Hello to all,

I have a few suggestions for the new title for Jayashree:

EXPERT – Executive Extraordinaire for Promos, Editorials, Recordings, and Tales.
EDITOR – Executive Director of Integrated Tales, Output, and Recordings.
CREATOR – Chief of Recordings, Editorials, and Tales across the online realm.
LEADER – Longform, Editorial, and Audio Director of Exceptional Recordings.
STORY – Strategist for Tales, Output, Recordings, and Yarns.
PODCAST – Promotions, Output, Digital Content, and Storytelling Authority.

Got help from ChatGPT.

Keep up the great work, love you all ❣️

Harshit Pathania 

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Laapata Ladies is a fantastic film, no doubt, but let’s not kid ourselves – Oscars are as much about strategy as they are about cinema. India had a clear shot this year with All We Imagine As Light, a film that had already snagged the prestigious Cannes Award. You know, the same badge of honour The Zone of Interest wore before marching straight to Oscar glory. Payal Kapadia’s masterpiece was India’s golden ticket.

But hey, at least Laapata Ladies wasn’t the worst of the bunch in a lineup that also featured – wait for it – Chhota Bheem, Animal, and Savarkar. Can you imagine the international facepalm if we’d sent one of those gems? “And the Oscar goes to... Chhota Bheem!” Yeah, no thanks. Sending those misogynistic disasters would’ve torched our cinematic reputation faster than you can say “global embarrassment”. So, in that context, Laapata Ladies feels like a minor miracle.

Begums 

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Dear NL team,

This letter is in relation to the discussion on overwork in Hafta 503. After the pandemic, a number of states made changes in working hours through amendments in the Factories Act, citing a labour shortage, increasing working hours from 8-9 hours to 12 hours. These included states such as Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Tamil Nadu, and others. Recently, Karnataka proposed 14-hour workdays for IT workers. NL should do a story about the status of these relaxations, both at the level of the states and the centre. 

Vasudha

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Not a letter for the Hafta show, but thought it might be of interest given this week’s discussion. Here is Harper’s magazine’s report, The Hindutva Lobby.

Shashwati Talukdar 

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I am half-way through watching the latest Hafta episode (#504). It was good to listen to Pooja Prasanna on several matters that were discussed. I hope you can pass on a little feedback to her to use a slightly better quality camera. There were easily some 35-40 books on the shelves behind her and due to the video’s quality, a chance was lost to learn what kind of books make the “editorial head” of a group like “The News Minute” as learned and insightful as she is and make plans to read a few of those. Also, I hope more of Newslaundry staff will have such useful backgrounds on their videos from time to time and share some of their personal collections with us. :)

Amit Gupta 

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Hello NL Team,

A couple of comments regarding the topics discussed in Hafta 504.

Regarding the MUDA scam, one very important thing you did not mention was that it was the BJP government under Bommai that allotted the plots to Siddaramaiah’s wife. When it comes to corruption, all political parties seem to have each other’s back. They will make some noise when the other party is in power, and when they are actually in power, they will not target corruption in any serious way.

Coming to the point of the police having popular support for the extrajudicial killings. I believe the root cause is that the people have lost faith in the judiciary. They know that it will take 10-15 years for any judgement to punish the perpetrators of the crime. And also, in the long process, there is a lot of scope to manipulate the system to actually get acquitted.

Prashanth Ravindra 

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Hey team,

In the light of the current events, are you still sending folks to Israel? Or are you reconsidering? I think you should, as the situation is getting worse by the day. 

Sending best wishes.

Shivam Tyagi 

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I am really disappointed at Newslaundry for sending Sreenivasan Jain to Gaza (but really Israel) and now the US to cover elections. Both these are questionable in their own way, especially considering that resources are limited. I am assuming that a large chunk of the money will go towards paying Vasu’s salary. There are far more pressing issues, such as the recent Sri Lankan elections, where NL can give emerging journalists a chance to cover events abroad.

Aditya 

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Hello, 

Sreenivasan’s show on Gaza was very interesting. Suggestion here: Why don’t you have a similar series with Ravish Kumar, for example, Ravish Ki Report, since you people invest heavily in ground reports? You can collaborate with him since he also has good work experience.

Ankita

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It’s utterly shocking and I just find it hard to understand how the Indian media always finds the worst possible position to take in anything.

How in the hell do all these dumb ‘journalists (Amish Devgan and co)’ end up with “I stand with Israel” posts on social media? Do they have no agency of their own? I can understand the western media being this, but what in the hell has happened to our media? 

Anonymous  

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Hi team, 

For a report in English, is there a way to read it in Hindi? Does this also apply to older articles and reports (around 2021)? I’m a big fan. Keep up the good work.

Sourav

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Hello,

I think you should call Palki Sharma on Hafta. She has also followed Israel religiously and even went there. And to some extent, she is neutral, in my opinion. Trads also tried to witchhunt her (unsuccessfully) after her balanced take on the laddu case.

Also, I think subscribers needn’t bother about occasional cuss words used by Abhinandan. News is obviously for 18+ content. And we should respect the freedom of expression of people.

Anyway, that’s my view.

Regards,

Yogesh 

***

Hello NL Team, you don’t have to read this out loud in the podcast if you don’t want to. I have been a subscriber for a year and recently noticed that a video version of the podcast is included on the website. Since it is simply an unlisted YouTube video that is being embedded, if one subscriber were to share the original YouTube link, it can grant access to the pay-walled content to anyone with the link. Just wanted to share in case you weren't aware of the loophole, maybe there is another way of uploading the video version straight to the website.

Soham

***

Just wrapping up Hafta episode 505. Frankly, quite sick of listening to subscriber letters asking for “balance” in podcasts. I wouldn’t want my money powering lies and propaganda that TV channels are doing anyway. I mean, just look at the TV Newsance episodes and then say if you want those jokers on Hafta. If you want balance so badly, Opindia/Tatva ka kachra padhlo. I am glad that Newslaundry doesn’t do this just to maintain the optics of having a “balanced” debate. At a time when there are so few sane voices left in Indian media, it is stupid to insist on balance just for appearances.

सानई (Saanaee)

***

Two things:

1) I am quite excited that you’re going to have Sreenivasan Jain next week. Can you ask him for a behind-the-scenes scoop about interviewing Trump in 2016? I am sure there is an interesting story there.

2) Given that NL is not corporate sponsored, maybe you should delve deeper into other side of corporate India and business life that business media would not really cover, I think.

Sreenivasan Jain, when he used to be part of NDTV Profit, said that sycophancy of corporate leaders was more unscrupulous than on the political side. I am a free market guy, but corporate India is often a lawless jungle. One example I know personally is that banks back in 2006 used literal thugs and worked hand in glove with cops to physically and mentally torture people to repay loans. Someone needs to document these transgressions and hold them accountable.

Kishan

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Hi team,

This is regarding someone’s email in the previous Hafta that claimed that having Abhinandan on Hafta tends to make the conversation less focused. I disagree. I think entertainment value is one of Hafta’s strong suits, and a good moderator like Abhinandan knows how to infuse humour, and keep things flowing. Of course, Manisha does a stellar job too when on her own.

As for Abhinandan’s “uncle views” to which he himself often owns up, I think they are welcome precisely so that they can be talked about. Without them, Hafta could be an echo chamber.

Thank you for existing,
Faizan

***

Hi guys, I love the Hafta and rarely have anything to say about it. Abhinandan, please update the NL Sena projects. I wanted to bring up a suggestion regarding the NL Sena projects. The “Updates” section for most projects tend to stay blank, even for the completed ones. I believe this section is crucial for supporters or potential ones, as we often check it to stay informed. Having regular updates, or at least the links for the videos/reports for completed projects, would help us feel more engaged and encourage further support.

Thanks for your consideration!

Kalpadeep

***

Let me keep it this short. Abhi, please don’t tone it down – expressing angst and frustration through the f-word is completely normal. People, this is a news show; please don’t watch it with kids if you think they are so easily offended or influenced. They are not going to hear something new here that they won’t hear in their day-to-day lives. Abhi is right, people are too sensitive. Please read the f-word here. And, Abhi, the way you present topics and the occasional uncle jokes are the reasons why I watch Hafta without miss. If you leave, then I would probably stop listening to Hafta. So please continue the great work, and I love you all for it.

Karthik 

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Love tuning in to Hafta every week. It is perhaps my favourite news show at the moment. 

Have you guys considered launching your own print newspaper or magazine? God knows we could do with some Op-eds that actually make sense. A weekly even that could dive deeper into all the audio content perhaps. 

Puneet

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Trump said that losing dollar’s dominance would be like ‘losing a war’. The dollar remains a reserve currency due to military dominance and trade of weapons, commodities (oil, gold), and high-tech (IT, medicine). Indian sweepers are paid about Rs 10,000 and Americans about USD 2,000. Losely speaking, a 19-times difference can be considered a tax paid by Indians to keep USD as reserve currency.

BRICS+ nations led by China, Russia, and India are making significant progress in de-dollarisation. Progress will speed with the launch of BRICS currency, hopefully in 2025.

Ongoing genocide in the Middle East is to maintain ‘Total Dominance’ through weapons display and control of trade routes and oil.

While it is less acknowledged, Zionism is western. Entire manpower is supplied by the global west either through emigration, dual citizenship, or contract over the last century. Losing the war will start the end of the dollar as a reserve currency, which the West cannot afford.

Asgar

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I like Hafta and Charcha very much. I appreciate your practice of reading and acknowledging subscribers letters. TV media should follow this to gain some credibility. I observed that one of my letters was not included in Charcha, which might be due to my viewpoint that I assume was not very agreeable to your north Indian staff.

Also, I think the recent hike (almost double) in subscription plans will make it difficult to renew a subscription plan for a lower-middle-class person like me. Bye.

Regards
Vishal (विशाल)

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