Indicast Podcast Network - Mother Feed

We cover the awesome stories submitted by our beloved listener, Anuj and encourage you to send us stories too using this page (needs you to be logged in). The episode starts with Gujrat being a dry state and then we spent sometime talking about the great indian pot belly followed by how Shivpuri district is giving out gun licenses for people who agree to get a vasectomy done. Believe it or not but its true. Abhishek and I talk about our mixed feeling for the IPL. I believe it's all money and he says he saw a speck of passion for the home team when he attended Mumbai Indians first match at Wankhede. We are also pleased to announce that Economist has setup an Intelligence office in New Delhi, India.

Our first guest, Andreas Kluth from The Economist is back. The man closest to all the action at the Silicon Valley switches gears to talk about the social and charming side of technology rather than the geeky one. His Special Report on Mobility published in the April 12 issue of The Economist is circled around how the internet mobile telephony has changed the way we interact with our friends, loved ones, colleagues and strangers and has an Indian connection too. The podcast was recorded at midnight India time and hence please bear with some unintended background score of a few agitated dogs barking away outside my house once in a while.

Tom Standage, the Business Editor of The Economist is back... Here is a little behind the scene story. I ask him in my email whether he would want to talk about anything beyond our main topic of discussion of the eventful 2007 that Google, Apple and Facebook have had. His two word reply to my mail reads, Potatoes perhaps... In this podcast, Tom fires away on the technological implications of the potato and how it led to the industrial revolution. As a keen baker and roaster of potatoes, Toms genuine fascination of the vegetable is evident and what more he is also writing a book on the technological implication of food as well. Edward De Bonos concept of Lateral Thinking gets a new meaning here. I will not reveal anything more. Get yourself a drink of your choice (and a potato perhaps) and enjoy the chat.

Episode number 69 is here with lot of stories from India as well as a few weird stories from the UK. The sixth pay commission report dominates the episode after the stories about the rising divorce rates and then make a segway into US wanting hindi teacher. The railway cops have got a new revenue stream and are coning people into getting them to pay for having porn on their cell phone which is not illegal.

The first TKM with as many as four participants discussing the latest arguements and happenings taking place on the internet. The participants leanding their voice in this episode include Gaurav Mishra , Aditya Mishra , and Veer Chand Bothra. I had more than 5 topics for this episodes but we managed to cover only 2 which is an indicastion how much these people have to contribute.

Richard Branson does a James Bond like stunt again. To announce his tie up with Tata Teleservices, he jumped from some high rise building to get to the front pages of all leading publications here in India. He made a bigger splash when he experimented flying one of his planes on Alternative fuel. VISA has announced its intensions for the world's biggest IPO and in another news, the Indian Banking industry boasted of the biggest deal ever.

Every year, on the last day of February, all the guns are out aiming at two men, the Railway Minister and the Finance Minister of India. This year was no different. We attempt to give you a run down of the Railway Budget presented by the flamboyant Lalu Prasad Yadav and the Union Budget announced by the calm and composed Chidambaram, the CFO of India. Everything from the huge Rs. 60,000 crore agricultural debt waiver to increasing the income tax slabs unabashedly knocked the voter's doors to draw their attention. We have our share of light moments where Ritika does a Lalu impersonation. No kidding!

Adam Roberts, the News Editor of economist.com is fresh from having penned a brilliant Special Report (published at least once a month) on 'Migration' and its impact on the lives of billions from across the planet. His report estimates that there are around 200 million migrants across the world which make up 3 per cent of the population. This number will only grow and so will the xenophobia surrounding it. Adam opens up 4 minutes into his candid talk and we end up talking about the lighter side of Migration as well - It's called Chicken Tikka Masala! Listen to know what we mean!

Its dark and it's abstract and it'll make you think. What is it that will liberate you from the trappings of life? An outstanding performance by Rajat Kapoor and some thoughtful yet simple background music keep you company in this extremely slow-paced film.

The episode starts with us being proud of a countryman who gave his life just a day after getting sena medal and then how Mumbai was ashmed over the actions of a Mumbai based political party lead by Raj Thackeray. Cabbies, bhelpuriwallas were brutally beaten up by MNS party worker for being norh Indian! Then to make matters worse for the reputation of gurgaon, a 100 cr Kidney scam has been unearthed. We thought these heavy topics were enough for this episodes and moved on to some lighter topics

The stock markets around the world tumble as America faces prospects of recession. It does not help when banks like Societe General face losses due to rogue trading. Starbucks sees the back of its CEO as competition with McDonalds heats up. Meg Whitman passes on the baton to Danahoe. In another news, HPCL answers natures call rather literally and we wnder whether the Indian Premier league has got bigger than the game?

India celebrates another Republic Day. It was a marathon day with eminent personalities like being showered with Padma Bhushan, Padma Shri and Padma Vibhushan. An NGO finds another innovative way to fight corruption in India. Adam Gilchrist, the prolific entertainer and a great sportsman retires from Test match cricket. And in this era of reality shows, lets get ready for a reality sex show as well!

This episode was recorded a couple of days before the Auto Expo at Delhi which unveiled the one lakh car from TATA after a long long wait of two years. The Indian car industry is going great guns with some nitro boosting mergers and joint ventures. TATA Motors has bagged the Land Rover and Jaguar deal from Ford Motors and we discuss a string of tie ups that the Indian companies have been involved with. And there is some good News for Non Resident Indians who feel home sick and God sick. A unique concept now allows all you folks to outsource your pujas. Celebrity endorsements continue to rule the roost in our ad world.

Hello and welcome to a whole New Year! The last few days of the last year were eventful and Aditya gives us a run down of he getting married in phool to Maharashtrian istyle! How different was his wedding from that of his elder brother? How many hours of poojas did he clock? Aditya willingly answers many more questions like these. The previous year belonged to women like Pratibha Patil, Shilpa Shetty and Rakhee Sawant. This episode is a special one is dedicated to all you guys for being there and rooting for us throughout 2007.

If the Indian stock market is galloping, the Indian Art Market is on LSD. It is swaying to a mood swing that is helping it grow by 50 per cent year on year. And buying expensive paintings is seen as a very intelligent investment option. As the marriage season hits India, people are ensuring their marriages! In HCL, you can rate your bosses and what more, the results will be displayed on the Intranet. Vikram Pandit has been named as the CEO of Citigroup and this time India can pat its back since Pandit completed his schooling in Nagpur. As Burger King competes fiercely with McDonalds, we choose to talk about the Indian McDonalds - Jumbo King Vada Pav from Mumbai.

This week the Bollywood Movie Aaja Nachale was banned because it hurt the sentiments of a few people. So nothing new there! Mumbai is jumping on to the energy conservation bandwagon as it declares a black out on Dec 15. We urge all those who are in Mumbai to join in. And in some intimidating news, the Gujrat Chief Minister, Narendra Modi is blunt with his words and scares us all with his speeches. Aditya is all set to start his family and he has a few questions for all you guys at the fag end of the episode. Currently he is relishing his pre wedding gifts

Andreas Kluth from The Economist joins me to talk about the big deal with Facebook. His articles are a result of research which includes interviewing people like Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook. In this 20 odd minute chat, we talk about the $15 billion valuation of Facebook and what it means to the Silicon Valley. In this rather high octane topic on which almost everyone and their big brother have an opinion, Andreas lends a lot of rationality in explaining his take on it. He dismembers economic jargons like Call Options and Game Theory to reason out the bigger battle between Microsoft and Google in a very user friendly manner!

Aditya mourns the loss of his Apple Mac laptop which was stolen in broad day light! He takes us through an interesting journey of filing the complaint with the humble Mumbai Police. Bada Bhai, Anil Kumble wins his first test captaining India. Taslima Nasrin, the Bangladeshi author currently in exile in New Delhi has nowhere to go and we talked about what the big deal about it is. We would like to know your take on it as well. Mumbai Marshals have taken the onus onto themselves and the slogan, Clean Mumbai is finally being implemented at the root level! And the Government has found another way to help smokers kick the habit, but, Aditya has another take on it!

Chuck Prince of Citigroup and Stan O'Neal quit admist the sup prime crisis, but, their exit packages are getting more eye balls! We feel that they deserve the millions that they beget even after goofing up big time! Another CEO, Rick Wagoner stands strong among the ruins at General Motors as it wrote off $38 billion. Petrochina rocks the corporate world by being the most valuable company beating Exxon Mobil. Two Indian wine companies, Sula Wines and Champagne Indage are on an expansion spree. And Bollywood is finding different ways to earn revenues. It's not only about tickets anymore

This diwali, the fireworks industry had to do some rebrandig. Govt said no more cracker named after gods. Diwali also brought with it 2 big super hyped movies and both of them failed to impress the masses. Also, did you know About Actor's Day? We also touched upon the things happening in Pakistan and the destruction of cultural relics in the Swat district. As usual we digressed and somehow started discussing Bhutto's marital status!! Dont know how we got there!! Listen to know more..