The Latest Breaking News from Sharda Ugra

This week on Hafta, Newslaundry’s Abhinandan Sekhri, Raman Kirpal, Jayashree Arunachalam, and Anand Vardhan are joined by economist and author Vivek Kaul and sports journalist Sharda Ugra. 

On July 1, inside a glass tower in Lausanne, India made its pitch to the world. 

In the good old days, when print was king, people got all their news from newspapers. Depending on your preoccupations or interests, you could start with page one, or turn to the back of the newspaper.  Page one, as now, consisted of headline news – mostly politics, some business, disasters,…

Pakistan gets set to host just four of 13 matches of the regional cricket tournament after India’s refusal to tour.

We have witnessed a fortnight of high drama. The contrasting images – of the prime minister of a secular country walking into a new Parliament building accompanied by saffron-clad Hindu priests even as award-winning women wrestlers literally wrestled with the police to assert their right to protest – were riveting. 

India's top wrestlers, including two Olympic medallists, make allegations of sexual harassment and exploitation, threatening huge implications for a country where women's sport is only now gaining time in the spotlight.

In India, the “good old days” of journalism weren’t that great. News was dangerous during the Emergency and governments did their best to stifle the free press, such as former Bihar chief minister Jagannath Mishra’s 1982 Bihar Press Bill.

While mainstream media continues to focus on games politicians play, this column will focus on the games women play, as in cricket, tennis, football, hockey, athletics, etc., and how the media covers their struggles and achievements.

Newslaundry subscribers Aniketh Kalur and Gowtham Kode are joined by sports journalist Sharda Ugra to discuss the recently concluded T20 World Cup, the impending FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar, and Formula One.