Nothing Millennial About Us

Bollywood is among the many industries that have been strongly hit by the Covid-19 Pandemic. Many films have been delayed indefinitely and others have been launched online on OTT platforms such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hotstar. In the coming months the new guidelines for shoots could fundamentally change how movies are made and look like. Independent movies with small budgets could also have a greater chance at being successful as they dont have to compete with high marketing budgets.

Sushant Singh Rajput's suicide came as a shock to both his fans and Bollywood alike. The actor took his life on 14th June, 2020 and was reportedly suffering from depression. Unfortunately the narrative about his suicide has shifted towards how a powerful lobby of directors, actors and producers aimed to bring down his career. His fans have caused a massive backlash against certain celebrities, which has also led to an official police investigation

In this episode we aim to bust some of the lies and myths that are surrounding the Covid-19 pandemic. We take an indepth look at the science behind the coronavirus and how it affects our bodies. We also discuss the research progress of various vaccines and if there is any real cure for this disease.

As the Covid-19 pandemic surges out of control, many patients are starting to suffer due to shortages of beds and necessary medical equipment. Patients are being turned away from overburdened hospitals and are advised to home quarantine. This has led many to believe that doctors are not fairly treating all patients and are lying about beds availability. In this podcast we discuss the current situation with a doctor to know the real, on-ground facts and what all personal hardships healthcare professionals are facing in our country.

The Covid-19 pandemic has spread throughout the world at an alarming rate. With 3 million cases currently, it has led to many countries, including India, to impose a complete lockdown. Being socially isolated has itself led to a host of daily issues and many people are now finding it difficult to pass time while locked up inside their homes, away from friends and family.

Led by the political coup of Jyotiraditya Scindia, BJP has managed to topple the Congress government of Madhya Pradesh. The state CM, Kamal Nath, decided to resign from his post instead of facing the floor test. With this BJP is on track to form the new government, but it has not cleared all its hurdles. The rogue MLAs will have to face bypolls in their constituencies and if they do not win again, the new BJP government could be in danger.

The US presidential race is heating up with major states holding their primaries. The republican party has clearly thrown its weight behind the US president Donald Trump, despite his impeachment. The Democratic party is currently facing a divide between the socialist, revolutionist Bernie Sanders and the moderate Joe Biden. Who will be the next US president can have a large impact on US-India relations for the next four years.

The coronavirus pandemic is proving to be a major threat to human life in the 21st century. It has already devastated the healthcare infrastructure of China, Italy and Iran. Now, it remains to be seen how much of a damage it will cause in India as the current infection rate is quite low. However, this pandemic is likley to have much longer effects on our globalized economy.

The Uniform Civil Code (UCC) is the next big item on BJP's political agenda. Though it might seem like a BJP led issue but the need for a UCC in India was identified long before during the writing of our constitution. It has been embedded in our directive principles and left for future governments to bring about. Today, the enforcement of a UCC is being objected by the Muslim community in India as it signals state interference in religious matters and goes against the sharia based Muslim Personal laws.

Parasite recently created history at the Oscars as it became the first foreign language movie to win the best picture award. The movie reflects on the class divide between the rich and the poor in South Korea, and how one can't escape the past even under new circumstances. It is another feather in the cap for Director Bong Joon-Ho, who has delivered some of the famous Korean movies in his illustrious career.

The recent political events in India have once again bought in the question about the nature of our country and its people. Are we truly a secular country where all religions flourish equally or we should be a Hindu Rashtra where Hinduism is the basis of our culture and constitution? The current government seems to be on a crusade to bring in their idea of Hindu nationalism and redefine the very principles on which our country was formed.

The Union Budget 2020 presented by our Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman, did not meet most peoples expectations. It was hoped that the budget would attempt to revive the declining growth rate of our GDP, but the biggest announcements were a small cut in income taxes and disinvestment of LIC. Dalal street also reacted negatively towards the budget, with the BSE sensex falling by almost 1,000 points

The delhi legislative election 2020 is gearing up to be one of the most interesting political events of the new year. Though most pre-poll surveys predict an easy win for AAP, BJP has put in a massive election campaign to wrestle away some seats. Events such as the anti-CAA protests at Shaheen Bagh have assumed a greater importance in the election, compared to AAP's success in health and education. It remains to be seem if AAP will put up another massive win like in 2015 or BJP will come out with a miracle.

The last decade proved to be monumental for the Indian cricket team. Starting off with the big World Cup in 2011, the team has managed to form one of the most successful cricketing sides in the world. Even as the big names such as Sachin, Dravid and Kumble retired, Dhoni and Virat have taken the team from strength to strength.

OYO, led by its young CEO Ritesh Agarwal, was once a darling of VC funds. Connecting travellers with hotels it aimed to solve one of the basic issues in the hospitality industry. But over the last few months it has run into a number of problems such as revolting hoteliers, sliding valuations, ill-advised expansion and poorly yielding acquisitions.

Qasem Soleimani, commander of Iran's Quds Force, has been assassinated in an American drone strike, ordered by President Donald Trump. The unexpected move has shocked the world as it was carried out on Iraqi soil. While its a politically motivated move for Trump in an election year, its ramifications will only be known in the long term as Iran prepares to take revenge.

The Irishman is a love letter by Martin Scorsese to gangster movies of the 70s and 80s. It is also quite an unusual movie by today's standards, clocking in at a lengthy 3:30 hours and with a huge budget financed by Netflix. It was quite a gamble for both the director and Netflix, but its success has cemented Netflix's place as a major cinematic movie studio.

Protests against CAA and NRC have exploded all around India, ranging from metros to small towns. Unfortunately some of these protests have taken a violent turn with many people losing their lives. To understand the reasons behind these protests we have to take a closer look at the combination of CAA and NRC and its effects on Indian Muslims.

Taapsee Pannu recently bagged a very important role of portraying former Indian women cricket team captain, Mithali Raj. It is likely to become another highlight of her flourishing career with diverse movies such as Pink, Manmarziyaan, Saandh Ki Aankh and Mission Mangal. She is well known for openly speaking her mind and shutting down trolls, and her movie choices have definitely put her on the path of being the leading lady of B-Town.

Seven years after the infamous Nirbhaya case, women in our country continue to be plagued by the evil of rapes and sexual assaults. The recent Hyderabad and Unnao rape incidents show that any changes made in the criminal justice system have been poorly implemented. What is required now is not only an overhaul of the police and the judiciary but our society as well.

Income inequality is on the rise in India, creating a wide rift between the rich and the poor. A disproportionate share of India's growing economy is going to the top 10% of our population, leaving the others grasping at straws. In the coming years it is going to be very difficult to bridge this gap as India moves from a socialist to a capitalist economic setup.

The JNU hostel fees hike has once again ignited the corridors of the university, often criticized for its anti-establishment and left leaning stand. The students are protesting against a sudden and large hike in hostel fees which almost 40% of them simply cannot afford. But this entire episode is just the face of a much larger problem brewing in India - the fast rising cost of higher education and its detrimental effect on our education system.

Ayushmann Khurrana is currently considered to be one of the best actors that Bollywood has to offer. From his start in Roadies he has now achieved success in nine movies out of a total of thirteen. His performance as a blind pianist in Andhadhun won him the National Film Award for Best Actor and all his movies in 2018 and 2019 have achieved both critical and commercial success. This puts him squarely on a path to big time success

The National Register Of Citizens (NRC) was first made in 1951 to tackle the issue of illegal immigration from Bangladesh to Assam. Its updated list in 2019 has proved to be controversial, with nearly 19 lakh people being left out in the final list, including Bengali Hindus and Assamese people. Despite its flaws and high costs Home Minister, Amit Shah, now wants a NRC to be prepared for the entire country to identify all illegal immigrants in India.

For the past few years Delhi and its surrounding areas have been facing the major problem of severe air pollution during the winter months. Local pollution sources such as vehicles, dust and industries keep the AQI level in the unhealthy category for most of the year. Stubble burning and bursting crackers then leads to hazardous levels of pollution during diwali. The local government seems unable to tackle this and now delhiites are forced to live in a deadly gas chamber.

Elections in Haryana and Maharashtra resulted in an unwanted surprise for BJP. The party failed to reach single majority in both states and now must depend on JJP and Shiv Sena to form a government, while Congress managed to improve its seat count depsite a poor election campaign. Now it remains to be seen if this was an isolated event or will the trend repeat in Delhi and Jharkhand elections.

Productivity in the office and in personal life is defined as how many tasks one can complete in a day. Being productive is equated to being successful, but it comes at a cost of personal goals and creativity. Productivity has been turned into a buzzword with an entire intellectual industry trying to sell you productivity improvement and self-help books. Maybe its time we take a step back and look at whether we really need to accomplish our everyday tasks or focus on long term goals.

The Indian banking system is currently facing a severe crisis due to the bad loans that have been handed out in the last decade. NPAs have risen to uncomfortable limits, eroding the quality of capital. The shadow banking system ie the NBFCs are on the verge of collapse, as already seen in the case of IL&FS and DHFL. The decline in growth of GDP could be the tipping point in this delicate balance of our financial system.

Speaking on National Hindi Day in New Delhi, Amit Shah emphasised the need for Hindi to be made the common language of the country. However, this statement drew the ire of local parties in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka who do not feel that Hindi needs to be emphasised more than any other language. This debate has been going on since the first years of our Independence, but does Hindi really possess the characteristics of a national language?

As leading actresses such as Kangana Ranaut and Swara Bhaskar take up the mantle of feminism, change is slowly coming to B-town. However, the male dominated Bollywood industry has a lot of way to go before an actress can expect the same treatment as one of the Khans. The recent case of Tanushree Dutta also highlights that the #metoo movement in Bollywood is just an empty scream, with no real ramifications for the accused.

The rapid westernization of our Indian society has brought changes on many cultural fronts. One of those is marriage where the older norms and practices are slowly fading away, and moving into the millennial era. Women empowerment has led to wives having a greater role in marital life, people are getting married at a later age and some have decided to not have kids at all. These trends are likely to leave a fundamental footprint on our society as a whole.

The last few years have witnessed a strong resurgence in right wing politics. From developed countries such as USA and France, it extends to the developing world such as India, Brazil and Philippines. The reasons behind this include the decline of a national identity, immigration, globalization and religion. Lets take a closer look at these factors in this episode.

In a surprise move, the NDA government has announced a number of swooping changes to the tax code. Corporate tax rate has been cut to 25% and GST has also been lowered for several industries. The aim of this tax cut is to improve the profitability of corporate India, in the hope that this would boost the ailing economy. But will the impact on tax collection and fiscal deficit be more severe than expected ?

India's economy, once the fastest growing globally, has hit a slump and GDP growth fell to 5% in the latest quarter. While the NDA government blames Congress for its bad governance, many analysts put the blame on the current government for bad policy decisions. Also, external factors are to be blamed partially for this slowdown in our economy. Lets discuss what the government can do to reverse this trend.

The death of VG Siddhartha came as a shock to many in India, especially the business community. Known for his hard work and deal making skills, he led Cafe Coffee Day to become one of the fastest growing coffee chains. In his alleged suicide letter he blames high debt, pressure from the taxmen and PE investors for his extreme decision. But was this reason enough to take his own life ?

According to Forbes Akshay Kumar was the fourth highest paid actor globally last year, with total earnings of US$65 million. He is the only Indian actor in the top 10 of this list. His success has come due to his strong work ethics, hard work and willingness to change his acting style. Akshay Kumar has evolved from his days of khiladi, to Housefull and now patriotic movies.

Food chains and restaurants have launched a logout campaign against food service aggregators such as Zomato, Swiggy etc. Their arguement is that the high level of discounts offered on such apps have hurt their profit margins and marred their customer relationships. But the companies believe that they have merely levelled the playing field and are democratizing the food industry.

With the recent amendment to the RTI Act, the salaries, benefits and tenure of both Central and State Information commission has been put under the purview of the central government. On the face of it, it might seem like a minor change, but in the long term it could dilute the effectiveness of the RTI Act. The independence of information officers can be compromised as they come under the overwatch of the government, instead of it being the other way round.

In a surprising move Home Minister Amit Shah has called for the repealing of Article 370 and the included Article 35A. These articles conferred a 'special status' to the state of Jammu and Kashmir, with regards to lawmaking and citizenship rights. The move has been welcomed by most political parties, but has come under public criticism for not taking any consensus from the people of J&K. Let's discuss what this means for J&K and what the future holds for the two new union territories that have been carved out from the state.

For the past few decades nepotism has been rearing its ugly head in the Bollywood film industry. The Kapoors and the Khans of the industry have created their own network within Bollywood and keep churning out star kids by the dozen. Over the long term this has effectively brought down the quality of films produced and now most movies are based on the star power of the actors rather than the script. Its time for us, as an audience to bring a change in this industry.

Article 15 is one of the few Indian movies that do not heistate at taking shots at the caste system in India. It clearly displays the stark divide among the people living in rural India and how caste has more worth than human life. However, it also hints at how the importance of caste is declining in urban India, which can me considered as a positive step in Indian society.

India's loss to New Zealand in the Cricket World Cup semi-final is undoubtedly a great disappointment for the Indian fans. India came in as one of the top favorites to the tournament, but a series of events in the match led to its exit. Lets discuss the factors behind this loss and what lessons can the team learn from the tournament.

The recent report released by NSSO has clearly highlighted the rising unemployment rate in India, which is now the highest in last 45 years. Most experts put the blame on demonetisation and introduction of GST. The labour and agricultural class has been the most affected by this and the government needs to take more impactful steps to tackle this issue.

With the launch of fast and cheap 4G services like Jio and Airtel, a large section of the India population has gotten access to the Internet. However, this has also led to issues such as fake news, rumors spreading on WhatsApp, hate comments etc. In a bid to tackle this the government is turning to censorship of Web content, leading to new debates on freedom of expression

India is in the midst of a major mental crisis. Lack of openess and education about this has made mental health issues a taboo topic in our culture. This has only led to a greater prevalence of anxiety and depression, especially in the working class of our population. In this podcast we talk about steps that one can take to prevent and handle any such problems that you might be facing.

A sin that most of us are guilty of is not taking care of our health as the years roll on. Our office and personal lives completely take over our time and mind. We forget that taking care of our bodies and mental health is as important as our career growth and money in the bank. Lets discuss the reasons why we should not ignore our health in the 30s and how we can undo the damage already done.

Every year approximately 10 lakh people apply for the UPSC examination to get into prestigious posts such as IAS, IFS and IPS. However, with less than 1000 seats available, most people only face failure. For many young people in India the UPSC and PSC examinations have become an obsession over which they waste many precious years of their youth. Lets talk about the impact on their lives

India's Cricket world cup campaign has gone off to a thunderous start, beating both South Africa and Australia. In this episode we take a closer look at India's first two matches and the results from other matches in the tournament.

Improving the ease of doing business for small businesses was one goal set out by the NDA government. Have financing options really improved for new startups and small businesses? Lets discuss

When given the role of managing people, it doesnt automatically make one a leader. There are important distinctions between managing and leading people. These differences are what make a high performing team which under a good leader will always touch new highs, while a team under a bad manager will likely end up at the bottom rung. Lets explore these differences

Albert Einstein once said: "Compound interest is the eighth wonder of the world. He who understands it, earns it ... he who doesn't ... pays it.”. The wonderful effect of compounding has a much larger impact on our lives, compared to just our bank accounts. Let us show you how