Pushkar | पुष्कर

Write on India's #highered - All tweets are in personal capacity.

[The DeshBhakt 🇮🇳 Akash Banerjee @TheDeshBhakt]

Yadav ji is not missing - he's working 18 hours a day to ensure that we score 50 on 50. 💪🏽🔥

[Amitav Ghosh @GhoshAmitav]

Bunker Roy was a champion squash player and could have been a top diplomat, bureaucrat or corporate honcho. But instead he chose to dedicate his life to alleviating poverty in rural India. He was a true hero.

[Manu Awasthi @mnwsth]

Read this if you haven’t.

If you have, read it again.

https://t.co/7lAY9lEVHo

[Dani Rodrik @rodrikdani]

Here is how to stop the AI rot in research and academia. Journals and professional bodies must develop norms and codes of disclosure and attribution. Authors should be expected to treat AI agents as co-authors, when it rises to that level, and disclose +

[Amitabh Mattoo @amitabhmattoo]

@PhilipPanass My forthcoming: “Amir Tarr and the fantasy of facts in Kashmir”

[Vikas Vij @TheClubJunto]

IRIS Summit 2026: Top Academics Expose India's Research Crisis

(a) African budgets, American ambitions (b) Faculty Recruitment: 100% corruption (c) PhD Training: Absolutely terrible (d) Research Ecosystem: Broken & demoralized INSIGHTS:.

Who’s Who of Indian Academia

At the recent India Research & Impact Summit (IRIS) 2026, a star-studded panel discussion was held on this topic: “What Is Holding Back Indian Research?”

Speakers included:

Dr. P.R. Sinha: Founder & Chairman, Ashoka Univ; Board Member, ISB; Ex-Partner, McKinsey

Prof. V.R. Rao: Group Vice-Chancellor, BITS Pilani; Ex-Director, IIT Delhi; Winner, Bhatnagar Prize (India’s highest science award)

Prof. G.D. Yadav: Founding Vice-Chancellor, Institute of Chemical Technology; Listed in “Asian Scientist 100”; Holding 136 patents

Prof. P. Chandra: Vice-Chancellor, Ahmedabad Univ; Ex-Director, IIM Bangalore

G.S. Mathukumilli: President, GITAM Univ; Founder, Kautilya School of Public Policy; Member of Parliament (Andhra Pradesh)

Dr. P.R. Sinha (Ashoka Univ)

a. R&D: India spends 0.84% of GDP on R&D; China 2.4% (3x). China’s GDP is 5x of India. So, they spend on R&D in 1 yr what India will spend in 15 yrs. “India’s wealth lies with companies that are complacent, with no desire to invest in R&D.”

b. Research Misconduct: India accounts for 21% of global research paper retractions (adverse editorial action against the author). Causes: academic fraud, fake research, compromised peer reviews, duplicate data, and plagiarism.

“Govt must penalize institutions for research paper retractions. It will end the problem. I don’t know what rocket science is required to do that.”

c. Black Mark: “In 2025, “Nature” recognized 10 people who shaped science. Dr. Achal Agrawal, who is present in this hall, ranked in this prestigious list. His Contribution: “Exposing research misconduct in India.” It’s a big black mark on us as a country.”

Prof. V.R. Rao (BITS Pilani)

a. University Education: “India’s Higher Education System can be defined as: “African budgets, American ambitions, Russian methods, Chinese opaqueness, and Indian bureaucracy.” [Audience laughter]

When you combine these characteristics with our bureaucracy, you end up where we are today.”

b. Research Quality: “In 2025, India published 2 research papers in topmost “Nature” and “Science” journals. (It means the research originated in India.) China published 300. U.S. published 1,000.

India is nowhere near the level of international research quality.”

c. No Institutional Mechanism: “Indian technology ends in the lab without reaching development stage. IIT Delhi’s first convocation address in 1960s and its convocation from 2025 both talked of academia-industry collaboration.

It hasn’t happened for 75 yrs. We have grown old waiting for it.”

Prof. G.D. Yadav (ICT, Mumbai)

a. Corruption in Recruitment: “You cannot get a single faculty position in state-funded institutions without paying money. And you want to compete with China? Corruption in faculty recruitment is a cause for worry."

b. Demoralized Professors: “Harvard & MIT have billionaire professors because they created so many startups. In India, we don’t allow professors to do that because we think they will make more money. Universities are institutions of innovation, not examination centres.”

c. Force Industry Participation: “Universities should be able to support the full process: Research → Patent → Proof of Concept → Pilot → Industry → Startup → Scale-up.

My advice to the govt is: Increase mandatory industry CSR contribution from 2% to 3%, and spend that one extra percent on research & innovation.”

Prof P. Chandra (Ahmedabad Univ)

a. Poor Training: “Our PhD training is absolutely terrible. Masters degree holders coming into PhD programs are unprepared. PhD programs don’t have PhD-level course work.

Academics treat PhD students as assistants, not researchers. [A co-panelist: “Assistants, not research assistants.”] Yes, just assistants.”

b. Capabilities Depreciate: “When enthusiastic people join our institutions, they simply rot due to lack of support.

By the time they reach full professor, there is an exponential drop in their interest & capabilities. [A co-panelist: “We’re killing it.”] Yes, we are killing it completely.

Research departments abroad get lifted very dramatically because there is intellectual urgency, mentorship, engagement, and support.”

c. Destructive Governance: “Another faultline is: Very destructive governance. [Audience laughter]. Dr. Yadav spoke about corruption in faculty & VC appointments. That is destroying institutions.

You have third-rate leaders, so they will hire only third-rate people of their own level. That is creating challenges.”

d. No Deep Domain Expertise: “Breakthrough research requires 15 hrs a day x 10 yrs. Our research keeps jumping from one problem to another like a rolling stone.

An unresponsive research ecosystem, absence of industry participation, and regulatory hurdles do the rest of the damage.”

G.S. Mathukumilli (M.P., Andhra)

a. “If the govt were to genuinely implement what people on this panel are saying, India would take off. If people like Prof. P. Chandra, Dr. Sinha, and others were given a different role, India would benefit. It is a loss for the country that they are not in that position.”

b. “As a politician, I can see that democracies do not think long-term (they think of next elections.) In China, there is one dictator who decides the rules. In the US, there is a free market mechanism that decides what is fair. In our case, we have neither.”

c. ENDPIECE: “Think of superhero movies (like Avengers). In these movies, good heroes are few, but the evil forces are highly organized and have aligned incentives.

If good people don’t come together, and everyone wants to be a hero of their own individual movie, then India is not going to be saved by the heroes.”

[Avik @avikchatts]

I always wanted to go into research. When I floated the idea to my fav professor in college, he asked me: do your parents have the money to send you abroad? I said no fking chance lol. He said then get a real job, research in India is a humiliation ritual.

[Indian Kanoon @indiankanoon]

Our datacenter folks have received the request to remove court judgment of Gauhati High Court under DMCA law. Twice! https://t.co/QTpqpIpIwU

[Adit @IndicSociety]

These are not just disturbing visuals but an indictment of our collective conscience.

CCTV footage from a residential tower in Calcutta, recorded on 26 October, appears to show a powerful real estate broker and businessman Prakash Bachhawat brutally assaulting a woman identified in reports as Deepika Jain.
The monstrous arrogance of power and money sadly makes these vile humans believe they can physically brutalise a woman like a savage and get away with it!

@NCWIndia @VijayaRahatkar @KolkataPolice @paulagnimitra1 @SuvenduWB have sadly not demonstrated swift, uncompromising action.
If influence and money once again ensure that justice takes a back seat, like we saw in the Pune Porsche case and countless other instances where privilege, influence and procedural delays buried justice.
It will be truly tragic and devastating

[Pushkar | पुष्कर @PushHigherEd]

@icggoa @notrueindian @chacchachoudhry @amritareach @dineshcsharma @MrSamratX @vandanawriter @amitabhmattoo @SanjoyHazarika3 @dekkani @Ramakrishn95259 @saudaminijain @shimlasiddharth @aampannaa @Rituparna37 3/3 Application are open for 2027!

[Pushkar | पुष्कर @PushHigherEd]

1/3 Over the years, @icggoa has selected an outstanding set of writers - 17 in all - to work on their book manuscripts.

[Pushkar | पुष्कर @PushHigherEd]

@icggoa 2/3 12 books published so far-@notrueindian @chacchachoudhry @amritareach
@dineshcsharma #NeetaDeshpande @MrSamratX @vandanawriter #GeetanjaliShree @amitabhmattoo
@SanjoyHazarika3 @dekkani #BastianSteuwer @Ramakrishn95259 @saudaminijain @shimlasiddharth
@aampannaa @Rituparna37

[Kamala Thiagarajan @Kamal_t]

The @TOIIndiaNews has plagiarised my recent article NPR, republishing a terrible AI version of it. After I complained, the article was taken down hastily. https://t.co/tVfdHtjpzg

[anjali mody @AnjaliMody1]

This is a great website. It makes UDISE data of ALL schools accessible. It lets parents/visitors/even teachers (you can be anonymous) leave a review, correct/confirm info, upload pictures. If used well it can shine a light on school inputs. For eg. Do the libraries really exist?

[Paul Novosad @paulnovosad]

Ironic that this "against meritocracy" op-ed in the Indian Express is 100% AI-generated.

Meritocracy still underrated ig.

[Internet Freedom Foundation (IFF) @internetfreedom]

YouTube @dhruv_rathee says Delhi Police tried to clone his phone and failed only because their software was too old for his iPhone. In January, Home Minister Amit Shah personally cleared the NIA to buy Cellebrite, the Israeli phone-extraction tool, bypassing Make in India rules. About ₹5 crore. The spec sheet names iPhones 11 to 14 and specific Android models.

Cellebrite bypasses your passcode and pulls everything. Every app, every chat, every photo. No law says when police may do this, to whom, or how long they keep it.

This is not about one YouTuber. Phones have been seized from protesters and journalists too. IFF has filed RTIs, and has a petition in the Supreme Court on surveillance powers.

Are we comfortable with the NIA, the Home Ministry and State police buying this, with no rulebook? Happy Diwali. May the diyas of liberty light up our lives.

#Cellebrite #Surveillance #Privacy #DigitalRights #DhruvRathee #NIA #DelhiPolice #IFF

[Pushkar | पुष्कर @PushHigherEd]

Ouch! Posted the wrong version with a howler!

[Pushkar | पुष्कर @PushHigherEd]

Do share this opportunity for India-based #writers widely -

[Pushkar | पुष्कर @PushHigherEd]

@MohanCRaja Congratulations!

[Vishwa Mohan @vishwamTOI]

There is a general perception that many politicians, cutting across party lines, and top babus prefer to stay away from Delhi-NCR on Diwali night and the following day to escape the toxic air.
Would they mind sharing their locations to dispel this perception?
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