Venkat Raman

Talkative Materials Scientist who loves macro economics.
Think global but buy local.

[Sanjeev Sanyal @sanjeevsanyal]

Very interesting idea

[Dr Jitendra Singh @DrJitendraSingh]

Humble tribute to Late Dr APJ Abdul Kalam on his death anniversary. It was a privilege to have been associated with Dr Kalam, personally and professionally.

[Charlie Bilello @charliebilello]

SpaceX is suffering the same fate as so many major IPOs before it: a euphoric debut, unrealistic expectations, and a painful reality check.

Lesson: great companies can still be bad investments at the wrong price. Don’t chase.

$SPCX

Video: https://t.co/X3COKGHDAO

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

If you’re interested in learning why I switched Starship from carbon fiber to stainless steel

[Mahesh Jethmalani @JethmalaniM]

June 2020. The nation was facing the humongous crisis of COVID-19. In those tough times, PM Narendra Modi opened the space sector for private players.

Congress leader Anand Sharma criticized the move, calling it a “cruel joke.” Jairam Ramesh described the government’s push for planetary exploration and outer space travel as “bizarre.”

But that’s exactly the difference between a politician with a tentative outlook and a leader with long-term vision.

PM Modi knew the tough times inflicted by COVID would pass. He believed in India. Read that again: he believed in INDIA. And that belief has delivered, in the form of Vikram-1.

On 18 July 2026, Skyroot Aerospace’s Vikram-1 became the first privately built Indian rocket to successfully reach orbit on its very first attempt. With this, India became only the third country in the world, after the United States and China to achieve orbital launch through a privately built vehicle.

This is not luck. This is vision.

While others were busy mocking reforms during a national crisis, PM Modi was busy guiding and help build the foundation for India’s future as a space power.

India doesn’t need doomsday prophets who thrive on despair; we need leaders who believe in her potential, even in the darkest hours.
@SkyrootA @narendramodi

[ISRO @isro]

Congratulations to the entire Skyroot Aerospace Team on the successful launch of Vikram-1 (Mission Aagaman) from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre, Sriharikota.
The mission marks a significant milestone for India’s private space sector and reflects the growing capability of the country’s space ecosystem.
Congratulations to IN-SPACe and ISRO teams, who enabled and facilitated the launch and ground testing operations along with technical consultancy and 24x7 safety surveillance.
This achievement is also a testament to the Space Sector Reforms envisioned by our Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi ji.

#Vikram1
#IndiawithVikram1
#SkyrootAerospace
#OpeningSpaceForAll

[Sanjeev Sanyal @sanjeevsanyal]

Just 6 years since the sector was fully opened up ….

[zerohedge @zerohedge]

Houston, We Have Shareholders https://t.co/H4XvD8WHeF

[Prasanna Viswanathan @prasannavishy]

India seeks to pursue a more sophisticated industrial strategy.

Rather than chasing blanket import substitution, it has identified a realistic $189 billion opportunity across 1,272 products (just 26% of India's $776 billion import basket)

The remaining 74% comprises imports that are either structurally non-substitutable (such as crude oil, gold and coal) or are imported because they remain cheaper or of higher quality despite domestic manufacturing capability. via @bsindia

[Reads with Ravi @readswithravi]

Kobe Bryant once said:

“Everyone wants to be a beast. Everyone wants to be the best. But very few people are willing to do what it actually takes. Because what it takes is boring. It is waking up at 4:00 AM. It is shooting the same shot a thousand times. It is watching the film when you are tired. People fall in love with the result, but they hate the process. You have to fall in love with the boredom. You have to fall in love with the repetition.

If you can find joy in the mundane work that no one else sees, the lights will eventually shine on you.”

[Sridhar Vembu @svembu]

Last week, I was fortunate to visit the workshop (the Tamil word pattarai பட்டறை is so appropriate) of the leading motor designer in the world Morihiro Saito-san.

Saito-san is 80+ and still designing advanced motors, some of the most advanced in the world. His modest looking workshop is right next door to a company that builds out those motors in prototype quantities and he works closely with them to get them built. I visited as an industrial "pilgrim", with as much devotion as I go to the Thoranamalai Murugan Temple at home. When I saw him at work, I was moved to touch his feet.

Saito-san, the God of motors, is how Japan is able to retain its global prominence in so many foundational industries.

We need to learn from that spirit. We need to revive our "pattarai" culture of building things - every village in India needs such workshops!

My industrial pilgrimage to Japan has given me new vigor 🙏

[Mo Zarrinsadaf @MoZarrinsadaf]

"If you want to build a ship, don't drum up the people to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea."

- Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

[Blake Burge @blakeaburge]

Major cheat code for life: Make peace with being unimpressive to the outside world. Drive the normal car. Wear the simple clothes. Live below your means. Stay in the committed relationship. The ability to look ordinary while building an extraordinary life is wildly underrated.

[Mark Manson @Markmanson]

Confidence isn’t about removing all doubt. Confidence is knowing you’ll be all right if things go wrong.

[James Clear @JamesClear]

Life rarely changes in a positive way without an increase in responsibility.

That can mean taking ownership of your health or committing to a relationship or starting a business.

Whatever it is, if you want the trajectory to change, the amount of responsibility usually has to change.

[Sanjeev Sanyal @sanjeevsanyal]

My new EAC-PM working paper (with Satvik Dev) argues that India’s rising solar penetration is causing grid stress. While solar is meeting more midday demand, it also forces conventional sources, especially thermal plants, to ramp up and down more sharply to meet the net load. This is visible in both the summer “duck” curve and winter “camel” curve, putting grid operations under stress . Three signals show the stress. First, prices: in May 2026, power on the IEX day-ahead market averaged Rs 1.11 per unit at midday but Rs 9.71 at night. Second, curtailment: about 24 GWh of solar was wasted daily in May. Third, shortages: the grid fell short of non-solar-hour peak demand on 36 days in April-May, compared with only 6 days for solar-hour peak demand. The paper supports the direction of the Draft Electricity (Amendment) Bill, 2025, and draft Electricity (Rights of Consumers) Amendment Rules, 2026. But it cautions that without adequate storage and net-load smoothing policies, solar growth will intensify grid stress.

https://t.co/e7ZbWkdPeB

[Venkat Raman @Venkat_LS]

@DrJitendraSingh Great person for the role!

[Office of Principal Scientific Adviser to the GoI @PrinSciAdvOff]

Principal Scientific Adviser to the Government of India, Prof. Ajay Kumar Sood welcomed Prof. @waghmare16 as the new Secretary of the @IndiaDST. They discussed the vision for further strengthening India's scientific and innovation ecosystem.

[Debarghya Sil @debarghyawrites]

Interesting stack of data shared by MeitY

[Sahil Bloom @SahilBloom]

I'm convinced that it’s perfectly ok to live a life that looks confusing to others. Wake up early. Do hard things. Focus deeply. Eat real foods. Go on walks. Obsess over one thing. Read old books. Avoid drama. Save money. Never gossip. Love your people. Recipe for a good life.