The Urban Heat Island effect is real and most of it is because of heat from fuels on roads and electricity. A policy change that could have impacted this would have been to encourage taller residential buildings rather than smaller independent houses. Taller buildings would provide similar residential space with space left over for gardens and lawns. Encouragement could have been provided by appropriately planning for amenities such as public transport, drinking water connections, waste water disposal, and electricity. Sadly, land ownership is a political issue and tall buildings mean less chances of corruption in two forms. One, it means fewer people come to government facilities for their work (one large building would mean only one permit from each department) and fewer chances of extra floors and sq ft legalisation. Sadly, only the rich can afford to take these benefits today, coupled with our love for individual houses meant that we remained underserved from our polity and civic amenities and would continue so.
N747
Hey NL team, I am a new subscriber here :)
I was introduced to NL Hafta recently by my colleague and ever since I have been hooked. Thank you for discussing such crucial topics. Could we please get a perspective on – Despite Ram Mandir being built in the Faizabad constituency, why didn’t the BJP win the seat? Are there any other reasons? If yes, what are they? And why did UP as a whole surprise the nation?
Also, another request would be to cover any policy changes the government does. As an Anglo Indian, I was just made aware that the government removed two seats reservation in the Lok Sabha for the Anglo Indian community.
Thank you so much. Looking forward to more podcasts in the future!
Simonel Garrad
Hi team,
First of all, thank you for bringing Hafta out of the paywall for election season, it was very educational since I don’t have access to newspapers here in the UK. Hafta has been my regular companion while cooking in the last couple of months. I intended to come to vote so I chanced upon Hafta when I started looking for a news podcast to educate myself before elections. I am one of those who you intended to lure into buying a subscription, so I did from the first paycheck of my new job here. I wish I knew about your offer for students, I would have bought it earlier. I shared the 20 percent discount link for the joint subscription with a friend who bought it.
Thank you also for a fantastic counting day coverage. All the panellists were amazing and the bilingual commentary also allowed my mother to listen in. I also bought the stickers and my mother didn’t like it initially but then I showed her all of your laptops on the coverage and she seemed suitably impressed.
One small query: will I be able to continue listening to Hafta on Spotify even after it’s behind the paywall?
Lastly, congratulations to Jayashree, I’m sure you’ll have a fantastic time in Essex. Please feel free to reach out if you ever need any help, I’ll do my best although I’m all the way in Bristol. Also, maybe plan a subscriber meet up while you’re here? Would love to attend!
Hope you all have had a restful time off after an intense few months.
Saanaee Naik
Hey guys,
I just wanted to say that you should do more stories on homosexuality and trans people and their stereotypical portrayal in the entertainment industry, because you only talk about us when something big happens (JUST LIKE LEGACY MEDIA) and after that we just stop existing.
Our society (especially the upcoming generations) needs to know that using names such as chakka and meetha on YouTube and Instagram is not okay. People like you need to call it out. Change can only happen when the media starts talking about it on a regular basis and not just when there is a big hearing in the Supreme Court.
Today, the identity of gays in India is reduced to just prostitutes or free sex workers (in rural India) because people consume cringe stuff on Instagram and YouTube and there is already not enough awareness about what it means to be gay. Thus, people stop differentiating between parody videos, memes and real life. It is an opinion not relating to any of the past podcasts, but something I felt was missing in Newslaundry and all kinds of news media.
Navraj Singh
Hello Abhinandan,
I have been an avid watcher of all things NL (and I really appreciate your work). Here’s some feedback:
1. Please bring back the NL daily dose! That soothing voice was the best thing I heard while taking a shower everyday, lol.
2. After the recent Lok Sabha results, and thinking about the thing you said about “social shaming should happen for news anchors if they tow communalism”.
Basically, June 4 ko Modi ji ka naada khulne ke baad, I started laughing at my family WhatsApp with memes, and realised that it made people think a lot more than a series of stories (mostly bhakts that don’t read anything other than the heading).
Do you think we should make a Political Meme review + context explanation section?
I am attaching some for the first episode!
Parth Kalra
This isn't feedback or a suggestion. It's a question. I watched multiple interviews with Prashant Kishor through the elections and his latest one with the BBC. Can you help me understand the backlash he is facing? I quite agree with some of the points he’s made. Here are two that seem logical:
– This is more a loss for the BJP than a win for the INDIA alliance although they have done well in certain unexpected pockets.
- The BJP has never done the ethically right thing and if they don’t have the requisite numbers, they make sure they get it by hook or by crook. So, why do people think Narendra Modi will resign with 240.
Aren’t we also guilty of rubbishing everything someone says, just because we don't agree with some things they say or because we perceive them as being on the other side of the us vs them line?
It is an unfortunate tendency we have of putting someone up on a pedestal and then getting upset that they can’t handle the power that position gives them!
Shailaja Mani
Hi NL Team,
Had been a subscriber in the past, but somehow renewing the subscription fell through the cracks, especially when I have a family and young children to take care of. Anyways, I was able to renew my subscription post-election results as I found the same old story of biassed coverage being played out in mainstream media.
However, I would like to share that subscribing was very painful, especially on the app. I tried several times to do so, each time the credit card was confirmed, but Google Play would error out in the last step. I had to mail you guys and get payment done using a payment gateway link that your team sent across.
Please take a look at fixing these issues, as I am sure that not everyone will be as patient as me. And also, do let me know if using the payment gateway method avoids the Google Play cut that you have to share, and in that case, I shall use the same to renew my subscription.
Nadeem Lalani
I think the entire career of PK was made out of the stature of Modi. First, it was getting credit for the 2014 win for Modi and subsequently, helping other parties tackle this mammoth BJP. Now, as this image of Modi fades, the significance of strategists like PK also fades.
This is also the time to call out his bullshit. The 2014 election campaign of which PK takes credit shouldn’t be forgotten. While Modi was talking about development, so many WhatsApp groups and IT cell trolls sprung up with vile Islamophobic content with a significant negative impact on society. I don’t think it was done without PK’s involvement. The same man now roams around the country, saying he is a Gandhian at heart. While predicting seats for the 2024 election, he never told anybody where he was getting his analysis from and how his interests were aligned with the INDIA bloc losing, including the impact on Jan Swaraj. The wheel of time has turned on Modi and everybody whose stature increased with him.
Anonymous
I am a long-time fan of NL Hafta.
Thank you for your wonderful analysis this week. Personally, I don’t care if these Hafta episodes run into the 3-hour mark, I’ll still listen. Have loved watching the video version on YouTube the last few weeks and even though I happily support the show going back behind the paywall, please upload a video on the website too so I can continue to see your pretty faces.
Also, as someone who has always identified with south India as well as north India perspectives (us Hyderabadis are also considered the bridge between the north and south sometimes), I have mixed feelings about the upcoming south Hafta you mentioned.
My favourite thing about TNM-NL collab (including Jayashree’s insights) was that it was the best way to bring long-suppressed south India narratives and make them front and centre in Delhi-based media. Now, I fear someone from Gurgaon might ask the question “Why should I tune into south Hafta at all?” and not even chance upon south Indian headlines.
Anjali
Prashant Kishore told the BBC, that Congress got 22 percent vote share, and Muslims are 18 percent of the population who are readily giving their vote, so for the Congress improving their vote share to 22 percent is no big feat. I feel that’s an oversimplification of election analysis but it’s coming from someone who’s supposed to be an expert. Personally, I disliked that BJP supporters online kept abusing Muslims for being a vote bank, and while they are a vote bank for the Congress, what option do they have when the PM himself called them “people who have more children” and infiltrators. I hope Indian Muslims will get the chance to vote for development, roads, infrastructure, healthcare and education, but they’re still voting to ensure their dignity and survival.
What are the panel’s views on this?
Dr AK
Hi Niku/Manisha/NL,
1. I was muftkhor-ing on YouTube Hafta during the election. I just subscribed and listened to the post-results Hafta episode. Where can I see the video version of Hafta?
2. I have a couple of suggestion for TV Newsance:
a) Could your producers/editors put out Instagram reels of some hard-hitting clips/moments (It would be easier to forward and would be more likely to be watched).
b) Watching the show requires proficiency in two languages, ie, English and Hindi. I think the folks that we have to get to are usually proficient in one. Could this show be done in two versions: English and Hindi?
c) Really good election coverage, by the way. One of the episodes that stood out was with guest Rajeev Ranjan. I have become a fan of his “Mahaul kya hai” show and watch it pretty often. It showed the real rural distress in UP which turned out to be a huge factor.
Thanks for doing what y’all do!
Vinay Suchede
Hi NL team,
In Hafta 488, I think Manisha made a valid point while discussing the Lok Sabha seat of Faizabad. This whole obsession with grandiosity under the Modi government is a visible phenomenon. In the name of redevelopment and revamping cultural sites, taking away the access as well as the soul of these sites was probably a factor that went against them. Something similar also happened with respect to the Kashi Vishwanath corridor project as well as the recent so-called “development” of the Jallianwalah Bagh. I visited the Teen Murthi Bhawan sometime last year, and there too it was visible. The old charm of the museum has been replaced with lifeless digitised exhibits. While these projects are more or less harmless, application of the same idea when widening highways in Uttarakhand (read: Char-Dham project, etc.) becomes a disaster in waiting. The case in point, as we saw last year, is the Silkyara tunnel disaster, and Joshimath before that.
Vatsal
Complaining about the media is easy. Why not do something to make it better? Support independent media and subscribe to Newslaundry today.
Newslaundry is a reader-supported, ad-free, independent news outlet based out of New Delhi. Support their journalism, here.
