The Latest Breaking News from Newslaundry

The passing of Piyush Pandey brought back memories of his most enduring contribution to Indian popular culture: the 1988 Doordarshan musical medley Mile Sur Mera Tumhara. Working as an account manager at Ogilvy Mather, Pandey had penned lines that became a rare government broadcast, a lyrical celebration of India’s diversity…

I started writing this on September 1, after I devoured Arundhati Roy’s memoir. And then paused because I had to race to first write, then rewrite, an 8,000+-word profile of billionaire-podcaster-entrepreneur-investor Nikhil Kamath for Newslaundry and The News Minute. Once that was done and dusted, I mulled over whether I’d have anything different…

This week on TV Newsance, Sudhir Chaudhary makes a “revelation” that Newslaundry has been talking about for years – how Indian TV news channels are controlled by political powers and how TRP manipulation has destroyed journalism.

As Always, Enjoyed Hafta, But A Minor Quibble

Unemployment is brewing frustration among Ladakh’s youth, and the scale of the job crisis is clear even in official data. 

Following a legal tussle with Elon Musk’s X, the central government has announced changes to Rule 3(1)(d) of the Information Technology Rules. These amendments are set to take effect on November 15.

The Delhi Police is tasked with enforcing restrictions on firecrackers. But it faces questions after the air pollution peak observed after Diwali. Last year, Newslaundry had reported how firecracker violations were allegedly treated with kid gloves.

“It is a mistake to think that everything began on September 24. Ladakhis have been protesting for the past five-and-a-half years,” said 65-year-old Buddhist monk Ravi to Newslaundry. 

Despite Supreme Court restrictions, Diwali celebrations were a free-for-all. Fireworks burst across Delhi and its satellite cities well past midnight, pushing the AQI to the severe category in parts of the city.

Happy Deepavali!

This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Jayashree Arunachalam and Shardool Katyayan are joined by Suhasini Haidar, Diplomatic Affairs Editor at The Hindu, and Dr Khinvraj Jangid, director and professor at the Centre for Israel Studies at OP Jindal Global University.