Samrat Chowdhery

Media professional. Follow news on foreign affairs, media and nicotine policies.

[Samrat Chowdhery @samrat]

@guardian Not a good decision. It is at times like these that counterbalancing narratives are needed on this platform. Why cede public spaces?

[Aaron Rupar @atrupar]

Massie: "I think it's ironic that we control the House, Senate, Supreme Court, and the White House, and we're yelling 'election fraud'? I mean, we won all the damn elections."

[Samrat Chowdhery @samrat]

@theliverdoc You will need an unbiased moderator agreed upon by both sides to conduct a debate. Otherwise it will be a shouting match.

[Samrat Chowdhery @samrat]

@ShashiTharoor Govt just hiked passport fees from ₹1500 to ₹2500. So first it needs to be made free, which will create huge drain.

Second, only 6.5% hold a passport. Imagine the resources needed to give everyone one.

[Samrat Chowdhery @samrat]

@tjoseph0010 Only 6.5% Indians hold passports. Why would 1.5 billion be worried?

[Samrat Chowdhery @samrat]

Only 6.5% of Indians hold passports. Which makes one wonder why such a huge controversy.

[Samrat Chowdhery @samrat]

You are saying the same thing I am. If you don't have a passport or it is revoked, it doesn't mean you're not an Indian citizen, just that you can't travel abroad. If you don't have Aadhar/PAN, doesn't mean you're not Indian, just can't use financial services. If you don't have a voter ID, can't vote but doesn't mean you are not an Indian citizen. The list goes on... driving licence, GST certificate, DIN, etc.

Conversely, each of these is not a standalone proof of citizenship. India does not have a citizenship register, so for each document, a different set of proofs are considered, the most comprehensive among them being the passport. So yes, a passport is strong evidence of citizenship, but its primary purpose is to serve as a travel document, just as the primary purpose of a driving licence is to drive or the primary purpose of a voter ID is to vote.

To use your analogy: having a sale deed shows you own the property, but it does not prove domicile.

[Samrat Chowdhery @samrat]

@shemin_joy @DeccanHerald FCRA has long become an extortion racket with officials landing up every few months to demand a bribe. It's just better to bring in funds through taxed corporate route. Problem is, big global NGOs are tied by their own national laws to provide only grants.

[Samrat Chowdhery @samrat]

@phil_w888 @UTMDAnderson Outweigh benefits is such a blanket statement. The benefits vary for 1bn who use nicotine and for some the benefits may outweigh the risks of low-risk alternatives.

[Samrat Chowdhery @samrat]

@TheEconomist It's an error to claim Iran in its new role is a foe to both Saudi and UAE. Infact, Saudi-led OPEC is already more conciliatory towards Iran than the aggressive UAE. Iran could well join the Saudi camp, further isolating UAE, as well as Israel.

[Samrat Chowdhery @samrat]

@soarathena @omgsidewalks The US admin should've seen this before junking USAID. Also all major western economies that have reduced aid.

[Samrat Chowdhery @samrat]

Good to see you've rested your earlier "responsible statecraft" position to acknowledge India blundered by leaning too heavily towards US-Israel. On Pak baiting, fact remains it bailed US & ME out of a messy situation, which won't be easily forgotten. Add to this that it's the only nuclear-armed Muslim nation and is selling war tech including Chinese fighter jets, the overall outlook looks positive.

[Samrat Chowdhery @samrat]

@clashreport Malacca is tolled too, but it's paid as a maintenancee fee for the strait's upkeep. No one refuses to pay as it has become norm. Iran is proposing to do the same thing.

[Samrat Chowdhery @samrat]

@virsanghvi I think this anticipation is felt by most people from developing world travelling to developed countries. Just that in India's case there is now a gap between perceived importance and ground reality.

[Samrat Chowdhery @samrat]

@abhishekarghya @svaradarajan Even citizens whose passport is revoked remain citizens, which makes a passport an unsuitable proof of citizenship.

[Samrat Chowdhery @samrat]

@LaduSingal72740 @svaradarajan My point too.

[Samrat Chowdhery @samrat]

@sidhant A passport can be revoked, which makes it unsuitable as a citizenship document.

[Samrat Chowdhery @samrat]

A new study published in British Medical Journal finds Australia's U-16 social media ban has predictably failed. But this article argues that, just like in the case of the generational tobacco ban, we need more time to assess the outcomes.

This in my view simply delays a course correction, during which time things get much worse as subversive behaviour becomes codified and a new underground industry feeding off it takes hold.

Instead of applying the blunt hammer of prohibition which has rarely worked, we need policies that cure the disease, ie, pressure social media companies to cease or modify their dark algorithms which create negative outcomes among minors and adults.

https://t.co/OhVQQHOs3J

[Saba Naqvi @_sabanaqvi]

One Indian, genuinely respected by the world, engages with the big issue of this age. The genocide of children in Gaza by Israel. Justice Muralitharan, who was so strategically shunted out of Delhi high court, some years ago, has his say on global platform. Stay with spine erect, do not bend and cower and the world will stand by you.

[Samrat Chowdhery @samrat]

This fall must have been factored in given the SpaceX IPO was amazingly well-synced with Iran MoU.

[The Telegraph @Telegraph]

Elon Musk has suffered the biggest ever loss of personal wealth after a dramatic fall in the value of SpaceX.

🖇️ https://t.co/MccXK7RgIx