Indicast Podcast Network - Mother Feed

The odds of Bihar being in the world spotlight are a million to one. An eclipse made it possible. NASA declared a small town named Taregna in Bihar as the best place to witness what was the longest and one of the most beautiful sights in the sky. Planed earth experienced a complete solar eclipse on July 23. Back on the ground, the Continental Airline has been taken to task because some ground crew member had the audacity to frisk our former president, APJ Kalam. Outside in France, Sarkosy has gotten tough on anyone who wears anything remotely associated with religion; the Sikhs are not too happy about it. Rahul Gandhi has taken an oath of sorts to expel all party members with criminal records.

Dr Manmohan Singh is a natural remedy for sleep disorders, says a western journalist and we couldn't help but comment on that as our PM is back from an overnight visit from Paris where he attended the French National Day Parade as the the chief guest. In politics, the Supreme court has given clearance to Mayawati to erect those statues costing crores of rupees. Aditya has strong opinions on this one. Also, we call in our listener to discuss a rather amusing story of Air India stuffing in three more passengers after the house full board was up.

I hate to introduce Gautam Rajadhyaksh as a "celebrity photographer". He is much more and you would realize that you you hear hiim talk about his experiences from photo shoots with film personalities, singer, musicians and even businessmen, infact, He earned his trademark while a photoshoot with one of the greatest businessman India has ever seen. We spend time talking about his all things that he is passionate about. I had to wrap up the interview at the 40 min mark and yet we had to leave a lot out! May be I will go back for a sequel but for now enjoy this point blank with Gautam Rajadhyaksh

The Union Budget 2009-10, like any other was branded as an Aam Aadmi budget which promised inclusive growth. But the sceptics brushed it aside. Contratry to what the experts think, we reckon that this budget has something in it for both the rich as well as poor. In this podcast, we dwell not only on the Yojanas and schemes that the goverment has announced for the poor but also spend some time talking about the plans laid out for the urban poor, infrastructure, defense personnel and children. And we also introduce a section where in you can leave your comments and we'll add those in our next podcast. Listen to know how to go about it.

No one knew about Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code until the High Court fished it out, amended it and the media splashed it on prime time and front pages. Section 377 stated that no man or woman could engage in sexual activity which is against the order of nature. This archiac law was finally amended by the High Court and in this episode, we mull about how big a deal is it really? The Kargil War completes its 10th anniversary and in another international news, Bernie Madoff is sentenced to 150 years of imprisonment for his billion dollar fraud, but Aditya is not too happy about it!

The thought of the Indian aviation industry making quarterly profits is far fetched, but to find out that one company bears almost half of the entire industry's burden would send some stomachs churning especially if you are working with Air India, Indias national carrier. Story aint that different in other parts of the world. British Airways has declared its biggest loss of the century. Back home, the Bandra Worli Sea link has been unveiled and promises to take some load off the roads. This episode is a light weight one where we celebrate, in Ritika's words, our Pearl Anniversary.

She might be the chief minister of one of the poorest state in India but that doesn't mean the state has no money to splurge. Mayawati in on a statue inaugration binge which has now been challenged in the Supreme Court. In other news, we talk about the Below Poverty Lines stats that have been anounced, Nandan Nilekani joining as a cabinet minister, Afzal Guru mercy plea, and ICC's attempt to make tests interesting. But the highlight of this episode is the Lalu and Mayawati joke by Abhishek.

Censorship seems to the be flavour of the week all over the world. China government has asked computer manufacturers to start installing the Green Dam Software on every machine that they build and sell in China. India joins the cencosrhip by blocking Savitabhabhi.com for mysterious reasons but in good news coming out of India, Nandan Nilekani joins as cabinet minister to help implement the National Identity card project. In other news, we talk about activisim against Microsoft Outlook, upcoming windows 7 release and Steve back on job.

Indians are once gain reminded about how how diverse the country is. While North India was undergoing a heat wave, the South eastern country was washed away by heavy rains. In the other significant news, we talk about our plans for the upcoming 100th episode of Indicast. We are looking forward to some generous financial support this time from you and hope that you empty your wallet for a good cause. IN other news. we talk about India's T20 exit, new lady Lok Sabha speaker, and what's up between Mayawati and Lalu?

Ritika gives us a run down of some ground realitiy in Australia on the attacks on Indians. This podcast is a mix of national and international news. Australia has just been handed out a stimulus package a good percentage of which went to the dead! Back home in India, Bharati has renewed talks with MTN for what would be the biggest Indian acquisition. The Bharti tie up with Walmart spwaned a 50000 sq feet cash and carry store in Amritsar. And in another news, Grameen America, the microfinance bank led by Mohd Yunus has an envious track record despite the recession.

There is a new trend i Australia - Beat the Indians. Until a month ago, it was only on the cricket field but now its on the street. Indian students are being targetted and beaten up in hate crimes. While this is going on in Australia, Indian Sikhs are killing each other in Austria. As a result people went crazy in Punjab and caused damages worth Rs. 7000 crores that too in recessionary times. Other topcis include Afzal Guru mercy plea, air traffic woes, Cabinet ministers and other ramblings

The initial euphoria of the UPA win in the recently held Indian elections refuses to die down and in this podcast we bring to you what's in store for the Indian business class following the UPA win. What can our new Finance Minister Mr Pranab Mukherjee do to accelerate the Indian GDP growth in times like these? We discuss policy issues ranging from FDI to disinvestment to deregulation of oil. The IPL has come and gone and its time to start raking the moolah. We discuss the actual winners of the IPL. Tata has done it once again!! From people's car to low cost housing, Tatas seem to be taking CK Prahlad's Botton of the Pyramid model very seriously. Listen to our 28th epsiode to know more.

Congress scores a big win in the World's largest democratic election. It no longer depends on any of its alliance parties to keep it in Power but will that mean better and sensible governance remains to be seen. In the other big news, LTTE chief Prabharakaran has been killed by Sri-lankan. We talk about what the LTTE has given the world. You will be surprised to know that the list is pretty interesting.

We made a passing reference to Bofors deal in the last episode which made a research it a bit and thought that it would be good to talk about what the big deal about it was and sub inspector has been punished for possibly doing his job. Other topics include women topping the UPSC exams this year, and ISI training women for terrorism.

After all the drama and ruckus created by the Mumbaiites post 26/11, it was a no show on election day. Only 43% of us decided to vote while the rest most probably enjoyed a long weekend but a few voters in Madhya Pradesh decided to cast a "no-vote". This episode also covers the suprising death of the man who discovered pebbles in Ambani's helicopter, how the slowdown has resulted in the increase in UPSC applications, and why a tigress in Ranthambore was conferred the Lfetime achievement award.

Satyam made headlines not too long ago. Now Tech Mahindra has brought it back in the news. Satyam will soon be bought out by Tech Mahindra. Most of this rather short podcast focuses on the deal and what is there in it for Tech Mahindra which had to pay more than a 1000 crore for this deal. Quarter 4 results are out and surprisingly a few of India's IT companies have posted profits.

The performers are ready. The biggest democracy drama is set to unveil itself. In this podcast we wonder what it would be like if Advani and Dr Manmohan Singh were to debate aka Obama and Mc Cain. But then we have Mulayam Singh Yadav wanting to ban English in schools since it soils our culture. In another news, a son kills his dad for voting for a wrong party .And IPL has kicked off and Bhajji and Dhoni are in the news for other reasons

Continuing our election updates, BJP released its election manifesto containing all the things that they would do if elected and how did congress react? Congress says that 70% of the manifesto has been ripped from UPA's manifesto. Also, you know that its election time when a leader choses to address the a rally through his cell phone. The other updates include Karnatak topping the list of voters ready to sell their votes for cash, Pooja Chopra winning the Miss India 2009, Kasab getting a lawyer and the Queen gets a new iPod from Obama.

We spent 21 of the 22 minutes talking about politics or the lack of it. Aditya and I ended up at two ends talking about Mayawati, the politician with a not so impeccable track record and Meera Sanyal, the ABN Amro bank head who has nothing to her credit yet, but is taking baby steps in contesting this years elections. Politics and entertainment are never mutually exclusive; we have SRK campaining for Congress. In another news, Congress has reserved 50 per cent seats for NRIs and Aditya is livid!

Indcast got a chance to catch up with Sanjay Manjrekar, a technically sound batsmen who doesn't believe in the significance to technique in cricket. We start the conversation talking about about the on field energy during the 1996 India-Pakistan World Cup match and then move on to other topics like why Indian's struggled in fielding, his career as a commentator and then his passion for singing. He also talked about his grossly misunderstood article about Sachin Tendulkar, his thoughts about Azharuddin getting into politics as well as the match fixing scandal.