Harshad Oak

tech, science, software, startups, reform, rationalism...

[Harshad Oak @HarshadOak]

In this blog, I explore #Gandhi’s many flaws. This piece began as a response to a viral, mocking critique of Gandhi you might have seen. My thoughts and answers to some of the questions raised. Read on: https://t.co/pS9Q1A52jR

[Harshad Oak @HarshadOak]

And a board at that height will scrape your head and leave a scar unless you duck in time. I carry a scar from a similar board in Aundh.
It seems like basic common sense that signboards should not block footpaths, and 7 ft clearance should be the bare minimum.
And yet this was designed, approved, and installed. Not one person in that chain questioned it. Amazing.

[Harshad Oak @HarshadOak]

A growing number of young women, including yoga instructors, fitness trainers, and alternative medicine believers, these days introduce themselves as “I am also a therapist."

India sure needs more mental health care systems, and therapy can be a lucrative career choice. I wish them well. However, I wonder whether these therapists are truly equipped to treat the most complex and least understood organ scientifically?

Considering the surge in therapist numbers, it seems there is little to no regulation on who can set up shop as a therapist in India.

Casual or unscientific treatment could not only harm the recipient but also devalue actual medical interventions.

@docbhooshan

[Harshad Oak @HarshadOak]

A growing number of young women, including yoga instructors, fitness trainers, and alternative medicine believers, these days introduce themselves as “I am also a therapist."

India sure needs more mental health care systems, and therapy can be a lucrative career choice. I wish them well. However, I wonder whether these therapists are truly equipped to treat the most complex and least understood organ scientifically?

Considering the surge in therapist numbers, it seems there is little to no regulation on who can set up shop as a therapist in India.

Casual or unscientific treatment could not only harm the recipient but also devalue actual medical interventions.

@docbhooshan

[Chethan Kumar @Chethan_Dash]

#Space #India #Moon #Water

India's #Chandrayaan2 has found strong evidence of ice buried in Moon's south polar region's "doubly-shadowed" craters!

It's an important finding. No time for a detailed thread this time. Link to the full story below:
https://t.co/I4XeABAfWi

[Harshad Oak @HarshadOak]

The Delhi Gymkhana issue reminded me of my old blog from 2015, titled “Degeneration Of Sports Clubs, Dogs & Indians Not Allowed!”

The trigger then was what I had seen at Pune’s old gymkhanas, such as PYC and Deccan Gymkhana.

The biography of Pullela Gopichand says it well. When Gopichand was setting up his badminton academy, “Gopi would simply not allow liquor, gambling, bars or normal restaurants inside the academy. He did not want the centre to be mistaken for a club or a gymkhana.”

A serious institution knows what it stands for and what it must protect.
https://t.co/RK7lUr8I6d

[Krish Ashok @krishashok]

A recurring pattern in all viral food panic videos:

1 test.
1 batch.
1 scary chemical name nobody understands.
0 context on dose, reproducibility, contamination pathways, false positives, lab variance, or actual risk. Also - these are hard to explain to people. When fear sells, why bother with nuance?

And then suddenly:
“YOUR FOOD IS POISON.”

If engagement farming produced actual food, we’d solve global hunger several times over.

[Harshad Oak @HarshadOak]

@kshashi True. Even Google seemed focused on defending and expanding market share until ChatGPT forced its hand.

But Google had spent years building deep R&D muscle, so it could accelerate when needed.

Most Indian companies do not have that capability.

[Harshad Oak @HarshadOak]

“national security concerns” 🤦‍♂️

[The Indian Express @IndianExpress]

The X handle of ‘Cockroach Janta Party’, a satirical account opened after Chief Justice of India Surya Kant’s remarks about those who “attack the system”, was withheld Thursday (May 21) following a direction from the Centre in the wake of inputs from the Intelligence Bureau (IB) that raised “national security concerns,” a senior government official said.

The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) asked X to withhold the account under Section 69 (A) of the Information Technology Act, 2000, the official said, adding that the input to do so came from the IB.

Click on the link below to read full article.

https://t.co/4dKR3jZFke

[Tavleen Singh @tavleen_singh]

Just discovered the Cockroach Janata Party and it got banned. Why are our political leaders so scared of fun and satire?

[Harshad Oak @HarshadOak]

Yesterday I tweeted that it was refreshing to see some sense of humour and ability to take a joke from the government.

Today it looks like they have blocked the satirical political movement Cockroach Janata Party account @CJP_2029 with over 8m followers 🤦‍♂️(Now @Cockroachisback)

CJP may well be backed and amplified by opposition parties. But unless they are promoting violence, the government cannot suppress #FreeSpeech simply because it is politically inconvenient.

And then we wonder why India ranks a dismal 24th out of 33 countries on the free speech index.

That #Melodi sense of humour did not last very long. 🙄

[Sumita Kale @sumitakale]

Increasing roads needs more trees on the side, NOT less!! and planting elsewhere does not compensate for the greater heat stress in the city!
But lessons from the summer will be forgotten once it rains
Till next year when it will sizzle more!

[Harshad Oak @HarshadOak]

Yesterday I tweeted that it was refreshing to see some sense of humour and ability to take a joke from the government.

Today it looks like they have blocked the satirical political movement Cockroach Janata Party account @CJP_2029 with over 8m followers 🤦‍♂️(Now @Cockroachisback)

CJP may well be backed and amplified by opposition parties. But unless they are promoting violence, the government cannot suppress #FreeSpeech simply because it is politically inconvenient.

And then we wonder why India ranks a dismal 24th out of 33 countries on the free speech index.

That #Melodi sense of humour did not last very long. 🙄

[Harshad Oak @HarshadOak]

Refreshing to see PM Modi show some humour and willingness to laugh at himself 🙂 The ability to take a joke is an A-league leadership trait. Hope we get to see more of it even after he gets back home.

[Harshad Oak @HarshadOak]

Refreshing to see PM Modi show some humour and willingness to laugh at himself 🙂 The ability to take a joke is an A-league leadership trait. Hope we get to see more of it even after he gets back home.

[Giorgia Meloni @GiorgiaMeloni]

Thank you for the gift

[Harshad Oak @HarshadOak]

New Nehru letters reveal he feared Army officers “indulge far too frequently and far too much in alcoholic drinks”.

Such officers “can hardly be trusted with secrets”.

This is “neither good for the nation nor the individual” and “certainly not good for the Army”.

--
https://t.co/aGbNKxgeXo

[Harshad Oak @HarshadOak]

💯 It is dangerous to believe you are acting selflessly for your kids, parents, society...
Ego often disguises itself as sacrifice.

[Bhooshan Shukla @docbhooshan]

@kishandelampady This is not selfless. I like this work. It gives meaning to my life. I would do this even if I had to pay for it.

[Sherbir Panag 🇮🇳 @Sherbir]

Barring a few, no one needs a convoy or the security (at the scale they do) or the white towels on seats. The ANI mockery of posting these videos aside, if the Prime Minister can kick the rank and file into reform then that would be an enduring legacy. The MHA should use this as an opportunity to re- write deployment protocols, SOPs on vehicle usage, sirens, beacons to once and for all kill the psychological overlording that the bureaucracy has.

[Deepak Shenoy @deepakshenoy]

If you removed gold, India's current account has been a surplus (not a deficit) for 11 of the last 12 quarters. It's useful to reduce imports, or somehow reuse it internally.

[Harshad Oak @HarshadOak]

AI is a lot of computation and not so much clever algorithms

[Harshad Oak @HarshadOak]

Some of my right-leaning, alcohol-loving friends from the armed forces will probably see this as proof that Nehru was wrong about everything 😄

[Harshad Oak @HarshadOak]

New Nehru letters reveal he feared Army officers “indulge far too frequently and far too much in alcoholic drinks”.

Such officers “can hardly be trusted with secrets”.

This is “neither good for the nation nor the individual” and “certainly not good for the Army”.

--
https://t.co/aGbNKxgeXo