Indicast - Indians On India

How does it feel to witness a solar eclipse? Aditya tells us his experience in this podcast where we dig into trivia and history of this beautiful astronomical phenomenon. Bangalore faces a water crisis. How can a country as big as India deal with water shortages? Generative artificial intelligence is and will remain in the spotlight in a year when countries with a collective population of 4bn go to polls.

The Candidates Tournament is among the world’s most recognised Chess contests. This time round India has as many as five grandmasters competing for the top prize. That’s a big deal given that for around 30 years, it was Vishy Anand, the sole Indian grandmaster who represented India. In politics, “washing machine” trended for a while on Twitter in the context of corruption probes which, the opposition argued, can be washed away if one joined the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party. And in business, Tesla scouts sites in India for a big plant. What does that mean for the giant and for the country?

Florida just passed a bill proposing to ban access to social media for kids under the age of 14. What does social media addiction do to our brains? We talk about the subject which is close to our hearts given that both of us have kids aged ten and five. The great Indian general elections are round the corner. What is the BJP up to? And in the world of cryptosphere, which we barely understand, Sam Bankman-Fried, the former boss of FTX, a defunct cryptocurrency exchange, gets 25 years in jail.

It’s the end of an era. Ameen Sayani recently passed away. His voice lives on. In this podcast we talk a bit about how he started in the radio industry and made a mark for himself across four decades. And he is as humble as they come. Fali Nariman, a doyen of law in India also died. And Open AI recently dropped its text to video model called SORA. What does it mean for all of us?

India's Supreme Court vetoed a scheme that allowed folks to donate to political parties anonymously. Among the more popular vehicles was the electoral bond scheme introduced by the Bharatiya Janata Party in 2017. Whereas the BJP figured it might make the whole thing more transparent by doing away with cash donations, critics retorted that it made the process more opaque. In business, Paytm is in big trouble after the Reserve Bank of India ordered the outfit's payments bank to wind down operations in light of "persistent non-compliance" and "continued material supervisory concerns". And in science, scientists are exploring an idea to stop global warming by sending umbrellas in space to shield the sun's rays.

Deep fake is a real and present threat to humanity. With India's general election round the corner, the government has urged both social media platforms and netizens to beware of such videos. The Ram Mandir is slated to open in January. And in sports, India and South Africa play the shortest match in the history of Test cricket.

After 17 harrowing days 41 men were rescued from a collapsed tunnel in Uttarkhand. It was one heck of an effort. The International Clown festival concluded earlier this year. In this episode, we talk about all things clowning and delve into its history. And the Indian Space Research Organisation has taken off like never before.

Surat's diamond industry has suffered from the prolonged war in Ukraine. Nine out ten diamonds on the planet are polished in the diamond capital of India. But after America slapped sanctions on trade with Russia, workers in Surat suddenly find themselves with lesser work than before. Wages have been hit. Australia lifted the ICC men's Cricket World Cup. Well deserved. And hard luck India. OpenAI, the maker of ChatGPT, had one heck of a ride last week. Its boss was sacked only to be reinstated a few days later. How can the industry be regulated and what does it mean for all of us?

India has a junk food problem. It is a big one. In this episode we talk a bit about why that is happening and some of the science behind it all. And have you tasted the world's fourth best cheese? It's from India. A year after FTX, the cryptocurrency exchange folded, Sam Bankman-Fried, the firm's infamous boss has been convicted of multiple counts of fraud. And India will play Australia in the ICC Cricket World Cup finals. Fingers crossed.

Firstly, a very Happy Diwali to everyone. Indian couples are increasingly embracing In Vitro Fertilization, often the last hope for having a baby. While it is a boon for millions of new parents, it is also a painful and demanding process on women. India has placed a multi-billion dollar order on new planes in recent times. Also, what do airlines do to save costs? According to one study by the University of Chigago, life of those who live in Delhi has been shortened by ten years due to air pollution. What could we do about it? And India continues its stellar run at the ICC World Cup.

It has been quite the year. And some of it has been rather grim. The Israel and Hamas conflict has been deadly. Thousands of civilians have lost their lives. Closer home, some folks insist on renaming India to Bharat. In cricket, the World Cup is on and India is on song. And Bishan Singh Bedi just passed away.

The Adani Group has been hit with a bunch of allegations from Hindenburg Research, an American investment firm that specialises in making bets against companies that it considers are overvalued. What does it mean for the conglomerate? Tech layoffs may have made the news but how bad will the impending recession in America turn out? Not half bad is what we learn in a podcast where we try to understand the definition of recession itself. In sports, football introduced the white card. By the way, did you know the colourful and bloody history of yellow and red cards? And Indian women's cricket is in rude health.

Once in ten years India conducts a massive exercise to count its population and collect vital data about its citizens. This time round the census, normally a once-in-a-decade-affair has been postponed yet again. Why? We delve into some of the reasons. And scientists in Switzerland have figured out a way to deflect lightning bolts with lasers.

Joshimath in the Himalayas is sinking. With cracks all over buildings, hotels and streets, the place may crumble any moment. We segue into the tallest mountain in the world, which isn't Everest. And back on land some companies are offering employees to nap at work, not an old concept but fairly new among startups in India. And Go First forgets its passengers on the tarmac before taking off.

As Covid-19 ravages China, many countries, including India, brace themselves and start taking adequate measures. Whereas the death toll from covid may not be as high as before, Indians in the country continue to find other oddly terrifying ways to die. In related news a report reckons that the most dangerous time to drive on the road is between 6 to 9 in the evening. And since everyone and their cousins are talking about ChatGPT, we thought we may blabber about it as well. What do you make of the newfangled chatbot?

As 2022 drew to a close, another sporting legend passed away. We pay a small tribute to Pele who brought football to millions of homes and made it the beautiful game we know of and grew up to. Closer home in India Mukesh Ambani just completed 20 years as the boss of the Reliance empire. And internationally, Elon Musk just lost $200bn along with a few of his peers including one Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX, a crypto exchange which went bankrupt in November. The madness has only begun as has 2023 and we wish you a great year ahead.

Rishi Rajpopat, a PhD student at the University of Cambridge solved a 3,500 year old Sanskrit puzzle. We scratched our heads to understand how folks like him and Pragg, the teenage chess sensation, who recently won the Arjuna award, function. And in sports, Argentina wins the world cup.

The World Cup is round the corner. The world's biggest spectacle is also mired with controversies, some of which we talk about in this episode. A village in Sangli, western Maharashtra goes offline for a couple of hours daily in the quest for a digital detox and in international news, more than 150 people perish in Seoul in a crowd crush.

After a year-long nap, we are back to cover some familiar ground by talking a bit about the ongoing ICC T20 Men's Cricket World Cup. Zimbabwe and India pulled off improbable wins in the tournament. Whereas players get cracking on the field, viewers place their bets on a number of gambling apps, a rather big business in India. So big that a few agricultural workers in Gujarat recently duped Russian gamblers by accepting bets on a fake contest that mimicked the IPL. And in international news, Britain gets a new prime minister in Rishi Sunak. We talk about British politics, which is in a shambles.

IA very Happy belated Diwali to one and all. As COP26 draws to a close, countries make their promises and hope to keep them to make a difference to the worsening climate crisis. Where does India stand? In sports, Rahul Dravid has been appointed as the head coach of the Indian men's cricket team. And in a quirk of evolution, elephants in Mozambique are being born without tusks to make themselves less attractive to poachers.