Parithi Govindaraju

Aerospace Engineer and Entrepreneur @OkuloAerospace. Views and tweets are personal.

[Prasanna K @prasanna_says]

the kids are doing alright!

[Piyu @PiyuduttaPiyu]

We often ignore who their parents are and what might have been the reason for VCs racing to fund them:

1. Zepto/ Aadit Palicha’s father : Kavit Palicha is the Chief Investment Officer for the Jafar Family Office in UAE.

2. Pronto/ Anjali Sardana’s father : Raj Sardana is a billionaire and founder of a tech Co in the US.

[Supriya Sahu IAS @supriyasahuias]

This is not an ordinary factory. Set amid the forests of the Nilgiris, the briquetting unit at Masinagudi in the Mudumalai Tiger Reserve is quietly turning a global ecological problem into a local climate solution. Lantana camara, one of the world’s most aggressive invasive weeds, choking forests across India and Tamil Nadu is being systematically removed and transformed into clean, eco-friendly fuel briquettes. Under a sustained restoration effort, nearly 125 hectares of Lantana are cleared every month, restoring wildlife habitats. What makes this initiative truly special is its complete circularity. Lantana is removed from deep forest areas with the active participation of local Tribal communities, transported to the briquetting unit, and processed again by Tribal workers into binder-free fuel briquettes using only pressure and heat. These briquettes are then supplied to nearby tea factories, replacing wood burning with forest waste turned resource. This single unit bridges conservation, livelihoods, clean energy, and industry showing how the Tamil Nadu Forest Department is converting invasive biomass into ecological restoration, dignified employment, and a working model of circular economy in action #TNForest #ecosystemrestoration #invasives @tnforestdept @IUCN @UNEP @WWFINDIA video @supriyasahuias

[Blake Scholl 🛫 @bscholl]

A new product, a new customer, a new financing!

Introducing Superpower: a 42MW natural gas turbine optimized for AI datacenters, built on our supersonic technology. Superpower launches with a 1.21GW order from @CrusoeAI Backstory 🧵👇

[Harry  @hariom5sharma]

Unbelievable, colour theory application at its peak 🔥🔥

[Radhika Agarwal @radhika_agar]

I've had my whole saga with the US visa system: 3 H1b lottery misses, cross-border long distance relationship through it all, finally getting L1 visa approval, and then deciding to come back home in '19, giving up the L1 I wanted so badly...

I still can't fully articulate why I gave up the L1 to come home🇮🇳 6 years back, but I can now say it was the best decision I've made so far. Why?

1⃣ Learning from a rapidly evolving startup & VC ecosystem (both its mistakes & wins)
2⃣ Close to parents in the moments that matter: celebrations, health scares, pandemics
3⃣ Much deeper community, no feeling of being an 'outsider'
4⃣ Can quit my job and take bigger career risks without wondering how that affects my visa status

If you're looking at the new H1b announcement (or the climate in general) and wondering 'should I move back' - this is your sign to say HELL YES :)

Over the last 6 years, I've built a network of founders, operators, investors in India (largely consumer tech & consumer brands). If you're moving back to India and considering working in these spaces, DM me your LinkedIn / background + what you're looking to work on, and I'm happy to share it with folks in my network to help make your move easier!🇮🇳

[Spandhana G @gspandhana]

https://t.co/QuOqwi7GT2

Schoolchildren suffer from poor road conditions in the Varthur Gunjur area. Thank you @News9Tweets for covering this.

#varthur @BBMPofficial @BBMPCOMM @MALimbavali @ArvindLBJP @WFRising @RisingVarthur

[Anantha Krishnan M🇮🇳 @writetake]

AAI clearances delay UAV testing at Challakere ATR despite surge in desi programmes

By Anantha Krishnan Muralidharan Nair
Tarmak Media House #TMH
https://t.co/RTwcbGGA7j
https://t.co/devm0dRwJv

FORT KOCHI (KERALA), 19 MAY 2025: India’s push for indigenous unmanned aerial systems is encountering turbulence at the Aeronautical Test Range (ATR) near Chitradurga, Karnataka, with multiple UAV developers raising concerns over persistent delays caused by mandatory clearances from the Airports Authority of India (AAI).

A subscale High-Altitude Platform (HAP) UAV, developed by CSIR-NAL, recently achieved back-to-back test flights at 24,000 ft AMSL, demonstrating notable robustness and reliability. The test missions were conducted from the DRDO-run ATR, which falls under the Aeronautical Development Establishment (ADE).

The ATR has emerged as a critical testbed for India’s UAV ecosystem, involving both government agencies and private industry. NAL’s HAP -- now in its fourth year -- has attracted particular attention from the Indian Air Force #IAF. Touted as a loitering munition with stealth capabilities, the platform aims to scale 40,000 ft shortly, with an eventual goal of 70,000 ft. Its applications span both military and civilian domains, with swarming capability being a key focus for the IAF.

Yet, despite this momentum, UAV developers report consistent setbacks due to AAI’s clearance protocols. Every trial requires prior approval from AAI -- a process they describe as time-consuming and operationally disruptive.

“ATR lies beneath a busy civil aviation corridor -- the Bengaluru–Chennai–Bengaluru sector. Alongside DRDO and NAL, ISRO also uses the range for testing its Reusable Launch Vehicle (RLV),” said an official familiar with the matter.

ATR’s current 2-km-plus runway is undergoing planned expansion, and several support facilities -- including a wind tunnel for UAV testing -- are expected to become functional within the next two years. However, developers are calling for urgent reform in test protocols, especially after the boost in indigenous UAV activity following Operation Sindoor.

“ATR should be designated as a permanent exclusion zone for civil air traffic. Its surrounding airspace must be reserved solely for defence testing. The current SOPs involving repeated NOTAMs are delaying critical trials. AAI should have no jurisdiction over strategic military ranges,” the official asserted.

Repeated attempts to contact Union Civil Aviation Minister Kinjarapu Rammohan Naidu on his mobile phone were unsuccessful. A text message sent to one of his Personal Assistants following a brief exchange also went unanswered. AAI Executive Director (CNS & Planning) Suneel Dutt responded to a call but clarified that he is not the concerned authority on the issue.

It remains to be seen whether this pressing matter will receive due attention during the high-profile drone warfare strategy session currently underway in New Delhi.

©TarmakMediaHouse (TMH)

#ATR #Challakere #ISRO #DRDO #NAL #UAV #HAPS #CSIR #Military #Drones #AAI #AirportAuthorityofIndia #TarmakMediaHouse #TMH #IndiaFirst

@tarmakmedia @billionbeatz @Onmanorama @madhavgk @AAI_Official @drdo @isro @CSIR_IND @CSIRNALOFFICIAL @RamMNK @PMOIndia

[Deedy @deedydas]

The new President of Romania has 2 perfect score Gold medals on the International Math Olympiad (IMO), a feat only 25 people have ever achieved in history!

First the pope, and now this. First they learn about higher dimensional spaces and then they excel in all of them.

[Hemant Mohapatra @MohapatraHemant]

I write this as an optimist. Over the last 20+ years since the Indian economy opened up, we’ve been closing the gap between us and the western nations. That gap is widening once again, thanks to AI. We are at a point in the global innovation cycle that it is clear to me what has brought India so far won’t take us much further. We need to rethink our approach to entrepreneurship and investing if we are to compete. Below is a short diagnosis, and a strawman proposal ⬇️

[nasscom deeptech @nasscomdeeptech]

As current drone #technology struggles with limited flight times and costly operations, more #efficient, long-endurance solutions are urgently needed.

@OkuloAerospace , a winner at the #Emerge50Awards2024, is addressing this gap with its solar-electric hybrid drones. Offering up to 8 hours of flight time, these drones reduce #data acquisition costs by up to 30x.

Learn more about Okulo Aerospace here: https://t.co/7jknuAd0h4

@NasscomR @nasscomstartups @achyutaghosh @AmitaDokhale @mayankkumar_17 @MKritika_
@Parithi_Aero @ShaliniDewan

[anand mahindra @anandmahindra]

They were shy when I requested them for their autographs, which I am proudly holding.

But they are the true real-life heroes Manoj Kumar Sharma, IPS and his wife Shraddha Joshi, IRS. The extraordinary couple on whose lives the movie #12thFail is based.

Over lunch today, I learned that the film’s narrative is true to their real stories. And they continue practising their philosophy of living a life of scrupulous integrity.

If India is to become a global power, it will happen more rapidly if more people adopt their way of life.

So they are the real celebrities of this country. And their autographs are heirlooms.

I am a wealthier man today, for having met them.

[anand mahindra @anandmahindra]

India’s developed its indigenous, stealth, Autonomous Flying Wing craft. AWESOME. The future of defence is in Unmanned vehicles & this shows we’re not going to be left behind. And what a beauty. Advanced tech is also aesthetic!

[Thejaswi Udupa @udupendra]

This is such a brilliant, brilliant poem.

[Carlos E. Perez @IntuitMachine]

LLMs are glorified autocompleters. We can say the same about human vision. Here's a demo of autocomplete mode!

[Nassim Nicholas Taleb @nntaleb]

I still don't know what lead to "success". But I know what leads to insuccess: a temperament of complaint, the mentality of permanent victimhood, and the collective and individual propensity for lamentation.

[Tim Robinson @RAeSTimR]

Heads up #HAPS or mystery experimental aircraft fans - 'something' airborne over New Mexico with AVRO352 callsign. Slow speed and reached 65k before dropping to 18k ft now- BAE Systems PHASA 35 out on a test flight? #avgeek #drones https://t.co/4OfX2TssNs

[Tivadar Danka @TivadarDanka]

I described some of the most beautiful and famous mathematical theorems to Midjourney.

Here is how it imagined them:

1. "The set of real numbers is uncountably infinite."

[Anand Malligavad @AMalligavad]

Half of the lake occupied by Electric Substation…Inspite of Supreme & High Court orders….This is how Bangalore lakes vanished…it’s in Bannerghatta Road,Near Rayan School,it is Gollahalli Lake of 4.5+ acres

[Royal Aeronautical Society @AeroSociety]

'She is the champion .... of the world' An aircraft that has flown the equivalent of half the world's population and opened a new era of mass air travel has its final delivery today - the legendary #Boeing 747 #avgeek #ThankYou747 #QOTS https://t.co/VzXUAUCVO7