This week on NL Hafta, Abhinandan Sekhri, Manisha Pande, Raman Kirpal, and Mehraj D Lone of Newslaundry are joined by Nishant Bansal, a telecom analyst and writer.

They discuss the 5G spectrum auction and its likely benefits for the telecom companies bidding for it, the consumers and the government. Nishant notes the entry of Gautam Adani in the business. “Adani is just here for setting up a private network for his personal entities. He isn’t in competition with Reliance,” he argues.

The panel also talk about the misuse of central agencies and its implications for the health of India’s polity and democracy. “We are becoming a police state and human rights have taken a back seat,” says Raman.

This and a lot more, only on NL Hafta.

Hafta letters: App glitches, demographic change in Kashmir, lazy analysis of judiciary