MYSTERIOUS: 11 - What They Never Told You

PM CARES spent just Rs 88 lakh of its Rs 8,452 crore in 2024-25, put 93% in FD

Rs 20,000 annually to every school-going child orphaned by the COVID-19 pandemic — this was one of the major promises made by the Union government as part of the PM CARES Fund. But in the financial year 2024-2025, only a mere Rs 88 lakh was released for this purpose. The…

Newslaundry · Aug 18

The HT editor who stood by his reporter all the way to jail

A few years after independence, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru offered a journalist the post of ambassador to Moscow. He politely declined because he preferred his profession to a government job.

Newslaundry · Aug 18

Land, jobs, tribal quota: The issues forming Goa 2027, and why BJP still starts ahead

As Goa’s coastal landscape settles into a late-onset monsoon and tourist footfall begins to taper, political activity is set to intensify. Leaders of top parties are expected to land in the state for regional events, organisational meetings and, crucially, to assess the ground situation ahead of the Goa assembly elections,…

Newslaundry · Aug 18

Vikram’s Lar Gibbon video and TN Speaker’s anti-abortion speak

In this week’s South Central, hosts Pooja Prasanna and Anisha Sheth first discuss the problem of exotic animals across the world being taken into private custody. They are joined by independent journalists Siddharth Prabhakar and M Rajshekhar.

Newslaundry · Aug 17

Deepak Mhaskey replaces Amit Malviya as BJP IT cell chief

The BJP has handed charge of its national IT cell to Chhattisgarh’s Deepak Mhaskey, ending Amit Malviya’s run of more than 10 years at the head of the party’s digital operations – a decade in which he was the BJP’s loudest voice online and, by some distance, its most fact-checked.

Newslaundry · Aug 17

Independent India needs an independent press

India’s freedom struggle was also a fight for a free press. From Tilak and Gandhi to Ambedkar and Azad, newspapers helped Indians challenge colonial power and shape political thought.

Newslaundry · Aug 17

Rs 1.9 cr a day: BJP govt in MP spent more on publicity than on environment or minority depts

Drive through almost any town in Madhya Pradesh and the state government is impossible to avoid. Hoardings at the chowk. Full pages in the morning paper. Sponsored posts around every government event. Chief Minister Mohan Yadav’s face is on most of them, and not only inside the state. Madhya Pradesh…

Newslaundry · Aug 17

A fake E20 bandh, anchors off air, and a mystery yet to be solved

Through the first week of July, Instagram reels began warning of a ‘Bharat Bandh’. Many were alarmist. Thumbnails urged people “not to step out of home”, said India was “on high alert”, and claimed public services would be disrupted on July 15. The shutdown, they said, was about E20 petrol.

Newslaundry · Aug 17

Why 4 in 10 Indian children go to private schools

Four in 10 Indian schoolchildren were enrolled in private unaided schools in 2025-26, up from 35.4 percent in 2018-19, according to Unified District Information System for Education (UDISE+) data.

Newslaundry · Aug 17

एनएल चर्चा 436: दिल्ली में स्वाइन फ्लू का प्रकोप, संसद में अमित शाह की वापसी और चमोली सुरंग हादसा

एनएल चर्चा के इस अंक में दिल्ली में तेजी से बढ़ते स्वाइन फ्लू (H1N1) के मामले और पिटबुल नस्ल के कुत्तों के हमलों से जुड़ी चिंताओं पर विस्तार से बात हुई. इसके साथ ही संसद के मौजूदा सत्र के दौरान गृह मंत्री अमित शाह और विपक्ष के बीच हुई तीखी…

Newslaundry · Aug 15