperatures caused by human activity. Still, COP26 turned out to be just another MNC board meeting: nothing concrete, just some to-dos for everyone and targets meant to keep all the big stakeholders relaxed and pass it on as an “issue” for the next generation. Things that could have an immediate effect in keeping temperatures to a maximum of 1.5 degree Celsius such as; immediate ban on deforestation, immediate ban on bottom-trawling fishing, immediate reduction in fishing numbers, immediate surcharge on air travel and animal husbandry related industries, and concrete transitions to non-polluting sources of energy, were merely discussed.

Yes, some decisions have been taken, but they will not be enough. If we rely on our current policy makers, we are doomed. And it seems we are. This is why my wife and I have decided not to have children, as it would be a curse upon them to bring them to this world. We’d rather concentrate on just reducing our footprint, or make it negative (through mobilisation and awareness). Also, I was hoping that COP26 would begin on an honest note that we are trying to save our status-quo, not the planet. The planet has 4.5 billion years to go, we are merely an advertisement in a long interstellar soap opera.

#IDreamOfNuclearFusion

Somsubhro Chaudhuri

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Hello everyone, after seeing the quality of news content and journalism, though sometimes I disagree with the NL team’s view, I have upgraded my subscription from a half yearly to an annual one and also contributed to the Hathras documentary project. Look forward to seeing many more documentaries.

With regards to the ongoing communal tension in Tripura (infected by previous manufactured riots in UP and Delhi), I believe that the problem is with the common Hindus, both literate as well as illiterate Hindus. They know nothing about their Hinduism. The BJP/RSS know this fact.

For instance, how did they just cruise with a lie that the Babri Masjid site was a Ram Janamsthan? On the basis of what? Any proof from the Hindu religious text? The answer is NO. I am not talking about the Archaeological Survey of India report or the Supreme Court verdict. They wanted to flourish in Indian politics with this lie which they did. They know that they will have no learned Hindu’s to counter their lie.

If the criminal act of demolishing a masjid is accepted today, then after a few decades or centuries, such ideology can once again in the name of Hinduism, polarise people, using some other fake manufactured theory which has nothing to do with the religion or is contrary to Hinduism. I believe learned Hindus need to take the onus and wisely counter such lies which the BJP/RSS is using in the name of Hinduism.

Keep moving forward. Tons of well wishes to everyone on the panel.

Saquib Shaikh