Indicast Podcast Network - Mother Feed

Mukesh Ambani is not the richest man after all. Ever heard of peer to peer microfinance? Ask eBay about it! Also, a Microsoft former employee starts a networking site for the unorganised sector; so, you can find yourself a driver or a household maid on the web! Yuvraj Singh has pulled off a coup! He is slated to earn a 100 cr contract, but, there is more to it than just the money. The mobile telephony has too many cooks which might just spoil the broth and Bharati's Mittal is livid! GAP and sweatshops are made for each other.

Harsha Bhogle is a man with multiple personalities. When he is not in the commentary box, he contributes as a columnst in The Indian Express and writes on espnstar. While he has an art to draw opinions from the experts in the commentary box, he is forthright and calls spade a spade in his writings. Its a 30 MB download but worth it.

The SENSEX has crossed the 20000 mark and Mukesh Ambani is the richest man! Well, not quite. Like everyone we got this news wrong! We discuss how Participatory Notes is acting as the LSD to the big spike in the market cap of companies on the BSE. Ritika brings in a political angle to the mercurial nature of the stock market! On another flight, Singapore Airlines has flown the worlds largest aircraft. Vijay Mallay's Kingfisher will fly the super Jumbo soon. While BBC plans laying off a huge chunk of its workforce, Shiv Nader of HCL has resigned as the CEO is the chief mentor and Microsoft's Chief Software Architect has just bought his company a stake in Facebook.

The podcast begins with our favourite topic- cricket and then we get into how Sri Sri Ravi shankar was present at ET awards and also about the growing trend about political leader signing book deals.

Talking on a cell phone can now land yu behind bars in Mumbai. Also recently the loan recovery agents have been in the news for the wrong reasons and did you know that you will have ATMs on trains too. What for? Dont ask.

Andreas Kluth , the author of the story was kind enough to join us for a quick chat. Andreas thinks that Google is far from threatening. He compares Google to the banking industry which acts like the custodian of our money. While Google is not as regulated as the latter, it will soon be, but, the founders whom Andreas had a chance to interact with on a few occassions are innocently idealistic; or they were to begin with...In this episode, we also talk about how Google is seeping in our DNA rather literally!

In this podcast, he is his modest self, describing his early life and his time as a the VP and MD of P and G Worldwide and more. An unabashed supporter of capitalism, he believes that the business of the Government is not to be in business. We recorded this over the phone when the evening celebrations of Ganapati had just kicked off. So, the background score comes with the package. So, please bear with that and I hope you will have something more to add to what Mr.Gurcharan has to say about capitalism, books, cricket, education, microfinance, etc!

SRK, Salman, Govinda, Suniel Shetty, Abhishek Bachchan, Bobby Deol, Priyanka Chopra... the list is endless. All these celebs have successfully endorsed apparels and we feel that such endorsements work well in the Apparel industry than in any other. In entertainment, I and B Ministry has some good news for all of us with the Entertainment tax being pared down Also, you can watch a movie on a petrol pump. Ask BPCL about it. In another common NEWS, Vodafone has taken over Hutch and has painted the entire Mumbai City red

The story that got buried by the India team's victory was about the succession planning by congress. Abhishek believes that congress has made their move by giving more responsibilities to Rahul Gandhi who will most probably be ready to take on the Indian Prime ministership in the next term. We also discuss about a landmark in space history, launch of the Sputnik , completing 50 years. A race that the Soviet Union won hands down by sending a beeping ball like satellite around the world. In other interesting news, an RJ brings a ban on it's news channel.

I didn't think I would live to tell this tale to my grandchildren, said a 73 year old from Dharavi slum in Mumbai. Cricket kindles interest among all classes and cuts through all castes here in India. The youngest and the most inexperienced team of the tournament won it. While Pakistan put a brave effort, India won it in the end! In hockey, the players have finally spoken up against the mistreatment meted out to them for years! In Nepal, they have found a novel way to fix their Boeing's technical glitches. In another news, Mukesh Ambani is the richest Indian!

The US financial market is like an avalanche. When things go wrong out there, they bring the world economy down to an extent. Ritika gives a user friendly description of what is the big deal with the sub prime markets crisis! This week, while Anita Roddick of Body Shop passed away, her legacy of eco-friendly practice still lives on. In another news, Starbucks opened shop in Russia, it is contemplating for the nth time to enter India. And SRK's 'Om Shanti Om' is the biggest financial hit of Indian cinema (inflation adjusted) and his biography is selling at a neat 3000 Rupees

It's Ganpati time and abhishek can't get enough sleep because of Himesh Reshammiya. Pune Municipal Corporation has taken a firm stance by asking the 2000 odd Ganesh Mandals to pay up for the damage to the roads, Mumbai should follow the precedent. In other stories, The Twenty20 is on and the 3 hour cricket format is becoming a huge success. We have some random news about what women perceive kissing as opposed to men and Kurkre is goign to UK.

In this talk about telecom convergence and the mesmerising magical world of mobile telephony, broadband, and Internet TV, The Economists Tom orchestrates a perfect symphony by explaining in a jargon free language that the distinctions between these technologies are blurring. He believes utility and substance coupled with stlye and grace in products such as iPhone makes them a beautiful combination. And then, the talk reaches a crescendo when he responds to my diffident accusation that technology is overwhelming us and that we are growing too fast for our own comfort.

Janmasthmi was here a couple of days back the govindas were awesome with their human pyraminds. We talk about how there is method hidden in this chaos and the rules of govindas. We digress and pass by the topic of PDA in mumbai and its limit and the hungarians creating a world record in it. A every important topi was the sad bomb blasts in Hyderbad. WHy do we need extradiction treaties? And from the sports field, India hockey is going crazy.

India's largest bank, SBI which already has a good chunk of the Islamic Banking market feels that India is a largely untapped market. While the aviation industry in India breathes a sigh of relief with steadily increasing fares, in the British Aviation industry, BA faces litigation for fixing the fuel surcharge in collusion with Virgin. Multi million deals are being signed in India with Mallya scooping up Spyker Ferrari and in entertainment, Pritish Nandy signed a 100 crore deal to remake Sholay.

There are bad ads, good ads and then there is the third kind... The controvertial ads! Amul Macho was successful in raising a few eyeballs and more (no pun!) among a few in the Information and Broadcasting Industry of India. Also, RBI has fingered the corporate sector again to check the appreciating rupee. Closer home, the Indian farmer plays David to the Goliath, Reliance. It's right out of a hindi movie!

God must have choreographed Sanjay Dutt's release from the Yerwada jail in Pune where he was slated to languish for six years. The Supreme Court granted the actor an interim bail for dubious reasons! While Sanjay Dutt feeds the headlines for newspapers, Shibu Soren, the former Union Coal minister has been acquitted for a crime for which he was accused in 1994 for lack of "enough" evidence. In another story, the media blamed Orkut for the murder of a 16 year old. Cricket made news for non cricketing reasons again with the BCCI and ICL stand off touching new heights!

This week Thilak who blogs at Tech Buzz joined us at short notice to fillin in for Anand. We talk about Wimax roll out in India, cross linking sites, google phone, Flickr videos and review of Twango. We also spend sometime on Bubble 2.0!

At the stroke of the midnight hour, India turns 60! We do not dwell upon what India has achieved and what it lacks. You'll get that in the newspapers! On the eve of the Independence day, while Rahul Dravid celebrates a series win against England, another celebrity, Sanju baba will cheer for India from the Yerwada jail in Pune here he is serving a sentence. Indicast now allows you to leave a voice message for us! Just drop in a word (literally)!

This week, a familiar news item flashed across all news papers, 'Doha round fails.' Since its inception in 2001, Doha has been a playground of woes where the larger players like EU and USA do not relent to the requests of former kachaa limbus and currently, emerging economies of Brazil and India. Rupert Murdoch, the 76 year old young man has acquired Dow Jones for a neat $5 billion! Kishore Biyani's Future Group is storming urban India with its focus on youth and women!