The sad reality of Vinesh getting disqualified is that everyone shouting in the fish market (newsrooms) doesn’t know jack about weight cutting. When she was above the limit, she wasn’t eligible and the reason behind that is not because 0.1 kg is nothing. It’s huge!

Every athlete cuts ‘water weight’ and is on the brink of dehydration when they make weight. Why? Because they regain the lost weight as soon as they rehydrate. (During weigh-ins, they could be 50 kg but before the fight they are as much as 3-4 kg heavier).

One area where the team screwed up? Our weight cutting methods seem primitive, you don’t spend the last night doing extreme cardio to drop weight, you use Sauna and hot tubs. We don’t give our athletes the best chance to compete and then abuse them. The less we talk about the rightwingers online, the better. Btw, how painful is weight cutting? Watch the video.

Anonymous 

***

This is a follow up email to the unread email from last week. I am writing this on Tuesday before the medal bouts.

The first bout of 50-kg women’s freestyle was Yui vs Phogat, my prayers were answered. I, an Indian, thought Yui would win but Vinesh. But, oh my god, the mental fortitude of that lady can’t be matched by anyone. First, the protest against Brij Bhushan and Modi, then moving up a weight-class which matters a lot. I mean, it matters a lot in wrestling. And then a knee surgery. The sacrifices she made on the altar of athletic glory, I can’t even imagine. She defeated the GOAT of 50 kgs who was running for her second Olympics gold medal – the no. 1 seed. The record of Yui Susaki is unmatched in women’s freestyle wrestling and this lady handed her 4th ever loss. By the way, Yui couldn’t even score on Vinesh. Vinesh was penalised for passivity, that’s it. Vinesh scored on her with 50 seconds left! Yui, until the finals, always wins through technical superiority ie. 10-0.

Vinesh has already won in my eyes. Screw the rest!

And if she wins an Olympics gold or any medal, she will be the Wrestling GOAT of India!

Now, call her to your house. She can’t be denied!

Comd. Shepard

***

There was a brief mention of the UPSC craze among the youth in the discussion. I think that overprotection in public employment is resulting in poor governance, total lack of accountability, and waste of public money. Once a person is enrolled on a government payroll, the government takes lifelong responsibility for him and his family. This is not how we should spend public money. Punishment like suspension and transfer for negligence are laughable. Corrupt public servants should be dismissed after quick enquiry. We don’t have a shortage of skilled and needy manpower. In fact, I support schemes like Agniveer which provides at least temporary employment with decent benefits. Why is the opposition not concerned about the growing pension bill? They don’t say a word about it. I unfollowed journalist Ravish Kumar when I found that he is supporting OPS which benefits the already privileged class, and he says nothing about universal pension.

Vishal

***

Dear Newslaundry,

I love the work you have done during this election season and this is to let Abhinandan know that I am one of those who subscribed to Newslaundry post-election.

There is one interesting development which took place on August 1, 2024. The Supreme Court upholding sub-classification in SC/ST seems to be a good move. However, I disagree with the creamy layer provision. I believe the reservations are not just created for economic upliftment but also to give them space at places of power and policy-making. Just an increase in wealth does not mean that social discrimination has gone. The sub-classification idea seems to be good. However, for any of this to be done, we need quantifiable and demonstrable data which has to start with the census which has not been conducted yet.

What does the NL Team think about this interesting development?

New Indian

***

Referring to undocumented migrants as “illegals” is dehumanising and inaccurate – reducing individuals to one aspect of their identity and perpetuating stigma. Using “undocumented migrants” respects their dignity and acknowledges their challenges. Migrants play a crucial role in the economy and often flee due to the destruction caused by US actions in their home countries. I recommend reading ‘Border and Rule’ by Harsha Walia and possibly inviting her to discuss the international migrant crisis on Hafta, exploring how the West exploits these crises with misleading narratives, for economic and political gain.

Additionally, dismissing the suffering of Palestinians or making light of it, is inappropriate. Someone on the podcast said it will be fun to see how Donald Trump handles it. Newslaundry, despite being based in India, should approach international issues with the seriousness and respect they deserve.

Jugraj 

***

Mail 1:

Hi NL team, 

Recently, I watched this conversation between Nikhil Kamath and Ranbir Kapoor, where at one point, the conversation turned to the relationship Kamath shares with the PM Modi. He started speaking about the PM with much adulation about his energy and work ethic (just like our godi anchors). I wonder, at times, that when these industry leaders speak about Modi as a person with such adulation, have they turned a complete blind eye to the hateful brand of politics he repeatedly indulges in? I wonder, to what extent these people are ready to compromise on basic decency if the governing regime is so called “pro-business”? Has everyone already forgotten the venomous election speeches? Or maybe these people are just like our RWA uncles, perfectly fine with this brand of politics.

Mail 2:

Hi NL team, 

The recent strings of disasters across the country have now made me accept, as a matter of fact, that life is the cheapest commodity in India. You can drown in a coaching institute where you study, you can get electrocuted and burned in a gaming zone, you can get mowed down by a Porsche if you walk on roads, you can get smashed to pulp by an illegal hoarding. It’s like fucking Hunger Games all over. The recent death of the UPSC aspirants in Old Rajendra Nagar has been particularly shocking to me as I was one such aspirant until last month. I personally know how these coaching institutes function with large halls, accommodating about 250-300 students at a time, and very few and small-sized exits. I remember my own instinct while writing a three-hour long mock test was to sit near or next to the exit door in case some emergency happens because this whole setup was so visibly vulnerable to any mishap. It is beyond tragic to see what life is for a common citizen in this country.

Vatsal 

***

Hello team,

I have a small suggestion for you guys. I like your end-of-podcast suggestions a lot. But I find it difficult to find them as I listen to the Hafta podcast while driving, working out, or cooking. I know that you share a Google doc with the links to the suggestions, but I have struggled to scroll through that on my phone and find the right ones. I thought there could be a more efficient and subscriber-friendly way to do the same.

Here is a substack that shares the five good essays to read. I believe the NL team can do the same. You can also send an email with the weekly recommendations by NL Hafta to the registered users, along with the link to the doc to check out the previous week’s suggestions. This is neither time-consuming nor costly. It is just a simple way to let valuable suggestions reach a larger audience.

Karthik Prasad 

***

Hi Abhinandan and team,

This is a bit of a longer email, but I think it’s important to be read on Hafta. I’ve seen how diligently NL operates and values subscriber feedback. I remember an episode of Clothesline where Madhu reported that a subscriber emailed about an error in her intro, and she took it positively and made the change. That was the first time I realised that these emails are actually read and acted upon. With this email, I want to encourage other subscribers to write in, provide feedback, and help make NL better every day, month, and year.

I’ve been a loyal supporter of your platform for a while now, and I believe in what you’re doing. However, I need to share some honest feedback about the app because it’s not meeting the expectations.

Firstly, it feels like you’re not improving the app quickly enough. We pay a subscription fee, so naturally, we expect a good service in return. On Hafta, I’ve heard subscriber letters mention that the app is buggy, and the panel seems surprised. This reaction makes it seem like you’re not using the app yourselves.

Here are the issues I’ve noticed on the iOS app:

It doesn’t feel like a native iOS app; it runs more like a web browser. If I download a podcast, I should be able to listen to it offline. But if there’s no network, the app doesn’t open at all. What’s the point of downloading an episode if I can’t access it offline?

The playback system has problems. It doesn’t remember where I left off, restarts the podcast when reopening, and doesn’t resume automatically after calls.

Today, I got a call, and the podcast didn’t pause. I was talking and could still hear the podcast in the background.

There are many more issues, but these are the main ones. It’s crucial to make accessing your content as easy as possible, especially if you’re competing with big media houses. Independent media already faces many challenges, so having a user-friendly app is vital to keep people engaged and subscribed. You can even start a recurring NL Sena project for this.

I’m proud to support you and want to make sure you get this feedback at the right time. You mentioned a dip in subscriptions after the elections in the last episode, and these access issues could be a part of the reason why.

Thanks for listening, and I hope to see improvements soon!

Nachiket Pande 

***

Hi team,

Quickly dropping by after finishing episode #495 since Abhinandan talked about Pantone. Just wanted to point you to the campaign started by novelist John Green against the owner of Pantone (a large MNC named Danaher) for overcharging TB tests in the poorest countries (tbfighters.org). They may have created a revolutionary product but they are capitalists at the end of the day and find ways to maximise their profits at the behest of the most needy.

Special shoutout to the guest Puja Mehra for decoding the budget so succinctly.

Keep up the good work!

Saanaee Naik 

***

Hello team,

Love from Calgary, Canada. In the Hafta 495, you briefly mentioned the emergence of immigrants, and I wanted to point out that in Canada there has been a sudden increase in anti-immigration sentiments (especially from India), which is mostly misplaced. I saw a recent viral IG reel of a white woman who mentioned that Indian people are defecating on Wasaga Beach and making all the places dirty. There are also many videos circulating of people from Brampton and Toronto dancing wildly in Yonge and Dunda’s Square. Please see if you can discuss these matters.

Pooja’s insights on budget were great. Abhinandan mentioned many times that the UPA ministers were as bad as Modi’s, but it’s not a fair comparison, which was also implied by Pooja. At the very least, they knew better when it came to running the country (even in bad times).

Jaimin Virpura 

***

First, please let me download video interviews natively on your app. I have to press share, then copy the link, then put it on the YouTube app and then I am able to download it through YouTube Premium (I have raised this issue earlier too).

Secondly, I want to see all of your faces and the Nazi background while I listen to you all, so please upload the video too!

Third, I love freestyle wrestling and track and field (Greco Roman wrestling is ass). If in future you cover sports, please cover these sports on a regional basis. Indian freestyle wrestling is very good. I hate the fact that I know more about folkstyle wrestling athletes (folkstyle is only practiced in the USA) than our own athletes. We all should be hyped if we are able to watch Vinesh vs Yui (she is the 50 kg GOAT) in this Olympics.

Fourth, I hate drug testing, but why am I able to know more about the USADA and its athlete testing as an Indian but have to click five times and download a PDF to know about Indian athletes? On USADA’s website they detail everything, I mean everything from the times tested to for what. And in India, I get a three-column table pdf. By the way, all steroid abolitionists are ignorant and have bought into the war on drugs propaganda. Drugs have won and are here to stay.

I have an idea for promotions: If I subscribe for a month, can I get a code that can give a person of my liking free access for an hour, so I can get them on the Newslaundry drugs and get them addicted to it? And if I subscribe for a year, 12 hours of free access.

Please don’t cry about word limits. My autistic self is a gift that keeps on giving. Enjoy!

Comd. Shepard 

***

Hey NL Hafta team,

As always, I love the work you do and love listening to Hafta. This is more of a personal comment to vehemently disagree with your categorisation of Chennai as ‘meh’ on the interesting-boring scale. I may be very biased, but it’s a great city with tons of things to do, which builds on the city’s rich culture and coastal scene. It’s pretty hard to call the city ‘meh’ when you have been to movie screenings and concerts on the beach and tried our diverse food scene. I would love to take the chance to change your minds the next time any of you are in the city.

Adithya 

***

Hi NL team, 

I have a suggestion for a report, or a podcast, or a series that you guys can undertake. Recently, my partner’s elderly uncle was put in an elderly care facility.

A couple of months after when the relatives went to check in, they got a sense of how negligent the attending staff and the leadership at the facility were. From keeping away food and medicines that families send every once in a while, to absolute negligence out of sheer sadistic pleasure, the elderly endured it all. Maybe you guys can do a report on elderly care in India, and what infests it.

Love the work and have never been so proud of taking a subscription to a service.

Jinesh Udani 

***

The whole Olympics fiasco of terming the Algerian boxer ‘biological male’ was horrendous. It was however worse to see Barkha Dutt doing next to no research on the topic and amplifying the same nonsense on social media.

What was worse was her doubling down on the ‘XY’ chromosome present in the Algerian boxer (a genetic defect that is actually found in far too many cases).

She did zero research, had zero idea about the record of the boxer, and was just jumping on the bandwagon of a morbid right-wing crowd.

It’s been sad to see her slowly switch lanes where she’s continued to platform (pardon my language) a misogynistic pig like Abhijit Iyer, who has basically spouted the same fake nonsense that he does everywhere and continues to be unchallenged.

Something’s changed in her, and it’s sad to see such a fall in journalistic standards from her side.

Anonymous 

***

The French journalist Abhi spoke to appears to be a liberal, bourgeois, Macron-supporting journalist, and their statements are misleading. Abhi’s reference to the “liberal left alliance” is dangerous. La France Insoumise (LFI) is the largest true left party, forced into an alliance with the socialist (traitor), communist, and ecologist parties. They struggle to agree on a candidate because the traitors propose names from a Macron-compatible member, which LFI rejects. The LFI aims to implement their uncompromised programme, which includes raising the minimum wage, reducing the retirement age to 62, and taxing the rich. Whether this will succeed, remains to be seen.

It is utterly disgusting to witness the bourgeoisie and their aspirants doing everything possible to limit the LFI and attack Jean-Luc Mélenchon. Watching Mélenchon speak fills me with hope that normal lives can improve. Sadly, in India, we lack a genuine leftist leader like him.

Sowmya Mazzone 

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