Akashdeep Gupta

Civil Engineer / Travel, Art & Tech enthusiast 👻

[Sridhar Vembu @svembu]

The economic and demographic effects of corruption.

Cost of land in our urban areas is far higher than what our GDP per capita would dictate. The ratio of land value to per capita GDP is probably higher in India than anywhere else. As an example, land prices in Chennai or Bengaluru rival that of cities like New York which has a vastly higher per capita GDP.

The key reason?

First, vast sums of political corruption money is parked in real estate. This raises real estate prices and high real estate prices affect everything downstream.

Second, corruption in building approvals and the like - the famous DTCP - raises construction costs, on top of already higher real estate costs.

Third, corruption in private school regulatory compliance enforcement raises school fees.

Fourth, corruption in private hospital regulatory compliance enforcement raises health care costs.

Fifth, household goods need sales outlets and those pay higher rents due to high real estate prices and construction costs.

So housing, education, healthcare and household goods - all of these now cost higher.

As a direct consequence, the economic burden on the average person gets worse. Young people, facing all these costs, postpone marriage, and postpone children or have fewer children.

That directly affects our demographics.

While this issue exists in many parts of India, Tamil Nadu, being the most urbanized of the bigger states, is particularly hit hard.

So corruption is becoming an existential threat to our society.

If you worry about the super-low birth rate in Tamil Nadu, way below replacement, understand that corruption raising our cost of living is one of the major causes, not the only cause, but a big one in our context.

[Smita Prakash @smitaprakash]

What kind of psychopaths hide amongst us!

[Manu Khajuria @KhajuriaManu]

The protesting leader in POJK warned the Pakistani state that unlike Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and Wana in Waziristan where the Pakistani state has oppressed civilians, this is Jammu Kashmir, the land of mountains and land of “timbar”.

Timbar is a thorny plant and people of Jammu region and POJ even make Timbru chutney out of it. It is reported that protestors were carrying the timbar sticks during their protest.

#POJK

[शोक्का। @Shokka_jammuala]

Meanwhile, Train from Jammu to Kashmir has started, whereas the majority of trains to Jammu from other parts of the country still remain suspended after August, 25 floods.

When will our Jammu leaders demand resumption of these services, especially when Vaishno Devi Yatra season is underway?

[Priyanka Chaturvedi🇮🇳 @priyankac19]

What a shame @TCS !

The NCW Fact finding committee has found serious procedural lapses in ensuring women employee safety.
As per the Press statement:
- There was zero formal complaint mechanism in the Nashik BPO
- The office was controlled by the senior employees who are now under arrest and the employees who raised their voices against them faced transfer and termination.
- CCTVs though installed in the office but were non functional.
- Zero compliance with the POSH Act.

[Anuradha Tiwari @talk2anuradha]

After West Bengal win, I hope government now launches a helpline number where I can report illegal Bangladeshis living in my area?

I see them everywhere- selling vegetables, security guards, gardeners etc.

U.S has a 24x7 helpline to report illegals. Why don't we have one?

[Anuradha Tiwari @talk2anuradha]

My appeal to PM Modi-

In order to save petrol & diesel, please make it mandatory for bureaucrats, MLAs & MPs to use public buses and metro instead of large convoys.

It will also be a good opportunity for them to experience world-class infrastructure they are building for us.

[THE SKIN DOCTOR @theskindoctor13]

Appealing for Work From Home (WFH) won’t change anything. If the govt genuinely wants it, it can strongly push or effectively enforce WFH in sectors where physical presence isn’t essential.

It’s common in the West but not in India because Indian companies still operate on a “presence equals productivity” mindset, where managers feel employees work seriously only when they are physically visible. If an employee isn’t exhausted by traffic, long hours, and physical attendance, they assume no real work is being done. There’s also a deeply ingrained feudal mindset where control, surveillance, and making juniors “feel the grind” is treated as management instead of actual productivity.

Otherwise, WFH can solve many problems for both individuals and the country. It reduces traffic, pollution, fuel consumption, stress, travel time, road accidents, and daily expenses for individuals while improving work-life balance. For India, it cuts crude oil consumption and import bills, reduces pressure on dollars, inflation, and urban infrastructure, while easing overcrowding in metro cities and saving huge amounts of productive time otherwise wasted in commuting.

[Abhijit Iyer-Mitra @Iyervval]

Total seats won by INC on 4th May: 90
Total Hindu INC victors: 12

Hindus form just 13% of INC legislators elected yesterday.

Leave aside the irony of “jitna abadi utna haq”, it seems the party is ghettoising & marginalising itself, whether by intent or by circumstance.

[Dr. Neha Das @neha_laldas]

Bank of Baroda Vacancies:
Total seats=104
UR (unreserved) seats=3
Reserved seats=101

Means 97% reservation.

And people think, reservation is not a big issue in this country!!!

[Smita Prakash @smitaprakash]

This country needs a Kooda Mantri. Someone who can be in charge of garbage disposal in the country. Municipalities are incapable of handling this gargantuan challenge.

[Ajeet Bharti @ajeetbharti]

सामान्य वर्ग के निर्धन छात्रों को चिढ़ाने के लिए ऐसी नीतियाँ बनाई जाती हैं। सीधा PhD ही क्यों नहीं दे देते?

[Mahesh Jethmalani @JethmalaniM]

One detail from this Iran war should make every serious state sit up: credible reporting says Israeli leaders were shown an image of Khamenei’s body after it was recovered by Mossad agents - and that Israel had visibility on his fate faster than Iran could even confirm the death of it's supreme leader and shape the narrative. That’s not “tech”. That’s HUMINT + penetration.

Satellites don’t tell you who is in which room at what time. Signals don’t always survive encryption and discipline. What wins you wars and prevents surprises is human access so-urces, moles, defectors, recruited assets - the messy, thankless work of being inside the enemy’s bloodstream.

Israel has no luxury of being lazy at intelligence. It sits in a hostile neighbourhood with actors who openly want it erased. So it builds networks that aren’t “near the border.” They’re near the decision-makers. That’s what survival looks like when geography is unforgiving.

Now bring that lens to India. When you live next to Pakistan’s terror ecosystem and a Bangladesh theatre that keeps throwing up radical modules, you don’t get to be sentimental about “soft power” as a substitute for hard intelligence. You need early warning, deep penetration, counter-infiltration, and ruthless disruption - before the plot becomes a headline.

And this is exactly where the armchair moralists fail India. They love questioning operations after the fact. They hate the boring investments before the fact: intel budgets, source protection, language capability, field tradecraft, inter-agency fusion, and the political spine to back covert work without leaking it for TRPs.

Pop culture and superhit movies like Dhurandhar tells the story really well but makes it look stylish - one hero, one mission, one punchline. Real HUMINT though is the opposite: years of patience, ugly risks, zero credit, and often no medal because the best outcome is “nothing happened.”

This is not about chest-thumping. This is about statecraft. The world is moving into an age where wars are decided by who sees first, knows first, and shapes first. Israel gets that. India must get that - permanently. Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi and our intelligence apparatus, NEW INDIA definitely gets it.

Because 'terrorist harbouring neighbours' don’t send calendar invites before they strike. They send handlers, money, propaganda, and sleepers. The only answer is being inside that machinery early enough to break it.

If you want deterrence, stop thinking intelligence is an accessory. It’s the foundation.

[Akashdeep Gupta @akashdeep_21]

@RailwayNorthern @AshwiniVaishnaw #Chaos at #JammuRailwayStation #Jammu

[Rahul Shivshankar @RShivshankar]

Chaos in Venezuela after President Maduro has been captured (abducted) by U.S. forces. Regime change by Trump administration in the works. Chilling to think that there is an ecosystem here in India that is welcoming U.S. Lawmakers meddling in India's internal affairs.

[Shesh Paul Vaid @spvaid]

Trump has set a precedent for India to launch #OperationSindoor2 to extract Asim Munir and his wife. This would save the people of Pakistan from him and his brutal atrocities, as seen in Balochistan, POJK and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

[Col AJ🇮🇳 @ajaykraina]

A grassroot level movement is shaping up. Soon, it will be seen.

[THE SKIN DOCTOR @theskindoctor13]

Whosoever is affected by IndiGo’s delays or cancellations should form an alliance, and drag the airline to court to make an example out of it.

Screaming at ground staff achieves nothing except giving IndiGo a convenient escape while ordinary employees absorb the public’s anger for decisions made by a dysfunctional management. The people at the counter have no authority over the mess operations creates; they can’t summon an aircraft or override safety and scheduling rules.

All that rage only slows things further because staff must handle confrontations instead of trying whatever limited fixes they can offer. Aim at the airline’s leadership, not at the people forced to stand between you and IndiGo’s mismanagement, unless venting is all you wanted.

[anand mahindra @anandmahindra]

Take time out today (especially today) to cheer this victory!

It’s a historic triumph since India has beaten a European team, in Europe, for the first time since 1993

India 3 - 1 Switzerland

👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽💪🏽🇮🇳

(Video courtesy @ddsportschannel )

[Akashdeep Gupta @akashdeep_21]

Finally some relief from the government, hope the government makes sure that the companies don't increase the base prices and the benefits are actually passed on to the consumer.

#GST

#GSTReforms